Dark Star: An Oral Biography of Jerry Garcia

by Robert Greenfield

For more than thirty years, Jerry Garcia was the musical and spiritual center of the Grateful Dead, one of the most popular rock bands of all time. In Dark Star , the first biography of Garcia published after his death, Garcia is remembered by those who knew him best. Together the voices in this oral biography explore his remarkable his childhood in San Francisco; the formation of his musical identity; the Dead's road to rock stardom; and his final, crushing addiction to heroin. Interviews with Jerry's former wives, lovers, family members, close friends, musical partners, and cultural cohorts create a behind-the-scenes look at the making of a rock-and-roll icon—and at the price of fame.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction, History, Memoir, Americana

400 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1996

About the author

A former Associate Editor of the London bureau of Rolling Stone magazine, Robert Greenfield is the critically acclaimed author of several classic rock books, among them S.T.P.: A Journey Through America with the Rolling Stones, as well as the definitive biographies of Timothy Leary and Ahmet Ertegun. With Bill Graham, he is the co-author of Bill Graham Presents: My Life Inside Rock and Out, which won the ASCAP- Deems Taylor Award. An award winning novelist, playwright, and screenwriter, his short fiction has appeared in GQ, Esquire, and Playboy magazines. He lives in California.

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked that this was not a book of one person's opinions, but rather a collection of thoughts from people who were all part of Jerry's life. A little painful to read; when you put someone up on a pedestal it's hard to believe their feet are made of clay.

[Stacie]

Inspired by a recent trip to San Francisco where we stayed several days in a cozy apartment just blocks from 710 Ashbury, it seemed only necessary to read once again about one of my favorite musicians of all time. Although there were key voices missing from this oral biography that could have helped paint a fuller picture, Dark Star is a great reminder of the light that this American icon brought - and continues to bring through his music - to so many lives. Not all of it is pretty, but he had an undeniable gift. Hard to imagine how difficult it must have been conducting these interviews just three months after Jerry's death. I know I'll always remember the exact moment when I heard that he died. And no matter how many years go by, his music will always cut right to the heart.

[Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’d say about 2/3rds of it is cool, then too centered on the sick years. This originally came out really soon after he passed, so I guess that is partly to blame. This version starts w a Preface by Greenfield copping to the fact that he wasn’t aware at the time of the interviews that a lot of participants really oversold their importance in the Care of Jer to get some cash from the Estate. Shabby motherfuckers, man. There are some wonderful memories shared by dozens, MG, Justin Kreutzmann, Nelson, Marmaduke, Kesey, Owsley, the Garcia daughters, and a few people that would stop doing these types of things very soon after jump immediately to mind. Bill’s kid always has had such a neat history w Garcia, and he never tries to lionize it.

An interesting flashback to the Flood of 96: Dead a year and not coming back—

(Insert your own “Not Fade Away” pun here)

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed the hundreds of personal comments and accounts of the Great Jerry Garcia: "The Emperor," as Yen-wei Choong called him. More importantly, I appreciated the brutal honesty of those who knew him so well.

Unfortunately, so many of those close to him were left out (or opted out) in a very painfully obvious way.

The members of that little band called the Grateful Dead were almost entirely absent. I think they might have had a word or two with that Garcia guy. Billy and Mickey are still alive and could have participated if they felt this project worthy. Phil Lesh already wrote a pretty extensive book himself, so I'm sure that is what excused him from the process. Bob Weir? To be honest, I couldn't care less what his excuse is. He wrote the foreward? Well ... it WAS a sorry excuse.

Secondly, Steve Parish was given a lot of tongue-in-cheek and flat out blatant grief from Jerry's friends and family. Seen as an over-protector and/or a well-intentioned enabler. He does not seem to answer back, but I also imagine he was pleading Phil Lesh's excuse. Parish wrote a book as well, so that may have been his defense.

Finally, the Yoko Ono of the Grateful Dead world: Deborah Koons. She is not necessarily mentioned much in this book, but there have been enough external accounts by those who have felt absolutely no love for Jerry's last legal wife, I find it hard to believe this is the best we have got. It seems almost none of Jerry's loved ones trusted her. And I guess Deborah did not trust a book like Greenfield's, where those who thought ill of her could proudly display their distaste for everyone to see. Her defense is absent ... although I have a feeling that the fans (myself included) don't really wanna hear it anyhow. We have generally all reached a verdict without her testimony.

I could not put the book down, and it certainly gave me a more intricate picture of this incredible man. However, stars were lost for key figures not having weighed in when they, more often than not, had a closer look than so many others.

So Many Roads ...

[Jeb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A biography of the iconic guitarist of the Grateful Dead as told by friends, lovers and family. The book does a wonderful job of weaving together tales by those that knew him and paints a picture of a gifted artist and deeply flawed human being. Anyone that has a glossy image of Jerry Garcia will come face to face with his troubled personal life and addictions.

It's not all dark; there are many stories of his early days that show Garcia as an up-and-coming banjo player and his turn to jug band music that eventually morphed, strange as it sounds, into The Grateful Dead. One story tells of The Grateful Dead (then The Warlocks) playing behind a stripper at a burlesque house.

For fans of Garcia, this is a fascinating book that takes the man off his pedestal and shows him simply as human as the rest of us.

[John Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great perspective into Jerry's life. Key participants are missing, however. Would have been better if other members of the Dead and Steve Parish had participated.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I expected after reviewing Greenfield on Bear and Timothy Leary respectively. While some fans of the Grateful Dead bristle at the extended decline described by his wives, colleagues, and their children, I found it fairly balanced. For quibble that "technically" the cigarettes, booze, and junk food habits did him in rather than heroin, Jerry's heart, obesity, and sleep apnea surely weren't eased by addiction to whatever "Persian opium" meant in street terms translated into prolonged damage for far too long.

The testimonies of those in his circle, some critique, lacked the band's input. But this appeared in its first stages of composition a year after Garcia's death in 1995. As Greenfield explains in his preface, and he reinforces in the coda, his project collates, rather than comments upon, the recollections and the reactions of those who knew Garcia intimately. To a point. For as more than one confidante here confides, Jerry created a cocoon against the demands of touring to support his own appetites, those of his mates however defined, and those who relied on the GR to make a living as their fame accelerated.

He also stinted on commitments, could be ruthless or oblivious about those who failed to meet his demands whether as spouses or as partners in business, as he blithely shunted aside problems about management, and ignored too often the interventions, information, and insight that concerned people provided. Might lunch organic, but pig out post-gig at a convenience store on ice cream and a hot dog.

Perhaps Dark Star, as its title symbolizes in subtle ways, attests to the ideals he was seen to embody for maybe millions of his fellow citizens, as well as the follies to hedonism, rationalization, and self-delusion so common not only to his hippie postwar generation, but those of us before and after the peaks of the mythic Sixties. His potential realized and squandered serves as cautionary tale, or legend.

[Andrew Petty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting look into Jerry’s life from the perspective of many around him. I wish they would have gotten interviews from the band, that probably would have pushed this to a 5 star.

[Mark Nenadov · Rating 3 out of 5]

Garcia was a man of immense talent and magnetism, who ultimately destroyed himself.. but not in an instant as many stars have, but slowly. This was an OK read but I think it didn’t live up to its potential. It’s a really neat concept, build a biography through anecdotes shared from people who surrounded the person. The approach certainly gives a layered view and prevents one slant from easily dominating the narrative. As unique and compelling as it is in that sense the result was a bit underwhelming in some senses. At times there was a fair bit of a tabloid vibe. I found it odd that so little of the content came from those who performed with Garcia for 30 years (nothing from Phil Leah, for instance, and very little If anything from the others) and yet tons of space is devoted to the children of his fellow band members. It may that the band members were unwilling to talk, but I still see it as a flaw in composition. Reading this you definitely get a feel for Garcia both at his best and his scraping-the-bottom worst, warts and all, for all this book’s flaws it does give a very nuanced, textured look at an enigmatic and complicated musician. Side note: John Perry Barlow refers to Thomas Aquinas In one of his anecdotes. Didn’t see that one coming!

[Lysergius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark Star reveals Jerry Garcia through the eyes of those closest to him: the ex-wives and lovers who lost him to the road, the close friends who watched him battle a long-running heroin habit, the children of fellow members of the Grateful Dead and the musicians who looked up to him as a guru. Together these voices present a striking portrait of a compelling artist - psychedelic guru, addict, outlaw, and rock'n'roll icon.

This is an interesting approach to biography, and it produces a pleasing multi-faceted view of the subject.

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

meh

[Gloria Squitiro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really fantastic book!

There’s a backstory to this review: My husband was mayor of a large city, so I have the most minuscule taste of what it’s like to be recognized on the street. Little nothing me helped run his grassroots campaign. And because he was a populist, I could actually feel the prayers of those who wanted him in office.

Now, for the review: I was moved by many things in this biography, but my favorite passage came from Randy Baker.

“The most likely way for Jerry to die would have been from something sudden. I think he might have been able to rally and recuperate from anything that was lingering, in part because of the number of people who would pray for him when he was ill.”

I believe Baker is spot on. More, I sure hope that our beloved Jerry Garcia was ready to cross over – and I sure hope the reports are correct that he had a smile on his face when he did. That would make me feel so much better, especially considering all the joy and comfort that I am still bestowed with from his soul having been on this earth.

Thanks, Mr. Greenfield for a wonderful read. Wishing you all things wonderful.

Gloria Squitiro: A First Lady of Kanas City and author of May Cause Drowsiness and Blurred Vision: The Side Effects of Bravery

[Patrick Wikstrom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in 1996 shortly after Jerrys death the author/compiler has interviewed many folks involved in Jerry’s life. Conspicuously missing are several members of the band and others I know were close to him. Many of the folks who are quoted multiple times seem like bit players in the tragic saga. Fired staffers and some of the girlfriends and wives seem to be airing their grudges.
Chronologically laid out the mostly paragraph to single page remembrances from the interviewees take us through the various stages of Jerry’s wonderfully rich journey through a period of time which shaped a large part of American culture and society. I followed the Dead in my youth and have read extensively about the man, the band, and the times and I gathered lots of interesting tidbits of his history and a few insights into his character at different times in his life. Worth reading if you’re one of us who is still in mourning 27 years after his death. 3*** - But if you’re looking for a really well crafted definitive book about Jerry try my five star pick: Garcia (An American Life) by Blair Jackson

[Brian Manby · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for any Deadhead. Jerry was a fascinatingly complicated person in an even more complex time and place, with fame foisted upon him that he neither wanted nor believed he deserved. His humility is admirable, though it was probably a fatal flaw that engendered emotional discomfort and neglect for his health and family. It’s yet another somber chronicle of a rockstar’s demise and decision to self-destruct, but it’s important to learn and understand that the Grateful Dead was not all Sunshine Daydreams, Sugar Magnolias, and Other Times/Forgotten Spaces.

Ironically, it’s one of the only rockstar biographies I’ve ever read that inspires introspection and self-reflection, which only enhanced my appreciation for it.

[Duco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very insightful in the person Garcia was. Close aquaintances and not so close aquaintances that feel a little trivial to be included, but okay. It forms a fly on the wall perspective to the person Jerry Garcia, and not so much -partly- on the idolised person.

You are getting the raw version. The human that disappoints, strugles, makes his own way and see the flaws that both made him and caused his demise in the end.

[Brennan Donnellan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This remains one of my favorite books about Jerry. The oral biography format includes excerpts from interviews with nearly everyone connected to Jerry and the Dead, arranged to tell the story chronologically. It's an unusual format for a biography, but I find this book more evocative and human than many conventional biographies. It's especially interesting how details and perspectives can vary from person to person, depending on who is doing the talking.

[Allan Heron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but ultimately unsatisfying oral biography of Garcia. It rather assumes a wider knowledge of his music as this is only covered in the most tangential of ways.

As such, there's no context to underpin the tale being told by those who knew him, or to get a sense of why he was so loved. As it is, why he was so loved will leave the less-interested reader somewhat bemused.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wonderful way to learn about Jerry Garcia's life! The interview transcripts were clipped and organized nicely to give an intimate look at the development of his musical career and personal flaws. As well-done as this oral biography is, it would have been better to have more voices from the other band members, since it's clear that they were a really insular group (for better or worse).

[Adam Swift · Rating 3 out of 5]

First half is pretty solid, and I understand this was done pretty much in the immediate aftermath of Garcia's death, but having five pages total on the making of American Beauty and Workingman's Dead, pretty much nothing on any other albums, and about 50 dragged out pages about every medical and drug issue he had in the last year of his life at the end of the book is a pretty major bummer.

[Ross Warner]

Robert Greenfield also wrote an excellent book on the Stones' 1972 Exile tour. This was great as was his book on Bill Graham. It's not easy to include the right quotes to tell a story via oral history and Greenfield nails it.

[Melodie Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing collection of interviews that account for Jerry Garcia's life. It gave details that showed the good, bad, and ugly.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

[Eduardo Castro Uprimny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Para los que somos fans de Grateful Dead y en especial de Jerry Garcia, encontraremos una gran historia de como se desarrolló la vida de él.

[Neddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the speakers are awful. Jerry’s wives come across as totally pretentious and self absorbed: everything that happens is so meaningful and significant

[Murph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read for Deadheads. I learned a few things. No spoilers, but we all know how it ends.

[Seamus Roniger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Real

A good insight of music history from the mouths of the people who were there. I got to know someone who played a major role in the United States of America.

[Jay Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read a ton of books on the Grateful Dead over the years. This one provided more insight into his later years, specifically his struggles with heroin addiction, than any other one I've read.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a sad story of a troubled life.

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just incredible.

[Elizabeth Giustina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting subject and the delivery method . Too choppy for me.