Deadhead Social Science: You Ain't Gonna Learn What You Don't Want to Know

by Rebecca G. Adams (Editor), Robert Sardiello (Editor)

Deadhead Social Science is a collection of papers examining various aspects of the complex subculture surrounding the rock band, the Grateful Dead. Deadheads, as Grateful Dead fans are called, followed the band from venue to venue until the band announced their dissolution in December of 1995 and have continued to follow bands including various surviving members of the Grateful Dead since then. Deadhead Social Science addresses the What is a Deadhead? How does a Deadhead identity evolve? Why would a person choose an identity that would be viewed negatively by a larger society? Why are Deadheads viewed negatively by the larger society? Is the Deadhead community a popular religion? How did a rock band develop a religious following? The book also examines the music, the role of vendors, and the reaction by "host" communities to the Grateful Dead and its following. One key theme in Deadhead Social Science is the interconnections among teaching, research, and personal interests written from a variety of social science disciplinary traditions.

300 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

More observational than historic in the writing/thinking, and more historic than detached in terms of context. All the writers were/are student sociologists from Rebecca Adams' 1989 Deadhead Social Science class--natives, for the most part--and there doesn't seem to be much awareness of Deadheads in the bigger picture of American counterculture. A valuable document, especially the chapters on the Spinners & analysis of newspaper/community reaction to Dead tour, but it helps to be both a Deadhead & an academic.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to add this to my books, as I wrote Chapter 9!