S2E1: San Francisco’s Grateful Dead

For Season Two of Dead To Me, we’re taking a deep dive into the Grateful Dead’s studio albums. Or more specifically, we’re considering the original published sources of classic Dead repertoire. This distinction is important because not all of those tunes saw their initial appearance on official Dead records. Some, in fact, arrived on individual band members’ solo releases (which tended to feature contributions from many—if not all—core personnel). In addition to staples like American Beauty, Terrapin Station, From the Mars Hotel, Workingman’s Dead, and Anthem of the Sun, we’ll also cover Jerry's debut, Garcia, Bob Weir’s Ace, and Mickey Hart’s Rolling Thunder, along with—gasp!—official live releases that “substituted” for studio recordings (Skull and Roses, for example). We’re excited to explore the history and cultural context of these crucial audio artifacts. But most of all, we're psyched to riff on the music itself. Let’s start at the beginning with San Francisco’s Grateful Dead—a scruffy slice of pop-r&b with unmistakably psychedelic overtones that landed in March of 1967. Press play and get this trip underway!

---