Pigpen, at the height of his powers.

My '77 fixation continues...

Twenty years ago today, on Aug. 9, 1995, Jerry Garcia passed away at Serenity Knolls, a rehab facility 30 miles north of San Francisco in Marin County. He’d just turned 53 and it was exactly a month since the Grateful Dead played their final show with Garcia in Chicago on July 9.

First heard this when I was starting to get into the Dead. It blew my mind back then, and it's still one of my all time favorite Help->Slip->Franklin's suites.

Pretty straightforward stuff. A little cheesy, but fun to kill some time and maybe learn a thing or two.

Hell In A Bucket, Sugaree, CC Rider, It Must Have Been The Roses, It's All Over Now, Big Railroad Blues, Let It Grow-> Don't Ease Me In China Cat Sunflower-> I...

When the Fare Thee Well Shows were announced in March I bristled at the use of the name Grateful Dead as a moniker for the band. After all, there could be no Grateful Dead without Jerry Garcia.  

Check out the "artists" tab for some spectacular examples of psychedelic and old-school concert poster art, and the "media" tab for some great music. "The Grateful Dead Archive Online (GDAO) is a socially constructed collection comprised of over 45,000 digitized items drawn from the UCSC Library's extensive Grateful Dead Archive (GDA) and from digital content submitted by the community and global network of Grateful Dead fans."

One of my favorite Dead songs. The album that bears its name was released the day I was born, 7/27/77, 38 years ago today.

Ultimate Classic Rock takes an in-depth look into Brent Mydland's 11-year tenure with the Grateful Dead.

The Dead poured their efforts into their live shows, and into nearly nonstop touring. They also permitted fans to tape their shows and circulate the music freely. While these practices seemed like the perfect embodiment of counterculture sensibilities, it was astoundingly prescient.

In September of 1978, the Grateful Dead traveled to Egypt and played three shows at the Great Pyramid of Giza, with the Great Sphinx looking over their shoulders. It wasn't the first time a rock band played in an ancient setting.

A testament to the great power of the Dead's music to bring folks together and speak to all of us where we stand: "As the Grateful Dead’s 'long strange trip' came to an end, I discovered that their music moved me deeply...

I'm just on a big '77 kick right now. Set list: Minglewood Blues, Loser, El Paso, They Love Each Other, Jack Straw, Deal, Lazy Lightning-> Supplication, Brown Eyed Women, Mama Tried, Row Jimmy, Dancin' In...

One of the better early post-coma shows. I like the Terrapin here especially.

I don't know how long these will be up. They sound like soundboard recordings and are certainly worth a listen while they last! Much crisper than the officially sanctioned audience recordings I've posted in /t/gratefuldead, though they suffer from the same quiet keyboards that the live video feed had.

Upon entering Chicago's Soldier Field, the first thing that I -- and 70,000 grateful others -- were presented with was a single long-stemmed red rose. An American Beauty, dig? The Grateful Dead always had their iconography down pat. Nice opening touch...

Really great China-Rider, good PitB jam, fun show. Set list: Promised Land, Sugaree, Me & My Uncle, Deal, Black Throated Wind, China Cat Sunflower-> I Know You Rider, Mexicali Blues, Bertha Playin' In The Band, He's...