History Music / TheGratefulDead

* FourMoreMeasures: One of the band members (it sounds like Weir) actually starts singing the first line of “Dancin’ in the Streets” four bars early in the Cornell ’77 performance (1:29 on the CD version).

* PoliceAreUseless: In their version of “Stagger Lee”; see ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend below.

Most of the band’s songs were collaborations between Garcia and lyricist Robert Hunter, though Weir contributed many as well, particularly with the help of lyricist John Perry Barlow. Hunter is considered to be an official member of the Dead, to the point where he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the rest of the band, while Barlow's official status is less clear. They also had an enormous library of covers, especially traditional Americana and blues, plus more modern country and rock pieces.

The band formally dissolved in the wake of Jerry Garcia’s demise, though members will occasionally reunite for special occasions, and they have performed under other names as TheBandMinusTheFace (e.g., The Other Ones, The Dead, Furthur, Dead & Company, etc.).

Dead & Company - which features Weir, Hart, Kreutzmann, Chimenti, [[Music/TheAllmanBrothersBand Oteil Burbridge]] and Music/JohnMayer (Lesh having declined a spot) - is the current touring iteration of the group, having formed shortly after the Fare Thee Well shows. The new band has surprisingly defied early fan skepticism (largely due to the presence of Mayer) by becoming one of the most popular touring acts of the past few years and easily the most successful of the post-Dead reunion groups.

** 2/11/1970 at Fillmore East had [[Music/TheAllmanBrothersBand Gregg and Duane Allman, Butch Trucks, Berry Oakley,]] [[Music/FleetwoodMac Peter Green, Danny Kirwan, and Mick Fleetwood]] [[DreamTeam joining the Dead]] for the Dark Star medley.

!!Principal Members (Founding members in '''bold'''):
* John Perry Barlow - lyrics (1971-1995, died 2018)

* '''Jerry Garcia''' - vocals, guitar (1965-1995, died 1995)

* Mickey Hart - drums (1967-1971, 1974-1995)
* Robert Hunter - lyrics (1967-1995, died 2019)
* '''Bill Kruetzmann''' - drums (1965-1995)
* '''Phil Lesh''' - bass, vocals (1965-1995)

* '''Bob Weir''' - vocals, guitar (1965-1995)
* Vince Welnick - keyboards (1990-1995, died 2006)

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: The "Touch of Grey" video. In real life, the hair follicles are rooted in the skin, meaning that skeletons wouldn't have them. [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality If the filmmakers followed that rule, however, most of the band members would be borderline unrecognizable.]]

* TheMovie: ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Grateful Dead Movie]]'' was a feature-length documentary following the band and their fanbase on their 1974 tour, particularly their October 1974 performances at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco.

* ProgressiveRock: While not generally considered to belong to the genre, they could be considered an UrExample with their complex time signature changes, their GenreMashup approach to composition which incorporated influences from disparate genres (including some that are considered mandatory points of influence for prog groups, like jazz and classical), and their common usage of EpicRocking. “That’s It for the Other One” is even divided into multiple movements, much as later prog groups would do; later compositions such as “Terrapin Part 1”, “King Solomon’s Marbles”, and “Blues for Allah” also do this. It’s possible geographical factors have contributed to their being written out of prog rock history, as American artists are often overlooked in histories of progressive rock (see also Music/ToddRundgren and Music/FrankZappa, amongst others; the latter is more frequently noticed than the Dead or Rundgren, but less so than the likes of Music/KingCrimson, Music/{{Genesis|Band}}, Music/{{Yes}}, Music/EmersonLakeAndPalmer, Music/PinkFloyd, and other British groups). Some critics have nonetheless contended that they belong to the genre, including [[https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/10078-the-grateful-dead-a-guide-to-their-essential-live-songs/?page=3%3Fpage%3D3%3Fpage%3D3%3Fpage%3D3%3Fpage%3D3?page=3 this Pitchfork piece]] and Paul Hegarty & Martin Halliwell, authors of ''Beyond and Before'', a 2011 history of progressive rock. The Dead's proggiest studio albums are probably 1975's ''Blues for Allah'' and 1977's ''Terrapin Station'' (oddly, probably also their most {{disco}}fied album apart from the following year's ''Shakedown Street''), with 1968's ''Music/AnthemOfTheSun'' (only one song below seven minutes in length!) deserving an honourable mention.

* RefrainFromAssuming: Differences ranging from massive (it’s “Touch of Grey”, not “I Will Survive” or “I Will Get By”) to the extremely subtle (it’s “Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo”, not “Half-Step Mississippi Uptown Toodeloo”).

* NotChristianRock: They are certainly not a Christian rock band, but they have covered gospel songs like “We Bid You Goodnight” and “Samson and Delilah,” and have used Christian imagery as the basis of their songs, most notably "St. Stephen."

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: The band was scheduled to play at Altamont, but bailed after hearing that Marty Balin of Music/JeffersonAirplane was knocked out trying to break up a fight between the Hells Angels Music/TheRollingStones had hired to do security and the audience, as seen in the ''Film/GimmeShelter1970'' documentary.

* RevolvingDoorBand: Downplayed; the band was infamous for its rotating keyboard spot, but apart from the occasional spots in the band’s early and late career where they had ''two'' keyboardists simultaneously, most of the changes to the position happened years apart. The core of the band - Garcia, Lesh, Kreutzmann, Hart, Weir, and Hunter - remained together from 1967 up through Garcia’s death in 1995, apart from a few years in the 1970s when Hart took a sabbatical. (Regardless, the Dead’s keyboard slot was probably the real-life inspiration for Film/SpinalTap’s rotating drummer slot, which - of course - took this trope UpToEleven.)

* ProgressiveRock: While not generally considered to belong to the genre, they could be considered an UrExample with their complex time signature changes, their GenreMashup approach to composition which incorporated influences from disparate genres (including some that are considered mandatory points of influence for prog groups, like jazz and classical), and their common usage of EpicRocking. “That’s It for the Other One” is even divided into multiple movements, much as later prog groups would do; later compositions such as “Terrapin Part 1”, “King Solomon’s Marbles”, and “Blues for Allah” also do this. It’s possible geographical factors have contributed to their being written out of prog rock history, as American artists are often overlooked in histories of progressive rock (see also Music/ToddRundgren and Music/FrankZappa, amongst others; the latter is more frequently noticed than the Dead or Rundgren, but less so than the likes of Music/KingCrimson, Music/{{Genesis}}, Music/{{Yes}}, Music/EmersonLakeAndPalmer, Music/PinkFloyd, and other British groups). Some critics have nonetheless contended that they belong to the genre, including [[https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/10078-the-grateful-dead-a-guide-to-their-essential-live-songs/?page=3%3Fpage%3D3%3Fpage%3D3%3Fpage%3D3%3Fpage%3D3?page=3 this Pitchfork piece]] and Paul Hegarty & Martin Halliwell, authors of ''Beyond and Before'', a 2011 history of progressive rock. The Dead's proggiest studio albums are probably 1975's ''Blues for Allah'' and 1977's ''Terrapin Station'' (oddly, probably also their most {{disco}}fied album apart from the following year's ''Shakedown Street''), with 1968's ''Music/AnthemOfTheSun'' (only one song below seven minutes in length!) deserving an honourable mention.

* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: The band was scheduled to play at Altamont, but bailed after hearing that Marty Balin of Music/JeffersonAirplane was knocked out trying to break up a fight between the Hells Angels Music/TheRollingStones had hired to do security and the audience, as seen in the ''Film/GimmeShelter'' documentary.

[[caption-width-right:350:Truckin’, circa 1970. Left to right: Bill Kreutzmann, Ron “Pigpen” [=McKernan=], Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Phil Lesh.]]

The Grateful Dead were a six-piece[[labelnote:*]]Well, most of the time; there were brief periods where they were a quintet, and one 5-year-long stretch when they were a septet[[/labelnote]] group formed in UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco in the [[TheSixties mid-1960s]], best known for their improvisatory style of rock music, taking elements of PsychedelicRock, CountryMusic, FolkMusic, {{Blues}} and whatever else they thought would fit. Essentially, they were the godfathers of the Jam Band genre. They appeared at the now-famous Film/MontereyPop Festival in 1967, and the even more famous original UsefulNotes/{{Woodstock}} festival in 1969 (however, band members admit they weren’t at top form at either one), and have a reputation for long tours and musically exploratory shows where one song often blends into another.

The core line-up was Jerry Garcia (lead guitar), Bob Weir (rhythm guitar), Phil Lesh (bass), Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann (drums - yes, two drummers, folks!) and a succession of keyboardists starting with Ron “Pigpen” [=McKernan=] and continuing, in order with Tom Constanten, Keith Godchaux, Brent Mydland, Vince Welnick and - on occasion - Bruce Hornsby. Godchaux's wife Donna Jean also joined the Dead as a backing vocalist shortly after he did, and they both left the group together to be replaced by Mydland. Aside from the keyboardists, whose tenures in the band sometimes overlapped into a dual-keyboards lineup, the band's membership was largely stable between 1967 and its split in 1995.

* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: Their sound combined elements of PsychedelicRock, FolkMusic, CountryMusic, {{blues}}, SpaceRock, {{bluegrass}}, modal {{jazz}}, {{reggae}}, {{disco}}, ClassicalMusic, and any number of other genres, depending upon what they felt like playing at the time. Due to their wide range of stylistic influences, while a number of jam bands have followed in their footsteps, the Dead’s sound remains unique.

* ProgressiveRock: While not generally considered to belong to the genre, they could be considered an UrExample with their complex time signature changes, their NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly approach to composition which incorporated influences from disparate genres (including some that are considered mandatory points of influence for prog groups, like jazz and classical), and their common usage of EpicRocking. “That’s It for the Other One” is even divided into multiple movements, much as later prog groups would do; later compositions such as “Terrapin Part 1”, “King Solomon’s Marbles”, and “Blues for Allah” also do this. It’s possible geographical factors have contributed to their being written out of prog rock history, as American artists are often overlooked in histories of progressive rock (see also Music/ToddRundgren and Music/FrankZappa, amongst others; the latter is more frequently noticed than the Dead or Rundgren, but less so than the likes of Music/KingCrimson, Music/{{Genesis}}, Music/{{Yes}}, Music/EmersonLakeAndPalmer, Music/PinkFloyd, and other British groups). Some critics have nonetheless contended that they belong to the genre, including [[https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/10078-the-grateful-dead-a-guide-to-their-essential-live-songs/?page=3%3Fpage%3D3%3Fpage%3D3%3Fpage%3D3%3Fpage%3D3?page=3 this Pitchfork piece]] and Paul Hegarty & Martin Halliwell, authors of ''Beyond and Before'', a 2011 history of progressive rock. The Dead's proggiest studio albums are probably 1975's ''Blues for Allah'' and 1977's ''Terrapin Station'' (oddly, probably also their most {{disco}}fied album apart from the following year's ''Shakedown Street''), with 1968's ''Music/AnthemOfTheSun'' (only one song below seven minutes in length!) deserving an honourable mention.

* TitledAfterTheSong: A fair chunk of their retrospective live albums after [[PlayingWithATrope key lyrics in their songs, but not the titles themselves]]. For example, ''Wake Up to Find Out'' (their 3/29/1990 show) takes its title from "Eyes of the World," ''Get Shown the Light'' (their May 1977 tour collection) is from "Scarlet Begonias," and ''Believe If You Need It'' (various early '70s shows from the Pacific Northwest) is from "Box of Rain." There are some straighter examples as well, like ''So Many Roads,'' ''Truckin' Up to Buffalo,'' and ''Spring 1990 (The Other One)''.

* DemBones: a common theme in their artwork, the most famous being their “Skull and Roses” logo (based on an illustration from the book ''Literature/RubaiyatOfOmarKhayyam''), the Touch of Grey video, and the "Steal Your Face" skull.

* OurGhostsAreDifferent: The story that they found their name when Garcia saw it in a dictionary are true. It was a folklore dictionary. “The grateful dead” or “the grateful dead man” occurs in fairy tales where the hero arranges for a stranger’s funeral, usually with the last of his money, and is joined by a companion who saves the day and often marries him off to a princess before revealing that he is the ghost of the man who was buried.

* CoversAlwaysLie: The cover for the 1980 album ''Go to Heaven'', which features the band in white leisure suit, made many fans believe the record would have a strong disco influence. Rather, the album is much rootsier and ''less'' disco than the two preceding albums and contains rock numbers like "Alabama Getaway" and "Don't Ease Me In".

* CoversAlwaysLie: The cover for the 1980 album ''Go to Heaven'', which features the band in white leisure suit, made many fans believe the record would have a strong disco influence. Rather, the album is much rootsier and ''less' disco than the two preceding albums and contains rock numbers like "Alabama Getaway" and "Don't Ease Me In".

* DeadArtistsAreBetter: When Jerry Garcia passed away, not only was there increased demand for the albums, but also for his line of men’s ties and even Ben & Jerry’s “Cherry Garcia” ice cream, which had existed since the mid-’80s and went from being one of its better selling flavors to the brand’s biggest selling flavor of all time.

* FadingIntoTheNextSong: On their respective albums, “That’s It for the Other One” -> “New Potato Caboose”, “Alligator” -> “Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks)”, “Ripple” -> “Brokedown Palace”. They would do this all the time live as well, to the point where some pairings became outright SiameseTwinSongs due to how frequently they appeared together. See below for examples.
* {{Fingore}}: Jerry's brother accidentally cut off his middle finger while they were chopping wood at age 4. For the rest of his childhood he'd often show it off to other kids.

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: The sole female member of the entire run was Donna Godchaux, backing vocalist and wife of keyboardist Keith Godchaux.