Life lessons on two wheels to the tunes of the

Grateful Dead

This Week in Grateful Dead History

Week 1

I wish I was a headlight on a northbound train.

 

 

Even the most cursory examination of the lyrics of Grateful Dead songs quickly uncovers one of the most fundamental aspects of the band’s identity: This is an American band, rooted in American culture, and built around easily recognizable locales and deeply American principles and history. 

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This Week in Grateful Dead History: Week 28 - July 8, 1978Sometimes we live

This Week in Grateful Dead History: Week 28 - July 8, 1978

Sometimes we live

When a band has played more than 2300 shows, it’s hard to imagine that any one of them would achieve legendary status. But there are certain Grateful Dead concerts that firmly fit into that category. For starters there’s little disagreement that 5/8/77 at Cornell University’s Barton Hall would be on such a list; the 12/31/78 Closing of Winterland comes to mind; 2/27/69 at the Fillmore West – from which the epic, Side 1-long Dark Star on the Live Dead album was derived – would have to be included; the Great American Music Hall show on 8/13/75 is an obvious choice; 5/26/72 at London’s Lyceum Theater, the final date of the Europe ’72 tour, has been immortalized on the album of the same name; and more recently, the 12/15/86 show at the Oakland Coliseum arena – the Dead’s first performance in more than 5 months after Jerry Garcia collapsed in a diabetic coma on July 10 of that year and almost died – easily deserves such distinction.

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This Week in Grateful Dead History: Week 2 – January 10, 1978I’ll get a new start

This Week in Grateful Dead History: Week 2 – January 10, 1978

I’ll get a new start

As we established last week, our essential human nature as storytellers is one coin with two sides to select from. On the “tails” side are the stories we must beware of for their harmful potential: those that are tainted with negative judgments and deceptions that infect our beliefs in ways that lead us to act wrongfully. Fortunately, on the “heads” side is a clean slate upon which we can write stories of inspiration that can shepherd us in the direction of our highest selves. Choosing wisely on which side to pitch your tent is as much a key to success in this life as any I have found.

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This Week in Grateful Dead History: Week 26 - June 26, 1974Don’t lend your hand

This Week in Grateful Dead History: Week 26 - June 26, 1974

Don’t lend your hand

As spring turns to summer, we bid a fond “fare thee well” to Spring ’77 and find several wonderful summer tours to continue our concert trip around the sun. It’s hard to go wrong with the Summer ’74 run of 18 shows, beginning on June 8 at the Oakland Coliseum and finishing on August 6 at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, NJ. Among the many first-rate concerts of this tour, the June 26 show at Providence Civic Center in Providence, RI gets the Deadhead Cyclist’s vote for T.W.I.G.D.H.

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Stew Sallo, A.K.A., The Deadhead Cyclist

Stew Sallo is the author of the book, The Deadhead Cyclist, and founder/owner of Boulder Weekly, an award-winning alternative weekly in its 30th year of publication in print and online at BoulderWeekly.com. After graduating from the University of California, Santa Cruz, he cut his teeth as a publisher in Santa Cruz for 10 years before relocating to Boulder to start the Boulder Weekly. He has been a Deadhead since the summer of 1974, attended his first Grateful Dead concert at Winterland in San Francisco on October 19, 1974, and has since been to some 200 Grateful Dead concerts. Stew is an avid mountain biker, plays competitive baseball on three teams in his home state of Colorado, and travels each year to play tournament baseball in California, Nevada, Arizona, North Carolina, South Dakota and Florida. In 2003, Stew founded the classic rock band, Hindsight. He plays a Martin D-41 in the band and sings lead and backup vocals. Stew lives in Boulder, CO with his wife of 23 years, Mari, and their 12-year-old dog, Bella.

All Material Copyright 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 by Stewart Sallo