In the mid sixties somewhere along Haight Street a strange little band formed, called “The Warlocks.” Early in their career, “The Warlocks” were the house band at “Acid Tests,” which were multimedia free-for-all parties fueled by lights and images flashing across the walls and loud experimental music provided by “The Warlocks,” who soon renamed themselves “The Grateful Dead,” a name that Jerry Garcia found in a folk tale.

“The Grateful Dead’s” sound was a mix of folk, bluegrass and country with a heavy dose of psychedelic. The Dead were one of San Francisco’s most popular live acts of the time and continued to sell out shows through most of their career. But through their entire career, they were a better live act then a studio act. They had okay record sales and some decent radio play, but they could always fill a venue with their followers and just play.

The Dead racked up a crazy group of fans, known as “deadheads,” that followed them to every show they put on and continued to follow them all over the country, and in some cases the world. The Dead is also one of the few bands that allows fans to record their shows and post them on the internet for fellow fans to listen to.

The music of The Dead is not only one hell of a psychedelic trip, but a trip back into the early days of rock and folk with melodies and harmonies coming from not only guitars and banjos, but the peddle steel guitar. Jerry Garcia’s work with peddle steel guitar is on the thing that gave The Grateful Dead their signature sound. The Dead’s songs range from the type that makes you feel you’re standing on the front porch of an old farm house, dancing around barefoot while playing a jug in the warm summer sun, while a cool glass of lemonade is waiting for you when the jam is over. Kind of like the song “Let Your Love Lights Shine,” which has the country jam session sound mixed with gospel style vocals proclaiming to let the love lights shine down.

To a mood of lying in the clouds melting away into a soft fluffy relaxing world where all your troubles melt away and the music envelopes you mind and body, which is felt in a song like “Warf Rat,” while mellow piano work sends a wave of peace of mind over the listener. It’s a song about the story of a homeless man, telling the song about a girl who’s loved him through the good times and the bad, and knows has been true to him.

Despite the death of Jerry Garcia in August of 1995, The Dead tried continuing without him and without replacing him. In the end, they decided it just wasn’t the same and felt that it was best not the replace or retire the band. Through all their years, the bands loyal followers and deadheads continued to the follow the band. If you are looking for a band to chill out to or have a damn good trip to, then adjust your Hi-Fi and pop a Dead Record on.