I’ve read a few books about the Dead but this one is probably the best I’ve read. I just finished re-reading it after finishing it three years ago. It is their complete history from beginning to end. The book I enjoyed the most was Deal: by Bill Kreutzmann The Deads drummer. He has some great stories and Steve Parish’s book is good also…but as far as the history…this has been the best.
This is not like reading a book about the Beatles, Stones, Dylan, or even the Allman Brothers. The Grateful Dead were totally different in the way they came about and what path they took. They were such a hippy band but along the way they turned into a corporate organization…a different kind of organization but one all the same. Their crew was known to be loud and sometimes violent along with the Hells Angels by the mid-seventies and the craziness wore off on everyone around them.
I always thought of them as this loose ensemble that just loved playing. Yes, they loved playing but they weren’t above pointing fingers when something went wrong on stage. At one point Weir and Pigpen were “fired” although accounts differ on if they really were let go. In other words, they were human… like anyone else. They did however think differently and for a bunch of hippies…they were very ambitious.
Speaking of Pigpen (Ron McKernan)… that was a wonderful thing about this book…his importance is highlighted and you see how important he was to the Grateful Dead. Jerry wasn’t the key focus when they started…it was Pigpen. Although he looked like a biker…he was described as an incredibly nice and sensitive man. He was the showman of the band and Jerry commented that he was the best musician in the band in the beginning.
The book covers their entire career and along with the way, there are many twists and turns. They cover Garcia’s slide down until his diabetic coma in 1986 when he had to re-learn how to play guitar again. Less than a year later they were back on the road and then recorded the In The Dark album.
The band never had a big hit single and now…over 20 years of being together and touring they were suddenly huge with the song Touch Of Grey. They even agreed to play the game with the record company and they made a video. They were signed to Arista Records and the record company and band were at a meeting. Garcia suddenly asked, “I don’t have to do Dick Clark, do I?” With that, the executives laughed at the thought of the Grateful Dead appearing on American Bandstand.
There were points where it looked like Garcia would beat his addictions but the threat of him going back to heroin was always there. They also cover all the members rather well…Garcia wasn’t the only one with drug problems but his problem probably affected the band the most.
If you want to learn about their history…this is a really good read.
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The different Grateful Dead eras were defined by their keyboardists, going from Pigpen to Keith to Brent to Vince. I liked them best with Keith and Donna, but maybe that is because that is when I saw them the most. Thanks for sharing this music today, Max.
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That is probably their best era….the 70s. I’m glad the book talked about Pigpen’s importance. I learned more about him from this book than any other.
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Everything that I have ever read about Pigpen said that he was the nicest guy that you would ever want to meet RIP.
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Definitely one of the more interesting bands in rock history! Your videos pinpointed the 3 songs that really stay in my mind most by them… ‘Truckin’ was the first thing I heard by them but I think it might have taken 10 years before I found out who it was. I’d assumed back then they were some death metal band akin to Black Sabbath on a down day.
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One of Garcia’s daughters said that her classmates thought that they were some death metal band. They are one band that did it their way…right or wrong. No hits but still selling out..Touch of Grey made them huge but they were still playing stadiums before that song. If Garcia would have lived…they probably still would be selling huge places.
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Lmao Dave!
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I actually have a couple things on vinyl and CD, but I’ve never listened to them. They were in collections I bought. I will explore them one day. They do have a handful of songs I do like though.
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I like the well known songs and the more I listen to them the more I like.
When I first heard their name…I thought they were a death metal band lol.
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Ha! I can see that. When I was younger and someone mentioned them, I would say “I’d be Grateful if they were Dead!!”. Now that some of them are, that isn’t funny anymore!!
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LOL… the name now…I know what they mean but back then… I thought heavy metal at least.
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I’ve said before, but ‘Wake Of The Flood’ as an album is the one that distils them to me.
Your (and Dave’s, see comment above) initial ‘hasta be a Deaf Metal band’ must come from the name/skull motifs I guess!
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I like Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo and Stella Blue from that album…it’s been a while since I listened to it. The Dead and their hard-core fans…were/are quite different from others. Not a bad thing…they just are.
Yep…and the word DEAD in their title. Funny his daughter’s friends thought the same.
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Never been a Dead fan but, the three pieces you provided, I am familiar with. I remember the Touch of Grey video and thought it great with skeletons. Who is lead singing on Truckin’?
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Bob Weir the guitar playing…he has a good voice but I like Jerry.
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I happened to notice in the Truckin’ video that Weir lost a bit of his timing and nearly sang when he shouldn’t have.
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Oh yea…he forgot the words lol…and started up on the next verse…you see Garcia look at him?
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I didn’t catch that part.
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You can see Garcia kinda smile
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Ha!
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