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St. Martin's Press
February 2015
On Sale: January 20, 2015
ISBN: 1250010624 EAN: 9781250010629 Kindle: B00MLMSA84 Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction
For almost three decades, the Grateful Dead was America's
most popular touring band. No Simple Highway is the first
book to ask the simple question of why—and attempt to answer
it. Drawing on new research, interviews, and a fresh supply
of material from the Grateful Dead archives, author Peter
Richardson vividly recounts the Dead's colorful history,
adding new insight into everything from the acid tests to
the band's formation of their own record label to their
massive late career success, while probing the riddle of the
Dead's vast and durable appeal. Arguing that the band successfully tapped three powerful
utopian ideals—for ecstasy, mobility, and community—it also
shows how the Dead's lived experience with these ideals
struck deep chords with two generations of American youth
and continues today. Routinely caricatured by the mainstream media, the Grateful
Dead are often portrayed as grizzled hippy throwbacks with a
cult following of burned-out stones. No Simple Highway
corrects that impression, revealing them to be one of the
most popular, versatile, and resilient music ensembles in
the second half of the twentieth century. The band's history
has been well-documented by insiders, but its unique and
sustained appeal has yet to be explored fully. At last, this
legendary American musical institution is given the serious
and entertaining examination it richly deserves.
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