A Primer On: The Grateful Dead

by Jerome Locson on January 17th, 2008

The Grateful Dead…

Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in San Francisco, California. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, country, jazz, psychedelia, space musi and gospel—and for live performances of long musical improvisation.[1][4] In particular, the band frequently made use of “long jams”—whereby Jerry Garcia would spend lengthy periods engaging in rock lead guitar solos that evoked various “depth moods.” Other bands utilized long improvisational jams, but “The Dead” took it to extremes. “Their music,” Lenny Kaye wrote, “touches on ground that most other groups don’t even know exists.” [Wikipedia]