Aces Back to Back: The History of the Grateful Dead (1965 -Â 2016) details the Grateful Dead's entire 50-plus year history -Â through January, 2017Â -Â including the development of Dead & Company, making it the most precise and up-to-date account of the Dead's history ever written.
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Aces Back to Back covers the events leading to the band's inception as well as their complete 30-year reign, and is the only book that recounts the post-Jerry Garcia period: from the death of Garcia on through the various band incarnations that followed: the Other Ones, the Dead, RatDog, Phil Lesh and Friends, the Mickey Hart Band, Billy and the Kids, Furthur, and Dead & Company.
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Our biography features a Foreword from renowned Grateful Dead lyricist and civil libertarian John Perry Barlow. The cover is drawn by acclaimed poster artist Steve Johannsen (Grateful Dead, Furthur, Gov't Mule) and the interior features 20 original illustrations by Steve and the gifted Lauren Kroutil.
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Aces Back to Back traces the group's history from their earliest roots (
the spring, 1961 meeting of Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter) and takes the reader right up to January, 2017. Â
Every vital moment in the Dead's history in-between is covered. The book celebrates the most minute - Weir gets to sing almost all of the songs at two '78 shows in San Diego because Jerry is ill - and doesn't forget the glory: the Acid Tests, the Haight-Ashbury, Woodstock, the Wall of Sound, Watkins Glen, the May 8, 1977 show at Cornell, the Egypt concerts, In the Dark, the Deadheads, all 13 studio albums, and so on.
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All the key players are here, too: Neal Cassady, Jack Kerouac, Ken Kesey, the Merry Pranksters, Robert Hunter, John Barlow, Bill Graham, Mouse & Kelley, Jerry's guitar history with luthier Doug Irwin, the Mime Troupe, Albert Hofmann, the Family Dog, Winterland, Augustus Owsley Stanley III, et. al.
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Learn about all of the pivotal moments and important characters in the band's history !!
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Today, the Grateful Dead's music continues to reverberate within the hearts and souls of their fans - faithful, long-time Deadheads and younger audiences - all drawn to the band's legendary, magical appeal, making Aces Back to Back a must-read for fans of all ages !!
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Scott W. Allen wrote for Relix magazine from 1983 until 1992, serving as Senior Writer, columnist ("Fragments"), and feature article writer. He is a veteran of nearly 250 Grateful Dead concerts, wishes he saw more shows, and taught on the high school and college levels for 28 years.
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Mr. Allen was commissioned by the Library of Congress to write the essay that accompanies the enshrinement of the Grateful Dead's show on May 8, 1977 at Barton Hall into the National Recording Registry.Â
His work with Relix is preserved in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame + Museum, where the first 100 issues of the magazine are permanently archived.Â
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"This book is a gift ... it is from Scott Allen, an utterly shameless Deadhead, to the community he has loved for a longtime."
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 - John Perry Barlow
Grateful Dead
