Artist Playlists
-
From the psychedelic firestorm of Anthem of the Sun to the pioneering folk rock of Workingman's Dead, The Grateful Dead recorded many classic studio albums. But they truly came alive onstage, inspiring generations of Deadheads to join their musical caravan. Formed in 1965, the group were a crucial part of San Francisco's hippie Summer of Love, but they were equally at home playing blues, country, and jazz. And while they're the elder statesmen of the jam band scene, they took their musical journeys further into the unknown than any of their peers or followers. - Though they had a knack for taking rock ‘n' roll in countless new directions at once, the Grateful Dead always honoured the long-standing heritage of folk music. They could transform the traditional gospel-blues number "Samson and Delilah" into a swirling, syncopated storm of sound, and revive the ‘20s jug-band song "Minglewood Blues" as a roaring garage rocker.
- The Grateful Dead became a rock institution by combining tuneful roots music with daring improvisations. Their influence abides in the country blues of Phish's "Possum," in the quicksilver guitar of Meat Puppets' "Lake of Fire," and in tilted campfire songs like Animal Collective's "Winters Love," while Gov't Mule guitarist Warren Haynes channels Jerry Garcia's virtuosic soloing in "Towering Fool."
- The jam-band tradition begins with the Grateful Dead’s legendary live shows. From their roots in San Francisco’s psychedelic scene of the late ’60s, the band used the stage to thread rock, country, jazz, blues, and folk into tapestries of sound both cosmic and earthy. As for their longevity, it can be chalked up to their improvisational chops. No two versions of “Dark Star” sound the same—and that’s the ever-evolving beauty of the Dead experience.
- The Dead's anything-goes outlook begins with American roots music. The Rev. Blind Gary Davis' gritty gospel-blues ("I Saw the Light") and the Bakersfield country of Merle Haggard ("I'm a Lonesome Fugitive") inspired reverent, if jumped-up, covers. And you can hear the bones of the Dead's extended improv anthem "Dark Star" in German futurist Karlheinz Stockhausen's electronic "Kontakte."