Bob Weir: Psychedelia and the Birth of the Grateful Dead (Audio)

In this never-before-heard 1996 interview, Bob Weir talks at length about how his chance meeting with Jerry Garcia led to the formation of Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions, the Warlocks, and, ultimately, the Grateful Dead. He details how the Beatles inspired the musicians’ rapid shift from folk music to psychedelia, their reasons for turning up the volume, and the difference between their earliest live shows and first studio recordings. He delves into how the use of LSD accelerated the Dead’s musical improvisations and explains how harder drugs – “bathtub methedrine, particularly” – took a devastating toll on San Francisco’s hippie scene. He also offers insights into the other bands and guitarists on the scene at that time. We hope you enjoy our conversation.

Here’s an audio sample for free subscribers: Bob Weir on the Birth of the Grateful Dead

Thanks to Steve Weiss, Shaw Lentz,  and the rest of the staff of the University of North Carolina’s Southern Folklife Collection for their assistance with this podcast. And a special shout-out goes to my co-producer/sound guru Nik Hunt.

© 2022 by Jas Obrecht. All rights reserved. Thanks for listening!