The Days Between
For the uninitiated, “The Days Between” is an annual celebration of Jerry Garcia’s life, who was born on August 1st, 1942 and died on August 9th, 1995. Over the course of nine days, there’s everything from summer music festivals to simple social media posts honoring the legendary musician.
SiriusXM's Grateful Dead Channel is jam-packed with special programming that includes live performances, rarities, and guest DJ’s sharing their favorite Jerry Garcia stories. The Grateful Dead organization posts dedicated playlists on streaming services and always shares cool demos or hidden gems. And of course, bands around the country spice up their live shows by dropping in a Dead cover or two into their set list.
“Days Between” is also the name of a song that was first performed live on February 22nd, 1993 at the Oakland Coliseum. The song is widely considered to be the last great Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter collaboration. The song is dark and moody, and filled with melancholy, but there are glimmers of hope sprinkled in. Here’s a version of the song recorded during a rehearsal on February 18th, 1993 in San Rafael, California, just four days before it made its live debut in Oakland.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m writing the Max Creek biography, and I’m super psyched with the direction and progress of the book. I’m currently writing a chapter on the Grateful Dead’s influence and how their music spawned hundreds, if not thousands, of tribute bands. Here’s a passage I recently wrote. I’d like to think it’s my small contribution to “The Days Between.” I hope you enjoy it.
The Grateful Dead were certainly a band beyond description. Their music was a confluence of rock, jazz, bluegrass, psychedelia, and sometimes, even disco. And there was always improvisation. Always. They released thirteen studio albums, two hundred live albums (give or take), and played over 2300 live shows from 1965 to 1995. The Dead were the house band for Ken Kesey's Acid Tests and personified the 1960s counterculture movement. Bikers, hippies, poets, politicians, pranksters, writers, and even criminals drifted in and out of the band’s scene. The crew were more than just roadies—they were legends—almost as famous as the band members themselves. They played Woodstock. They played Altamont. The Grateful Dead were innovators who constructed the Wall of Sound—the largest sound system in music—and let fans record their live performances, a decision that not only spawned an important subculture within the community, but helped distribute the band’s music in new and exciting ways not seen in the music industry before. They made good business decisions. They made bad business decisions. The band finally crossed over to the mainstream, no simple task for an underground cult band, and became a phenomenon. Everything from tie-dye T-shirts to ice cream flavors has been used to market the Dead’s iconic brand. And through it all were the Deadheads. Dedicated. Faithful. Loyal.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
-Tom
P.S. Check out this cool video of Mike Campbell from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers talking about Garcia’s influence and guitar technique.
Well done as always, Tom!