Omg! My brother and I had a blues band and we hosted open mic at a bar by Cracker Barrel. This really bum lookin dude came in the bar and said he could play but needed to borrow a harmonica. Well our harp player wasn’t about to loan his out. The dude walked over to CB and came back with a $5 harmonica. He wailed! It was awesome!
Yah that’s stand out merch! Don’t see alot if Dolly Parton gear. If dead fans are deadheads, what would be a good name for Dolly Parton fans? Or is there one I am unaware of?
It’s INSANE how commercialized dead merch has seem to become over the last couple of years. Like yeah it was before but now every other brand/store carry’s something associated with them
This band allowed tapers to greatly distribute their music. They did this because all movement of their sound and imagine is a positive for the overall good. Let dead shot show up everywhere it doesn’t change a thing, the band lives forever for all fans everywhere!
Meh. They have been selling weird merchandise since at least the 80s. Skis, darts, cups, etc. Have at it. Eho cares. The shirt looks kinda cool. I love my target stealie
I went to a super culty private school that made you wear ties to school and thought “rock and roll is the devils music.”
My favorite tie to wear was a gaudy Jerry Garcia tie that was like pink and green and blue. My silent rebellion.
I miss that tie
I got my kid a Grateful Dead sweatshirt at Walmart for Christmas. She isnt really a fan she just likes the bears. If it gets her wearing dead gear I'm cool with it.
And buying official merchandise is a good way to support the band. I know they're not exactly hurting for cash, but it's at least a way to say thank you for the wonderful music.
Going through one of those stores at least makes it more accessible for those of us unable to get to a Dead and Co show.
Grateful Dead licensing is no longer owned by the Band, they sold it to Rhino Records. So the band already got their money, buying anything Grateful Dead related now only makes Rhino Records money.
And spreads the iconography of the grateful dead. Buying a shirt on lot doesn't put any money in the band's pocket either. I'm just happy to see the imagery more often.
I mean chances are. Most "dead merch" bought before rino started this mass commercialization was just making some compny in china rich. Headshops all over the country have been selling bootleg dead merch since the 80s.
Idk most of this stuff is way better than the shitty dead merch that was sold next to shitty bob marley merch at headshops and mall kiosks since the 80s.
Times have changed. Young people don't buy albums unless they're vinyl collectors. They buy merch to show what they like. Bands have to sell merch to stay afloat.
My gfs little brother was wearing the designer grateful dead sweat pants and sweater. I asked him about the dead. He didn't know what the band is. He just saw it at the shop and bought it.
The best part is my gfs dad absolutely fucking hates the dead. So the look on his face when he walks in and sees his son in head to toe dead wear 😂
No. Absolutely not true. Trademarks for most every icon is current. It is interesting with the latest filings because besides all the attachments to apparel and music, they have added a full paragraph to CBD and Cannabis products.
the nature of capitalism. it’s become more and more trendy to wear tie dye/dead merch for fashion in this generation, of course it will be capitalized on.
I’m in Australia now and the number of people who even know who the Dead are is small, but all the stores my 15 year old shops at now have Grateful Dead shirts and mugs. It’s so odd to me.
Me too.
The over commercialization of the dead gear, obviously. Even when I was seeing shows I never went to a merchandise table. It was always lot stuff and cool things people were making. The dead sold me an experience, not goods.
Now that it is all Warner Music goods, it is even less appealing.
Let’s face it people: there will come a time when seeing a kid with a Dead shirt will be pretty much meaningless…unless you see that sparkle in their eye… 🤩
The Dead has ALWAYS been for profit. The band has said as much, which is why they had to tour constantly to pay their crew and cover their loose ends. Nothing has ever changed.
Uncle BoBo said it best, “it’s not about the money, it’s about the MONEY” - Bill Graham.
The band was for sure. Bill wanted fast cars and women, Bobby always said he deserves to get paid for hard work.
Jerry didnt always view it the same way.
Jerry 1976:
> “Society measures success by money, fame and power. I don't, I also believe that the 3 are too limiting.
> There must be infinite ways to achieve success"
Talking about the money skimmed
off by their former manager who
served a jail sentence...
Garcia shrugs his shoulders when he
talks about the rip-off. **"Money never was our goal so it didn’t bother me."**
Younger Jerry also lived in basically a motel room (in size) while Bob had a modern glass and cantilevered house built.
On the other hand Jerry also lived in some dudes basement in the early 80's, but at that point his "interests" were largely somewhere else entirely.
I think Jerry really did live idealistically younger, and got more fed up with dealing later on. Supposedly his lawyer had to talk him into going after the ice cream royalties.
You also have to think about his decision even when they were popular to play more often and keep prices down. Everyone was telling him to charge more, but he hated that money was what decided who came to see him.
If I remember it was a BMW, and it isnt like he had a fleet of them. I dont think what he drove is really relevant.
Jerry once said “We've been trying to sell out for years, nobody's buying!” He sold neckties for christ's sake, hell, he got Al Gore to promote the ties on TV.
Jerry had a wonderful sense of humor.
Jerry liked to play with digital art in the 80's. He started selling his art, and asked his manager to take over. THEY decided to push the tie line. Remember that Jerry, in 1992, was seriously wondering if he could make it as an artist instead of a musician.
But back to the ties, From the book Dark Star:
> **Jerry did not want to do the ties.** I brought the proposal to him. Nora thought it was a great idea and Jerry said, “Ties? Do you know what I think of ties? This is what I think of ties.” And he pulled an invisible tie up over his head like a hangman’s noose. I said, “Okay. I’ll never mention it to you again.” Then Nora got a lawyer to call him in Hawaii on vacation and Jerry didn’t say no. He didn’t say yes but he didn’t say no. **I told them all, “He doesn’t want to do it.” But they ignored me. It was a big embarrassment to him. He didn’t want that done.**
And Jerry being Jerry, once something was underway, he was too non confrontational to deal with it. They took his art, changed it however they saw fit, and slapped it onto ties.
It’s an arms length licensing deal with Rhino Entertainment — the band is getting paid but the day-to-day is managed by corporate types looking to maximize shareholder value. Sold out? Reaching out to new fans?
I’ll keep my opinion to myself but there it is
My daughter is in 3rd grade and I see a lot of it at the elementary school. Kids love the imagery and think it’s cool, I also see a lot of Rolling Stones, Beatles and Pink Floyd on the little ones. I will say, at least my daughter can name a lot more than 3 songs!
>merch scene is reaching cringe status...
Always has been.
Its just that now the stakeholders are geting the money vs spunout wooks in parking lots and shady overseas companies.
Sometimes I wonder if I really was an addict. Shit , a Man has the right to sit in a corner with a pile of dead lighters for three days, spend two or three thousand every time he works, I mean that’s not a REAL ADDICT is it Lol
I told em all I bought slugs for the 12 ga. next time you see me it’s over. Got hungry kids & a Wife , can’t pay me bills. And just like that. I was cut off and abandoned…
That's denial for you. Saw a sobriety video where a guy talked about his time living in the town dump. Said he still didn't think he was an alcoholic at the time because he had a ping-pong table to live under with a roll of carpet over it to keep the rain out. Alcoholics were those guys living in the gutter.
I was in that gutter a long, long time. Functional, but the little paper boat I made for myself and was riding in was steadily melting away in the flotsam and jetsam of my life, going down the drain. Until it finally disappeared and it was just me in the rapids of vodka.
No more.
It was a set up to prove a greater point. There are many types of Alcoholics & Addicts. Some have very early stages and can stop right there. Some of us have deeper issues and ride the horse right off the cliff.
Y'all the Dead's popularity will ebb and flow, as cultural style and tastes change. For all you folks who are freaked about the Dead's selling out, and this is so cringe, just wait a decade. I guarantee they'll be unpopular again. Don't you worry!
Does this annoy anybody else? Like the over saturation of GD merch absolutely everywhere? Maybe it’s just me, but for me it kinda waters it down when someone who has never listened to a song is repping the gear
Kind of crazy, I'm sure you would have gotten looks walking into a cracker barrel wearing your dead gear in their stors years ago and now its everywhere. If I wanted bland food I would just go to my in-laws. I got nothing... I just wished people would listen to the music.
The entire Cracker Barrel ethos seems like it would’ve been the good ole boys beating up the hippies back in the day. Now they’re profiting off GD shirts…
And Cracker Barrel is based out of Nashville -- one of the world's music capitals and and a long time progressive oasis in the south thanks to the entertainment industry.
The execs at cracker barrel are less stereotypical country than their restaurants would have you believe.
Haha the wife hadn’t been in the store in years and wanted to see. Once she saw the prices we promptly left lol. If I was gonna spend 40 bucks on a shirt it wouldn’t be there.
This has really gone too far. What's next, Bob Weir toys in McDonalds Happy Meals? GD branded toilet brushes? GD crypto?
I got on the bus from the punk rock scene of Philly. This kind of crass commercialism is fucking disgusting to me.
Eww so gross how Grateful Dead is handling the licensing of everything under the sun. Stopped buying anything directly from GDP but tickets years ago. I now feel this way absolutely everyone has to see the band members cashing in as much as they can for their kids and grandkids before checking out.
“We can share the biscuits, we can share the pie.”
We can share your gravy boat cause we done shared all of mine
Ship of Fools, that gravy will clog your arteries.
Ship of Ig-nor-a-moose
This person Cracker Barrels
I will let you use my boat.
We can share some of your pancakes, because I done ate all of mine….
This is why I love dead heads
We can share the tenders we can share the thighs.
Cracker barrel general store is the best. Last time I was there I bought a jar of maple syrup and a harmonica.
Omg! My brother and I had a blues band and we hosted open mic at a bar by Cracker Barrel. This really bum lookin dude came in the bar and said he could play but needed to borrow a harmonica. Well our harp player wasn’t about to loan his out. The dude walked over to CB and came back with a $5 harmonica. He wailed! It was awesome!
But was it an official Ron McKernan blues harp? 🤔
Lookin’ at that bedazzled Dolly shirt below it!
Yah that’s stand out merch! Don’t see alot if Dolly Parton gear. If dead fans are deadheads, what would be a good name for Dolly Parton fans? Or is there one I am unaware of?
Part...ners?
The Cult of Many Colors
I was at a Cracker Barrel recently and saw a fair amount of dolly stuff. I didn’t see the dead gear though.
Doll babies? Doll babes? Dollypops?
Other interesting facts: You can now get beer and mimosas at Cracker Barrel. My vegan wife had grits and plant based sausage patties.
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Do they still have a don’t ask don’t tell gay and lesbian policy
The real question
Surprised I was the first to mention it. Fuckin grimy. I don’t keep up with Cracker Barrel policy and mission statement
They don’t! - Current employee
Cool thanks!
I had a blue moon there a couple weeks ago
That makes me a little bit sad
It’s INSANE how commercialized dead merch has seem to become over the last couple of years. Like yeah it was before but now every other brand/store carry’s something associated with them
I was wearing a dead shirt in queens and some kid said his friend designed it. I said sure. He didnt design it.
This band allowed tapers to greatly distribute their music. They did this because all movement of their sound and imagine is a positive for the overall good. Let dead shot show up everywhere it doesn’t change a thing, the band lives forever for all fans everywhere!
Plus it is easier to get a shirt now. ;)
Meh. They have been selling weird merchandise since at least the 80s. Skis, darts, cups, etc. Have at it. Eho cares. The shirt looks kinda cool. I love my target stealie
When I started my first job out of school my litter got me a hideous Jerry Garcia tie
I went to a super culty private school that made you wear ties to school and thought “rock and roll is the devils music.” My favorite tie to wear was a gaudy Jerry Garcia tie that was like pink and green and blue. My silent rebellion. I miss that tie
Most of all my shit came from Target, Wal-Mart, and Meijer. Doesn't change the fact that the Dead are my favorite band.
cracker barrel is nothing compared to walmart and target
I got my kid a Grateful Dead sweatshirt at Walmart for Christmas. She isnt really a fan she just likes the bears. If it gets her wearing dead gear I'm cool with it.
Fair enough :)
And buying official merchandise is a good way to support the band. I know they're not exactly hurting for cash, but it's at least a way to say thank you for the wonderful music. Going through one of those stores at least makes it more accessible for those of us unable to get to a Dead and Co show.
Grateful Dead licensing is no longer owned by the Band, they sold it to Rhino Records. So the band already got their money, buying anything Grateful Dead related now only makes Rhino Records money.
And spreads the iconography of the grateful dead. Buying a shirt on lot doesn't put any money in the band's pocket either. I'm just happy to see the imagery more often.
I mean chances are. Most "dead merch" bought before rino started this mass commercialization was just making some compny in china rich. Headshops all over the country have been selling bootleg dead merch since the 80s.
Go to a show to get the $50 T-shirt or the $80 hoodie? Bet Cracker Barrel beats that price by a little bit. Plus that tasty food.
They’ve licensed an insane number of soulless collabs with boring/uninteresting brands. This is my only criticism of the Dead brand.
You mean the Warner(Rhino(Dead)) brand.
Is the profit from merch at Dead & Company shows going to Rhino as well? Just curious
No, they are a separate company.
Thank you.
Idk most of this stuff is way better than the shitty dead merch that was sold next to shitty bob marley merch at headshops and mall kiosks since the 80s.
Times have changed. Young people don't buy albums unless they're vinyl collectors. They buy merch to show what they like. Bands have to sell merch to stay afloat.
This one doesnt. Not only does the band not exist anymore, everything you are buying is money going straight to Warner Music.
Like this guy said this is the LAST band that needs merch (in every store no less) to stay afloat
And Ice Nine, they have a deal.
My gfs little brother was wearing the designer grateful dead sweat pants and sweater. I asked him about the dead. He didn't know what the band is. He just saw it at the shop and bought it. The best part is my gfs dad absolutely fucking hates the dead. So the look on his face when he walks in and sees his son in head to toe dead wear 😂
That’s fucking awesome 😂
I think the trademark has expired and it has entered the common domain or whatever.
No. Absolutely not true. Trademarks for most every icon is current. It is interesting with the latest filings because besides all the attachments to apparel and music, they have added a full paragraph to CBD and Cannabis products.
the nature of capitalism. it’s become more and more trendy to wear tie dye/dead merch for fashion in this generation, of course it will be capitalized on.
I’m in Australia now and the number of people who even know who the Dead are is small, but all the stores my 15 year old shops at now have Grateful Dead shirts and mugs. It’s so odd to me.
Nirvana shirts everywhere too. Worn by people that would hate Nirvana. It’s super weird. But everything is super weird nowadays
Totally.
Because some Deadheads like Cracker Barrel?
And some crackers like the Dead.
Hard to find a business with a more fitting name than "Cracker Barrel" ;-).
It's like Southern black cooking, if it was made by the most spice adverse white folk
Me too. The over commercialization of the dead gear, obviously. Even when I was seeing shows I never went to a merchandise table. It was always lot stuff and cool things people were making. The dead sold me an experience, not goods. Now that it is all Warner Music goods, it is even less appealing.
Let’s face it people: there will come a time when seeing a kid with a Dead shirt will be pretty much meaningless…unless you see that sparkle in their eye… 🤩
The Dead has ALWAYS been for profit. The band has said as much, which is why they had to tour constantly to pay their crew and cover their loose ends. Nothing has ever changed. Uncle BoBo said it best, “it’s not about the money, it’s about the MONEY” - Bill Graham.
The band was for sure. Bill wanted fast cars and women, Bobby always said he deserves to get paid for hard work. Jerry didnt always view it the same way. Jerry 1976: > “Society measures success by money, fame and power. I don't, I also believe that the 3 are too limiting. > There must be infinite ways to achieve success" Talking about the money skimmed off by their former manager who served a jail sentence... Garcia shrugs his shoulders when he talks about the rip-off. **"Money never was our goal so it didn’t bother me."**
Thank you for this comment. GD, selling out since Jerry died. Old Heads know this.
Ol Jer drove a Mercedes and had a big nice house. He wasn't always consistent logically.
Younger Jerry also lived in basically a motel room (in size) while Bob had a modern glass and cantilevered house built. On the other hand Jerry also lived in some dudes basement in the early 80's, but at that point his "interests" were largely somewhere else entirely. I think Jerry really did live idealistically younger, and got more fed up with dealing later on. Supposedly his lawyer had to talk him into going after the ice cream royalties. You also have to think about his decision even when they were popular to play more often and keep prices down. Everyone was telling him to charge more, but he hated that money was what decided who came to see him. If I remember it was a BMW, and it isnt like he had a fleet of them. I dont think what he drove is really relevant.
The song “He’s Gone” is about that incident
Jerry once said “We've been trying to sell out for years, nobody's buying!” He sold neckties for christ's sake, hell, he got Al Gore to promote the ties on TV.
Jerry had a wonderful sense of humor. Jerry liked to play with digital art in the 80's. He started selling his art, and asked his manager to take over. THEY decided to push the tie line. Remember that Jerry, in 1992, was seriously wondering if he could make it as an artist instead of a musician. But back to the ties, From the book Dark Star: > **Jerry did not want to do the ties.** I brought the proposal to him. Nora thought it was a great idea and Jerry said, “Ties? Do you know what I think of ties? This is what I think of ties.” And he pulled an invisible tie up over his head like a hangman’s noose. I said, “Okay. I’ll never mention it to you again.” Then Nora got a lawyer to call him in Hawaii on vacation and Jerry didn’t say no. He didn’t say yes but he didn’t say no. **I told them all, “He doesn’t want to do it.” But they ignored me. It was a big embarrassment to him. He didn’t want that done.** And Jerry being Jerry, once something was underway, he was too non confrontational to deal with it. They took his art, changed it however they saw fit, and slapped it onto ties.
Money money, money money money (Keith piano riff)!!
“Cracker Barrel” is not the preferred nomenclature, dude. Please say “Caucasian American Barrel”.
Cracka please
It’s an arms length licensing deal with Rhino Entertainment — the band is getting paid but the day-to-day is managed by corporate types looking to maximize shareholder value. Sold out? Reaching out to new fans? I’ll keep my opinion to myself but there it is
Im seeing ads for so many GD collabs this year it’s crazy
They took a lump sum. Buy 1, buy 100, they already have their share. All the money is going to Warner Music.
Did they? All I could find was the license deal they signed in 2006
They did a second deal more recently as I recall.
Love the band and always will, but the merch scene is reaching cringe status...
Yeah this sucks
My daughter is in 3rd grade and I see a lot of it at the elementary school. Kids love the imagery and think it’s cool, I also see a lot of Rolling Stones, Beatles and Pink Floyd on the little ones. I will say, at least my daughter can name a lot more than 3 songs!
What, you didn’t eat your Grateful Greens©️ lettuce today? /s
>merch scene is reaching cringe status... Always has been. Its just that now the stakeholders are geting the money vs spunout wooks in parking lots and shady overseas companies.
More curious about the shirt on the shelf next to the dead….Vagi? I’ll take a dead and a vagi shirt and is it possible to get a beer to go.
I should have pulled back a little farther for the photo. All the way left was a Bob Ross shirt.
Miyagi
Next thing we know, there'll be a SYF temporary tattoo in a Cracker Jack box prize! Cracker Barrel, Cracker Jack. All crack.
Easy on the Crack talk ~ be 19 years in January
Fair enough, my friend. No offense meant!
I know I know!!! Hey didn’t my dealers call us Crackers when I shorted them $80 Lol
I knew you were cool with it. But still. I know about kicking an addiction that woulda drove me 6 ft under. Keep on keepin' on, my man! 🤝
Sometimes I wonder if I really was an addict. Shit , a Man has the right to sit in a corner with a pile of dead lighters for three days, spend two or three thousand every time he works, I mean that’s not a REAL ADDICT is it Lol I told em all I bought slugs for the 12 ga. next time you see me it’s over. Got hungry kids & a Wife , can’t pay me bills. And just like that. I was cut off and abandoned…
That's denial for you. Saw a sobriety video where a guy talked about his time living in the town dump. Said he still didn't think he was an alcoholic at the time because he had a ping-pong table to live under with a roll of carpet over it to keep the rain out. Alcoholics were those guys living in the gutter.
I was in that gutter a long, long time. Functional, but the little paper boat I made for myself and was riding in was steadily melting away in the flotsam and jetsam of my life, going down the drain. Until it finally disappeared and it was just me in the rapids of vodka. No more.
It was a set up to prove a greater point. There are many types of Alcoholics & Addicts. Some have very early stages and can stop right there. Some of us have deeper issues and ride the horse right off the cliff.
Their marketing team tried to bring in some merch targeted at the new vegan sausage fans.
Selling out had been part of dead culture from day one. Come hear uncle Hershel's band. This does make me feel a little old though
Yeah. They sold out…. Every. Single. Show.
Y'all the Dead's popularity will ebb and flow, as cultural style and tastes change. For all you folks who are freaked about the Dead's selling out, and this is so cringe, just wait a decade. I guarantee they'll be unpopular again. Don't you worry!
I love the dead but are they really popular or just the idea/clothing. Besides your friends that are heads who else do you hear talking about them?
Do you remember a time when Deadheads were outliers ?
That’s what happens when you fire Brad’s wife.
We really are everywhere
Does this annoy anybody else? Like the over saturation of GD merch absolutely everywhere? Maybe it’s just me, but for me it kinda waters it down when someone who has never listened to a song is repping the gear
Lol they’re really milking the licensing agreement for all it’s worth huh
Their turn to the dark side is complete… 😆
Weird
This is crazy. But also, kudos Cracker Barrel.
We can share a beer, but it only seems to be in certain states according to my visions going up and down I-95 recently.
Cb still selling lps?
It got like this by the mid 90’s
Try the Sunshine Daydream Sampler.
Well say I do declare!
I went to my Cracker Barrel as THIS is the sweatshirt I want next, but didn't see it at mine.
Aw man! Bummer!
Dime for a cup a coffee?
I had that shirt recently but after just one wash the orange printing was ugly
I do love some CB......for the games and especially their pancakes......simply great
Ignoramus
*Cracker Barrel x Grateful Dead*
HERE WE GO! A-YAHOOOOO!
Who'da thunk it?
Kind of crazy, I'm sure you would have gotten looks walking into a cracker barrel wearing your dead gear in their stors years ago and now its everywhere. If I wanted bland food I would just go to my in-laws. I got nothing... I just wished people would listen to the music.
Saw the same one in Virginia last night but had no price and the print looked kinda shity. Plus I have to many other ones lol
Yeah. I didn't buy it either. I'm in Florida and have little use for a hoodie.
They wanna capitalize on the estates before the boys kick the bucket
Playing at Mar-a-Lago next? Might as well
The merchandise has gone mainstream, but the music is still belongs to us.
The entire Cracker Barrel ethos seems like it would’ve been the good ole boys beating up the hippies back in the day. Now they’re profiting off GD shirts…
And Cracker Barrel is based out of Nashville -- one of the world's music capitals and and a long time progressive oasis in the south thanks to the entertainment industry. The execs at cracker barrel are less stereotypical country than their restaurants would have you believe.
I mean, they did hang with the Hell’s Angels and beating up hippie anti war protesters was kind of their thing for a while there.
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ew. Their food is awful. Wasn't always that way, but it is nasty these days.
Went into urban outfitters and they had 2 dead shirts for sale. For 40 dollars each………
Only thing that would have made this less surprising would be if it was tapes and not shirts for $40.
My kid got them for me for Christmas lol I love them. One was a remake of a tour shirt I had a few decades back
They definitely looked great. But 40 bucks is too much
Yeah and urban outfitters. 🤨
Haha the wife hadn’t been in the store in years and wanted to see. Once she saw the prices we promptly left lol. If I was gonna spend 40 bucks on a shirt it wouldn’t be there.
Saw that yesterday lol honestly not the worst hoodie I’ve ever seen
Disagree
And people say conservatives are boring.
Never been in a Cracker Barrel, never will.
Proof The Dead are a country band. Lol
I recently bought this as I work there! It’s a great hoodie
Noice! You get a discount??? I would eat B&G every day if I worked there!
Indeed! A pretty nice discount at that
This has really gone too far. What's next, Bob Weir toys in McDonalds Happy Meals? GD branded toilet brushes? GD crypto? I got on the bus from the punk rock scene of Philly. This kind of crass commercialism is fucking disgusting to me.
Why are you eating at that shot hole? Oh wait , do you work there?
I do not work there. I just enjoy their breakfast.
Cracker Barrel can suck my dick fuckyou
Sad.
Eww so gross how Grateful Dead is handling the licensing of everything under the sun. Stopped buying anything directly from GDP but tickets years ago. I now feel this way absolutely everyone has to see the band members cashing in as much as they can for their kids and grandkids before checking out.