S.O.D. "Brown Eyed Women" by the Grateful Dead

8/24/2015     Although this tune was never released as a studio version, it appears on more then 16 of the band's live albums.  It makes strong references to the War Prohibition Act, nicknamed the Volstead Act from 1919 with bootleg alcohol being the song's key theme.  The song tells the story of Jack Jones, a womanizing farmer dealing with alcoholism and the death of his wife.  

     The Grateful Dead formed in Palo Alto, California in 1965 and were active until 1995, having one of the strongest fan bases -Dead Heads- in existence.  Some Dead Heads would even go on tour with the band and the police regarded them as some of the most mellow people they ever had to deal with.  

     The McHenry Library in Santa Cruz, California houses the Grateful Dead's entire archive from 1965 on.  Rolling Stone magazine ranked them at #57 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2007 they were awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and in 2011 it was announced that their May 8, 1977 concert at Cornell University's Barton Hall would be preserved in the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry.  They are known as the pioneering Godfathers of the jam band world.  Musician/music journalist Lenny Kaye wrote "Their music touches on ground that most other groups don't even know exist".