Reprinted from Roots and Branches.
Let it be understood from the beginning that I am not now, nor have I ever been a Deadhead. I am not a would-be Deadhead. I never saw the Dead. I have owned about three Grateful Dead records over the years, and I wasn’t really knocked out by any of them. I watched a couple of Dead videos and found them a bit tedious. I think Jerry Garcia is an overrated guitar player, and that the rest of the band is … perhaps I had better quit right there! If these things are all true, then why would I bother reading 800 pages about Garcia? I am still fascinated by the Dead, by their entire oeuvre and especially by their instantly recognizable iconic leader.
Jerry Garcia was the ultimate hippie and part of a huge business concern. A millionaire, who didn’t care about money. A designer of men’s ties whose standard get-up was a black t-shirt and jeans. A nimble guitarist who lost a finger in a boyhood accident. A husband who was ever on the lookout for “true love.” A father who loved his children but had little time for them. A drug user. An artist. A beloved friend to those who knew him.
Blair Jackson’s biography is an in-depth study of the man and his milieu. He places Garcia into his time. He traces the flow of history, and creates a three-dimensional portrait of the man and his accomplishments. He also provides a study of the last half of the century in America, a sociological survey of contemporary music and mores.
Jackson discusses Garcia’s partnerships with his band-mates in the Grateful Dead, and with those members of the other groups Garcia played with — The Jerry Garcia Band, David Grisman, Old and In the Way, The New Riders — and shows him to be a creative and imaginative musician. People seem to have loved Garcia. They forgave him all his foibles and faults, and remember only the good times.
Garcia is quoted as saying, “For me though, [it's] not about the text, it’s about the flow of the song…I like that it’s got a sort of asymmetrical melody that’s very natural sounding.” Although he is talking about one specific song here, that quote seemed to me to capture the essence of Jerry Garcia’s ideas. His music depends on flow, more than structure, and his life was much the same. His interplay with the other musicians in all his bands and his interface with his family and friends throughout his life were like a lazy river streaming through America.
The second book, Dark Star, is a collection of interview bytes organized chronologically by author Robert Greenfield. All the usual suspects are gathered and have their say about the various aspects of Garcia’s life. I used this volume as a source book to reference the Jackson biography, and found it very helpful to get a sense of what people thought about the events Jackson was reporting. Dark Star is not a narrative in any way, but read in conjunction with Garcia, one is left with a very clear picture of who Garcia was, and what he meant to a generation.
As I said before, I am not a fan of the Grateful Dead, but reading these books caused me to listen to those albums I have in my collection with new ears. Reading Garcia’s hopes and thoughts concerning his music opened the music up to me, and gave me a new appreciation of what he was doing. Both books are recommended, but Jackson’s Garcia: An American Life is a must read.
(William Morrow & Co., 1996)
(Penguin Books, 2000)
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