First, let me say this – if you think you want to write a book about your experience on Dead Tour please please please – DO IT! We ALL want to read it!
That’s what this page has mostly been intended to be about – supporting Deadheads who have written books. But it seems important too to share some books about our history.
Some of these books are favorites, some are culled from my to-read list, and I must admit, some are books I’ve just learned about while compiling this list and are being added to my To-Be-Read pile!
If you want to suggest a book I don’t have here send me an email – HollieRoseBooks@gmail.com – I love learning about new books and new-to-me Deadhead authors!
JUMP TO:
LSD / MEMOIRS / COMPILATIONS / FUN / FICTION
What you WILL find on this page:
Books that pertain to various subject matters covered in this book. It starts with a section of books on the history of the LSD scene and as well as some of the bigger early players bringing LSD to the masses. You’ll also find books by and about Deadheads, books about the Grateful Dead scene and compiled recollections of such, you’ll find fiction written by Deadheads – some that centers on the Dead world, some having a premise that relies heavily on the Dead world. There’s a couple scholarly and cultural works listed here that view The Grateful Dead and the scene in rather intriguing and interesting ways.
What you WILL NOT find on this page:
Books by and about the band – that’s just more books than I can list – and – you can find a couple places that compile lists of books by the band members, the management, the roadies, and family folk closely involved with the band.
I’m aiming more for authors who didn’t get to smoke joints with the band on the regular. I’m trying to help readers find slightly more hidden or obscure books by fans, scholars, and other interested parties. (Some of these are a quite a bit more obscure.)
Also, I tried not to list anything that’s out of print because my goal here is to get you to go support these authors and to read this stuff!
And yes, I’ve listed these with affiliate links so if you buy from my links, I get a small commission. (Support two authors with one book!)
Important Books about the history of the LSD Scene –
The Electric Kool-Aid Test by Tom Wolfe
A report on what it was like to follow along with Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters as they launched the “Transcontinental Bus Tour” from the West Coast to New York, all while introducing acid (then legal) to hundreds of like-minded folks, staging impromptu jam sessions, dodging the Feds, and meeting some of the most revolutionary figures of the day. An American classic and an unflinching portrait of Ken Kesey, his Merry Pranksters, LSD, and the psychedelic 1960s.
Heads: A Biography of Psychedelic America by Jesse Jarnow
Heads uncovers the hidden history of psychedelic distribution. Written for anyone who wondered what happened after the Acid Tests, through the 1970s, during the Drug War, and on to the psychedelic present. Here’s the essential history of how LSD, Deadheads, and tie-dye, have become familiar features of the American experience. It’s a guided tour of the hippie highway, filled with LSD-slinging graffiti writers in Central Park, Dead-loving scientists at Stanford University, Whole Earth homesteaders, black market chemists, bluegrass pickers, spiritual seekers, entrepreneurs, pranksters, and a nation of Deadheads.
Bear: The Life and Times of Augustus Owsley Stanley III by Robert Greenfield
“Owsley “Bear” Stanley was an authentic shaman-alchemist whose production of millions of doses of LSD transformed a tiny San Francisco neighborhood into ground zero for a planet-wide challenge to conventional notions of reality. That he was also ornery, obsessive, and at times just plain odd was merely part of the package. Bear illuminates a fascinating story with insight and panache, and it’s essential — no Owsley, no sixties as we know them; it’s that simple”. ―Dennis McNally
Owsley and Me: My LSD Family Paperback by Rhoney Gissen Stanley
Rhoney Gissen met Owsley Bear Stanley in Berkeley, California, in 1965. In addition to being a sound engineer for the Grateful Dead, Bear made and sold lysergic acid diethylamide, otherwise known as LSD, which, at the time, was completely legal. But when the law changed, Bear became an outlaw, and Rhoney his willing accomplice. As someone who worked in the labs that produced LSD, Rhoney has firsthand knowledge of the environment surrounding the psychedelic drug in its heyday.
Orange Sunshine: The Brotherhood of Eternal Love and Its Quest to Spread Peace, Love, and Acid to the World by Nicholas Schou
Dubbed the “Hippie Mafia,” the Brotherhood began in the mid-1960s as a small band of peace-loving, adventure-seeking surfers in Southern California. After discovering LSD, they took Timothy Leary’s mantra of “Turn on, tune in, and drop out” and resolved to make that vision a reality. The Brotherhood’s most legendary contribution to the drug scene was Orange Sunshine, the group’s nickname for their orange-colored acid tablet that happened to produce an especially powerful trip. Brotherhood foot soldiers passed out handfuls of the tablets to communes, at Grateful Dead concerts, and at love-ins up and down the coast of California and beyond, literally providing the fuel for the psychedelic revolution in the process.
Operation Julie: The World’s Greatest LSD Bust by Lyn Ebenezer
Part international criminal master plan, part hippie ideological adventure and in some cases, part farce. In March 1977, the largest police drugs bust in history cracked a drug ring based in rural mid-Wales. 120 people were arrested throughout the UK and France. Eventually, 17 defendants were jailed for a total of 130 years in the wake of the investigation code-named Operation Julie. Interesting not only from an investigative point of view, but also as a piece of social history. As this was in the days of no internet and mobile phone technology, it was down to good old fashioned leg work and mistakes made by the suspects that led to conviction. Good enough to be a page turner.
Operation White Rabbit: LSD, the DEA, and the Fate of the Acid King by Dennis McDougal
Operation White Rabbit traces the rise and fall—and rise and fall again—of the psychedelic community through the life of the man known as the “Acid King:” William Leonard Pickard. Pickard was a legitimate genius, a con artist, a womanizer, and a believer that LSD would save lives. He was a foreign diplomat, a Harvard fellow, and the biggest producer of LSD on the planet—if you believe the DEA, who said Pickard was responsible for 90 percent of the world’s production of lysergic acid. But, when the DEA declared that they found 91 pounds of LSD, it wasn’t true. In reality, the haul was seven ounces. Nor did they find the millions of dollars he supposedly amassed. But nonetheless, Pickard is now serving two consecutive life sentences without possibility of parole.
Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond by Martin A. Lee and Bruce Shlain
A complete social history of the psychedelic counter-culture that burst into full view in the 1960s in the US. With new information obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, we have a fascinating study of how the CIA became obsessed with LSD, a drug discovered in 1943, and how they launched a massive covert research program in which countless unwitting citizens were given acid with sometimes tragic results. Of course LSD eventually found its way to the public and this book deftly traces the way a tiny psychoactive molecule intensified each stage of the social and cultural upheavals of the Sixties.
This Is Your Country on Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America by Ryan Grim
A well-researched, fresh perspective on the issue that will enlighten the uninitiated and surprise the expert. Prepare for a cross-country, multi-decade tour of illicit drug use in the U.S. From the DEA bust of an acid lab in in Kansas to raves and music festivals. Along the way, you’ll encounter some surprising questions. Did acid really disappear in the early 2000s? And did meth peak years ago? Do today’s teenagers spend so much time alone, online, that they do far fewer drugs than previous generations? Did our Founding Fathers – or, more preciously, their wives – get high just as much as we do? Did anti-drug campaigns actually encourage more drug use?
White Hand Society: The Psychedelic Partnership of Timothy Leary & Allen Ginsberg by Peter Conners
In 1960 Timothy Leary was not yet famous—or infamous—and Allen Ginsberg was both. Leary, eager to expand his experiments at the Harvard Psilocybin Project to include artists and writers, knew that Ginsberg held the key to bohemia’s elite. Ginsberg, fresh from his first experience with hallucinogenic mushrooms in Mexico, was eager to promote the spiritual possibilities of psychedelic use. Thus, “America’s most conspicuous beatnik” became the Ambassador of Psilocybin under the auspices of an Ivy League professor.
Psychedelic Justice: Toward a Diverse and Equitable Psychedelic Culture Edited by Beatriz Caiuby Labate and Clancy Cavnar
[I don’t know yet if this book deserves to be here, but it’s here because I want to read it.]
A vision for a more inclusive psychedelic future, highlighting voices that have been long marginalized in Western psychedelic culture: women, queer people, people of color, and Indigenous people. This anthology of essays written for the Chacruna Institute examines psychedelics in the contexts of capitalism, Indigenous traditions, reciprocity, sustainability, mental health, diversity, sex, power, and more.
Books by Deadheads – Memoirs as well as books about being a Deadhead.
Growing Up Dead: The Hallucinated Confessions of a Teenage Deadhead by Peter Conners
[This is absolutely one of the most well written, shiniest, and brightest, Deadhead memoirs I’ve yet read. Highly recommended.]
A story of a straight-laced suburban kid who discovered Grateful Dead concerts at the age of 16 in 1987. Soon, he was traveling with a makeshift ‘family’ of other Deadheads in a Volkswagen camper, selling drugs and whatever else would provide gas money to the next concert. Chronicling his progression from suburban kid, to full-blown Deadhead Conners reveals deep truths about Deadhead culture, history, and reality. This is a riveting insight into the obsessive fandom that made The Grateful Dead the most successful touring band of all time.
Sunshine Daydream – one girl’s tale of life on the bus by Talia Rose
[Full disclosure – I’m in this book, this book is dedicated to me, this author is also in my book.]
One girl’s tale of years spent on Grateful Dead Tour and beyond. A beautiful and sometimes sordid tale of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. Her no BS view of the world after the rose-colored glasses came off regarding the late 1980’s Grateful Dead parking lot scene is eye opening. This is a story about idealism, growing up, and surviving.
Haight St. Posse by Token Jackson
[I can find no reviews of this book online – but here are some notes I made when I read it.]
A memoir by a Deadhead who is very open in admitting that drugs are what drew him to the scene. It’s a Deadhead street memoir, a stoner’s story of swinging drugs on Haight St, getting addicted to heroin and getting off heroin. A rambling narrative, told as if the author were sitting in front of you telling his story. I liked it. After reading this book, I feel like I should know this guy and maybe I do but I can’t place him…
Bohemian Ghosts by Dewey Paul Moffit
A memoir of a life spent following his heart into a wild world of sex, drugs, rock and roll, celebrity friendships, Rainbow Gatherings, biker gangs, hitchhiking, UFO sightings, and, finally, true love. From his parking lot days to working backstage for rock impresario Bill Graham, the book examines how that wild counter-culture world impacted his early adult years and allowed him to discover his passion for the concert industry. These are the true tales of a modern day psychedelic adventurer.
Tour Head: “I Was an Acid Fueled Teenage Dead Fiend!” by Nordy
Our young lives became a part of the Grateful Dead shows and a part of the parking lot scene that evolved into Shakedown Street. Tour Head opens a window to the ways of the road and the extreme lengths Tour Heads will go to, just to get that miracle ticket and be at one more Grateful Dead gig! A humorous, yet unflinching look at a life spent in pursuit of a musical dream. Told from the perspective of someone who is not a musician in a traveling band, just a rabid fan, so obsessed that depression would set in if a few shows were missed!
Diary Of A Deadhead: A Wild Magical Ride into the World of Sound and Vibration by Candace Carson
Part memoir, part American history, this is one woman’s spiritual adventure following The Grateful Dead. Amid the wild and colorful world of sound and vibration, Carson found salvation in the music.
The live performances became her church, a place where she could dance her way to joy, wisdom, and oneness in the uniquely intertwined theater where the audience partnered with the band in bringing the music to life.
Grateful Memories; Ten Years on the Road Taping The Grateful Dead by Jim Daley
Chronicles 10 years of life on the road, from 1979 through 1989, following the Grateful Dead on tour across America with a core group of friends while recording the music along the way.
Tangled Up In New York: Shakedown on the Streets…Tales of Tenacity and Pulp Solicitation by Howard F. Weiner
[Oh my gosh! This is SO meta, I’m sure I’m going to love it – and it’s a journal!!!]
A quintessential tale of a New Yorker manifesting destiny on his own terms, this second book offering is the saga of a salesman who bagged his day job to hustle books on the streets of New York. Join Howard “Catfish” Weiner as he hauls his Dylan/Dead book “A Tale of Twisted Fate” from Battery Park to Yankee Stadium in search of an audience for his prose. Weiner does a great job of showing the sides and personality of New York’s freaks and characters that you won’t see elsewhere. Join Catfish as he becomes one with his environment, fusing with the strange brew of humanity stampeding through the asphalt jungle.
The Grateful Pilgrimage: Time Travel with the Dead by Howard F. Weiner
Revisiting all the stops of the Grateful Dead’s 1983 fall tour on the anniversary dates of the shows, Weiner analyzes the band’s transcendent music in the places where it was created four decades earlier while reflecting on his own vast touring experiences from this era. The pilgrimage rolls through essential Dead stomping grounds like Madison Square Garden and the Hartford Civic Center, as well as returning to Lake Placid, site of a legendary Dead show three years after “The Miracle on Ice.” On the tour’s off days, Weiner visits other iconic venues where the band once jammed. Road trips past and present roll into one as this journey down Deadhead Highway gives us a glimpse into the evolution of American road adventure. You can’t tour with the Grateful Dead anymore, but you can follow in their footsteps and let the music and memories soothe your soul.
The Deadhead Cyclist by Stew Sallo
The Deadhead Cyclist may be the most unique book ever written about the Grateful Dead. Each of the book’s 52 chapters features a Grateful Dead concert pick for that week, and offers a Life Lesson, gleaned from a specific lyric of a song performed at that concert. As such, the book is not just for fans of the Grateful Dead, and not just for cyclists, but for anyone searching for a set of guiding principles to live by for a full, happy, and successful life, no matter what your passions might be.
Golden Wisdom from the Grateful Dead: Life Lessons in their Songs by Charles Beard
Much has been made about the ambiguities built into Grateful Dead lyrics. With open-ended interpretation, Dead Heads can frequently find a lyric that is appropriate for many of life’s circumstances. However, Beard’s version of the meaning and impact of these lyrics is solely his own. This book examines a wide variety of Dead tunes, with messages that have been relevant to Beard’s life from his earliest psychedelic encounter “on the bus” with the band, to the later anthem of resilience, “we will survive”. Similar to gold, this wisdom continues to enrich Beard’s life. He invites you to find new appreciation for words that “glow with the gold of sunshine”.
Dark Stars & Anti-Matter: 40 Years of Loving, Leaving and Making Up with the Music of the Grateful Dead by Gene Sculatti
A memoir about growing up, music-obsessed, in the Bay Area in the 1960s. The piece is personal and frank, and should strike a chord with anyone who’s ever fallen hard for what their ears took in. Sculatti has been writing about music and popular culture since 1966 for publications including Rolling Stone, the Los Angeles Times, and Creem.
Grateful Dead Tour Tales: Volume One: 1984-1987 by George Michaels
The story of a young rock music fan growing up in New Jersey who one day discovers the Grateful Dead, and his whole life changes. This comical, coming-of-age tale takes us from “Saratoga to Stockholm” on Rock’s most legendary trip. Volume One explores the band’s rise from relative obscurity in the early days of MTV to their triumphant yet surprising success.
Grateful Dead Tour Tales Two by George Michael
It’s now nineteen eighty-eight, and for better or for worse, the Grateful Dead are back in style. In volume two, the stakes are raised as George and his friends begin to grow up and become more and more dedicated. Can they still find fun in all this repetition? Will they be able to survive in a post “Touch of Grey” world? Where’s the Dog Star? Find out the answer to these and many more questions in Tour Tales Two, the uproariously funny, meaningful, and true-to-life tale about witnessing over fifty Dead shows during the years 1988 & ‘89.
Once Upon a Time on Grateful Dead Tour by Trina Calderón
A short story collection about the absurd and often hilarious adventures on Grateful Dead tour. Based on true stories of the thriving counterculture during the notorious U.S. federal “war on drugs” campaign, experience the magic of driving across the country to get to the next show. Follow the kids from one hotel room to the next, from Haight Street to Vermont, for a strong dose of the real American Dream: sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll!
Fingers and Sunshine: Sic Itur Ad Astra by David McKibben
Follows fifteen years of travel and music making of a three man acoustic guitar band from dirt-hippiedom to heavy-ish regional radio airplay, including a six week period when they left one car in Rhode Island and another in California while following the Grateful Dead spring tour of 1987.
This Darkness Has Got to Give: Post-Kindergarten Lessons from the Grateful Dead by Donn Kenneth Harris
This coming-of-age memoir is a unique portrait of America’s last half-century, at times hopeful, at others harsh and enraged. Harris follows The Grateful Dead across parts of three decades, while pursuing his own high-impact passions in an edgy, diverse life: high school dropout, peacetime soldier, actor, public arts school principal, Harley-Davidson rider, and world traveler. Harris makes a compelling case for a different way of living in the millennium, valuing authenticity and inspiration, living life as fueled by poetry and music and the beckoning unknown.
Letters from Marion: A Deadhead’s Journey from Peace to a Supermax Prison by Joel Blaeser
[Based on videos I have seen of the author, it seems like this book might be rather violent, but I must admit I haven’t read it yet.]
Chronicles a journey that begins with the author’s trek across the globe following the Grateful Dead, then spanning the six federal prisons in which he did time, including USP Marion, the most dangerous federal super maximum prison ever built. “People don’t know what it is like to spend time in prison. They don’t know that a peace loving, non-violent “hippie-Deadhead” can end up serving hard time – really hard time. They don’t know you can be a kid traveling around to see a band one day and be tossed in with hardened criminals the next. They don’t know the guards are as corrupt as the criminals.” This intriguing look at life behind bars breaks many myths about the War on Drugs, the American prison system and race relations in America.
Confessions of a Dead Head; Trips and Travels with a Magical Band by The Starburst Commander aka Bob Drobatz
It’s not a long book, and it is fun to read – it flows like talking to a new friend in the lot or a campground, and hearing some good old show stories. There are a lot of good memories packed into this book, do not let it’s size deceive you. Meaty detailed confessions!!! The Starburst Commander leads you on his journey, and it’s like you are on tour together.
Compiled Deadhead Stories
Deadheads Remember Englishtown ’77: The Largest Gathering in New Jersey History by Jim Daley
Everyone agrees that the Dead’s performance at Englishtown on Sept. 3, 1977, was something special. In this tribute to the band he loves so much, the author commemorates the landmark concert by sharing memories from those who were there. Discover what it was really like on that hot, humid day at Raceway Park in Old Bridge, New Jersey, and how – at least for the day – The Grateful Dead got everything “Just exactly perfect”.
Meeting Jerry Garcia and The Grateful Dead: Deadheads share their memories, experiences and insights by Martin Stockhauser
Here is a collection of Deadheads telling their stories, sharing their insights, discussing their ideas and opinions, and talking about these memories with other Deadheads and the Band. A great compendium of stories from the earliest days through the jamband post-Jerry revival of today. Touches on all the big topics and then some. Best keyboardist? Best lineup? Compiled and self-published by a young Austrian fan.
After All is Said and Done: Taping the Grateful Dead, 1965-1995 by Mark A. Rodriguez
A saga of homegrown psychedelia, anarchic graphic styles, and black market fandom as written in magnetic tape. By the time they stopped performing in 1995, the Grateful Dead had become an international institution with archival recordings both official and bootlegged. The cultural significance of these bootlegs – live concert cassettes which solidified the Dead’s legendary status – is utterly unique in the annals of music. The story of their creation and endless proliferation is a people’s history unto itself. Featuring dozens of interviews as well as the show-stopping visuals from hundreds of archival cassette covers, this is a fantastic exploration of that history.
Deadheads: Stories from Fellow Artists, Friends & Followers of the Grateful Dead by Linda Kelly
Just what was it about the Grateful Dead that made them rock and roll’s most beloved band? First-show revelations, backstage adventures, parking lot hoopla, how-to-live-life philosophies, strange tangential experiences stemming from being in that certain place at that certain time – these intriguing anecdotes evoke wonderful images, lots of smiles, and a close look into a fascinating phenomenon in the history of music.
[A collective effort, born online, produced two fun books – ]
Deadhead Stories: If I Told You All That Went Down It Would Burn Off Both Your Ears
We invite you to take a trip with us on our adventures with the Grateful Dead and beyond. In December 2017, a merry band of Pranksters of all ages and stripes embarked on a mission to share and preserve Deadhead history, from the perspective of the fans.
What emerged is “Deadhead Stories,” an 8.5 x 11-inch, 350-page, color, coffee table book. Woven from the freely donated contributions of storytellers, photographers, artists, editors, a graphic designer, and thousands of kind folks from around the globe, this book is truly a collective collaboration.
Deadhead Stories “Bound to cover just a little more ground”
This is the second volume of stories collected and produced by a diverse group of volunteers who came together to form Laughing Water, the production division of the Merlin/Mercury Non-Profit Corporation. Laughing Water is deadicated to enriching the Grateful Dead Family by engaging crowd-sourced ideas that add value to our community, not only through the proceeds they generate or meeting the need they seek to address, but also through the magic created when we collectively endeavor to manifest an idea.
Fun and/or Scholarly books by Deadheads, showcasing how the Dead has affected every aspect of American culture.
The Economic History of the Grateful Dead: A Look Inside the Financial Records of America’s Biggest 20th Century Touring Act by David A. Davis
This is a quirky look at The Grateful Dead’s existence viewed almost entirely through financial and business documents. The Grateful Dead collected and retained many of their records in hundreds of banker boxes that are archived at the University of California at Santa Cruz. This Deadhead author worked in entertainment finance for 35 years, analyzing financial documents. What better way to spend retirement than digging in to the details of The Dead’s financial life.
The Dead changed the face of touring musical acts through a series of innovations that they brought to the business: such as always being on tour, pioneering better sound and light technology, initiating t-shirt sales, venue selection, multi-night runs and long-term promoter relationships, all of which combined to create what became the biggest American touring act.
The documents and the contracts almost always speak for themselves, and there’s a fantastic story here.
Deadhead Social Science: ‘You Ain’t Gonna Learn What You Don’t Want to Know’ Edited by Rebecca G. Adams and Robert Sardiello
A collection of scholarly papers examining various aspects of the complex subculture surrounding the Grateful Dead. What is a Deadhead? How does a Deadhead identity evolve? Why would a person choose an identity that is often viewed negatively by larger society? Why are Deadheads viewed negatively by the larger society? Is the Deadhead community a religion? How did a rock band develop a religious type following? The book also examines the role of vendors, and the reaction by “host” communities to the crowds that accompanied Grateful Dead concerts.
Why the Grateful Dead Matter by Michael Benson
A lifelong Deadhead argues that the Grateful Dead are not simply a successful rock-and-roll band but a phenomenon central to American culture. He defends the proposition that the Dead are, in fact, a musical movement as transformative as any -ism in the artistic history of this century and the last. And a lot more fun than most. From the street festivals of Haight-Ashbury, to the ecstatic outpouring of joy at Soldier Field, Chicago in the summer of 2015, the Grateful Dead have been at the center of American culture for more than fifty years.
Skeleton Key – A Dictionary For Deadheads by David Shenk and Steve Silberman
Deadheads have built an original and authentic American subculture, with vivid jargon, rich lore, and its own legends, myths, and spirituality. Informative reading for the new fan or the most grizzled “tourhead”. Filled with Deadheads’ own stories, wit, insiders’ knowledge, sincere appreciation of the music, and the diverse and soulful culture it inspires, this puts you on the Merry Pranksters’ bus behind the real Cowboy Neal, uncovers the origins of Cherry Garcia, follows the dancing bear on its trip from psychedelic artifact to trademarked icon, and unlocks the Dead’s own tape vault.
Live Dead: The Grateful Dead, Live Recordings, and the Ideology of Liveness by John Brackett
The Grateful Dead’s reputation as a “live band” was – and continues to be – sustained by thousands of live concert recordings from every era of the group’s long and colorful career. Brackett examines how live recordings have shaped the general history and popular mythology of the Grateful Dead. Drawing on a diverse array of materials and documents contained in the Grateful Dead Archive, Live Dead details how live recordings became meaningful among the band and their fans not only as sonic souvenirs of past musical performances but also as expressions of assorted ideals, including notions of “liveness,” authenticity, and the power of recorded sound.
Dead Style: A Long Strange Trip into the Magical World of Tie-Dye by Mordechai “Mister Mort” Rubinstein
[I know there are going to be some haters with this book, but this book positively amazes me – 1 – that the fashion scene is like this – and 2 – that there’s a book about it!]
Since the formation of Dead & Company, a new breed of Deadhead has emerged: someone who appreciates stylish streetwear as much as tie-dye. This book spotlights the influence of the Grateful Dead and hippie culture on the current world of fashion. Tie-dyed pieces from designer labels like Louis Vuitton, Off-White, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Missoni, and Burberry have dominated runway looks. Vintage Grateful Dead shirts are fetching hundreds of dollars online and in stores. This book, visually driven and heavily captioned, is a look book for current Deadhead culture a surprising, provocative, engaging, and fun work. A Grateful Dead book for a new generation.
Everything I Know About Business I Learned from the Grateful Dead: The Ten Most Innovative Lessons from a Long, Strange Trip by Barry Barnes PhD
This overview of the Deadhead nation reads like a candid rock biography as well as an insightful business manual, convincing us that the Dead’s influence on the business world will turn out to be a significant part of their legacy. Without intending to, the band pioneered ideas and practices that were subsequently embraced by American corporations. Explore the ten most innovative business lessons from the Dead’s illustrious career, and consider – What might your business learn from their long, strange trip?
Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn from the Most Iconic Band in History by David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan
It’s no real surprise that the key to innovation is rejecting conventional wisdom. The Grateful Dead broke almost every rule in the music industry book. They encouraged their fans to record shows and trade tapes; they built a mailing list and sold concert tickets directly to fans; and they built their business model on live concerts, not album sales. The Dead pioneered marketing concepts that are successfully used by businesses across all industries today. Scott and Halligan do a great job of weaving their personal and professional experiences into a coherent read, which is admirable considering that some of their personal experiences are probably incoherent.
Cornell ’77: The Music, the Myth, and the Magnificence of the Grateful Dead’s Concert at Barton Hall by Peter Conners
[This because I do enjoy Peter Conners’ writing.]
On May 8, 1977, at Barton Hall, on the Cornell University campus, in front of 8,500 eager fans, the Grateful Dead played a show so significant that the Library of Congress inducted it into the National Recording Registry. Many Deadheads claim that the quality of the live recording of the show, made by Betty Cantor-Jackson (a member of the crew), elevated its importance. Once those recordings—referred to as “Betty Boards”—began to circulate among Deadheads, the reputation of the Cornell ’77 show grew exponentially. With time, the show at Barton Hall acquired legendary status in the community of Deadheads and audiophiles.
The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics by David Dodd
An avid Grateful Dead concertgoer for more than two decades, David Dodd is a librarian who brings to the work a detective’s love of following a clue as far as it will take him. Including essays by Dead lyricists Robert Hunter and John Perry and Jim Carpenter’s original illustrations, whimsical elements in the lyrics are brought to light, showcasing the American legend that is present in so many songs. A gorgeous keepsake edition of the Dead’s official annotated lyrics
There’s so much fiction with a Dead theme… I’m sure I haven’t found them all… But I keep looking!
Tiger in a Trance: A Novel by Max Ludington
Perfectly capturing the drug induced euphoria and paranoia of a Grateful Dead concert, while probing the self-destructive tendencies of its headstrong protagonist eighteen-year-old Jason Burke who discovers how much more lucrative selling acid is than selling T-shirts. Liberally dabbling in his product, his judgment gets cloudier and he starts snorting heroin and sleeping with his supplier’s girlfriend. Jason also meets Melanie, a rebellious one-armed high-school girl who’s youthful abandonment leads her deeper into the nomadic world of the Dead. As his addiction takes hold, Jason reacquaints himself with an old friend of his late father’s. While he struggles with the ghosts of his past and his exceedingly tenuous future, Jason has to decide where his heart lies and which road will ultimately take him there.
Thorn Tree: A Novel by Max Ludington
[Max Luddington wrote a new book! I haven’t read this yet.]
Daniel lives quietly in the Hollywood Hills, and is best known for one seminal artwork – Thorn Tree – a hulking, welded, scrap metal sculpture that he built in the Mojave desert in the 1970s. The work emerged from tragedy, but building it kept Daniel alive. His neighbor Celia, a charismatic but fragile actress also experienced youthful fame, but saw her life nearly collapse after a series of bad decisions. Now, a new movie with a notorious director might reignite her career. Celia’s father Jack stays with her young son for weeks at a time while she’s on location. Jack and Daniel strike up a tentative friendship, but something about Jack seems off. Perhaps Jack is not the harmless grandparent he pretends to be. Perhaps everyone harbors fifty-year-old secrets. Thrumming with the sounds of the Grateful Dead, Thorn Tree masterfully weaves the idealism and the darkness of the late 1960s, and the mania of Charles Manson and other cults, with the glossy surfaces of Los Angeles today.
Polaroids From The Dead by Douglas Coupland
This is a crackling collection of takes on life and death in North America. From a sweeping portrait of Grateful Dead culture, to the deaths of Kurt Cobain, Marilyn Monroe and the middle class, Coupland’s razor-sharp insights delve into what it means to be human in an age of technology. It’s a skillful combination of stories, fact and fiction – keen outtakes on life in the late 20th century, exploring a society obsessed with celebrity, crime and death.
Scarlet Begonias by Stephanie Geman-Marcotte
[I often recommend this Sci-Fi book to any viciously smart science-minded types I meet. The Dead and one concert in particular play an integral part in the plot. Good stuff!]
Is it possible to unravel the ego, and if so, to what end? When Suzi Greenberg unravels her ego down to a diaphanous veil of awareness, the Psycho-Cartographers are compelled to intervene. Using an elixir for perceptual evolution to guide them, they borrow an imperceptible quantity of drifting mass from the International Prototype Kilogram and power a sonic black-hole to generate a rift in the dreamscape where the fate of Suzi’s jeopardized identity and the universally accepted concepts of duality, observation and existence itself hang in the balance.
After Lucy: A Novel by Daniel Jones
Just three weeks after Porter’s wife, Lucy, dies from breast cancer, he decides that more than anything he and his two children need to go on an adventure. In an impulsive move, he trades his wife’s Mazda for a dilapidated, hippie-mobile camper, ignores the disapproval of Lucy’s grieving parents and takes twelve-year-old Kaylie and eight-year-old Ben on a trip that he hopes will mend their broken hearts. The journey quickly veers away from its intended route, however, plunging Porter into an exploration of choices made years earlier that derailed his dreams. Chance encounters help him realize that he must face his sorrow and restart his life. Jones captures a comic, light undertone in this story of a family learning to cope and move on.
Tales Of Tour by Alex Kolker
[I can find no synopsis of this anywhere so here’s my own notes I wrote to myself about it.]
These are cute little stories that take place mostly on Dead Tour, though there is one that takes place on Phish Tour. They exemplify many typical scenes of lot life. There’s the bad trip, the mom who hunts down her runaway teen, the dad who tries to find his daughter, a frisbee that makes the rounds. Like I said, cute. My favorite aspect is the final page – the author says he’ll send the book free to anyone in the federal penal system.
[I do not know if that is still the case.]
Might As Well by Dean Budnick
Here the rich tapestry of the Grateful Dead scene in the late eighties is presented via an engaging account of one evening both inside and outside of a concert at New Jersey’s Meadowlands Arena. Events unfold through the eyes of seven characters, including three-year-old Stella attending with her Deadhead mother, prep school hippie Steven on spring break with his crew, Taper Ted on hand to record the music alongside his skeptical brother, and trusty, crusty vendor Bagel Bob approaching his second decade on tour. Inspired in part by a true-crime incident involving a still-unsolved fatality, this book explores the challenges, complications, and charms of the Grateful Dead environment with insight, empathy, and humor.
Freaked by J. T. Dutton
It’s 1993, and there’s a lot going wrong in Scotty Loveletter’s life. His goldfish has died, his well-known sex-therapist mother is considering posing for Playboy, his stepfather is getting ready to fly the coop and he’s stuck at a “last-resort” boarding school. When his drug-dealing roommate whisks him and a “townie” classmate away to attend Jerry Garcia’s Freedom Concert on Long Island, Scotty has little idea of the adventures that are in store, which include being ditched at Grand Central Terminal and getting into the concert without a ticket. Dutton’s debut will appeal most to readers who share Scotty’s taste in music and recreation. Others may find the rambling narrative, 1990s setting and references, and over-the-top antics hard to get into.
[Well, that’s one way to put it. This is a YA book and I cannot in any way say that this was a good book. lol. Truth though. This may well be the very worst book on my list – at least among the ones I’ve read – and that’s gotta count for something, right? Yes, it absolutely counts for something… If you are JT Dutton, I truly don’t mean to insult you. Writing a book is damn hard, I get it, but methinks if you had told me this was your character’s 2nd show, instead of declaring it to be his 45th, you’d have gotten a lot more leeway in terms of what he didn’t know. Sorry. I’m opinionated. I hope you keep writing though…]
Get Outta Town: (A Tale of the Grateful Dead, the IRS, and Coffee) by Ted Ringer
It’s the story of an aging Deadhead who attends a concert in Eugene and gets caught up in an adventure that involves a greedy IRS, a delusional CIA, and the Grateful Dead! The IRS wants his money, the CIA wants his bootleg tape, and the Dead want him to stop the Coffee Cartel from destroying the rainforest. Our hero tangles with unsavory characters in Brazil, pursues true love, and tries to save the world. He makes a brave stand against the forces of bureaucracy, fast food, and evil. Written back in the day, when no one would ever say “back in the day”, Get Outta Town truly captures a time of good music, good vibes, and unlimited possibility.
The Other Side of Haight: A Novel by James Fadiman
Set during the infamous “Summer of Love”, this is the story of how lives converge in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco for three short but explosive months. A motley crew of dreamers join together in a psychedelic world of drugs, sex, and idealism. As housemates Shadow, Dancer, and Sweeps innocently come of age and explore all that San Francisco has to offer, a government experiment involving LSD spins out of control. The two stories collide with tragic results, impacting each character in profound ways. This intimate, enthralling narrative is rich with historical detail and successfully conjures up a tumultuous time in America’s past.
U.S. Blues by Ed Watts
Published in 2011 this is a murder mystery set in the 1985 Grateful Dead parking lot scene. This synopsis taken from an Amazon review. “You just gotta love this one. Ed Watts captures many of the quirky elements of Dead tour during this era and uses them as a backdrop for a murder mystery in this well thought out and written story. I had forgotten many of the Deadhead conspiracy theories that were highly touted by a few, but these are well-woven into this tale. Don’t take it too seriously, just have a nice relaxing read in a very non-conventional scene.”
Fellow Traveler: A Rock & Roll Fable by James D McCallister
A novel melding the southern literary family drama with a Grateful Dead-inspired hippy path of self-discovery. Follow the journey of Z, an aging, shiftless, Gen X wastrel in search of meaning, if not actual identity. Ashton Tobias Zemp goes by many names, as did other ‘flower children’ when on tour following legendary 60s band Jack O’Roses around the country. Years after the death of Rose Partland, the figurehead at the center of the Jack O’Roses pop cultural phenomenon, Z returns to South Carolina, the land of his birth. The goal? To recover from the loss of his marriage, his best friend Brian, and worst of all, the loss of his sense of self – this is a crisis much worse than the loss of a famous rock star… right?
Random Notes from a Specific Deadhead by Terry Shaffer
Garcia Hunter is a pot-smoking Deadhead immersed in the corrupt world of Pennsylvania politics. After fifteen years in the employ of his lifelong friend, State Representative Delano Trodske, Garcia’s sense of right and wrong has been horribly twisted and he is determined to regain his lost integrity. With the guidance of his cat, the ghost of Jerry Garcia, and the lyrics of Robert Hunter will he find his way back to himself? Will Garcia be able to reclaim his soul, salvage the political system, and find the true meaning of love and success amid all this pot smoke? Will he see the larger patterns and come to appreciate the true nature of reality? And surely, no-one as insignificant as he could be receiving guidance from cosmic forces he can neither identify nor understand… A highly entertaining romp through the world of politics, spiritual development, and personal truths.
The Millennium Shows by Philip Baruth
This is a tale of displacement, angst, love, and the struggle of a regular guy to maintain his autonomy in the face of an intrusive and increasingly hive-like society. We move through the underworld of traveling families bound together and wrenched apart by the encroaching pressures of surviving outside mainstream America with our conflicted narrator, Story. Burrowing deep into the darker side of Deadhead culture,
Story takes the reader along for the ride. “Most mornings we rippled into consciousness”, Story says, always viewing his world with languid vividness. It isn’t until well into this finely nuanced novel that our protagonist’s steady, omniscient tone begins unraveling. What’s going on here?
This Darkness Got to Give by Dave Housley
This is a story to die for…
Cain lives the unconventional life of a Deadhead. A vampire determined to fly below the governmental radar, he has carefully constructed his life into one of sheep’s blood and self-control. Drugs aren’t really his thing considering the circumstances, but it only takes one dose from a stranger for Cain’s world to collapse around him and end in what he’d been determined to avoid: murder. Bodies mount as Cain’s control frays, and more than one government agency takes notice. The FBI sends Jenkins, a methodical agent who has experience with vampires, and the secretive Invasive Species Division sends Peter, a rootless recent grad who fits a strange list of qualifications. The closer those on Cain’s trail get, the less straightforward capturing him becomes, until decades-old governmental secrets come to light and those responsible must face justice, one way or another…
Sunshine Daydream: A Novel by Bethany Miller
To have a future, Bailey must let go of the past. Bailey holds tight to those she loves— her mom and niece, people she grew up with, friends from her days following the Grateful Dead. She keeps new relationships superficial, unable to stand the idea of letting someone in knowing someday she’ll lose them. She doesn’t worry about having feelings for Teague. The uptight lawyer is in Vermont for a single purpose – to find a way to get his brother out of jail, then he’s going home. But as weeks turn to months, it becomes obvious there’s a reason he spends his days hanging out at Bailey’s instead of going back to his life. With Teague, Bailey finally begins to recover from long ago loss. But when her absentee boyfriend shows up, she’s forced to choose between the safety of what she’s always known, or opening her heart to the love she never saw coming.
Friend of the Devil: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Songs of the Grateful Dead
Editor Josh Pachter presents an anthology of stories inspired by lyrics from the Dead’s music. Contributors include some of the finest contemporary authors of short crime fiction, such as award winners Bruce Robert Coffin, James D.F. Hannah, Vinnie Hansen, James L’Etoile, G.M. Malliet, Twist Phelan, Faye Snowden, and Joseph S. Walker. Also on board are Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine editor Linda Landrigan (with her first published story!), married couple Kathryn O’Sullivan and Paul Awad, Flemish writer Dominique Biebau, David Avallone (son of the legendary crime writer Michael Avallone), and more.
These fifteen tales will appeal to aficionados of crime fiction and Deadheads alike, and both types of reader are sure to enjoy discovering the many Easter-egg references to the songs that inspired the stories.
A Little Phish?
[These next three are Phish books, not Dead books and I struggled with whether or not to include them, but I’ve sort of become friends with the author (at least on FB) and I’d like to support her efforts. Writing a book is not easy!]
Summer Tour (A Trilogy; Book 1) by B. Elizabeth Beck
A summer adventure with Phish. Follow these characters as they jump on the train for Summer Tour 2019. When Sam spends the summer in Maywood, Ohio in the Calico House with his Aunt Karen, he meets a group of phans who change his life. Chris serves as Captain of the RV they call Suby Greenburg, Claire is an artist who does large scale art as social commentary, Taylor is a poet and Alex, being just a little older, anchors the group as wise sage.
World Gone Mad (A Trilogy; Book 2) by B. Elizabeth Beck
The beloved characters of SUMMER TOUR are back. We follow the kids as they navigate senior year of high school, face adversities and tragedy, and survive the effects of a global pandemic, all while holding close to their phamily. Community has been the most important aspect of being a Phish phan in 2020, and Elizabeth Beck has captured that spirit perfectly here.
Under the Elm (A Trilogy; Book 3) by B. Elizabeth Beck
With a backdrop of music, friendship, sisterhood, and everything a family can be at its best, two young girls discover who they are as women and how the choices they make shape who they become. In this prequel we’ll flashback to 1979 with Karen and Maggie moving from the commune where they grew up, to Maywood, Ohio into what will become Calico House. See how they learn to adjust to a suburban lifestyle while remaining true to their love for the Grateful Dead and their hippie ways.