Captain Trips: A Biography of Jerry Garcia by Sandy Troy

by Sandy Troy

. 1995 clean bright copy

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction, Autobiography

Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 1994

Reviews

[Joe Buck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have you ever been cornered by an old hippie who, with bleary-eyed reverie, proceeds to tell you everything he knows about Jerry Garcia? If you've never been so fortunate, Sandy Troy is here to help.

Published roughly a month before Garcia's death, Captain Trips hits the highlights of Garcia's life and innumerable music projects. Understandably, the lion's share is about the history of the Grateful Dead. Troy has great reverence for Jerry Garcia, who--in spite of his addictions and philandering--can pretty much do no wrong. I certainly wasn't looking to read a character assassination, but Troy tiptoes lightly around anything that could be controversial in order to paint a glowing picture of his hero Jerry. That's fine, but the end result of Captain Trips is more of a hagiography than anything else. It's very lightweight reading, but at least it clips along at a steady pace and seems, by and large, factually accurate.

I'm a fair-weather Dead fan. There were times that they were really great, but more often than not they came across as the world's loudest bar band. For me, it's diminishing returns after 1972, and there's very little that appeals to me post-hiatus. But I find them incredibly interesting as esoteric music devotees, and I also find the subculture-within-a-subculture that sprung up around them fascinating, if not simply for sociological reasons. Even in their more musically boring years, there is always something interesting going on behind the scenes. Sandy Troy, as stated before, hits the main points but is quite apprehensive about crossing some invisible line and, to my chagrin, really getting into the making of some of the albums. I understand that that level of detail wasn't Troy's goal, but that's the kind of information I'm more interested in I guess.

There is no shortage of books about the Grateful Dead and Garcia himself. I'm sure there are very good, very detailed, very comprehensive ones out there (I've heard good things about Long Strange Trip and Lesh's book, Searching for the Sound, to name a few). I look forward to reading a better book on the subject one day. I don't regret reading this, but it didn't tell me much I couldn't have gleaned from a Wikipedia article. If you don't really know much about the Grateful Dead or Garcia, then this is indeed a good entry-level overview of the whole thing. But if you've done some reading about them/him already, this book won't have much new to offer you and you'd probably do better to find a more comprehensive book on the subject.

[Gib · Rating 3 out of 5]

In summer 1970 just after high school graduation, one of our posse found wild hemp growing in the countryside of our small midwestern town. We thought we had discovered the pot of gold, until we burned some of it and realised all we'd found was weed. Despite being unable to get high, we fully embraced Workingman's Dead, spending long hours at the city park debating its merits alongside Led Zeppelin II, Abbey Road, and Let It Bleed. Soon we were off to college, and our first Grateful Dead concert in October 1970. We had reached a peak in our lives, and since then, what a long, strange trip it's been.

[Chris Barkoozis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bought the book years ago, but it sat on my shelf for awhile and was forgotten. Picked it up and finished inside a week. Great read, learned much about Jerry and although it was published just before his death it still had relevancy.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good overview of Jerry Garcia's career. I wish the author were more objective; he is obviously a big fan of the Dead. I would have liked to know how Garcia's several families were affected by his always being away playing.

[Chans · Rating 3 out of 5]

5/10

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good enough to keep you interested and turning pages. Really focused on the evolution of Jerry as a musician but did very little to expose Jerry as a person.

[Ralph · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent enough chronological account. It doesn't have any great insight into his person though

[Mark Florian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kinda read like a wiki article and skimmed way to many important events, still learned a good chunk and enjoyed my time with it, it just sorta felt like a dry report

[Brennan Donnellan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Notable as the first full biography of Jerry Garcia, published right before he died. Don't look for great insights here. It's kind of gossipy about the drug use and band conflicts.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Captain Trips- A biography of Jerry Garcia" by Sandy Troy gives a full, complete lifeline of Jerry Garcia. Troy has this ability, that captivates her reader. It almost sucks you into a vortex, spitting you out right in the midst of the 70's. In comparison to "Garcia: An American Life" by Blair Jackson, "Captain Trips" leaves it dead in the water. Garcia: An American Life is a good outline of Jerry's existence, but "Captain Trips" gives you a overload on every Garcia. Throughout this book, you will be taken to a variety of stages in Jerry's life. Some areas will nearly bring a tear to your eye, others will make you laugh and want to dance. While reading this book, I had to take a break and listen to a classic Dead riff, such as "Sugar Magnolia" or "Touch of Grey", only to relieve the overload.
Jerry Garcia is name that goes hand-in-hand with rock n' roll. He was there when Dylan went electric, or when a generation danced naked at Woodstock. Although Garcia's life was mainly lived on the road. Drug use was always mentioned in each segment of the book. Jerry started at age 13 smoking Marijuana, when Ken Kesey started experimenting with Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD), Garcia was sucked into the drug use lifestyle. Because of Jerry's obsession for Marijuana, LSD, and other harmful drugs, he was appropriately nicknamed "Captain Trips." Troy definitely carries out the use of drugs throughout the book. I understand that drugs were the foundation for the 70's and 80's, but I noticed that she continuously brought it up. Towards the end of the book it almost got annoying to hear about the same LSD tests repetitively. There's no two ways around it, I really like this book. It really took into perspective the craze of the Grateful Dead. The book buried itself into Jerry's life. Captain Trips gave full detail, almost too much detail. Troy really emphasized parts of the book that I feel didn't have to be highlighted.
Four stars is a fair rating for this book. Sandy Troy knew what she was talking about, especially when she used exact quotes of Jerry. But she definitely talked about Jerry's early ages way more than needed. The book is about 300 pages, but It wasn't until the last 175 pages that she talked about the Grateful Dead being a major impact to Rock n' Roll. I want to hear the Grateful Dead being a heavy-impact band. In the beginning, all she talked about was their road to success. The focus just wasn't there.
However, If you have any interest in classic rock, if you wish to learn about this historical time period, or even if you just like music, you have to read "Captain Trips: A biography of Jerry Garcia." This book explains thoroughly how Jerry Garcia was a talented and gifted musician. If it wasn't for him, our society wouldn't the same!

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am really into a Grateful Dead re-discovery these days, having spent 5 months commuting from L.A. to the Bay Area weekly for a job. Lots of time to go through the CD collection; I would bring a couple of handfuls of discs to keep me company on the drive. Somehow I fell into a Grateful Dead re-appreciation and thoroughly enjoyed that.

So I was interested in delving into the band bio's, what made them tick, how they got together, etc, and in particular Jerry Garcia. So I found this book and it was a good start. Captain Trips was written by a long-time friend of Garcia's and seems to follow the guitarist's life moves pretty well. It seemed to leave me wondering about other things, such as his relationships with the other band members, girlfriends and others, but overall it was a good peek into Jerry's life, especially the early years when he played, along with Robert Hunter, Phil Lesh and other key players, in the Palo Also coffee houses and bars.

[John E · Rating 3 out of 5]

An older book by a long-time fan of Garcia and the Dead. It wasn't a really interesting read; many times it seemed like a long list of the various musician configurations that Garcia played with a lot of names dropped of sidemen in each grouping. The early book up to the mid-1960s was the best part; the latter part seemed like a long Dead-inspired improvisation on a theme of years and people. After the mid-1960s the highs and lows were compressed into a much shallower life than lived by Garcia and his co-workers. Quick read however.

[J.C. · Rating 2 out of 5]

didn't love it but then again I read it when I hated reading and probably wasn't very good at it (still not, by the way). I've debated picking it up and reading it again, but haven't had the courage yet.

[David Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captain Trips: a Biography of Jerry Garcia by Sandy Troy (Thunder's Mouth Press 1995)(Biography). Another Deadhead's take on the great Jerry G. Lord, we miss him! My rating: 7/10, finished 2011.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick, fun, positive read. The author seemed to have good insight into the early years which is what interests me the most about Jerry. The book was published in 1994 so it's obviously way outdated since Jerry was still alive at the time.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biographies are really my favorite types of books to read - especially musical biographies. Jerry was one of my favorite artists and this is one of my favorite books about him. I've read it twice.

[Elijah · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like the Dead, this is a fair and fun read.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting biography of Jerry and The Dead. I learned a lot and would recommend it to any Dead Heads out there.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written. However, it was a little to positive for me. There are other biographies that don't paint such a rosy picture about Jerry.

[Cale · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an awesome book and provided a lot of information not only about Jerry Garcia but also his band The Grateful Dead.

[Blaise · Rating 4 out of 5]

A history book of a music that asked the mind to come along.

[Nate Calzetoni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I chose 5 stars because it is a very detailed look at Jerry's life and what he accomplished during it. It's probably the best biography I've read.

[Karen]

Saw this book at a booth during Dead and Company June 26, 2016