played classical music since the third grade, studied theory and harmony pp 5in high school, took up the trumpet at the age of fourteen, and played in the college of San Mateo’s jazz band. They coincidentally met at the Palo Alto Peace center, a gathering place for students, Beatniks, and others.Lesh explains, “ I’d never yet heard anyone play the banjo like that. It was the most inventive, most musical kind of banjo playing you could ever imagine” ( Troy 33}. Although these guys were serious musicians, they still liked to have fun, which also included the experimentation of drugs. Smoking marijuana soon became part of the culture of the 1960's. The large increase of marijuana started when large numbers of teens began questioning their parents social values. The use of marijuana could change the view or perspective a person has on life. Experimentation of marijuana and LSD (acid) brought a change of consciousness, that brought up the values of peace, honesty, equality, individuality, and sensuality.Marijuana was also quite common in the music world. Musicians believed that it enhanced their ability to perform and write songs.(Troy 44)Being well known for his banjo playing, Garcia was gaining a tremendous amount of experience playing with a number of bands. They would play coffeehouses, bars, local clubs and bookstores throughout the San Francisco Bay area. It was New Years Eve and Garcia was at Dana Morgans music store where he had been working, giving music lessons to students. Being New Year’s, no one showed up for their lesson. Garcia had been wailing away on his banjo to pass time when Bob Wier, another future band member stumbled in. Wier recalled, “ It was Garcia, we recognized him from the numerous bands that he was playing in at the time... He was the local hot banjo player. He was in there playing pp 6banjo waiting for his students to show up”( Troy 53). Weir pers...
