Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Legends of Rock & Roll: The Grateful Dead
    Legends of Rock & Roll: The Grateful Dead
    Legends of Rock & Roll: The Grateful Dead
    Ebook83 pages53 minutes

    Legends of Rock & Roll: The Grateful Dead

    By James Hoag

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    "What a long, strange trip it's been."

    Welcome to another in the Legends of Rock & Roll series.

    The Legends of Rock & Roll series is about the music we have listened to over the past fifty years. This is a mini-biography of the band The Grateful Dead, but even more importantly, it's about the music that they created; the songs that affected a generation.

    The Dead were the most important band of the psychedelic era (the last half of the Sixties) and, arguably, one of the most ground breaking bands in the history of Rock & Roll. They gradually increased their fans until hundreds of thousands would show up for a concert. The Grateful Dead are almost single-handedly responsible for keeping the spirit of the Sixties alive through the next twenty years.

    This is the story of The Grateful Dead.

    This is an unauthorized fan tribute.

    Inside you'll find:

    Introduction - My feelings about The Grateful Dead in general and a kick-off for the book.
    Before The Grateful Dead - An introduction to how the five guys came together to form the band.
    Jerry Garcia - A look at the life of Jerry Garcia before The Grateful Dead.
    Phil Lesh - A look at the life of Phil Lesh before The Grateful Dead.
    Bob Weir - A look at the life of Bob Weir before The Grateful Dead.
    Ron "Pigpen" McKernan - - A look at the life of Ron "Pigpen" McKernan before The Grateful Dead.
    Bill Kreutzmann - A look at the life of Bill Kreutzmann before The Grateful Dead.
    Acid Tests - "Can You Pass the Acid Tests?"
    What's in a Name - How did the Dead come up with the name and what does it mean?
    Summer of Love - 1967 was the famous Summer of Love in San Francisco. What part did the Dead play it that?
    Mickey Hart Joins the Band - The band gets a sixth member.
    "Anthem of the Sun" - How their second album came to be.
    “Aoxomoxoa” - The third album. What does it mean and how do you pronounce it?
    First Truly Live Album - They finally get a chance to record a live album and everything changes.
    “Workingman’s Dead” - The story of a Grateful Dead classic.
    “American Beauty” - This album contained one of their most famous hits.
    A Classic Concert - The story of a classic concert in New York City.
    Deadheads - Who were Deadheads and where did the name come from?
    Keith and Donna Godchaux Join the Band - The band grows by two more people.
    The Death of Pigpen - The loss of one of the founding members deeply affects the band.
    The Wall of Sound - The famous wall of sound that highlighted each live performance.
    “Blues for Allah” - Another famous Dead album. Who is Allah?
    The Eighties - Drugs threatened to end the band in the Eighties.
    Jerry Goes Through a Rough Patch - Jerry Garcia goes through some tough times trying to get his habits under control.
    “Touch of Gray” - The story of their one hit single.
    The End of The Grateful Dead - The loss of Jerry Garcia signals the end of the Grateful Dead.
    After the Dead - What happened to the band members after the band broke up?
    Legacy of The Grateful Dead - Every Legends book has a Legacy section where we review the awards and contributions of the artist or band.
    Afterword - My closing thoughts.
    Selected Discography - A list of the major works by The Grateful Dead.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJames Hoag
    Release dateMay 24, 2016
    ISBN9781310878794
    Legends of Rock & Roll: The Grateful Dead
    Author

    James Hoag

    James Hoag has always been a big fan of Rock & Roll. Most people graduate from high school and then proceed to "grow up" and go on to more adult types of music. James got stuck at about age 18 and has been an avid fan of popular music ever since. His favorite music is from the Fifties, the origin of Rock & Roll and which was the era in which James grew up. But he likes almost all types of popular music including country music.After working his entire life as a computer programmer, he is now retired and he decided to share his love of the music and of the performers by writing books that discuss the life and music of the various people who have meant so much to him over the years.He calls each book a "love letter" to the stars that have enriched our lives so much. These people are truly Legends.

    Read more from James Hoag

    Related to Legends of Rock & Roll

    Related ebooks

    Music For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Return Of The Pilgrim

      Mar 30, 2020

      Return Of The Pilgrim
      10 min read

    • Article

      Alice In Chains

      Apr 30, 2019

      Alice In Chains
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Size Of It

      Sep 14, 2021

      The Size Of It
      7 min read

    • Article

      Gene Clark

      Oct 17, 2019

      Gene Clark
      5 min read

    • Article

      Zakk’s Dirty Dozen

      Nov 30, 2021

      Zakk’s Dirty Dozen
      7 min read

    • Article

      Live Forever

      Aug 24, 2021

      Live Forever
      9 min read

    • Article

      Metal Thrived

      Dec 8, 2022

      Metal Thrived
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Great Deceiver

      Jan 5, 2021

      The Great Deceiver
      7 min read

    • Article

      Krist Novoselic

      Dec 7, 2021

      Krist Novoselic
      7 min read

    • Article

      Light And Shade

      Dec 14, 2021

      Light And Shade
      4 min read

    • Article

      Rush To Read

      Dec 7, 2021

      Rush To Read
      2 min read

    • Article

      Mars Attacks!

      Feb 20, 2024

      YOU DON’T START A conversation with Mick Mars by asking, “How are you?” It comes out more like, “How are you?” He’s used to it. Ever since the guitarist went public in 2001 with his decades-long battle with ankylosing spondylitis — a pernicious, infl

      14 min read

    • Article

      School Days

      Feb 8, 2022

      THE SCENE MAY be better known today than the film in which it appears. Midway through Hail! Hail! Rock ’n’ Roll, Taylor Hackford’s 1987 documentary about Chuck Berry’s star-studded 60th birthday concert, Keith Richards convinces the guitar icon to le

      2 min read

    • Article

      “Mick Wanted Me”

      Dec 8, 2022

      “Mick Wanted Me”
      2 min read

    • Article

      Free All Right Now

      Nov 19, 2021

      Free All Right Now
      2 min read

    • Article

      John Frusciante

      Dec 16, 2022

      John Frusciante
      10 min read

    • Article

      On The Crest Of A Wave

      Apr 1, 2020

      On The Crest Of A Wave
      14 min read

    • Article

      John Frusciante

      Jan 11, 2022

      ON JUNE 14, 1998, the prodigal son came home. When the Red Hot Chili Peppers walked onstage at the Tibetan Freedom Concert at Washington DC’s RFK Stadium, it was with guitarist John Frusciante, the man who had deserted them mid-tour six years earlier

      7 min read

    • Article

      TikTok Killed the Video Star

      Jun 15, 2022

      TikTok Killed the Video Star
      7 min read

    • Article

      Drive-by Truckers

      May 19, 2022

      Drive-by Truckers
      4 min read

    • Article

      Performance Notes

      May 17, 2022

      THIS CLASSIC, HAUNTINGLY beautiful composition features some of the late, great Randy Rhoads’ finest musical moments in his brief but brilliant career collaborating with the legendary Ozzy Osbourne. Written in the key of D minor, the song is built ar

      4 min read

    • Article

      Royal Blood

      Dec 7, 2021

      Royal Blood
      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Legends of Rock & Roll

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Legends of Rock & Roll - James Hoag

      Legends of Rock & Roll – The Grateful Dead

      By

      James Hoag

      ~~~

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright © 2013 by James Hoag

      Discover other titles by James Hoag at Smashwords.com

      Cover by James Hoag

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Publishers Notes

      Disclaimer

      Legends of Rock & Roll – The Grateful Dead Copyright 2013 James Hoag.

      All rights reserved.

      No parts of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without written permission from the publisher. The only exception is for a reviewer. A reviewer may quote brief passages in a review.

      Published by

      www.number1project.com

      Monument Marketing Publishing LTD.,

      53 Hanover Dr., Orem, Utah 84058

      Table of Contents

      Introduction

      Before the Grateful Dead

      Jerry Garcia

      Phil Lesh

      Bob Weir

      Ron Pigpen McKernan

      Bill Kreutzmann

      Acid Tests

      What’s In a Name?

      Summer of Love

      Mickey Hart Joins the Band

      Anthem of the Sun

      Aoxomoxoa

      First Truly Live Album

      Workingman’s Dead

      American Beauty

      A Classic Concert

      Deadheads

      Keith and Donna Godchaux Join the Band

      The Death of Pigpen

      The Wall of Sound

      Blues for Allah

      The Eighties

      Jerry Goes Through a Rough Patch

      Touch of Gray

      The End of The Grateful Dead

      After the Dead

      Legacy of the Grateful Dead

      Afterword

      Selected Discography

      About the Author

      Introduction

      What a long, strange trip it's been.

      The Grateful Dead are trying to save the world. – Phil Lesh.

      I was a fan of the Dead (I hope you won’t mind if I just call them the Dead, it’s simpler that way), but I was never what you might call a Deadhead. I did not travel around and try to attend every concert like some fans did. I do have a son-in-law, however, who did just that. He went so far as to have a recording of every different concert the Grateful Dead performed even if it wasn’t available to the public.

      Now, that’s a true fan. How could anyone who lived in the late Sixties and early Seventies have not heard of the Grateful Dead? They were one of the greatest American bands of the time. I never actually got to see them perform, but I did hear a few of their albums and I was deep into MTV when the song Touch of Grey was released. I still like that song.

      The Dead were the most important band of the psychedelic era (the last half of the Sixties) and, arguably, one of the most ground breaking bands in the history of Rock & Roll. They gradually increased their fans until hundreds of thousands would show up for a concert. The Grateful Dead are almost single handedly responsible for keeping the spirit of the Sixties alive through the next twenty years.

      Anyone who has read any of the other Legends of Rock & Roll books knows what to expect here. I am not a biographer. I am a music lover. I grew up loving all kinds of music, and I love writing about it. You can’t discuss the music without discussing the events surrounding the music. To know the music, you must know the people who wrote and played the music. For that, we have to delve into their lives and try to find out what makes them tick.

      The Dead still perform, although now they are known by other names, and we’ll get to that later. The keystone of the Grateful Dead was Jerry Garcia, as most everyone knows, and he died in 1995. When Jerry died, the Dead died with him. The other fellows have tried to keep the music alive without Jerry and for the most part, have done a great job of that. However, we all know that without Jerry, the Dead just aren’t the Dead. Let’s trace the history of the band and the people who made up the band and try to figure out what made it tick and become one of the great all time American bands.

      Before the Grateful Dead

      The Dead were formed in Palo Alto, California in 1965, but what happened before that? The founding members of the Dead were Jerry Garcia, who played guitar and contributed vocals; Bob Weir, also on guitar and vocals; Ron Pigpen McKernan, who played keyboards, harmonica and also contributed vocals; Phil Lesh, a bass player and, of course vocals; and last but not least, Bill Kreutzmann on drums.

      As we shall see, the band began simple and slowly grew into what we know today as the Grateful Dead. Like many of the bands of the Sixties, they didn’t just spring into existence fully formed but evolved into a great band.

      Jerry Garcia first got together with Robert Hunter, another loner who was trying to make his way in the world. Both of them owned cars, but neither car worked, so somehow they parked them side by side in a vacant lot and lived together in their cars. They literally taught each other how to play the guitar and then they started getting gigs around Palo Alto, California where Jerry was living.

      This was 1961, and the folk scene was where it

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1