![]() Though Jerry Garcia was already the band’s intellectual center, Pigpen had been its major draw and frontman, until he wasn’t. He avoided psychedelics, drank bottle after bottle of wine, and stopped touring a few months before his death. But as the Grateful Dead’s exploratory ethos inevitably led them to new territory and better drugs, Pigpen was left behind. The transition was punctuated by the 1973 death of Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, the harmonica player and vocalist whose ability to command a room and yelp out blues ad-libs for half an hour on “Turn on Your Lovelight” made him an intensely personable figure at one point, he was so recognizable, the band’s label ran a Pigpen look-alike contest. ![]() ![]() Depending on whom you ask, their first death came only a few years after their 1965 formation, as the raunchy organ jams and all-night raves of their psychedelic days gave way to statelier songwriting and more sophisticated playing. It was a run packed with notable passages, which I’ve melded together.The Grateful Dead have died many times. Three nights edited into a single track.This is that music in 1995.ġh 50m mp3 mix zipped up here (dates/cities included in song titles) Lesh said the Dead were always playing “Dark Star,” even when they weren’t. This portion of the mix sometimes aligns with the decade-spanning Save Your Face compilation “Chamber Music.”Īnd lastly, there are several great outliers from the above categories, with which I’ve concluded the mix. I’ve also assembled a different flavor of improvisation into a “Melancholy Suite,” which highlights a quest for strange, gentle beauty. You’ll hear them in the “Philadelphia Suite” that leads this mix, and then more insistently and extensively in the “Thematic Suite” that follows. In 1995, certain themes recurred regularly in the open improv sections of shows, arguably making them a jam or jams that ought to be named. This mix arranges portions of 1995 “Spaces” from 11 cities/runs, February through May, into several listening arcs, totaling two hours. ![]() The Grateful Dead remained an experimental band to the end. ![]()
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