[Sasquatch]

1. What was the first Grateful Dead song that made you sit up and realise this band was something special? If it wasn't one song then what show was it?
The first songs that got me into them were casey jones, box of rain, and truckin(all studio versions) But then i heard Hundred Year Hall, andhad a good listening of The first couple of tracks- Bertha through I know you rider- and well, it stole my face

2. What was it that attracted you to the music of the Grateful Dead?
Incredible Musicians, great to boogie to, just cosmic
3. Did the Grateful Dead inspire you to play guitar/ a musical instrument? i had played bass for a while, but i was inspired by mr weir to take up rythym

4. What was the first Grateful Dead song you wanted to learn to play? Scarlet>Fire

5. What was the first Grateful Dead song you learned to play all the way through? UJB

6. What is your favorite Grateful Dead song to play/sing? scarlet>fire

[Shooster]

1. The first two albums I listened to I got from my local library. I popped in Workingman's first and was surprised as to how smooth and acoustic it was (sort of disappointed), I stopped it during High Time and put in Two From the Vault.

I immediately switched it to Dark Star and was completely taken aback. I didn't know what to think. I started it at the beginning of the disc and listened to "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" and that's what got me hooked. Then I got my hands on everything I could, and now I have over 7 gigs of dead on my iPod.

2. Local heads I knew the aura of the dead, etc.

3. No, I had already been playing guitar for a couple years before being exposed to them. I think that coming into it as a musician , I appreciated the jams and musicianship of it all more.

4. Friend of the Devil

5. Dire Wolf

6. Friend of the Devil ( It's just got such a perfect flow, It's really a song for the ages in the old folk tradition.)

[stratomaster7120]

A few answers, just a bit of fun. Out of interest:

1. Dozin' at the Knick. When I first encountered Brent Mydland too. Wow...

2. The intense care and emotion for the band itself from their fans and head followers.

3. Currently attending Berklee School of Music...nuff said

4. Terrapin Station

5. Bertha

6. Oooh...that's the hard one. Either Birdsong or Loser.

[shakedown_04092]

1. What was the first Grateful Dead song that made you sit up and realise this band was something special? If it wasn't one song then what show was it? Franklins Tower, from a bootleg cd my brother bought. The show was 5/9/77 from Buffalo. Awesome stuff, it blew me away.

2. What was it that attracted you to the music of the Grateful Dead? The complexity, yet at the same time, the ease of how the music sounded. It was like opening Pandora's Box for me. Unreal stuff. So many possibilities.

3. Did the Grateful Dead inspire you to play guitar/ a musical instrument? Mos def. Thanks guys!

4. What was the first Grateful Dead song you wanted to learn to play? hmm...LL Rain, Touch, or maybe Ruben & Cherise.

5. What was the first Grateful Dead song you learned to play all the way through? not sure...maybe Morning Dew or IKYR. Something easy, that's for sure.

6. What is your favorite Grateful Dead song to play/sing? Eyes, Cumberland Blues, Terrapin, LL Rain, Days Between.

[d-v-s]

1. first GD song to open my eyes to the band. A guy I met in college played guitar and was looking for a bass player. I'd never touched an instrument in my life, but decided to go for it. We started playing blues, and simple Hendrix rhythms and then he gave me this mix tape with one side all GD stuff that he wanted to play. The 4 songs he put on there blew me away - Altea, China/Rider and Eyes from Without a Net, and Scarlet/Fire from 5/8/77. I was hooked after that.

2. I loved the way they transitioned from song-to-song. The long musical journeys were just what I was looking for at the time to take me to the next level. It all just fit.

3. They weren't my first inspiration, but yeah, they definitely keep me going. My friend above played a good lead, and he could dance all over my mediocre bass lines to Eyes. Just the memories of those days keep me going.

4. first GD song I wanted to play: on bass - FOTM, on guitar, Friend of the Devil. One that I still want to play but struggle with is Casey Jones (on both the bass and the guitar).

5. first GD song I learned all the way through: well FOTM took a whole of 2 minutes to learn all the way through, so I won't count that one. I'll have to go with Friend of the Devil.

6. I think these are JGB songs, but I like to play Deal, Loser, Might As Well, and Mission in the Rain. Favorite Dead song to play is probably UJB.

[pfarrell615]

saratoga'85' lovelight/baby blue sex,drugs &rock'n roll, oh yea,free tickets and a road trip yes, chinacat the song i think i play best is Comes a time

[China Cat]

1. skull and roses album, which i burned from the local library just on a whim. i think it was because my cousin was starting to get into them and was raving about them

2.good musicians playing good music. i liked their full sound and the guitar playing best at the beginnning i suppose, but now i just love everything about them

3. i already played guitar, but the dead certainly inspired me to learn some new things from their music

4. Bertha probably, maybe st stephen idk

5. not sure box of rain maybe, though i cant remember it now

6. china cat, box of rain, ripple, alligator, lovelight, im not sure i play a ton of dead

[pinkfloyd188]

1. What was the first Grateful Dead song that made you sit up and realise this band was something special? If it wasn't one song then what show was it?

Europe '72. i was a freshman in high school, actually no it was the sumemr going into high school. i was deep into Pink Floyd and the Doors, so my aunt (all of my aunts are deadheads) hooked me up with it, along with A Long Strange Trip, don't know which disc but it opens with St. Stephen, and American Beauty.

i can remember the moment vividly.

get home, put Europe '72 into my disc man, walk outside to a lawn chair, pull out a Marlboro Red and start up disc 1. i just remember my cigarette burning all the way down, i was too entranced to notice it. i was even more surprised when i learned that the entire CD was live... at that time, i only had one CD with 2 live tracks, those were rare.

completely turned me onto other bands like Addison Groove Project and Deep Banana Blackout as well.

2. What was it that attracted you to the music of the Grateful Dead?

Phil playing the intro to Cumberland Blues on Europe '72, and (much later) learning that Bobby was playing that sick lead during the China Cat into I Know You Rider jam.

3. Did the Grateful Dead inspire you to play guitar/ a musical instrument?

yes. i knew for a fact i wanted to play something that i could be creative enough with and guitar just seemed too predictable. i decided to pick up bass, but i was one of those kids who didn't even know what the bass was, only thing i had seen was a stand-up bass. i bought it and i'm like "i wonder where this will take me..."

2.5 years later, i pick up new songs in a snap, i learn all scales and modes and i make up funky lines all the time. Phil never fails to make me pick it up over and over.

4. What was the first Grateful Dead song you wanted to learn to play?

Turn On Your Lovelight. i sat in my room with frustration the day i got my bass, trying to figure out how to read tabs, then i suddenly understood and i was like "whoa..." it was pretty cool.

5. What was the first Grateful Dead song you learned to play all the way through?

Turn On Your Lovelight. looked up the guitar parts for the breakdown.

6. What is your favorite Grateful Dead song to play/sing?

to play, Bird Song. to sing, The Eleven coming out of China Cat, when they do the couting down.

[nicolasalk]

1. What was the first Grateful Dead song that made you sit up and realise this band was something special? If it wasn't one song then what show was it?

The Grateful Dead Album, but mostly Viola Lee Blues, Morning Dew and Good morning Little Schoolgirl


2. What was it that attracted you to the music of the Grateful Dead?

The spirit, the magic in the songs, the different sound from all others bands


3. Did the Grateful Dead inspire you to play guitar/ a musical instrument?

When i discovered them i used to play guitar, but they do influenced me later


4. What was the first Grateful Dead song you wanted to learn to play?

St. Stephen adn Bird Song

5. What was the first Grateful Dead song you learned to play all the way through?

Bird Song

6. What is your favorite Grateful Dead song to play/sing?

Bird Song

[gratephulphish123]

1) friend of the devil (the studio one, that intro warms my soul)
2) the fact that my girlfriend hated them
3)no, but they inspired me to change the way i play
4)friend of the devil
5)box of rain (it was also the first song i learned to sing and play at the same time)
6)deal!

[GratefulPat]

touch of gray was the first, but then i quickly opened up to more dead.

Honestly i used to have a thing for trey and thought jerry hit the same notes to many times but i fell for his playing.

i am now very inspired by jerry when i play guitar. people are bugged out that i DONT listen to anything besides the dead... ever. period.

Sugar magnolia

sugar magnolia

I love to play/sing so many. a favorite of late has been terrapin, its all over now, and gdtrfb.. and the last verse of promised land.

[Currtwuzheere]

Ripple, i have heard it alot in my life, but when i was 14 i was listening to a Jerry Garcia cd (orgeon state prison) my dad gave me, and when i got to ripple i was just like stunned, so i looked it up, and then i found out my dad had american buety and ive been listening to them ever since (im 15, itll have been a year next month)

i dunno, i just loved it. the music, the lyrics, the talent in their live performances, just all of it. Plus im forever in my last gfs' dad good side cause hes a dead head

i been playing for few months when i discoved their music, but they gave me more direction in my playing


defenetley ripple, i was playing that within a day of me uploading american buety to my comp


Dire Wolf acually, my dad taught me when i first started guitar

their r alot, scarlet/fire, bird song, Terrapin, dire, ripple, help on the way, ramble on rose, tennesse jed, brown-eyed woman and of course mississippi half step

[lostsailor8782]

It was plain and simple 8-7-82 at Alpine Valley, my firswt show Music>Sugaree>Music opener, need I say more !!!!!!!!!!!! It's a Dicks Picks I believe

[Built2Last]

1. What was the first Grateful Dead song that made you sit up and realise this band was something special? If it wasn't one song then what show was it

Scarlet Bengonias cleared the path the first time i heard it

2. What was it that attracted you to the music of the Grateful Dead?

it was different and it wasnt a band that sold out who was all over the radio with boy bands and brittany spears. and jerry!

3. Did the Grateful Dead inspire you to play guitar/ a musical instrument?

yeh ive been playing for about three years now.


4. What was the first Grateful Dead song you wanted to learn to play?


uncle johns band



5. What was the first Grateful Dead song you learned to play all the way through?


uncle johns band

6. What is your favorite Grateful Dead song to play/sing?

scarlet>fire with the lights low and a j

[BlobWeird]

It was plain and simple 8-7-82 at Alpine Valley, my firswt show Music>Sugaree>Music opener, need I say more !!!!!!!!!!!! It's a Dicks Picks I believe

Yeah its a DP. Cant remember which but man I love that opener!