Grateful Dead

Grateful Dead was originally called The Warlocks, until Jerry Garcia found out that another band had the same name. The band's founding members were Jerry Garcia (lead guitar and vocals), Bob Weir (rhythm guitar and vocals), Ron "Pigpen" McKernan (keyboards, harmonica, and vocals), Phil Lesh (bass guitar and vocals), and Bill Kreutzmann (drums)

The name, though sometimes mistakenly identified as coming from the Tibetan Book of the Dead, is a phrase that appears in the Egyptian Book of the Dead.

"In the land of the night, the ship of the sun is drawn by the grateful dead."

Supposedly, Jerry was intrigued by the story of a troubled soul who is put to rest by a traveler. The spirit then repays the favor by helping the traveler with his own quest.

The Grateful Dead were a symbol of the 1960s counterculture. Though they never achieved mainstream commercial success, their legion of Deadheads followers brought them financial success.

They are forever part of the Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco scene, where they regularly played at Ken Kesey’s acid tests.

In their earliest incarnation, they were a jug band/country/blues band, which they returned to to some degree in their acoustic American Beauty/Workingman's Dead period. Over their 40-year career, they played many musical genres including rock, folk, R&B, jazz, and psychedelic.

They are best known as a live band and toured almost continually during the 60s and early 70s. (There are many more live recordings - legitimate and bootleg - than studio releases.)

 

It's strange to think of the Dead having a "greatest hits" album since they never sought out commercial success, but they did hit the charts in the late 80s with “Touch of Grey.” Still, there is a Gratest Hits compilation available.

The band essentially ended with the death of Jerry Garcia in 1995, though members of the band still tour and release tracks as part of other ventures. Former members of the band, along with other musicians, toured as The Other Ones in 1998, 2000, and 2002, and as The Dead in 2003, 2004, and 2009. In 2015, the four surviving core members marked the band's 50th anniversary in a series of concerts in Santa Clara, California, and Chicago that were billed as their last performances together. There have also been several spin-offs featuring one or more core members, such as Dead & Company, Furthur, the Rhythm Devils, Phil Lesh and Friends, RatDog, and Billy & the Kids.

Official Site Of The Grateful Dead

Down to the Wire and Hands Down

Here are two sports idioms from horse racing that have gone beyond the sport. Both contain "down."

When something goes "down to the wire" we mean it goes to the very end or last minute. "The election went down to the wire." The term comes from the length of wire that was once stretched across a racetrack at the finish line. Now, that finish is recorded electronically. The figurative use of the phrase goes back to about 1900.

Outside of horse racing, if someone said, "Hands down, this is the best pizza I have ever eaten." In that usage, it means unconditionally. It can also be used to mean something done with great ease.

In horse racing, when a jockey wins hands down, it means that when the jockey is certain of victory, he or she drops their hands and relaxes the hold on the reins. 

The horse-racing phrase was first cited by OED in 1867, and its figurative usage was noted in 1913.

Greenbacks, Bucks, Clams, Dead Presidents, Dough and Scratch

There are some informal (slang) names for U.S. paper currency. One fairly common term is "bucks." It likely originated from the early American practice of trading deerskins, known as buckskins, which were used as a unit of exchange. Over time, the term "buck" became a colloquialism for money. It's thought that this term was later applied to dollars and paper currency, becoming a widely used slang term.

The term "clams" for money likely originated in the mid-19th century in the United States. One theory is that it came from the expression "shell out," meaning to pay up or cough up money, which references the practice of using seashells, like clamshells, as currency or for decoration in some cultures. This term may have been shortened to "clams" as a slang term for money.

The term "dead presidents" likely originated in the late 19th or early 20th century, as many U.S. presidents were featured on various denominations of currency. The term gained popularity over time, particularly in the mid-20th century, as it became a common slang term to refer to paper money. It's worth noting that not all U.S. currency features presidents, but the term "dead presidents" stuck due to the prominent portraits of presidents like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and others on various denominations.

As with the previous terms, we have "likely" rather than definitive origin stories. The term "dough" for money likely originated from the idea that money is a vital resource, much like dough is a fundamental ingredient for bread. It's a basic necessity that helps things "rise" or progress. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States, "dough" became a popular slang term for money.

The term "scratch" for money probably comes from the idea of scratching out a living or making ends meet. It may also come from the notion of scratching together enough money to achieve something. In a street-level context, it might imply that it's a resource that's earned or scrounged up through effort. The term is often used in phrases like "scratch together" or "from scratch," emphasizing the idea of gathering or accumulating resources.

"Greenbacks" became a semi-official name for some currency in 1861when the Union introduced Demand Notes to fund the Civil War. United States Notes followed in 1862. Both were dubbed "greenbacks" due to their distinctive green ink, an anti-counterfeiting measure. 

As the first widespread US paper currency, these notes shared some similarities with today's bills, like the green color, but had notable design differences. Early $1 notes featured Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase and President Abraham Lincoln was on the $10 note. The backs showcased intricate wording or patterns, such as the crisscross sawhorse design. 

Initially, greenbacks were printed in larger sizes - 7 3/8 x 3 1/8 inches - until they were downsized to 6 1/8 x 2 5/8 inches in 1929.