Steal Your Face

Issue 46 from the Fader is available for download and this issue is a tribute to Grateful Dead Jerry Garcia. Hate’em or love’em, he’s had a profound influence on music and will for future aspiring hippies and improv musicians…and to answer Geologist’s request for an Animal Collective show to be like a Dead show, their request has been answered, because when I went to see them last week, I must have been asked if I wanted any Gonja Balls more than once. …It was a very fun loving crowd.

THE FADER IS DEAD
The Fader Magazine Presents Its Annual Icon Issue: A Tribute To The Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia, With Contributions From Jerry’s Bandmates, Family, Friends & Peers, Plus The Voices Of The FADER Generation Of Artists
Available on Newsstands and iTunes
New York, NY: The FADER magazine—the definitive voice of emerging music—releases its annual Icon Issue, this time taking an in-depth look at one of the most consistently relevant forces in popular music: Jerry Garcia. The Grateful Dead was an incredible musical force that defined its generation, with Garcia as its de facto leader, to the point that the band is almost synonymous with the ’60s. Yet the Dead—and Jerry especially—remained an active force well into the ’90s, and the band’s power and influence has anything but diminished since their final show. In fact, Jerry and the Dead are as relevant now as they’ve ever been—a constant inspiration and obsession for the current generation of musicians that The FADER celebrates issue after issue.
It is also telling that The FADER’s 46th issue hits newsstands on the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love, and notable that The FADER’s tribute focuses on the early years of the Grateful Dead, when Garcia was a young rocker obsessed with authentic American music like folk, bluegrass, the blues and the jug bands of the ’20s. The photographs in the feature come exclusively from 1966, 1967 and 1968, including never before seen images. The entire feature is comprised of “as told to” style interviews full of untold stories and reflections on Garcia’s life from those who knew him best, including Carolyn “Mountain Girl” Adams Garcia, the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart, his friend David “Dawg” Grisman, his collaborator Ornette Coleman, his manager Richard Loren, and the Dead’s legendary soundman Dan Healy, among others. Artists from The FADER generation also give accounts of their experiences with Garcia’s life and music and the impact it has had on them. Contributors include Devendra Banhart, Brightblack, Modest Mouse, Animal Collective, Dungen, the Hold Steady, the Meat Puppets and many more.
“There are so many misconceptions and prejudices regarding Jerry and his legacy,” said Alex Wagner, Editor in Chief of The FADER. “We wanted to dig deep and show our readers that he’s an incredibly relevant and inspiring figure—an honest to goodness rock star who very much deserves his place in the canon of modern music.”
As the Icon Issue also doubles as The FADER’s Photo Issue this year, the rest of the feature well of The FADER’s 46th issue focuses on extensive photo portfolios from some of the magazine’s most dynamic contributing photographers. The photo features includes stories on underground eco leaders in Philladelphia, gang life in the shadow of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, and the golden days of the itinerant gypsy community known as the Roma. As always, F45 will also be available via iTunes in its entirety, with corresponding audio podcasts, and as a free download at www.thefader.com.
HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE
JERRY GARCIA, with contributions from:
Carolyn “Mountain Girl” Adams Garcia
“There was an aspect of his playing that kind of reached through the dimensions and affected how people felt about things. There was a certain kind of musical catharsis going on sometimes when he played. After a while things became so fluid and sparkling and sort of gorgeous, I found it very touching and moving and loved it. I still do.”
Bob Weir
“We lived together in Watts…Everybody brought their own music for everybody else to enjoy…at the same time we were all listening to the radio and deconstructing what we were hearing. We just had no idea what we were up to, every possible direction was a possible direction. The world was full of endless possibilities.”
Mickey Hart
“I remember the end of it. We were sitting in a meeting saying, ‘What are we gonna do?!’ and Jerry drew this snake that was eating its tail. He said “This is us. We’re eating ourselves.’
Richard Loren
“I was riding a camel around the Pyramids and the Sphinx when suddenly I looked over to my left and saw a stage. It all kind of hit me. A light bulb went off in my head and I thought God, you know, the band should play here!”
Devendra Banhart
“The Grateful Dead are the reliable band. They are the sonic, aural equivalent to warm water. They give you these options and choices and it’s all a world of maybe. And the realm of maybe is what really makes a trip comforting. They are that comfort. Suddenly the water isn’t going to boil and it isn’t going to turn ice cold, it’s going to stay warm.”
Geologist, Animal Collective
“There’s also the parking lot. I try and say this to Animal Collective fans. In the indie world or whatever, there is a lot of pretension and exclusion in the attitude, like, ‘This band and this music are mine, and I have no interest in anyone else being a part of it.’ At Dead concerts, these old hippies would be like, ‘Oh is this your first show? Welcome to the party! Congratulations, that’s great!’ One day I hope the parking lot of an Animal Collective Show will feel like the parking lot at a Grateful Dead show, just an overwhelming sense of fun and community.”