Low Price Guarantee
We Take School POs
Sweet Chaos: The Grateful Dead's American Adventure
Contributor(s): Brightman, Carol (Author)

View larger image

ISBN: 0671011170     ISBN-13: 9780671011178
Publisher: Gallery Books
OUR PRICE: $21.84  

Binding Type: Paperback - See All Available Formats & Editions
Published: September 1999
Qty:

Annotation: San Francisco's Grateful Dead brought its psychedelic blend of folk, bluegrass, and blues to the 1960s counterculture, along with a romance for the Beats and a love of anarchy that made it something more than a band. Without radio play and virtually unnoticed by the press, the Dead forged a vast underground following whose loyalty survives to the present day.

National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author Carol Brightman returns to the band's roots -- to Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, the acid tests and the heady days of Haight-Ashbury, the free concerts in Golden Gate Park and the formative shows at New York's Fillmore East -- to uncover the secrets of the band's longevity. Drawing on exclusive interviews with band members, staff and crew, Deadheads, other musicians, journalists -- and her own experience as a 60s activist -- Brightman shows us how, amid the turbulent Free Speech Movement and antiwar rallies, the Grateful Dead's abandonment to music, drugs, and dance offered the faithful a shelter in the storm. Her riveting, in-depth portrait of Jerry Garcia, the "nonleader leader" who held to a vision of the Grateful Dead's destiny even as he recoiled from the juggernaut it became, shows us how it was that a Dead concert became something halfway between a revival meeting and a family reunion.

An absorbing and exhilarating exploration, SWEET CHAOS offers, at last, a complete understanding of the Dead phenomenon and its place in American culture.

Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Music | Genres & Styles - Rock
- Music | History & Criticism - General
- Social Science | Popular Culture
Dewey: 782.421
Physical Information: 1.01" H x 6.12" W x 9.25" L (0.99 lbs) 368 pages
Themes:
- Chronological Period - 1950-1999
- Chronological Period - 20th Century
Features: Bibliography, Illustrated, Index, Price on Product
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author Carol Brightman brings the Grateful Dead and their history to life in this fascinating and "cogent, intelligent look at the Dead and the structure of American culture into which they so successfully tapped" (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

San Francisco's Grateful Dead brought its psychedelic blend of folk, bluegrass, and blues to the 1960s counterculture, along with a romance for the Beats and a love of anarchy that made it something more than a bond. Without radio play and virtually unnoticed by the press, the Dead forged a vast underground following whose loyalty survives to the present day.

National Book Critics Circle Award-winning author Carol Brightman returns to the band's roots--to Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, the acid tests and the heady days of Haight-Ashbury, the free concerts in Golden Gate Park and the formative shows of New York's Fillmore East--to uncover the secrets of the band's longevity. Drawing on exclusive interviews With band members, staff and crew, Deadheads, other musicians, journalists--and her own experience as a '60s activist--Brightman shows us how, amid the turbulent Free Speech Movement and antiwar rallies, the Grateful Dead's abandonment to music, drugs, and dance offered the faithful a shelter in the storm. Her riveting, in-depth portrait of Jerry Garcia, the nonleader leader who held to a vision of the Grateful Dead's destiny even as he recoiled from the juggernaut it became, shows us how it was that a Dead concert become something halfway between a revival meeting and a family reunion.

An absorbing and exhilarating exploration, Sweet Chaos offers, at last, a complete understanding of the Dead phenomenon and its place in American culture.


Contributor Bio(s): Brightman, Carol: - Carol Brightman is the author of three books, including Writing Dangerously: Mary McCarthy and Her World, which won a National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography. She is the recipient of an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature. She lives in Walpole, Maine.
 
Customer ReviewsSubmit your own review
 
To tell a friend about this book, you must Sign In First!