TIME Grateful Dead
60 Years On: A Sunshine Daydream • Being a Deadhead is about more than music. That’s why the band has a fan base like no other, and why they are thriving today.
Stages of Development • The Grateful Dead were all about their performances, from their earliest days to their years as certified sensations.
Meet the Dead • This band was the result of a meshing of dynamic personalities, including a reluctant leader, a musical virtuoso, two dedicated lyricists, and a force of pure id who—like several members of the group—would be gone too soon.
How It All Began • The Grateful Dead came to life when a rare group of individuals were fortunate enough to find one another, and the band helped ignite a San Francisco scene that would transform American culture and provide a soundtrack for the ’60s.
The Dead’s First Days: An Oral History • It was New Year’s Eve, and Phil walked into a music store where Jerry was playing banjo….
San Francisco in the ’60s • The Dead forged their identity amid a Bay Area scene that was to hippie culture what Florence was to the Renaissance.
Grace Slick Remembers the Grateful Dead • The lead singer for Jefferson Airplane reflected on those early days when “it was this kinda pleasant free-for-all.”
How Grateful Dead Fans Became Deadheads • Examining the case of a band and an audience that were at their best when they were all together.
Let There Be Songs • The Grateful Dead phenomenon was powered by live concerts that kept Deadheads coming back night after night, and also through radio staples that offered the casual fan a way in.
The Ultimate Live Band • The song “Dark Star” explains what made Grateful Dead concerts an experience like no other.
The Peak Concert Experience • Taking on the impossible task of choosing his top Dead shows, one writer zeroed in on a stretch of the early 1970s when it was all coming together.
The Making of a Masterpiece • In the studio, the Grateful Dead crafted radio classics a plenty. But none is more enduring than “Friend of the Devil.”
The Studio Album Guide • The Dead oeuvre includes undisputed classics, fascinating experiments, and a few notable misfires.
Just Keep Truckin’ On • The Grateful Dead came to an end in 1995 with the death of Jerry Garcia, but the music has lived on through new projects from remaining members and an influence that goes far beyond jam bands.
Leaving a Love That Won’t Fade Away • TIME paid tribute to the legend after his death from a heart attack at age 53.
Life After Jerry • For the last 30 years, the Dead’s remaining members have kept the music alive as they hopped through a variety of new incarnations.
Phish and the Dead • Trey Anastasio’s band is, for better or worse, seen as Grateful Dead Jr.
Under Their Influence • The contemporary artists who owe a debt to the Dead include more than the usual suspects.
TIME Grateful Dead
Credits
The Look of (the Summer of) Love
