Despite the group The Grateful Dead unofficially in business since the mid-1990s, the band has just opened an account on the TikTok platform.
The date chosen was not accidental: April 20, an informal holiday called marijuana daywhich his fans have always enthusiastically celebrated.
The first post of the group in @gratefuldead includes audio of a live and remastered version of the song Saint Stephen, recorded at the Fillmore East Theater in San Francisco. It is 30 seconds long and the images include archival material and original artwork.
Although Thursday the 20th was the first day the Grateful Dead uploaded a clip, the account had been active since March and fans could be blown away by uploading their own videos.
A lysergic and independent story
The Grateful Dead (also known as “The Dead”) were an American psychedelic-influenced rock and folk rock band of the 1960s, in full period of experimentation with lysergic acid.
The group was created in 1965 by Uptown Jug Champions members of Mother McCree and The Soul Warlocks. They have become known for their unique and eclectic compositional style, which blended elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, country and jazzas well as live improvisations.
The Grateful Dead were well known for their constant touring throughout their extensive music career, with fans following them everywhere and called themselves “Deadheads”, in the best style of “I follow you everywhere” of the followers of Patricio Rey and his Redonditos de Ricota in the 90s.
In its early years, the band also engaged with their community, the Haight-Ashbury area of San Francisco, capital of the hippie counterculture at the time, by providing free food, shelter, music and medical care to their neighbors. .
With the exception of 1975, during which the band was “on hiatus” and only performed four times, the Grateful Dead toured the United States regularly from the winter of 1965 to July 9, 1995, including visits to Canada, Europe and three nights in the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt in 1978.
The group also played the legendary Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and the even more famous Woodstock Festival in 1969.
The historical members of the group were Jerry Garcia on guitar and banjo, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan on harmonica and organ, Phil Lesh on bass and Bill Kreutzmann on drums.
A boom in the MTV era
During the 80s, Jerry Garcia’s health began to fail. His heavy drug addiction has caused him to appear more listless on stage. After recovering from his addictions in 1985, he fell into a diabetic coma in July 1986.
Following his recovery, the band released the album in the darkness in July 1987, which turned out to be their best-selling album, with the single Touch of grey topping the charts, for the first time in his career, thanks to intense broadcasts on FM radio and MTV. That same year, the group toured with Bob Dylan and the album was recorded live. Dylan and the dead.
Inspired by Jerry’s improved health and success with In the darkness, the group underwent a resurgence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, Mydland’s death in 1990 brought trouble again.
They had to join Vince Welnick, keyboardist of the Tubes, and Bruce Hornsby, former musician of the band Range. Welnick died in 2006, apparently by suicide. Jerry García died in 1995, closing a cycle of a historic band that continues to have fans to this day.
Source: Clarin
