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Credit: Far Out \/ Alamy<\/p>\n
Mon 20 July 2026 0:30, UK <\/p>\n
While the FBI might have other ideas, all Jerry Garcia<\/a> was ever hoping to smuggle to the American masses was a little bit of beauty.<\/p>\n It sounds almost queasy to say, but it\u2019s true. At one point in 1973, they even had one in every 350 Americans gathered in a single gargantuan field<\/a>, and the only reason that this startling figure isn\u2019t really discussed these days is that nothing unfurled beyond a feeling of unbridled freedom.\u00a0<\/p>\n This was indicative of their outlook. The group welcomed the community and the high ideal of beauty with open arms. As Bob Dylan said in praise of the great group, \u201cWith most bands the audience participates like in a spectator sport. They just stand there and watch. They keep a distance. With the Dead, the audience is part of the band-they might as well be on the stage.\u201d<\/p>\n Pete Townshend also weighed on the matter, explaining, \u201cThe big thing about the Dead I remember, was that they gave their road crew the same share that they got themselves, did you know that?\u201d said Townshend, \u201cYeah, it was a true cooperative, so nobody got rich, nobody. They made a living but they didn\u2019t get rich.\u201d<\/p>\n So, while on the surface, tales of LSD and the odd searing solo might paint a harder picture, the truth is that they were simply soft-centred vagabonds hoping to spread a bit of beauty. Fundamentally, that\u2019s what John Lennon was, too. He might have been a right awkward bastard as well, but for Garcia, it was the latter that shone through.<\/p>\n This became particularly apparent for the Dead leader when he encountered John Lennon\/Plastic Ono Band. \u201cI like Lennon\u2019s new album, the solo album. [Plastic Ono Band],\u201d he said in 1971. \u201cBut you see, I\u2019ve never met any of these guys, I don\u2019t know them. I can only talk about their music, and I think Lennon\u2019s music is really beautiful<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n While his image might have been increasingly met with a sense of cynicism since the split of The Beatles, Garcia saw through all that. \u201cI really like listening to it in spite of its hard thing,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of beauty \u2013 incredible, delicate music.\u201d <\/p>\n Further reading: From The Vault<\/p>\n As a star in his own right, Garcia realised how hard that beauty must have been for Lennon to cling to, given the strains he was often under. That meant the 1970 album was a fraught thing for Garcia to revisit, but he told Frank Fedele that it was always worthwhile in the end. <\/p>\n \u201cLennon, I feel sorry for,\u201d he explained.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sure he\u2019s had some terrible trips laid on him just through the years as a Beatle,\u201d he empathised. \u201cJust think of what it must be like to be John Lennon. There must be a million people hitting on you with weird shit. He\u2019s probably had so little time to get into his own head. Now he\u2019s got to do some violence, breaking away. I can dig it. I can certainly dig it.\u201d<\/p>\n Plastic Ono Band was the product of him breaking away. He had embarked upon Primal Scream therapy with Arthur Janov, was reconciling the rigours of his whole life, and attempting to distil the results into a release of great catharsis. <\/p>\n
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<\/a> The Far Out Classic Rock Newsletter<\/p>\n