We’d like to wish a very happy birthday to Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart , who turns 71 today. Hart was a member of the Dead from September 1967 to February 1971 and from October 1974 to August 1995 and has gone on to become an author, musicologist and band leader in his own right for many post-Jerry projects including The Mickey Hart Band, Planet Drum and Mystery Box.

In celebration of Mickey’s birthday let’s look at the evolution of one of his most-famed compositions, “Fire On The Mountain.” Hart penned the tune with lyricist Robert Hunter, who explained that “Fire On The Mountain” was written at Mickey’s ranch “in heated inspiration as the surrounding hills blazed and the fire approached the recording studio where we were working…” in his Box Of Rain book. The Grateful Dead debuted “Fire On The Mountain” on March 18, 1977 at the Winterland Arena in San Francisco and performed the song 253 times between 1977 and 1995 according to Wikipedia.

Before the Dead performed “Fire,” Mickey recorded a version of the song in 1974 with Jerry Garcia. This “Rap Version” of the tune has never been released, but was played on the 500th installment of David Gans’ Grateful Dead Hour radio program. Take a listen:

In 1976 Mickey recorded and released an instrumental version of “Fire On The Mountain” titled “Happiness Is Drumming” on Diga Rhythm Band’s Diga LP. Here’s that track:

The Grateful Dead hit the ground running when it came to “Fire On The Mountain” in 1977 as the song’s first year in the repertoire may just be its very best. Listen to the famed Cornell ’77 “Scarlet”/”Fire”:

We leave off with a 20+ minute “Fire On The Mountain” from MSG on October 14, 1994 that’s among the highlights of the final full year of the Grateful Dead: