In 1992, the Grateful Dead organized a concert that got prison inmates and correctional officers to sing in a gospel choir side-by-side. 'There was a magic about it,' prison chaplain Earl Smith said.
"It was an opportunity to leave there without leaving there, because you were in another place," remembers Smith today."We had a mix of staff and inmates doing what had never been done before. We had female staff members join the choir, and correctional officers playing the organ and drums.", a recording of the concert, was released by Grateful Dead Records in 1993.
"Prison air is toxic, in so many cases, and what happened in that time, there was a breathing of clean air," he adds.Scenes from the concert inside San Quentin State Prison organized by the Grateful Dead and prison chaplain Earl Smith.Scenes from the concert inside San Quentin State Prison organized by the Grateful Dead and prison chaplain Earl Smith.Scenes from the concert inside San Quentin State Prison organized by the Grateful Dead and prison chaplain Earl Smith.
"Even when you know that they're going to let you out, when that door closes behind you, it is one cold feeling," says McNally today."But at least for a day, there was a light in the middle of their dark, regular days. They felt it. And the audience in the chapel was just seized by the moment and the music."
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