This exhibition, opened in June 2018, features selections from the business records component of the Grateful Dead Archive at UCSC Special Collections & Archives. The records on display are full of tales of fostering direct and longstanding connections with Dead Heads while also navigating the complex nature of their concert tours with their huge free-wheeling audiences. Merchandise samples and paperwork from the Dead’s publishing firm and their record company, alongside materials related to a flourishing free tape exchange community, reveal efforts to marry free music exchange with a keen understanding of the value of licensing. Objects and equipment document the band’s abiding interest in technology’s role in their work, while thousands of news clippings reveal their longstanding attention to print media. Benefit concert files and papers detailing their philanthropy illustrate their commitment to sharing their own good fortune and to inspiring others to do the same. 

"The Grateful Dead is one huge case study in contrarian marketing," David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan write in Marketing Lessons From The Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn From the Most Iconic Band in History. The Grateful Dead’s archive offers a gold mine of stories of how the band pioneered new ways of thinking about work and about being in business, and about the importance of relationships between creators and their communities. 

Exhibit curated by Jessica Pigza, Alix Norton, and Gabriel Mindel.

Virtual tour created by Kristy Golubiewski-Davis, Alix Norton, Rasika Kale, and Nirupama Chandrasekhar.

Special thanks to Ryan Dzialo and Marcus Thayer in Library Operations, Eric Arvizu, Thomas Bergan, and Sean Concannon. The University Library thanks the Scott Brittingham Family Foundation for its generous support of this exhibition.

These collections are available from the UCSC Library's Special Collections & Archives and the digital copies of the work are intended to support research, teaching and private study. All items may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). Use of this work beyond that allowed by fair use requires written permission of the copyright holder(s). Responsibility for obtaining permission, and for any use or distribution of this work, rests exclusively with the user and not the UC Santa Cruz Library. Requests for permission to publish must be directed to the rights holder. 

If you have questions or concerns, please contact us at speccoll@library.ucsc.edu.

Click and drag on the 360° image to pan the camera. Click on the icons to explore content from videos, music, photographs, and articles about the Grateful Dead. 

To continue the tour, use the map below or pan around to find next button.  Click on the icon to move to the next space. 

Email: speccoll@library.ucsc.edu

Phone: (831) 459-2547

Mailing Address:

Special Collections and Archives
McHenry Library
University of California, Santa Cruz
1156 High St.
Santa Cruz CA 95064