The Dead

This book goes beneath everything you know about Mother Mcrees uptown jug champions, the Warlocks, the New Riders, the Pranksters, and anything else that the Dead spawned, or spawned the Dead. Cassady, Kesey, Mountain Girl...it's got the whole bunch. I highly recommend this book to any DeadHead, just to test your knowledge, or to a casual Dead listener, to inform them, it's a great read.

It's interesting to see how the book is dedicated to "Coutney,Nana and the boys at the Bohemian Club". Little did Hank know in 1980 that his daughter Courtney would wind up with Mr.Cobain, who would give the Gratful Dead a big thumbs down. Funny how life is, although the Dead and Cobain both 'blew thier brains out', Cobain did it litteraly. Maybe if Kurt read the Chapter "Encountering Neal" he might have understood what Cassady meant when he told everybody to "always keep that light lit,your candle can snuff itself,man....you can lose the wick and f*** over the candle so it can't work." Anyway,when I first read the book,I got this sense Mr.Harrison was under the care of Dr. Feelgood while he wrote. It gave me a sense of 'You Had To Be There......',that's why I read it so many times until it finally set in. It's a book for real purists. It made one out of me.