by David Browne
The Roseland set of the evening finally ended, and the four surviving members, along with Chimenti and Haynes, gathered in a backstage area to finally rest after a relentless day. “Interesting band,” Hart said with a smile. “It’s like a box of chocolates—you never know what you’re going to get.” Behind him, the musicians shared a collective end-of-the-night joint. Garcia was gone, but some of the rituals—along with the songs, the melodies, and the flashes of group harmony—remained. The vans soon arrived to transport them to one more hotel room and return them, once more, to the twisty road that had changed music and their lives.
BIDDING YOU GOODNIGHT (OTHERWISE KNOWN AS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS)
As mentioned at the start of this book, attempting to shed new light on a subject as deep, expansive, and multitentacled as the Grateful Dead can be challenging, to say the least. Start with the reams of information already devoted to the band, much of it scrupulously researched. Add in conflicting memories of Dead family and friends who are still around—what one former Dead employee called the “fog of war” when offering up his own, different version of one particular event—and the result is rock ’n’ roll Roshoman unlike any I’ve ever encountered. The best one can do is talk to as many people as possible, acquire as much documentation as exists, and attempt to untangle history as best as one can.
Thankfully I had expert guidance from the start. As soon as I reached out to him for advice, David Lemieux, the band’s knowledgeable, devoted, and vigilant archivist, was supportive of my idea of writing a book on the Dead. David was considerate enough to put out the word to the camps of the surviving Dead members, and in time we heard they were all fine with me embarking on such a project. They also agreed to my stipulation that I would have control over the finished manuscript. I want to thank Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann and their peeps for allowing yet another journalist to tackle this saga and, in doing so, for affording me access to friends, family, and archives, all with no strings attached. The many roads they all traveled together were both smooth and bumpy, and I especially want to thank Phil and Mickey for not flinching when I asked about both the highs and lows of the remarkable Dead saga. I would say I’m grateful, but that would be too easy.
Unless specifically cited in the text, quotes in this book are from interviews I conducted in person, by phone, and by e-mail between 2011 and 2014. The majority were specifically for this project, although in some cases, particularly Bob Weir, the comments are from Dead pieces I wrote for Rolling Stone between 2008 and 2013.
After the band, my next major tip of the hat extends to the family members, former employees, and longtime Dead associates who graciously allowed me into their world and tolerated my ongoing series of nitpicky questions over the years it took to research this book. In alphabetical order, my eternal gratitude to Carolyn Adams (Mountain Girl), John Perry Barlow, Bob Bralove, Jerilyn Lee Brandelius, Matt Busch, Rondelle Cagwin, Kidd Candelario (extra thanks for the driving tour of Dead sites), Betty Cantor-Jackson, Tom Constanten, Sam Cutler, Manasha Matheson Garcia, Tiff Garcia, Trixie Garcia, Laird Grant, Caryl Hart, Bruce Hornsby, Vicki Jensen, Justin Kreutzmann, Shelley Kreutzmann, Jill Lesh, Richard Loren, Steve Marcus, Bob Matthews, Rosie McGee, Brigid Meier, Connie Bonner Mosley, Steve Parish, John Scher, Nicki Scully, Rock Scully (who, sadly, passed away as this book neared completion), Cameron Sears, Sue Stephens, and Sue Swanson.
For their time, insights, memories, and laughs, many thanks to Alex Allan, Allan Arkush, Joan Baez, Ken Babbs, Cherie Barsin, Mike Belardo, Stewart Brand, Steve Brown, Buddy Cage, Jack Cassady, Chris Clair, Kip Cohen, Alex Cooley, Stan Cornyn, Paul Curcio, Jim Cushing, Leon Day, Len Dell’Amico, Don Douglas, Vance Frost, Janice Godshalk-Olsen, Herb Greene, Gary Gutierrez, David Hellman, Jimmy Herring, Don Ienner, Tim Jorstad, Phil Kaffel, Linda Kahn, Denise Kaufman, Jorma Kaukonen, Matthew Kelly, assistant Noblesville police chief Scott Kirby, Jim Koplik, Dennis Larkins, Jill Larson, Andy Leonard, Ed Levin, Roy Lott, Carol McKernan, John McLaughlin, Nancy Mallonee, Maria Muldaur, Keith Olsen, Tom Paddock, Mark Pinkus, Courtenay Pollock, Sally Mann Romano, Peter Rowan, Phill Sawyer, Tim Scully, Joe Smith, Starfinder Stanley, Michael Stepanian, Alan Trist, Norm van Maastricht, Michael Wanger, Jann S. Wenner, and Baron Wolman. Several sources spoke only on condition of anonymity, and I thank them for their assistance as well.
The very thought of producing a book that could complement the work of the iconic Dead scholars—Dennis McNally, Blair Jackson, David Gans, and Steve Silberman in particular—was incredibly daunting. Their books and articles, listed in the Select Bibliography that follows, are essential reading for anyone in search of the building blocks of this long and always strange trip. In particular, Dennis’s epic, extraordinarily detailed A Long Strange Trip and Blair’s soulful and insightful Garcia: An American Life are essential, prodigiously researched volumes with a wealth of information, from the early Palo Alto–Menlo Park years of Garcia, Hunter, and their friends up through the big-business Dead of the nineties. To my everlasting gratitude, each of these four men were supportive, welcoming, and encouraging during the course of my own research, and I can’t thank them enough for their time, ruminations, and suggestions. (Dennis graciously made available his notes from the 1984 recording session in Chapter 12.) Thanks so much, guys, and keep on truckin’, if I can say that without making each of you wince.
Extra special thanks to Debbie Gold, who went far beyond the call of duty by pointing me in many right directions (and ensuring I didn’t wander in the wrong directions either). Her guidance, contacts, and constant support were priceless.
My friend and colleague David Hajdu kindly allowed me to dig into the transcripts for his 2005 Rolling Stone story on the origins of the Dead, and words can’t express what a treasure trove those pages were. In addition to the journalists named above, a big shout-out to other longtime Dead scribes whose brains I picked over the course of this book, especially David Fricke, Robert Greenfield, Jesse Jarnow, Gary Lambert, Michael Lydon, and Peter Richardson. Corry Arnold helped me nail down certain specific dates, and his wonderfully obsessive journey to ascertain places and dates can be found on his blog, http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com. Much respect to Dan Ross, Denny Horn, Mike Schein, John Zolidis, and the many other Deadheads I met and spoke to on this journey.
The Dead universe is lucky to be blessed with archivists who are not only fans but also consummate professionals. David Lemieux fielded more research and chronology questions than any sane Dead sonic archivist should have to handle, and each time he did it with professionalism and patience. At the Special Collections department at the University of California at Santa Cruz, home to the Dead’s archives, Nicholas Meriwether was every writer’s dream. From start to frenzied end of this book, Nicholas waded through files, folders, and papers in search of historical documents that helped support or enhance existing information. The Dead—not to mention Deadheads and the many future Dead chroniclers, scholars, and academics to come—are fortunate to have both of these hard-working men in their corner.
J. C. Flyer endured years of nudging calls and e-mails, always promising he would deliver—and he did, and I thank him for staying the course. For putting me in touch with the appropriate parties, thank you, Marc Allan and Kevin Monty Red Light; Howard Cohen; Rose Solomon; Jason Elzy at Rhino; Josh Sapan; Mike Courtney; Peter Kliegman; Ambrosia Healy; Cash Edwards; Jim Flammia; Bob Merlis; Anthony D’Amato at Shore Fire; Harriet Rose; Ethel Berdah of City Winery; Diane Richard at the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police; Mark Spector; Brehanna Sawyer; Bob Kaus; Thom Duffy; Tina Williams at the Noblesville, Indiana, Police Department; Laura Cordes; Laura B. Cohen; Rachel Sachs; Aaron Schlechter; Mark Pucci; David Prentice; Jeffrey Wood at Fantasy; Dan Goodrich; and Mike Fuoco and Lexi Belculfine of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Thanks to Deborah Dragon for her fantastic photo research, and an extra shout-out to Sacha Lecca for pitching in with his picture skills too. Corinne Cummings and her fact-checking acumen ensured I wouldn’t emba
rrass myself too badly, and Dan Hyman dug into old newspaper microfilm with a vigor I couldn’t help but admire.
Huge five-star thanks to the Wenner Media crew for their encouragement and the occasional work breaks that allowed me to finish this book, and I mean you, Will Dana, Nathan Brackett, Jason Fine, Sean Woods, Christian Hoard, Caryn Ganz, and Simon Vozick-Levinson. Elsewhere at Rolling Stone and Men’s Journal Andy Greene, Brian Hiatt, Alison Weinflash, Cady Drell, David Fear, Patrick Doyle, Nick Murray, Mark Healy, Rob Fischer, Ryan Kogh, Tyghe Trimble, and Marielle Anas were never less than supportive too.
For their contacts, feedback, and brain-picking, thanks to Dan Ouellette, Peter Guralnick, Sheila Weller, Eric Alterman, Ed Bakos, John Chuldenko, and Steve Knopper.
My ever-supportive (and far cooler than me) agent, Erin Hosier of Dunow, Carlson & Lerner, smartly pressed me to do this book when I first mentioned the idea, and my editor, Ben Schafer at Da Capo, may be one of the few in book publishing who can boast of seeing the Dead at Alpine Valley—the first of many reasons he was, as always, the man for the job. (His own deep knowledge of the Dead was a great reason too.) Thanks to Josephine Mariea for the edit, and to my friend Kathy Heintzelman, who gave the manuscript a thorough red-pencil read in a relatively short time. My wife, Maggie, had to endure endless hours of the Dead SiriusXM channel—highly recommended for those who may not have plugged into it—and learned to love it along the way. She remains an inspiration. Our daughter, Maeve, doesn’t know much about the Dead yet, but she’s intrigued by the dancing bears and skeletons—a good start for any potential future Deadhead.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Back issues of the following publications were consulted: BAM, The Golden Road, Marin Independent Journal, Pacific Sun, Palo Alto Daily News, Palo Alto Times, Palo Alto Weekly, Peninsula Times Tribune, People, Rolling Stone, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, San Jose Mercury News, and the Washington Post. In particular, Blair Jackson’s and David Gans’s work at BAM, Joel Selvin’s and Ralph J. Gleason’s at the Chronicle, and Paul Liberatore’s at the Marin Independent Journal were invaluable.
A huge nod to the Grateful Dead Archive and associated collections and research material, Special Collections and Archives, University Library, University of California at Santa Cruz. Special thanks to Nicholas Meriwether. Thanks to Dennis McNally for permission to reference his taped interviews with Frankie Weir and Jon McIntire.
Portions of Chapters 10 and 17 appeared, in different form, in Rolling Stone.
Among the many websites I clicked on and continually pored over were the Dead’s own, Dead.net, along with Corry Arnold’s aforementioned Lost Live Dead and its sibling site, http://hooterollin.blogspot.com; Jerry Garcia’s Middle Finger (http://jgmf.blogspot.com); Dead Essays (http://deadessays.blogspot.com); and the Modern Deadhead (http://moderndeadhead.blogspot.com). Blair Jackson’s late, lamented, but still invaluable Blair’s Golden Road blog never fails to enlighten. The JFK Library site, JFKlibrary.org, was a treasure trove of Cuban Missile Crisis documentation.
As any Dead scholar will tell you, the number of books, articles, and blogs devoted to the band could practically fill a library. It’s nearly impossible to cite every book and newspaper or magazine piece about the band, but below is a sampling of ones that were especially useful for this book.
ARTICLES
Brown, Toni. “An Interview with Vince Welnick.” Relix, June 1991.
Browne, David. “Rolling with the Dead.” Rolling Stone, March 31, 2009.
———. “Still Truckin’.” Rolling Stone, November 13, 2008.
———. “The Dead Recall the Colorful Life of LSD Pioneer Owsley Stanley.” Rolling Stone, March 30, 2011.
———. “The Dead’s Greatest Year.” Rolling Stone, June 26, 2013.
———. “Donna Godchaux’s Long, Strange Trip.” Rolling Stone, March 4, 2014.
“California: End of the Dance.” Time, August 18, 1967.
DeCurtis, Anthony. “The Music Never Stops: The Rolling Stone Interview with Jerry Garcia.” Rolling Stone, September 2, 1993.
Eisen, Benjy. “Grateful Dead Drummer: Jerry Garcia ‘Wasn’t Really Happy Playing’ at Band’s End.” Rolling Stone, January 17, 2012.
Emerson, Paul. “Medics Add Folk Singing to Menu.” Palo Alto Times, January 22, 1963.
“Fan of Rock Concert Killed by the Police, Coroner Rules.” New York Times, December 30, 1989.
Foege, Alec. “Funeral for a Friend.” Rolling Stone, September 21, 1995.
Fong-Torres, Benjamin. “15 Years Dead.” Rolling Stone, August 7, 1980.
Fricke, David. “The Dead’s Working Man.” Rolling Stone, April 21, 2014.
Gans, David, and Blair Jackson. “Talking with Garcia.” Record, June 1982.
Gilmore, Mikal. “The New Dawn of the Grateful Dead.” Rolling Stone, June 16, 1987.
Goodman, Fred. “Jerry Garcia: The Rolling Stone Interview.” Rolling Stone, November 30, 1989.
Graham, Gerrit. “The Crime and Its Victims.” Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics (2004).
“Grateful Dead Ungrateful; Sued.” Rolling Stone, July 26, 1969.
Greenfield, Robert. “Owsley Stanley: The King of LSD.” Rolling Stone, July 12, 2007.
Gupte, Pranay. “Panel Suggests ‘Rescue’ Plans for Radio City.” New York Times, January 9, 1978.
Henke, James. “Alive & Well: The Rolling Stone Interview with Jerry Garcia.” Rolling Stone, October 31, 1991.
Himes, Geoffrey. “Grateful Dead, Alive as Ever.” Washington Post, November 1, 1989.
Hinckley, David. “This One Is for Deadheads.” New York Daily News, October 16, 1984.
Hopkins, Jerry. “The Grateful Dead Hit Europe.” Rolling Stone, June 22, 1972.
Isikoff, Michael. “Interest in Dead Was Not Musical.” Washington Post, August 14, 1990.
Jackson, Harry. “On Tour with the Dead.” Zygote, July 22, 1970.
James, George. “Possible Drug Link to Rock Fan’s Death Cited by Prosecutor.” New York Times, November 18, 1989.
Lydon, Michael. “The Dead Zone.” Rolling Stone, August 23, 1969.
“New Orleans Cops and the Dead Bust.” Rolling Stone, March 7, 1970.
Ong, Mark Stuart, and John Walker. “The Roy Kepler Story.” Kepler’s Review, December 1991.
Pareles, Jon. “The Dead’s Gamble: Free Music for Sale.” New York Times, December 3, 2005.
Pavlis, Timothy. “Tangent Turns to Ethnicism.” Stanford Daily, January 23, 1963.
Perry, Charles. “A New Life for the Dead.” Rolling Stone, November 22, 1973.
———. “The Deadhead Phenomenon.” Rolling Stone, Winter 1980.
Peters, Steve. “Built to Last: A Conversation with Jerry Garcia.” Relix, December 1989.
“Pop Records: Moguls, Money & Monsters.” Time, February 12, 1973.
Shepard, Richard F. “Radio City Music Hall Returns.” New York Times, June 1, 1979.
Sidon, Rob. “Bob Weir, Gratefully.” Common Ground, November 2014.
“St. Michael’s Alley Has Matured, But Stays True to Its Bohemian Spirit.” Palo Alto Times Tribune, November 24, 1991.
Watrous, Peter. “The Grateful Dead’s Continuing Metamorphosis.” New York Times, September 12, 1991.
Weitzman, Steve. “A Chat with Jerry Garcia.” Rolling Stone, April 1, 1976.
Young, Charles M. “The Awakening of the Dead.” Rolling Stone, June 16, 1977.
BOOKS
Allen, Scott W. Aces Back to Back. Outskirts, 2014.
Brandelius, Jerilyn Lee. Grateful Dead Family Album. Warner, 1990.
Brightman, Carol. Sweet Chaos: The Grateful Dead’s American Adventure. Simon & Schuster, 1998.
Brown, Toni, with Lee Abraham and Ed Munson, eds. Relix: The Book—The Grateful Dead Experience. Backbeat, 2009.
Conners, Peter. Growing Up Dead. Da Capo, 2009.
Cutler, Sam. You Can’t Always Get What You Want. ECW Press, 2010.
/> Davis, Tom. 39 Years of Short-Term Memory Loss. Grove, 2010.
Dodd, David, annotations by. The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics. Free Press, 2005.
Dodd, David G., and Diana Spaulding, eds. The Grateful Dead Reader. Oxford, 2000.
Editors of Rolling Stone. Garcia. Little, Brown, 1995.
Gans, David, and Peter Simon. Playing in the Band: An Oral and Visual Portrait of the Grateful Dead. St. Martin’s, 1985.
Gans, David. Conversations with the Dead: The Grateful Dead Interview Book. Da Capo, 1999.
Garcia, Jerry, Jann S. Wenner, Charles Reich. Garcia: A Signpost to New Space. Da Capo reprint, 2003.
Graham, Bill, and Robert Greenfield. Bill Graham Presents: My Life Inside Rock and Out. Doubleday, 1992.
Greenfield, Robert. Dark Star: An Oral Biography of Jerry Garcia. William Morrow, 1996.
