The Grateful Dead and Their World: Popular Music and the Avant-Garde in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1965-75 Melvin J. Backstrom Schulich School of Music McGill University, Montreal December 2017 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy © Melvin J. Backstrom 2017 Table of Contents Abstract i Abrégé ii List of Musical Examples iii List of Illustrations iv List of Tables v Acknowledgements vi Introduction 1 The Politics of Sixties’ Counterculturalism 12 On Improvisation 32 Modernism/Postmodernism and the Avant-Garde 36 On Irony 42 Chapter 1: The Art-Popular Music Dialectic in San Francisco, 1965-1970 51 The San Francisco Tape Music Center 51 The Trips Festival as Rock Concert Paradigm 60 Jazz & Rock 72 The Jefferson Airplane 79 Country Joe and the Fish 82 The Grateful Dead: 1967-69 84 Anthem of the Sun 85 Aoxomoxoa 98 Progressive Rock and the Grateful Dead 101 Live/Dead 103 Conclusion 115 Chapter 2: “Sing Me Back Home”: Musical Traditions and Sixties’ Counterculturalism 117 “We’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden”: The Politics of Countercultural Ideals 120 Country Music and Its Countercultural Relations 128 “Country & Western” vs. “Country” 131 “Okie from Muskogee,” the Beach Boys and the Grateful Dead 133 “An Evening with the Grateful Dead” 138 Rock-Country-Jazz-Fusion? 142 “Dark Star>El Paso>Sing Me Back Home” – August 27, 1972 144 “Dark Star>Cumberland Blues” – September 27, 1972 148 Conclusion 154 Chapter 3: Pastoral Complexity in the Music of the Grateful Dead 161 Countercultural Pastoralism and Its Critiques 163 Leo Marx and The Machine in the Garden 166 On California 170 Earlier Pastoral Evocations in Bay Area Rock Renaissance 175 Complex Pastoralism in Song: An Exegesis of “Jack Straw” 178 Kezar Stadium: May 26, 1973 188 “Playing in the Band” 198 The Grateful Dead’s Rock-Jazz Fusion 203 Wake of the Flood 208 The Songs of Wake of the Flood 211 “Eyes of the World>China Doll” 215 Conclusion 224 Chapter 4: Ned Lagin and Seastones 230 Lagin and the Grateful Dead 233 The Genesis of Seastones 237 Performance History of Lagin and the Grateful Dead, 1970-72 240 February 18, 1971 – Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, New York 241 April 8, 1971: The Boston Music Hall 245 Lagin’s Move to the Bay Area – November 28, 1973: “Experiments in Quadrophonic Sound,” Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco 247 Seastones in Performance, June-October 1974 254 Generative Music 265 The Wall of Sound’s Psychological and Physiological Motivations 266 Seastones — The Album 269 Geological Inspirations 275 Formal Analysis 286 Seastones in Performance: June-November 1975 289 The Marketing of Seastones 296 Conclusion 302 Chapter 5: The Grateful Dead and the Blues for Allah 307 The Grateful Dead’s “Retirement” 308 Music and Holograms 312 The SNACK Benefit: Kezar Stadium, San Francisco; March 23, 1975 316 “Blues for Allah” Version One 319 Critical Reception of Blues for Allah 325 Origins of the title “Blues for Allah” 333 Analysis of “Blues for Allah” 336 Part I: Blues for Allah 338 Part II: Sand Castles and Glass Camels 341 Part III: Unusual Occurrences in the Desert 342 Formal Structure 344 “Blues for Allah” Epilogue 348 Conclusion 352 Appendix A: Analysis of “Section 43,” Country Joe and the Fish, Electric Music for the Mind and Body (Vantage, 1967) 358 Appendix B: Lyrics to “Okie from Muskogee,” Merle Haggard (Capitol, 1969) 359 Appendix C: Lyrics to “Sing Me Back Home,” Merle Haggard (Capitol, 1967) 360 Appendix D: Ned Lagin music manuscript, “Alone,” “Still-Life,” and Moonface” (1972-75) 361 Appendix E: Ned Lagin lyric manuscripts, “Alone,” “Still-Life,” and “Moonface” (1972-75) 362 Appendix F: “Seastones – Sources,” Ned Lagin (January 1970 -November 1972) 365 Appendix G: Pitch-class set analysis of “Blues For Allah” main theme 367 Bibliography 369 Discography-Videography 388 Abstract This dissertation explores the cultural conditions for the popular appreciation of “high” art, experimental, modernist and avant-garde elements, and the resulting incongruous mélange of genres, through a study of the history of such transgressions of aesthetic boundaries in the San Francisco Bay Area from 1965 to 1975. Based on archival research, interviews with participants, as well as the analysis of key musical works and practices that influenced and realized such boundary crossings, it offers new insights into the role of this particular time and place in creating the more inclusive musical world of today. Particularly underexplored in earlier scholarship on popular music from the Bay Area at this time is the way in which this type of performance practice has functioned to challenge distinctions between large categories of music, specifically those broadly categorized as popular that are defined, at least partly, in opposition to those considered “high art.” Though undoubtedly popular in terms of performance environs, audience, and many qualities of the music performed, the use of musical elements normally understood as outside the usual purview of popular music were quite common during this period in the Bay Area. Yet, in spite of the exceptional nature of this stylistic hybridity, there has been comparatively little prior scholarship about the specific ways in which those involved negotiated between musical traditions previously understood by many people as irreconcilable, as well as detailed analyses of the techniques and practices used to realize such connections. Because the rock band the Grateful Dead is the most significant example of these various issues from the time and place that form the focus of this study, as well as the most influential, they are the primary concern of this dissertation, though the work of some other related musicians and ensembles is also discussed. i Abrégé Cette thèse explore les conditions culturelles de l'appréciation populaire des éléments expérimentaux et avant-gardistes, et le mélange incongru des genres qui résulte, à travers l'étude de l'histoire de telles transgressions des frontières esthétiques dans la « San Francisco Bay Area » 1965 à 1975. Fondé sur des recherches archivistiques, des entrevues, ainsi que sur l'analyse d'œuvres et de pratiques musicales qui ont influencé et franchi ces frontières, il offre de nouvelles perspectives sur l’influence de cette époque dans le monde musical plus inclusif d'aujourd'hui. Ce type de pratique de la performance a fonctionné pour remettre en question les distinctions entre des catégories de musique. En particulier, celles qui sont généralement catégorisées comme populaires qui sont définies, du moins en partie, est particulièrement sous-explorée dans les études antérieures sur la musique populaire de la Bay Area, en opposition à ceux considérés comme «art haut». Bien que sans doute populaire en termes de performance, d'audience, et de nombreuses qualités de la musique, l'utilisation d'éléments musicaux normalement compris hors de la portée habituelle de la musique populaire était assez courante pendant cette période. Malgré le caractère exceptionnel de cette hybridité stylistique, il y a eu relativement peu de recherches sur les manières spécifiques dont les personnes ont négocié entre des traditions musicales auparavant considérées comme inconciliables, ainsi que des analyses des techniques et pratiques utilisé pour réaliser de telles connexions. Parce que le groupe de rock Grateful Dead est l'exemple le plus significatif de ces différentes questions de l'époque et le lieu qui forment l'objet de cette étude, ainsi que les plus influents, ils sont la principale préoccupation de cette thèse, bien que le travail de certains d'autres musiciens et ensembles connexes sont également discutés. ii Musical Examples 1.1 “That’s It For The Other One,” The Grateful Dead (1968) 1.2 “Feedback,” The Grateful Dead (1969) 2.1 “Dark Star,” (Excerpt) The Grateful Dead (9/27/1972) 2.2 Electric bass excerpt, “Dark Star>Cumberland Blues,” The Grateful Dead (9/27/1972) 2.3 Electric bass excerpt, “Cumberland Blues,” The Grateful Dead (9/27/1972) 3.1 Introduction and section A, “Jack Straw,” The Grateful Dead (5/3/1972) 3.2 Section B, “Jack Straw,” The Grateful Dead (5/3/1972) 3.3 “The Main Ten,” The Grateful Dead (1969-70) 3.4 “Playing in the Band,” The Grateful Dead (1971) 3.5 “Eyes of the World” introduction and first verse, The Grateful Dead (1973) 3.6 “Eyes of the World” chorus and solo form, The Grateful Dead (1973) 3.7 “Eyes of the World” coda, The Grateful Dead (1973-74) 4.1 “Alone,” “Still-Life,” “Moonface,” Ned Lagin Manuscript (1972-75?) 5.1 “Stronger Than Dirt” bass riff, The Grateful Dead (3/23/1975) 5.2 “Blues for Allah” introduction, The Grateful Dead (1975) 5.3 “Blues for Allah” main theme analysis, The Grateful Dead (1975) 5.4 “Under Eternity” refrain, The Grateful Dead (1975) 5.5 “Blues for Allah” coda, The Grateful Dead (1975) 5.6 “Blues for Allah” invocation, The Grateful Dead (10/6/1981) iii Figures 2.1 The Beach Boys (circa 1971) 2.2 Grateful Dead band photograph (1970) 2.3 Grateful Dead, Workingman’s Dead cover (1970) 2.4 Grateful Dead, American Beauty cover (1970) 3.1 The Wall of Sound (1974) 3.2 Grateful Dead, Aoxomoxoa back cover (1969) 3.3 The Band, Music From the Big Pink (1968) 3.4 “Ourobouros” (1973) 4.1 “Grateful Dead Computer Music” (1975) 4.2 “Seastones Instrumentation” (1975) 4.3 Inner labels of A and B sides of Seastones LP (1975) 4.4 “Ned Lagin and Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead” advertisement (1975) 4.5 Seastones radio airplay, Round Records (1975) 4.6 List of electronic music clubs for promotion of Seastones, Round Records (1975) 4.7 “Seastones Phil & Ned Concert Mailing,” Round Records (1975) 4.8 Lagin, Lesh and Friends “A Concert of New Live Electronic Music,” Round Records (1975) 5.1 Track listing from record sleeve of Blues for Allah LP (1975) iv Tables 2.1 Pastoral tropes in lyrics of songs on Grateful Dead’s Aoxomoxoa and Live/Dead 4.1 Timings of released recordings of Seastones 5.1 Formal breakdown of “Blues for Allah” versions v Acknowledgements This dissertation has taken a significantly longer time to finish than I had at onetime hoped.