Fare Thee Well: The Final Chapter of the Grateful Dead's Long, Strange Trip

by Joel Selvin, Pamela Turley (Primary Contributor)

A tell-all biography of the epic in-fighting of the Grateful Dead in the years following band leader Jerry Garcia's death in 1995

The Grateful Dead rose to greatness under the inspired leadership of guitarist Jerry Garcia, but the band very nearly died along with him. When Garcia passed away suddenly in August of 1995, the remaining band members experienced full crises of confidence and identity. So long defined by Garcia's vision for the group, the surviving "Core Four," as they came to be called, were reduced to conflicting agendas, strained relationships, and catastrophic business decisions that would leave the iconic band in utter disarray. Wrestling with how best to define their living legacy, the band made many attempts at restructuring, but it would take twenty years before relationships were mended enough for the Grateful Dead as fans remembered them to once again take the stage.

Acclaimed music journalist and New York Times bestselling author Joel Selvin was there for much of the turmoil following Garcia's death, and he offers a behind-the-scenes account of the ebbs and flows that occurred during the ensuing two decades. Plenty of books have been written about the rise of the Grateful Dead, but this final chapter of the band's history has never before been explored in detail. Culminating in the landmark tour bearing the same name, Fare Thee Well charts the arduous journey from Garcia's passing all the way up to the uneasy agreement between the Core Four that led to the series of shows celebrating the band's fiftieth anniversary and finally allowing for a proper, and joyous, sendoff of the group revered by so many.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Biography, Audiobook, History, Collections

288 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2018

About the author

San Francisco Chronicle pop music critic Joel Selvin started covering rock shows for the paper shortly after the end of the Civil War. His writing has appeared in a surprising number of other publications that you would think should have known better.

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really love a well written, gossipy, "behind the music" book and Fare Thee Well did not disappoint. It confirmed what I already observed: Phil took charge of the Grateful Dead legacy post Jerry and was calling all the shots. What I didn't realize was how much of a dick he was about it.

[Joshua · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tabloid summary of Dead World (R) 1995-2015, with choice snark reserved for Phil and Jill, who obviously refused to cooperate (e.g. “Lesh and his wife were alone in their appreciation of his vocal skills.”) Probably true, but totally unnecessary.

[Josh Firer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This kind of gossipy book about musicians is my guilty pleasure reading. There is a glut of information about the history of the Grateful Dead, but almost all of it ends with Jerry Garcia's death in 1995. However, the surviving members have continued to play the Grateful Dead songbook in various incarnations since. This book is about that post-1995 history. I found plenty of fascinating stories that were new to me, such as the sad story of Doug Irwin, the luthier who created Jerry Garcia's famous guitars. I only wish there was more information about Dead & Company, but the book basically ends with the creation of Dead & Company. Highly recommended for fans of the Grateful Dead.

[Bill Fuss · Rating 1 out of 5]

Started well and deteriorated quickly. Emotive with an agenda.

[Rod Horncastle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Jam-Bands paradise and hell.

I'm no deadhead. I didn't even like the Grateful Dead until Warren Haynes joined them around 2004 or so. Now I respect their music greatly (some of it anyway). I got to see them LIVE at the Gorge in Washington state with the Allman Brothers and Robert Hunter. I knew they were annoying Cosmic hippies of mindless stupidity and chaos but I had no idea they've grown so little since Garcia moved on. This books shows it all.

It's rather amusing how the Grateful Dead got fully behind Obama and the Democratic party for their values and ability to unite America in a Utopia of success and prosperity. Yet they didn't bother to look around them at the wreckage of their own lives. And worse: the lives of the people who have been loyal to them for decades. I must assume that Obama knew all of this Drug filled Greed and chaos AND DEATH when he fully embraced their support? NO? Wow! How embarrassing.

Yep! This book is filled with the tales of Greed by "The Grateful Dead" remaining members, who fired, laid off, broke contracts, dismissed decades of loyal service, or simply refused to acknowledge past musicians who played with the band. They all burned through their bank accounts and ruined everyone else's lives to fill them back up again. Endless infighting and Ego's. No reason to even mention the illegal drugs and alcohol abuse... that's a given. (Is Obama okay with Illegal drugs in his campaigns??? I guess so. Anything for a vote. As long as they're breathing)

I fully enjoyed the side musicians who filled up this story. Probably too many to mention - but you gotta celebrate the passion of Joan Osborne, Trey Anastasio, Jimmy Herring, Bruce Hornsby, and most of all "Warren Haynes".

There are some precious tales of Phil Lesh's wife abusing anyone and everyone who got anywhere near her reunited cash-cow of the Grateful Dead (It's actually her husband PHIL'S band. She'll remind you of that). She apparently bullied and verbally attacked anyone who didn't obey her every whim. Funnily enough: She tried to bully Warren Haynes. But then she had to deal with Warren wife "Stefani Scamardo". I applauded out loud when I read of Stefani standing up for her husband against that tyrant (aren't they both Democrats??? world peace and unity: Not likely)
I was also glad the book mentioned Bruce Hornsby a fair bit. But mostly as a professional musician who is endlessly reliable. We don't get any crap from him.

Sad, but all of the members of the Dead failed miserably at respecting long term friendships, contracts, even great musical unions. They all come across as bratty children who don't want to share their sandbox if they don't fully get their way AND MONEY. Lots and lots of money. And don't expect them to share --- these aren't no humanitarian hippies we are dealing with (Not one Socialist in this batch): these are people who can't go a few minutes without their bank accounts overflowing.

Yet so much great music. Phil Lesh and Friends is a joy to listen to. As is Bob Weir jamming with just about everyone. It's best just to listen to the music and hopefully hear absolutely NOTHING about their personal lives. Just don't be dumb enough to believe the songs they sing or the Hippy Love Crap they spout from the stage. this is "big corporate business" folks, and not much else these days. We can bet they all claim to hate Capitalism.

I'm watching the Soldiers Field Fare Thee Well concert in Chicago on DVD. Slightly above mediocre. I agree with the author: maybe Phil Lesh shouldn't be singing lead on anything EVER! He's a great back up singer though. And his bass playing is excellent as ever. Just let Weir sing... maybe take his guitar away from him though. I can't imagine any other drummers playing with the Grateful Dead: and that's NOT a compliment.
I'm gonna dig into my Garcia DVD's now.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I found it well written, full of interesting facts and anecdotes, and perfect for someone like me who did manage to see Grateful Dead in the nineties, but most of my experience with and appreciation for the Dead has come post 8/9/1995 (Jerry’s death - where the book starts), through Phil & Friends, JRAD, Dark Star Orchestra - and also all 3 Chicago Fare Thee Well shows. (It also touches on Phish and other jam bands that I regularly see and listen to.) I am sure the many others who are fans of the Dead in their mid-40s will also find the book enjoyable.

That is not to say i agreed with the author’s take throughout the book. The Leshes are certainly not portrayed all that well in the book, and that seems to be a valid interpretation. However, another interpretation is that the Leshes were alone among the remaining core 4 to get serious and treat the multi-million dollar enterprise as a business. Given the lack of focus and insobriety of Bobby, Mickey and Bill, it could be easy to see why the Leshes would take an authoritarian approach and want to distance themselves a bit—even if they took it too far at times. I also don’t agree with the author’s praising of Bobby’s vocal skills - and while Days Between in the final set of Chicago 3 may be a highlight for the author, i thought it was a complete downer. (On the other hand, I completely agree with the author’s assessment of Phil’s vocals...not good!)

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I'm certainly taking Jill and Phil Lesh off my Christmas card list.

I'm never sure whether I should read books like these that are certain to de-mystify the music we love by dissecting the process of making it, but we're grown ups now; we can take it. It's a thorough story of the Dead's post-Jerry years.

[Chaz Donaldson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read “Fare Thee Well” on the plane this weekend. It’s not surprising that the Lesh family is not a fan, but I don’t think it bashed anyone or had ill intent. An ok book about an interesting time. I’d really like a better history of what went down with Vinnie, he’s barely mentioned. 3/5 ⭐️

[Adam Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're a fan of the Grateful Dead and you think you might enjoy reading an account of what's been going on behind the scenes for the last 20+ years, AND you're not bothered by the idea that you're going to see the guys warts and all then you'll likely enjoy this book. After all, life isn't all sunshine daydreams. If you're one of the Deadheads who considers any cross word spoken against any of the boys as a personal affront to your chosen deity, then you should probably stay away.

Basically it's an account of how the surviving members coped (or didn't cope) with the loss of Jerry Garcia, and the loss of touring income that they had come to enjoy as they had been filling stadiums for the last several years of touring as the Grateful Dead. For me it was an enjoyable, quick read, but sometimes a little frustrating when you see the warts on your heroes. It is quite apparent that musical skill aside, these guys are fallen people just like everyone else.

It's worth noting that as much as I enjoy Phil Lesh as a musician (he's one of the best and most unique rock bassists ever IMO), I came away from this book not really liking him so much as a person. I know there's two sides to every story, but in this case there's at least 4 sides, and Phil & Jill Lesh come out not looking so great in the way they've handled relationships with the rest of the band, crew, management, etc., as well as some of the supporting musicians in the extended Dead family.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not a dead head by any means. The extent of my knowledge of the band hails from a comment about a former camp buddy having a "gummy bear tattoo" while we all said "do you mean the Grateful Dead tattoo?". That much I knew!
But the history of the in-fighting and the drama and the part of the band when I was actually alive, was pretty interesting.

[Christian C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book about what has happened behind the scenes which wasn’t too pretty. I’ll read any Dead related book and think I know their story pretty well at this point after being a fan since the 80’s. This book however showed quite a bit of terrible business minded stories, especially involving Phil Lesh and his wife Jill who makes Sharon Osbourne seem reasonable. A great read for sure, and aside from all the negative things happening there’s plenty of talk about the good that has happened with these guys since their “leader” died in 1995.

[John Lester · Rating 4 out of 5]

I doubt this will be the final chapter of the Grateful Dead. I look forward to many more years of struggle, greed, and turmoil. Meanwhile I'll just listen to the music and memories.

[Mark Luebker · Rating 5 out of 5]

For a decade or so, I called myself a “recovering Deadhead.” But eventually, I realized there’s no getting over it. I've read every Grateful Dead bio I could lay my hands on. As with many of them, there are a lot of less-than-flattering things about the band in here. But that's okay.

This is the first real look "inside" what went on in the band after Jerry Garcia died, and author Selvin acknowledges early on that keeping internal disagreements and conflicts private (like the ones he's reporting on) was pretty much how they'd always operated.

It's sad reading about a lot of what went on, and if people would prefer not to know that kind of stuff, I totally get it--they should avoid this book.

But that doesn't make it "gossip" or "attacking" any of the band (as I’ve heard some claim), not if the research and the reporting are accurate. On that count, we have Dave McNally (the band's authorized biographer and a long-time insider) saying that factually, it's “99 percent accurate." That's a pretty high score.

So reporting on the schism that developed among the band members after Garcia died and on the subsequent actions the various parties took (including occasionally making their differences public for the first time, albeit without much context or explanation) is what a good historian should do.

While Selvin cast pretty much everyone in the band in a negative light, he hits Phil Lesh and his wife Jill the hardest. But from what I could tell, after Garcia died, all they wanted to do was go off and live their lives the way they wanted.

The deeper I got into the book, the more it seemed like the real problem was an enormous expectation—among the fans and, at times, even among the guys themselves—that the “core four” somehow were obligated to stay together and play together even after Jerry was gone. Sometimes it worked. Most of the time it didn’t.

But laying it all out there like that kind of amounts to an implicit invitation for the reader to take sides and "choose, like children of divorced parents, whether to spend the holiday with Mom or Dad" (to use Selvin’s metaphor describing the competing New Year's Eve shows of 2001).

One thing that surprised me is how Selvin pretty much gushes about the success of the Fare Thee Well shows. Promoter Peter Shapiro comes across as some kind of superhero and according to Selvin, the performances were the greatest of the post-Jerry era. I don’t know enough to be able to say whether that’s true about Shapiro, but I know there have been better shows—a lot better shows—both before FTW and since.

That part sounded like it was written by a publicist, not so much by an author who’d been in a full-on “warts and all” mode throughout the rest of the book.

Regardless, Deadheads still got a pretty much a happy ending, for a while at least.

Phil still does live shows occasionally, although it looks like COVID brough Terrapin Crossroads to an end. Bobby, Billy and Mickey have spent the last five years teamed up with John Mayer (and Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti) as Dead & Company, a touring band that brought both the music and the Grateful Dead experience to fans new and old, although right now they're in the middle of their final tour (sans an ailing Billy), with Mayer planning a return to his solo career.

But Bobby's been touring with the Wolf Brothers and bands like Joe Russo's Almost Dead, Melvin Seals' JGB, and the annual Daze Between events (paying tribute to Jerry Garcia) still provide lots of opportunities for members of the various incarnations of the band to sit in for a night or two.

[David Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fare Thee Well: The Final Chapter of the Grateful Dead's Long, Strange Trip by Joel Selvin (Da Capo Press 2018) (782.42). This purports to be “...the last chapter in the saga of the Grateful Dead.” It covers the period from Jerry Garcia's death in 1995 through the band's triumphant 2015 concerts commemorating the Grateful Dead's Fiftieth Anniversary at Soldier Field in Chicago. During that twenty year period, author Joel Selvin reports, the culture of the band underwent a heart-wrenching change from “all for one” to “all for me.” If Selvin is correct, then the entire Deadhead nation was hijacked and held hostage by the oldest surviving member of the band, bassist Phil Lesh. If this reporting is accurate, Phil Lesh should be ashamed of himself and what he has become. I am mortified on his behalf. However, knowing that there are two sides to every story, I look forward to hearing Phil's response, for he has certainly been portrayed as a selfish and mean-spirited douchebag in this volume. And in the author's telling, there is one other person in the Grateful Dead sphere of influence who is even more loathesome than Phil Lesh, and that is Deborah Koons Garcia who was the fourth Mrs. Jerome John Garcia. By virtue of having married Jerry a year before his death, she became “The Widow Garcia.” She was a principal in an excrutiatingly uncomfortable scene at the post-funeral dockside gathering of Jerry's closest friends and family as they congregated to board a yacht to spread Jerry's ashes in San Francisco Bay.
Anyway, the book ends after the 2015 Fiftieth Anniversary shows in Chicago. Author Joel Selvin deems this to be the Grateful Dead's final chapter. Fortunately it appears that he was referring to the particular iteration of the band known as “The Grateful Dead.” As all fans of this band know, the core group of musicians has been reconfiguring and reinventing itself since the 1960's when the beloved original keyboard player (and acknowledged leader of the Grateful Dead) Ron “Pigpen” McKernan died of terminal alcoholism at the age of twenty-seven. Granted, the Garateful Dead lost its rudder in 1995 with Jerry's passing. A lot of soul-searching was required of the surviving band mates. Fortunately the band has once again rejiggered and reconfigured itself after the Fiftieth Anniversary concerts and is back in the business of playing Grateful Dead music under the name “Dead and Company.” The music never stopped; the band has simply retired the name “The Grateful Dead” and has cut Phil Lesh loose to do his own thing musically thus freeing the other three surviving original band members to do the same.
As a loyal Deadhead of long standing, I for one will miss Phil, and I know that all Deadheads wish him only the best. However, if Joel Selvin's reporting of the situation is accurate, it was time to say goodby to bassist Phil Lesh. What a long, strange trip indeed. My rating: 7.25/10, finished 6/22/18. I purchased a new hardback copy from Amazon on 6/15/18. HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Reread 1/20/24: One of my pals gave me a used HB copy in like new condition on 12/25/23. I reread this and enjoyed the book just as much the second time. This book reminds me that I don’t miss Phil Lesh at all. Dead & Co. has been better off with Phil staying home on the West Coast.
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

[Joel David Levin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most biographies of the Grateful Dead end with the death of Jerry Garcia. These books would have us believe that the Dead's long, strange trip came to a tidy conclusion with the passing of the band's reluctant leader in August 1995. However, in the decades since Garcia's death, the members of the "Core Four" (as they've been dubbed) soldiered on: Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann continued to produce high-quality music with various collaborators after the band's dissolution. Unlike other Dead-related publications released in the last thirty years, Joel Selvin's book, Fare Thee Well: The Final Chapter of the Grateful Dead's Long, Strange Trip, begins with Garcia's death and sets sail from there. With Selvin as our lookout in the crow's nest of this "ship of fools," we watch our heroes nearly drown in their respective life events; however, we are also witness to their unlikely resurrection and ultimate triumph with 2015's "Fare Thee Well" concerts. It's a feel-good rock & roll story, with a narrative arc that would be perfect for a Hollywood biopic.

For Deadheads, like yours truly, this book is sheer musical magic.

Anyone who has casually (or not-so-casually) followed the band over the last thirty years has seen the Grateful Dead organization weathering many waves in the wake of Garcia's death. Selvin details it all with loving flare, and includes sections on all of the post-Jerry incarnations of the band, including (but not limited to): RatDog, Phil & Friends, The Other Ones, Planet Drum, Furthur, and The Dead. It's easy to forget that the Core Four continued to write, sing, and perform after the band's break-up in 1995; however, Selvin takes us on an in-depth tour of these groups, reminding us that the music, indeed, never stopped.

Whenever I talk about Fare Thee Well, I jokingly refer to the book as "The Real Housewives of Terrapin Station." Like the "Housewives" reality show franchise, Selvin's book delves into all of the gossip that the Grateful Dead bandmates encountered in the years following Garcia's death. Who knew that Phil Lesh had such a contentious relationship with his peers? And who knew that his wife, Jill Lesh, was such an aggressive (perhaps even abusive) businesswoman? Or that Bob Weir's struggle with substance abuse almost derailed his life? These kinds of subjects, as gossipy as they might seem, are cornerstones of Fare Thee Well - and I am here for it. Selvin doesn't just "spill the tea" - he dumps it out for everyone to see, like a Boston Tea Party for Deadheads.

What I love most about this book is that it serves as a historical epilogue/denouement for the Grateful Dead's story, giving us a rare glimpse into the lives of our humbled heroes in the aftermath of tragedy. While the story of the band might have started with Jerry Garcia, it didn't simply end with him. And Selvin's book finally provides fans with the closure that we need.

[Saul Tannenbaum · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of the members of the Grateful Dead after Jerry Garcia’s death is like a car wreck. You know you shouldn’t wallow in the profound grief of band members but if you’re at all curious about how the music gets made, it’s a compelling read.

It is, however, flawed. On the small side, it seems sloppily edited, reintroducing people who have been introduced before. But the bigger flaws are two. First, it’s a bashing of Phil and Jill Lesh, taking care to include a “she was just a waitress” insult. She did violate the Grateful Dead code, that the women shouldn’t assert themselves, that a patriarchal marriage/relationship was ideal.

Second, and more importantly, the story ends with John Mayer joining Dead & Company, and is thus framed as an unsuccessful search for a new band that had the old magic. As almost anyone who has followed Dead & Company acknowledges, that search is now successful. Perhaps there’s another book in the making.

[John Dito · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think all of us close to the GD universe for a long time knew how dysfunctional it could be but some of the antics are truly surprising.

Joel Selvin treads a fine and respectful line in telling the post Garcia story of the organization. There were huge missed opportunities (licensing dead.net platform), petty power plays,toxic personalities etc....

For me the one specific criticism I have of the "core four" is the extremely poor execution of the Fare Thee Well concerts. Re-listening to them they are as bad as I remember, no fault of the supporting players.

But at the end of the day we have the positive spirit of our communal experiences, we have ROBERT HUNTERS SONGS!!

The spirit lives on, go see live music, whatever it is that turns you on!

[Tom Huguelet · Rating 5 out of 5]

A succinct and frank look at the post-Jerry era, up to the Fare Thee Well 50th concerts. It would be fair to say that the author is not afraid to recount the petty human side of the chain of events. I think it's also fair to say that the author has some favorite and some not-so-favorite "core four" GD members.

I had lot of "pennies drop" in reading this. If you found yourself wondering, I wonder why they did that, you might just find a plausible explanation in this book.

My synopsis is that this book treats the core four as humans with foibles, limitations, agendas, resentments, and imperfections, without negating the fact that they are also great and singular musicians that are/were part of a movement and phenomena that is bigger than any one human being and continues to this day.

[Reuven Fischer · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not like there were any new revelations in this "tell all" book. I was a bit put off on how unbalanced the book seemed, focusing on the low-lights of this post-Garcia dead. That said, I enjoyed the final two chapters in it's coverage of the Fare thee Well run.

I am very interested in hearing the Leshes respond to the book as they are very much portrayed as Dick Dastardly & Lady Macbeth. The book does contain several inaccuracies in regards to show dates. I found that extremely distracting as set list information is readily available. I imagine that will/can be corrected in later editions.

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of the good ol' Grateful Dead after Jerry's death caught them all with their pants down should be a fascinating and emotional story, and for the most part it is. My main beef with it is a question: is Phil Lesh the insensitive, selfish, heartless bastard this book makes him out to be? The idea that the remaining principal band members would have walked hand-in-hand into a post-Dead sunshine daydream if it weren't for Phil's unscrupulous manipulations and outright aggression toward Bob, Mickey and Bill, makes the story a little too one-note. Something the band never was.

[Kris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reads as an attack on Phil Lesh. It's about as unprofessional as you can imagine. One person's opinions presented as facts.

[Knewmyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The gossip was intriguing but I knocked a star for two references to Jill Lesh as "the waitress".

[Adam Wilson]

Sort of harsh on Phil, but a good, gossipy quick read.

[Bob Wallner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This biography picks up right where Long Strange Trip left off,with the death of Jerry Garcia.
As much as Long Strange Trip was about Jerry Garcia, Fare Thee Well is about Phil Lesh.
Fare Thee Well documents an American Icon who lost their reluctant leader and the rise and subsequent power struggle of creating a new vision and direction. We see Phil Lesh, under the influence of his Type-A wife, turn from a neo hippie to business tyrants of Donald Trump proportion. We also see the rest of the band members submiss in one way or shape or form to this coup.

On a personal note I've always been a big fan of Weir's bands in whatever shape they took. I have seen his band Ratdog dozens of times and I've loved every show. Phil and Phriends; however, I have only seen once and I honestly did not enjoy the show. Part of what I loved about seeing the Dead under Garcia was there almost complete absence of making any kind of political statement. The Phil show that I saw, not only had his plea for organ donors, which I understand, but also had a rant for some political cause. This was my first, and last, Phil & Phriends concert.

I believe this book was a good biography demonstrating how a coup could be staged to take over almost any organization. Phil and Jill, rather than continuing to be neo hippies, became the stereotypical "sharks" that smelled blood in the water and swooped that swooped in to turn the business around and make money or dissolve it and take what it needed from it.

I guess after 30 years in the business arena, and having been through several acquisitions, I should not be angry with the action that the Lesh's took. If anything it provided additional time and money for the four remaining bandmates to work together. It sounds like provided them from degrading themselves to performing on street corners and subways. However, the the dye neo hippie that's buried deep within me, is quite disappointed and angry with all the measures the band, read Lesh's, took to achieve this.

Very good biography for deadheads and business leaders alike.

[Lee Klein · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author created a consumable story out of an information dump of tour dates and band formations from 1995 to 2015 but also clearly his request to Phil and Jill Lesh for background interviews and information etc was denied and he took it out on them. Seems exaggeratedly, almost laughably spiteful toward Phil. I understand that the author is trying to make something readable, driven by conflict between the surviving "core four," all leading to the rainbow-capped resolution of the 2015 50th anniversary concerts in Chicago, but the narrative vibe seemed too negative, like you could sense that the author disliked these guys and the band in general. The critical impressions of Phil's Fare Thee Well performances were over the top. Would have been interesting to see how Dennis McNally would've handled the same material. Or any one with more empathy for the PTSD these guys had after their experience with the band and their leaderless band leader's death.

Didn't know most of this but also there's really no reason to know too much about the various iterations of Bobby's Ratdog or post-Jerry formulations (The Other Ones, The Dead, Further, Phil and Friends, et al), one of which (The Other Ones maybe) I saw at Giants Stadium in the late '90s or early '00s and thought pretty silly, with its idealized all-the-hits setlist, but mostly ignored those shows, only seeing Dead & Co twice, the second time vowing to never again submit myself to the slow pace of songs, John Mayer's sexy growling vocals (I do respect Mayer's playing however), and inflated ticket prices.

But overall and generally and for the most part a perfectly enjoyable listen at 1.25x speed via Spotify (note that there's an unannounced, totally annoying time limit on the number of hours you can listen to audiobooks a month and then the m'effers offer you a "top off" of another 20 hours for a ridiculous $13.77 -- luckily this occurred a few minutes to the end of the last chapter, which I'll finish off in two weeks when my monthly hours refresh).

[NJD · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mostly entertaining read that felt like a bit of a missed opportunity.
The music and the history of the Grateful Dead is interwoven with so many disparate characters and cultural icons that their essence will be forever engrained into the fabric of American pop culture. As Dylan once said of their de facto and reluctant leader, their influence is immeasurable.
I was too young to get into the Dead before Jerry passed away, so I have a soft spot for the post-GD iterations that have carried on in various forms.
While Selvin clearly did his research and gives ample time to each player in all of the various groups led by different band members, the emotional backbone of the text seems to lie with Phil and Jill Lesh. When writing of art and its makers it is difficult to remain unbiased and journalistic, but at times the disdain for the two seems to be coming less from the perspective of the other members of the Dead and directly from Selvin himself. Though it’s readily apparent that the Leshes were taskmasters who sought to “steer the ship” at all times, it is important to remember that this was always a band of pirates who have lived in close proximity to each other the entirety of their adult lives, at different degrees of willingness and warmth. Though all members of the band are put under the microscope in the text, it is only Phil who seemed to get little to no diplomacy from the author. Generally speaking, I wish the author had spent less time injecting his own opinions throughout the book and focused more on the facts.
That being said, it was an entertaining read on a criminally overlooked era of one of the most iconic musical groups in American history. Hopefully someone will do a better job with the comprehensive story of the Dead a little further down the line.
See you in the lot!

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best thing about Fare Thee Well is that it isn’t a book about music, so the reader doesn’t have to slog through passages in which the writer tries to capture on paper how a musician plays or what makes a song terrific. (That’s the whole point behind the “dancing about architecture” line.) This is a book about people—more specifically, The People v. Phil Lesh. As other reviewers have accurately noted, he comes across as the least Dead-like in his mercenary tactics and control-freak, prima donna maneuvers. Lesh’s insistence on singing when he had Trey Anastasio standing next to him can only be read as the result of a tremendous ego. And his wife, Jill, definitely comes across as the Yoko of the post-Garcia group. But then again, I have no idea what it’s like to be a seventy-five year-old rock star who, I am sure, has some opinions of his own about the other guys. All of the passages in which Lesh acts like an ass—and there are many—are what makes the book compelling. The ones that detail this or that Further or RatDog lineup for such and such a date are less so.

When I first heard the FTW shows, I complained about how slow they were and how plodding they sounded. But I was interested to learn that the sound was the result of Lesh and Weir fighting about tempo. Now they don’t sound as bad, maybe because I’m nostalgic. Bottom line: this is a good read that reveals these old guys to be fallible and human.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part of AD's book club selection for this month, so I thought I'd give it a try. Pretty interesting account of the post-Jerry/Grateful Dead incarnations. Phil Lesh and his wife do not look good in these pages. Lesh comes across as an egotistical, greedy, and sometimes childish thorn in the side to the other surviving members. I truly had no idea how fractured they had become after Garcia died. Apparently, he really was the glue to keeping the band functioning. Weir comes across as the most likable and yet, clearly he struggled (addiction, depression?) post-1995. Honestly, this could probably have been about 50-75 pages shorter. There was a lot of back slapping extended narration that over-glorified some of the many incarnations of this band (Further, Other Ones, and on and on) that, from my somewhat objective listener's ears did not feel justified. The final shows still sound like a money grab nearly 8 years after the fact. I'm glad everyone got paid and that the wealthy true (and fake) fans got what they wanted, but there was a gross aspect to how everything unfolded. It just seemed rooted in greed. Many many bands have been in a similar scenario to The Dead - key member dies - and they just stop. This band certainly could have done the same and it wouldn't have tarnished their legacy at all. It all makes for an interesting story, I suppose. Solid read overall.

[James McCallister · Rating 3 out of 5]

This biographical compendium of twenty years of post-Jerry Garcia iterations of the Grateful Dead, rife with backstage machinations and petty squabbles that shaped the artistic trajectory of the remaining band members' careers, indulges in meticulous skullduggery in its depiction of one attempt after another to avoid being the Grateful Dead, while still trying to carry the torch for both themselves and the music-hungry fans willing to pay for the tickets. Fans wishing to remain aloof from a number of embarrassing human frailties displayed by their onstage rock & roll heroes would do well to skip the book entirely.

On a technical level, the writing is fine and keeps the pages turning. No arguing that the volume provides a wealth of anecdotal and factual detail, but suffers from repetitive info dumps that should have been cleaned up in the editorial rounds. Likely best absorbed by the completist who wishes to know the warts-and-all tale of boardroom battles, bad feelings, threats, assaults, slights, hubris and occasional avarice on the part of "the other ones" left in the wake of Garcia's death. Such readers will no doubt wish to find a spot for it on their shelf of Dead lit, but beware: it's far from a cheerful romp.

[Ryan]

As hard as it is to read, I'm glad this book was written. There's been a lot of wonderful musical moments over the last 25 years, but also too many false starts. A lot of the drama and pettiness in the Grateful Dead world was self evident for years, but it was always rare to hear about what actually went down. This book fills in a LOT of gaps and validates what seemed to be true all along - that, while everyone in the band has very human flaws and valid creative differences, Phil and Jill Lesh truly stand out with their ridiculous and almost comically toxic authoritarian streak.

If that accusation hadn't been independently claimed or implied by like 18 different people in this book, from longtime roadies, to the "hired help" who played in various side projects, and literally every other band member, I might think it was just the author's bias. Given that the other remaining band members have been successfully touring together not just peacefully, but happily, for the last 5 years, it's hard to ignore. I just wish Dead and Company would have been better covered in the epilogue.