Kirkus Review
Righteous testimonial to the anarchic goodness that was the Grateful Dead. You don't have to be stoned to listen to the Dead, but it can help. While it's unclear what Rolling Stone contributing editor Browne's (Fire and Rain: The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY, and the Lost Story of 1970, 2011, etc.) diet was when writing this book, he is quite clear on the band's unfortunate trajectory from a little grass here to heroin and speedballs there, with fatal consequences. But while the author doesn't shy away from the band's pharmaceutical inventory, neither does he let that get in the way of his assessment of the music, from the early brilliance of their country-tinged psychedelia to evolving jam classics such as "Dark Star," the likes of which, one fan remarks, surprised the band as well as the audience. Fittingly, half of the book is devoted to the first 10 years of the band. Just as fittingly, the second half takes the Dead from ragged band of hippies to post-'60s corporationa friendly and groovy corporation but with all the headaches and internal politics of any multinational corporation. Browne misses a few pointsthe song "Dire Wolf," for instance, takes its name not from a wolf named Dire but from a Pleistocene critter that once roamed around Marinand can be a little clunky ("By then some of the Warlocks had already tried the legal, odorless, and colorless hallucinogen discovered by Dr. Albert Hoffmann in Switzerland about three decades before"), but he's right about most everything. He also appropriately places emphasis on things other biographers have overlooked: the importance to the band's sound of Robert Hunter as a lyricist and arranger, the incessant intellectual curiosity of Jerry Garcia, and the unerring sense of bad judgment that brought the band to ruinbut also the good luck that allowed it to keep chugging along for so long. One of the better books on the band and welcome reading in this 50th anniversary year. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
Rolling Stone contributing editor Browne marks the Grateful Dead's 50th anniversary with a selective and uniquely presented biography that stands out among the myriad profiles of the iconic jam band. Each chapter centers on a single day in the band's career, with Browne using details culled from curator David Lemieux's archives as well as new interviews with surviving band members and a wide array of friends, associates, fans, and journalists to illuminate what made those 17 chosen days particularly interesting, noteworthy, and even career-altering. Browne spends as much time covering the Dead's postglory period as he does the well-documented early 1970s commercial and critical peak, providing insight into how Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, and bandmates coped, or failed to cope, with critical and commercial success after the group evolved from a young psychedelic rock outfit into a wildly lucrative music and merchandise corporation and a globally recognized brand. Sean Runnette's smooth, relaxed narration successfully conveys a wide variety of voices but is a poor fit for the more contentious and dramatic moments. VERDICT This long but engaging account offers a fresh perspective for well-read Deadheads and an accessible, albeit far from comprehensive, introduction for newcomers. ["It's hard to imagine a better book for a Dead neophyte to start with": LJ 5/15/15 review of the Da Capo hc.]-Douglas King, Univ. of South Carolina Lib., Columbia © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.