Skeleton Key: A Dictionary for Deadheads

by David Shenk, Steve Silberman

For fifty years and more than two thousand shows, the Grateful Dead have been earning the "deadication" of more than a million fans. Along the way, Deadheads have built an original and authentic American subculture, with vivid jargon and rich love, and its own legends, myths, and spirituality.

Skeleton A Dictionary for Deadheads is the first map of what Jerry Garcia calls "the Grateful Dead outback," as seen through the eyes of the faithful, friends, and family, including Bill Walton, Elvis Costello, Tipper Gore, Al Franken, Bob Bralove, Dick Latvala, Blair Jackson, David Gans, Bruce Hornsby, Rob Wasserman, and Robert Hunter. Skeleton Key puts you on the Merry Pranksters' bus behind the real Cowboy Neal, uncovers the origins of Cherry Garcia, follows the dancing bear on its trip from psychedelic artifact to trademarked icon, and unlocks the Dead's own tape vault.

Informative reading for the new fan or the most grizzled "tourhead," Skeleton Key shines throughout with Deadheads' own stories, wit, insiders' knowledge, sincere appreciation of the music of the "band beyond description," and the diverse and soulful culture it inspires.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Reference, History

416 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1994

About the author

David Shenk is the award-winning and national-bestselling author of six books, including The Genius in All of Us: New Insights Into Genetics, Talent, and IQ ("deeply interesting and important" - New York Times), The Forgetting: Alzheimer's, Portrait of an Epidemic ("remarkable" - Los Angeles Times), Data Smog: Surviving the Information Glut ("indispensable" - New York Times), and The Immortal Game: A History of Chess ("superb" - Wall Street Journal). He is a popular lecturer, a short-film director, and a correspondent for TheAtlantic.com. He has contributed to National Geographic, Slate, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Gourmet, Harper's, Spy, The New Yorker, NPR, and PBS. Shenk lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Reviews

[Christopher]

Far more than just rote definitions on Dead ephemera -- a collection of voices discussing albums, show dates, contextualizing history, and making connections. While resources like this aren’t meant to be read A to Z I did so, taking many of the [i]see also[/i] sidetrips building out mini narrative lines little setlists looping through time. A wildly fun, wonderfully researched, informative book.

Also: the early 90’s internet resources could be viewed 25 years later as laughable relics of a bygone time, yet the joy of connection and community is written about so earnestly it casts these artifacts with energy: “that sound that my modem makes is like the creaking of a door to the Deadhead clubhouse of my dreams.”

[John McDaid]

Structured as a dictionary, this a well-researched snapshot of Grateful Dead lore, including mini-bios, trivia, lingo, and backgrounders on the scene going back to the Haight days. Published in 1994, so some of the material is a bit dated, but a fun read that will provide delightful nuggets even for deadicated fans.

[Jeff Fabrizio]

Written prior to Jerry's shuffling off of his mortal coil, some of the items are a bit dated. Other terms have changed in meaning over the years since, but still a great enjoyable ready which is easy to pick up and put down and taken in small snippets. I enjoyed reading it.

[Sam Motes]

Essential reading for any staunch DeadHead or classic rock fan. Written prior to Jerry’s death so dated at times but still a great read. I read from start to finish but could be used as a reference book as it is styled like a dictionary.

[Patrick Wikstrom]

Pretty boring alphabetical listing of Grateful Dead phrases, staff and band bios, concert venues, album descriptions, just about anything the authors could come up with associated with the Dead. I’m sure I gleaned some new information but I can’t remember what it was. 1½*

[Gerry]

An insider's guide to the arcane and weird trip that's the Grateful Dead and the mists that surround them

[Brennan Donnellan]

This is interesting and fun, not essential.

[David Ward]

Skeleton Key: A Dictionary For Deadheads by David Shenk (Main Street Books 1994) (782.42166) is one of the best books about the cultural phenomenon that was the Grateful Dead. This volume contains biographies of everyone in the band or of consequence to the band; it defines all the legends and the lore of the group and of its followers the Deadheads as well. This is an exceptionally well-written volume by one who is truly knowledgeable about his subject. My rating: 8/10, finished 3/15/14.

[Lysergius]

Skeleton Key:  A Dictionary for Deadheads is 400 pages of lore, history, interviews, and thoughts on the Meaning of It All, from what guitarist Jerry Garcia calls "the Grateful Dead outback" - the diverse global community that is nourished by the music of the Grateful Dead and the shared experience of Dead shows.