Life lessons on two wheels to the tunes of the
Grateful Dead
This Week in Grateful Dead History
Week 1
I wish I was a headlight on a northbound train.
Even the most cursory examination of the lyrics of Grateful Dead songs quickly uncovers one of the most fundamental aspects of the band’s identity: This is an American band, rooted in American culture, and built around easily recognizable locales and deeply American principles and history.
Other Posts
This Week in Grateful Dead History: Week 18 - May 1, 1977
I don’t trust to nothing
As we continue our focus on the Spring ’77 tour, we run head-on into five shows at the Palladium in New York City, April 29 – May 4 (with a well-deserved night off on May 2). The 3000-capacity Palladium played a storied role in rock music history during the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, when the property was purchased by New York University and converted into a student residential hall, affectionately referred to as Palladium Hall.
This Week in Grateful Dead History: Week 36 – September 3, 1977
If all you got to live for
After an unexpected summer off, due to injuries suffered by drummer Mickey Hart in a car accident, the magic of 1977 resumed in full force at Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey on 9/3/77. T.W.I.G.D.H. features this legendary show, which was memorialized with the October ’99 release of Dick’s Picks, Volume 15. Almost three months had passed since the landmark Spring ’77 tour ended at Winterland on June 9, but the band didn’t miss a beat with this excellent concert that was attended by more than 100,000 fans, making it the largest ticketed concert in the U.S. at the time.
This Week in Grateful Dead History: Week 38 – September 20, 1982
If the spirit’s sleeping then the flesh is ink
Despite being a West Coast band, the Dead had a special relationship with New York City, and played Madison Square Garden a total of 52 times from ’79-’94. As drummer Bill Kreutzmann remarked in 2015 as the band was inducted into the Madison Square Garden Walk of Fame, “Out of about 2300 shows that the Grateful Dead played, the 52 we played here were nothing short of amazing.” T.W.I.G.D.H. features one of those amazing shows, 9/20/82, and a tune that was performed live on that date for only the third time, Throwing Stones.
All Material Copyright 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 by Stewart Sallo