The Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead formed in San Francisco in 1966 when love and
acid hit that city in a big way. From their 1967 self-titled album
onwards, The Dead were hailed as lords of acid rock and the
leaders of a tribal lifestyle mythology.
Renowned for long improvised numbers and performances lasting
up to five or six hours, the band became more country influenced
after their 1967 album, particularly on Workingman's
Dead and American Beauty (both released in 1970).
But where The Dead fired up was onstage, and live albums like Skull
and Roses (1971) and Europe '72 seamlessly
blended homespun tunes and old-style jams in marathon sets.
In 1972, the band took a sabbatical over the summer while Jerry
Garcia released his first solo album, Garcia. Bob Weir
and Mickey Hart also released albums (Ace and Rolling
Thunder respectively).
Keyboard player Ron 'Pigpen'
McKernan was less productive though, as he was forced to rest and
give up drinking after a serious liver complaint was diagnosed.
He
died of a gastrointestinal haemorrhage at the age of 26, brought
on by years of alcohol abuse.
Unsteady from the start, the band lost what little grounding
they had when Pigpen died and the Godchaux's hopped on board. The
pair turned out to be so bad that even the other members of the
band realised they had to go.
In September 1977, The Dead played three dates in front of the
Great Pyramid of Cheops in Cairo in an event scheduled to coincide
with a total eclipse of the Moon.
Brent Mydland joined the group in 1979, replacing Keith
Godchaux and becoming the band's fourth keyboard player. He
made his recording debut on the album Go To Heaven (1980)
and contributed numerous songs to the group's repertoire,
including I Will Take You Home, We Can Run (But We
Can't Hide), Tons Of Steel and Easy To Love You.
Mydland was found dead in his Lafayette, California home on 26
July 1990. There was no evidence of foul play or suicide, and the
Coroner's office eventually ruled he had died of a drug overdose.
Toxicology tests showed lethal levels of both cocaine and morphine
and the autopsy revealed a puncture mark on his left arm
consistent with recent intravenous injection.
Jerry Garcia was arrested in San Francisco on 18 January 1985
and charged with possession of narcotics after a policeman found
cocaine and heroin in the guitarist's BMW.
When Jerry Garcia died in 1997, his widow complained that he
had left her broke. "We only have a few hundred thousand
dollars in the bank," she explained. Who doesn't feel the
pinch when you get down to your last few hundred thou?
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