[tigerstrat]

In every Dead book ive read there has been no mention of him. In the Illustrated Trip the only mention is a 2 sentence box about him being manager for like a week. He talks about up close encounters which im sure never happened. Involving Jerry too

He must be referring to Harrison here. He's obviously can't be talking about Pig.

But to respond in the correct context, HH was a member of the crew for a number of years, and I'm sure he experienced a lot of "the life" with them, and I'm sure he knew everyone in the band at least in working the tours. Some of the other crewmembers who were around for just as long or longer only get brief mentions in some of the books too, some even less. He's also responsible for giving us Courtney Love

[Django]

Tennesee you about made me spew coffee! Very funny.
I've owned 'signpost' for most of my life. The first half is the rolling stone interview and the second a more personal conversation with the author of the RS interview, Charles Reich. Some one said earlier that the author was trying too hard to be cool etc. But I don't think it was contrived, he was earnestly trying to find answers to his own soul searching and got a little high and Garcia was gentle with him although a bit amused, I think. Overall it is a positive read.

[Shaggy]

Hank Harrison is a loser and most of what he says is bullshit. Don't buy any book he claims to have written.

His involvement in and with Grateful Dead is very minimal and isn't really worth noting.

McNally's Long Strange Trip is a fine read.
Blair's book on Jerry
Phil's
Rock Scully's is interesting!
Even Steve Parish's book is a decent read.

[jck_strw]

I have quite a few dead-related books. In no particular order:

The American Book of the Dead--Oliver Trager
Eh...nothing interestingly new. Kindof boring actually.

Skeleton Key - A Dictionary for Deadheads--David Shenk & Steve Silberman
This was the book that got me hooked on the Dead funnily enough. Very interesting read. I would rate this in the top 5.

Dark Star - An Oral Biography of Jerry Garcia--Robert Greenfield
This was good. Basically a compendium of interview snippets/quotes from people talking about Jerry.

A Long Strange Trip--Dennis McNally
Really good book...for the first half. Spends lots of time on the beginnings, the 70s and the early 80s. And then it's like an Albert Brooks movie, no second half. It just ends. Great book until it ends and then you're like, where's the other half? Still the quality/info makes it a top 5.

Living with the Dead--Rock Scully
Another top 5. Great behind the scenes stuff (true or otherwise). Decadence at its finest. I've read this book more than any other besides Skeleton Key.

Captain Trips-A Biography of Jerry Garcia--Sandy Troy
Bland. Nothing special. Only read once or twice.

Garcia An American Life--Blair Jackson
Excellent. The definitive Jerry biography. Top 5.

Conversations with the Dead--David Gans
Good stuff. Lots of different interviews with various members (including Bear). Did tend to get bogged down a bit at times though.

Garcia (Rolling Stone retrospective)--Rolling Stone editors
Reprints of Dead articles in RS. Good stuff if you like RS.

Grateful Dead Illustrated Trip
Fantastic book. My number 1. It's bulky and it's not like a normal book. But it's absolutely packed with rare photos, snippets, etc. Awesome stuff in there.

Searching for the Sound--Lesh Philling
Good book. A little lightweight. I expected a little bit more, but it's a good book.

Garcia: A Signpost to New Space--Jerry Garcia, Jann Wenner, Charles Reich
Great book. An interview and an afternoon conversation with Jerry (and some MG). I stole this (inadvertently) from a library. Lots of tangents and philosophy type stuff in the second half.

Home Before Daylight: My Life on the Road with the
Grateful Dead--Steve Parish
Another good decadent, behind the scenes stuff. But Rock already wrote the better book about this.

Sweet Chaos: The Grateful Dead's American Adventure--Carol Brightman
Boring as shit. I don't know that I actually finished this. Very little Dead stuff, which I expected, but still the stuff she has to say is boring.[/b]

[BlobWeird]

Umm well Pigpen and Janis werent exactly NOT close either. I mean they were pretty tight man

I think it's in the annotated lyrics that in LLR did you ever wake unto the sound of street cats makin love . . . .was inspired by Pig and Janis

If im not mistaken I read that out of the Illustrated Trip

[Shaggy]

Garcia (Rolling Stone retrospective)--Rolling Stone editors
Reprints of Dead articles in RS. Good stuff if you like RS.

Excellent book. It contains my all time favorite photo of Jerry. The one of him sitting at a restaurant table.