Longtime Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart celebrates his seventieth birthday today. Naturally, most of Mickey’s musical achievements have been captured and cataloged somewhere on the internet. With that, we would like to present seven of our favorite Mickey Hart moments both on and off the stage. Mickey Hart Band “Let There Be Light”

Hart’s most recent project comes in the form of The Mickey Hart Band. Here is the group performing “Let There Be Light” at the Brooklyn Bowl in 2011. Mickey Hart Band “The Other One”

Never a stranger to Grateful Dead tunes, Hart’s band regularly dipped into the expansive catalogue. This version stands out in particular, as it features Widespread Panic bassist Dave Schools and 2012 America’s Got Talent favorite, Tim Hockenberry.The Rhythm Devils “Eyes of the World > Franklin’s Tower”

Quite possibly the most ferocious of Hart’s side projects, The Rhythm Devils certainly lived up to their name. The Hart, Kreutzmann, Kimock project underwent various lineup changes over their five years, and performed this beauty at the Gathering of the Vibes Festival in 2011. Keller Williams and Reed Mathis rounded out this particular version of the lineup. Mickey Hart & Friends “New Speedway Boogie”

Yet another Grateful Dead interpretation, this time of “New Speedway Boogie” coming from the 2007 edition of Gathering of the Vibes.Mickey Drums for Cronkite

Hart is always one to excel when faced with a musical challenge, which is what he had here at a ceremony to remember the late Walter Cronkite. Hart organized a series of interesting and emotional drum rhythms for his “great friend” Mr. Cronkite. That Time Mickey Started a TV Show

“The Trip” With Mickey Hart showcased the drummer’s conscious effort to raise awareness on environmental issues and uncover grassroots green solutions as well as discuss other current topics. Mickey Hart and Bob Weir “Pump Song”

Most Grateful Dead fans will recognize this as “Greatest Story Ever Told.” In fact, “Pump Song” contained the origins of “Greatest Story Ever Told” on Hart’s album Rolling Thunder and you can hear it here with Bob Weir on vocals.