Grateful Dead: The Music Never Stopped

by Blair Jackson

Book by Jackson, Blair

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction

255 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1983

About the author

Blair Jackson is a music journalist and author best known for Garcia: An American Life and Grateful Dead: The Music Never Stopped. He edited 27 issues of The Golden Road fanzine and has contributed to Mix and Electronic Musician. His books include Classic Tracks, exploring iconic rock and soul recordings. A passionate reader of history and music biographies, he shares his insights on Dead.net. He lives in California and is the father of two children.

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I almost abandoned this about 20 or 30 pages in because it started off as just a bunch of happy horseshit about the "phenomenon" of the Grateful Dead and dead shows and deadheads, etc., and like it was written for a sunday newspaper's magazine section to introduce the phenomenon to people who didn't know anything about it. But I'm glad I kept reading because (except for the final chapter--more fluff) it turned into a pretty good and serious history after that, albeit only up to 1983 (when the book was published), which of course was not nearly the end of The Dead.

There's probably not a single fact in here that I didn't know at the height of my Grateful Dead infatuation ca. 1979-1986, but I've since killed lots of brain cells, so it was a good Dead trivia brush-up for me ... who knows when I might be called upon to know some of this!

Finally, it was a nice trip down memory lane hearing about some of these great shows (some of which I still listen to regularly on i-tunes thanks to Dick's Picks). My first Dead show was Halloween 1979 at Nassau Coliseum, and my last was June 16, 1991 at Giants Stadium, and between those two shows, I saw either 25 or 26 more.

At the beginning of my senior year in high school, when I was starting to get the college applications together, I presented a proposal to my parents that I would delay my first year of college by one year in order to follow the Dead around the country for one year (financed completely by myself, of course). My parents only needed to deliberate for about one second before rejecting the proposal. I still occasionally regret that lost opportunity, and probably always will.

[David Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grateful Dead: The Music Never Stopped by Blair Jackson (Putnam Publishing Group 1985) (784.5). Here's a good take on the history and culture of Jehovah's Favorite Choir written by one who was in the know. My rating: 7.5/10, finished 1989.

[Bob Breckwoldt · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy, enjoyable, light read. Informs of their long strange trip and gives enough to make you want to listen to the music. Pitifully, for a psychedelic band , no colour pictures. Fun but not essential.

[Lysergius · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ah, The Grateful Dead. What can you say? Some useful facts and a few insights. No photos though.