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What a long strange trip it's been. Enlisted to be house band for Ken Kesey's Acid Tests in 1965, The Grateful Dead (nee Warlocks) became synonymous with the cult of psychedelia and emerged as one of the most popular bands of the 20th century. Initia...more

What a long strange trip it's been. Enlisted to be house band for Ken Kesey's Acid Tests in 1965, The Grateful Dead (nee Warlocks) became synonymous with the cult of psychedelia and emerged as one of the most popular bands of the 20th century. Initially gaining popularity through their unique free-form jams, the band claimed the local center of attention through sincere commitment to the San Francisco movement. The members, who settled into Haight-Ashbury and were part of the "love-in" and "flower child" attitude, lived as members of a commune and played for countless hippie parties. They gave more free concerts than any other big-name band of the era and thus endeared themselves to the community that immortalized them. Their music, drawing from the spectrum of American blues, jazz, country and rock, was psychedelic, but in a relaxed way, and their performances were powerful within the context of their times. Never a huge seller of records, the Grateful Dead has maintained an incredibly loyal fan base to this day, even after losing lead singer, songwriter and guitarist Jerry Garcia to a sudden fatal heart attack in 1995, and regularly sells out contemporary concerts. The fact that the Grateful Dead has stayed so popular for so long attests to the universality and competence of their music....less