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For other meanings of the word "Deadhead", see Deadhead (disambiguation)

Deadhead or Dead Head is the name given to fans of the American jam band, the Grateful Dead.

Origins

The term first appeared in print on the gatefold sleeve of Grateful Dead, the bands second live album released in 1971. It read:

DEAD FREAKS UNITE: Who are you? Where are you? How are you?
Send us your name and address and we'll keep you informed.
Dead Heads, P.O. Box 1065, San Rafael, CA 94901.

This phenomena was first touched on in print by The Village Voice critic Robert Christgau at a Felt Forum show in 1970, noting "how many 'regulars' seemed to be in attendance, and how, from the way they compared notes, they'd obviously made a determined effort to see as many shows as possible."

Eileen Law, a long time friend of the band, was put in charge of the mailing list and maintained the Dead Heads newsletter. It is estimated that by the end of 1971, the band had received about 350 letters, but this number swelled greatly over the next few years to as many as 40,000. In total, 25 mailings/newsletters reached Dead Heads between October of 1971 and February 1980. After this time, the Grateful Dead Almanac would succeed it, with this eventually being abandoned for Dead.net. Those who did receive the newsletter in the 1970s often found pleasant surprises sent along. One example is from May 1974 when Heads received a sample EP of Robert Hunter's upcoming album Tales of the Great Rum Runners as well selections from as Jerry Garcia's second album, Compliments of Garcia. This sample was titled Anton Round, which was an alias used by Ron Rakow.

With large numbers of people attending strings of shows, a community naturally developed out of the familiarity. As generations turned from the acid tests to the 1970s (and onward), tours became a time to revel with friends at concerts, old and new, who never knew the psychedelic age the spawned the band they loved. Rock producer Bill Graham epitomized this sentiment in writing when he created a sign for the Grateful Dead when the band played the closing of the Winterland Arena on December 31, 1978 that read "They're not the best at what they do, they're the only ones that do what they do. Cheers! Bill & the Winterland Gang.

Deadheads use the term "X Factor" to describe the intangible element that elevates mere performance into something higher Phil Lesh himself comments on this phenomena in his autobiography by saying "The unique organicity of our music reflects the fact that each of us consciously personalized his playing: to fit with what others were playing and to fit with who each man was as an individual, allowing us to meld our consciousnesses together in the unity of a group mind.". It was times like these that the band and the audience would become one; The Grateful Dead and the Deadheads were all in the same state of mind.

In Grateful Dead lore, the Deadheads are actually a part of the band itself. This relationship known as the 'X factor' has even been recognized by the band members themselves. During an "on night," when the X factor was happening, the minds in the room, synchronized by the music, would merge and the combined mind would wake up, allowing participating Deadheads to experience the "thoughts" of this much larger entity. Deadheads referred to this phenomenon with a number of terms in addition to "X factor" such as "cosmic" and "cosmosity." On nights like this, the music was no longer the main point and functioned instead as something like EEG waves for the "brain" of the combined mind. The Dead's extended jams could sound like random noise at these times to those who were not "connected."

The band and Deadheads also had "off" nights which wasn't surprising given the large number of shows and tremendous travel schedule the group and its fans maintained over the years. An "off" night might be characterized by low energy, mumbled words, Jerry Garcia singing the wrong lyrics or forgetting the lyrics, Donna Godchaux singing way out of key, short set lists, or even a rare missed encore.

Deadheads through the years

• 1970s - essential known as the "second generation of Deadheads," the new Deadheads of this time can either be traced to "an older sibling who had turned them on by spinning Workingman's Dead or Europe '72" or through college and university dorm rooms.
• 1980s - The early 1980s brought about what would late become known as "Shakedown Street" (in reference to the Grateful Dead album of the same name). Started during the New Years Eve shows at the Oakland Auditorium in California from 1979-1982, Deadheads began to realize they could sell their wares (anything from tie-dye t-shirts to veggie burritos) in order to follow around the band more. Also during the early '80s, Deadhead tapers grew exponentially, resulting in the band designating a taping section in October of 1984. With the success of their album In the Dark (and the single Touch of Grey), 1988 started the "Mega-Dead" period.
  • In the Darkers - also known as "Touchheads" (a reference of the album for the former and the single for the latter), these fans "dissed the fragile ecosystem" of a Grateful Dead show, in the words of publicist Blair Jackson. This led to "wiser" Deadheads, with the backing of the band, to mail SOS's and hand out show flyers telling people to "cool out."
  • Minglewood Town Council - this group was a direct result of the Touchheads and were a "tribal council" consisting of Deadheads and the Hog Farmers Calico and Goose. They handed out garbage bags at shows for people to pick up trash afterwards and tried to keep the masses mellow.
• 1990s - The Deadheads of this time "tended to be young, white, male, and from middle-class backgrounds -- in short, they were drawn from much the same demographic base as most rock fans." The band also tended to attract a large percentage of fans from high-income families. The main draw for these Deadheads to travel to shows seemed to be the sense of community and adventure.
  • The Spinners - also known as members of the Family of Unlimited Devotion. These people "used the bands music in worship services and were a constant presence at shows."

Deadheads and recordings of the gigs

At Grateful Dead shows, one could see fans openly recording the music for later enjoyment. This occurred with the approval of the band, which is considered by many to be the first taper-friendly band.

Many deadheads now freely distribute digital recordings of the Grateful Dead's music, and there are several websites which provide and promote legal access of lossless music. The following are some among the most notable:

• dead.net
• etree.org
• archive.org's Grateful Dead collection

Celebrity Heads

The following have seen many shows and are sourced from The Illustrated Trip:

• Al and Tipper Gore
• Bill Clinton
• Tony Blair - played in "Mars Hotel-inspired student band
• Owen Chamberlain - claimed the Rhythm Devils gave him "interesting ideas"
• Keith Haring
• Joseph Campbell - proclaimed deadheads as "the world's newest tribe."
• Pete Carroll (also sourced here)
• Patrick Leahy (also sourced here)
• Bill Walton (also sourced here) - frequently included Dead references in interviews

See also

• Grateful Dead
• Phish Head

References

1. ^ Grateful Dead: The Illustrated Trip edited by Jake Woodward, et al. Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2003, pg. 138. Cite error: The named reference "multiple" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
2. Grateful Dead: The Illustrated Trip edited by Jake Woodward, et al. Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2003, pg. 174.
3. Grateful Dead: The Illustrated Trip edited by Jake Woodward, et al. Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2003, pg. 227.
4. Grateful Dead: The Illustrated Trip edited by Jake Woodward, et al. Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2003, pg. 113.
5. ^ Searching for the Sound: My Life with the Grateful Dead by Phil Lesh, Little, Brown, April 2005
6. Grateful Dead: The Illustrated Trip edited by Jake Woodward, et al. Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2003, pg. 174.
7. Grateful Dead: The Illustrated Trip edited by Jake Woodward, et al. Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2003, pg. 263.
8. ^ Grateful Dead: The Illustrated Trip edited by Jake Woodward, et al. Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2003, pg. 315.
9. ^ Grateful Dead: The Illustrated Trip edited by Jake Woodward, et al. Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2003, pg. 415.
10. Grateful Dead: The Illustrated Trip edited by Jake Woodward, et al. Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2003, pg. 375.
11. Grateful Dead: The Illustrated Trip edited by Jake Woodward, et al. Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2003, pg. 330.

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