BONUS: Dead Behind / Dead Ahead

Episode Duration: 01:16:08

Get prepped for the SHAKEDOWN STREAM with a bonus episode of THE GOOD OL' GRATEFUL DEADCAST.

 

In the fall of 1980, the Grateful Dead celebrated their 15th anniversary with a series of 25 special shows in San Francisco, New Orleans, and Manhattan, playing acoustic sets for the first time in a decade, along with two electric sets each night. The shows would yield the live double-albums RECKONING and DEAD SET, as well as a Halloween simulcast that became the concert film Dead Ahead. We went behind this massive undertaking for a special bonus episode of the Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast.

Guests: Al Franken, Dead Ahead director Len Dell'Amico, 1980 Dead manager Richard Loren, an archival interview with Tom Davis, Steve Silberman, and more

Supplemental Materials

In the fall of 1980, the Grateful Dead celebrated their 15th anniversary with a series of 25 special shows in San Francisco, New Orleans, and Manhattan, playing acoustic sets for the first time in a decade, along with two electric sets each night. The shows would yield the live double-albums Reckoning and Dead Set, as well as a Halloween simulcast that became the concert film Dead Ahead. We went behind this massive undertaking for a special bonus episode of the Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast.

 

Richard Loren managed Old and In the Way and other aspects of Jerry Garcia’s solo career before managing the Grateful Dead themselves in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. Richard wrote a fantastic memoir about his time with the Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and others called High Notes, available through his website.

 

Longtime promoter Bill Graham put on the Dead’s 15 shows at San Francisco’s Warfield Theater and threw his heart and soul into the effort. Recently, an extraordinary set of Graham’s production notes surfaced online. He commissioned filmmaker Erik Nelson to make a short documentary about the Warfield shows.

 

In New York, the action moved over to Radio City Music Hall, for 8 shows ending with a Halloween simulcast co-hosted by comedians Al Franken and Tom Davis. Check out the official program for Radio City. The late Tom Davis authored an incredible book called 39 Years of Short-Term Memory Loss. And our friend David Gans most generously loaned us audio from an extended interview he conducted with Davis in 2009, which can be heard in its entirety.

 

To promote the upcoming Halloween simulcast to 20 movie theaters east of the Mississippi, Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir appeared on Good Morning America, looking like they’d been dropped in through the magic of not-yet-invented CGI technology.

 

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    mstaggerlee
    3 years 7 months ago
    Halloween '80

    Couldn't score tickets for Radio City on Halloween, but the absolutely best place to see the simulcast that night was a few blocks south & west, at the Felt Forum (now known as The Theater at Madison Square Garden). Healy brought the crew down to the Garden complex (btw ... didja know that Madison Square Garden Inc. owns Radio City Music Hall, and the Beacon Theater, in addition to the Knicks and the Rangers - it's the only venue in the world that owns the teams that play there) to set up the sound system. I brought my recording gear to the Forum with me (Nak CM100's> Nak 550,) and still have a very listenable tape, including all the between-set stuff from "Frank & Dave," (as Brent introduced them.)

  • Perri
    3 years 11 months ago
    Warfield Shows

    So enjoyed the Dead behind/Dead Ahead bonus episode. I was lucky to catch several of the Warfield shows very early in my Dead journey and they just kept me coming back for more. Definately wanna take a deeper dive on these backstories.
    There's a clip from some fans at the Warfield commenting on all the memorabilia that Graham had in the lobby, and I swear it sounds like me! I recall at the time thinking it was all part of the theater decor.

Get prepped for the SHAKEDOWN STREAM with a bonus episode of THE GOOD OL' GRATEFUL DEADCAST.

 

In the fall of 1980, the Grateful Dead celebrated their 15th anniversary with a series of 25 special shows in San Francisco, New Orleans, and Manhattan, playing acoustic sets for the first time in a decade, along with two electric sets each night. The shows would yield the live double-albums RECKONING and DEAD SET, as well as a Halloween simulcast that became the concert film Dead Ahead. We went behind this massive undertaking for a special bonus episode of the Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast.

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Al Franken, Dead Ahead director Len Dell'Amico, 1980 Dead manager Richard Loren, an archival interview with Tom Davis, Steve Silberman, and more
Supplemental Materials

In the fall of 1980, the Grateful Dead celebrated their 15th anniversary with a series of 25 special shows in San Francisco, New Orleans, and Manhattan, playing acoustic sets for the first time in a decade, along with two electric sets each night. The shows would yield the live double-albums Reckoning and Dead Set, as well as a Halloween simulcast that became the concert film Dead Ahead. We went behind this massive undertaking for a special bonus episode of the Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast.

 

Richard Loren managed Old and In the Way and other aspects of Jerry Garcia’s solo career before managing the Grateful Dead themselves in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. Richard wrote a fantastic memoir about his time with the Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and others called High Notes, available through his website.

 

Longtime promoter Bill Graham put on the Dead’s 15 shows at San Francisco’s Warfield Theater and threw his heart and soul into the effort. Recently, an extraordinary set of Graham’s production notes surfaced online. He commissioned filmmaker Erik Nelson to make a short documentary about the Warfield shows.

 

In New York, the action moved over to Radio City Music Hall, for 8 shows ending with a Halloween simulcast co-hosted by comedians Al Franken and Tom Davis. Check out the official program for Radio City. The late Tom Davis authored an incredible book called 39 Years of Short-Term Memory Loss. And our friend David Gans most generously loaned us audio from an extended interview he conducted with Davis in 2009, which can be heard in its entirety.

 

To promote the upcoming Halloween simulcast to 20 movie theaters east of the Mississippi, Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir appeared on Good Morning America, looking like they’d been dropped in through the magic of not-yet-invented CGI technology.

 

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So enjoyed the Dead behind/Dead Ahead bonus episode. I was lucky to catch several of the Warfield shows very early in my Dead journey and they just kept me coming back for more. Definately wanna take a deeper dive on these backstories.
There's a clip from some fans at the Warfield commenting on all the memorabilia that Graham had in the lobby, and I swear it sounds like me! I recall at the time thinking it was all part of the theater decor.

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Couldn't score tickets for Radio City on Halloween, but the absolutely best place to see the simulcast that night was a few blocks south & west, at the Felt Forum (now known as The Theater at Madison Square Garden). Healy brought the crew down to the Garden complex (btw ... didja know that Madison Square Garden Inc. owns Radio City Music Hall, and the Beacon Theater, in addition to the Knicks and the Rangers - it's the only venue in the world that owns the teams that play there) to set up the sound system. I brought my recording gear to the Forum with me (Nak CM100's> Nak 550,) and still have a very listenable tape, including all the between-set stuff from "Frank & Dave," (as Brent introduced them.)

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