Events in Music
Garcia, Weir Play for First Time
1963-12-31 Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead play music together for the 1st time at Dana Morgan's Music Store in Palo Alto, California
- 1967-09-29 Mickey Hart joins the Grateful Dead for the 1st time, playing at the Straight Theater in San Francisco, California
- 1967-10-02 All Grateful Dead members arrested by narcotic agents for possession of marijuana in San Francisco, California
Music History
1968-08-03 100,000 attend two-day Newport Pop Festival in Costa Mesa, California; performers included Alice Cooper, Canned Heat, The Chambers Brothers, Country Joe and the Fish, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Sonny & Cher, Steppenwolf, Tiny Tim, The Animals, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and The Byrds
Woodstock Music and Art Fair
1969-08-16 Second day of the Woodstock Festival in Bethel, New York; performers include Santana, John Sebastian; Mountain, Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin, Sly and the Family Stone, The Who, and Jefferson Airplane
New Orleans Pop Festival
1969-08-30 3-day New Orleans Pop Festival opens - 25,000 attend; performers include: Spiral Staircase;. Rex; The Byrds; Janis Joplin: Grateful Dead; Chicago; Dr. John; and Santana
- 1970-01-31 Grateful Dead members and entourage busted, down on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, Louisiana on LSD charges [1]
- 1970-05-23 Grateful Dead's 1st performance outside US, as part of 'The Hollywood Rock Music Festival', in Newcastle under Lyme, England
- 1970-06-27 Festival Express opens in Toronto, Canada - The Grateful Dead, The Band, Janis Joplin, Flying Burrito Bros, Buddy Guy, Great Speckled Bird, and Delaney & Bonnie & Friends cross Canada together by train, for 5 shows in 3 cities
- 1971-05-30 36 hospitalized during Grateful Dead concert; drunk LSD apple juice
- 1972-08-27 The Grateful Dead holds a benefit concert for the Springfield Creamery (a yogurt company owned by writer Ken Kesey's brother) at the Old Renaissance Faire Grounds in Veneta, Oregon [1]
- 1973-01-14 Grateful Dead bass player, Phil Lesh, busted on drug possession charges at his Marin County, California home
- 1973-03-27 Jerry Garcia (Grateful Dead) stopped for speeding and found in possession of LSD
- 1973-07-28 600,000 attend the "Summer Jam" rock festival featuring The Grateful Dead, The Band, and The Allman Brothers Band, at Watkins Glen, New York; at the time the largest ever audience at a pop festival
- 1978-09-16 Grateful Dead perform in Cairo, Egypt
- 1978-12-31 Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, California closes after 556 concerts; Final show is the Grateful Dead, New Riders of the Purple Sage, and The Blues Brothers; program lasts for over 8 hours, with the Grateful Dead playing for nearly 6 hours; concert broadcast on local PBS TV station KQED, and simulcast by radio station KSAN-FM, after the show, the crowd was treated to a hot, buffet-style breakfast.
- 1980-07-02 Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir, drummer Mickey Hart, and manager Danny Rifkin arrested for "suspicion of inciting a riot" after a concert in San Diego, California
- 1986-08-01 Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia is released from hospital after a 3 week coma
- 1989-07-07 Concert by the Grateful Dead with Bruce Hornsby & the Range becomes final event at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, six days before structure is condemned
9th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
1994-01-19 9th Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: The Animals; The Band; Duane Eddy; The Grateful Dead; Elton John; John Lennon; Bob Marley; Rod Stewart; Willie Dixon; and Johnny Otis
- 1995-07-09 Jerry Garcia's unexpectedly final concert with The Grateful Dead, at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois
- 1995-12-07 American rock band The Grateful Dead break up after the death of Jerry Garcia
- 2023-07-16 Jam rock band Dead & Company, an outgrowth of the Grateful Dead, plays the final show of its final concert tour, at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California
Birthdays in Music
- 1932-03-07 Ed Thrasher, American Grammy Award-winning art director (Warner Brothers Records, 1964-79), and photographer (album art for Frank Sinatra; Jimi Hendrix, Grateful Dead), born in Glendale, California (d. 2006)
- 1935-01-19 [Augustus] Owsley Stanley III, American audio engineer and LSD cook who worked with the Grateful Dead, born in Kentucky (d. 2011)
- 1940-03-15 Phil Lesh [Chapman], American rock bassist (Grateful Dead - "Box of Rain"), born in Berkeley, California
- 1940-06-17 Alton Kelley, American graphic artist, known for concert posters and album cover art (Grateful Dead -"Workingman's Dead"; Steve Miller Band - "Book of Dreams"), born in Houlton, Maine (d. 2008)
- 1940-10-10 Mouse [Stanley Miller] American artist, notable for psychedelic rock concert poster designs and album art (Grateful Dead; Journey), born in Fresno, California
- 1941-06-23 Robert Hunter, American lyricist (Grateful Dead - "Box Of Rain"; "Ripple"; "Friend Of The Devil"; "Truckin'"), and singer-songwriter, born in Arroyo Grande, California (d. 2019)
- 1942-04-03 Herbie Greene, American photographer best known for his portraits for rock and roll luminaries (The Grateful Dead), born in Indio, California
Jerry Garcia (1942-1995)
1942-08-01 American rock and bluegrass guitarist, singer-songwriter (Grateful Dead - "Uncle John's Band"; "Ripple"; "Brokedown Palace"), and painter, born in San Francisco, California
Robert Crumb (80 years old)
1943-08-30 American cartoonist (Father Time; Fritz the Cat) and album cover artist (Janis Joplin; Grateful Dead), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 1943-09-11 Mickey Hart [Hartman], American drummer and percussionist (Grateful Dead, 1967-71 & 1974-96; Planet Drum: Rhythm Devils), born in Brooklyn, New York
- 1944-03-19 Tom Constanten, American rock keyboardist (Grateful Dead, 1968-70 - Aoxomoxoa), born in Long Branch, New Jersey
- 1944-06-18 Rick Griffin, American artist and a leading designer of psychedelic posters in the 1960s (Grateful Dead), born in Palos Verdes, California (d. 1991)
- 1945-04-19 Ram Rod [Laurence Shurtliff], American music executive and roadie (the Grateful Dead), born in Pendleton, Oregon (d. 2006)
- 1945-05-12 Keith Olsen, American rock record producer and sound engineer (Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac; Grateful Dead - Terrapin Station; Joe Walsh - The Confessor), born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota (d. 2020)
- 1945-09-08 Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, American rock singer, harmonica player, and occasional keyboardist (Grateful Dead, 1965-72), born in San Bruno, California (d. 1973)
- 1946-05-07 Bill Kreutzmann, American rock drummer (Grateful Dead), born in Palo Alto, California
- 1947-08-22 Donna Godchaux, American singer (Grateful Dead, 1972-79), born in Florence, Alabama
- 1947-10-03 John Perry Barlow, American lyricist (Grateful Dead - "Estimated Prophet"; "I Need A Miracle"; "Cassidy"), essayist, internet pioneer, and activist, born near Cora, Wyoming (d. 2018)
- 1947-10-16 Bob Weir, American guitarist and singer (Grateful Dead - "I Need A Miracle", "Sugar Magnolia"; RatDog; Dead & Company), born in San Francisco, California
- 1948-07-19 Keith Godchaux, American pianist, and singer (Grateful Dead, 1971-79 - "Let Me Sing Your Blues Away"), born in Seattle, Washington (d. 1980)
- 1949-08-16 Bill "Sputnik" Spooner, American rock guitarist (The Tubes - "Talk To Ya Later"), born in Phoenix, Arizona
- 1951-02-21 Vince Welnick, American rock keyboardist (The Tubes - "Talk To Ya Later"; Grateful Dead, 1990-95), born in Phoenix, Arizona (d. 2003)
- 1952-10-21 Brent Mydland, American rock keyboardist and vocalist (Grateful Dead, 1979-90), born in Munich, Germany (d. 1990)
Weddings in Music
Jerry Garcia
1981-12-31 Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia (38) weds Carolyn "Mountain Girl" Adams (35); divorce in 1994
- 1994-02-14 Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia (51) weds Deborah Koons (40) in Tiburon, California
- 1999-07-15 "Grateful Dead" guitarist Bob Weir (51) weds Natasha Muenter (31) in Mill Valley, California
Deaths in Music
- 1973-03-08 Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, American rock singer, harmonica player, and occasional keyboardist (Grateful Dead, 1965-72), dies of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage at 27
- 1980-07-23 Keith Godchaux, American pianist, and singer (Grateful Dead, 1971-79 - "Let Me Sing Your Blues Away"), dies in a car accident at 32
- 1990-07-26 Brent Mydland, American rock keyboardist and vocalist (Grateful Dead - "Hell In A Bucket"; "I Will Take You Home"), dies of a cocaine and morphine "speedball" overdose at 38
- 1991-08-18 Rick Griffin, American artist and a leading designer of psychedelic posters in the 1960s (Grateful Dead), dies in a motorcycle accident on his Harley at 47
Jerry Garcia (1942-1995)
1995-08-09 American rock and bluegrass guitarist, singer-songwriter (Grateful Dead - "Uncle John's Band"; "Ripple"; "Brokedown Palace"), and painter, dies of a heart attack at 53
- 2006-05-17 Laurence Shurtliff [Ram Rod], American music executive and roadie (the Grateful Dead), dies at 61
- 2006-06-02 Vince Welnick, American rock keyboardist (The Tubes - "Tak To Ya Later"; Grateful Dead, 1990-95), commits suicide at 55
- 2006-08-05 Ed Thrasher, American Grammy Award-winning art director (Warner Brothers Records, 1964-79), and photographer (album art for Frank Sinatra; Jimi Hendrix, Grateful Dead), dies of cancer at 74
- 2008-06-01 Alton Kelley, American graphic artist, known for concert posters and album cover art (Grateful Dead -"Workingman's Dead"; Steve Miller Band - "Book of Dreams"), dies at 67
- 2011-03-12 [Augustus] Owsley Stanley III, American audio engineer and LSD cook who worked with the Grateful Dead, dies in a car crash in Australia at 76
- 2018-02-07 John Perry Barlow, American lyricist (Grateful Dead - "Estimated Prophet"; "I Need A Miracle"; "Cassidy"), essayist, internet pioneer, and activist, dies at 70
- 2019-09-23 Robert Hunter, American lyricist and singer-songwriter (Grateful Dead), dies at 78
- 2020-03-09 Keith Olsen, American rock record producer and sound engineer (Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac; Grateful Dead - Terrapin Station; Joe Walsh - The Confessor), dies of cardiac arrest at 74