Summer of Love: The Inside Story of LSD, Rock & Roll, Free Love and High Times in the Wild

"Summer of Love" may have been a bit over the top with it's tabloid style coverage of the rise and fall of the San Francisco music scene, but it was a fun read. Author Joel Selvin does have his facts straight and seldom misspeaks on this insider's account of bands like the Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead and Quicksilver Messenger Service. Selvin devotes a fair amount of coverage of the Bill Graham organization and the Family Dog, the primary promoters of live music in the old ballrooms of San Francisco. That coverage is justified because it is doubtful that this music would have found a national audience without the vibrant live music scene in the Fillmore and Avalon ballrooms. And it is all there: Quicksilver's obsession with firearms; the Lovin' Spoonful's narking out on the manager of the improv group, the Committee; Janice Joplin's turbulent love life; Marty Balin's courageous attempts to diffuse the violence at Altamont, the internal bickering of the Grateful Dead which lead them to serve "walking papers" to Pig Pen and Bob Weir for not having enough musical talent, and Bill Graham's fisticuffs with just about anyone who disagreed with him. If you loved the music of Haight-Ashbury, you will enjoy "Summer of Love." Oh by the way, the expression "summer of love" was just a media label for the San Francisco music phenomena and I think some of the other critics have taken the book title too literally.

For as long as I can remember, I've been entranced by the music of Janis, Jerry...all the greats. Though I wasn't able to live through these crazy times, "Summer of Love" transported me back in time...almost to the point where I felt I was actually there for some of the madness. Joel Selvin definitely delivers with the true stories of the rises and falls of the likes of Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and many more. This is a must read for anyone with a true love of the peace/love time period.

Joel Selvin is a great reporter and a great writer who was on the scene and knows this story better than anybody. I'd recommend this book to anybody -- even to people who don't like rock and roll.

This book was not only informative but interesting as well. Selvin goes into incredible details about those rock stars who shaped us and our taste in music. For those of us growing up in the Generation X mold, learning about the greats of rock and roll gives us a kind of legacy that we can fall back onto when the rock of today gets unbearable. Never again will we be graced by the likes of Janis Joplin or Jerry Garcia. But through Selvin's book, we are able to catch a glimps of life behind the stage at our rock icons.