Peter, dont be too harsh on those Dead Heads, they are probably too stoned to fit the records back in the jewel cases!
Actually, this in a way begs a larger question, for such a radical band the Dead were depressingly straight-sure you had all the anarchic stuff with the Diggers and the free shows, all their experiments to create alternatives to the conventional outlets:their own record label, Dead Heads, Fly by Night Tours, and so on,all useful outlaw mythology, and there were significant numbers of fans who took them at their word and articulated that sense of community which they implied. But the band always stopped one step short of the political contestation these steps implied and remained ìnside` Parrishes book, Home before daylight shows a banal hedonist lifestyle which would not be out of place in a Spinal Tap parody, just dope and groupies and hangers on -all the negative drag energy which put paid to the hopeful Bohemian experiments of the so called Summer of Love. ( No irony intended)
So ,to get back to your story I am not surprised that so many later day Dead Heads have bought into this pick and choose freedom myth-hey, property is theft right? The Dead were an alternative band, but alternative to what exactly? And they got many of the fans they deserved. He who makes half a revolution digs his own grave.
And to reiterate, I loved the Dead! But they were not what I thought they were, just another rock´n´roll band- but back then, I wanted them to be Volunteers!( of Amerika).