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Rating:  -
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.
Rating:  -
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.
Rating: -
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.
Rating: -
I don't consider this a very effective biography of Garcia. So many times the author reaches a point where he could leap off into meaningful and fascinating areas of Garcia's life (truly an 'American' life) yet he rebounds back into a general history of the band, not a biography of the man. As such it is an interesting if superficial document: the best survey of the GD phenomenon that I have read (but I also enjoyed and would recommend Rock Scully's comic-booky history of the band and the 'oral biography' of Garcia is in a way much more profound than this book). This book is a survey. Nothing of great importance has yet been written about the band or the man. A true history of the Dead could occupy volumes and might not emerge for years. A biography of Garcia requires, I think, a more dispassionate (and therefor perhaps more passionate?) and more musicological perspective. Not once does this book discuss the incredible impact Garcia had on his contemporaries, much less his deep impact on the musical landscape we live in. As a student of music this book reminds me of some of the more literate accounts of Beethoven that were written by his friends in the years following his death. Lots of anecdotes and a little insight. And more general history than we need. I think it is going to take years for us to get a handle on this huge musician. Unless Dylan decides to write a book. If he does, I'd encourage him to tackle this subject. Then we might really learn something about Garcia.
Rating: -
I don't consider this a very effective biography of Garcia. So many times the author reaches a point where he could leap off into meaningful and fascinating areas of Garcia's life (truly an 'American' life) yet he rebounds back into a general history of the band, not a biography of the man. As such it is an interesting if superficial document: the best survey of the GD phenomenon that I have read (but I also enjoyed and would recommend Rock Scully's comic-booky history of the band and the 'oral biography' of Garcia is in a way much more profound than this book). This book is a survey. Nothing of great importance has yet been written about the band or the man. A true history of the Dead could occupy volumes and might not emerge for years. A biography of Garcia requires, I think, a more dispassionate (and therefor perhaps more passionate?) and more musicological perspective. Not once does this book discuss the incredible impact Garcia had on his contemporaries, much less his deep impact on the musical landscape we live in. As a student of music this book reminds me of some of the more literate accounts of Beethoven that were written by his friends in the years following his death. Lots of anecdotes and a little insight. And more general history than we need. I think it is going to take years for us to get a handle on this huge musician. Unless Dylan decides to write a book. If he does, I'd encourage him to tackle this subject. Then we might really learn something about Garcia.
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