Among the most sought-after "lost shows" for Grateful Dead fans: their performance w/the BPO. This ad is all that's left. #nationaltriviaday pic.twitter.com/EpQGV1HxKi — BfloPhilharmonic (@BPOrchestra) January 5, 2017

Grateful Dead fans have been aware of this concert for years. It is said to be the first time a rock band played with an American symphony orchestra. And it was the result of a happy accident. In an unusual state of affairs, the Dead filled in at the last minute for the Byrds.

The Buffalo News can claim credit for the concert because it might never have come about without the intervention of one of the paper's younger writers, Jim Brennan. Panicked after the Byrds canceled, Lukas Foss called John Dwyer, then The News' classical music critic, to ask what other rock band might be able to fill in at the last minute. Dwyer thought to consult Brennan, who before working at The News had been editor of the UB paper, the Spectrum.