Dylan and the Grateful Dead 

Rehearsals / Concerts

In 1987 the Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan toured together for six stadium shows. At these shows, Bob Dylan performed a set of his material with the Grateful Dead as his supporting cast. In addition, the Grateful Dead performed their own set(s), occasionally Dylan would join them for the encore.  

This material is often regarded as not Dylan or the Dead's best work. Perhaps true on certain levels. Though, for Grateful Dead fans that love Dylan's music, it is an absolute joy to hear this stuff. The way Garcia grabs hold of the melody and sings the vocal line through Dylan's catalogue of material is a treasure. 

I saw the first concert performance of this collaboration at Foxboro and could sense the magic of this one-of-a-time collaboration.  Smartly, I made arrangements to see the two remaining East Coast shows.

The Dylan and the Dead Rehearsals
Prior to concerts, Dylan and the Dead rehearsed at the Grateful Dead's Club Front Studio. Much of this material circulates among traders. The list of songs and track listing is below that we are aware of. There are fours discs of the main rehearsals, a pre-rehearsals disc, and the Grateful Dead Hour show. Many of the songs are not played from start to finish, but are simply fragments. Personally, we love this material.

There are some treats like Garcia playing pedal steel and banjo on a few songs throughout these rehearsals. The version of "Stealin'" from the Grateful Dead Hour is different from the main rehearsals, and is rumored to be Bob Dylan on mandolin. Most of the material from the Dylan and the Grateful Dead rehearsals are Bob Dylan songs, though they performed several cover versions too.

The Dylan and the Dead Concerts
Unfortunately, there is not much available to purchase of this collaboration. They released a single album titled Dylan and the Dead which does give the feeling of the magic they created, not even close. For active traders though, they may want to seek out a recording of a concert or more of these six magical events. The song versions and set lists are not different enough from night to night to recommend getting all six for casual fans. Garcia played pedal steel on a few tracks at these shows, "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight," and "Tomorrow is a Long Time."

Dylan and the Grateful Dead Set Lists
7/04/87 ~ Sullivan Stadium ~ Foxboro, MA
7/10/87 ~ John F Kennedy Stadium ~ Philadelphia, PA
7/12/87 ~ Giants Stadium ~ East Rutherford, NJ
7/19/87~  Autzen Stadium ~ Eugene, OR
7/24/87 ~ Oakland-Alameda County Stadium ~ Oakland, CA
7/26/87~ Anaheim Stadium ~ Anaheim, CA