Grateful Dead

Always changes: Mickey Hart retires from the road in mid-February, and in the same series of shows, John Barlow replaces Robert Hunter as Bob Weir's lyricist and songwriting partner. Also at those shows, the band takes part in an experiment testing the relationship of altered states, dreams, and ESP run by the distinguished Dr. Stanley Krippner. It seems to work' In the course of the spring, the band records Grateful Dead, also known as 'Skullfuck,' their second live album. In between helping close Fillmore East and Fillmore West, in June they enjoy a one-show adventure in Herouville, France. Garcia records his first solo album, imaginatively entitled Garcia, in July. September brings the band their new piano player, Keith Godchaux, just as Pigpen goes into the hospital. A couple of weeks later, in October, the band introduces Keith to the world of Dead Heads with a tour in which each show is broadcast on local FM radio.