A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead ….by Dennis McNally

I started this book back in July of 2022 while driving across America in an audiobook format. I then got sidetracked by a couple of other books but returned to it. It is a very good biography of the Dead. Dennis McNally worked as the Dead’s publicist from the 1980s through to 1995 when Jerry Garcia died. He also continued in those duties for Grateful Dead Productions until its dissolution in 2004.

The way he writes is interesting. He starts off in the 80s and then goes back and starts at the beginning. He does this throughout the book but it is smooth and not forced. He finds something that links the 80s and 90s to the 60s and 70s. If you don’t know much about the Grateful Dead…this is the book to get. He goes through their entire history and it’s deep.

Dennis Mcnaly and Jerry
Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead talks backstage with band publicist Dennis McNally before a concert in Oakland.

Everyone that came into contact with the band…gets their own mini-biography in this book. The road crew, former friends, wives, and everyone else. You get a well-rounded look at the band and the history of those who surrounded them.

The only critical thing I would say is if you want more personal fun stories from band members… other books do that better. Bill Kreutzmann’s book Deal or So Many Roads by David Browne will give you more personal stories. That’s not to say you don’t get any in this book.

If you don’t know much about the Grateful Dead and you want to know their history…this is the book for you. I wish I would have started with this one to begin with. Dennis McNally doesn’t exaggerate or dig up a lot of dirt…he tries to get the story right. Garcia wanted him to write a biography of the band in the 1980s so McNally was trusted.

Overall, it’s the best Grateful Dead book I’ve read about their history in detail. So I give it a big thumbs up.

Here is an interview with Dennis McNally

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

18 thoughts on “A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead ….by Dennis McNally”

    1. I wish I would have started with this one…because it’s pretty detailed on the history and it’s like a who’s who on who was around them….plus Jerry gave his blessing.

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  4. Sounds interesting! While I was never a “Dead Head”, I did see them about a dozen times between ’85-’95. Every show was unique, though some were certainly better than others – their shows were always hit or miss, but the crowd! What a weird, wild, exciting place to be! There was nothing in the world like a Dead show, sort of a free-form Circus where the audience is just as much part of the show as the performers themselves. There os really no way to truly convey what it was like to be in the midst of it all.
    Good times, fond memories… Though to this day I only own two of their records!

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    1. A free form circus…that is a great description from what I heard…I regret not seeing them. I envy you that you did.
      I wasn’t a Dead Head when I started to read about them…they are really interesting. A gigantic cult band.
      If you want to read a fun book about them… the Bill Kreutzmann book “Deal” is very good. It’s much like the Keith Richards book…he has a lot of stories.

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    2. “Deadhead” is such a relative term. Seeing them a dozen times would qualify you in some eyes. Others would probably say you’d have to put a 1 in front of that 12. I think we get to decide for ourselves, so you’re not a Deadhead since you say you’re not.

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  5. Since you’re talking about the Grateful Dead, I’ll point out that you and I both forgot to note them in 1981. While they were noted for live performance and even they often disliked their albums, 1981 saw the release of Dead Set/Reckoning, a pair of double albums recorded at the Warfield Theatre in SF and Radio City Music Hall in NYC. Two and a half hours of music, one album acoustic and the other electric. Some of the best stuff they released on a major label.

    If I remember right, McNally didn’t pull any punches in talking about Garcia’s last days.

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    1. You are right…I meant to add Alabama Getway off of the Go To Heaven album.
      That live package…I’ve seen the footage of the Radio City Music Hall when Lesh’s amp messed up…when Franken and Davis hosted. I believe that is the one.

      You are right…he didn’t pull any punches…he told it as it was.

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  6. Certainly an interesting history from the little I know of it and a band worthy of a bio. They’re one of a kind, I think, in being a household name and one of the biggest touring acts for over two decades yet only really having one true ‘hit’ album and song – and that came late in their career! Perhaps the strangest part of the trip though is that now you can buy t-shirts and caps adorned with their skull design and the dancing teddy bears at Walmart right beside the Mickey Mouse and Taylor Swift ones.

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    1. Who would have thought that 40 years ago!!!
      They helped kickstart merchandise for rock bands. They also let some make things and sell them at concerts.
      I always think of them as a giant cult band… but now the secret is out.

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  8. Good to know where to look if I want to learn more about them. They are an interesting cultural phenomenon if nothing else. A cult-like following but a cult in a good way from what I can see.

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