Deal: My Three Decades of Drumming, Dreams, and Drugs with the Grateful Dead

Bill Kreutzmann got to experience the cultural upheaval of the late 1960s and the aftermath over the decades that followed from a singularly unique perspective. He was the drummer for a Byrds-influenced garage band in the Bay Area called The Warlocks. By the end of 1965, they had become the house band for a series of events called the Acid Tests, which were centered around use of then-legal LSD. By the third Acid Test, they changed their name to The Grateful Dead and their hallucinogen-fueled extended improvisations quickly became a popular feature of their performances.As the intersection of Haight and Ashbury in San Francisco became ground zero for the flower power movement, The Grateful Dead became synonymous with its free-spirited ethos. Auxillary percussionist Mickey Hart joined the band in 1967. His father Lenny Hart had a somewhat distinguished career in rudimentary drumming and had been hired on as the band's business manager. Mickey's interest in world percussion and polyrhythms was a major influence on Billy's technique. By 1971, Mickey's heroin use along with Lenny's embezzlement led to both Harts leaving the band.As the hippie movement died off, the Grateful Dead turned their efforts towards perennial touring. The band's legendary pursuit of optimal live sound resulted in countless technical innovations. An exponentially growing songbook made setlists increasingly unpredictable, while expansive stretches of jamming remained a highlight of every show. They welcomed a new subculture of "tapers" to freely record and share tapes of the shows, building both goodwill with the audience and word-of-mouth promotion.They became the most commercially successful live band in the world and largely held this position throughout their career. They had a late-stage radio hit in 1987 with "Touch of Grey" that added more ranks to their fanbase. In 1995, the (somewhat) unexpected passing of Jerry Garcia marked the abrupt end of the Grateful Dead after 30 years.Bill Kreutzmann has always come off to me as a mostly unassuming person, not shy but not particularly attention-hungry. The definition of cool yet still approachable. His book, Deal, reflects this as well. He appears fully aware and appreciative of the good fortune he has had in his life. He gets real on some topics but does not express resentment or bitterness. He discusses graphic aspects of his life in sex, drugs and rock and roll without especially glorifying or apologizing for them. He offers insight into his technical evolution from capable pocket drummer to jazz fusion powerhouse that held his own alongside Tony Williams without getting bogged down in theory or jargon.

I have read many books focusing on the Grateful Dead. This particular one was an easy read but in many ways, felt the most honest. Bill owes nothing to anyone so his views were not only interesting but could be quite insightful by stripping away all of the concern for what others may think. There was never a presumption of anything other than this being a recap of real occurrences from the author’s perspective. But this perspective is from a man that lived it, paid his dues, and left as much of himself on stage as humanly possible. One of the few people I have read about that I would really like to sit down with some day just to hear his thoughts.

Cjanged Review back to reflect book Not terriblle bait and switch by Amazon which stil has yet to bother to even call me or email me regarding selling me signed copy vs. sending me an unsigned copy (TWICE both emails verfify the book as a "(signed edition) ""- so tired of the amount of time I have spent and the attitude of customer service as if its only a coule people that got ripped off by this/ Adding insult to injurry the schill who clais that I am no Dedhead because I saved a dime and now have "spour grapes" is laughable as that would imply I did not have a signed copy reserved since Feb 23, 2015 or that Dead.net is the bastion of retail sales and donates all its profits to the SEVA foundation--dudes dead.net is run by Muisc Today or some such corporate management group so get a life and stop taking shots oat folks airing legitimate beefs...as for the book...well I have said its great -just wish mine was freaking signed as I was priomised! yeesh!I have spent 2 hours on phone with Amazon customer service and they CANNOT Get me a signed copy are blameing St. Martin's Press for the error and claim the link was a mistake they NEVER sold a copy of signed books but clearly as other posters here are complaining liike me it is the error of Amazxon, St. Martin's press or both-and how convenient that now sellers all over have the book with a certificate of authenticity of first edition signed copy which Amazon never sstated and so clearly its a bate/switch by publisher or Amazon but so far they are "Investigating" but not giving ANY GUARANTEES that I will get a replaceement sigened- Wow! I can not belive that Amazon thinks this is acceptable-I do not want a refund just the book signed- and I can go to EBAY and they have the gall to have resellers selling the book for 36 bucks with shipppingh a 3rd paety sellers on AMAZON right now! So in fact the book is abtainable signed and surely 20k or more fanst like me bought this book and Billy would NOT do this to fans-IF he knew about this-0which he will as I am FB freidn with him and will post to his ppage later today what Amazon has sone-he would not leet Amazon rip off good faither customers for a "mistake" which even if it was could be mitigated even if they told me they need a month to get the book signed for me so be it-but to tell me they cannot stand by their product web and claim they never really had that item available is pure nonsense and they know they advertised the prre-order with limited authographedd copies- Helk my odrer confirmation was Feb 23, 2015! I could have gotten t his and better service from Dead.net--I will spend 30 bucsk likely now to get signed copy but am livid and shocked at the lack of integrity byy all concerned-claim they just learned of issue today? Really? Come on AMazon and St. Martins fulfill your obligation-this is unseemly!I love this book (though have only read first few chapters) I have to exchange it as I ordered the SIGNED COPY (which was not $30 in the pre-order that placed back in February).Excitedly opened the book from cardboard Amazon sleeve and looked for Bill's signature? Maybe he signed his picture in the middle? Nope!Dang- Talk about how to ruin a Dead Head's book delivery! I was worried I'd lost out on chance for signed 1st edition though now that I see them hawking them with a "certificate of authenticity" for the signed 1st edition for $30 not the $20 I paid. I am sure AMAZON can fulfill replacing my unsigned copy (albeit maybe by using up a "Cerfitied" signed copy). Fortunately, the original order SKU shows that its a "signed 1st edtion "10c"As a major Dead Head since 1979 the sentimental value of Bill signing the book makes this a family heirloom...I appreciate that non Dead Heads are reviewing the book and enjoying it to limited degree but I find that their reviews have to be taken with a grain of salt as its hard to really get Bill's perspective if you have not been a member of the band as all audience members who truly have experienced the Dead shows fully realize they were (members of the extended band which was always an experimant in spontaneous art as music that was affected directly by the consciousness of the band and its ability to feed off of the positive energy they got from the fans)...I cannot imagine my life had I not "run into" these guys in Morrison Colorado one summer working in construction during college. Billy always was a positive member of the band and you could tell he loved playing for them..I personally would have nothing less or expect anything less than an unflattering real from the heart telling of his life in the band warts and all and seems that its where folks want the ear candy on so called historic moments like Altamonte etc. (which are covered well in Official History and clearly were scary events that showed why the Dead were never the Stones and had no place for violence or the kind of vibes the Stones and other Harder rock bands might attract---peaceful loving fans for a peaceful and loving group)....I will post a full review once I get this signed stuff out of way and delete this...just a heads up for other fans in case they did not check for their signed copy.....Hey Now! B. A. 1979 from the Grateful Dead College of Red Rocks, Morrison, CO! Rythm Devils Rock!

A great reading from “Bill the drummer “.. it gives a personal recollection of the Grateful Dead’s history and is entertainingly funny. Reading it you can imagine Bill telling his story to the co author. I’m very glad I purchased it and would strongly recommend it to anyone who enjoys all things “deadhead “.

Das Buch lässt sich mit mittleren Englischkenntnissen gut und flott lesen. Die Geschichte aus Sicht des Autors ist chronologisch und detailreich aufgeschrieben worden. Viele Anekdoten sind einfach zu köstlich. Und Bill kann sich sehr gut an (fast) alles erinnern. Ich empfehle allen Freunden der Westcoast-Musik dieses Buch. Viele andere Bands und Musiker finden hier teilweise ausführliche Erwähnung. A joy to read.

Bill's memoir was exciting, fun, and at times very sad. The content surrounding the early years of the band was particularly great. The biom does a excellent job of capturing the spirit of what I imagine a young musicians life would be like living in California in the 60s and 70s. I would recommend this to any big fan of the band.

amazing

This is the detailed account of what it was to be the Grateful Dead drummer.It wasn't hard to read, but it took some time!He talks about many different subjects and this is very informative.It can be entertaining too!If you don't know very well the band, it doesn't really matter.Bill is honest about his own contradictions.

bon complément d'informations biographiques sur un groupe que j'apprécie énormément depuis des années