Owsley Bear Stanley Ashes At Grateful Dead 50 Soundboard

Augustus Owsley Stanley III, aka Bear, was a beloved member of the Grateful Dead family who was known as the “King Of LSD” and also may be most responsible for the enormous increase in the quality of sound at rock concerts between the mid ’60s and ’70s. Bear also recorded many of the band’s early shows and designed the Dead’s famed Wall Of Sound PA system. According to the Owsley Stanley Foundation, Bear’s ashes (Owsley passed away in 2011) were put into a jar that was kept on top of the soundboard at this weekend’s Fare Thee Well -Celebrating 50 Years Of Grateful Dead shows in Chicago.

For Deadheads only. Heavy if true: Owsley Stanley Foundation claims these are Bear’s ashes on the #GD50 soundboard. pic.twitter.com/dqzy0suFs9

— Steve Silberman (@stevesilberman) July 5, 2015

Bear’s son, Starfinder Stanley, reportedly brought his father’s ashes to Soldier Field and convinced the sound team to display the jar. No wonder the mix was better in Chicago.

Fare Thee Well concluded on Sunday night with one final performance from Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, Trey Anastasio, Bruce Hornsby and Jeff Chimenti.

Head here to purchase and watch video-on-demand of all five Fare Thee Well performances for $49.95.