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Grateful Dead Records: Business Records
MS.332.Ser. 2
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
University of California, Santa Cruz
Title: Grateful Dead Records: Business Records
Creator:
Grateful Dead Productions
Identifier/Call Number: MS.332.Ser. 2
Physical Description:
131 Linear Feet
169 boxes, 1 map-case folder, 9 oversized items in rolling
cart
Date (inclusive): 1966-2011
Date (bulk): 1970-1995
Language of Material:
English .
Collection is open for research.
Copyright for the items in this collection is owned by the creators and their heirs.
Reproduction or distribution of any work protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair
use requires permission from the copyright owner. It is the responsibility of the user to
determine whether a use is fair use, and to obtain any necessary permissions. For more
information see UCSC Special Collections and Archives policy on Reproduction and Use.
Grateful Dead Records: Business Records. MS 332 Ser. 2. Special Collections and Archives,
University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz.
Gifts of Grateful Dead Productions; April 2008, 2012
The Grateful Dead were an American rock band that formed in 1965 in Northern California who
came to fame as part of author Ken Kesey's Acid Tests, a series of multimedia happenings
centered around then-legal LSD. Famed for their concerts, the band performed more than 2,300
shows over thirty years, disbanding after the death of lead guitarist Jerry Garcia in August
1995. Although their only Top 10 hit, "Touch of Grey," charted in 1987, their popularity was
based on concerts, and in their last decade they consistently placed in the top five tours
every year. Known for the range of their repertoire and the caliber of their compositions,
the Dead's songbook has been covered by a wide range of other musicians, from Bob Dylan to
Jane's Addiction. They released thirteen studio albums and nine contemporary live albums
during their career, and more than 100 live releases since then. They were inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
In the early 1970s, the members of the Grateful Dead formed the organization Grateful Dead
Productions, Inc. The band's publishing enterprise, Ice Nine Publishing Company, Inc., was
formed in 1970 in order to license musical compositions by the band, and Grateful Dead
Merchandising was formed to oversee merchandise sales and licensing. Two independent record
labels, Grateful Dead Records and Round Records, were created by the band members in 1973 in
order to gain more creative control over the production and distribution of albums by group
and solo projects, respectively. These two labels disbanded after the band signed with
Arista Records in the mid-1970s. In 1997, Grateful Dead Merchandising merged with Grateful
Dead Productions, which continues to oversee the band's merchandising and album
distribution.
Scope and Content of Collection
This series contains materials pertaining to the business practices of the Grateful Dead.
It includes financial and accounting documents, and documentation from the production and
promotion of various Grateful Dead projects including album production, merchandise sales,
and publications. The Grateful Dead Records and Round Records companies are represented in
financial records and production documents for various album projects, including those
recorded by groups associated with the Grateful Dead. Ice Nine Publishing materials include
songbooks, correspondence, royalty information, contracts, copyright registrations and early
lyric drafts from the Grateful Dead's publishing enterprise. Business correspondence,
materials related to the running of the office, and legal documents and correspondence are
included, as well as materials related to the band's relationship and interactions with
their fans (Deadheads). Telephone equipment and scripts from the band's ticket hotline are
also included.
This collection is arranged in eleven series:
- Series 1: General
- Series 2: Production and Promotion
- Series 3: Financial and Accounting
- Series 4: Ice Nine Publishing
- Series 5: Correspondence
- Series 6: Deadheads
- Series 7: Legal
- Series 8: Office
- Series 9: Terrapin Station
- Series 10: Dick's Picks
- Series 11: Hotline
An initial finding aid was published in 2011 by Nicholas Meriwether, Maureen Carey, Debra
Roussopoulos, and Mathew Simpson, and revised in 2017-2018 by Alix Norton, Gabriel Mindel,
and Alessia Cecchet in the Center for Archival Research and Training (CART).
Related materials can be found in the following cataloged items:
- Dead Heads Newsletter (Call number ML421.G72 D38)
- Grateful Dead Almanac (Call number ML421.G72 G66)
Additional Grateful Dead Records Finding Aids
- Series 1: History
- Series 3: Show Files
- Series 4: Press
- Series 5: Correspondence
- Series 6: Photographs
- Series 7: Media
- Series 8: Posters
- Series 9: Artwork
- Series 10: Realia
- Series 11: Decorated Envelopes
- Series 12: Back Stage Passes, Tickets & Laminates
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Concert tours
Deadheads (Music Fans)
Grateful Dead Productions
Grateful Dead (Musical group)
Liquid Blue (Firm)