“It’s not only music. It’s not only art. It’s a community. It’s a sense of having a place to belong.”
- Jared Leto
The Life of The Dead
As the sizzle of grilled cheese sandwiches cooking on the tops of cars and the smoke from psychoactive substances danced their way along Shakedown Street, ‘Deadheads’ were anticipating another Grateful Dead concert. The height of the Dead in the 70s consisted of a devoted and welcoming group of individuals open to seeking out new experiences.
“People were looking for alternatives towards religion and different consciousnesses,” said Auburn University communications professor George Plasketes. A new wave of freethinkers embraced the Grateful Dead, with diehard Deadheads traveling alongside the band on each leg of the tour.
San Franciscan Roots
The life of the Dead began in 1965 in the Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco, a neighborhood famous for its counter-cultural environment during a period dubbed ‘The Summer of Love.’ By blurring the lines of America’s societal rules, this led to a newfound collective, the hippie.
“In San Francisco the lifestyle of the hippie is hard to miss,” said solo recording artist and Bay Area native Solia Mayo, “The Grateful Dead has kept the legacy of the hippie alive for decades.”
On Nov. 27, 1965, the Grateful Dead had their first performance at a public acid test. During a time of widespread drug exploration, the band began to consistently play at local venues, gaining popularity leading to the Dead’s national tours. “They established a really really devoted following,” said Plasketes commenting on the success of the band during the Summer of Love, “Some of those things may have been the perfect storm.”
The Fandom
During the 70s the Dead culture was in full swing. “There’s very few bands that evoke that kind of loyalty,” said CEO of Mercenary Productions Sheri Sternberg, “You don’t hear people talking about going to see Bad Bunny for two weeks in a row.”
No concert’s setlist was the same as the last, creating diversity of sound and fans. Sociologist at Pennsylvania State University, Sam Stabler, said, “It was cool. It was a subculture. It was weird.” The connection between community and music allowed for a bond between Dead fans and concert goers.
“You look at something that happened at the Travis Scott Astroworld. You understand why people are like, I love music, I love art, I love community,” said Stabler commenting on the 10 deaths occurring at a 2021 music festival “I want to be with chillers that help each other and build community.”
A Dead show consisted of individuals traveling from varying backgrounds. Associate Director of Media Studies at Auburn University, Ed Youngblood, recalls a spontaneous road trip from his hometown in San Antonio, Texas, to the nation’s capital with the sole purpose of seeing the band live. “We got off work at 10 o’clock and hopped in a car,” said Youngblood, “We drove to D.C. straight.”
Simply wearing a Grateful Dead t-shirt is an invitation to other deadheads for conversation. “If you’re wearing a dead shirt, the most random people would come up to you and they would be the most serious Deadheads,” said Stabler.
By the time the 80s and 90s rolled around, the United States was leaning politically conservative compared to the 60s during the birth of the Dead. As America evolved, so did the Grateful Dead. Emphasizing the differences of Deadheads in the 80s and 90s in relation to previous decades, Stabler said, “They were taking a counter cultural movement in a very direct and tradition building sense and kind of won.”
Jerry’s Death
With his addicting guitar skills and outstanding vocals, beloved singer Jerry Garcia was the focal point for the Grateful Dead’s success. Struggling with heroin addiction, Garcia’s health began to crumble.
“Some of the stuff from ‘86, Jerry was not in good form,” said Youngblood, “If you listen to the RFK show from ‘86, it can be a little hard to listen to.”
Recovering from addiction in a Marin County, California, rehabilitation clinic, Garcia passed away from a heart attack in 1995. A San Francisco resident during Garcia’s death, Sternberg recalled, “To see the outpouring of grief in the Haight that things were never the same for the Dead after that.”
“With Jerry there was this wisdom poet dimension that’s still there but there’s no one in charge of that anymore,” said Stabler, “In a weird way, that helped reorganize.”
Without Garcia, the focus was shifted to rhythm guitarist, Bob Weir. “(Weir) Carries the torch, but that’s a different thing to do than light it,” said Stabler.
Life And Legacy After Jerry
Pushing for a revival, the Grateful Dead, worked to uncover the future of the band. “They did a good job with getting different people in there, but I won’t say filling Jerry’s shoes because you can’t do that,” said Sternberg.
By 2015, the Grateful Dead, rebranded to ‘Dead & Company,’ was still touring but with a different lead guitarist, John Mayer. “John Mayer was just amazing,” said Youngblood, “It was like hearing Jerry on a really good night with some new licks.”
The Grateful Dead legacy is complex encompassing all age groups. Stabler said, “As you see now it is intergenerational. There are different layers to it.”
As children of the first generation of Deadheads become adults, questions remain about how long the dead culture has left. “For the legacy to keep going is that the people who enjoy the music keep listening and pass it down to their children,” said Mayo.
Commenting on the opinions in regards to Dead exposure in children of deadheads, Sternberg said, “Its either what is this, some hippie bullsh*t or oh man, I get this, I want to go see this.”
Berklee School of Music student Max Buenaventura said, “Even though none of us have seen Jerry, we love the music. We love that it’s still going and will still go even though Dead & Co. is wrapping up.” Although not identical to the scene witnessed in the 70s, Grateful Dead fandom is carried on by the youth that were exposed by their parents.
“There will always be deadheads, (their) music will live on forever,” said Al Nadel, another student at Berklee School of Music. As the founding members of the Dead age, the legacy will continue in some form. It is merely up to the next generation and how the youth wants the Dead to be perceived.
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