by David Shenk
First published 1994
David Shenk opens the vault on America's most devoted musical subculture. The Grateful Dead performed over two thousand shows across five decades, creating a universe of devoted followers who built their own language, legends, and spiritual practices. Shenk maps this territory through the voices of insiders, celebrities, and band members themselves. Bill Walton, Elvis Costello, Tipper Gore, Al Franken, and Robert Hunter contribute their perspectives alongside tape archivist Dick Latvala and keyboardist Bob Bralove. The book traces how dancing bears evolved from psychedelic art into corporate symbols, reveals the real Cowboy Neal who drove the Merry Pranksters' bus, and explains how Ben and Jerry created Cherry Garcia ice cream. Shenk accesses the band's private tape collection and documents the rich vocabulary Deadheads developed over decades of touring. The result captures both newcomer curiosity and veteran wisdom about Jerry Garcia's "band beyond description" and the million fans who made them a cultural phenomenon.
Genres: 20th-century, american, non-fiction, biography-memoir, music, 21st-century
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, insider-perspective
Setting: America
Period: Five Decades
416 pages · Paperback · Crown