–The SF Examiner
Deadheads: Stories from Fellow Artists, Friends & Followers of the Grateful Dead (Skyhorse Publishing, $16.99) Gentlemen (and gentlewomen), start your engines. Those with the real story, who were there from the band’s earliest days as a jug band to Jerry Garcia’s death 20 years ago, remember what it was like to witness one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time rise to stardom. Grateful Dead lyricist John Perry Barlow, Cajun chef Rick Begneaud, and John Popper of Blues Traveler are some of the storytellers. First-show revelations, backstage adventures, parking lot hoopla, how-to-live-life philosophies, strange tangential experiences stemming from being in that certain place at that certain time—these intriguing anecdotes evoke wonderful images, lots of smiles, and a close look into a fascinating phenomenon in the history of music.