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No Simple Highway: A Cultural History of the Grateful Dead
For almost three decades, the Grateful Dead was America's most popular touring band. "No Simple Highway" is the first book to ask the simple question of why and attempt to answer it. Drawing on new research, interviews, and a fresh supply of material from the Grateful Dead archives, author Peter Richardson vividly recounts the Dead's colorful history, adding new insight into everything from the Acid Tests to the band's formation of their own record label to their massive late career success, while probing the riddle of the Dead's vast and durable appeal.
Arguing that the band successfully tapped three powerful utopian ideals for ecstasy, mobility, and community it also shows how the Dead's lived experience with these ideals struck deep chords with two generations of American youth and continues today.
Routinely caricatured by the mainstream media, the Grateful Dead are often portrayed as grizzled hippy throwbacks with a cult following of burned-out stoners. "No Simple Highway" corrects that impression, revealing them to be one of the most popular, versatile, and resilient music ensembles in the second half of the twentieth century. The band's history has been well-documented by insiders, but its unique and sustained appeal has yet to be explored fully. At last, this legendary American musical institution is given the serious and entertaining examination it richly deserves."
Arguing that the band successfully tapped three powerful utopian ideals for ecstasy, mobility, and community it also shows how the Dead's lived experience with these ideals struck deep chords with two generations of American youth and continues today.
Routinely caricatured by the mainstream media, the Grateful Dead are often portrayed as grizzled hippy throwbacks with a cult following of burned-out stoners. "No Simple Highway" corrects that impression, revealing them to be one of the most popular, versatile, and resilient music ensembles in the second half of the twentieth century. The band's history has been well-documented by insiders, but its unique and sustained appeal has yet to be explored fully. At last, this legendary American musical institution is given the serious and entertaining examination it richly deserves."
384 pages, Hardcover
First published January 20, 2015
38 people are currently reading
846 people want to read
About the author
Peter Richardson
6 books27 followersPeter Richardson has written critically acclaimed books about Hunter S. Thompson, the Grateful Dead, Ramparts magazine, and radical author and editor Carey McWilliams. He is currently completing a book about the first decade of Rolling Stone magazine.
Richardson's essays have appeared in The Nation, The New Republic, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Review of Books, Literary Hub, Guernica, California History, and many other outlets. Excerpts of his work have appeared in the New York Times, Mother Jones, and Bookforum. A busy book reviewer, Richardson received the National Entertainment Journalism Award for Online Criticism in 2013.
From 2006 to 2023, Richardson taught courses on California culture at San Francisco State University. His cultural commentary has been featured in major newspapers and magazines in North America and abroad, and he has appeared in several documentary films and television programs. He is regular guest on radio programs and podcasts, and he speaks occasionally at universities, museums, book festivals, and historical societies.
Richardson's professional experience includes editorial stints at the University of California Press, PoliPoint Press, the Public Policy Institute of California, and Harper & Row, Publishers.
In the 1990s, Richardson was an associate professor of English at the University of North Texas, a Fulbright Senior Scholar in Iceland, and an NEH Summer Seminar fellow at Harvard University. He also wrote a textbook on stylistic revision, now in its second edition. Before that, he earned a Ph.D. in English from the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.A. in economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Born and raised in the East Bay, he now lives in Sonoma County.
Richardson's essays have appeared in The Nation, The New Republic, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Review of Books, Literary Hub, Guernica, California History, and many other outlets. Excerpts of his work have appeared in the New York Times, Mother Jones, and Bookforum. A busy book reviewer, Richardson received the National Entertainment Journalism Award for Online Criticism in 2013.
From 2006 to 2023, Richardson taught courses on California culture at San Francisco State University. His cultural commentary has been featured in major newspapers and magazines in North America and abroad, and he has appeared in several documentary films and television programs. He is regular guest on radio programs and podcasts, and he speaks occasionally at universities, museums, book festivals, and historical societies.
Richardson's professional experience includes editorial stints at the University of California Press, PoliPoint Press, the Public Policy Institute of California, and Harper & Row, Publishers.
In the 1990s, Richardson was an associate professor of English at the University of North Texas, a Fulbright Senior Scholar in Iceland, and an NEH Summer Seminar fellow at Harvard University. He also wrote a textbook on stylistic revision, now in its second edition. Before that, he earned a Ph.D. in English from the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.A. in economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Born and raised in the East Bay, he now lives in Sonoma County.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
July 21, 2025
This book expands the Grateful Dead and how the world was evolving as they grew in popularity. The author reveals the cultural significance in American society and how these perspectives/tensions/changes in American society interacted with the Grateful Dead throughout the 60s and the 70s. I felt this was a unique story about the Grateful Dead and their journey in becoming an American legacy. I highly recommend this book and 'So Many Roads' to any Grateful Dead fan.
January 4, 2015
I'm having trouble wrestling this book out of the hands of my husband which suggests it is pretty good. He is much more of a fan than I am and already knows quite a bit about them.
*****
Well, my husband finished it and I got my turn at this goodreads win.
In my late teens and early 20s (spanning 1966 to 1971, I bounced around between Portland, Seattle, San Francisco and Berkley which gave me the chance to see The Grateful Dead and many other bands in relatively small venues. Richardson does a good job of describing those times. I followed the back-to-the land hippie branch (which Richardson covers pretty well) by moving to the country in 1971. After that I stopped keeping up with bands and can't vouch for the latter half of the book.
This may be nitpicking but it seemed to me that Richardson threw up a straw man to shoot down when asserting that Deadheads were not like the followers of Jim Jones (the cultist who had his followers commit suicide with poison Kool-aid). I have known Deadheads and Jim Jones followers and they are really really different. I have trouble believing anyone could see them as closely related.
*****
Well, my husband finished it and I got my turn at this goodreads win.
In my late teens and early 20s (spanning 1966 to 1971, I bounced around between Portland, Seattle, San Francisco and Berkley which gave me the chance to see The Grateful Dead and many other bands in relatively small venues. Richardson does a good job of describing those times. I followed the back-to-the land hippie branch (which Richardson covers pretty well) by moving to the country in 1971. After that I stopped keeping up with bands and can't vouch for the latter half of the book.
This may be nitpicking but it seemed to me that Richardson threw up a straw man to shoot down when asserting that Deadheads were not like the followers of Jim Jones (the cultist who had his followers commit suicide with poison Kool-aid). I have known Deadheads and Jim Jones followers and they are really really different. I have trouble believing anyone could see them as closely related.
March 21, 2017
Basically, I think I enjoy any book about the Dead, or at least anything that sheds a little new light, no matter how little that light might be. This one is good on its themes, and particularly good on Hunter and his relationship with the band, and how his lyrics express some key threads that run through the band's history. Like most of these books, its really good in portraying Jerry, who is always a focus, and does less well with everyone else.
The book breaks into three sections, which Richardson claims are key to understanding the band: Ecstasy, Mobility, and Community. Ecstasy is the first section and it covers the early days, the Acid tests, the relationship with Cassady, Kesey, Owsley. The wild parties, spiking the drinks on the set of Playboy after Dark, etc... It does a better job than most of the books of actually describing the importance of psychedelics to the music, and separating the musical explorations from the drugs. Mobility covers the heavy touring years, and the way that the touring allowed the band to grow, and how that growth required more touring, and so on. And Community largely follows the growth of the collateral scene, the Deadheads - the fans who basically have become, more or less, self sufficient and self sustaining.
Those themes are decent choices, and would be a great way to write an uplifting book about the Band and its spirit. But the Ecstasy section ends with Altamont. The Mobility section ends with the Jonestown Massacre (a new take on drinking the KoolAid). And the Community section ends with Jerry dying alone in rehab.
These twists of the knife work with varying success. Richardson does a fairly decent job of explaining how the Hell's Angels were an integral part of the Dead scene, but the coverage of Altamont seemed a little thin. The connection to the Jonestown Massacre was the weakest part of the book. Jones, like Manson, had been in San Francisco, but that's about where the connection ends. He does try to tie things together by examining Deadheads as a cult, but all that does is show the contrasts; the connections basically aren't there at all. And the book does little, if anything, to give insight into Jerry's addiction to heroin, his diabetes, and his death. There's a reasonably good case to be made that the demands of the Dead and the Deadheads killed Garcia. That would have created a better connection between his idea of community and the dark side, but Richardson doesn't develop it.
Even with these weaknesses, Richardson does a really good job with his subject, and its fun to read.
The book breaks into three sections, which Richardson claims are key to understanding the band: Ecstasy, Mobility, and Community. Ecstasy is the first section and it covers the early days, the Acid tests, the relationship with Cassady, Kesey, Owsley. The wild parties, spiking the drinks on the set of Playboy after Dark, etc... It does a better job than most of the books of actually describing the importance of psychedelics to the music, and separating the musical explorations from the drugs. Mobility covers the heavy touring years, and the way that the touring allowed the band to grow, and how that growth required more touring, and so on. And Community largely follows the growth of the collateral scene, the Deadheads - the fans who basically have become, more or less, self sufficient and self sustaining.
Those themes are decent choices, and would be a great way to write an uplifting book about the Band and its spirit. But the Ecstasy section ends with Altamont. The Mobility section ends with the Jonestown Massacre (a new take on drinking the KoolAid). And the Community section ends with Jerry dying alone in rehab.
These twists of the knife work with varying success. Richardson does a fairly decent job of explaining how the Hell's Angels were an integral part of the Dead scene, but the coverage of Altamont seemed a little thin. The connection to the Jonestown Massacre was the weakest part of the book. Jones, like Manson, had been in San Francisco, but that's about where the connection ends. He does try to tie things together by examining Deadheads as a cult, but all that does is show the contrasts; the connections basically aren't there at all. And the book does little, if anything, to give insight into Jerry's addiction to heroin, his diabetes, and his death. There's a reasonably good case to be made that the demands of the Dead and the Deadheads killed Garcia. That would have created a better connection between his idea of community and the dark side, but Richardson doesn't develop it.
Even with these weaknesses, Richardson does a really good job with his subject, and its fun to read.
May 3, 2015
So often biographies and cultural histories lack the context to really understand the significance of the events in review. This book is narrative non-fiction in its best form. I love so much about this book, that I'm going to pull a Becky and copy out all my favorite quotes here. More to come...
'"Psychedelics were probably the single most significant experiences in my life," he [Jerry Garcia] said. "Otherwise I think I would be going along believing that this visible reality is all that there is."' pg 75
"The hippies have shown that it can be pleasant to drop out of the arduous task of attempting to steer a difficult, unrewarding society. But when that is done, you leave the driving to the Hell's Angels." ~Ramparts editor Warren Hinckle pg 90
"And he reaches out his hand, he looks at it and it becomes difficult to see the point where he ends and everything else begins. And he;s got a moment of enlightenment there that'll come back to him for the rest of his life periodically. Because he realizes there is no point where he ends and everything else begins." Experimental filmaker Ben Van Meter. pg 96
"[he] wore black vinyl pants and no underwear and tended to suggest some range of the possible just beyond a suicide pact." Joan Didion on Jim Morrison pg 98
"Later Hunter recalled the poems [of Lew Welch] and their effect on him. 'There was a beautiful line in one of them, "Trails go nowhere, they end exactly where you stop."'pg 101
"'We're in the transportation business,'he [Hart] said.'We move minds.'" pg 251
"Music certainly was Garcia's central concern, but he also claimed the Dead has an ulterior motive: to transform the audience's ordinary reality through 'seat-of-the-pants shamanism.'" pg 256
"...I could feel the music in my bones. It had been ages since I had so thoroughly lost my mind and come to my senses." pg 312
'"Psychedelics were probably the single most significant experiences in my life," he [Jerry Garcia] said. "Otherwise I think I would be going along believing that this visible reality is all that there is."' pg 75
"The hippies have shown that it can be pleasant to drop out of the arduous task of attempting to steer a difficult, unrewarding society. But when that is done, you leave the driving to the Hell's Angels." ~Ramparts editor Warren Hinckle pg 90
"And he reaches out his hand, he looks at it and it becomes difficult to see the point where he ends and everything else begins. And he;s got a moment of enlightenment there that'll come back to him for the rest of his life periodically. Because he realizes there is no point where he ends and everything else begins." Experimental filmaker Ben Van Meter. pg 96
"[he] wore black vinyl pants and no underwear and tended to suggest some range of the possible just beyond a suicide pact." Joan Didion on Jim Morrison pg 98
"Later Hunter recalled the poems [of Lew Welch] and their effect on him. 'There was a beautiful line in one of them, "Trails go nowhere, they end exactly where you stop."'pg 101
"'We're in the transportation business,'he [Hart] said.'We move minds.'" pg 251
"Music certainly was Garcia's central concern, but he also claimed the Dead has an ulterior motive: to transform the audience's ordinary reality through 'seat-of-the-pants shamanism.'" pg 256
"...I could feel the music in my bones. It had been ages since I had so thoroughly lost my mind and come to my senses." pg 312
December 16, 2014
This book is worthy of its evocative title. Grateful Dead Scholarship - good work if you can get it! This thoughtful well-sourced contribution to the cultural studies genre will, if true to the Dead, receive mixed reviews - plenty there for both delight and discomfort. Pondering my own reaction (why This and not That?, etc.) I thought of a show (Alpine Valley?) things were a bit draggy, me hoping for something upbeat & they slowed it down, almost to nothing & Garcia ambled to the fore and croaked a whisper, "All the years combined...". Gratuitous grace - it works.
And someone should tell whoever wrote the blurb on the back cover, it's hippie, not hippy, fer chrissake.
And someone should tell whoever wrote the blurb on the back cover, it's hippie, not hippy, fer chrissake.
March 12, 2015
Both a biography of the band (especially Jerry Garcia) and a history of its times, this book tries to draw links between the two. Sometimes the connection is closer than one might think. For example, they were big fans of the Beats and of bluegrass and country music. They also had many connections to Internet pioneers.
Although both the Dead and Jim Jones got their start in the Bay Area and had followings that some called cults, I don't think anyone would confuse the two. Yet Richardson takes pains to enumerate all the differences. Same goes for another California product -- Ronald Reagan.
Still, a must read for any fan -- or even those curious about the Dead.
Although both the Dead and Jim Jones got their start in the Bay Area and had followings that some called cults, I don't think anyone would confuse the two. Yet Richardson takes pains to enumerate all the differences. Same goes for another California product -- Ronald Reagan.
Still, a must read for any fan -- or even those curious about the Dead.
February 15, 2015
There's no shortage of books about the Grateful Dead, and I've certainly read my share. Believe me, I know the story. I'm happy to say this one offers something fresh, and I found it a very compelling read. Without getting too textbookish, Mr. Richardson ties the band's unique journey to both the exterior cultural changes affecting their decision making process, and the band's effect on the culture around them. A familiar history from a wider perspective.
February 7, 2016
You would probably have to be a "Deadhead" to fully appreciate this although those interested in the Flower Child culture of the late 60s will enjoy various segments. The Grateful Dead who initally operated in the San Francisco/ Haight hippy scene were an enduring representative of that counter-cultural setting and that helped sustain their popularity. A major theme of the book is how the band tried to remain true to their cultural roots with their music while navigating the treacherous financial pathways and demands of the recording industry. In fact that theme gets overdone and a handful of examples would have been sufficient.
There is detailed coverage of individual songs and albums and how they reflected both the band's musical evolution and fit with the changing political and social tides. Though it should be noted that the Dead tended to be apolitical and that was part of their conscious commitment to exploring new musical avenues and leaving the politics to other groups. It was music that absorbed numerous threads from the American tradition as they incorporated country, blues, and prominently acid rock into their style.
It hits all the landmarks of the era, including Woodstock and Altamont, and has a number of interesting anecdotes, and is worthy of a 3.5 as it technically well-delivered, but again, probably more for the Dead aficionados.
There is detailed coverage of individual songs and albums and how they reflected both the band's musical evolution and fit with the changing political and social tides. Though it should be noted that the Dead tended to be apolitical and that was part of their conscious commitment to exploring new musical avenues and leaving the politics to other groups. It was music that absorbed numerous threads from the American tradition as they incorporated country, blues, and prominently acid rock into their style.
It hits all the landmarks of the era, including Woodstock and Altamont, and has a number of interesting anecdotes, and is worthy of a 3.5 as it technically well-delivered, but again, probably more for the Dead aficionados.
March 20, 2015
I will eventually write a longer review of this, but I really enjoyed it. I have read most of the Grateful Dead books, so I can't say I learned a tremendous amount of new material about the GD itself, though there were a few nuggets from Richardson's work in the Grateful Dead Archives that were new to me. He also does a great job of exploiting materials from the canon that I had forgotten about.
Beyond the GD, I learned a bunch about the surrounding context, especially the SF avant-garde/&c. scene in the 1950s-1960s. This is excellent cultural history.
Richardson writes wonderfully - I am indeed quite jealous of his considerable talent in this regard. He weaves in amazing amounts of material, is super smart and creative and engaging, finds all kinds of interesting balance and contrast in things that have long been familiar to me, either quite precisely or rather vaguely, and has generally just put together a mighty fine read.
Oh yeah, I loved his referencing style.
Overall, a very fine piece of work, a great addition to your library and well worth your time to read.
Beyond the GD, I learned a bunch about the surrounding context, especially the SF avant-garde/&c. scene in the 1950s-1960s. This is excellent cultural history.
Richardson writes wonderfully - I am indeed quite jealous of his considerable talent in this regard. He weaves in amazing amounts of material, is super smart and creative and engaging, finds all kinds of interesting balance and contrast in things that have long been familiar to me, either quite precisely or rather vaguely, and has generally just put together a mighty fine read.
Oh yeah, I loved his referencing style.
Overall, a very fine piece of work, a great addition to your library and well worth your time to read.
March 21, 2015
Richardson, a humanities and American studies professor, does a great job of tying The Dead into the cultural fabric of the country during their 30 year run as the greatest American rock and roll band. Through the three parts of the book--Ecstasy, Mobility, and Community--some new stories are uncovered and old ones are placed in context. It was good to see the lyricists (Hunter and Barlow) well represented and Stewart Brand's interviews were fascinating too. The last decade seemed a little rushed, but he did the right thing and ended the book with Jerry's death in 1995. A short epilogue that concludes with the author attending a Furthur show at the Greek gives the book a more personal feel.
April 7, 2015
This book was written by someone who, I believe, had never gone to a Grateful Dead concert. At first I thought “you got to be kidding, what right does he have to write about the group?!” But this book is really a cultural history of the U.S. from the 1950s through 1990s, using the Dead and San Francisco as a focal point. Certainly not a definitive history of the band, but an interesting supplement to all the other books out there. I really enjoyed the first section on San Francisco culture in the 1950s.
January 14, 2016
Disclosure: I won this book in a GoodReads Giveaway.
Gotta say, I am surprised by how much I liked this book. Great storytelling. It was fluid, meandering, and yet always found its way back to the focus. It was written exactly as a book on the Grateful Dead should be written. Though, to be fair, it is more of a cultural snapshot than a band biography.
I would definitely recommend this book to any fan of the Grateful Dead or music in general.
Gotta say, I am surprised by how much I liked this book. Great storytelling. It was fluid, meandering, and yet always found its way back to the focus. It was written exactly as a book on the Grateful Dead should be written. Though, to be fair, it is more of a cultural snapshot than a band biography.
I would definitely recommend this book to any fan of the Grateful Dead or music in general.
April 12, 2015
Fabulous and informative. Lots of names and sources referenced and most importantly, suggesting the themes that make the Dead so appealing: community, ecstasy and mobility. Right as I was finishing the book Bill Kreutzmann announced a surprise show at the Mystic in Petaluma with amazing musicians, including Steve Kimock. I got a ticket somehow and loved the performance and appreciated it more after what I read in this book. Thank you Peter Richardson for writing this book!
July 6, 2015
Pretty good book, but loaded with a lot of weird digressions that added nothing to the story. He starts talking about the song Touch of Grey and then launches into five pages of Reagan's presidency. He quotes Garcia likening the Dead scene to joining the circus and then the next three paragraphs are a brief history of PT Barnum.
Having been through grad school and having read many academic tomes I know what he was going for, but it just seemed clunky for the subject matter.
Having been through grad school and having read many academic tomes I know what he was going for, but it just seemed clunky for the subject matter.
December 26, 2018
An ultimately satisfying read that does indeed connect the mythos of the Grateful Dead to the five decades or so of the culture that shaped and was then shaped by them. It would pair well with David Talbot’s Season of the Witch (Which is duly quoted at the critical point San Francisco’s darker moments of 1978.) Interesting histories of the rock festival as commodity and the band’s links to the early days of the Internet.
April 4, 2022
I had to read this book for my American studies based music history class and I must say it aligns perfectly with the course content.
As a student who has to read a multitude of scholarly work, this stands out as one of the best i’ve read. Richardson gives a full history fo the band while continuously connecting it to cultural aspects. Additionally, just like the requirements of my papers, he provides extensive historical facts surrounding the time, allowing for wider historical context and understanding of how and why the band were historically significant.
One thing I felt was missing was mentioning how Jerry Garcia was seen as a deity. Richardson does talk about how the band had a cult following in the 80s however I felt an important part of that was how people saw Garcia as some sort of supreme being. An insurmountable amount of people appreciated his supposed wisdom and praised him for his philosophies and his cavalier way of life. Instead, Richardson mentions how people were amazed by the band because of the repression from the War on Drugs campaign.
The adoration for Garcia was a huge contributing factor to the Grateful Dead’s cult status, not just the politics of the time; thought it important in supporting those facts.
Another thing: Richardson could have expanded on how taping was allowed at their concerts opposed to the universal disallowance of it by other musicians. He also could have expanded on how people would follow them on tour across the country. While it’s an underlying theme as mentioned through their dedicated fans and mass following, he could have touched on the specifics a bit more. Otherwise there’s no doubt in how his research properly narrates the band and it’s cultural and historical aspects.
No joke though I feel smarter after reading this, there’s so much in here.
As a student who has to read a multitude of scholarly work, this stands out as one of the best i’ve read. Richardson gives a full history fo the band while continuously connecting it to cultural aspects. Additionally, just like the requirements of my papers, he provides extensive historical facts surrounding the time, allowing for wider historical context and understanding of how and why the band were historically significant.
One thing I felt was missing was mentioning how Jerry Garcia was seen as a deity. Richardson does talk about how the band had a cult following in the 80s however I felt an important part of that was how people saw Garcia as some sort of supreme being. An insurmountable amount of people appreciated his supposed wisdom and praised him for his philosophies and his cavalier way of life. Instead, Richardson mentions how people were amazed by the band because of the repression from the War on Drugs campaign.
The adoration for Garcia was a huge contributing factor to the Grateful Dead’s cult status, not just the politics of the time; thought it important in supporting those facts.
Another thing: Richardson could have expanded on how taping was allowed at their concerts opposed to the universal disallowance of it by other musicians. He also could have expanded on how people would follow them on tour across the country. While it’s an underlying theme as mentioned through their dedicated fans and mass following, he could have touched on the specifics a bit more. Otherwise there’s no doubt in how his research properly narrates the band and it’s cultural and historical aspects.
No joke though I feel smarter after reading this, there’s so much in here.
Read
August 14, 2015The biggest concert news this year for Chicagoland and perhaps the entire United States was that the remaining members of the Grateful Dead will be reuniting for the last time ever at Soldier Field. Tickets are now being sold for (this is not a typo) over $100,000, after the entire batch sold out in mere minutes. There is hardly a vacant hotel room to be found in downtown Chicago that weekend. How is it that this band that didn't manage to place a single into Billboard's Top 10 until 1987's Touch of Grey (their only song to reach the Top 40 in Billboard's Hot 100 chart) has managed to build such a cross-generational following? Author Peter Richardson tries to answer this question by looking at the Grateful Dead in the context of their times.
Formed as The Warlocks in 1965, The Grateful Dead soon became the quintessential San Francisco band, with their initial self-titled album released in the March preceding the Summer of Love. Despite this album setting a precedent of poor sales, their appearances at Ken Kesey's acid tests and other events and theaters in northern and southern California earned them a reputation as THE live band for the drug culture. Eventually, they moved their operations outside San Francisco to Marin County in order to get away from the scene that they had helped create, which was now being overrun by outsiders.
Richardson focuses on the creation of the Haight-Ashbury scene from its early roots in art school students, folk musicians and writers and and shows how the members of the Grateful Dead fed off of these early ideas in the creation of their sound. While their albums never sold particularly well, the Dead were present at both Woodstock (where they refused to sell their movie rights, thus ensuring that they would not be seen in the successful film of the same name) and Altamont (where they refused to play, after hearing about the conflict between the crowd and the Hell's Angels - incidentally, a group with whom they had many close connections). Somehow their music continued to touch a nerve despite changes in its sound and the community of Dead Heads that followed them across the country grew.
One of the cultural threads running through the book is Reaganism, as he was Governor of California during the sixties - a position from which he decried the youth and drug culture - and then later as President he launched the War on Drugs, which ran contrary to a scene in which drugs were encouraged by both band and audience members. The Grateful Dead were never a political band though, instead trying to nurture a community that existed outside politics.
Also interesting are the Grateful Dead's link to early cyberspace, as Dead Heads would launch one of the first online communities, The WELL. The Dead's attempt to continue to nurture community even as they played larger venues was a challenge, but early newsletters, the trading of fan-made cassettes and cyberspace all allowed fans to connect, even when The Grateful Dead took their occasional touring sabbaticals.
Ultimately, while this book spends much time trying to sort out the cultural reasons behind the continued existence of the Grateful Dead's immense fanbase, it ends up being enjoyable simply as band biography. It's not a perfect book, as the balance between telling the story of a band and its followers and analyzing the world around sometimes coexist awkwardly. But if this summer's shows have got you salivating for anything Grateful Dead then this book is certainly a good one to visit before you pack your patchouli.
- Mike
Formed as The Warlocks in 1965, The Grateful Dead soon became the quintessential San Francisco band, with their initial self-titled album released in the March preceding the Summer of Love. Despite this album setting a precedent of poor sales, their appearances at Ken Kesey's acid tests and other events and theaters in northern and southern California earned them a reputation as THE live band for the drug culture. Eventually, they moved their operations outside San Francisco to Marin County in order to get away from the scene that they had helped create, which was now being overrun by outsiders.
Richardson focuses on the creation of the Haight-Ashbury scene from its early roots in art school students, folk musicians and writers and and shows how the members of the Grateful Dead fed off of these early ideas in the creation of their sound. While their albums never sold particularly well, the Dead were present at both Woodstock (where they refused to sell their movie rights, thus ensuring that they would not be seen in the successful film of the same name) and Altamont (where they refused to play, after hearing about the conflict between the crowd and the Hell's Angels - incidentally, a group with whom they had many close connections). Somehow their music continued to touch a nerve despite changes in its sound and the community of Dead Heads that followed them across the country grew.
One of the cultural threads running through the book is Reaganism, as he was Governor of California during the sixties - a position from which he decried the youth and drug culture - and then later as President he launched the War on Drugs, which ran contrary to a scene in which drugs were encouraged by both band and audience members. The Grateful Dead were never a political band though, instead trying to nurture a community that existed outside politics.
Also interesting are the Grateful Dead's link to early cyberspace, as Dead Heads would launch one of the first online communities, The WELL. The Dead's attempt to continue to nurture community even as they played larger venues was a challenge, but early newsletters, the trading of fan-made cassettes and cyberspace all allowed fans to connect, even when The Grateful Dead took their occasional touring sabbaticals.
Ultimately, while this book spends much time trying to sort out the cultural reasons behind the continued existence of the Grateful Dead's immense fanbase, it ends up being enjoyable simply as band biography. It's not a perfect book, as the balance between telling the story of a band and its followers and analyzing the world around sometimes coexist awkwardly. But if this summer's shows have got you salivating for anything Grateful Dead then this book is certainly a good one to visit before you pack your patchouli.
- Mike
August 15, 2025
So far as "cultural histories" of the Grateful Dead go, this one's pretty good. While McNally's "authorized biography" of the band gives you plenty more particulars and biographical information on the band members, this one does try (and quite well) to place their music into the context of the times in which it was created, stretching across the three decades with Garcia, and the two beyond that. It's still not quite the book I would hope to someday see written about the Grateful Dead, which acts on musical theory and aesthetics to describe the lustrous, myriad-faceted dimensions of the music itself, but since I'm probably actually not the person to take care of that, I have other priorities, I'll need to wait until somebody similarly inspired takes that up. The book shies away from all the stereotype cliches media types have been laying on the Dead "since around 1971" by virtue of having been written by someone who <1>liked them. And on that I have another point to make- they were definitely not for everybody. Anyone who doesn't like it and doesn't want to be there, you don't have to be there, you know.
It took a certain sort of person to enjoy and appreciate the Grateful Dead before "society and mass awareness" finally caught up with them (around 1985). But for those of us who "got it" early on, we've only been justified over the years in our having the sense to spot a winner early on.
No matter what kind of bullshit the media, the cops, the business magazines, or the politicos want to lay on us about it.
It took a certain sort of person to enjoy and appreciate the Grateful Dead before "society and mass awareness" finally caught up with them (around 1985). But for those of us who "got it" early on, we've only been justified over the years in our having the sense to spot a winner early on.
No matter what kind of bullshit the media, the cops, the business magazines, or the politicos want to lay on us about it.
December 27, 2015
I loved this book because of its bigger picture, cultural history view ~ how the Dead was influenced by, and in turn influenced, American culture from the 1660s through to the 1990s ~
excerpt from a longer review I wrote: Peter Richardson’s No Simple Highway: A Cultural History of the Grateful Dead pans out to take in a broader view. Combing through the newly-established Grateful Dead Archive at the University of California – Santa Cruz, Richardson ties the history of the band to larger cultural trends like the Beat Generation, the invention of LSD, disco, MTV, Ronald Reagan and the War on Drugs.
“Pondering the riddle of the Dead’s appeal,” Richardson organizes his investigation in to three themes: Ecstasy (“the urge to transcend…often involving music, dancing, psychotropic drugs and altered states of consciousness”); Mobility (“Garcia suggested that the Dead’s nomadic culture was that generation’s archetypal American adventure, the equivalent of joining the circus or riding freight trains”); and Community (“tribal as well as utopian…the Dead community is still thriving two decades after the band’s dissolution.”)
excerpt from a longer review I wrote: Peter Richardson’s No Simple Highway: A Cultural History of the Grateful Dead pans out to take in a broader view. Combing through the newly-established Grateful Dead Archive at the University of California – Santa Cruz, Richardson ties the history of the band to larger cultural trends like the Beat Generation, the invention of LSD, disco, MTV, Ronald Reagan and the War on Drugs.
“Pondering the riddle of the Dead’s appeal,” Richardson organizes his investigation in to three themes: Ecstasy (“the urge to transcend…often involving music, dancing, psychotropic drugs and altered states of consciousness”); Mobility (“Garcia suggested that the Dead’s nomadic culture was that generation’s archetypal American adventure, the equivalent of joining the circus or riding freight trains”); and Community (“tribal as well as utopian…the Dead community is still thriving two decades after the band’s dissolution.”)
January 20, 2016
No Simple Highway: A Cultural History of the Grateful Dead by Peter Richardson (St. Martin's Press 2014) (780.92). Here's another brand-new addition to the pantheon of Grateful Dead scholarship (long may it continue). Author Peter Richardson even manages to come up with some new stories to share about rock's favorite roadshow! Here are three interesting things that I learned from this book: first, that it was Chet Helms of the Family Dog who coined the phrase, “May the Baby Jesus Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Mind.” (p.88). Second, I learned that British and American doctors began to prescribe opiates (which were toxic) in place of cannabis (which is not toxic, and which had until then been widely prescribed by for a variety of ailments) because opiates were easier to dose precisely. (p.111). Third, I heard a great quote from Jerry from 1987 in which he spoke of the Dead's legacy: “We're sort of like the town whore that's finally become an institution. We're finally becoming respectable.” (p.279). My rating: 7/10, finished 4/8/15.
October 28, 2014
I received No Simple Highway as part of a Goodreads giveaway.
The Grateful Dead have achieved a cult status unlike nearly any other musician or band in history. No simple Highway is an explanation of the group's history, from its founding in the 1960s to the band's 21st century incarnation, called simply The Dead
Richardson did an excellent job of researching the Dead, both from an academic and personal perspective, and the result is a fascinating history of one of the 20th century's great bands. What disappointed me was that the question explored in the introduction (and was ostensibly to be explored in the rest of the book) was the cause of the Dead's enduring appeal, generation after generation, and I don't feel like that question was sufficiently examined or answered. This reads more like a standard band biography, which, while extremely interesting, wasn't necessarily what was promised at the outset.
The Grateful Dead have achieved a cult status unlike nearly any other musician or band in history. No simple Highway is an explanation of the group's history, from its founding in the 1960s to the band's 21st century incarnation, called simply The Dead
Richardson did an excellent job of researching the Dead, both from an academic and personal perspective, and the result is a fascinating history of one of the 20th century's great bands. What disappointed me was that the question explored in the introduction (and was ostensibly to be explored in the rest of the book) was the cause of the Dead's enduring appeal, generation after generation, and I don't feel like that question was sufficiently examined or answered. This reads more like a standard band biography, which, while extremely interesting, wasn't necessarily what was promised at the outset.
May 19, 2015
After reading many of the biographies written about the Grateful Dead, its members and scene, I was worried this book would be a regurgitation of those already reported. But Peter Richardson organized this "cultural history" in a fresh, creative way - focusing on the themes of ecstasy, mobility and community as the vehicles to tell the Grateful Dead's tale, abandoning the predictable chronology. The focus was more on how American culture gave birth to the Grateful Dead - and how the GD in effect changed American culture. Richardson wove together first-hand accounts, media coverage and fan letters from over the decades to set the stage. There were several quotes and interviews I hadn't read before, and I enjoyed the back stories on some of the band's most notable songs. Overall, a thoughtful study of one of the greatest bands in history.
April 30, 2015
If I could give ratings in 1/2 star increments I'd give this 3 1/2 stars. It has a lot of interesting information in it, but is poorly organized and disjointed. Richardson rambles on much of the time and I find his writing to be chaotic. His primary focus is Jerry Garcia, with a great deal of concentration on Grateful Dead's formative years, but as time progresses he offers less and less. Brent Mydland has perhaps three or four brief mentions, while Keith Godchaux had twice as much coverage while having spent several years less in the band, and I think having less influence artistically.
April 11, 2018
This book was the best of the several books about the Dead I've read for social context. I found it very readable and enjoyable, and particularly liked the way the author expanded what was happening during the time the band was making music to not just the Bay Area scene, but the major events in American society as a whole. It's not, though, just a dry anthropological tome...there are plenty of enjoyable stories of the band's truckin' on.
February 25, 2015
I won a copy of this book in a first reads giveaway. As a fan of classic rock, I really enjoyed this book. It via broken down into well organized sections detailing the history and cultural influences of and on the Grateful Dead. This would be an excellent book to utilize in any college course pertaining to modern music and pop culture.
August 31, 2015
Great background reading this summer for the Grateful Dead farewell concerts. Reminded me how deeply intertwined the Dead were with the counterculture movements I came of age in. Deeply researched and very well written. Filled with insights and connections to artists, musicians, writers of the day -- Bill Graham, Ken Kesey, Jack Kerouac and at the center, Jerry Garcia.
September 20, 2015
This was an incredible read. Sort of difficult to get through though. A lot of names get thrown at you. It wasn't so much a story of the Dead as it was a story of what went on around the Dead for 40 years. Check it out if you are a deadhead. Just be ready to be constantly flipping back to figure out who it is that you are reading about.
September 29, 2016
Good view of the social and antisocial fabric of the world of the Dead. A few historical inaccuracies (Graham died in 91, not 92), but I enjoyed the ride. Beats, cowboys and astronauts...in the strangest of places, if you look at it right. Recommended for Heads and those just curious about the Road to Unlimited Devotion.
Read
November 1, 2014Lost interest. Too wordy, and too dry.
November 27, 2014
I received this as a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.
It is very lengthy. I had a hard time keeping interest. However, my husband loved it. So we decided on a 4 star rating to compromise.
It is very lengthy. I had a hard time keeping interest. However, my husband loved it. So we decided on a 4 star rating to compromise.
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