Grateful Dead Essay -- essays research papers

Throughout history there have been many harmonyal "influences". One extremely important influence to modern symphony is The Grateful Dead. The group was formed in 1965 by bluegrass - enthusiast Jerry Garcia on guitar and vocals, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan on vocals and organ, Bob Weir on guitar and vocals, classical music bookman Phil Lesh on bass and vocals, and Bill Kreutzmann on drums. From the beginning, they brought together a variety of influences, from Garcias country background to Pigpens feeling for blues (his father was an R&B radio DJ) and Leshs education in contemporary serious" music. Add to that, the experimentation encouraged at some of the groups first performances at novelist Ken Keseys "acid block out" parties-multimedia events intended to replicate (or accompany) the experience of taking the then-legal drug LSD-and you had a musical mixture of styles often played with extended improvisational sections that could go off in more(prenom inal) or less any direction. The band signed to Warner Brothers in 1967, experiencing some difficulties early on with the restrictions of standard recording practices and the companys interest in producing a conventionally commercial product. As a result, the groups first few albums were somewhat tentative but showed promise for the future, especially with the key additions of Mickey Hart as a second drummer in 1967 and Garcias old friend Robert Hunter as the bands lyricist. The Dead finally hit their stride with the release of Live Dead, a double album, in 1969. (They were always more comfortable on stage than in the studio.) Two studio albums in 1970, Workingmans Dead and American Beauty, found them exploring folk-rock and more tightly constructed song forms and, along with wide touring, won them a much larger audience. In the second half of the 70s, the Dead recorded a series of commercially - oriented albums for Arista, then difficult on roadwork for the better part of the 80s . In the Dark, released in 1987, was their first studio album in seven years. It sold a million copies and produced the bands first eyeshade Ten hit in "Touch of Grey." One of the aspects of the Grateful Dead that made them stand out was their mixing of several different kinds of music. As menti unrivalledd earlier, the Deads music is a hearty mixture of bluegrass, classical, and good old-fashioned rock... ...ot, is Blues Traveler. On the scene since 1984, John Popper (lead vocals and unbelievable harmonica) has lead this band up from the depths of the local political party circuit to having a multi-platinum album (1994s Four). Also with the same blues-rock feeling, deadheads are sure to flashback to yesteryear with one of Poppers unreal harmonica riffs. Traveler has also touched millions of college kids and pull them in with their unique musical style, just as the Dead were reeling them in in the 60s and 70s. The Grateful Deads immense musical influence has by far been an fundamental factor in many bands that we would consider influential today. Bob Dylan considered Jerry to be like an older brother. The Rolling Stones, The Allman Brothers, and countless other legends have played to a lower place the Deads tutelage. This only shows that they have so greatly influenced the world of music as we know it today. Just as they were influenced to create their own unique style, they are mollify influencing bands today, thirty-four years after it all began. The Grateful Dead were certainly an implausible influence over the music world today. There is only one thing left to say.We are truly Grateful.