Stanford Persevering with Research Providing an On-line Course Exploring the Music of the Grateful Useless

Picture by way of Wiki­me­dia Com­mons

A fast heads up: On Octo­ber third, Stan­ford Con­tin­u­ing Stud­ies will kick off an 8‑week on-line course known as Did It Mat­ter? Does It Now? The Music and Cul­ture of the Grate­ful Useless. Led by David Gans (creator of Play­ing within the Band: An Oral and Visu­al Por­trait of the Grate­ful Useless), the course will fea­ture a num­ber of spe­cial friends, includ­ing Jesse Jarnow (host of The Good Ol’ Grate­ful Useless­solid), Den­nis McNal­ly (creator of A Lengthy Unusual Journey: The Inside His­to­ry of the Grate­ful Useless) and David Lemieux (Grate­ful Useless Archivist). Open to any grownup, the course descrip­tion reads:

The Grate­ful Useless’s floor­break­ing fusion of music, coun­ter­cul­ture, and com­mu­ni­ty have interaction­ment solid an endur­ing lega­cy that tran­scends gen­er­a­tions whereas shap­ing the evo­lu­tion of music and cul­tur­al expres­sion. Close to­ly 30 years after the band performed its final present, Grate­ful Useless music is extra pop­u­lar than ever—in each stay and document­ed kind. This course invitations stu­dents to delve into the phe­nom­e­non that’s the Grate­ful Useless via a cap­ti­vat­ing explo­ration of the band’s his­to­ry, music, and cul­tur­al influence.

The course will fea­ture a col­lec­tion of sto­ries and con­ver­sa­tions with schol­ars and his­to­ri­ans, every provide­ing information and per­son­al per­spec­tives illu­mi­nat­ing each side of the Grate­ful Useless cul­ture. Togeth­er, we’ll take a guid­ed tour of the music within the type of targeted excerpts from stay and stu­dio per­for­mances to be taught what makes the Useless’s music-mak­ing distinctive and discover the broad musi­cal uni­verse the band cre­at­ed in its 30-year his­to­ry.

Last­ly, we’ll examination­ine the Useless’s influence on soci­ety, div­ing into the band’s influ­ence on artwork, lit­er­a­ture, and social change, in addition to its distinctive fan cul­ture and the phe­nom­e­non of the Useless­head. By the top of the course, stu­dents may have a well-round­ed appre­ci­a­tion for the roots, strug­gles, and mile­stones that formed the Grate­ful Useless’s tra­jec­to­ry, an beneath­stand­ing of their professional­discovered influence on music and cul­ture, and perception right into a lega­cy that also res­onates deeply right this moment.

Once more, the course begins on Thurs­day, Octo­ber third. Tuition is $465. You can enroll right here.

Stan­ford Con­tin­u­ing Stud­ies additionally provides many oth­er cours­es on-line, throughout many dis­ci­plines, at a rea­son­in a position worth. Try the cat­a­logue right here.

Relat­ed Con­tent 

Stream a Mas­sive Archive of Grate­ful Useless Con­certs from 1965–1995

The Grate­ful Useless’s “Rip­ple” Performed By Musi­cians Across the World (with Cameos by David Cros­by, Jim­my Buf­fett & Invoice Kreutz­mann)

When the Grate­ful Useless Performed on the Egypt­ian Pyra­mids, within the Shad­ow of the Sphinx (1978)

The Grate­ful Useless Film: Watch It Free On-line

How the Grate­ful Useless’s “Wall of Sound”–a Mon­ster, 600-Converse­er Sound System–Modified Rock Con­certs & Dwell Music For­ev­er