Grateful Dead Songwriter Dies

07/27/2009
. (Billboard) John "Marmaduke" Dawson, a longtime Grateful Dead collaborator who co-wrote "Friend of the Devil" and developed a devoted following with his psychedelic country group New Riders of the Purple Sage, has died. He was 64.

Dawson died Tuesday from stomach cancer in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where he had retired several years ago, said Rob Bleetstein, archivist for the band.

With the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia, Dawson co-founded New Riders in 1969 to showcase his songs along with Garcia's pedal-steel guitar playing. - more on this story

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