Customer Reviews

Dead to the Core: An Almanack of the Grateful Dead

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The book provides some very useful and insightful information. As a veteran of some 50+ shows I learned more than I thought I would I read the book. However, it is almost like it was written in a hurry. The author should have had more friends and heads contribute to the book.

For instance, how could the writer completely overlook some of those great 1988 shows (e.g., when the Boys broke Ripple at the Cap Centre). Also, he rambled on and on about how great he thought the Maine shows were that summer. Obviously, he was there and had a great time, but those shows were just plain average at best. There was just too much subjective content and not enough input from other heads.

I also disagree with the fact that he skipped over whole periods of Dead evolution. To skip over the years 1982-84 is ludicrous. Remember this is when we heard St. Stephen again and Brent came into his own.

Also, he should have had more fact checkers. He referred to a Cap Center show in 1991 as a great one in which the Boys broke out a Stir it Up Jam for the first time, but he overlooked the Stir it Up Jam in Hampton in 1988. (Again, his review of this show baffles, because he does not even mention the Ruben & Cherise show from two nights before, which was the highlight of the four-night run at the Cap Centre that year. Obviously, he went to the show he reviewed and not the Ruben & Cherise show).

That said, if you want to read one head's subjective ramblings of his own experience mixed with some very insightful information, this is a good book. Plus, if you are building a collection, he gives some excellent suggestions for additions.

This book sneaks up on you. Is it definitive? No. Is it all-encompassing? No. Is it authoritative. No.

It is, however, a unique love letter to a unique organization. I fell in love with this book little by little, often while having a beer or ten. A feeling of old friends reminiscing about shows gone by creeps over me until I can stand no more, put the book down, and head for the tapes.

And ultimately that is the reason I recommend this book so highly. It'll make you want to taste the dead again for the first time. Or something like that...

Cheers

One of the best GD books I have had the opportunity to read. Eric Wybenga is deadhead 1st and foremost, then a writer. Writes from a familiar perspective and delves beneath the surface of Dead original and cover tunes. He successfully captures the true exhilaration and excitement experienced by "heads" about the meaning/magic that comes accross through the music and atmosphere of a Dead Show. Not merely history, Eric's work inspires the reader to rediscover some great music and memories hidden in his/her personal "vault". A very unique and well executed deviation from the "norm" established by most other books about the Dead.

It's Eric's personal opinions of dead shows, now somewhat dated. But it's fun reading if you're a deadhead. There's some "must have" shows he describes, lots of anecdotes and "oh by the ways" . He's got a lot of enthusiasm and it's clear he has the true religion.

It's a good book to pick up if you find it remaindered, or used.

I bought it new and it's dog eared, highlighted, and back broken. Obviously I liked it and kept it around.

Of all the authorized and unauthorized Dead tomes, this one is the absolute best I've come across. Concert sets, trivia, history and so much more. A LOT MORE! This is an absolute must for those who weren't around to witness the classic shows or for those of us whose memories that aren't what they used to be...

This book is an essential for both new and long-time dead tape collectors. On the newbie side, it is the best reference I have seen to this point discussing must have shows and best song versions to collect. On the long-time side, it opens up subjective discussions as to what exactly is the best show of a particular year or version of a song. At times you can't agree more with Mr. Wybenga and at others you think, how can he say that? In fact I'm about to purchase another because the first one is falling apart because I have opened it one too many times.

The title actually allready answeres the question if this book should be bought. It is a good read and it is fun to search thru the book (you can always find something interesting), it is full of more or less valid information , the only thing i have to say against this book is that it is questionable how many people are interested in the kind of information that this book provides (taping, quallity of cassetes, etc.)and that it is only apropriate for people who have been deadheads for a long time. So if you are an old deadhad and have miles on the road with the Dead behind, go on and buy the book.

In 1997 I became a Deadhead. Somehow I had never got around to listening to them. At that time I was bored with much of the current music scene and tired of all the other music in the world. I was completely jaded. The Grateful Dead were a conspicuous "missing" in my musical education, so I decided I'd find out what all the hoopla was about. (Note that Garcia had been dead for 2 years at that point. I never saw him play live.)

An acquaintance recommended a couple of CDs to check out... I did and I was totally hooked! I then went out looking for a book about the band. I needed to know more about the history of this music that was unlike anything I had heard before and still so familiar. The first book I picked up was Dead To The Core. It was a total crash course in the history and lore of the Dead all told in the vernacular of the Deadheads. I dug it tremendously!

I've since read just about every other book ever published about the Grateful Dead (and listened to every album and hundreds of show tapes) and I still think of this as an excellent introductory book. Wybenga doesn't hold your hand. He pushes you into the deep end. It's sink or swim! But these days you are easily buoyed by the availability of resources like archive.com to provide access to key reference material.

Whether you're new to the Dead or if you've been on the bus for years, check out this book. You'll enjoy it.

Lyrics from "Fire on the mountain"

"Your playinŐ cold music on the barroom floor
Drowned in your laughter and dead to the core."