hey Bokek...i had the same reaction when i found one of their albums amoung my brother's collection...mixed in with band names like Black Sabbath, Kiss, and the like...but never judge a book by its cover, or in this case, a band by its name!! I know the idea behind the name, "Grateful Dead" but i am sure someone else, like Marc can better tell you the story.
Witchcraft
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Ok Bokek witchcraft?? Not by any stretch of the imagination was there any connection with satanic doings. Matter of fact it was the complete opposite.The name grateful dead came out of the egyptian book of the dead. To be gratefully dead involved a person who was indebted to whomever for lots of money,hence the name,no more payments from the person who was now gratefully dead. Bokek you need to check out who the hippies were to get an idea of what it was all about.
The soon to be GD, were playing under the name Warlocks, when they learned of another band of that name. I don't recall if it was voluntary, or if they were told to cease and desist, but anyway picking another name became necessary. The legend goes, they were sitting around brainstorming, JG opened the book at random stabbed his finger down, and under it was Grateful Dead! This was about 1965.
So, in addition to what the GD became, they did it under the coolest name ever! The Dead were the "house" band for Ken Kesey & the Merry Prankster's "Acid Tests". JG was known as "Captain Trips". Bokek, how old are you? Do you recall when you first heard the GD, what music it was, and your reaction to it?
Particularly at the Acid Tests, sonic mayhem became the norm, despite JG's love of folk and bluegrass, as evidenced by Garcia & Robert Hunter had a folk duo for a time, and after that a jug band. The GD had many influences, which is why their genre is so hard to pin down. Rock, jazz, folk, bluegrass, country all make themselves known. The band hit their stride in 1969-70 with the releases of "Workingman's Dead", and "American Beauty". Both timeless masterpieces.
I'll be 54 very soon, M_D_S, how about you?
My exposure to music came early, and my first favorite is "Do not foresake me oh my darling". When I was ayoung lawyer, The Brothers Four was constantly heard, being my Boss's favorite. By that time, I liked "She Bop" very much.
Among my most played albums include Elton John, CSN&Y, Neil Young, Boston, Grand Funk, Miss Saigon, Kenny Rankin, Eagles, Santana,Chicago, Lynnyrd Skynnyrd, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Cha-cha's, Tangoes, Banjo's Violins, Waltzes,
why, I even bought a LP named "Angel", hoping it contained Just call me angel of the morning; only to find out it was a compilation of funeral music! The first music I heard this millennium was a song by Kiri Te Kanawa? When New Year hit New Zealand.
Music lifts the soul, as it reminds Kafka's Beast of its humanity. Quite simply, I like music, though I find Hendrix often verges on noise
I would have heard of GD at a local rock station, the title/s I did not remember. This was maybe 1967 - 1980 before this station played jazz exclusively. Maybe the period between Herman's Hermits and Pavarotti.
Yes, GD music is hard to pin down. Probably consciously crafted to be so.
Back to witchcraft, I think I've outgrown undue horror, as I find I like Friends of Mine by Guess Who and Alice Cooper songs, and what's that Stones song?
So Bokek was the Angel lp any good? Just in case I want to play it at my funeral! What stones song? I am guessing sympathy for the devil!
Also 54 years old,are you having a party and are we all invited?
My 60th is just around the corner. In my earlier years, I thought by the time I got to this stage, if I lived, I'd be one smart, together kind of guy. The world at my feet, etc., etc. As it turns out, the older I get the less I know, and entropy has done for the rest.
Bokek, how do you get a continous post that lengthy? Mine cuts off at maybe half of that.
Didn't the Stones do something with Voodoo in the title? Maybe that was Hendrix. Speaking of Hendrix, you must remember that the cutting edge music of the mid to late 60s was most likely written and performed under the influence of LSD, and probably meant to be heard that way. Not that I know anything about that! 
Ah Mark so the truth comes out,under the influence. It was said about Jimi that he needed to take quite a few of whatever to just maintain normality. Also 6 decades well that is an accomplishment. i thought when I was younger that I would never make it this far.
Yes, bingo, it's sympathy for the devil, Chief! And I try not to join any of my friends and "funeral" in the same thought.
After I realized what it was, "Angel" started to give me heebee geebees. Well maybe dead men could stand it.
I try to hold modest celebration yearly, but budget's always an issue.
And, M_D_S, I've learned to give more benefit of the doubt to more experienced people. As in Aristotle never upstaged Plato, nor Plato Socrates. I'm sure you have insights younger minds don't have a clue about.
Maybe age just nudges us closer to our place in the scheme of reality. Not a nullity; but an essential cog. Everyone has a story. Desiderata.
As to continuous post, I haven't the slightest idea.
And Hendrix taking a number of something just to be normal? A modern Edgar Allan Poe?
And I affirm, Chief, a decade ago my best friend solemnly declared we'd never make it to our present age.
LSD and drugs are idols we now know are monsters; very ironic that many of victims have come down to us as heroes of music
Back to witchcraft. is Salem real? Is there a song of salem?
There is a city in Salem Massachusetts. Whereupon some of our ancestors burned mostly women at the stake. Insisted they were witches,absolutely peculiar. When some people are ostrasized they dont fit in with the norm so they decided to eliminate them. Also in the same city is the house of 7 gables,which was turned into a book,it is quite a house to visit.Not sure about a song but I bet there is one.
Coming late to this conversation, Bokek, my funeral music will be Ripple from the GD album American Beauty.
Good choice, Gordon. I think mine will be a pair: Brokedown Palace and Friend of the Devil.
Bokek, would those music heroes have been heroes without the stimulation of drugs? We'll never know. I can tell you this...the very best day of my life was under the influence of a whopping big dose of orange sunshine. For one afternoon, my being was completely at peace. Never before, and never since, have I felt so connected to the universe, and it wasn't for lack of trying.
Ah yes, witches. I think I've dated a few!
Are we all going to be dosed in the parking lot before the funerals like Jerrys?
I've heard of GD a long time ago, maybe about the time I heard of Black Sabbath.
And this was precisely why I was not attracted. GD? Black Sabbath? Megadeth? So you see.
Nice GD music, but is there anything to the name?