# Can someone explain to me the appeal of The Grateful Dead's music? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 4, 2012, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-to-me-the-appeal-of-the-grateful-deads-music/611725 "2012-02-04T03:45:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-to-me-the-appeal-of-the-grateful-deads-music/611725/21 "2012-02-04T16:16:01Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > … And I agree about the unevenness of the concerts. … > > But usually when I’ve seen them live, it’s been a good experience. > > I really didn’t much like the chick singer when they were in that phase. But I think she came with the keyboard player, and I liked him a lot. > [@WordMan](#): > > Those were the Godchaux’s…Keith and…Donna? > [@Ichbin\_Dubist](#): > > At their heart, they’re not all that different from, say, Crosby Stills & Nash plus jamming. If you hate that kind of 60s folk/country thing, or jamming, or both, you’ll hate them. They don’t make it any easier by being more or less utterly indifferent to the recording process, which I think is more to blame for the out-of-tune vocals than anything else (lots of famous singers don’t sing in tune live), and by rarely trying to write a pop song. They love the inscrutable. the band had likely a good attitude about being human and having good days and bad days, maybe too laid back for fans used to record company controlled bands. likely a healthy attitude for a touring band that did about 75 concerts per year for 30 years. they were a bunch of skilled musicians. some were also composers who worked with some poetic lyricists who produced lots of original music. they also did tons of other music that they arranged; folk, old folk, country, rock, bluegrass and blues. they had a large repertory of songs and could do three long concerts without repeating a song. this was useful when they would often do three nights in a row in one city. all the people that have been in the band were skilled. even skilled people can have an off day. they would click and have a synergy together and with the crowd. far more good days than bad, some of the good days were outstanding. Donna was in the band in a popular period. when the vocals were good they could do harmonies that would rival those of CSNY (who did the best harmonies in rock). ---
**Author:** ![applebetty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4af34b/32.png) [@applebetty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/applebetty)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-to-me-the-appeal-of-the-grateful-deads-music/611725/22 "2012-02-04T16:16:59Z")
I think “November Rain” is one of the saddest and beautiful songs ever. I have never been high enough to appreciate most of the rest of their music, the continuous high notes are annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-to-me-the-appeal-of-the-grateful-deads-music/611725/23 "2012-02-04T16:35:21Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > they were skilled as a touring band. they could do three concerts without repeating a song. “Hitler, there was a painter! He could paint an entire apartment in one afternoon! Two coats!” (Franz Liebkind) ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-to-me-the-appeal-of-the-grateful-deads-music/611725/24 "2012-02-04T16:36:43Z")
I saw around 75 shows before Jerry died and an equal number since then with the various spin-off bands most recently a month ago for New Years Eve. My first show was 24 years ago. If it’s not to your taste, nothing anyone is going to say on a message board is going to convince you. In my early years as a Deadhead, I took a lot of LSD but nowadays it’s a puff or two of weed at most. The scene can be great too but there is a very ugly side to it as well. I’d still go for the music if the scene wasn’t there. But the great side to the scene just makes it all the better. The fan base is incredibly knowledgeable and critical. It’s a myth that every Deadhead thinks that every show is the most amazing thing ever. Eh, now I’m rambling… Back to the music. Their music is a fusion of folk, blues, Americana and country rock. These are my favorite genres. Their vocals historically aren’t their strong point but their latest incarnation, Furthur, has a couple of back-up singers with beautiful and strong voices. I love Robert Hunter’s lyrics and most of their choices of covers. The fact that they are improvisational means that what they do isn’t always going to work but when it does, it’s amazing. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-to-me-the-appeal-of-the-grateful-deads-music/611725/25 "2012-02-04T17:09:25Z")
I bought a CD titled “_ **Deadicated** _”. Close to the finest collection of covers ever. Convinced me that The Dead may have done some mediocre performing, but the songwriting is top notch. Buy that disk (I can’t find it on iTunes, damn). Then listen to Lyle Lovett infusing “Friend of The Devil” with pathos, or Burning Spear doing a high-energy ska/calypso/reggae “Estimated Prophet”. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-to-me-the-appeal-of-the-grateful-deads-music/611725/26 "2012-02-04T17:20:23Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > Donna was in the band in a popular period. when the vocals were good they could do harmonies that would rival those of CSNY (who did the best harmonies in rock). In the Barry Miles book _Zappa: A Biography_, on page 121 Miles asserts that the album _The Music of Bulgaria_ was one of Zappa’s favorite albums and that it “influenced the harmonies of Crosby, Stills and Nash”. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-to-me-the-appeal-of-the-grateful-deads-music/611725/27 "2012-02-04T19:39:01Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > Drop some LSD and it may be okay. > > Otherwise listen to decent music. That may help some people (or for certain songs?) but it didn’t help me. Except that, at one concert I went to, they got into this drumming/guitar noodling thing for, like, hours, and I’m pretty sure that if I hadn’t been tripping I would have taken a long nap. Not that it made it any better, but it kept me awake. ---
**Author:** ![LynnM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@LynnM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LynnM)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-to-me-the-appeal-of-the-grateful-deads-music/611725/28 "2012-02-04T19:57:19Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Their music is a fusion of folk, blues, Americana and country rock. Yes, this is important. After seeing the GD in a very good performance years ago, I realized I had incorrectly thought of them as a “rock” or “rock and roll” band. They’re an American music band, with widely encompassing and eclectic influences. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-to-me-the-appeal-of-the-grateful-deads-music/611725/29 "2012-02-04T19:58:01Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > they were skilled as a touring band. they could do three concerts without repeating a song. Dennis Miller commenting on quantity over quality (Re: Mens Warehouse suits): _“Listen folks, two of shit is shit. If they really wanted to fuck you, they would give you three of them.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-to-me-the-appeal-of-the-grateful-deads-music/611725/30 "2012-02-05T07:30:12Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > Smoke something groovy, and listen again. You’ll dig it, man. Oh dear, what a waste of a buzz. > [@silenus](#): > > To the OP: You are wrong. > Totally and completely. Not totally wrong. I hate the Grateful Dead’s music. That is empiric fact. > [@YoDoc](#): > > No. No one can explain it to you. If you didn’t like them when you first heard them, don’t worry about it. You just aren’t a Dead Head. No worries, man, there’s always Floyd or Govt Mule. Oh it doesn’t bother me that I don’t like them. There is too much good music around for me to fuss about it. I am just curious to know how **anyone** could like them. > [@hajario](#): > > Back to the music. Their music is a fusion of folk, blues, Americana and country rock. These are my favorite genres. Their vocals historically aren’t their strong point but their latest incarnation, Furthur, has a couple of back-up singers with beautiful and strong voices. I love Robert Hunter’s lyrics and most of their choices of covers. The fact that they are improvisational means that what they do isn’t always going to work but when it does, it’s amazing. Ah, now it’s becoming clearer. Folk, blues, Americana and country rock are probably my least favorite genres. I like plenty of individual songs in those styles, but on the whole I don’t seek them out. So you’ve got a band whose style is an acquired taste, doing music I don’t have much appreciation for, recording without regard for production values, and given to self-indulgent noodling… well there’s your problem. If you liked those genres and liked the musical style of the Dead, especially because you’d seen a killer show and been on the right drugs… OK I can start to understand it now. I regret never seeing a show, because I am sure I would have had a blast just taking in the scene, but I missed it and that’s that. Thanks, everybody. Now I’m going to dig into a bowl of… chips, and put some Shpongle or Caribou on the player. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-to-me-the-appeal-of-the-grateful-deads-music/611725/31 "2012-02-05T07:36:34Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > Dennis Miller commenting on quantity over quality (Re: Mens Warehouse suits): > > _“Listen folks, two of shit is shit. If they really wanted to fuck you, they would give you three of them.”_ Second prize in the contest will be two Dennis Miller CD’s; the first prize winner gets only one! Hey, like the Dead or not. (As stated, I like a bunch of their stuff but don’t exactly love them–Jefferson Airplane at their peak was my favorite out of that scene.) But why quote \*that \*loser to support an argument? ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-to-me-the-appeal-of-the-grateful-deads-music/611725/32 "2012-02-05T07:42:33Z")
I knew almost nothing about GD before 1995. I never saw them in concert and only found out about Jerry dying via the Veterinarian (Deadhead) who I worked for in NM at the time. I think the answer to your question is in your first sentence. Had the “cult” or following of the Grateful Dead never developed their popularity and success (I’m speaking monetary success, they did make shitloads of dinero after all) may have never existed. It was much more than their music. It’s “the sense of community, the footloose travel, the drugs, the hippie chicks” that you mentioned. They would have disappeared from the scene pretty quickly otherwise, no? It’s the people who listen to them almost exclusively that I don’t understand. So, in answer to your question, I’m not sure really, but all I know is that it can’t just be the music because there couldn’t be that many hippies both pseudo and not that are unaware of what constitutes a well composed piece of music. I did listen to some of their stuff for a short while and there were times when a tune would go on for so long that I wished I had a gun to shoot the radio first and then myself. I can’t say that I felt like that about all of their tunes, but I do hear ya about their vocals. I haven’t listened to any of their music in a few years now. It was a passing short phase for me. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-to-me-the-appeal-of-the-grateful-deads-music/611725/33 "2012-02-05T08:06:52Z")
Their known as being one of the greatest _live_ bands, so I wouldn’t judge them by what you hear on a radio. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-to-me-the-appeal-of-the-grateful-deads-music/611725/34 "2012-02-05T12:01:30Z")
> [@](#): > > Can someone explain to me the appeal of The Grateful Dead’s music? _Dave’s not here,maaann…_ ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-to-me-the-appeal-of-the-grateful-deads-music/611725/35 "2012-02-05T13:11:05Z")
If you care to test the theory that they were better live you can try out [Archive.org](http://www.archive.org/details/GratefulDead). They have a mere 8,522 live recordings of the Dead. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-to-me-the-appeal-of-the-grateful-deads-music/611725/36 "2012-02-05T15:33:22Z")
Don’t be a bitch dude…let me get my smoke on. I think it has to do more with the “scene” than anything else. The appeal of the Dead, like so many jam bands, seems to be based on their suitability as ambient background noise. That is to say, people don’t “listen” to the dead. It sort of plays in the background while they bar-b-que, play ultimate frisbee, lounge about the quad and otherwise “chill out man”. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-to-me-the-appeal-of-the-grateful-deads-music/611725/37 "2012-02-05T15:42:22Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I think it has to do more with the “scene” than anything else. The appeal of the Dead, like so many jam bands, seems to be based on their suitability as ambient background noise. That is to say, people don’t “listen” to the dead. It sort of plays in the background while they bar-b-que, play ultimate frisbee, lounge about the quad and otherwise “chill out man”. Not at all. During the show the long time fans listen very closely and critically. There are lots of total GD nerds who analyze the hell out of the show when it’s over. And what’s with this “lounge about the quad” shit? The average fan is around 50 years old with kids and a degree or two. Don’t get me wrong, there are lots of people in the scene who are burn outs on the fringes of society and they are the most visible ones. Most of us though are living a successful suburban life and are closer to retirement than college. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-to-me-the-appeal-of-the-grateful-deads-music/611725/38 "2012-02-05T15:51:14Z")
> [@Arrendajo](#): > > … I would like to understand, on an intellectual level, what others might enjoy about their music. > Thank you. I don’t think that understanding why some people get art that you don’t get can be understood on an intellectual level, no matter how many PhDs churn out reams of papers on it. It either touches you or it doesn’t. Just change the radio to something you _do_ like. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-to-me-the-appeal-of-the-grateful-deads-music/611725/39 "2012-02-05T16:15:29Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I think it has to do more with the “scene” than anything else. The appeal of the Dead, like so many jam bands, seems to be based on their suitability as ambient background noise. That is to say, people don’t “listen” to the dead. It sort of plays in the background while they bar-b-que, play ultimate frisbee, lounge about the quad and otherwise “chill out man”. > [@hajario](#): > > Not at all. During the show the long time fans listen very closely and critically. There are lots of total GD nerds who analyze the hell out of the show when it’s over. long time fans, and everyone else, shake their bones during the show. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2012, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-to-me-the-appeal-of-the-grateful-deads-music/611725/40 "2012-02-05T16:24:26Z")
I never saw them live or stoned. They were a good studio band, with some great song. **Workingman’s Dead** is a great album, and **American Beauty** is nearly as good. They also had a different sound at the time - more country-tinged than most anyone else. Garcia was a fine guitarist; his voice wasn’t great, but it was serviceable. And songs like “Uncle John’s Band,” “Friend of the Devil,” “Casey Jones,” and “Dire Wolf” were and still are great music. The idea that you had to be stoned to appreciate the Dead is a joke that gets less and less funny every month. It was untrue to begin with, and is based upon the fact that people have such short attention spans that they can’t understand any music that’s longer then five minutes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-to-me-the-appeal-of-the-grateful-deads-music/611725.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-explain-to-me-the-appeal-of-the-grateful-deads-music/611725.md?page=3)