The Grateful Dead

Group Leads Psychedelics

By Mike Fancher

of the Emerald

The ship of sun is drawn through the heavens by the Grateful Dead.

From this excerpt from an Egyptian book of the Dead came the name of one of the nation's top psychedelic bands - the Grateful Dead.

According to Rocky Sculley, leader of the Dead (as the group refers to itself) since the time the band was formed and the name selected, other possible interpretations of the title have been found.

But Sculley says the group still likes the idea of a "divine wind."

In a recent telephone interview, Sculley talked at length about the group and its brand of music which he says grew up largely in the San Francisco area.

He said the music grew out of experiments by Ken Kesey, who was working with lights and light shows and groups of people in the Bay area who were experimenting with tribal dances.

Out of these things, said Sculley, a combination has emerged.

Originally there was no division between the bands and the dancers. People who knew each other would get together for small parties and dance all night long. Sculley started participating in such parties as a result of his association with the Student Non-Violent Co-ordinating Committee in San Francisco.

In the winter time, he said, people would enjoy the parties as a means of escaping the dreary atmosphere of San Francisco's damp, foggy climate.

In the summer, the parties went out-of-doors and the be-in was born.

Sculley says the environment was the most important thing. People would bring things, "like apples and incense." The groups performing made no money.

As the band leader puts it, the be-ins were for "feeling good being with your brothers."

"It's the spirit," he said, "and people should be able to get together.

"Activism means nothing without a goal - an alternative. The alternative was digging each other. The word was "love", but since that time the word has been prostituted."

"We got together and we found out we all have the same fears, that we're all brothers."

"Freedom is where it's at." said Sculley. He stresses freedom over power, adding, "We don't say it in words very much, we say it in our music and in our environment."

The environment tonight when the Dead performs at 8 in the EMU Ballroom will include the Quicksilver Messenger Service, PH Phactor Jug Band and Headlights by Jerry Abrams.

Sculley said that by experimenting the Dead found that two bands on stage together "can really do a nice thing, a real experience."

He also said the Dead have really come to like road shows because it's new and often times people don't even know what to do.

Originally the small parties were comprised of bands and their friends. "It was groovier, not so much of a show."

Now in San Francisco at places like the Fillmore and the Avalon, Sculley feels much of the creativity has been lost because there is a separation between performers and audiences. For this reason he hopes the University crowd will participate.

Sculley said that musically both the Dead and the Messenger Service have been "developing fantastically" over the past three or four months. The Dead, he said, are adding an Indian touch of gongs, bells, and chimes. This is because one of the group's two drummers, Mickey Hart, is a student of the Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

Other members of the Dead are Bill Kreutzman, Jerry Garcia, Pig Pen, Bob Weir and Phil Lesh.

Speaking on the Dead's entire philosophy, Sculley said, "we're all working for ourselves. It isn't going to make or break us, but it is going to teach us."