"a Grateful Dead concert is like a fantastic book. It makes you laugh; it makes you cry; it changes you." - Basketball great Bill Walton

Born out of the burgeoning West Coast hippie scene in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district during the late '60s, and inextricably linked to psychedelic experimentation, the Grateful Dead blended psychedelic folk music and a transformative live experience that grew into the largest, most devoted and longest lived cult following in the history of popular music. Deadhead culture rapidly became more ubiquitous than the music -- the Dead's friendly jams, laid-back tunes and open attitude towards bootlegging inspired a tightly knit community that followed the band around the country and traded tapes of concerts years after they'd been recorded. The Dead's concert performances live forever in the often-altered minds of those who attended show after show, and in thousands of hours of recorded material. The majority of these Dead bootlegs were recorded really well and sound like someone took the time to master and equalize them. Hardcore Deadhead classics like "Jack Straw" re-emphasize why the band's live shows were a musical phenomenon. Those who identified best with the Workingman's Dead and American Beauty LPs will be pleased to know that there is an overwhelming amount of well-recorded and downloadable live jams from that era when Jerry was younger, the songs were fresh, and the guitars sounded especially warm.

The Grateful Dead was more than just a band, it was an experience. From their humble beginnings as Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions to their status as top grossing concert acts in the 70's and 80's, The Grateful Dead became one of the music industry's most respected bands. In many ways, they were ahead of their time in terms of their relentless touring and their encouragement of fans taping their shows. Because of the taping, most Dead shows over their 30 year career are available in some form or another.