The following links are to audio and video versions of Hebrew translations of Grateful Dead songs. They were done by Khen Roten, who is better known by his stage name Sagol 59 (Sagol 59 means ‘purple 59’. He chose this name as his stage name because this was his Kibbutz laundry tag ID code). Sagol 59 is an Israeli songwriter, singer, guitarist, rapper, and hip-hop MC. He has been called “The Israeli Godfather of Hip-Hop.” In addition to his creative contribution to the music industry of Israel, he also writes articles about music for such Israeli publications as Tel Aviv Guide City Mouse and HaAretz. Sagol 59 is a Sabra through and through, born and raised on Kibbutz Ein HaHoresh. He served in Tzahal (the Israeli Defense Forces). Early on he was listening to and playing rock n roll and blues. He first encountered hip-hop in the late part of the 1980s.
In 2015 Sagol, working together with Israeli-American folksinger Ami Yares, released the album, The Promised Land: The Grateful Dead/Jerry Garcia Hebrew Project. This album featured covers by the Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia translated into Hebrew. The idea for the album first came to Sagol in 2013. He worked on the project for approximately a year and a half. Sagol personally translated the lyrics from the original English into Hebrew. This historic project is the first-ever album of Hebrew covers of songs by the Grateful Dead. In December of 2015, Sagol 59 and Ami Yares went on a US tour performing the songs from the album. They played in such US locations as New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Atlanta, and Minneapolis-St. Paul. They toured America together again in March of 2017 at such venues as Garcia’s at the Capitol Theater, New York City Pinks, The Deanery in Brooklyn, and the Atlanta Jewish Music Festival. In June of 2018, Sagol did an acoustic concert of this material in Boston at the Article 24 Club. Sagol 59 in March of 2020 performed another Promised Land tour of the United States with a variety of American musicians, including shows in the East Village at the Nublu club; Washington DC; and Flemington, New Jersey.
Below are a sampling of Sagol 59 Hebrew Grateful Dead songs. Enjoy!