Bob Dylan & the Grateful Dead Class via Zoom - Tuesday, October 24th, with Harold Lepidus

 




The Grateful Dead’s Influence on Bob Dylan

The Grateful Dead’s Influence on Bob Dylan

This class will examine how people’s prejudices and perceptions—even of such rebels as Dylan and the Dead—influence their opinions, and how to overcome those limitations. 

Very little is as divisive to Bob Dylan’s fans as his 1987 tour with the Grateful Dead, or the accompanying live album from 1989. Two decades into his career, and at an artistic crossroads, Dylan collaborated with the Dead’s Jerry Garcia, who helped him reconnect with his own songs by rekindling his love of performing as a sympathetic and supportive kindred spirit. The Dead’s lack of convention likely appealed to Dylan’s iconoclastic leanings, and at one point, he even asked to become a band member. 

Dylan covering the Dead's "Alabama Getaway"


Dylan/Dead rehearsal, 1987, "Under Your Spell"



In 1988, Dylan began his so-called “Never Ending Tour,” now in its fourth decade (and currently officially titled the "Rough and Rowdy Ways Tour") which initially followed the Dead’s paradigm, changing setlists and touring regardless of having anything new to promote. Regular interpretations of Dead songs infiltrated Dylan’s setlists, while the Dead almost became a Dylan cover band. In short, with the Dead, Dylan was reborn. After Garcia’s death, Dylan’s collaborations with Grateful Dead members continued. Interestingly, this year, Dylan has once again sprinkled some of his shows with Dead, and Dead-related, songs. 

Join other music fans and come wrap your head around Dylan’s dalliance with the Dead.

Dylan & the Dead. "Memphis Blues Again," Foxboro, MA, 1987



The Dead covering Dylan's "Visions of Johanna"



Harold Lepidus is the author of Friends and Other Strangers: Bob Dylan Examined (Oakmoor Publishing/Bennion Kearney), a collection of articles connecting Dylan with over 120 musicians, filmmakers, actors, artists, politicians, critics, and fans. In 2019 and 2023, he spoke at the World of Bob Dylan symposium in Tulsa, Oklahoma, home of the official Bob Dylan Archives.  He wrote a music column for Blasting News and a blog for No Depression and recently launched his own podcast, THE BOSTON HAROLD. Lepidus has taught classes on Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead, and the Beatles as part of the Acton-Boxborough Community Education Program.

For more information, or to sign up, CLICK HERE. Thanks in advance. Hope to see you there! 

StatusRegistration Available
Course CodeDylanDeadFA23
SessionFall 2023 
CategoryOne of a Kind 
DatesTuesday, October 24  
Times6:30 PM - 8:30 PM  ET
InstructorLepidus, Harold 
LocationVirtual Classroom 






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