The Grateful Dead was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area amid the rise of the counterculture of the 1960s. The founding members were Jerry Garcia (lead guitar, vocals), Bob Weir (rhythm guitar, vocals), Ron "Pigpen" McKernan (keyboards, harmonica, vocals), Phil Lesh (bass, vocals), and Bill Kreutzmann (drums). Members of the Grateful Dead had played together in various San Francisco bands, including Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions and the Warlocks. Lesh was the last member to join the Warlocks before they became the Grateful Dead; he replaced Dana Morgan Jr., who had played bass for a few gigs. Drummer Mickey Hart and non-performing lyricist Robert Hunter joined in 1967. With the exception of McKernan, who died in 1973, and Hart, who took time off from 1971 to 1974, the core of the band stayed together for its entire 30-year history. The other official members of the band are Tom Constanten (keyboards; 1968–1970), John Perry Barlow (nonperforming lyricist; 1971–1995), Keith Godchaux (keyboards; 1971–1979), Donna Godchaux (vocals; 1972–1979), Brent Mydland (keyboards, vocals; 1979–1990), and Vince Welnick (keyboards, vocals; 1990–1995). Bruce Hornsby (accordion, piano, vocals) was a touring member from 1990 to 1992, as well as a guest with the band on occasion before and after the tours.
The name "Grateful Dead" was chosen from a dictionary. According to Phil Lesh, "[Jerry Garcia] picked up an old Britannica World Language Dictionary ... [and] ... In that silvery elf-voice he said to me, 'Hey, man, how about the Grateful Dead?'" The definition there was "the soul of a dead person, or his angel, showing gratitude to someone who, as an act of charity, arranged their burial". According to Alan Trist, director of the Grateful Dead's music publisher company Ice Nine, Garcia found the name in the Funk & Wagnalls Folklore Dictionary, when his finger landed on that phrase while playing a game of Fictionary. In the Garcia biography, Captain Trips, author Sandy Troy states that the band was smoking the psychedelic DMT at the time. The term "grateful dead" appears in folktales of a variety of cultures.
Live performances
The Grateful Dead toured constantly throughout their career, playing more than 2,300 concerts. They promoted a sense of community among their fans, who became known as "Deadheads", many of whom followed their tours for months or years on end. Around concert venues, an impromptu communal marketplace known as 'Shakedown Street' was created by Deadheads to serve as centers of activity where fans could buy and sell anything from grilled cheese sandwiches to home-made t-shirts and recordings of Grateful Dead concerts.
In their early career, the band also dedicated their time and talents to their community, the Haight-Ashbury area of San Francisco, making available free food, lodging, music, and health care to all. It has been said that the band performed "more free concerts than any band in the history of music".
With the exception of 1975, when the band was on hiatus and played only four concerts together, the Grateful Dead performed many concerts every year, from their formation in April 1965, until July 9, 1995. Initially all their shows were in California, principally in the San Francisco Bay Area and in or near Los Angeles. They also performed, in 1965 and 1966, with Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, as the house band for the Acid Tests. They toured nationally starting in June 1967 (their first foray to New York), with a few detours to Canada, Europe and three nights at the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt in 1978. They appeared at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, the Woodstock Festival in 1969 and the Festival Express train tour across Canada in 1970. They were scheduled to appear as the final act at the infamous Altamont Free Concert on December 6, 1969 after the Rolling Stones but withdrew after security concerns. "That's the way things went at Altamont—so badly that the Grateful Dead, prime organizers and movers of the festival, didn't even get to play", staff at Rolling Stone magazine wrote in a detailed narrative on the event.
Their first UK performance was at the Hollywood Music Festival in 1970. Their largest concert audience came in 1973 when they played, along with the Allman Brothers Band and the Band, before an estimated 600,000 people at the Summer Jam at Watkins Glen. They played to an estimated total of 25 million people, more than any other band, with audiences of up to 80,000 attending a single show. Many of these concerts were preserved in the band's tape vault, and several dozen have since been released on CD and as downloads. The Dead were known for the tremendous variation in their setlists from night to night—the list of songs documented to have been played by the band exceeds 500. The band has released four concert videos under the name View from the Vault.
In the 1990s, the Grateful Dead earned a total of $285 million in revenue from their concert tours, the second-highest during the 1990s, with the Rolling Stones earning the most. This figure is representative of tour revenue through 1995, as touring stopped after the death of Jerry Garcia. In a 1991 PBS documentary, segment host Buck Henry attended an August 1991 concert at Shoreline Amphitheatre and gleaned some information from some band members about the Grateful Dead phenomenon and its success. At the time, Jerry Garcia stated, "We didn't really invent the Grateful Dead, the crowd invented the Grateful Dead, you know what I mean? We were sort of standing in line, and uh, it's gone way past our expectations, way past, so it's, we've been going along with it to see what it's gonna do next." Furthermore, Mickey Hart stated, "This is one of the last places in America that you can really have this kind of fun, you know, considering the political climate and so forth." Hart also stated that "the transformative power of the Grateful Dead is really the essence of it; it's what it can do to your consciousness. We're more into transportation than we are into music, per se, I mean, the business of the Grateful Dead is transportation." One of the band's largest concerts took place just months before Garcia's death — at their outdoor show with Bob Dylan in Highgate, Vermont on June 15, 1995. The crowd was estimated to be over 90,000; overnight camping was allowed and about a third of the audience got in without having purchased a ticket.
Their numerous studio albums were generally collections of new songs that they had first played in concert. The band was also famous for its extended musical improvisations, having been described as having never played the same song the same way twice. Their concert sets often blended songs, one into the next, often for more than three songs at a time.
Tapes
Like several other bands during this time, the Grateful Dead allowed their fans to record their shows. For many years the tapers set up their microphones wherever they could, and the eventual forest of microphones became a problem for the sound crew. Eventually, this was solved by having a dedicated taping section located behind the soundboard, which required a special "tapers" ticket. The band allowed sharing of their shows, as long as no profits were made on the sale of the tapes.
Of the approximately 2,350 shows the Grateful Dead played, almost 2,200 were taped, and most of these are available online. The band began collecting and cataloging tapes early on and Dick Latvala was their keeper. "Dick's Picks" is named after Latvala. After his death in 1999, David Lemieux gradually took the post. Concert set lists from a subset of 1,590 Grateful Dead shows were used to perform a comparative analysis between how songs were played in concert and how they are listened online by Last.fm members. In their book Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn From the Most Iconic Band in History, David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan identify the taper section as a crucial contributor to increasing the Grateful Dead's fan base.
After the death of Garcia in 1995, former members of the band, along with other musicians, toured as the Other Ones in 1998, 2000, and 2002, and the Dead in 2003, 2004, and 2009. In 2015, the four surviving core members marked the band's 50th anniversary in a series of concerts that were billed as their last performances together. There have also been several spin-offs featuring one or more core members, such as Dead & Company, Furthur, the Rhythm Devils, Phil Lesh and Friends, RatDog, and Billy & the Kids.
France
Grateful Dead Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All the ladies love to dance
Kick their heels up in the air
Snap their fingers for romance
While the gentlemen compare blonde or
Black or auburn hair
Check the motion and the style Oh
You know they take their while
To make it more a treat
Club D'Jour is where to go come
On down and see the show
When the rhythm's really right you
Can burn it down tonight
When the singing's really fine sweet
As Spanish sherry wine
When the club can't contain the beat it
Just rolls out in the street
Spills on down the avenue bringing
Dancers to their feet
When it's good as it can be
It gets better wait and see
Oh, these folks don't ever sleep until
They're passed out in the street
Way down in the south of France
All the ladies love to dance
Clap their hands and walk on air, yeah
The feeling's really there
Won't you take a little taste raise
It to your charming face?
When the rhythm's really right you
Can burn it down tonight
When the singing's really fine sweet
As Spanish sherry wine go on take a chance
The ladies do love to dance
The Grateful Dead's song "France" paints a vivid picture of a fun-filled night in the south of France. The lyrics describe a lively atmosphere where people enjoy dancing and socializing. The place to be is Club D'Jour, where the rhythm is just right and the singing is sweet.
The song emphasizes the importance of the dancers' motion and style, as the gentlemen are seen comparing the different hair colors of the women. The atmosphere is electric, and even when the club can't contain the beat, the dancers spill out onto the streets and continue to let loose.
The chorus emphasizes the passion and energy of the dancers, with the lyrics, "When the rhythm's really right you can burn it down tonight, When the singing's really fine sweet as Spanish sherry wine." Overall, the song celebrates the joy and freedom of dancing and having a good time in the beautiful south of France.
Line by Line Meaning
Way down in the south of France all the ladies love to dance
In the southern region of France, women enjoy moving to music quite a bit.
Kick their heels up in the air snap their fingers for romance
Energetically dancing by raising their heals and snapping fingers while performing suggests a form of romance or intrigue.
While the gentlemen compare blonde or black or auburn hair
The men are differentiating women based on their hair color and type.
Check the motion and the style Oh, you know they take their while
The men are also checking how the women dance and take their time to pick a partner.
Hey, to make the motion more complete, yeah, to make it more a treat
This line encourages making the movement of the dance more delightful and enjoyable.
Club D'Jour is where to go come on down and see the show
The Club D'Jour is a fantastic venue for hosting entertainment and fun events in Southern France.
When the rhythm's really right you can burn it down tonight
The song is saying that with the correct beat, people can let loose and dance as recklessly as they wish.
When the singing's really fine sweet as Spanish sherry wine
When the singing is of excellent quality, it is as desirable as Spanish sherry wine.
When the club can't contain the beat it just rolls out in the street
When the music beats are too high, it spills outside of the club and draws people into it, leading them to dance along the street.
Spills on down the avenue bringing dancers to their feet.
The dancing will continue down the avenue, and attract even more people to dance there along with the rest.
When it's good as it can be it gets better wait and see
When the level of fun reaches a high point, it is likely to keep getting better.
Oh, these folks don't ever sleep till they're passed out in the street
The people here party until they drop, as demonstrated by their sleep disorder.
Clap their hands and walk on air, yeah, the feeling's really there
The song says that these women can clap their hands as they dance, feeling light or airy, and that it is an incredibly enjoyable experience for them.
Won't you take a little taste raise it to your charming face?
The singer is encouraging the listener to give it a go and enjoy the experience of the culture and music by taking a sip.
Go on take a chance, the ladies do love to dance.
It says that women in France very much enjoy dancing and urges everyone to participate and dance around.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
McGannahan Skyjellyfetti
Way down in the south of France all the ladies love to dance
Kick their heels up in the air snap their fingers for romance
While the gentlemen compare blonde or black or auburn hair
Check the motion and the style Oh, you know they take their while
Hey, to make the motion more complete, yeah, to make it more a treat
Club D'Jour is where to go come on down and see the show
When the rhythm's really right you can burn it down tonight
When the singing's really fine sweet as Spanish sherry wine
When the club can't contain the beat it just rolls out in the street
Spills on down the avenue bringing dancers to their feet.
When it's good as it can be it gets better wait and see
Oh, these folks don't ever sleep till they're passed out in the street
Way down in the south of France all the ladies love to dance
Clap their hands and walk on air, yeah, the feeling's really there
Won't you take a little taste raise it to your charming face?
When the rhythm's really right you can burn it down tonight
When the singing's really fine sweet as Spanish sherry wine
Go on take a chance, the ladies do love to dance...
Keith Stack
One time was having a tough psychedelic experience. My friend and I called our other friend who was older and a bit more experienced with psychedelics. He drove 20 minutes out to us, walked in without saying a word, sparked a joint, and put on this song without saying a word. Immediately we started smiling and laughing. Became one of the most transcendent experiences I've had. Can't really put into words how meaningful that whole thing was, and this song has a special place in my heart cause of it. But one thing I learned - This song makes light dance.
Midnight riderz
what a legend, I can only imagine such a moment in time.
Caleb Bernstein
all you need is love my brother .... when the beat jumps into the street!!
Eric Preston
Love itt
Daniel Montealegre
Why did that story make me start tearing up? :’]
Derek Jenkins
Fitting song for such a scenario. This one hits.
epicLaserSharks
been on the bus for about 5 years and just listened to this yesterday although i'd heard it once or twice. There's something hauntingly magical about this song. It has a groove like none other I've ever heard. Its mysterious in how confused my brain was listening to it. Great work.
April Riddle
❤❤😊I have loved this song since the very 1st time ever hearing it!!!❤❤❤❤❤❤
SilvianGC
Favorite track on this CD. Lighthearted, jammin', soothing, and fun all at once.
NickDelleMusic
Bobby and donna's voices blend so well together on this song, I wish I could say the same for live performances...