Statement Of Purpose

For some time I have been researching the origins of the many cover songs that the Grateful Dead have performed over the years. I have collected quite a bit of material on that subject and thought it was time to organize it and make it available. This site is an attempt to do that and to solicit input from others who are also interested in this area of research.

I am not a professional writer nor do I have any formal training in ethnomusicology, I've basically been making it up as I go along.

This site will always be a work in progress and as such, to some extent, always incomplete. At present (4/3/96) it is still in it's infancy and can only provide a brief glimpse of the possibilities ahead. I have collected quite a bit of information and it will be a while before I will be able to get it all organized and formatted for inclusion here.

I am always interested in contributions and comments and that is one of the the primary objectives for the creation of this site. It will be a while before I am able to start to incorporate contributions here, but feel free to contact me at ajax@well.com if you have any information that might be of interest or if you have any questions.

Randy Jackson

I would be remiss if I did not mention two people who have contributed greatly to this area of research: Blair Jackson, who's "Roots" columns in "The Golden Road" are the standard against which all work in this area must be measured and David Gans, who helped create the wonderful "The Music Never Stopped: Roots Of The Grateful Dead" release and has always featured roots material on The Grateful Dead Hour.