Grateful Dead Music Forum

Just picked up Phil's book the other day and started reading it. It's been years since I've read a book for enjoyment and once I started reading this book I couldn't stop. Has anyone else read this?

Yup. Good stuff indeed. I read that and Parish's book pretty much back to back.

Yeah it was a great book. Check out Garcia: An American Life when your done with that one.

Here's my favorite part of SFS:

flowing back and forth across that bridge: 3-dimensional musical notes-some swirling like the planet Jupiter rotating at 100 times normal speed, some like fuzzy little tennis balls with dozens of legs and feet (each foot wearing a different sock!)

Hahaha, thats a good part. my favorite part was when Phil was talking about his first time smoking grass. His buddy left him alone for a few hours with classical music playing and a jay. when the guy came back phil said something like "YOU WILL NEVER BELIEVE WHAT I'VE BEEN HEARING!!??!"

Nice Phil, nice.

I liked the passage about failing the eye test.

Looks like I'm in the minority here, but I thought it was just OK. Maybe it's because I'm so much more of a Jerry fan than a fan of the other guys (no disrespect intended). The only times I really got into Phil's book was when he was telling a story about Jerry.

Phil is a pretty good writer and it's interesting to get his version of GD history, but I just couldn't get into a book about playing bass.

wow, i'm sorry, I don't want to be negative or anything, but that last comment is kind of sad if you're calling yourself a dead head. The book was great and Phil's perspective on everything is in my mind the best way to hear about the entire history of the dead. Phil is such an interesting guy, beyond being a good bass player. Truly a good read if you're interested in the grateful dead.

wow, i'm sorry, I don't want to be negative or anything, but that last comment is kind of sad if you're calling yourself a dead head

kind of harsh there, cmon mr charlie lets give prehippie a break ;P first of all you dont have to like phils book to be a deadhead, but he never called himself a deadhead anyways

He said no disrespect, he was just more interested in jerry stories than phil's.

I think respecting peoples differences and opinions is more of a deadhead quality than preferring the bassists stories over the the guitarists stories.

But on the flip side I loved the book, and do think it is a great tale of the story of the grateful dead, and his writing is definitely colorful, to say the least.

Well said, XxRouninxX!

Yeah, I realized when i wrote what I did that it would come off as harsh, thats why i prefaced it with an apology. Either way, it was simply my opinion, and while I respect the other poster's opinion, I don't agree with it, nor do I think you have to like Phil's book to be a deadhead, that wasn't my point either. But anyway, didn't mean to offend anyone.

no worries was just sayin your post could have gone without that first sentence

I read this book once and then i reread it or selectively read it again. i thought it was great. i also loved his story of getting rejected from the army, and it was just overall a good read and very informational.

I think Phil is very critical of himself and the band as far as albums and shows go, since i have listened to many of the shows he considered to be bad performances and thought they were still good, in some cases great. I understand that tho, because im always very critical of my own playing. There's also the fact that a "bad" night for the dead is still pretty damn good.

Mr.Charlie wrote:Yeah, I realized when i wrote what I did that it would come off as harsh, thats why i prefaced it with an apology. Either way, it was simply my opinion, and while I respect the other poster's opinion, I don't agree with it, nor do I think you have to like Phil's book to be a deadhead, that wasn't my point either. But anyway, didn't mean to offend anyone.

No offense taken man. You know what they say about opinions being like a**holes...

For the record - I think Phil is a great musician and person. He's been the coolest with the archive and with sometimes allowing SBDs of the Phil & Friends out for free. I have nothing but respect for Phil...his book...eh, it was just OK.

I dig it. I think Ill read it again tonight.

Kinda took me by surprise when he said Jerry threw him down a set of stairs for not playing hard enough during a gig.