Touring

Wall of Sound

The Wall of Sound was an enormous sound system designed specifically for the Grateful Dead. The band was never satisfied with the house system anywhere they played, so in their early days, soundman Owsley "Bear" Stanley designed a PA and monitor system for them. Stanley's sound systems were delicate and finicky, and frequently brought shows to a halt with technical breakdowns. After Stanley went to jail for manufacturing LSD in 1970, the group briefly used house PAs, but found them to be less reliable than those built by their former soundman. In 1971, the band purchased their first solid sound system from Alembic Inc Studios. Because of this, Alembic would play an integral role in the research, development, and production of the Wall of Sound. The band also welcomed Dan Healy into the fold on a permanent basis that year; Healy was a superior engineer to Stanley and would mix the Grateful Dead's live sound until 1993.

The Wall of Sound fulfilled the band's desire for a distortion-free sound system that could also serve as its own monitoring system. After Owsley Stanley got out of prison in late 1972, he, Dan Healy and Mark Raizene of the Grateful Dead's sound crew, in colaboration with Ron Wickersham, Rick Turner, and John Curl of Alembic Inc combined eleven separate sound systems in an effort to deliver high-quality sound to live audiences. Vocals, lead guitar, rhythm guitar, and piano each had their own channel and set of speakers. They piped Phil Lesh's bass through quadraphonic encoder that sent signals from each of the four strings to its own channel and set of speakers. Another channel amplified the bass drum, and two more channels carried the snares, tom-toms, and cymbals. Because each speaker carried just one instrument or vocalist, the sound was exceptionally clear and free of intramodular distortion.

Moreover, the Dead's Wall of Sound acted as its own monitor system, and it was therefore assembled behind the band so the members could hear exactly what their audience was hearing. Because of this, Owsely designed a special microphone system to prevent feedback. This placed matched pairs of condenser microphones spaced 60 mm apart and run out-of-phase. The vocalist sang into the top microphone, and the lower mic picked up whatever other sound was present in the stage environment. The signals were summed, the sound that was common to both mics (the sound from the Wall) was cancelled, and only the vocals were amplified.

Steal Your Face

For more details on this topic, see "The Bear" explains the history of the Steal Your Face Logo.

Dead Heads

Tapers

History

Grateful Dead Band Members (By Year)

(1965-1967)	Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals Bob Weir - guitar, vocals Ron "Pigpen" McKernan - keyboards, harmonica, vocals, percussion Phil Lesh - bass guitar, vocals Bill Kreutzmann - drums
(1967-1968)	Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals Bob Weir - guitar, vocals Ron "Pigpen" McKernan - keyboards, harmonica, vocals, percussion Phil Lesh - bass guitar, vocals Bill Kreutzmann - drums Mickey Hart - drums
(1968-1970)	Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals Bob Weir - guitar, vocals Ron "Pigpen" McKernan - keyboards, harmonica, vocals, percussion Tom Constanten - keyboards Phil Lesh - bass guitar, vocals Bill Kreutzmann - drums Mickey Hart - drums
(1970-1971)	Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals Bob Weir - guitar, vocals Ron "Pigpen" McKernan - keyboards, harmonica, vocals, percussion Phil Lesh - bass guitar, vocals Bill Kreutzmann - drums Mickey Hart - drums
(1971)	Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals Bob Weir - guitar, vocals Ron "Pigpen" McKernan - keyboards, harmonica, vocals, percussion Phil Lesh - bass guitar, vocals Bill Kreutzmann - drums
(1971-1972)	Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals Bob Weir - guitar, vocals Ron "Pigpen" McKernan - keyboards, harmonica, vocals, percussion Keith Godchaux - keyboards Phil Lesh - bass guitar, vocals Bill Kreutzmann - drums
(1972)	Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals Bob Weir - guitar, vocals Ron "Pigpen" McKernan - keyboards, harmonica, vocals, percussion Keith Godchaux - keyboards Donna Jean Godchaux - vocals Phil Lesh - bass guitar, vocals Bill Kreutzmann - drums
(1972-1974)	Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals Bob Weir - guitar, vocals Keith Godchaux - keyboards Donna Jean Godchaux - vocals Phil Lesh - bass guitar, vocals Bill Kreutzmann - drums
(1975-1979)	Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals Bob Weir - guitar, vocals Keith Godchaux - keyboards Donna Jean Godchaux - vocals Phil Lesh - bass guitar, vocals Bill Kreutzmann - drums Mickey Hart - drums
(1979-1990)	Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals Bob Weir - guitar, vocals Brent Mydland - keyboards, vocals Phil Lesh - bass guitar, vocals Bill Kreutzmann - drums Mickey Hart - drums
(1990-1995)	Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals Bob Weir - guitar, vocals Vince Welnick - keyboards, vocals Phil Lesh - bass guitar, vocals Bill Kreutzmann - drums Mickey Hart - drums

Touring

Wall of Sound

The Wall of Sound was an enormous sound system designed specifically for the Grateful Dead. The band was never satisfied with the house system anywhere they played, so in their early days, soundman Owsley "Bear" Stanley designed a PA and monitor system for them. Stanley's sound systems were delicate and finicky, and frequently brought shows to a halt with technical breakdowns. After Stanley went to jail for manufacturing LSD in 1970, the group briefly used house PAs, but found them to be less reliable than those built by their former soundman. In 1971, the band purchased their first solid sound system from Alembic Inc Studios. Because of this, Alembic would play an integral role in the research, development, and production of the Wall of Sound. The band also welcomed Dan Healy into the fold on a permanent basis that year; Healy was a superior engineer to Stanley and would mix the Grateful Dead's live sound until 1993.

Steal Your Face

For more details on this topic, see "The Bear" explains the history of the Steal Your Face Logo.

Dead Heads

Tapers

History

Grateful Dead Band Members (By Year) (1965-1967)

• Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals
• Bob Weir - guitar, vocals
• Ron "Pigpen" McKernan - keyboards, harmonica, vocals, percussion
• Phil Lesh - bass guitar, vocals
• Bill Kreutzmann - drums

(1967-1968)

• Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals
• Bob Weir - guitar, vocals
• Ron "Pigpen" McKernan - keyboards, harmonica, vocals, percussion
• Phil Lesh - bass guitar, vocals
• Bill Kreutzmann - drums
• Mickey Hart - drums

(1968-1970)

• Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals
• Bob Weir - guitar, vocals
• Ron "Pigpen" McKernan - keyboards, harmonica, vocals, percussion
• Tom Constanten - keyboards
• Phil Lesh - bass guitar, vocals
• Bill Kreutzmann - drums
• Mickey Hart - drums

(1970-1971)

• Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals
• Bob Weir - guitar, vocals
• Ron "Pigpen" McKernan - keyboards, harmonica, vocals, percussion
• Phil Lesh - bass guitar, vocals
• Bill Kreutzmann - drums
• Mickey Hart - drums

(1971)

• Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals
• Bob Weir - guitar, vocals
• Ron "Pigpen" McKernan - keyboards, harmonica, vocals, percussion
• Phil Lesh - bass guitar, vocals
• Bill Kreutzmann - drums

(1971-1972)

• Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals
• Bob Weir - guitar, vocals
• Ron "Pigpen" McKernan - keyboards, harmonica, vocals, percussion
• Keith Godchaux - keyboards
• Phil Lesh - bass guitar, vocals
• Bill Kreutzmann - drums

(1972)

• Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals
• Bob Weir - guitar, vocals
• Ron "Pigpen" McKernan - keyboards, harmonica, vocals, percussion
• Keith Godchaux - keyboards
• Donna Jean Godchaux - vocals
• Phil Lesh - bass guitar, vocals
• Bill Kreutzmann - drums

(1972-1974)

• Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals
• Bob Weir - guitar, vocals
• Keith Godchaux - keyboards
• Donna Jean Godchaux - vocals
• Phil Lesh - bass guitar, vocals
• Bill Kreutzmann - drums

(1975-1979)

• Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals
• Bob Weir - guitar, vocals
• Keith Godchaux - keyboards
• Donna Jean Godchaux - vocals
• Phil Lesh - bass guitar, vocals
• Bill Kreutzmann - drums
• Mickey Hart - drums

(1979-1990)

• Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals
• Bob Weir - guitar, vocals
• Brent Mydland - keyboards, vocals
• Phil Lesh - bass guitar, vocals
• Bill Kreutzmann - drums
• Mickey Hart - drums

(1990-1995)

• Jerry Garcia - guitar, vocals
• Bob Weir - guitar, vocals
• Vince Welnick - keyboards, vocals
• Phil Lesh - bass guitar, vocals
• Bill Kreutzmann - drums
• Mickey Hart - drums

The Grateful Dead began their career in Palo Alto, California, playing live shows at Kepler's Books [2].

A new type of sound

The Grateful Dead formed during the era when bands like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones were dominating the airwaves. Former folk-scene star Bob Dylan had recently put out a couple of records featuring electric instrumentation. Grateful Dead members have said that it was after attending a concert by the touring New York "folk-rock" band The Lovin' Spoonful that they decided to "go electric." Gradually, many of the East-Coast American folk musicians, formerly luminaries of the coffee-house scene, were moving in the electric direction. It was natural for Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir, each of whom had been immersed in the American folk-music revival of the late 1950s and early '60s, to be open-minded toward electric guitars. But the new Dead music was also naturally different from bands like Dylan's or the Spoonful, partly because their fellow musician Phil Lesh came out of a schooled classical and electronic-music background, while Ron "Pigpen" McKernan was a no-nonsense deep blues lover and drummer Bill Kreutzmann had a jazz background. Listening to their first LP (The Grateful Dead, Warner Brothers, 1967), one is also reminded that it was recorded only a few years after the big "surfing music" craze; that California rock-music sound seeped in, to some degree, as well.

Choosing a name

The name "Grateful Dead" was chosen from the dictionary. Some claim it was a Funk & Wagnalls, others , the Bardo Thodol (Tibetan Book Of the Dead) , but according to Phil Lesh, in his biography (pp. 62), "...Jer (Garcia) picked up an old Britannica World Language Dictionary...(and)...In that silvery elf-voice he said to me, 'Hey, man, how about the Grateful Dead?'" The definition there was "A song meant to show a lost soul to the other side."

Dissolution and continuation of the band

Discography

Samples

• Live Music Archive - Nearly 3000 Dead shows for stream and/or download
• Download sample of "Box of Rain" from American Beauty
• https://dead.unixgu.ru/ - claims to be a legal source

• Garofalo, Reebee (1997). Rockin' Out: Popular Music in the USA. Allyn & Bacon. ISBN 0-205-13703-2.
• Lesh, Phil (2005). Searching for the Sound. Little, Brown and Co.. ISBN 0-316-00998-9.
• McNally, Dennis (2002). A Long Strange Trip: the Inside History of the Grateful Dead. Broadway Books. ISBN 0-7679-1186-5.
• Ward, Ed, Geoffrey Stokes and Ken Tucker (1986). Rock of Ages: The Rolling Stone History of Rock and Roll. Rolling Stone Press. ISBN 0-671-54438-1.

Notes

1. ^ Garofalo, pg. 219
2. ^ Garofalo, pg. 219, quote in Garofalo, cited to Roxon, Lillian Roxon's Rock Encyclopedia, 210
3. ^ Brock, Ted. "MORNING BRIEFING: IN OREGON, THEY'RE GRATEFUL FOR ALL EXTRA CASH THEY GET", Los Angeles Times, 1990-06-26, p. C2.
4. ^ Rolling Stone, pg. 332
5. ^ Garofalo, pg. 218
6. ^ Phil Speaks Out

Find out more about Grateful Dead on Wikipedia