Accurately summing up what Owsley had done for the Dead during this period, Dennis McNally would later say, “He gave them a vision of quality that quite frankly influenced them for the next thirty years. And that alone gives him credibility for that scene.” By insisting that the band rehearse as often as possible while they had all been living together in Los Angeles as well as urging them to listen to the tapes he had made of their live performances, Owsley had helped the Dead take what they had been doing at the Acid Tests to another level. Out of his own pocket, he had furnished the band
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