Deadhead

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A black-and-white photo of the above symbol was featured inside the album jacket of the self-titled Grateful Dead album along with the address below.

Deadhead or Dead Head is the name given to fans of the American jam band, the Grateful Dead.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

[edit] Origins

The term first appeared in print on the gatefold sleeve of Grateful Dead (also known as Skull & Roses), the band's second live album, released in 1971.^[6] It read:

This phenomenon was first touched on in print by Village Voice music critic Robert Christgau at a Felt Forum show in 1971, noting "how many 'regulars' seemed to be in attendance, and how, from the way they compared notes, they'd obviously made a determined effort to see as many shows as possible."^[6]

Eileen Law, a long time friend of the band, was put in charge of the mailing list and maintained the Dead Heads newsletter. It is estimated that by the end of 1971, the band had received about 350 letters, but this number swelled greatly over the next few years to as many as 40,000.^[6] In total, 25 mailings/newsletters reached Dead Heads between October of 1971 and February 1980. After this time, the Grateful Dead Almanac would succeed it, with this eventually being abandoned for Dead.net.^[6] Those who did receive the newsletter in the 1970s often found pleasant surprises sent along. One example is from May 1974 when Heads received a sample EP of Robert Hunter's upcoming album Tales of the Great Rum Runners as well as selections from Jerry Garcia's second album, Compliments of Garcia. This sample was titled Anton Round, which was an alias used by Ron Rakow.^[6]

[edit] The phenomenon

The Grateful Dead's appeal to fans was supported by the way the band structured their concerts:

• From the early 1970s on, night to night song selection changed over subsequent shows.
• Also from the early 1970s on, it could be expected that the band would play two sets in a show.
• From the 1980s on, the second set usually contained a drum solo by Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann (also known as the "Rhythm Devils") followed by improvisational "space" jams (See the album "Infrared Roses").
• Due to the band's improvisational nature, each time a song was performed, it was different from the prior time it was played. Over time this led songs to undergo an evolutionary process where the current incarnation might sound radically different from the first time it was performed.

The varied song selection allowed the band to create a "rotation" of songs that was roughly repeated every 3 to 4 performances ("shows"). The rotation created two phenomenon. The first was the desire of deadheads to hear their song or hit a good show, which meant that deadheads began traveling between various cities on tour to see the band. The second phenomenon, was that the large number of traveling fans also permitted the band to perform multiple shows in a single venue and be assured that the performances would be mostly sold out- as almost all were from the early 1980's on. With large numbers of people thus attending strings of shows, a community naturally developed out of the familiarity. As generations turned from the acid tests to the 1970s (and onward), tours became a time to revel with friends at concerts, old and new, who never knew the psychedelic age that spawned the band they loved.^[7] As with any large community, Deadheads developed their own idiom, slang and touchstones which is amply illustrated in books about the Grateful Dead such as the Skeleton Key. The deadhead passion for the band and desire to travel was not well understood by society at large, but deadhead's did impact greater society by bringing their slang into general use such (ex "What a long strange trip its been"). Deadheads' societal impact was conspicuous on college campuses, as many schools had deadhead fraternities, and on early FM rock radio, which was willing to play the longer length Dead songs.

Deadheads use the term "X Factor" to describe the intangible element that elevates mere performance into something higher.^[8] Publicist and Jerry Garcia biographer Blair Jackson stated that "shows were the sacrament ... rich and full of blissful, transcendent musical movements that moved the body and enriched the soul."^[9] Phil Lesh himself comments on this phenomenon in his autobiography by saying "The unique organicity of our music reflects the fact that each of us consciously personalized his playing: to fit with what others were playing and to fit with who each man was as an individual, allowing us to meld our consciousnesses together in the unity of a group mind.".^[10]

Jackson takes this further, citing drummer Mickey Hart as saying "The Grateful Dead weren't in the music business, they were in the transportation business." Jackson relates this to the Deadhead phenomenon directly by saying "for many Deadheads, the band was a medium that facilitated experiencing other planes of consciousness and tapping into deep, spiritual wells that were usually the province of organized religion ... [they] got people high whether those people were on drugs or not." (For more on the spiritual aspect, see Spinners in the section below). It was times like these that the band and the audience would become one; The Grateful Dead and the Deadheads were all in the same state of mind.^[11]

Rock producer Bill Graham summarized much of the band's effect when he created a sign for the Grateful Dead when the group played the closing of the Winterland Ballroom on December 31, 1978 that read:^[12]

[edit] Deadheads through the years

• 1970s - essentially known as the "second generation of Deadheads," the new Deadheads of this time can either be traced to "an older sibling who had turned them on by spinning Workingman's Dead or Europe '72" or through college and university dorm rooms.^[13]
• 1980s - The early 1980s brought about what would later become known as "Shakedown Street" (in reference to the Grateful Dead album of the same name). Started during the New Year's Eve shows at the Oakland Auditorium in California from 1979-1982, Deadheads began to realize they could sell their wares (anything from tie-dye t-shirts to veggie burritos) in order to follow around the band more. Also during the early '80s, Deadhead tapers grew exponentially, resulting in the band designating a taping section in October of 1984.^[14] With the success of their album In the Dark (and the single "Touch of Grey"), 1988 started the "Mega-Dead" period.^[15]
  • In the Darkers - also known as "Touchheads" (a reference of the album for the former and the single for the latter), these fans "dissed the fragile ecosystem" of a Grateful Dead show, in the words of Jackson. This led to "wiser" Deadheads, with the backing of the band, to mail SOS's and hand out show flyers telling people to "cool out."^[15]
  • Minglewood Town Council - this group was a direct result of the Touchheads and were a "tribal council" consisting of Deadheads and the Hog Farmers Calico and Goose. They handed out garbage bags at shows for people to pick up trash afterwards and tried to keep the masses mellow.^[15]
• 1990s - The Deadheads of this time "tended to be young, white, male, and from middle-class backgrounds -- in short, they were drawn from much the same demographic base as most rock fans." The band also tended to attract a large percentage of fans from high-income families. The main draw for these Deadheads to travel to shows seemed to be the sense of community and adventure.^[16]
• The Spinners - also known as members of the Church of Unlimited Devotion. These people "used the bands music in worship services and were a constant presence at shows."^[16]
• Wharf Rats - Deadheads who helped each other remain drug and alcohol free while staying in the Dead scene.[1]

[edit] Deadheads and recordings of the gigs

At almost every Grateful Dead show, it was common to see fans openly recording the music for later enjoyment. This can be traced to shows in the late 1960s, with the number of tapers increasing yearly. Fans were also known to record the many FM radio broadcasted shows. Garcia looked kindly on tapers (he himself had been on several cross-country treks to record bluegrass music prior to the Grateful Dead), stating "There's something to be said for being able to record an experience you've liked, or being to obtain a recording of it ... my responsibility to the notes is over after I've played them." In this respect, the Dead are considered by many to be the first "taper-friendly" band.^[17]

It is a matter of strict custom among Deadheads that these recordings are freely shared and circulated with no money ever changing hands. Some bootleg recordings from unscrupulous bootleggers have turned up on the black market, but a general "code of honor specifically prohibited the buying and selling of Dead tapes." These recordings, sometimes called "liberated bootlegs," still are frowned upon by the community and that feeling "has spread into non-Grateful Dead taping circles."^[17]

Many deadheads now freely distribute digital recordings of the Grateful Dead's music, and there are several websites which provide and promote legal access of lossless music. The following are some among the most notable:

• dead.net
• etree.org
• archive.org's Grateful Dead collection

[edit] Celebrity Heads

The follow celebrities have claimed to be deadheads or have had media reported on them saying they are deadheads:

• Tony Blair - played in "Mars Hotel"-inspired student band^[18]
• Joseph Campbell - proclaimed deadheads as "the world's newest tribe." ^[18][19]
• Pete Carroll (sourced here)
• Bill Clinton ^[18][20]
• Ann Coulter (sourced here)
• Owen Chamberlain - claimed the Rhythm Devils gave him "interesting ideas"^[18]
• Al and Tipper Gore ^[18][21][22]
• Keith Haring ^[18]
• Phil Jackson ^{[18] [22]}
• Patrick Leahy ^[18][23]
• Carl and Larry Page ^[24]
• Bill Walton ^[18][22] (also sourced here) - known as "Grateful Red", frequently included Dead references in interviews
• Al Franken^[22]
• Nancy Pelosi ^[25][26]
• Jerry Greenfield^[27]

[edit] See also

• Phish Head

[edit] References