Legend: Touring, drugs took their toll
■ Continued from Page 1
a trysletn slowdown. There is an
influx to discuss the passing of
the Grateful Deed's |t»rrv Gama "
The Grateful Dead, with its mots
in the Bey Arne's imychadeiit •* »s«>
of the I’KiOs. combined roc k. blue
grass, blues and folk influent es into
.1 unique stew (kin ia was loud gm
tarist, c omposer and sometime
vocalist.
Among the band's ties) known
songs were "True kin'." Cases
Jones." and "Friend of the Dec
il " Its only lop 10 hit was the
HM!7 song "Tom ii of Grey."’ with
its refrain "I will survive Hut
tiie Dead were almost mure a way
of life than a band to thousands
of "Deadheads." many of whom
followed the group from corn ert
to concert.
They made the Isiiid one of the
most popular cone ert draws in
ihr i inied states groMing tens
of millions of dollars each year
"You need music." (win ia one e
said "I don't know whv. it's
probably one of those Joe (wimp
hell cpiestions. why we need ri!
ub) Wo need magic, and bltss,
and power, myth, and i elobra
lion and religion in our lie es. and
musii is a good was loenuipsu
late a lot of it,"
In concert, (inn in was cither
spotty or spectacular In the
1980s and 1000s. he would for
get lyrics or strain to hit high
notes when he sang slow tempo
standards such ns "Sugnreu."
"Althea" and ' Ship of l-'ools
But his searing, improvised
guitar solos breathed new life
into even the band's most over
worked numbers, sending danc
ing Deadheads into paroxysms of
glee through the extended jams
He rarely spoke on stage,
reportedly because he feared how
his words would he interpreted
by rabid fans who analyzed every
nuance
The bearded, rotund Garcia
had a history of health problems
that occasionally caused breaks
in the Dead's grueling concert
schedule In 1980. he entered the
hospital in a diabetic coma.
Garda slimmed down, stopjied
smoking, i ut down on drugs and
hired a personal fitness trainer
after falling ill with exhaustion
m 1991
But the years of i distant tour
ing took their toll
"It was a meltdown Too many
cigarettes, too much junk fond
and too little exert iso," band
spokesman Ilenms McNally said
last year.
As fans heard of the death
Wednesday . a CfOWd gathered ,U
the corner of Haight and Ash
bury, the heart of tlie San Fran
cisco neighborhood that
mi ubated the Dead
Josh Grartford. 18, of Flkin,
N.C.. said fie had planned to
spend most of the fail following
the Grateful Dead
The tour wasn't so much
about the slums, it was about
being with family That'll all
i flange, hut it can't lie forgotten,"
sail! Cranford, who was wearing
a tie-dyed shirt The band made
their mark anil it's here."
In Columbia. Mo business
man Arnie Fagan, whose shop
Cool Stuff wills men handise hail
ing the band, had his workers
lower the American flag out front
lu half staff
11« was the leader of a bind that
was more than a bind It was a
wine, it was a lifestyle," said Fagan.
tO. "It's a family thing, so Jerry's
death is like losing your grandfa
ther to a whole lot of people He
was the most loved mumfier of the
Grateful Dead." Fagan said he got
his start in business selling tie-dyed
T-shirts and other items as he fol
lowed the bind around
Fans of the late Jerry Garcia gathered around a photo and created a
memorial with incense, tapestries, candles, and jewelry
Garcia (till <i l>it of men twin
dising himself. marketing his art
work and a lint* of colorful
HOC kill's
I ven a line of it e cream was
named after him —- Bun A |erry s
Cherry (kart in.
Mr Nallv said he didn't know
why (.an la was at the treatment
center
"It was news to me." he said
"I thought fie was going to
Hawaii Apparently he was pav
mg increased attention to his
health." He said lie had seen Gar
cia ns eiitlv. so lie could not have
been in tile i enter for more than
n couple of days
Problems at several recent con
certs drew headlines At a r on
i ert in Indiana, a i rush of gate
crashers led to a series of arrests
and the cancellation of the fol
lowing night's show A few days
later after a concert in St Louis,
a dei k collapsed during a ruin
storm at a campground used by
Deadheads, and more than loti
were injured
The Dead's most rot ent per
formance was |uly Oat Chiiugo's
Soldier Field
Cart ia was born Aug. 1. l‘)42,
in San Franc isco His Spanish
turn! father was a musician, play
ing reed instruments and leading
a swing band; Ills grandmother,
who largely raised him. founded
a union for laundry workers
He fiei ante interested to elec -
tru guitar and painting as a teen
ager. taking classes at what is
now the San Franc isi o Art Insti
tute He also spent hours in the
coffee liars of North Bern h. read
ing Heat writers like lack Kerouat
and soaking up Ihn beatnik
atmosphere
After a brief stint in the Army.
Gan.id formed several folk and
bluegrass bands In 19M. he
fuumieil a liand i tilled the War
locks, wliu h also included Huh
Weir, Hill hrout/Jinmn. Km; Pig
pen Mi kern.m .uni I'hil l.-.ii
Hut there was already a band by
that name They found another
name in the die tionarv
"We never decided to he the
Grateful Dead." he told Hailing
Siam1 "What happened was the
Grateful Dead i arne up as a sug
geshoil liocause vve were at Phil’s
house one dav. he had a lug
Oxford dictionary, I opened it up
and the first thing I saw was l he
Grateful Dead
'll said that on the page and it
was so astonishing It was truly
weird, a truly weird moment
A grateful dead is a type of Ira
ddional British folk ballad in
which a human helps a ghost ol
someone who has died recently
find peace "They're about kar
ma. who h is apt." said Mi Sadly
l he hand itself lost several
members over its many years
Mi human died in I97'i of the
effects of alcoholism he>, fKinrdist
keith Godchaux died in t'iMO m
a car crash a year after he left the
hand Another keyboardist. Brent
Mydland. died in 1990 of a drug
overdose
Gan.ia is survived by his third
wife, Defiorali koons liar* in. a
N1.mii C imnty filmmaker and four
daughters. Headier, 12, Annais-lle.
25. Teresa, 21 and Keelin. h.
Funeral arrangements were not
immediately announced
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