Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
Grateful Dead (Musical group); Rock groups--United States; Rock groups; United States;
Abstract
Experiencing continual re-creation during each of the twenty-one years preceding 1986, this study's core may continue to unfold indefinitely. Although discovered to encapsulate elements grounded elsewhere, this culture centers upon an experimental musical group known as the Grateful Dead. First encountering the Grateful Dead in the summer of 1981, their ageless repertoire failed to capture me, but an unusual audience filled my senses. Flowing print skirts and other bright but tired attire suggested San Francisco of a time then fifteen years past. Subdued excitement replaced the alcohol inhibition of many rock shows. As the band finally appeared, a peacefully elated greeting unlike shrieking rock show ovations arose. Once the music began, many started an unadvancing climb through an invisible wind. The music blew serenely chaotic seizures. Flailing arms and legs twisted in strangely self-contained dance. Eventually the music left and an obviously satisfied audience diffused into the evening. Slowly gaining an appreciation for the music, an unsatisfied interest in the Grateful Dead following first witnessed in St. Paul 1981 remained. Through various literature I discovered that the Grateful Dead, or simply "the Dead," had attracted a consistent following since their emergence from the San Francisco Haight-Asbury "hippie" or "love movement." I learned that individuals within this following considered themselves "Deadheads." Through actions and styles witnessed on my occasional visits, I sensed a Haight-Asbury aura, but the young age of the participants suggested something beyond a "cult" from the sixties. Strangely, the band had not had a hit song since "Trucking" and "Casey Jones" reached the lower half of the Top 100 in 1971. Further, the band still relied heavily upon time-worn material. Despite lack of commercial success, increasingly larger crowds packed 1980's shows. Many unanswered questions emerged. How could such dated styles and songs continue to draw such a devoted following from such diffuse locales? What was the strange magic luring a devoted and predominately teenage-through-early-twenties following? These questions sparked what proved a highly rewarding quest culminating in these pages, but grounded in what Glaser and Strauss term "grounded theory" (Spradley, 1979). Grounded theory was used to generate theory "grounded" in empirical data gathered from the Grateful Dead cultural world and other supplemental sources (Spradley, 1979). In other words, theory was generated through participant observation, ethnographic interviews, and literature review. Allowing emergence of theory, data were competently collected in accordance with Spradley's "systematic research sequence." Spradley's systematic directives guided ethnographic inquiries from general to specific. Data analysis was also guided by Spradley's systematic frame. Research discoveries emerged through various phases. As a test instrument to gauge the possibility of completing an M.A. thesis based on the cultural world enveloping the Grateful Dead, I traveled to Philadelphia and Portland (Maine) Grateful Dead concerts during spring break of 1986. Intensive interviews were complemented with extensive participant observation. Informants arrived in the morning hours preceding evening concerts and participated in a free-flowing festive environment that included barter and other distribution of items from tie-dye tee-shirts to various substances discreetly offered as "X," "doses," and "buds." Having attended several Grateful Dead concerts in the past, I was aware of this "community" but was oblivious to the depth of rich, largely untapped cultural data available. Leaving Portland I was mildly overwhelmed with the possibilities this project promised. Realizing that a quality project demanded further immersion within this culture, I went "on tour" ( followed the Grateful Dead concerts cross-country) during the summer of 1986. From Minneapolis, "tour" was followed to Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Akron, Buffalo, Washington (D.C.) and Ventura, California. Grounded theory was tested through hypotheses confirmed or discarded by numerous informants. Later, my own conclusions were grounded in ethnographic discoveries and literature review. The Grateful Dead were discovered to envelop many elements of the large social environment marking their 1965 inception. Encapsulating elements of the 1960's "hippie" or "love movement," the Grateful Dead and their following reflect/internalize mythical elements through a distinct Grateful Dead identity. A mythical dialectic has emerged. Specifically, band and audience are impacted by myth, but also construct myth within a social context. Further, one group of Deadheads, the most symbolic of Grateful Dead myth, was discovered to contain many elements of counter culture. "Tour" was found to serve as a rite of passage and each Grateful Dead concert was discovered to serve as a rite of opposition. Oppositional sentiments were discovered to be directed against society's unconcern with its "pure form" values. Emergent from all data was a "cultural theme" which comprehensively reflected ethnographic finding and my own conclusions.
Year of Submission
1986
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
First Advisor
Ronald Roberts
Second Advisor
Robert E. Claus
Third Advisor
Jerome Klinkowitz
Date Original
1986
Object Description
1 PDF file (143 leaves)
Copyright
©1986 Ray Eldridge
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Eldridge, Ray, "We Will Survive: An Ethnography of the Grateful Dead Following" (1986). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 2570.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/2570
Comments
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