# What was/is the appeal of Garcia and the Dead?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-is-the-appeal-of-garcia-and-the-dead/434485>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 22, 2008, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-is-the-appeal-of-garcia-and-the-dead/434485 "2008-01-22T09:54:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 4

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-is-the-appeal-of-garcia-and-the-dead/434485/61 "2008-01-28T22:47:46Z")

</div>

Sorry Skipper…

I just get tired of the same lame old joke…

My deepest sympathy if if offended you **Xema** …

tsfr

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Thing\_Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@Thing\_Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing_Fish)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-is-the-appeal-of-garcia-and-the-dead/434485/62 "2008-01-28T23:23:16Z")

</div>

I think the “Mellow/jammy/country” aspect of the Dead’s music is being overrated by some on this thread. Certainly that was a big part of the sound, but their improvisational stuff was often so “out there” as to hardly qualify as “musical” at all, and that juxtaposition of the deeply traditional and the totally chaotic is a big part of the band’s considerable appeal to me. I also love, for instance, The Band, but they never really ventured into the realm of straight-up atonal noise. Plus the Dead’s straight-ahead rockin’ tunes are just so damn catchy…

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\
**Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-is-the-appeal-of-garcia-and-the-dead/434485/63 "2008-01-29T03:15:38Z")

</div>

[QUOTE=ThisSpaceForRent]  
My deepest sympathy if if offended you **Xema** …  
[/QUOTE]

It didn’t. One of the points was that it was told to me by a reasonably serious Deadhead who was devoted to their music.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\
**Post date:** [January 29, 2008, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-is-the-appeal-of-garcia-and-the-dead/434485/64 "2008-01-29T04:00:04Z")

</div>

FTR…in the 80 +/- shows that I attended about a third of them were under the influence of nothing other than Marlboro’s.

The Grateful Dead had a sub group called the Wharf Rats…dedicated to helping those who wished to attend shows Clean and Sober.

[Wharf Rats (Wiki)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wharf_Rats)

Peace, Love and Jerry,

tsfr

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-is-the-appeal-of-garcia-and-the-dead/434485.md?page=3)