Strange Trips: I Am Big Red Deadhead

The most fabulous thing about the Grateful Dead was how they weren’t afraid to make a mistake and their ability to experiment and change your life by trying something new. Our world is somehow sadly evolving into a culture of obedience where we can’t finance health care or education, and can only finance war.

I would constantly harass Jerry and tell him to play this song or play that song, and finally Jerry would say something like, "You know Bill, I don’t really like that song. I don’t like the message that that song sings."

What I hear when I listen to a lot of the music that’s out there today is rampant with negativity, violence, sexism, excessive waste and greed. The Dead were about peace, love and happiness. People would go to the show and have the greatest time of their lives. It’s sad that we’re not doing that anymore.

Sessions

When I was in high school, about 40 years ago, air travel was just in its infancy and there was a startup airline in California called Pacific Southwest Airlines. For $20 you could buy a weekend pass and fly anywhere in the system all weekend long.

I lived in San Diego and the Grateful Dead were in San Francisco, so my friends and I would get on the planes and go wherever the Dead were going. The stewardesses in those days wore hot pants and miniskirts, served free drinks and never checked ID. We were sixteen and having the times of our lives.

It continued on when I was in college; the Dead would come every year. The basketball team would be practicing in the afternoon as the trucks were coming in. I never had to leave the building. It was so awesome.