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So the other week I'm getting my hair cut, and Julie the hairstyling goddess, a young thing of twentysomething who's into tattoos, hair color as art form, and lots of black clothing, hears of the impending tour and my hopes of getting Shoreline tix, and says, "I have a question. What's a Dead Head? How would you define it?"
You think that's a really easy question till you try to answer it.
So I hemmed and hawed a bit. I said it was the kind of thing that if you said you were one, no one could say you weren't. I may have mentioned Ann Coulter.
I said that it my experience it meant a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Some were there for the party and that was pretty much it. Some were there for the community. Some were there for the life-changing spiritual experience. Some were there for the tunes.
Why scene less trusworthy ?
A hashness I sense ,a mean streak ,indifference ,cruaulty ,a neutered political correctness ,a spiritual quest not visible in the younger deadheads about forty years old ,a callousness, all of it considered as normal ,laughted about ,as if the only dimension worth consideration is now the numbers of shows ,titles of songs ,one knows about . Most other deadheads web sites where women never really speak anymore and that's very revealing ! Dear Marye , I wish I as wrong on all this ,but, sincerely I'd be worried to just go hang outon a dead parkinglot late night ,nowadays !
little bit Further than you gone before...
I can see why Phil and Bobby would want to play with someone who sounds a lot like Jerry. If it inspires them and makes them happy I'm all for it. I don't know if it sets a good example for young musicians and I'm very grateful fo Jerry and Billy telling us to follow our own muse. My guitar is an indispensible part of my life and for that I'm thankful.
Yesterday is gone
But tomorrow is forever
Furthur Freaks Unite!
I'm not going to worry about it anymore, I've seen the Dead at the Gorge and two Ratdog shows plus 3 live shows on Sirius this year, my cup is full. God bless Phil and Bobby and the new guy John.
We will survive!
On the day that I was born...
My father's name was William, my mother's name's Peggy.
Have a great tour !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
See ya in Portland, God willing
What is a deadhead?
Deadheads are all of the wonderfully kind souls who contributed to making Johnman's Portland Further Miracle happen!!!!!**********************************
By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean.
Mark Twain
I agree...
If someone had let me know I'd been happy to contribute!
in the dark
I suppose one of the sucky things about the internet is you can have some hate-filled cowards hiding in the shadows. That's why I never go in the chatroom and only post here in the forums because I prefer to walk in the light where everyone can see what I'm doing. I see when people come and when they go and have seen some good people leave and not come back. I'm not saying that anyone who goes in the chatroom is like that, probably just a couple, but if you see people saying bad things about other people behind their backs they are NOT Deadheads, pathetic losers yes, Deadheads no!
Not a real deadhead
so we add another factor that disbars you from being a deadhead. Talking about others behind their backs..like none of use has ever done that! Seems that the club of you real deadheads is getting smaller and smaller. When all 6 of you are sitting in a room discussing the relative merits of 605 versions of 'Me and My Uncle' you might eventually miss the rest of us who fell by the wayside. :-)
Hear Hear
CB! If the rules for being a proper Deadhead get so nit-pickey, maybe will become a Gaga Head instead. Might be fun. She gives a lot of room for in depth discussion-like about her outfit du jour.**********************************
By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean.
Mark Twain
there there
Its impossible too discribe ive sat with people and put on deadset they simply cannot hear it.Being a Deadhead we have the ability too listen without our ears.
just checking
now I know it was someone inside the organization. They should have just come to me and asked me what happened, it would have made a funny story I would have happily told, instead it seems they sent a couple young girls a pack of lies that scared the crap out of the them so bad they never came back. I won't put up with that. Marye,please close my account, this time I mean it. Thank you, and many blessings to you all.
stay strong and keep the faith
Deadheads are music and life -loving folks who know how to have a good time and deplore senseless acts of violence. They are mostly caring and compassionate people prone to random acts of kindness. We send our heart-felt prayers to Gabby Gifford and her family as well as the others who were wounded and our sincere condolences go out to the families of those whose lives were cut short by such an unspeakable tragedy. We pray for our country and believe that Love will heal the wounds left behind by this act of evil.
you are a deadhead if...
you listen to the band more than any otheror
while listening it takes about one note to spot which song they just started
or
just can't wait to hear another show
"Our audience is like people
"Our audience is like people who like licorice. Not everybody likes licorice, but the people who like licorice really like licorice," described Garcia.
being able to tell which
being able to tell which song from the first note? how about knowing which song it will be just from the vibe before they even begin playing it? ;)
some people give me shit for calling myself a deadhead even though I've never been to a show and as far as i know they don't even dig on the dead so fuck 'em, they just don't know :)
---
http://www.last.fm/user/PinkFloydrulez
DH
As a middle school teacher, with lots of Dead stuff in my classroom and stickers on my Jeep, I get asked this question often.
A Dead Head is ....... me! The music speaks to me. My brother and sister Heads are more of a family than my real one. We are activists, lovers, naturalists, environmentalists, lawyers, doctors, educators, wives, husbands, and so much more. We are the children of the world and will do what we can to spread the word.
We will survive!
just have to add
we r bikers, judges, pimps, strippers, we r freaking everywhere! i just know how i feel about the band and have no time to hate and sit around pointing fingers but we do until the music plays and then we all become one big smile :) love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And to quote Bob Dylan
Some are mathematiciansSome are carpenters’ wives
Don’t know how it all got started
I don’t know what they’re doin’ with their lives
But me, I’m still on the road
Headin’ for another joint
We always did feel the same
We just saw it from a different point of view
In the light of THAT box set
I've been reading the comments on the 'Europe 72' page, and wondering about what it says about us.Then stumbled upon this forum, and it's like being in the forest after a month stuck in the city.
Growing up in the 80s, I thought I might be a hippy, but I was listening to heavy metal, not Donovan (or whoever). Finding the Dead, and then finally getting to a gig at the Shoreline, I knew I was a Deadhead. Every Dead/Furthur gig 've been to has cemented that.
It's about music taking hold of you and re-aligning your attitude, and it's about being part of an extended family whose first question is would you like '...to take my 3rd row ticket' / '...a toke of this' / '...a swig of that' / '...some of my food' / '...a lift' / '..a tape of tonight' / '...a CD from my collection'? (all true)
And families have rows, and occasionally Aunty Flo won't talk to Aunty Bea for 5 years because of "what she said about our Gladys", but it passes. That said, I'm pretty sure being family isn't about profiting out of another member of the family - it's about helping every member of the family get what they need.
And it's not about bitching and whining because you didn't get what you want, when you didn't even know you wanted it a week ago.
Is being a Deadhead now about trying to own an official release of every song of every show? Stuck in amber, rather than moving on to the next jam, the next gig, the next festival, the next band that blows you away and makes you want to share them with every single person you meet?
If it is, then I'm handing in my tie-dye t-shirts, 'cos the bus that I got on is still driving through those tapping foothills.
nicely said!
glad to have you here!
I think it's also true that anyone who's be in the scene for any length of time can attest to some doozies when it comes to bad vibes, and on that level I don't find this so surprising. I mean, New Year's Eve tix got to be a pretty big shoving match after a while there... But as you say, that isn't what defines us. Or it better not be!
Note to self - it's not that bad
Having posted, I went back tot he comments of doom, only to find Big River's excellent assessment (http://www.dead.net/features/release-info/holy-s-it-s-complete-europe-7…) and cosmicbadger and malarkey using their powers for good, to thwart the code-sellers.
I'm going to buy some licorice on the way home.
Say i ain't so!
Ant Flo won'uldn't speak to Aunt Bea for five years because of Gladys? Well, I think them and their men have to take a trip out to 3rd Mesa, chill with the Hopi till they gt excepted as for whatever they use for that word for white people (Belliganna), then go into the kiva and start he peyote ritual.
That'll stop the feuding an start the dancing!!
It's cuz Gladys was makin' fun of Bea's lucky wart
and Flo's always tried to protect her...this old fat tattooed longhaired Deadhead agrees...I've been helped out by too many people to have time for hate, though it's easy to get frustrated when a system doesn't work (mail order, computers, etc., etc.) ya jus' smile, take a breath, and love what you have.......and play another song!!
It is in your soul
A Deadhead hears the group play and hears the music in his or her soul. You know the message is one of love and aceptance. No matter where you come from, your race, age,nationality the Dead head is a member of a large family that you might never meet everyone but everyone hears the message in their heart and soul.
=[De`FeteUSmassaBay`it-LA`terd]}=-=-==
=`/`/HY HIT TIZ JOY ASS CHILL IN HELD EARS[}=-=-==-= I'm standing on the AXIS Guitar reef -7- magic wheel - varios strata - with an old electric fiddle ...=-=[Calurid grin an vale~up stoolHo`treen]}-=-==-= This is where the DEAD st*ART it ^up!' -primo'
Tell me about being a Deadhead
Hi everyone, I'm a college student and Grateful Dead lover working on an in depth research project on Deadheads. I want to know peoples' personal relationships to the music and the culture to understand why the Deadheads have existed and endured so prominently for so long. I would DEEPLY appreciate an interview with anyone who feels that they have something to say about the Dead and their personal history with them! It's easy, anonymous (when integrated into the paper) and a nice way to reflect upon and appreciate how the Dead and their community have affected your life. It'll also help me out a lot :) Please send me a message if you're interested!
Thanks,
Jackie
Drugs
Deadheads are a fan club that never grew out of being a fan club.
Most of them are not completely wasted and they do lead normal lives. Many Deadheads even appreciate REAL music and not just 4 hours of jam session hogwash.
If you'll excuse me now, I must get back to playing the same two guitar chords. The drum solo is almost over and I've got another hour to waste before the buzz wears off completely.
re: what is a dead head?
my husband (of 19 years) is from Liverpool, Englanda punk rock drummer (in the 80's)
he was punk & I was a dead head
he didn't have a clue what that was, thought I was into BAD drugs...
the music didn't translate...he just didn't know,
hadn't exerienced it or heard it
so I had to learn 'im
& as I showed him my world, he learned that the knowledge & the attitude & mood & experience comes with the music and is enhanced by it
its all part of bein a head!!
I bought him a ticket for the Dead concert in T.O.
yes the one that didn't happen
I then took him to Further... it still translated & started the learning curve
now he gets it & its a regular thing for him to say to me... we need to listen to the dead tonight!!
I have learned that the translation of music no matter what genre builds a character that continues & carries you on & can translate & meld into other tunes & other worlds..
to quote my husband quoting John Miles, "Music is my first love & it will be my last"
now I think that we could put better dead instrumentals to this one but it works!!
I really don't believe I just used that quote... but it is such a great line!
It gets better, Freddie's nephew (20 years our junior) thinks I'm the cool aunt cause I'm a "Dead Head" & he's muso (guitarist) in Liverpool too!!
Q
p.s. I wore beads the other day that I used to make & sell to pay for my tickets & guess what, they are still more important to me than any piece of jewelery you could buy in a shop!!
goddamit
I am a loser, yes Sir. Just checked a previous post by jcpacini and it said the same thing. "ME!".
Just to let everyone know though, that in my defense (better make sure i have enough concrete evidence, eh lamagonzo?) i wrote a quite childishly, cynical piece, nay character assassination!,
of the typical Deadhead; all smug, self-congratulatory comments about "seeing them as The Warlocks, consider the only years worth a shit to be the '60's and '70's, seen over 200 hundreds (at the very LEAST, man), vegetarian, own all the Betty-Boards, first-in-line for the Europe '72 box set (and i have proof of that too mate, as the date on the cheque was the earliest they could find - yeah, i have a friend in the organisation, obviously; i'm, like, SO in there....).
But....i thought "No"; take off the cynical hat Mr. Jonapi and introduce a little levity. A shake of the hands with Mrs. Joker.
How i laughed at the witty conciseness of my description.
And now look at me; a total buffoon!
Don't worry, i'll take myself seriously tomorrow, though.....................
Love is Real Not Fade Away.....
Bop, Bop.....BOP BOP!
♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥
while the politicians are
while the politicians are throwing stones saying ashes to ashes we all fall down
dead head
every since my first show in 1976 the Dead have had an up-front place in my mind and heart. Almost every minute of every day there's a dead song in my head. The music of the dead is the song track of my life. I get goosebumps during certain songs, feelings that well up and burst out. Concerts are still a wonder. Even without Jerry, although something is missing. Festivals are the best with people of all ages there to honor the music that just speaks to certain ones. We're all there together feeling it run through ourselves, each other and back again. You look at a fellow dead head at a show and smile and you just KNOW. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
Hi Everyone!!! Love this…
Hi Everyone!!! Love this thread. I'm currently looking for Dead Heads to interview for Online Publication this year.
If anyone is interested in being interviewed, please reach out to jessdfiedler@gmail.com. Here is the breakdown on the shakedown. :)
Growing up Dead Head Series
Premise:
I’ll gather Grateful Dead stories from a number of people. I’ll compile the stories into one webpage, with multiple links to each interview. The interview questions will be the same across the board for all guest stars. This will appear online and be shareable via social media.
I’d like to do this on Zoom. It’ll record both video and audio.
I plan and publishing the transcript of the interview for sure.
Audio post (podcast style)
Optional: These stories can be anonymous, with only name and town printed or you can include your full name.
1. How did you first become interested in the Grateful Dead’s music?
2. How many GD shows have you attended?
3. Tell me your favorite GD story
4. Tell me your least favorite GD story
5. Where were you when you heard that Jerry Garcia died?
a. Tell me that story
6. Did you ever hitchhike to attend a show(s)?
7. Tell me about the ‘outside of the venue’ experience
8. Would you do it all again?
9. What types of music do you listen to nowadays?
a. Top 5 songs or artists
How do you spell that?
Just came across this old thread that MaryE started on the perennial question.
No, not how to define them.
How to write it? Two words or one?
Dead Head or Deadhead?
MaryE kicked off with the first (two word), yet many comments below opted for the second (one word). Except the most recent!! I hope you’re still out there Sagerose and can update us on your project.
In the recent announcement of the Kennedy Center honor, the Band’s gracious comments about the fans had the original, two word usage.
Myself, I see “Dead Head” as descriptive, a qualifier of one kind of Head out of other possible ones.
“Deadhead” to mean seems like more of a formalized noun, without reference to any other kind of Head. Deadheads as an entity unto themselves, and in a way distinct from the band that gave it that name.
Why do I care? Need to settle on usage for a book title,