Fifty years ago, a motley crew of Bay Area musicians came together from diverse backgrounds — classical music, jugbands, bluegrass — and formed the group that would become The Grateful Dead. From their decades on the road and unique sound to the community that grew around them, they were quite simply one of America’s most influential bands whose imprint is still felt today.
For the band that always had one more Saturday night, the golden road is ending in Chicago, site of its last concert with Jerry Garcia in 1995, for three final concerts dubbed “Fare Thee Well.”
With Deadheads looking forward and backward this summer, author David Browne is out with a new history of the band called So Many Roads: The Life and Times of the Grateful Dead. We last spoke four years ago upon the publication of his previous book Fire and Rain. Browne says he delved deep into the world of dancing bears in the time since.
