Grateful Dead - New Speedway Boogie - Live Performance 

Pretty soon you will have another favorite and then another and another.

Alan " The Owl" Wilson sang "On the road again ". Alan had a sad end. He was one of the 27 club. Great harmonica player, asides from guitar and vocals

This song is about the semi-disastrous Rolling Stones "free" show at the Altamont Speedway in California. We hoped it would be a west coast answer to Woodstock in NY earlier that year, and though edgy to have 200,000 or more stoned hippies out on a minute's notice on a hot, dry hillside, it would probably have been OK had the Dead not invited the Hells Angles to be stage security. In their defense, they had been hanging out with the Angels for years without much trouble and probably had grown blind to the criminal danger that was the Angel's flip side. Anyway, the crowd got anxious, the Stones stalled coming on to play to amp up the audience more, people were pushed into the parked Angel choppers, and heads got busted, one person was stabbed to death. "Keep on coming, don't you stand and wait, with the sun so dark and the hour so late". As Jerry sang, "You can't overlook the lack Jack, of any other highway to ride. It's got no signs or dividing lines, and very few rules to guide". We were already embarked on a crazy course, taking mind bending drugs, refusing to fight in Vietnam and trying to stop our all powerful government from fighting and killing more. Trying to leave what seemed like meaningless and toxic materialism behind to focus on real values like peace, love, creativity, community, sustainable living. And our music heroes like the Dead were telling us, "I don't know, but I've been told, if the horse don't pull you got to carry the load. I don't know whose back's that strong. Maybe find out before too long". In other words, "We can't save you, we just play Rock and Roll. You're going to have to be your own heroes and help find the way for yourselves and others".

Dont forget festival Express!

Definitely! You should totally do Festival Express! And yes, every one there, except the small children, were most likely tripping

What a vibe. Love Pigpen. Love Jerry. RIP.

😂 Steven Seagal

The guy in the football pads and practice jersey was Joe Kapp. He played quarterback for the Calgary Stampeders. Someone must have dosed him and he thought this was football practice.

So good,so next,so loose,but tight.

I think that quick shot of the football player was Joe Kapp, who went to college at UC Berkley, but was playing with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at the time. He eventually went on to play with the Minnesota Vikings in the NFL. The song "New Speedway Boogie" was written in response to the concert at Altamont Speedway that featured The Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead. And Hell's Angels for "security". Only one person died.

The Dead toured like crazy and their deadhead fans followed them from city to city, it was a whole lifestyle. Jerry Garcia sang lead and yeah, his voice is fire.

Highly recommend the Veneta, OR show. Great show and the footage is amazing. Keep a look out for "Pole guy". Cheers!

Yeah, the movie is great. And there's some really good dead on there - including Hard to Handle, Easy Wind, and this one. Some of their other movies, like the 1975 Grateful Dead movie have very substandard music, partially because nobody was allowed on stage without a huge does of acid.