Phil Lesh's Recent Book

[Folmeister]

Has anyone else read Phil Lesh's current book Searching for the Sound: My Life With the Greatful Dead? I just finished it and I found it a very informative read. His honesty is remarkable and the depth of the group's losses and frustrations really came through. Has anyone else read this and would like to discuss aspects of Lesh's experiences?

[SnakeAnthony]

I've read it as well, and thought that it was great. It was very honest in all of his personal troubles, as well as those of the bands. He even gives brief explinations of his basses every now and again

[Peter McFerrin]

I've seen a lot of good press about this book. Evidently, Lesh is an excellent writer, which I suppose shouldn't be surprising given his educational background.

[g00eY]

i read that book for part of my semester project at school. it was long.

[d8g3jdh]

I was unaware that this book existed. I may be picking it up for the summer. Sweet!

[SundanceChile]

I read it over earlier this year while in San Diego. Good read. I was rather surprised that it didn't play out like the other "rock" memoirs, but I still enjoyed it thoroughly.

[irjason]

Originally Posted by Scott Zoltok

I was unaware that this book existed. I may be picking it up for the summer. Sweet!

Same here. I'll have to add this one to the list.

[Folmeister]

Here are some of the most interesting aspects of his narrative in my opinion:

1. The Bay Area countercultural movement is the child of well-meaning, intelligent, prosperous, firmly middle-class, white kids channeling their resources and intellect into a metaphysical quest for social solidarity. More based around the Stanford environment than Berkeley. This, I feel is what makes Lesh's narrative so tragic - all that he invested in never seems to have paid off in the long run. His socio-spiritual quest is mirrored by his summation of the Dead as a commercial/performance entity: blow the big ones. I never got the sense that he found real fullfilment until he breaks with the band and finds family

2. Phil is very intelligent, but I got the feeling he regretted never getting through the challenges of college. His use of language and concept is curiously complex at times, and I just got the feeling he was compensating a little too hard every now and again. We can forgive him that, as his honesty says more than his classical allusions

3. The Dead, as a band, are a box of contradictions. I didn't understand them much to begin with and I am still left with a lot of questions. But, their power may lie within the seeming inconsistencies and contradictions that compose their existence

More later

[Planet Boulder]

Read it a few months ago and enjoyed it quite a bit. If anyone is looking to read an exhaustive (almost too much so, in fact) account of the Grateful Dead, pick up "Long Strange Trip" by Dennis McNally, the former Dead historian. It details the Dead minute-by-minute (in some ways, that's good, in some ways, it's just extraneous filler) and it's about 600 pages.

Phil's book was like a brief summary of the Dead by comparison - and that's a good thing if you just want a casual account of the band.

[baba]

It was a good read. I'll always be in the Phil-Zone.

[Lazylion]

Originally Posted by Planet Boulder

...pick up "Long Strange Trip" by Dennis McNally, the former Dead historian.

+1 a very enjoyable read.

[Snerek]

i just picked this up at local store that was going out of business. everything was 70% off! i got it for $7 bucks, i'm hoping to read it all this holiday season!

i need to learn more about phil's life and phil's playing as well!

[wilser]

I finished it a couple of months ago. It was a great read on the life and times of hippie culture. I was expecting more bass and more info on Alembic/Wickersham, but I guess the book was not targeted to the musician audience. Good book.

[mpacey]

"2. Phil is very intelligent, but I got the feeling he regretted never getting through the challenges of college. His use of language and concept is curiously complex at times, and I just got the feeling he was compensating a little too hard every now and again. We can forgive him that, as his honesty says more than his classical allusions."

I had the same impression when I read the book. The voice of the book -- clearly Phil's own -- is occasionally convoluted and hard to parse out. But I didn't mind it because unlike many music-related books you stand to gain some insight into what the person behind the words is actually like.

Sometimes that can go too far, however. Case in point: Anthony Kiedis' Scar Tissue, which was pretty disappointing unless you happen to enjoy someone publicly portraying themselves as a self-obsessed permateenager.