Grateful Dead: Backstage Pass
Encyclopedia
Backstage Pass is a music documentary video by the Grateful Dead
. It was directed by Justin Kreutzmann, the son of Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann
, and produced by Gillian Grisman, the daughter of musician David Grisman
. It was released in 1992
, and is 35 minutes long.
implies, Backstage Pass provides a behind-the-scenes look at the Grateful Dead. Each of its six segments has a Dead song performance as its soundtrack. The visuals are a mixture of footage of the band from all eras up to the time the video was made, combined with footage of the song performances themselves, along with some computer animation.
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
. It was directed by Justin Kreutzmann, the son of Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann
Bill Kreutzmann
Bill Kreutzmann is an American drummer who played with the rock band the Grateful Dead for their entire thirty-year career...
, and produced by Gillian Grisman, the daughter of musician David Grisman
David Grisman
David Grisman is an American bluegrass/newgrass mandolinist and composer of acoustic music. In the early 1990s, he started the Acoustic Disc record label in an effort to preserve and spread acoustic or instrumental music.-Biography:Grisman grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey...
. It was released in 1992
1992 in film
The year 1992 in film involved many significant films. -Top grossing films:-Awards:Academy AwardsGolden Globe AwardsNational Film Awards...
, and is 35 minutes long.
Segments of the video
As the nameBackstage pass
A backstage pass is an employee pass which allows its bearer access to employees-only areas at a performance venue. They are most commonly associated with rock music groups....
implies, Backstage Pass provides a behind-the-scenes look at the Grateful Dead. Each of its six segments has a Dead song performance as its soundtrack. The visuals are a mixture of footage of the band from all eras up to the time the video was made, combined with footage of the song performances themselves, along with some computer animation.
- "Hard to Handle", sung by Pigpen at a concert in the early '70s. The visuals are a montage of onstage and offstage footage of the Grateful Dead from all eras, focusing on the early days of the band.
- "Fearless Groove", a studio version of "Drums" performed by Mickey HartMickey HartMickey Hart is an American percussionist and musicologist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band the Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 to February 1971, and from October 1974 to August 1995...
and Bill Kreutzmann, combined with footage of the Dead from all eras. - "The Other One", performed in concert at the Great Pyramid of GizaGreat Pyramid of GizaThe Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now El Giza, Egypt. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact...
on September 14, 1978. The visuals combine clips from the performance with the band's "home movies" of their visit to EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. - "Easy to Love You", a concert performance of the song written and sung by Brent MydlandBrent MydlandBrent Mydland was the fourth keyboardist to play for the American rock band the Grateful Dead. He was with the band for eleven years, longer than any other keyboardist.- Early life :...
, combined with footage of the Dead, most of it then relatively recent. - "She Belongs to MeShe Belongs to Me"She Belongs to Me" is a song by Bob Dylan, and was first released as the second track on his 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home. It was one of the first anti-love songs and one of Dylan's first of many songs that describe a "witchy woman"...
", a studio version performed by Jerry GarciaJerry GarciaJerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
, Bob WeirBob WeirBob Weir is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, most recognized as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead...
, and Phil LeshPhil LeshPhillip Chapman Lesh is a musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career....
. Garcia and Weir play acoustic guitarsSteel-string acoustic guitarA steel-string acoustic guitar is a modern form of guitar descended from the classical guitar, but strung with steel strings for a brighter, louder sound...
and trade off singing verses of the song. The visuals consist entirely of the song performance and are in black-and-whiteBlack-and-whiteBlack-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
. - "Infrared Roses Revisited", a concert performance of the free form improvisation "Space". This version is the track called "Magnesium Night Light" from the album Infrared RosesInfrared RosesInfrared Roses is a live compilation album by the Grateful Dead. It is a conglomeration of their famous improvisational segments "Drums" and "Space."...
. The visuals are a computer animation of abstract forms and Grateful Dead related imagery. (See Infrared SightingsInfrared SightingsInfrared Sightings is a video by the Grateful Dead, consisting of computer animation and other imagery set to music from their album Infrared Roses. It was released on VHS video tape and on laserdisc in 1992, and is 18 minutes long....
.)
Track listing
- "Hard to Handle" (JonesAllen Jones (record producer)Allen Jones was an American record producer.Jones produced several albums for Albert King, and became the producer and manager for The Bar-Kays. He produced all of their records including their last records for Mercury Records. He formed their production company, and produced other acts such as...
, Isbell, ReddingOtis ReddingOtis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
) - "Fearless Groove" (HartMickey HartMickey Hart is an American percussionist and musicologist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band the Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 to February 1971, and from October 1974 to August 1995...
, KreutzmannBill KreutzmannBill Kreutzmann is an American drummer who played with the rock band the Grateful Dead for their entire thirty-year career...
) - "The Other One" (WeirBob WeirBob Weir is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, most recognized as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead...
, Kreutzmann) - "Easy to Love You" (MydlandBrent MydlandBrent Mydland was the fourth keyboardist to play for the American rock band the Grateful Dead. He was with the band for eleven years, longer than any other keyboardist.- Early life :...
) - "She Belongs to MeShe Belongs to Me"She Belongs to Me" is a song by Bob Dylan, and was first released as the second track on his 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home. It was one of the first anti-love songs and one of Dylan's first of many songs that describe a "witchy woman"...
" (DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
) - "Infrared Roses Revisited" (GarciaJerry GarciaJerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
, Hart, Healy, Kreutzmann, LeshPhil LeshPhillip Chapman Lesh is a musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career....
, Mydland, Weir, Bralove)
Grateful Dead
- Jerry GarciaJerry GarciaJerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
- Mickey HartMickey HartMickey Hart is an American percussionist and musicologist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band the Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 to February 1971, and from October 1974 to August 1995...
- Bill KreutzmannBill KreutzmannBill Kreutzmann is an American drummer who played with the rock band the Grateful Dead for their entire thirty-year career...
- Phil LeshPhil LeshPhillip Chapman Lesh is a musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career....
- Bob WeirBob WeirBob Weir is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, most recognized as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead...
- Vince WelnickVince WelnickVince Welnick was an American keyboardist, best known for playing with the band The Tubes during the 1970s and 1980s and with the Grateful Dead in the 1990s.-Music career:...
- Ron "Pigpen" McKernan
- Keith GodchauxKeith GodchauxKeith Richard Godchaux was a musician best known for his tenure in the rock group the Grateful Dead.-Biography:Keith Godchaux was born in Seattle, Washington and grew up in Concord, California...
- Donna GodchauxDonna GodchauxDonna Jean Godchaux-MacKay is an American singer best known for having been a member of the Grateful Dead rock group.-Biography:...
- Brent MydlandBrent MydlandBrent Mydland was the fourth keyboardist to play for the American rock band the Grateful Dead. He was with the band for eleven years, longer than any other keyboardist.- Early life :...
- Tom ConstantenTom ConstantenTom Constanten is an American keyboardist, best known for playing with the Grateful Dead from 1968 to 1970.-Biography:...
- Bruce HornsbyBruce HornsbyBruce Randall Hornsby is an American singer, pianist, accordion player, and songwriter. Known for the spontaneity and creativity of his live performances, Hornsby draws frequently from classical, jazz, bluegrass, folk, Motown, rock, blues, and jam band musical traditions with his songwriting and...
Production
- Justin Kreutzmann – director
- Gillian Grisman – producer
- John Cutler – music producer
- Bob Bralove – sound designer
- Xaos – animation
- Bill Weber, Justin Kreutzmann – editors
- Fine Line Design – package design
- Annette Flowers – special thanks