The Grateful Dead Reader

Abstract The Grateful Dead were one of the most fascinating rock bands and cultural phenomena of the twentieth century. Although they had few mainstream or Top 40 hits, over the thirty years of their history they acquired a dedicated following of fans, known as Deadheads, mostly through their live performances. Known for their concerts replete with tie-dye-clad fans and an array of drugs, and of course for their music with its long improvisations, inspired by blues, folk, and country, the Grateful Dead were more than just a fun-loving rock band; they were akin to a religion or a cult. Although the Grateful Dead formally disbanded in 1995 after lead singer Jerry Garcia’s untimely death, the band’s legacy and its fans live on through a host of writings, tributes, biographies, fan magazines, online discussion groups, and web sites. This book collects the most important and illuminating writings by and about the band, its members, and its fans, providing a rich account of the Dead and their importance in rock music and popular culture. It includes interviews, profiles, concert and record pieces, and fictional accounts, each introduced and placed in context by the volume editor. Writings include Ralph Gleason’s important interview with Garcia in 1967 when the singer was just 24 years old, a letter from lyricist Robert Hunter in 1975 to a journalist who was denied a person-to-person interview, fan magazine editor Blair Jackson’s essay on the gravity of the drug situation at Dead concerts in 1990, and writings by Dead authorities David Gans and Steve Silberman, rock critic Robert Christgau, and journalist/novelist Tom Wolfe, among others. As the editor of an annotated bibliography of the Dead and administrator of the Grateful Dead Lyrics site on the internet, David G Dodd has read virtually everything written about the band and has chosen the best of these writings - many no longer available in print - for this collection.