by Joel Selvin
I saw my first Grateful Dead show in April 1966 at the Berkeley Veterans’ Auditorium on a bill with another band called the Union Jacks, a teen dance attended by around fifty other people. Over the next few years, it was impossible to go to rock shows in San Francisco and NOT see the Grateful Dead. They played every hall, all the big concerts in the park, political demonstrations, everywhere. They were the utilitarian home team of the San Francisco scene.
My first interview with Jerry Garcia took place in 1970 backstage at a small club called the Matrix where he was playing with organist Howard Wales before a desultory Monday night crowd of a couple of dozen. Over my years as pop music critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, I insisted The Chronicle be the market leader in Grateful Dead news and came to know the members of the band and their many colorful associates. When Sammy Hagar asked Bob Weir and myself when we first met, I said, “Around 1974, but he didn’t notice me for another three or four years.”
“Not even then,” said Weir.
While I am by no means in the ranks of Dennis McNally, Blair Jackson, David Gans, or the other dedicated journalists who have made the band a specialty, I have watched this enterprise with great interest and amusement for many years from a privileged perspective and come to know something about the scene.
Many of the events portrayed in this book I first covered in the pages of The Chronicle (many, but not all—colleagues such as James Sullivan, Joshua Kosman, and others also provided sterling Dead coverage in the pages of the paper). After Garcia’s death, I followed with special interest the trials and struggles of the band members as an endless soap opera with surprise twists, shifting alliances, and dramatic reunions. When I left the paper in 2009, I no longer continued to attend the concerts or track the latest permutations, which is where coauthor Pamela Turley enters the picture. She went to more than one hundred and fifty shows by Furthur, Phil and Friends, RatDog, and all the other post-Garcia editions of the band, although she never once saw the Grateful Dead. Her viewpoint was inevitably enlightening.
Even all these years later, the remnants of the band’s code of silence remain. People around the musicians continue to be reluctant to openly discuss personal matters or band politics. Many declined the opportunity. Most of the people who did participate would have likely demurred had it not been for long-standing personal relations. The conflicts and adversities of the years after Garcia’s death left wounds that have not entirely healed, but Fare Thee Well provided an adequately happy ending and closure enough for the people around the band as well as the musicians themselves.
There are many people to thank. Dead biographer and publicist Dennis McNally patiently, somewhat begrudgingly repeatedly helped navigate many complex details. Cameron Sears revisited memories he would rather have not on several occasions. Roger McNamee was an unflagging supporter and enthusiast. Steve Parish generously shared his unique and sage viewpoint. Bob Weir and Mickey Hart helped explain the perspective from within the band.
The book benefitted from the experience of many of the band’s close associates. Tim Jorstad was extremely helpful on numerous occasions. Peter McQuaid patiently detailed his experiences in repeated meetings. Jan Simmons was as candid and forthcoming as always. Jonathan Levine recounted his work with Phil and Friends. John Scher went to lunch in Manhattan and conducted several phone interviews. Thanks also to Nancy Mallonee, Eileen Law, Jacqueline Sabec, Rose Solomon. Caryl Hart sat in on one interview with her husband and gave one on her own. Their daughter Reya Hart also contributed.
Matt Busch, Benjy Eisen, and Howard Cohen offered valuable backstage perspectives. Candace Brightman gave a guided tour of the Fare Thee Well production. Peter Shapiro was abundantly supportive, both in phone conversations and at his New York office. Stefani Scamardo spoke of her time on the road as her husband’s manager.
Musicians who contributed include Steve Kimock, Robin Sylvester, Jay Lane, Mark Karan, Bruce Hornsby, Bob Bralove, Henry J. Kaiser III, Robben Ford, Jeff Mattson, Joan Osborne, Scott Amendola, Joe Goldmark, Jack Casady, Jorma Kaukonen, Wes Stace, Rebekah Chase, Dave Ellis, Lauren Ellis, Jeff Pehrson, Zoe Ellis, Sunshine Becker Garcia, Jackie Greene. Nicholas Meriwether, research assistant on my book Summer of Love, guided us through the Grateful Dead Archives at UC Santa Cruz. From backstage came Rick Sanchez, Hector Banez. Rick Abelson, Cathy Simon, Steve Spickard, and Neil Cumsky explained the Terrapin Station project. Thanks also to Waverly Lowell of the Environmental Design Archives, UC Berkeley, where the Cathy Simon papers live. Sabila Savage, David Murray, Dave Luce, David Seabury, and Carey Williams helped tell the Stan Franks story. Michael Nash talked about Satchel.
Trixie Garcia was a gracious help, as was her mother, the redoubtable Carolyn Garcia. Dead journalists David Gans and Blair Jackson were both generously supportive (Jackson’s interviews on www.dead.net were also an invaluable resource). Brian Markowitz of the Deadheadland blog shared his knowledge and enthusiasm for Furthur. Friendly competitor Paul Liberatore directed me to a rich cache of his articles in the Marin Independent Journal. Chris Sabec helped navigate the Garcia estate. Robert Hunter even answered a few emails.
Lots of local folks helped out: Herbie Herbert, Larry Lautzker, Scott Mathews, Clare Wasserman, Brian Rohan, Bill Belmont, J. C. Juanis, Gregg Perloff, John (Stewball) Stewart. Charlie Miller located some key tapes. Doug Long discussed the Irwin guitar case. Dave Fry talked about the Lockn’ Festival. Steve Hurlburt of Atlanta supplied a steady stream of data and intelligence.
Susannah Millman, Bob Minkin, Jeff Kravitz, and Michael Weintrob provided the photographs. Thanks also to Mark Pincus of Rhino Entertainment. Bill Van Niekerkan of the San Francisco Chronicle cheerfully plumbed the paper’s clip files.
I always hoped to join the long list of music book authors to work with Ben Schafer at Da Capo Press. Scratching that off the bucket list. Additional thanks are due to the team at Da Capo: Justin Lovell, Kevin Hanover, Matthew Weston, Quinn Fariel, and Michael Giarratano.
As always, my appreciation to long-suffering agent Frank Weimann of the Literary Group, who continues to hope that I will someday write a good book. Special thanks must go to coauthor Pamela Turley, who made a good book great. And, of course, my darling daughter, Carla.
Coauthor Pamela Turley would like to thank her partner in crime, Steve Hurlburt, for the sensual and spiritual pleasure of so many hours of Grateful Dead music by an array of incredible musicians, as well as his enthusiasm for this book. Other thanks include the support of friends Lee Gipson, Ed Wier, Tony Oliver and Ellyn Davis, and the unconditional support of the Turley children, David, Jonathan, Olivia, and Isabel. Special appreciation to her coauthor, the irrepressible Joel Selvin.
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