December 15, 1986: The Most Important Show in Grateful Dead History
On December 15, 1986, the Grateful Dead played a comeback show at the Oakland Coliseum that saved Jerry Garcia’s career and redefined the band’s future.
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Donna Jean Godchaux’s Legacy: From Muscle Shoals to the Grateful Dead
Before Donna Jean Godchaux sang with the Grateful Dead, she was a Muscle Shoals session vocalist who sang on records by Elvis and Aretha Franklin.
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How Bob Marley’s Rejection Led to “Scarlet Begonias” — and the Greatest Grateful Dead Segue
The Grateful Dead wrote “Scarlet Begonias” after failing to land a Bob Marley collaboration — and it became half of their most iconic song pairing.
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The Truth Behind the Grateful Dead’s Dancing Bears
The Dancing Bears weren’t dancing — they were marching. And the man who drew them wasn’t a hippie artist. He was Owsley Stanley’s hand-picked designer.
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The Night the Grateful Dead Played with the Sufi Choir — A Lost 1971 Performance
In March 1971, the Grateful Dead played a benefit at Winterland with robed Sufi chanters circling a bonfire inside a wooden building. The tape was lost for fifty years.
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Grateful Dead vs. Allman Brothers: What Really Happened at Fillmore East
The Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers shared stages, shared influences, and quietly resented each other. The Fillmore East shows tell the real story.
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Truckin’: How a New Orleans Drug Bust Became the Grateful Dead’s National Anthem
“Truckin'” was born from a real drug bust in New Orleans, became the Dead’s only charting single, and was declared a national treasure by the Library of Congress.
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Watkins Glen 1973: The Festival That Made Woodstock Look Small
Six hundred thousand people showed up to Watkins Glen in 1973 for the Dead, the Allman Brothers, and the Band — and almost nobody remembers it.
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Box of Rain: The Inside Story of the Grateful Dead’s Last Words Together
“Box of Rain” was the first song Phil Lesh ever sang — written while his father was dying. It became the last song the Grateful Dead ever played.
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How Europe ’72 Rescued the Grateful Dead and Created the Greatest “Live” Album Ever Made
Europe ’72 wasn’t just a live album — it was a financial rescue mission, a creative peak, and the most elaborate overdub job in Dead history.
