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.
Loser
Grateful Dead Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I could arm a town the size of Abilene
Don't you push me baby,
'Cause I'm all alone and you know I'm only in it for the gold
All that I am asking for is ten gold dollars
And I could pay you back with one good hand
You can look around about the wide world over
Last fair deal in the country,
Sweet Suzie, last fair deal in the town
Put your gold money where your love is baby,
Before you let my deal go down
Don't you push me baby, 'cause I'm all alone
Well I know a little something you won't ever know
Don't you touch hard liquor, just a cup of cold coffee
I'm gonna get up in the morning and go
Everybody prayin' and drinkin' that wine
I can tell the queen of diamonds by the way she shines
Come to daddy on the inside straight,
Well I got no chance of losin' this time
Last fair deal in the country,
Last fair deal in the town
Put your gold money where your love is baby,
Before you let my deal go down
Everybody prayin' and drinkin' that wine
I can tell the queen of diamonds by the way she shines
Come to daddy on the inside straight,
Well I got no chance of losin' this time.
The Grateful Dead's "Loser" is a song about hubris and greed, but also about survival and perseverance. The opening line, "If I had a gun for every ace I have drawn, I could arm a town the size of Abilene," is a reference to the singer's history of success in gambling. The singer is self-assured and boasts about his prowess, emphasizing his ability to win big in a game of cards. He warns his opponent not to push him because he is all alone and only in it for the gold.
The chorus of the song brings in the singer's present situation. All he is asking for is ten gold dollars, but he is broke and needs a good hand to pay his debt. The second line of the chorus is a reflection of the singer's character. He is confident that there isn't another honest gambler like him. He is a loner with no real friends or allies, which is evident when he says, "Don't you push me baby, 'cause I'm all alone."
The song's final verse is about the singer's past experiences, present situation, and future plans. It describes him as a man who drinks only coffee instead of hard liquor and the way he can tell the queen of diamonds by the way it shines. The second half of the verse is where the song's meaning becomes clear. The "last fair deal in the country" refers to the singer's current predicament, and he tells his lover to put her money where her love is before she lets his deal go down. The song's outro is a repetition of the chorus that emphasizes the singer's confidence and lack of fear.
Line by Line Meaning
If I had a gun for every ace I have drawn,
If I had a weapon for every success I have had,
I could arm a town the size of Abilene
I would have enough to protect and control a large group of people
Don't you push me baby,
Don't try to manipulate me
'Cause I'm all alone and you know I'm only in it for the gold
I don't have anyone to rely on and my only motivation is money
All that I am asking for is ten gold dollars
I only want a small amount of money
And I could pay you back with one good hand
I could repay you with a significant reward
You can look around about the wide world over
You won't find someone better
And you'll never find another honest man.
I'm trustworthy and reliable
Last fair deal in the country,
This is the only remaining fair transaction available
Sweet Suzie, last fair deal in the town
This is the last honest exchange locally
Put your gold money where your love is baby,
Invest your wealth in what you care about
Before you let my deal go down
Don't miss out on this opportunity before it's too late
Well I know a little something you won't ever know
I have a unique insight or skill
Don't you touch hard liquor, just a cup of cold coffee
I prefer to stay alert and focused
I'm gonna get up in the morning and go
I'm motivated and driven to succeed
Everybody prayin' and drinkin' that wine
People are relying on faith or intoxication to cope
I can tell the queen of diamonds by the way she shines
I have a keen eye for value and worth
Come to daddy on the inside straight,
I'm confident and in control of the situation
Well I got no chance of losin' this time
I'm unbeatable
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Jerome J. Garcia, Robert C. Hunter
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Grateful Dead
"When Loser was 'on,' the song was sung with conviction and passion, and the instrumental segment built to a massive crescendo, one of those moments that indicated the band was having a great night. In the late 1980s into the early 1990s, there were several versions of Loser that fit this bill. The Albany rendition from 3/24/90 gets a lot of the mentions, but this one from the previous summer is every bit as great." - David Lemieux
Lukefish
Thank you! 😀⚡️🙂
Graham Skardon
Yep, for me, the '89 Riverfront Coliseum "Loser" was the template that Jerry would use throughout that period until reaching a climax at Knickerbocker 3/24/90. Such a powerful tune!
Olga Tee
Love it❣️🌹🌞🌺👌Jerry so ‘easy’ he does it.. First time hear this one..2021!! True.. Great❣️
Charlie Kruger
@Graham Skardon I was there 3/24/90 absolutely my favorite loser
LosOsos D.H.
Indeed Dave!!
Christopher Christopher
I always felt like Brent was the musician Garcia needed in the GD. Sometimes it looks and sounds as if the two of them are just playing as a duo, and everyone else slides in around them. A great team.
Steven Paulus
The way they look at each other when they're locked in together says it all. I find myself rewatching any time Jerry makes that little smile from some move Brent made, it's always heartwarming to see and incredible to listen to. What a band.
juzagirl Ntheroom
I was a tour kid. And I kept up even into the post JG work and when I look back on it all, the times with Brent were my personal favorites, because of him being him. Jerry being Jerry, it all just meshed and vibed. Mesmerizing..
Dave Brown
Always thought the same thing. I was at this show it was one of Brents' best.