--- description: See photos from a new LIFE special edition about the Grateful Dead title: The Grateful Dead: Photos Through the Years image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt730b1fb84324005f/698853c1cd1bba63f06fbba4/150609-grateful-dead-04.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 7 Pictures That Show the Grateful Dead's Evolution Over the Years  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jun 12, 2015 2:00 PM CUT  In 1967, from left: Lesh, Garcia, Kreutzmann, Weir and Ron “Pigpen” McKernan. In 1967, from left: Lesh, Garcia, Kreutzmann, Weir and Ron “Pigpen” McKernan.Herb Greene  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Jun 12, 2015 2:00 PM CUT When the Grateful Dead played their first gig in 1965, they weren’t even the Grateful Dead. They were the Warlocks. The group’s long, strange trip from those early days to the top of the jam band mountain is chronicled in the new LIFE special edition _The Grateful Dead: 50 Years Along the Golden Road_. Many of the images are by Herb Greene, who was with the band from the beginning. “San Francisco was such a great place then—you could do the whole city back then,” he told LIFE Books of his early days with the band that would become the Dead. “You didn’t need any money, there were two-dollar restaurants. There was an _availability_ of the kind of culture we were looking for.”  LIFE Books _LIFE’s special edition_ The Grateful Dead: 50 Years Along the Golden Road _is available in stores and_ [_online_](http://timespecials.com "undefined") _June 12, 2015._  Warlocks in 1965 Herb Greene  The Grateful Dead when they started playing as the Warlocks, 1965. Paul Ryan—Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images  Jerry Garcia posing with banjo in front of American Flag, 1966. Herb Greene  In 1967, from left: Lesh, Garcia, Kreutzmann, Weir and Ron “Pigpen” McKernan. Herb Greene  The Grateful Dead, 1970 (clockwise): Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, Mickey Hart and Jerry Garcia. Chris Walter—Wireimage/Getty Images  November 1981, San Rafael, California, USA --- Jerry Garcia, singer and guitarist for the Grateful Dead, poses for pictures at his home with folk singer Joan Baez and Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart Roger Ressmeyer/Corbis  Bob Dylan and The Dead photographed at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, OR July 24, 1987. Jay Blakesberg ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3915009/grateful-dead-pictures/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3915009/grateful-dead-pictures/"},"headline":"7 Pictures That Show the Grateful Dead's Evolution Over the Years","datePublished":"2015-06-12T14:00:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:03:08.038Z","description":"See photos from a new LIFE special edition about the Grateful Dead","url":"https://time.com/3915009/grateful-dead-pictures/","keywords":["Music","photography"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt730b1fb84324005f/698853c1cd1bba63f06fbba4/150609-grateful-dead-04.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt730b1fb84324005f/698853c1cd1bba63f06fbba4/150609-grateful-dead-04.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"In 1967, from left: Lesh, Garcia, Kreutzmann, Weir and Ron “Pigpen” McKernan","caption":"In 1967, from left: Lesh, Garcia, Kreutzmann, Weir and Ron “Pigpen” McKernan","creditText":"Herb Greene","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3915009/grateful-dead-pictures/","name":"7 Pictures That Show the Grateful Dead's Evolution Over the Years"}}]}] ```