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

Rating:
Summary: Detailed but naive
Review: After having read Blair's excellent GARCIA & Rock Scully's absolutely subjective but completely entertaining LIVING WITH THE DEAD I was disappointed by McNally's effort. He has obviously done a lot of research but I wonder if he was there at all. He chooses to gloss over the Deads' drug use which was, until Garcia's death, obviously the 500 pound gorilla that was the extra member of the band. Trying to asses creative output without factoring in Garcia's daily addiction is a naive take on the band's dynamic and ultimately diminishes the impact of the book.

Rating:
Summary: A Long, Strange Trip and a Great Read!
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: The definitive history of the greatest performing band ever
Review: Dennis McNally has written the definitive history of the Grateful Dead, and despite his insider status, does not hesitate to reveal the unsavory aspects of the lead characters. McNally (who refers to himself as "Scrib" throughout this text) joined the Dead's circle in the 80's but focuses on the band's origins and early period. Some early chapters may cover only three months, while later chapters may span four or five years. Inserted throughout are interludes that detail the entire concert format of the modern (late 80s and 90s) period. Though not as compellingly described as Blair Jackson's Garcia biography, McNally confidently delivers the fruits of his obviously comprehensive research. He uses his backstage access to provide insight into to power of the Dead's extended family, especially the irascible road crew, and in the process canonizes "Ram Rod" Shurtliff and, to a lesser extent, Danny Rifkin. Changes in personnel are explored, included an early failed "firing" of Weir and Pigpen, and the dismissals of Tom Constanten, Keith and Donna Godchaux, Sam Cutler, and Dan Healy. Despite his unwillingness to lead and fear of confrontation, Garcia is shown to be the leader of the band, as in Jackson's book. McNally's work will not convert those who are not already fans, but it is a crucial addition to any serious Dead Head's library.

Rating:
Summary: How about a complimentary product...Robert Hunter's story?
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead
Review: Like a Grateful Dead concert, McNally's authorized biography of the great band is amiable, digressive, and transporting, capable of minor misadventures but always worth witnessing. McNally was anointed official Dead historian in 1980, by Jerry Garcia, who admired the accuracy and sensitivity of McNally's book on Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady (Desolate Angel, 1979). He hasn't let the band down. Working in linear fashion-punctuated by chapters that convey a you-are-there atmosphere: equipment setups, interview snippets, stage snafus, and moments of glory-McNally keeps the writing liquid, mellow despite all the detail it sheds, exhaustive without being exhausting. McNally's job couldn't have been easy, considering the general chaos and disorganization that surrounded the band, not to mention the unbridled use of recreational intoxicants. (It is a measure of the anecdotal pleasures here to learn that the Dead were introduced to LSD by the CIA.) But he does a yeoman's job of tracking both their footsteps and their mindsets, setting them within (or outside) the context of the country's evolving politics and culture, conjuring a sense of their genuine eccentricities, the irritants that generated their pearls: the lightning in a bottle of "Live Dead," the endlessly unfolding "Dark Star," and "St. Stephen," with its "medieval vision set inside a psychedelic ambience." The Dead made music that defined their lives and then shared it with friends; the stage was their living room. They were cooperative, leaderless, real-time, Dionysian, ready to follow their emotional and artistic vicissitudes. So they did, as McNally chronicles, alone and together, brilliant and abysmal; some survived, others did not. But what a time: be-ins, Woodstock (yes, they were there), Fillmore East and West and every stage in between, turned on and tuned in-and the music, it was always about the music, though "we never failed to have some fun," Garcia pointed out. A series of lively postcards from a peerless journey. "Definitely long, definitely strange-and definitely a trip," said band member Phil Lesh. Wish you were here.

Rating:
Summary: good book ...at times a little much though
Review: Someone gave me this book recently as a gift I'm very glad to have received it . Overall the book is well written , and offers a good look at what the band was really like . It also goes into the beginning of the Dead's contemporaries , and tells a little about how The Airplane , Big brother , and Quicksilver got started... In addition to history you get a fairly good idea of what the band members were like as people , when out of the "lime light". At times though too much is covered and too many little details are discussed that really aren't relevant . I mean all the little details about marriages ,divorces,etc. back in 1963 could have easily been left out .But there is also the opposite of this with Keith Godchaux's death covered in all of one sentence , or "...that summer Jerry Garcia discovered heroin..." (you get the point) . Another strange thing about this book is like most have said as you read through it the years arent very detailed at all . In the beginning of the book (which recalls the mid and late 60s') chapters cover six to eight months . But as you read and the book get into the late 70's and early 80's chapters get to the point where they cover 4 to 5 years . Which is both good and bad , its good because the main question with bands who manage to last this long is often: "What happened? , What was the "magic" in the beginning?" but by summarizing the later years McNally left a lot of questions unanswered . That and there a lot of almost "filler" stories that have nothing to do with anything ,dont take place in any particular time , and are just there to fill pages. And yes , McNally doesnt really give you a good look at how big or serious the drug addictions were (he says it but in most cases does little to illustrate his point) This all might be to avoid trashing the band and to keep certain stories of the past in the past. Keep in mind almost every time someone says "Jerry Garica" these days it seems like one of his ex-wives demands money.

So bottom line yeah its good , lengthy and boring at times yes , but still worth your time and money.