The mastermind behind The Who, songwriter and guitarist Pete Townshend was a fundamental figure in Rock and Roll, especially in the 60s and 70s, when the British band released their most successful and influential albums. During those decades, the genre was evolving, with many bands exploring new sounds and creating various subcategories of Rock. It was hard to keep up with everything that was happening in music at the time because of how rich and diverse the scene was. But Townshend had the chance to see many incredible groups from that era perform. He eventually gave his opinion on them and one of those bands was the Grateful Dead. What is Pete Townshend's opinion on the Grateful Dead Pete Townshend likes the Grateful Dead and said that, at first, he could not understand what they were about but was envious of their connection with fans. He also noted that they had something in common with Bob Dylan, since they could play any song you asked them to. "I remember Bob Dylan, you know, I said to him: 'Why are you doing so many shows? Why are you constantly on the road?' You know, 'don't you have a f*cking life? You know, (you're) just on the f*cking road all the time. He said: 'Pete, I'm a Folk singer'. And I said: 'Yeah?' And he said: 'Well, what is a Folk singer?'" "And I said: 'Tell me'. He said: 'It's a guy with a good memory for music, for songs'. And he said: 'I've got 650 songs and I have to keep playing them, otherwise I'll forget them'. It was a bit like with the Grateful Dead. (They) could playing f*cking anything that you came up with. So somebody in the crowd would sort of say: 'Play Beethoven's 'Fifth Symphony!' And they would have a go, you know (laughs)." Pete Townshend continued: "But also, the commitment of their fans was something that was interesting. The big thing about the Dead I remember, was that they gave their road crew the same share that they got themselves, did you know that? Yeah, it was a true cooperative, so nobody got rich, nobody. They made a living but they didn't get rich. (...) They were real contemporaries of The Band and they were a challenge in a sense because they had a connection with their audience that I was envious." "(...) Funny enough, I think, looking back I'm interpolating some stuff which wasn't exactly true at the time. I didn't really understand what the Dead were doing. I didn't understand the San Francisco scene at all. (...) It seemed scruffy, it seemed disorganized and it seemed to need focus, it seemed to lack focus," Pete Townshend said in an interview with Broken Record podcast (with producer Rick Rubin in 2023 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage). The Who and the Grateful Dead crossed paths still in the 60s, when they played on the same day at the Monterey International Pop Festival. That day other big bands like Buffalo Springfield, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and The Mamas & The Papas. Seven years later, in 1976, they would share the bill for two days at the Oakland Coliseum Stadium. In 1981 Pete had the chance to perform with them live. It was during their show at Grugahalle, Essen, Germany for WDR's Rockpalast TV show. Townshend joined them on stage playing four songs which were: "Not Fade Away" (The Crickets), "Wharf Rat" (Grateful Dead), "Around Around" (Chuck Berry) and "Good Lovin'" (The Olympics). Grateful Dead indirectly helped Pete Townshend to write "Tommy" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oot8-M_E_Hc&list=RDoot8-M_E_Hc&start_radio=1&pp=ygUccGV0ZSB0b3duc2hlbmQgZ3JhdGVmdWwgZGVhZKAHAQ%3D%3D Funny enough, according to Pete Townshend, the Grateful Dead indirectly helped him to get inspiration to write the songs that ended up in "Tommy" (1969), one of The Who's most acclaimed albums. As he told Clash Music in 2023, he had a "terrifying" experience after taking something provided by a "chemist involved with the Grateful Dead". “The Who were running out of ideas pre-‘Tommy’, the rock opera. And that album started off as a mythic tale. It’s loosely inspired by Hermann Hesse’s Siddharta. But I was also reading lots of Sufi tales, and mystical writings by Hazrat Inayat Khan. He wrote a book called the Mysticism Of Sound. A musician, but also a spiritual teacher. All of that was flooding through my head.” “I had this experience, post-Monterey, where I took some acid – supplied by a chemist involved with the Grateful Dead. I had this terrifying trip where I left my body. (Then) I spoke about it with this guy Mike MacKinnon, who recommended the writings of Meher Baba. I went and got a biography of him, and instantly got all the answers I needed to all these questions buzzing around my head,” Pete Townshend said. Jerry Garcia loved The Who and Pete Townshend The late legendary Grateful Dead singer, guitarist and songwriter Jerry Garcia was a fan of The Who and Pete Townshend. He even said in a radio interview in 1978, that he thought the British band were the "original Punks" “Yeah (We did a show with The Who, they were the original punks). They’re great, I have a lot of respect. I admire what they do. However, I spoke with Pete Townshend before their set. He was telling me that they’ve been playing the same show for four years. I mean, the same show and they were sort of depressed about it." "I mean, to have exactly the same numbers in exactly the same order for four years in a row is not exactly a sign of progress. Because the guys themselves are capable of more than that. They’re capable of better things,” Jerry Garcia said. In the early 80s, the Grateful Dead guitarist and singer said he saw The Who as "truly important architects of Rock and Roll" and that Pete Townshend could be one of "Rock and Roll's rare authentic geniuses", concluding that he was really happy that they existed. The Grateful Dead was formed in 1965, only one year after The Who, but unlike the British band they didn't continue after losing a key member: Jerry Garcia, who died in 1995 at the age of 53. However, remaining members of the band continued to play the band's music together on other projects, like Dead & Company.The post Pete Townshend’s opinion on the Grateful Dead appeared first on Rock and Roll Garage.