Tonight the first Fare Thee Well - Celebrating 50 Years of Grateful Dead concert will be held at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.The concert is one of five that will honor the legacy of the band formed half a century ago. Founded in 1965, the band formerly known as The Warlocks was influenced by American blues, folk and R&B music as well as their contemporaries in the burgeoning rock scene. This week’s Spotify Playlist  - Deadfluence - features 50 tracks that were either covered by the Grateful Dead or lead to the band’s own interpretation of the song.
 



The influence of Ron “Pigpen” McKernan on the early stages of The Dead’s development is apparent in many of the blues songs collected in the playlist performed by the likes of Howlin’ Wolf, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Blind Willie Johnson, Lead Belly, Rev. Gary Davis and others. American country musicians are also represented by Hank Williams, Wanda Jackson and Merle Haggard alongside folk performers like Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez, Cannon’s Jug Stompers and Judy Collins. 

Some of the tracks are titled differently, “Take Me For A Walk” by Bonnie Dobson for example will be recognized as “Morning Dew” and “If I Had My Way I’d Tear The Building Down” by Blind Willie Johnson will be recognized as “Samson & Delilah.” Only one song was repeated, separate takes on “I Know You Rider” by The Byrds and by Joan Beaz as well as "Woman Blue" by Judy Roderick, in order to showcase the varying degrees of interpretations these songs have gone through. It’s over two and a half hours long, for your listening pleasure.