So Many Roads: The Life and Times of the Grateful Dead

So Many Roads from David Brown of Rolling Stone magazine is another fascinating telling of the history of The Grateful Dead. This is one of many books about the iconic band that was a symbol for some of the 1960s that survived in a sometimes brutal world. However, band members would argue they were much more than just a 1960s group and that they have changed with the times. They have also spawned a cult phenomenon like none ever seen before. It is hard to find a band that explored so many musical venues for changing times and found such a following.

The chapters are organized around milestones in the members’ careers with the band, which turns fifty years old this year. Most of the story is about the influence of Jerry Garcia, who left us early in August of 1995. The band did go on to reinvent themselves and form other groups, and while there was internal friction at times, most of the story is about the glory days of Garcia. There is also another story about the band’s ability to put itself back together again after loss and tragedy. Not all the players survived, and Brown called them “badass.” This book is a great way to understand them.