Guide to the Elizabeth Cohen Collection
MS.343
Finding aid prepared by Nicholas G. Meriwether
University of California, Santa Cruz
1156 High Street
Santa Cruz, CA, 95064
(831) 459-2547
speccoll@library.ucsc.edu
4/8/2014
Title: Elizabeth Cohen Collection
Identifier/Call Number: MS.343
Contributing Institution:
University of California, Santa Cruz
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
6.0 containers
(1) box, documents; (1) box, T-shirts; (1) box, realia; (3) items, over-sized realia
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1977-1991
Date (inclusive): 1948 - 2010
creator:
Cohen, Elizabeth, (Elizabeth A.)
creator:
Hart, Mickey
creator:
Weir, Bob, 1947-
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection comprises documents, apparel, musical instruments, and equipment used in, or acquired during, Elizabeth Cohen's
work with Grateful Dead band members Bob Weir and Mickey Hart on various projects.
Biography
Dr. Elizabeth Cohen is a physicist who specializes in acoustics. As an undergraduate at Bennington College in Vermont she
combined her interest in music and physics, earning degrees in both fields in 1975. She earned her master’s degree in electrical
engineering at Stanford after completing a two-year program at Bell Labs, going on to earn her PhD in acoustics from Stanford.
She retired as a professor of Film and Information studies at UCLA, where she also served as a board member of UCLA's Moving
Image Preservation Program. In addition to her academic appointments at Stanford and UCLA, she founded her own consulting
firm, Cohen Acoustical, in 1981, working with an array of clients including the Hollywood Bowl, Dolby Laboratories, and the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She served as the president of the Audio Engineering Society and was an engineering
fellow to the White House National Economic Council. Her work with the Grateful Dead included research with Bob Weir to develop
an electric guitar, a collaboration that resulted in a coauthored article, "The Influence of Signal Processing Devices on
the Timbre Perception of Electrical Guitars," published in the Journal of Guitar Acoustics, no. 6 (1982). She went on to work
with Mickey Hart and UC Santa Cruz music professor Fredric Lieberman on several projects relating to drumming, percussion
and rhythm, which informed the books Drumming at the Edge of Magic (1990), Planet Drum (1991), and Spirit into Sound (1999).
As one journalist observed, "The effusive Cohen speaks about acoustical technology with a fervor approaching evangelism" (Karen
Kaplan, “The Sounds Inside Our Heads,” Los Angeles Times, July 14, 1997).
Separated Materials
(2) backstage passes, Grateful Dead at Madison Square Garden, Sept. 12, 1991, removed and filed with MS350, Deadhead Contributions,
Backstage Passes.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Grateful Dead (Musical group)
Box 1
Documents
Physical Description:
3.0 files
Box 1, Folder 1
"Different Drum" Proposal
Physical Description:
14.0 pages
Box 1, Folder 2
Contract, Copyright Registration
Physical Description:
3.0 pages
Box 1, Folder 3
Concert Program, Gyoto Tantric Choir, Miles Davis, Philip Glass, Mickey Hart, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York City,
Dec. 3, 1988
Physical Description:
8.0 pages
Box 2
Apparel
Physical Description:
21.0 items
(18) T-shirts and (4) sweat-shirts
Box 2, Object 1
T-shirt (front): "Old & In the Way", ca. 1973. ms0343_obj_0001
Box 2, Object 2
T-shirt (front//back): "Grateful Dead, Mars Hotel" [Stanley Mouse] // "Cinema", ca. 1974. ms0343_obj_0002
Box 2, Object 3
T-shirt (front): "The Gibson" [Stanley Mouse, hand-painted], ca. 1978. ms0343_obj_0003
Box 2, Object 4
T-shirt, long-sleeved (front//back): "Grateful Dead | Blues Borthers | NRPS" // "New Years Eve | Winterland | December 31,
1978 | Breakfast Served At Dawn".
ms0343_obj_004
Box 2, Object 5
Sweat-shirt (front//back): "Northern Stage Co." // "The Grateful Dead | Alaska | 1980". ms0343_obj_0005
Box 2, Object 6
T-shirt (front): "High Noon" [Stanley Mouse], 1981. ms0343_obj_006
Box 2, Object 7
T-shirt (front//back): "Dance For Disarmament" [Stanley Mouse] // "Dance For Disarmament | Joan Baez | Jerry Garcia | Mickey
Hart | Phil Lesh | Bob Weir | and | High Noon | San Mateo County | Fairgrounds | December 12, 1981 | Presented by Humanitas".
ms0343_obj_007
Box 2, Object 8
Sweat-shirt, sleeveless (front//back): "Bobby & the Midnites" / "BOBBY | & the | MIDNITES | BOBBY WEIR | BILLY COBHAM | BOBBY
COCHRAN | DAVE GARLAND | KENNY CRADNEY", ca. 1981.
ms0343_obj_008
Box 2, Object 9
T-shirt (front): "Bobby and the Midnites" [Victor Moscoso], 1982. ms0343_obj_0009
Box 2, Object 10
T-shirt, long-sleeved (front//back): "Grateful Dead" [Dead Set illustration by Dennis Larkins] // "1982". ms0343_obj_0010
Box 1, Object 11
T-shirt (front//back): GD graphic [Rick Griffin]// "Grateful Dead | Fall Tour '82". ms0343_obj_0011
Box 1, Object 12
Sweat-shirt (front): "Grateful Dead" [David Lundquist], 1984. ms0343_obj_0012
Box 2, Object 13
T-shirt, long-sleeved (front//back): Grateful Dead logo [Owsley/Thomas variant] // "Spring |Tour | 1985 | Grateful Dead". ms0343_obj_0012
Box 2, Object 14
T-shirt (front): "The Gyuto Tantric Monastery | Multiphonic Choir | Berkeley Community Theatre | May 18, 1985". ms0343_obj_0014
Box 2, Object 15
T-shirt (front): Modified Grateful Dead logo, "Feb. 8, 9, 11, 12, 14", [fan-made], ca. 1986. ms0343_obj_0015
Box 2, Object 16
T-shirt, sleeveless (front//back): "Grateful Dead" [Rick Griffin]// "Summer Tour | 1986". ms0343_obj_0016
Box 2, Object 17
Sweat-shirt (front): "Planet Drum", ca. 1991. ms0343_obj_0017
Box 2, Object 18
T-shirt (front): Planet Drum / Steal-Your-Face logo, 1999. ms0343_obj_0018
Box 2, Object 19
Sweat-shirt (front): "Grateful Dead | madison sq. garden", n.d. ms0343_obj_0019
Box 2, Object 20
T-shirt (front): "Seva | A Solution in Sight", n.d. ms0343_obj_0020
Box 2, Object 21
T-shirt (front): "My Lightning Too", n.d. ms0343_obj_0021
Box 3
Realia
Physical Description:
1.0 item
Box 3, Object 22
African-style thumb piano (kalimba). ms0343_obj_0022
Instrument Note: This African-style thumb piano (or kalimba) was made for Dr. Cohen by Santa Cruz luthier and instrument builder Jim Loveless
ca. 1979-1980, as part of her work with Mickey Hart and UCSC music professor Fredric Lieberman on the books Drumming at the
Edge of Magic (1990) and Planet Drum (1991).
Oversize 1, Object 23
Electric guitar in case. ms0343_obj_023
Instrument Note: This Modulus Graphite guitar prototype was designed by Jeff Hasselberger, Bob Weir, and Elizabeth Cohen. Created by Jeff Gould,
it was used by Dr. Cohen during her work with Weir and Hasselberger that produced their article, "The Influence of Signal
Prcoessing Devices on the Timbre Perception of Electric Guitars," Journal of Guitar Acoustics 6 (Sept. 1982): 123-126.
Oversize 2, Object 24
Fender Modified Pro-Amp 5D5 Tweed Tube Amplifier, 1948. ms0343_obj_0024
Item Note: This very early Fender instrument amplifier was used by Dr. Cohen during her work with Bob Weir and Jeff Hasselberger to develop
an electric guitar prototype.
Oversize 3, Object 25
Halliburton "Zero" model aluminum briefcase, decorated. ms0343_obj_0025
Item Note: This briefcase is one of only a few prototypes made by Halliburton Corp. for the Grateful Dead and a few of their friends
and colleagues.