[Yoder]

Growing up in the Bay area during the 60s, I got introduced to a lot of music. The Dead were just a small part of the entire scene at the time.

There is a long history to the Dead, beginning with Ken Kesey. The Dead are a culture, and have done many good things in the wake of their existence. Jerry Garcia was the driving force, and a musical genius of sorts. But, the true driving force of the Dead was Robert Hunter. He was, IMO, one of the greatest lyricist of the 60s and 70s. In fact, I put his poetry alongside Bob Dylan and Van Morrison. Consequently, to begin appreciating the Dead you have to listen to the lyrics...it is poetry. But then, you will only get a glimpse of what the Dead were about.

American Beauty and Workingmans Dead have the greatest audience, but I feel that Blues for Allah and Live From the Mars Hotel albums are two of their finest works. Garcia was a folk singer in the beginning, but he definitely was migrating towards jazz on Blues for Allah. JG could also hold his own with a steel guitar and his second solo album is a classic. Though the other band members were not great, they were very good musicians that could hold their ground.

Garcia was very influential in driving the creation of Alembic Basses and Guitars...his guitars were technological wonders, and works of art. They also had the "Wall of Sound" that they toured with. At the time this was quite an accomplishment. The Dead also pioneered live digital sound.

Some of the best music to come out of the Bay area was created around 1970. This is when Garcia, members of Quicksilver, Jefferson Airplane, CSN, etc., would get together and have their jam sessions. Sunfighter is one of the finer recordings to capture them together. If you were lucky, you caught them live. Here the Dead were a part of a large extended musical family.

One of the greatest accomplishments of the Dead was the extended family that they supported all of those years, and even today. Their wives, children, and friends were all taken care of...the Dead of course were close to bankruptcy. But, they built a community that is still alive and well.

Micky Hart (drummer) has one of the greatest percussion collections in the world, and has an organization that is working to preserve the world's percussion instruments and sounds...he also has a museum. The Dead also supported the Lithuania Olympic team, and they give a lot of money back to the SF community.

To fully understand the Dead, one has to also understand the culture that they were a part of. They cannot be pulled out and scrutinized as an individual entity. To fully understand them, you need to look at Jack Keruoac, Neil Cassidy, Ken Kesey, etc. Their music was not great, but it was good, and it was a reflection of what was going on at the time. More importantly, a lot of non-musical good came out of the Grateful Dead, and some of their social work will continue far beyond my stay on this planet.