New equipment, experiments, and research are the ongoing theme of this year and the next, as the band reacts to bigger shows with an aggressive program of creative energy directed at their sound system. Pigpen dies on March 8th, and the original Grateful Dead is nevermore. On April 19th, the band approves the wildest experiment of them all, the formation of the Grateful Dead Record Company, which will dominate the band's business life for the next three years; there's also various satellite businesses like their booking agency, Out of Town Tours, and travel agency, Fly by Night. It's a big new Dead ' and it's epitomized, on July 28th, by the biggest gig ever, at Watkins Glen, New York. In October the band releases its first self-made album, Wake of the Flood. It's sufficiently successful that they find out it's being counterfeited ' success has its price.
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