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Living with the Dead: Twenty Years on the Bus with Garcia and the Grateful Dead
As a manager for the Grateful Dead, Rock Scully was with the band from its early days in San Francisco to the years it spent touring the globe as one of the most enduring legends in music history. In " Living with the Dead ," Scully gives a complete account of his outrageous experiences with the band, during years that saw the Grateful Dead transform from a folks...more
Paperback, 408 pages
Published
October 25th 2001
by Cooper Square Publishers
(first published 1995)
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This is my favorite book about the Dead. I have read several other accounts that tend to gloss over the flaws and warts of the band making the band members out as, ugh, heroes. That mythologizing and tidying up is really not what the Dead was about and always left me with a bad taste in my mouth. This account definitely shows the warts. It was written by Rock Scully who managed the band from the Acid Tests all the through the early 80's. Some people criticize the book as being factually inc...more
Niklas
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What a long strange trip. The Dead's manager for twenty plus years tells all and no one is spared not even himself. Funny, poignant look at the rise of the Grateful Dead--in his own word "the Ugliest rock-n-roll band that ever lived. The author seems to have a bit of a bone to pick with Bob weir, but otherwise comes off pretty even handed. This is the book the band didn't want you to read. Well written in the spirit of a "Merry Prankster," with many interesting snapshots of "...more
This book give the reader the WHOLE story of how Grateful Dead formed, their music, lives, loves, everything in a way that you feel part of the family, in a way. You learn about each and every band member, but most of all Jerry Garcia, the "heart" of the band, the unofficial leader. The book takes you through until Garcia's death.
This is without question the best book I've ever read about the Grateful Dead! I learned so many things about my favorite band (my favorite being the origin of Sage & Spirit). I just can't believe Rock could go into that much detail without having kept a journal of some sort. Amazing book!
David Melbie
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I borrowed it from Record City in Las Vegas where I worked.
If I remember this book correctly, it is a brutal portrait of Garcia's addiction. Scully lays it out for what it was; Garcia was a slave to his addictions. Anyway, this was fun to read, as most books about these types are for me.
entertainingly written, reasonably light-hearted, somewhat illuminating, one of the better books on the subject
ugh! By the end of this book, I was totally worn out and truly disliked Rock Scully. It could have been written in a lot fewer pages.
Garcia is lost in the German version of the Smithsonian, that's the opening of the book...
A entertaining read even if you're not really a Dead fan.
First 50 pgs quite entertaining, then it's just more of the same. Was looking for more insight into the music than a blow by blow account of various acid trips, which gets old quickly.
Eh. It's OK. Story of junkiedom, basically.
Soars and bores.
This book was way better than the other one I read. Didin't gloss over the storms, the heroin, the fights, the women and most importantly, the music.
Still a smidge heavy handed from the first-person perspective, but hey - what else do I want? Perfection?
This book taught me a lot about the dead and garcia etc... and how today isn't all that much different then 'back in the day'
I liked this book a lot better. I liked Rocks' storytelling a lot better.
Still a smidge heavy handed from the first-person perspective, but hey - what else do I want? Perfection?
This book taught me a lot about the dead and garcia etc... and how today isn't all that much different then 'back in the day'
I liked this book a lot better. I liked Rocks' storytelling a lot better.
One of the best books I have ever read about the Grateful Dead. Chalked full of wild adventures and turly strange trips, from the acid production house of owsley to the underground bars of New York City snorting giant lines of coke with on duty police officers and hells angels.
This was a gift, from Fred I think. Has some amusing parts, and is at the same time very sad because, like many great artists, Garcia had a big self-destructive streak. Pathetic at the end. All in all, I'd probably rather listen to his music than read about Garcia.
Written with the bitter tone of someone fired...from the Grateful Dead...for being a bad influence. Still, really great stories about the band and particularly Garcia and Rock still has a tone of reverence for the guy.
They were covered in LSD powder for a year!
They were covered in LSD powder for a year!
of course, there's no way to vouch for the accuracy of the stories in this book, but it is an enjoyable read for anyone into the grateful dead, their habits, and what in the hell that music came to be.
The best book (of the thousands out there) based on the life and drug-fueled days of the Grateful Dead. Fantastic read if you enjoy rock 'n roll band stories and tales.
the best rock and roll bio I ever read. so much fun. great stories that would be pretty hard to believe, then you remember it's rock and roll and everything makes sense.
Em...no. Rock talks about nothing but drugs, women, drugs, money and his own agenda after being fired from the band. He also talks a lot about drugs.
Not sure how true all this is but it is a fun read other than Jerry's problems.
Very informative from a manager's point of view.
"Dark Star" is better.
Dave Ward
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Great story!
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