pdq, I haven't found much to agree with you on in the political discussions here on Mudcat, but I concur wholeheartedly with your take on the Grateful Dead. They are indeed essentially Folk where their musical background is concerned. They were also essentially, in cohort with their audiences, conducting pagan/dionysian ecstasy rituals in their concerts, the like of which has not been seen since.

As drummer Mickey Hart said: "The Grateful Dead are not in the music business. We are in the transportation business."