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This is strange, because although I am a child of the '60's, I was such a straight arrow when I was a kid, and though I was aware of the Dead, I never really listened to them.

Fast-forward to now: I am a mid-fifties, motorcycled-addled, cynical-of-all-things-establishment (that's what watching a lifetime of Government/Big Corporate f***k-ups does) arguably-having-a-mid-life-crisis type of individual.

I listen to the Dead *ALL* the time. It is the perfect accompaniment to all my off-work and on-line activities. If I had done at fifteen what I am doing now in my fifties (including my appreciation for the Dead)... whoo boy! what a ride that woulda been! LOL

Peace and Love and Motorcycles!

I appreciated Ben Ratliff's Times story for the absence of commonly seen descriptions of Deadheads like "burnout" "hippie wannabe" "throwback" and "wastecases". His treatment of the subject and fans was openminded and fair, and I was impressed that the Times gave him so much space to tell his story.

In response to Paul's statement about Deadheads being narrow in their musical tastes, I will point out that the Dead have, over their long history, played with many other artists, whose music was opened up to their fans. These artists include Branford Marsalis, Ornette Coleman, Bruce Hornsby, Steve Winwood, David Bromberg, Bob Dylan, Los Lobos, Edie Brickell, David Grisman, Jeff Beck, Bela Fleck, Miles Davis, Roy Buchanan, Olatunji, Carlos Santana, Jimmy Cliff, Sting, Warren Zevon, Peter Rowan, Chuck Berry, Buddy Miles, Aretha Franklin, David Murray, Rita Marley, and even Jose Feliciano. The list goes on. The band's repertoire covered Bluegrass, Country, Jazz, Rock, Motown, Reggae, R&B, Zydeco, and traditional music. A student of the Dead's music will be conversant in any of those styles.

I liked the comment above about the guy's dad who goes to so many basketball games; I bet nobody ever said to him, "If you've seen them play once, why do you keep going back?"

A couple of years ago, I saw Phil Lesh talk at the Ethical Culture in Manhattan, after not having seen "the boys" since 1972. I expected to hear Phil talk about future plans to perform a Luciano Berio type work with the NY Philharmonic, or some such luminous musical invention. The talk was monitored by someone uninspiring, and it was all about Phil's book. The past, the past, and nothing but the past! The audience was filled with people sporting Grateful Dead notebook covers, Phil Lesh pocketbooks, and other such juvenile memorabilia. This was mindless stuff. I am glad I stopped seeing them at concerts, but I still bend my ear to hear the tune!!!

Every band has a fan base. However, no fan base comes close to the devotion of Deadheads. I wrote a biography on the Grateful Dead for kids. My publisher, Enslow, publishes books for kids K-12. My publisher considered publishing books on other groups, but we found that no other group has as big a following as the Grateful Dead.
The purpose of this book is for Deadheads to share their stories with their kids.
The book is Grateful Dead: What a Long Strange Trip it's Been (Enslow Publishing, published March 2009).
The paperback is $9.95.

I've been going to shows since Nov. 23, 1970 (a Hell's Angels party at the Anderson Theater on the LES). Going next Wednesday in NJ. When Jerry died I started using the melody from "Ripple" as a liturgical tune in our synagogue. It shows up someplace almost every time I lead the service. Others have started using it also.

Jimmy had a nickel,
Jimmy bought a schoolbus,
The Goofus Gang spread some paint,
And Jimmy drove to Jersey....

Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City,
Colt Park, Hartford, Connecticut.
Nassau Stadium, four days for free,
Lost our jobs, but we still had the bus!

Deadheads are a curious group of people who never realized that music can be so much more exciting than the boring country music the Dead play.

I wish them all a well-intentioned "Snap out of it!!!"

I still have milk-crates of live GD tapes stacked to the ceiling in my basement. Don't listen to them anymore, but can't bear to part with them. Great memories come back just by looking at them!

I am a big Deadhead. My father is a huge college basketball fan. He has season tickets to his favorite college basketball team. In the past 25 years he has seen over 20 games a season. That is over 400 games. Each game ends in either a win or a loss.

I have seen almost 180 dead shows in the past 20 years. every show had a different set list.

Why is it that my fixation on the Dead is viewed so strangely but my Dads basketball fandom is viewed as normal?

Must confess did not really get the Dead until the appropriate chemicals were applied under circumstances of a live show (Cortland, '71?). Suddenly it was all so very clear......

Correction:

I followed them -- not like a "real" Deadhead, only maybe 150 shows -- but enough...

i wasnt a deadhead but went to a bunch of concerts where i noticed the other life in the parking lot including a number of roaming dogs that i named "dead dogs" and decided to make a documentary about the dogs. Unfortunately Jerry died and there were no more concerts. The name of the doc. would have been "Deaddogs" Years later the daughter of dave grisman compiled home monvies,etc. of her father and Jerry into a doc. called "Grateful Dawg".

My holy grail was my first-ever show, UCLA, 11/17/73. In the second set they did musical algebr: Half of Uncle John's Band>jam>Half of Playing in the Band>jam>All of Morning Dew>jam>Rest of Playing>jam>Rest of Uncle John.

I was hooked and followed them -- not like a "real" Deadhead until 1995, two weeks before their last show.

I'm a journalist, now a professor, and went to shows with other "real" people: professors, a federal government lawyer and the like. Wrote about us when Jerry died and tried to explain why: http://tinyurl.com/jerryg.

(And, even though we were true obsessives, we did listen to other music.)

I've also seen The Dead and love the way they've let the music evolve. Most recently, drove from Florida to NC to catch the first show on the tour with my wife and daughters, age 7 and 12.

It was a dream-come-true to share with my daughters.

-- Neil Reisner
Hollywood, FL

Reel-to-reel recordings of Dead concerts were pretty common even by the early 70's, and proponents of rival bands like the Allman Bros. had their own subculture blossoming and bootlegging in similar flower.

I'am getting chills.

What about the Dead's influence in "high culture"? Few bands have been the subject of not one but two orchestral pieces, not to mention art exhibits and more.

When was the term "Deadhead" coined?

The Grateful Dead always sounded like cats shrieking off-key to me. You know what one Deadhead said to the other after the dope wore off? "This music stinks!"

Who's this boob from the Times? We all read his article. Talk to the Deadhead. I'm sure he has some WAY better stories you haven't got out of him yet.

Six words:
Barton Hall, Cornell, May 1977, heaven.

We were there.

When the Grateful Dead played it was an 'event'.
When the Dead play it's a 'concert'.

Big difference!

ask him about Stevie Kimock, who stands in as a guitarist now and then.

... if you get confused listen to the music play!

I Have fond memories of following the DEAD around in the 80's. What would it be like if Jerry were still here with us. "I would trade all of my tommoroes for one single yesterday"

I am the author of Grateful Dead: What a Long Strange Trip it's Been (Enslow Publishers, Inc. March 2009). My book is geared to kids--ages 12-15--kids of Deadheads. (Enslow publishes books for schools and libraries, but this is their first book that will be sold at bookstores.)
I have a chapter in my book on Deadheads. The ones I interviewed were generous with their time. They wanted to talk about the Dead and what their music means to them.
For the book, I interviewed Bob Weir, David Gans, Dennis McNally, and several Deadheads.
You can find the link to the book at amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/Grateful-Dead-What-Strange-Rebels/dp/0766036200/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240409137&sr=1-1.
Thanks,
Michele C. Hollow