Reading list

[cozmik_cowboy]

Just finished Bill Kreutzmann's Deal: My Thirty years Of Drumming, Dreams, And Drugs With The Grateful Dead;  not quite as good as  Lesh's book is, but way better than Scully's turd, or Carol Brightman's silly little thing*.
Billy may not have Phil's way with words (hey, whadda ya want, he's a drummer....) but it is, of course, interesting to look at the whole thing from yet another inside perspective.  Worth checking out if you're a Deadhead.


*If you haven't come across this one, I'll save you the pain; she's the sister of GD lighting guru Candace Brightman, but never saw the band until late in the Welnick era.  Spends the book basically explaining why she was more '60s than the Dead because she once went to Cuba to cut sugar cane.

Peter

[lbpesq]

Rosie McGee's "Dancing With The Dead" is well worth reading, and has a lot of great photos.

I recently read Robbie Robertson's "Testimony", and then re-read Levon Helm's "This Wheel's On Fire".  Interesting contrast.  Helm's book, along with Lesh's, is among the best rock autobiographies I've read.

Bill, tgo

[rv_bass]

Steve Parish has an entertaining book from a roadie's perspective.  Non-dead related, Dylan's Chronicles is interesting.

[cozmik_cowboy]

OK, Rosie's book is up next.
Totally agree about Phil's & Levon's, Bill, and yes, Parrish's is fun, too.
Haven't read Robbie's - don't know if i will....

Peter

[cozmik_cowboy]

Well, crap - none of the libraries in our system have Rosie's.

Peter

[lbpesq]

Peter, I suspect Susan can put you in touch with Rosie to get a copy of her book. 

Bill, tgo

[edwin]

Bill definitely confirmed a lot of suspicions about band dynamics in the 80s and 90s.

He might be just a drummer, but everyone in that band has/had a consciousness about the history of human culture: art, music, literature, etc. If you don't have that background, then improvising is meaningless: just athletics instead of a group discourse on the ideas of what it means to be human.

Rosie's book is excellent. I bought it initially on Kindle and then bought a hard copy which she inscribed to Xander. I'm going to give it to him when he turns 18. She has some great pictures available for sale on her website, too.

http://www.rosiemcgee.com

[5a quilt top]

+ 1 on Phil's and Rosie's books.


Being a musician, I enjoyed Phil's technical take on the events from a musician's perspective. And being a fan, I enjoyed that perspective from Rosie.


Taken together, they provide a pretty complete picture.


Interesting that the two authors were a couple for part of the time line.

[cozmik_cowboy]

+ 1 on Phil's and Rosie's books.


Being a musician, I enjoyed Phil's technical take on the events from a musician's perspective. And being a fan, I enjoyed that perspective from Rosie.


Taken together, they provide a pretty complete picture.


Interesting that the two authors were a couple for part of the time line.

I would add to your "complete picture" set Blair Jackson's Grateful Dead Gear and Dennis McNally's Long Strange Trip.

Peter (who considered also adding Parrish's Home Before Daylight and David Dodd's The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics - but didn't)

[lbpesq]

Peter, how often you write what I'm thinking! 

Admittedly a "view" rather than a "read", but "The Other One: The Long Strange Trip of Bob Weir" deserves a place on "the list" too.

Bill, tgo

[cozmik_cowboy]

Bill - same backatcha & yes, I agree.

Peter

[rv_bass]

Herbie Hancock, "Possibilities", is a good read if you like his work. He talks a bit about his involvement with Miles Davis and Wayne Shorter, interesting insight if you like Jazz and it's history.

[David Houck]

This is an interesting statement:

... art, music, literature, etc. If you don't have that background, then improvising is meaningless: just athletics instead of a group discourse on the ideas of what it means to be human.

[cozmik_cowboy]

This is an interesting statement:

... art, music, literature, etc. If you don't have that background, then improvising is meaningless: just athletics instead of a group discourse on the ideas of what it means to be human.

I was struck by it, too, Dave.  Deep stuff, Edwin!

Peter

[edwin]

This is an interesting statement:

... art, music, literature, etc. If you don't have that background, then improvising is meaningless: just athletics instead of a group discourse on the ideas of what it means to be human.

I was struck by it, too, Dave.  Deep stuff, Edwin!

Peter

I was being curmudgeonly. But I still think it's true. :-)