The Time Jerry Threw Phil Down The Stairs: The Birth Of Anthem

Four men who held the Grateful Dead’s keyboard chair are gone — Pigpen, Keith Godchaux, Brent Mydland, Vince Welnick. Tom Constanten is the one the “curse” never touched. Here’s why he walked away clean. Tom Constanten (“TC”) played keyboards for the Grateful Dead for just 14 months, 1968–1970 — the only man to sit in…

Wharf Rat is not a redemption story. The chords never resolve, the setlist never lets it close, and the man who sang the vow for 24 years proved in his own body it was conditional.

Tom Wolfe missed the Merry Pranksters’ 1964 bus trip. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test made his reconstruction a defining account of their world. Fourth of a four-part counterculture series (Tom Wolfe / Kesey / Merry Pranksters / Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test). The Shakedown Archives publishes new research on Grateful Dead history each week. If you…

In late 1967, Warner Bros. warned the Grateful Dead they’d never be “truly important.” Their answer was Anthem of the Sun — the record that nearly bankrupted them and defined everything after. Warner Bros. executive Joe Smith wrote it plainly to their manager: the band had made themselves undesirable in nearly every studio in Los…

Four men who held the Grateful Dead’s keyboard chair are gone — Pigpen, Keith Godchaux, Brent Mydland, Vince Welnick. Tom Constanten is the one the “curse” never touched. Here’s why he walked away clean. Tom Constanten (“TC”) played keyboards for the Grateful Dead for just 14 months, 1968–1970 — the only man to sit in…

Phil Lesh helped build the most advanced sound system in rock history. When it shut the band down in ’74, he was the only member without an exit ramp.