Grateful Dead

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Lore & Background

By October 1974, lead guitarist Jerry Garcia sought to stop touring and take a break from performing. To mark this pause, a five-show farewell run was set for October 16–20 at Winterland in San Francisco. Manager Ron Rakow sold the idea of a soundtrack album to United Artists Records, while an initial plan developed to film the shows and tour the movie as a substitute for live performances. The concept shifted when filmmaker Leon Gast realized the project should be about "the Grateful Dead experience" rather than just a series of concerts. Gast recalled that Garcia and Rakow wanted to shoot a full performance from beginning to end, hoping for one night of magic among the five. That magic happened on the third or fourth night, transforming the film into a portrait of the crew, the band, and the fans.

In Their Own Story

At the start of the second set of the final show on October 20, 1974, Mickey Hart returned to the stage as a second drummer, ending his hiatus since February 1971. This appearance paved the way for his permanent return in 1976. Frequent guest keyboardist Ned Lagin joined the band during these shows, playing an array of instruments including a Rhodes, ARP Odyssey, and an Interdata 716-controlled E-mu Systems modular polyphonic synthesizer. Lagin preferred playing through the powerful vocal system of the Wall of Sound, which often led to recording issues where his quadrophonic input was neglected by the sound crew or lost in the mix. In the final film, Lagin appears only briefly in silhouette during "Morning Dew" and "Johnny B. Goode," fulfilling a request he made after estranging himself from the band in 1975.

Reader's Guide

Producing The Grateful Dead Movie consumed Jerry Garcia's time throughout the hiatus, with editing taking nearly three years of stressful work. Susan Crutcher was hired to help sync approximately 100,000 feet of film, a process that took five months alone using SMPTE timecode to interface video and film for the first time in a movie. The opening animation sequence, featuring the "Uncle Sam skeleton" created by Gary Gutierrez, cost as much as the rest of the production, bringing the band's organization to the brink of bankruptcy. To cover costs, the group took out loans and self-released several albums including Robert Hunter's Tiger Rose and Garcia's Reflections. Rather than standard distribution, Jerry enlisted a concert promoter to rent theaters using "four-walling" and bring in special sound systems to enhance quality. The movie premiered on June 1, 1977, at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City.

Did You Know?

• The opening animation sequence cost approximately as much as the rest of the entire movie.
• Mickey Hart's return on October 20, 1974, led to his permanent rejoining of the band in 1976.
• Ned Lagin is only seen briefly in silhouette in the film due to recording issues and a personal request he made after leaving the group in 1975.
• The film was originally considered for the title 'The Grateful Dead: Warts and All' before settling on its final name.
• Susan Crutcher noted that syncing 100,000 feet of film alone took five months using new SMPTE timecode technology.