The Grateful Dead And Their Most Joyful Song

Have you ever seen the old Preston Sturges comedy, "Sullivan's Travels"? Throughout the movie, the main character, played by Joel McCrea is a movie director who wants to make an important statement. He decides to ditch his identity and go incognito among the poor, and ultimately he ends up going back to being a slapstick comedy director because that's what the poor people need. THAT was his big statement after all.

I've wanted to do things on a grand scale. As a Bob Dylan tune that the Grateful Dead often covered suggests, I want to create my "Masterpiece". Well, someday, perhaps, when I least expect it, I'll create something that has a profound effect on people. But oh well... if there's one theme that pervades much of what I do, its "movies and music". And until the day comes that I create something of more importance, I borrowed what I consider to be a masterpiece of the Grateful Dead as a theme for my best selling print.

I hate to say it. I'm pretty somber and way too serious sometimes. I get depressed and even forget Heaven sometimes. I love going to Mass each week and I find some joy there, but for some reason, in general, no experience is quite as enjoyable as a Grateful Dead concert. To me, the MOST joyful song the Dead ever did, the one that makes goosebumps pop up on my skin EVERY time is the song, "The Music Never Stopped". From the opening notes, the description of a muggy hot summer day, the implication of drying crops makes me feel the overbearing heat ... and then the band comes! And with the band comes the cool breezes, the corn begins to grow into a bumper crop. Joy fills the air and my heart. I see all the members of the band from the days with Pigpen to the final days with Vince Welnick. I see the fireworks, caliopes, and clowns. I see old men and children, Deadheads twirling. I see the crazy rooster crowing midnight and fish rising up like birds. And that's what I put into my painting. All the joy, all the color and all the motion and music. Click where it says to click for "more information" to see the painting and buy your print if you so desire!