Intro to Heads' Tales and interview with Jeff, founder of Grateful Dead of the Day

Following a heavy metal phase in junior high, Joel discovered the Dead in the late eighties. And since then, he has, in his own words, “spent an unfathomable amount of time collecting, listening to, and obsessing over all things Grateful Dead.” That obsession included taking in a healthy number of shows and amassing an impressive tape collection in the 90s and listening to, downloading, and archiving everything in the digital era. In this episode, Joel shares his thoughts about Wall of Sound and early 80s audience recordings, explains how Jerry’s passing sent him on a different path, confesses to being a digital hoarder, and covers a whole lot more ground.

You may know Joel from our Facebook page, where he has been a major contributor over the years. If not, you will quickly find out on this episode that he is a knowledgeable and passionate Deadhead who listens to tapes all day long while working hard in his studio building beautiful handmade art deco furniture. Joel has been a Head since the mid-70s when his brothers indoctrinated him. Originally from Long Island, he caught his first show at Nassau in 1979 and regularly attended the New York area shows through the eighties while catching a few dates out West during an epic 1982 road trip. Despite all those Brent era shows, it is still the early stuff that he really loves, which he talks affectionately about throughout the episode.

Our guest this week, Teri, grew up Mormon listening to The Cure in Salt Lake City. In her early twenties, her ex-husband turned Teri onto the Dead, in time to catch her first shows at the Sam Boyd Silver Bowl in '93. But it was not until a Brown-Eyed Women the next year at the Desert Sky Pavilion that she really got on the bus. Cue up our latest episode and listen to Teri's tales of walking to the '95 shows at the Delta Center with her Mom, mourning Jerry at a Lyle Lovett concert, and living as a Deadhead in the Rocky Mountain West.

Winterland in the 70s, the hiatus shows, and Egypt 1978 are just some of the greatest moments in the history of the Grateful Dead that our guest this week, Don Defenderfer, experienced in the flesh. Margaret and I were thrilled to listen to his intimate and captivating stories and were just as floored by his heartfelt insights into the music and culture of the Dead. Cue up this special episode of the Heads' Tales podcast and smile, smile, smile as Don relates all his incredible memories.

Margaret and I are excited to get a new episode out after our unintended hiatus. And we are even more pumped because in this episode we sit down with Max Wiener, a long-time contributor to Grateful Dead of the Day. Max has written over ninety reviews for the site, though he is a young Head at just 23 years old. And while he has only been on the bus for five years, coming in by way of John Mayer and Dead and Co., Max’s tale of falling in love with the Dead by listening to countless hours of shows and hearing stories from wizened Heads will be familiar to any Deadhead. Max also provides a primer and roadmap to anyone who wants to take a dive into the band beyond description. Enjoy!