, the roadies for the Grateful Dead who traveled around in a school bus painted with bright colors, hung a huge flag with a marijuana leaf, proclaiming freedom.(Troy, p.6) At this time, Grateful Dead’s drug dealer, “Bear” who was out of business now, decided to join the band in his own way, he designed and bought all the equipment for them while they got back to the concerts for money. The Grateful Dead started to record that winter. The Grateful Dead refused to submit to the meticulous, studio grooming or editing, they finished the album in three days, when later all of them agreed that the record could have used some “studio magic” as they called it. Released in 1967, “Grateful Dead” was the debut album from the band. The record showed the band’s live sound, yet did not transform well to vinyl, and the album was less than satisfactory to the members of the band. One good thing that came out of the album, it started to give listeners outside of California a chance to listen to their music. Local radio stations began to play their music, and the sound of the Dead spread far beyond northern California. The two primer music scenes remained largely segregated, in fact a musical rivalry had begun, between Los Angeles, and San Francisco music. The bands wanted to join their styles for one great music scene. This was made possible with a huge weekend festival of the worlds best bands, which proceeds donated to charity, it was to be held in Monterey, California, in the middle. A lucky soul, named Paul Simon, a songwriter and singer from New York was chosen to call upon the bands and gather them together for the concert. He was immediately uneasy when he entered the home of the Grateful Dead, and eventually they agreed to play, with their list of demands. The Monterey Pop Festival was...
