This wasn’t just any temporary spotlight on the guys in the back, like Led Zeppelin giving John Bonham time to spazz out on “Moby Dick,” or Santana’s Michael Shrieve leading a percussion break on “Soul Sacrifice,” this was a designated period on the concert to get free and go weird. A tune would lead into a double drum solo between Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart, nicknamed the Rhythm Devils. Instrumental experimentation went back all the way to the acid tests, of course, this was more like a statement of purpose. Luckily Tom Constanten, Ned Lagin, and, later, Bruce Hornsby toured with the Dead on something of a “freelance” basis.Īnother thing that really crystallized by the early 1980s was the inclusion of “Drums>Space” deep in the second set of each show.

This is Spinal Tap’s bit about the dying drummers just had the instrument wrong. With Pigpen that makes four Grateful Dead keyboardists that didn’t make it. Brent’s replacement, Vince Welnick, will eventually die by suicide after his stint with the Dead. He was replaced by a new keyboardist, Brent Mydland, and, sigh, we’ve got more bad news – he’ll end up dead from an overdose before this story is over. Tragically, Keith was killed soon thereafter in an automobile accident. In mid-1979 the Godchauxes decided to split the group and do their own thing. Some of it good – like them achieving some bonafide breakout success and touching the lives of millions – but it took its toll, ultimately leading to the end of the band. The 1980s brought major changes for the Grateful Dead. Check out our first and second and third parts here. This week on Cracked, we're taking a look at the history of The Grateful Dead.

Drums in space grateful dead