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I have hundreds of live GD tapes, and of those, three quarters of them I made into personal artistic creations. I used mainly colored pencil & ink, but also incorporated other mediums when I could. Some were quickies, some longies. ; ) I decided to make a montage of some of them to share on this site as I think that it's a worthy contribution. I know I wasn't alone in creating my own tape covers. That's one thing that was/is a traditional part of being a deadhead.

Most of the designs have special meaning. From the Stealie with my gone but not forgotten dog Dupree, to my daughters first show (which coincidentally was 8/19/89..my first was 8/19/80) to the palm tree and beach inside a heart. We (my ex wife and I) went to Jamaica for our honeymoon in 85. The morning we left we flew straight to Baltimore, hopped in the car and drove to Merriweather 20 minutes away for the 6/30/85 show. Waking up in Jamaica in the morning and seeing the Dead in the evening was certainly an experience.

-TM