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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Other Posts

This Week in Grateful Dead History: Week 38 – September 20, 1982If the spirit’s sleeping then the flesh is ink

This Week in Grateful Dead History: Week 38 – September 20, 1982

If the spirit’s sleeping then the flesh is ink

Despite being a West Coast band, the Dead had a special relationship with New York City, and played Madison Square Garden a total of 52 times from ’79-’94. As drummer Bill Kreutzmann remarked in 2015 as the band was inducted into the Madison Square Garden Walk of Fame, “Out of about 2300 shows that the Grateful Dead played, the 52 we played here were nothing short of amazing.” T.W.I.G.D.H. features one of those amazing shows, 9/20/82, and a tune that was performed live on that date for only the third time, Throwing Stones.

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This Week in Grateful Dead History: Week 52 – December 27, 1987The kids they dance and shake their bones

This Week in Grateful Dead History: Week 52 – December 27, 1987

The kids they dance and shake their bones

The enduring and ever-increasing popularity of the Grateful Dead – even more than a quarter century after their last concert on July 9, 1995 – has often been attributed to the prominent role the band played in the anti-establishment movement of the ’60s. As the icon of a new generation that represented an alternative to the greed and corruption of the mainstream culture, the Dead truly were “a band beyond description.”

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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