A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead

by Dennis McNally

Book Overview

The complete history of one of the most long-lived and legendary bands in rock history, written by its official historian and publicist--a must-have chronicle for all Dead Heads, and for students of rock and the 1960s' counterculture. From 1965 to 1995, the Grateful Dead flourished as one of the most beloved, unusual, and accomplished musical entities to ever grace American culture. The creative synchronicity among Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0767911865
• ISBN13: 9780767911863
• Release Date: August 2003
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
• Length: 684 Pages
• Weight: 1.83 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

The Absolute Best

Absolutely the best book from the best of sources. We all know that Jerry died but I still cried at the end of the book. Anything more than what Scrib has shared is none of our business. I "Listen to the river sing sweet songs to rock my soul." Highly recommended.

Definitive biography - Enjoy the ride

If you're a Deadhead, buy this book. I'm surprised at some of the middlin reviews here! you should read some of the book's excerpts -- i think the writing is grate! there are so many subtle phrases that add so much more to the picture. there Are some funny parts where it seems the bandmembers might have written in a sentence or two that are in stark contrast to the rest of a given paragraph, but other than that, dennis is a vivid writer -- detail-packed and colorful. the text is definitive -- ie; it's not just Rock's take on things, or outsider hank harrison, or any of the other good but incomplete books that have come out. I like this because it is the 'official' biography. McNally is a scholar and knows he's laying down the authoritative history for future historians -- and this History had to pass by the eyes of all involved, unlike all the other books written about the band. so it's fact-checked by the very people the book is about. i couldn't stop reading it and it kept me up several nights when i should have been sleeping. the book could have been about 10 books long -- i'm sure he could have done 500 pages on the 90s, or a whole other book on just the 80s or something, but like collecting tapes you could always expand and get more, and at some point it would just get too huge. i also read here that fellow reviewers are complaining that it's sanitized. if you want to read about the drugs read Rock's book i guess. i'm not interested in the Dead cuz of the drugs they took. what i love about this book, among other things, is the constant larger social perspective dennis weaves into the story -- the san francisco scene & mindset, the world at the time the dead story unfurls, etc. and i love how he connects in all the various relationships with Kerouac and the gang. the Beats Were their antecedents (at least culturally) and its nice to have their scholar laying down just how deep that connection was. Phil Lesh wrote a score to Allen Ginsberg's Howl!!!???it's got a grate index so you can look up individual subjects or people, and it's in chronological order so you can just jump in at Woodstock, or Jerry's coma in '86, or wherever. i've been a deadhead for 25 years and know the basic storyline, like being familiar with a song, but here is McNally's, the insider's, solo -- his interpretation of the mad melody, and it's just Full of juicy notes and twisted curls.

Finally, a tremendous book on the Dead!

As a graduate of the Grateful Dead class of Red Rocks, Colorado 1979, I have to say that this is the first book on the Dead that really gets it. Dennis McNally is incredibly articulate (it seems he retained most/all his brain cells through his 20 year journey on "the bus") and his writing is very illuminating. He reconfirms most of my own opinions on what it was all about. Peter Yarrow (of Peter Paul and Mary-who all attended) once said to me and a friend in 1980 at Radio City, after a particularly amazing Dead show, "the Dead still really is". I think this book helps clarify what Mr. Yarrow meant by "is". Mr. McNally has compiled a book that is probably the defining historical book about a generation of seekers that found something a lot bigger than they ever expected. Compared with other works on the Dead, this book is in a different league (eg. Tom Wolfe or D. Gans books). Great book!

How about a complimentary product...Robert Hunter's story?

I have to admit to a certain bias towards the Grateful Dead. Their music has comforted and beguiled me, it has been my joy and my delight, it has been my heaven, my hell and it's spirit lives on. My first written word experience of the band whom I hold so dear was a book by Hank Harrison given to me by one of my closest and best friends, Rib Chile Kyam.Since Jerry Garcia's early and untimely demise has deprived us of his and the band's musical adventures there have been many books about this most legendary of America's rock bands, some good, some awful and most just plain and mediocre.This new book, acclaimed to be the real deal as it is written by Dennis McNally the Grateful Dead publicist, is a joy to read and is a gripping account of almost thirty years of adventure and music. McNally is the author of a book on Jack Kerouac a fact which helped him land the job as the band's publicist. He writes here as a professional writer with good prose style and one which is almost pregnant with expectation, almost as if each sentence insists 'and then, and then...'The structure of the book is relatively straightforward - in a historical progression with little asides along the way. It is very personable and enables the reader to get to know the personalities involved and to gain the strength of the relationships with each other. There is a strong sense to of a wider community indeed several communities, the band and theirclosest friends and other musicians, the bay area community and of course the fans, the DeadHeads. You get the sense to of the musical legacies inherited by the band from all over the United States which find a way to be weaved into the cosmic musical carpet of the Grateful Dead's music. It is the personalities and the larger than life characters who dominate the pages which makes this particular book so interesting to me. It soon becomes clear that the band members are no shrinking violets and that the band operates in a non-traditional environment.All in all it is one hell of a book and a must have to go alongside the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Tests among others. In time I believe that it will become one of the most important books on the history of the popular music which has dominated for almost fifty years. There is one criticism which I have heard that I would like to address and that is to do with the cleaned up aspect of the book. To me there is enough of that stuff out there already which is available to anyone who wants to go and find it. This book may be clean but then it presents the band as adventurers in music who brought pleasure to millions. It is a legitimate portrayal and an approch which gives a lot of insight into the worlings of the band. Everyone has problems, everyone has there own demons but what have they to do with what we do with our lives?A final thought. Someone needs tp persuade Robert Hunter to write his and the band's story. That would be real interesting. Dennis you have done a great job! Thank you.

A Long, Strange Trip and a Great Read!

Believe me, McNally's book is going to be the definitive Dead book from now on. Only Blair Jackson's GARCIA is in the same league. Not only is the whole story of the band told, but it's told well and is a terrific read. McNally is to be commended for concentrating on the band, their world, and their music without getting bogged down in their personal lives. That's not the point here. His decision to break the narrative flow with occasional interludes works, giving details on different aspects of the Dead's world that flesh out the story. My only quibbles (and they're small ones) are these: I wish he had included more about Tom Constanten and Vince Welnick--they were both members of the band (if briefly) and deserve a little more attention. And there is an occasional needless swipe at other artists like Frank Zappa and the Velvet Underground (who did not hate their audience, as McNally claims). But aside from that, a great tale well-told.