#DANCING BEAR T SHIRT GRATEFUL DEAD FULL#

The Grateful Dead dancing bears have an insouciant, joyful intransigence to them, as though they are bucking conventions to live a life of hedonistic pleasure-seeking and philosophical musings. The Symbolic Legacy of the Deadhead Bears In this way it is clear how the bears not only represented the offbeat, idiosyncratic, creatively potent world of prog-rock, but also how they came to be a stand-in for the psychedelic counterculture more generally. What I wouldn’t give to go back to those times.

This meant that fans could trip on custom-made, artistically-inspired dancing bear acid while watching the concert. “Bear” Stanley started incorporating the bears into the blotter art for his LSD tabs, which were in heavy demand at Dead concerts. But “marching bears” doesn’t sound quite as evocative, does it? The LSD Connectionīut wait, things keep getting wackier. If you put the bears in a flip book in order and flip through them you will see that they are actually doing a high step march. The bears chart the trajectory of the rainbow, illustrated in sunny shades of yellow, green, orange, red, and blue.Īlthough Stanley later clarified that the bears are not, in fact dancing, in the popular imagination that impression has stuck. Thomas used a goofy-looking 36-point leaden slug bear as the inspiration for the design, which resulted in the playful, light-hearted appearance of the bears. The live recordings on the album were, quite literally, chosen by “Bear Stanley” from his personal archives. “Bear’s Choice” wasn’t just a twee and playful name for a killer compilation album.

Needless to say, “Bear” was foundational to the early success of the band, and his legacy was captured in the dancing bears. “Bear”, in tandem with Bob Thomas, also designed the “Steal Your Face” logo and the “Lightning Bolt” logo (originally created to keep track of the band’s instruments at shows). He recorded many live performances and distributed the resulting tapes, enhancing the communal, grassroots mood of the Dead’s fandom. “Bear” Stanley was pivotal in the tape trading culture that blossomed among Dead fans. Rumor has it that the nickname originated in his childhood, due to his wild and unruly chest hair. Needless to say, he was a counterculture icon in sixties San Francisco. Psychedelic icon Owsley ‘Bear’ Stanley (left) in 1969 with the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia.(Photo by Rosie McGee). Often called the Acid King, he was one of the first private producers of LSD in the world. The bears were designed in honor of one of the band’s first sound engineers, Owsley “Bear” Stanley, who was also a practicing chemist and the man behind a large portion of the LSD being circulated in the States at the time. And what a choice it was, as the bears have taken on a whimsical life of their own in the cult surrounding the Dead.īut it gets trippier. They first appeared on the back cover of the album The History of the Grateful Dead, Volume 1 (Bear’s Choice). The dancing bears weren’t there from the start – indeed, they had their debut in 1973, well into The Grateful Dead’s career. “Bear” Stanley and the Backstory of the Grateful Dead Bears While you don’t need an advanced degree in semiotics to uncover the mysterious magic of the dancing bears, some crib notes certainly won’t hurt.

#DANCING BEAR T SHIRT GRATEFUL DEAD FULL#

Where symbolism is concerned, the dancing bears are certainly nutrient-rich, chock full of good-for-you allusions, metaphors, and insinuations.

Let’s get up close with Grateful Dead’s surreal and iconic dancing bears. Then you’re going to want to strap in for this one, because it’s going to be quite a ride. Consider yourself a dyed-in-the-wool Deadhead? A lover of the cultish and mysterious? A fan of all things Ursa (that’s bear in Latin for the kids at the back)?

Dancing bear t shirt grateful dead