![]() Grateful Fred, an officially licensed Grateful Dead maker of high-quality chrome badges (like the 13-point bolt, stealie, and other official Dead logos), and other iconic Deadhead imagery, has come up with a singular piece of artwork, the latest American flag to enter the world of the Dead. If not as instantly recognizable as the 13-point bolt, the Steal Your Face logo, or the Dancing Bears, the flag certainly holds a place in band history. The American flag would later appear on tie-dyed shirts, posters, hats, buttons and more, associated with the Grateful Dead. Were the symbols of America a form of protest, or a true display? That’s up to us to come to that conclusion, and just as well. Scholars will no doubt continue to pick a side. If there was any doubt that Garcia wasn’t at least a tiny bit proud of calling America home, perhaps there wouldn’t exist so many images with the American flag depicted. Jerry with his original muse, the banjo, photo by Herb Green. Photographer Herb Greene captured a svelte, dark-haired Garcia posing proudly in front of a monster American flag large enough to cover an entire wall inside a home at 710 Ashbury, a flag whose origins “escaped memory”, according to Jerry. An ironic gesture for a band with few obviously political messages. Some have argued that the Grateful Dead’s use of the American flag was less patriotic than patronizing. Skeletons and the American flag appeared on many of the Dead’s tour artworks. The earliest and, for many fans, most popular examples were 1970 releases Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty, packed with allusions to classically American characters, from settlers of the old West to modern-day nomads with differing ideas of freedom, yet no less valid. Practically inventing the “jam band” genre, the Grateful Dead were free-flowing, improvisational, and universally minded, yet operated with a distinctly American storytelling style, mainly due to the sensibilities of lyricist Robert Hunter and the musical backgrounds of each of the members. It’s actually a pretty Dead thing to do though, right? The Grateful Dead unabashedly showing love for their country. Visionary band leader Jerry Garcia understood the contradiction, and one could say embraced it, his festive patriotic attire more fitting for a political convention than a rock concert. The Grateful Dead’s use of the American flag might first appear at odds with the anti-war movement happening across college campuses in the ‘60s. This band was uniquely blue-collar in that respect. Although highly "tuned in," this was an incredibly hard-working band. You didn’t see Phil Lesh going on a bender, or Bob Weir pulling a no-show. In the ‘60s, protest against the war and the establishment led many young people, in the words of Timothy Leary, to “turn on, tune in, drop out.” Yet dropping out was not who the Grateful Dead were. There’s that flag again, this time gracing a live album Turn On, Tune In, Show Up But what other rock band used images of America in their music and imagery so freely? The idea was about sharing responsibility, taking turns, no ego present. Jerry led the band musically, but that was about it. Or was it rebellion? Perhaps the band’s early experiments with Ken Kesey’s Acid Tests had much to do with how they viewed authority figures, from record company suits to police officers. And the roots of that song go back even further, to African American song tradition, played at the Grand Ole Opry.įreedom Was Woven into the Essence of the Grateful Deadįreedom was central to the band’s vision. Lyricist Robert Hunter wrote fan-favorite “Deal” inspired by Charlie Poole’s version of “Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down” from 1929. ![]() Other members of the band cited Folkways records as influences. The banjo was one of Jerry’s first musical loves. “The direction I went into was old-time blues and old-time country music, and I got very serious about it for a long time,” said Jerry. Jerry Garcia loved traditional American music
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