On this day in 1965 The Grateful Dead played their first concert under that name. They had previously been called The Warlocks. The line up- Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Pigpen McKernan, Phil Lesh and Bill Kreutzmann were the core of the group for the entire history of the group, expect for McKernan who died in 1973. You didn’t want to be the keyboardist in The Grateful Dead- kind of like being the drummer for Spinal Tap. The first show by The Grateful Dead was at The Fillmore in San Francisco, a Bill Graham production.

I went to a few Grateful Dead shows back in the day. They were great in concert and the Dead Heads were as intererting as the group. A great quote from Jerry Garcia- when asked if he liked the Dead Heads he replied “Its hard not to like someone who likes you.” I’ve always kept that quote in mind as a teacher.