Editing Mickey Hart (section)

==Early life and education==

Michael Steven Hartman was born in the [[Flatbush, Brooklyn|Flatbush]] section of [[Brooklyn, New York]]. He was raised in the nearby suburban community of [[Inwood, New York]] by his mother, Leah, a drummer, gown maker and bookkeeper. His father [[Lenny Hart]], a champion [[Drum rudiment|rudimental drummer]], had abandoned his family when the younger Hart was a toddler. Although Hart (who was [[hyperactive]] and not academically inclined) became interested in percussion as a grade school student, his interest intensified after seeing his father's picture in a newsreel documenting the [[1939 World's Fair]]. Shortly thereafter, he discovered a practice pad and a pair of snakewood sticks that belonged to his father. "From the age of ten," he recalled, "all I did was drum."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gratefulcompendium.weebly.com/mickey-hart.html|title=Mickey Hart|website=The Grateful-compendium|access-date=April 8, 2018}}</ref>

He attended [[Lawrence High School (New York)|Lawrence High School]] in [[Cedarhurst, New York]]. Hart would later recall that many champion rudimental drummers attended his high school; this inspired him to ascend to the first chair in the All State Band as a pupil of Arthur Jones, who served as a father figure to him and ensured that he was not suspended for neglecting his other classes.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06E2D8103EF930A3575BC0A9659C8B63|first=Allan|last=Richter|title=He Found His Muse at Lawrence High School|work=The New York Times|date=August 3, 2003|access-date=September 23, 2017}}</ref><ref name=Circular>{{cite web|date=May 24, 2015|url=http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2015/05/circular-on-mickey-hart-and-rolling.html|title=Circular on Mickey Hart and ''Rolling Thunder''|website=Jerry Garcia's Middle Finger|access-date=September 23, 2017}}</ref>

While employed as a [[soda jerk]] at El Patio, a jazz club in [[Atlantic Beach, New York]], he was influenced by [[Tito Puente]]'s regular appearances. A few months out of high school, he discovered the work of Nigerian drummer [[Babatunde Olatunji]], another formative influence.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Hart|first1=Mickey|last2=Stevens|first2=Jay|last3=Lieberman|first3=Fredric|title=Drumming at the Edge of Magic|url=https://archive.org/details/drummingatedgeof00hart|url-access=registration|publisher=Harper|location=San Francisco|year=1990|page=[https://archive.org/details/drummingatedgeof00hart/page/127 127]|isbn=9780062503749}}</ref> Olatunji later taught and collaborated with Hart.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Janet|last=Planet|url=http://africanmusic.org/artists/olatunji.html|title=Babatunde Olatunji: 1927–2003|encyclopedia=African Music Encyclopedia|publisher=Janet Planet|date=April 6, 2003|access-date=April 6, 2015}}</ref>

Hart dropped out of high school as a senior. Impressed by its musical pedigree, he enlisted in the [[United States Air Force]] in 1961. He served as a drummer in [[The Airmen of Note]], an elite [[big band]] unit in the [[United States Air Force Band]] modeled after [[Glenn Miller]]'s celebrated Army Air Forces Band.<ref>{{cite web|last=Needles|first=Tim|title=Interview with Grateful Dead drummer & musicologist Mickey Hart|url=http://www.shortandsweetnyc.com/2011/08/interview-with-grateful-dead-drummer-musicologist-mickey-hart|work=Short and Sweet NYC|access-date=April 6, 2015}}</ref>

For three and a half years, he was stationed throughout Europe, where he also claimed to have taught "combative measures" (most notably [[judo]], in which he had attained a [[Black belt (martial arts)|black belt]]) to units of the [[Strategic Air Command]] and other units in Europe and Africa. During a tour in Spain, he reportedly sat in with a variety of notable jazz musicians (including [[Gerry Mulligan]] and [[Count Basie]]) in addition to performing in various ensembles (spanning the gamut from small jazz combos to marching bands) and on recording sessions for local pop stars. Hart would later intimate in a 1972 interview that his Airmen of Note assignment served as a "cover" for his instructive duties.<ref name=Circular/> While in the Air Force, he co-founded Joe and the Jaguars (alternatively billed as The Jaguars) with a fellow serviceman, guitarist Joe Bennett.{{citation needed|date=December 2017}} Following his 1965 discharge, Hart briefly returned to the [[New York metropolitan area]], where he filled in for the regular drummer in a "staid fox-trot band" as a member of the local musician's union.<ref name=Pre-August-1967>{{cite web |date=July 22, 2009 |url=http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2009/07/pre-august-1967-mickey-hart.html|title=Pre August 1967-Mickey Hart|website=Lost Live Dead|access-date=September 23, 2017}}</ref>

While stationed in southern California, he had discovered that his father (by now employed as a [[savings and loan association]] executive in [[Los Angeles]]) was still involved in the drumming community as an endorser for [[Remo]]. Founder [[Remo Belli]] facilitated an introduction before Hart was reassigned to Spain, but the elder Hart soon disappeared. A post-discharge reconciliation attempt (also mediated by Belli) proved to be more successful. Shortly thereafter, father and son established the Hart Music Center in [[San Carlos, California]]. In late 1965 or early 1966, Hart performed in an early iteration of [[William Penn and His Pals]] prior to [[Gregg Rolie]]'s membership and the recording of the [[garage rock]] classic "Swami." Later in 1966, Hart and Bennett briefly resumed their collaboration before the latter reenlisted for a tour of duty in [[Vietnam]].{{citation needed|date=December 2017}}

By the end of the year, Hart had moved in with Michael Hinton, a student and friend who would accompany him to a [[Count Basie Orchestra]] performance at [[The Fillmore]] in mid-1967. At the concert, Hart help fulfill Grateful Dead drummer [[Bill Kreutzmann]]'s request to meet Basie Orchestra drummer [[Sonny Payne]], leading to an informal tutorial between Hart and Kreutzmann and his eventual introduction to the Grateful Dead.<ref name=Pre-August-1967/>