18 Facts About Grateful Dead

Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California.

Grateful Dead was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area amid the rise of the counterculture of the 1960s.

Grateful Dead began its career as the Warlocks, a group formed in early 1965 from the remnants of a Palo Alto, California jug band called Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions.

Mickey Hart took time off from the Grateful Dead beginning in February 1971, owing to his father, an accountant, having absconded with the band's money, leaving Kreutzmann as the sole percussionist.

In September 1975, the Grateful Dead released their eighth studio album, Blues for Allah.

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Grateful Dead formed during the era when bands such as the Beatles, the Beach Boys and the Rolling Stones were dominating the airwaves.

Grateful Dead members have said that it was after attending a concert by the touring New York City band the Lovin' Spoonful that they decided to "go electric" and look for a "dirtier" sound.

Many of these groups began to look past the American roots music that the Grateful Dead drew inspiration from, and incorporated elements of progressive rock, hard rock, and electronica.

Grateful Dead had studied tabla drumming and incorporated rhythms and instruments from world music, and later electronic music, into the band's live performances.

Some Grateful Dead's more extended jam vehicles, such as “The Other One”, “Dark Star”, and “Playing in the Band” almost exclusively make use of modulation between modes to accompany simple two-chord progressions.

Grateful Dead spent 35 years as principal lawyer and general counsel for the Grateful Dead, a position in the group that was so strong that his business cards with the band identified his role as "Czar".

In 2006, the Grateful Dead signed a ten-year licensing agreement with Rhino Entertainment to manage the band's business interests including the release of musical recordings, merchandising, and marketing.

Grateful Dead's efforts resulted in a call from representatives of the Grateful Dead who set up a meeting with the band members.

The Grateful Dead were known for the tremendous variation in their setlists from night to night—the list of songs documented to have been played by the band exceeds 500.

The Grateful Dead and UC Santa Cruz are both highly innovative institutions—born the same year—that continue to make a major, positive impact on the world.

Twelve members of the Grateful Dead were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, and Bruce Hornsby was their presenter.

Lead guitarist Jerry Garcia was often viewed both by the public and the media as the leader or primary spokesperson for the Grateful Dead, but was reluctant to be perceived that way, especially since he and the other group members saw themselves as equal participants and contributors to their collective musical and creative output.

Grateful Dead added several Dead songs to his own live shows and Jerry Garcia referred to him as a "floating member" who could come and go as he pleased.