Searching for the Sound: My Life with the Grateful Dead
In this ruthlessly honest bestseller, the bass player for the greatest improvisational band in American history tells the full, true story of his life, Jerry Garcia, and the Grateful Dead. of photos.
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The bass player for the greatest improvisational band in American history tells the full, true story of his life, Jerry Garcia, and the Dead.Phil Lesh first met Jerry Garcia in 1959 in the clubs of East Palo Alto, California. At Garcia's suggestion, Lesh learned to play the electric bass, joining him in a new band that blendedR&B, country, and rock and roll with an experimental fervor never before heard. Now, in time for the Grateful Dead's 40th anniversary, Phil Lesh offers the first behind-the-scenes history of the Dead—a story no one will ever know as he does. From their first gigs to the legendary Acid Tests, in San Francisco's Summer of Love, at Woodstock, Monterey, Altamont, and the Pyramids, the Dead have been in the center of rock's defining moments. Phil Lesh tells what it has been like to live at the heart of this whirlwind, making uncompromisingly original musicwith bandmates Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Pigpen, Mickey Hart, and especially Jerry Garcia, the charismatic, enigmaticsoul of the band. He tells the stories behind songs like Dark Star, Friend of the Devil, Truckin', and his legendary composition Box of Rain. And in intimate detail, Leshdescribes what it was like to storm heaven night after night—and the price he and others have paid, up to and following Jerry Garcia's tragic death in 1995. SEARCHING FOR THE SOUND is a ruthlessly honest look inside one of thegreatest American bands, written with humor, intelligence,and a deep affection that only Phil Lesh himself could provide. Author Biography: Phil Lesh has been the bass player for the Dead since their formation in 1965. He lives in California. The New York Times - Dave Itzkoff Through it all, Lesh proves to be as capable and enthusiastic a writer as he is a musician; whether he's describing the ''immense, turbulent, Druidic'' snoring of Jerry Garcia, the ''saber-toothed crotch cricket'' hum of the Woodstock sound system or a roadtrip travel game called ''Radio I-Ching,'' he consistently exhibits a peculiar and poetic fondness for language, transforming what could have been a routine exercise in nostalgia into a work as graceful and sublime as a box of rain.
Searching for the Sound\ \ By Phil Lesh \ Little, Brown\ Copyright © 2005 Phil Lesh\ All right reserved. \ ISBN: 0-316-00998-9 \ \ \ Chapter One\ I have always considered myself a very lucky man. I've been married for more than twenty years to a woman who loves me as passionately as I love her, and with whom I have developed a level of trust and companionship that I never dreamed existed. We are rearing two fine sons, both growing up straight and strong and loving. I survived hepatitis C and a liver transplant. I was born an only child but found my true brothers through the art of music and a series of improbable coincidences. I am blessed with the joy of earning my way by doing something I love-something that is so deep it can never be boring, or run out of challenges. \ Music can define life itself, and it has indeed defined my life. In life, as in art, there are recurring themes, transpositions, repetitions, unexpected developments, all converging to define a form that's not necessarily apparent until its ending has come and gone.\ I was awakened to the power of music early in life, through the magic of radio broadcasts and by listening to my father play, from memory, his favorite tunes on the piano. Music saved me from the worst effects of adolescent angst, partly by giving me a very real sense of accomplishment. It led me into a quest for knowledge and wisdom, for the cultural, artistic, historical, and religious context of the work that moved me so much. It has clarified my feelings as my father lay dying, kept me company in the early light of day as I fed my newborn sons, soothed and transported me during life-threatening illness and surgery, and brought me illimitable joy as I watched thousands of dancers surge and spin to the music flowing through my band.\ The Grateful Dead has always been collectively dedicated to many ideals: family, community, freedom, risk-taking-but for me it was always the music. With all its ups and downs, it's an exhilarating experience to improvise-onstage and in life-with one's fellow humans, who after forty years of living, working, disagreeing, and completing one another's thoughts musically and conversationally, are connected by a bond that's "thicker than blood," as Bob Weir likes to say.\ (Continues...)\ \ \ \ \ Excerpted from Searching for the Sound by Phil Lesh Copyright © 2005 by Phil Lesh. Excerpted by permission.\ All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.\ Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site. \ \
\ Dave ItzkoffThrough it all, Lesh proves to be as capable and enthusiastic a writer as he is a musician; whether he's describing the ''immense, turbulent, Druidic'' snoring of Jerry Garcia, the ''saber-toothed crotch cricket'' hum of the Woodstock sound system or a roadtrip travel game called ''Radio I-Ching,'' he consistently exhibits a peculiar and poetic fondness for language, transforming what could have been a routine exercise in nostalgia into a work as graceful and sublime as a box of rain.\ — The New York Times\ \ \ \ \ Publishers WeeklyGrateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh has written the memoir one might have expected: energetic and flawed, but sure to be loved by fans. Lesh joined the band's original members-Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzman and "Pigpen" Ron McKernan-in 1965 and helped morph the legendary outfit from its beginnings as a jug band to the unique, psychedelic improvisational jam band that spawned arguably the most loyal, iconic audience in popular music history: the Deadheads. What a long, strange trip it was. For 30-plus years, from being the house band for Ken Kesey's acid tests to stadium tours in the 1980s and '90s, the band pioneered a new paradigm for musicians, operating as an extended, albeit dysfunctional, family. Along the way, three keyboardists died, two managers robbed the band, bad deals were signed, massive debt was accrued and drug and alcohol problems flared. In 1995, the trip finally ended (or did it?), when Garcia died. Lesh infuses his prose with his wacky personality, which is endearing, but also maddening, especially when he's rendering acid trips or discussing music. Indeed, many fans who twirled ecstatically at Dead shows will struggle to follow Lesh's extended explanations of the band's compositions. Also, the second half of the band's life gets short shrift. Nevertheless, Deadheads will surely celebrate Lesh's honest, intimate remembrances. (Apr.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.\ \ \ Library JournalAt last! A member of the Grateful Dead speaks out. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.\ \
