Couldn’t put it down! Detailed accounts of vignettes and moments with one of my all-time favorite bands made this one a joy to read. Thanks for taking us into your world, and the world of the Dead, Steve Parish!

Good Easy Read

Steve gave good i sight into what it was like being in the crew. He also offer glimpses as to the personalities of the band members with a lot of focus on Jerry.

fascinating. Drags at some points like most music autobio’s go but makes up for it with a cool tour story. Read the entire thing in Big Steve’s voice

Love Big Steve...

This book is actually something I looked forward to a great deal although I did not encounter it until it was on library shelves. As the minder (in many ways) for Garcia's instruments for over 25 years, Parish relates the tale of how he came to work for the band, the many psychological tests and torments, and the joys which sometimes seemed fleeting, but left him with the knowledge that he kept his integrity about himself while working in a high-pressure and often tense atmosphere.
I was lucky enough to meet Steve on a night I was introduced (by him) to the Dead's female vocalist, Mrs. Donna Godchaux (I didn't meet her husband Keith that evening, although we shared an interesting time that night as well) and the Jerry Garcia Band's then manager, Richard Loren. (And happily enough, had a brief encounter with the man himself, on his way out to his car afterward). I had often heard about this supposed "fierce personality" of Parish's, but I never saw any evidence of the truth in the way I was personally treated, as a fan and hanger-on. He really is a warm person, but the pressure of their working situation is that there's an awful lot of crap the band generally had -(has)- to go through just to be able to get up on stage- and the crew were no exception. If you minded yourself and kept out of the way, then they were all too happy to have you around (or, as my friend TC once put it, in a different context, "They were as happy to have me there as I was to be there!") and the evening itself remains one of my fondest memories from the years I managed to stick to my guns as a die-hard Garcia loyalist.
It also dwells - and this was where he and I really saw eye to eye- on the frustrations of having to deal with Jerry's recalcitrant and intractable heroin problem. As his daughter Annabelle put it, "in those days, you really had to walk on eggs around him." A lot of things I might have said- or did, in fact, in a friendly letter, as he recovered from his diabetic coma incident- could not be said to his face, and the effort the entire band went through to try and get him to leave off and garner real concern for his life and health are documented here. If anyone could make you laugh or cry, it was Garcia, dead or alive, and this book is a very special testimony from the inside of the all-too-attractive GD whirlpool. As Mrs. Godchaux (I think) once said, "the Grateful Dead has an ability to suck people in in ways that are sometimes harmful to them." Not all of us bought "the need for" the Persian just because JG did, Steve amongst them. I am grateful to him for all the years he gave the best of himself- and empathize deeply with the personal losses he also recounts herein- as well as for that particular night I shared with the JGB in Palo Alto. Read it and figure things for yourself. There will never be another Grateful Dead - nor another Jerry Garcia. And this book gets you at least, a little bit further into understanding a few of the reasons they (and no others!) became the premier survivor rock and roll band in the USA.

Yet again, I am blown away by a memoir!

I should note that prior to this book and aside from the name and the Ben and Jerry's tribute, I had no knowledge of The Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia's contribution to the music scene of the 60s and the counterculture era. This detailed account of life on the road and all of the sacrifices, along with the rewards and repercussions that come from such a life are all very well documented and told by its narrator.

Needless to say, if you're a fan of 60's rock or the history of the 60s, then I highly recommend this book.

5/5

Listened to this book. I kept wishing that Steve Parrish had been the narrator. That being said, it provides an important piece of the history of the Grateful Dead.

Being married to an ol' Deadhead from way back when who doesn't like to read, I had to read this for him - ha! Sure, I became a deadhead too - it rubbed off on me, especially after attending my first Dead concert, but I do love their music - still. This book is written by one of their roadies and from what Rolling Stone mag said "official loudmouth for the Dead's crew". Figured this book would be good. It is AND it has some great photos! This book gives you the behind stage goin-ons and you learn more than you really want to know about your favorite band.

I love the Grateful Dead and really appreciate this insightful view of Jerry Garcia from his best friend and manager. I must admit I was getting worn down from the darkness and devastation of Jerry’s heroin addiction, but Steve Parish lifted the end of the book to great heights and respectful remembrance. I love hearing about those early days when the band was full-heartedly searching for the lost chord. “Fare you well, my honey. Fare you well, my only true one. All the birds that were singing, have flown except you alone.”

As a younger deadhead who listens to Steve on the radio, but never had the pleasure of seeing Jerry live, this was a magical trip of memories, realities and tragedies. I learned so much and feel blessed to look in the window of Steve's life on the road with my favorite storyteller.

steve had some wonderful insights about what was going on behind the show of the dead...sadly, he did use it to bash a few folks, understandably, but again, this was a great way to peek behind the curtain if you can skim the having the last say parts..

Parish is a wonderful story teller, down to earth and real.