Customer Reviews

Garcia : An American Life

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It turns out that writing books about The Grateful Dead is a lot like writing books about the Beatles; highly speculative, frequently pointless and ultimately frustrating, unless you're somebody like Ken Kesey or Ed McClanahan, writers who were there with the Dead from the start and speak the language. That said, Blair Jackson gets as close as anyone totally caught in the Dead's warp can to writing a definitive book on Garcia. Jackson's Deadhead banter sometimes gets in the way of, you know, communicating about why the rest of us should consider Jerry Garcia one of the greats. Mind you, I think he is, but the proof is ultimately in listening to one of the Dead's many live albums (and some of the studio ones as well) or Garcia's other records and HEARING why, not reading much of what's here. What IS worth the time is the extensive discography Jackson has at the end, which is a reliable signpost for what a non-Deadhead fan or a Dead newbie might find worth the time and money.

In sum, a good book for Deadheads or Dead admirers, not so great if you don't know what the fuss is/was about...but want to.

Blair Jackson had the opportunity to write the definitive biography of Jerry Garcia but faltered when Garcia's history (and his bandmates)became difficult.Jackson aims for the old Garcia as Buddha schtick without ever coming to grips with the contradictions and complexities of this mans life.
How is it that Jackson can provide us with intimate details of Garcias childhood but then skims over the years from 1974 to 1976 a period of intense creativity for Garcia. It is at this point in the book that Jackson changes direction and his book becomes an "authourised biography" and Garcia deserves better than that.

Rock Scully in his book "Living with the Dead" captures the mood of the Grateful Dead and indeed the spirit of the Grateful Dead with clarity and ease, Jackson could have learned a thing or two from that book .Instead he takes Scully to task as to the accuracy of his book( although he fails to mention why he never cleared those issues up on the two occasions he interviewed Scully for this book).

The second half of this book tells us more in its ommissions than its content,and again Scully and other writers were not afraid to suffer the wrath of the various personalities involved.I was not expecting an extended gossip column but I actually expected Jackson to clarify issues not ignore them.

Garcia was of course a complex individual and my main complaint with this book is its one dimensional portrayal of the man,his music ( often discussed here in terms of record sales and concert attendances) and his life.

In all a good book but it should have been a great one.

Blair Jackson's biography of Jerry Garcia is fascinating. "An American Life" is a particularly appropriate title because of the breadth of Jerry's musical influences. The chapters dealing with Jerry's early days as a bluegrass banjoist were especially interesting. Jerry clearly embraced the entire gamut of American music, including mountain music, folk, jazz, blues and gospel. Mix all of these ingredients with a healthy batch of rock and roll and you have the Grateful Dead.

Jackson writes rhapsodically of the Dead's role in the psychedelic period of the 60's, and brilliantly brings that era back to life. The exploits of Neal Cassady, Ken Kesey, and the Merry Pranksters and their relationship with Jerry is a highlight of the book. The tales of Jerry's drug use are harrowing. His life took a downward spiral when cocaine and heroin replaced marijuana and LSD as his drugs of choice. Nevertheless, his passion for music and performing was undiminished. Jerry's all encompassing heart, soul, and spirit animated his music and transcended his physical being.

The book also includes a very informative "complete" discography along with the author's rating of each recording and very brief analyses of the music. The discography includes the Dead, JGB, solo projects, and highlights from Jerry's guest appearances on albums released by other artists.

Blair Jackson's writing style is highly readable and fully capable of projecting the reader into each scene from Jerry's life that he so vividly describes.

Highly recommended for anyone who loves Jerry Garcia and his music.

Finally a book that shows Garcia in all his human-ness. A must for anyone who wants to dig deep into the history of The Grateful Dead. The book is written in such a way as to present Garcia objectively without a lot of fluff about the mystical heights the music brought us. Kudos to Jackson for making Garcia a real person.

For anyone who has been to a Grateful Dead show, the phrase, "there's nothing quite like a Dead concert" was as much a truism as "chances are pretty good that the sun will in fact rise tomorrow." Jackson's biography of the band leader (as this book makes clear, Jerry Garcia was the leader of the Group, as he was the leader of all of his side projects) explains clearly and insightfully the tremendous amount of energy that was put into their shows to ensure the uniqueness of each concert. Jackson also describes (but can't really explain) the almost bipolar nature of Jerry Garcia's personal life that led him to a life of drug abuse and heartless infidelity while at the same time being very lucid about his ideals. He was always clear about what he saw the band doing but was unable to envision a happy life for himself. The historical references are often interesting but there is an exhaustive discussion of his funeral at the end of the book and there's a lot of gossip that perhaps could have been deleted. I suppose there are people that like that kind of stuff.

I spent a good portion of my youth going to Dead shows. There was always something special about seeing the Dead live. I was saddened by Jerry Garcia's untimely (but not really unexpected) demise.

Jerry Garcia was one of the seminal figures of psychedelic rock as well as an outstanding guitarist. He was also a complex and troubled man. Blair Jackson has managed to write a very balanced and professional biography of Garcia. This is the best biography of Garcia that I have read. Several others try to gloss over the drug problems and personal troubles. Blair Jackson conveys the ambiguities of this great artist.

There is a lot of insight into Garcia's personal development as a musician. It is great to see how he assimilated different influences to establish his own musical style and identity. One thing Jackson clearly illustrates is the incredible level of dedication and love Garcia had for the music.

Jerry Garcia was an iconic figure in American music. He had the most dedicated fan base in the country if not the world. He was also haunted by demons that he could not overcome. Blair Jackson has achieved a difficult task in portraying Garcia as a musical genius who was ultimately too weak to overcome his many human flaws.

The Grateful Dead have meant a lot to a small but fanatically loyal group, and this book documents their heart and soul, Jerry Garcia. The author is a big fan, so this isn't one of those "Expose all" bio's that have become the rage of late in the music business -- but rather a serious look at Garcia and the band. If the Dead are your thing, you can't go wrong here, and Jackson's insider knowledge is inciteful.

This isn't just for so-called "Deadheads". Mr. Jackson has very accuratly subtitled this book "An American Life". In this regard this is also a well documented tour of the '60's ( and the counter-revolution which follows to this day) with the agonizing theme of a wonderfully rich and exquisite life that ended all too soon. The scenery is wonderfully rich and evokes numerous memories to this reader. A description of a Dead concert near the end of their amazing run I found compelling: Phil Lesh describes riotous "fans" breaching the wall of a concert. It brought to mind the last days of the Alamo. Truly, the Dead were our last bastion against the current corporate oppression and anti-intellectualism which we now take for granted. The Grateful Dead was, for many of us, the garage band for the "movement" such as it existed in those wonderful days. As a final note: I had extreme difficulty reading the last 50 pages. I would put the book down to take very long walks on the beach, reflecting on all our lives as we evolved from the '60's. As it was, I could not read the final few pages dealing with Mr. Garcia's estate matters. It was just all too much. Thank you kindly Mr. Blair Jackson. You have provided us with a sentimental yet honest portrait of an artist and a man, truly of his times. And finally, thank you Jerry. I feel like we all just used you up.

Blair Jackson's book is excellent. It's frustrating that we'll never have more information on Jerry's motivations (especially his darker ones) because he didn't give many interviews on personal topics, particularly in later years, didn't keep a journal, and there wasn't a correspondence file available, but Jackson has found as good a collection of points-of-view and quotes from others on that topic as will likely be found. Overall, Jackson has looked at everything, it seems, and rendered an informed, insightful and pretty objective (for such a passionate fan) review. Jackson flushes out the whole picture in great detail. (He also has, on-line, a couple of hundred pages that he had to cut, which I've read, for further enjoyment.) Members of the band or Hunter may write books (I doubt anyone but Hunter or maybe Hart will), that will undoubtedly add insights and anecdotes, but the Jackson book, I believe, will be the long-standing biography. Blair Jackson delivered the goods, didn't disappoint and makes a great contribution.

The Dead were Garcia and Garcia was The Dead. They are inseparatable. Jackson's book digs deeper into Garcia's life and that of the band than any other book on the same topic. Reaction to the dead was binary -- you either loved them or you hated them. This book is clearly for the former. The latter won't care and won't get it. We all still miss Jerry and The Dead. Jackson has forged an earnest and winning attempt so that we can remember him, and them outside their music -- which will live forever.