Today I Am Thankful For . . .

This was a post I was working on for Thanksgiving. It didn't make it then but now I need to clear out my files.

Today I am thankful for . . . running into a "dead head", i.e., someone who is or was a devoted follower of the hippie/bluegrass music band The Grateful Dead.

Did a road test last week for a guy named Alan. Alan had been living for a long time in California in an area where he didn't need to drive.

Alan grew up in New Hampshire, moved with his family to Grand Rapids, then migrated West as a young man. While there he started to follow a band called The Grateful Dead. I heard of people who were such rabid fans of the Dead that they would actually show up where ever the band was playing and try to attend each concert.  I asked Alan about this and he told me that over a three year period he had seen 120 of their shows. He traveled with other fans and they would often eat with each other, share motel rooms and of course talk about Grateful Dead music and performances.

Alan said he only stopped following the band after Jerry Garcia, the Dead's main guy, passed away.  He always referred to him as "Jerry", like he was talking about a brother or someone very close.

"So you just stopped going to the shows?" said I. - "No need to after Jerry was gone. He was my inspiration. After he died I told myself, well Alan, it's time you get a life."

"Do you play the guitar?" I asked Alan, who answered "Yup. But not as good as Jerry."

"Did people think Jerry was like a god or something?" - "A lot of them did, but Jerry hated that. He would keep to himself."

"Did you ever meet any of the band members?" - "I met the keyboardist in a coffee shop one day. I said, hey, what songs are you guys going to be playing tonight? He wouldn't tell me, but Jerry and the other guys were like that you know."

"Of all the concerts you attended was there one that stood out above the others?" - "Yes. Saratoga, New York."

"And why was that the best?" - "Because they played all my favorite songs. I've got the recording on HD and it's also great on the recording."

Now truth be told, as popular as the Grateful Dead were with their group of fans. before today I could probably not name or even recognize one of their songs. They were going strong way back when I was in college but I don't remember any album covers or people talking about them or playing their music. And after college I became a Christian and from then on listened mostly to contemporary Christian music.

When I got home and did some research I found out two things. The first is that the Grateful Dead only had one tune, "Touch of Gray - I Will Survive", to ever hit the the top10 list on the popular charts. And second, if Alan's hair and beard were a little longer he would have been a "dead" ringer for his soul mate Jerry.

After listening to a selection of what are considered their best songs on i Tunes I've come to the following conclusions - Jerry couldn't sing any better than I can and Grateful Dead songs were probably best appreciated when one is standing stoned in the middle of a large crowd where everyone else is also in the same condition.

Now the other main singer, Bob Weir, although I think I'll just call him Bob, he was a much better singer. However it seems the attraction of the Dead to their fans had less to do with the quality of singing or even the somewhat rebellious spiritual attraction of the lyrics and much more to do with enjoying the music and the long riffs and jams that the Dead were known for.

Well, as Bob might say, there's a train a coming and I gotta get on it. Can't think of a way to end so I'm just going to jam. Jackie's home with some ice cream and it needs to be eaten. No better way to spend with friends and my fam.