CULTURE WATCH : Dead Icon Lives On

Any band whose concerts draw stockbrokers, old hippies and the children of both has something to say. The Grateful Dead is such a band, and Jerry Garcia was its heart.

Garcia, who founded the group in San Francisco in the 1960s, died this week at 53 after decades of medical problems and addictions to drugs including heroin. He often said that no one should consider him a role model, but he acknowledged his band’s intense lure for fans, the “deadheads” who followed the group from city to city when it was touring. The fans--some in eye-arresting garb, some dancing wildly, some selling bizarre wares--were part of the Dead concert experience.

It was fitting that radio stations played hours of Grateful Dead music this week as a tribute to Garcia; it was ironic, too, because they played so little of it while the guitarist and singer lived. The band thrived despite being largely ignored by mainstream radio because it toured for months each year and fans attended concert after concert; some saw the band hundreds of times over the years.

The music could be marvelous, with the same song sounding different each time. Garcia and his band mates improvised extensively and played for hours. No fan came away short-changed. The Dead, devoted to 1960s ideals of peace, love and community, even allowed listeners to tape-record concerts, a refreshing change from the usual prohibition by big-name musical groups.

Even if Garcia’s death means the end of the band, his fans remain, with memories of three decades of music from the “summer of love” until today.