Searching for the Sound: My Life with the Grateful Dead

The 40th anniversary of the Grateful Dead is creeping into the summer months with little to no fan fare. No announcements of mammoth amphitheater tours, no blowout New Years Eve rumors, a strange silence from Grateful Dead land. Perhaps the biggest Dead related event so far this year comes in the unexpected shape of a book. Breaking the silence is Phil Lesh’s autobiography, Searching for the Sound: My Life with The Grateful Dead. This is the first book written by a band member that deals directly with the Grateful Dead and the inner workings of this American Institution. Playing together since 1965 they moved from backing up strippers in seedy dives to sold out, multiple night runs, at football stadiums. The Grateful Dead became one of the highest grossing touring acts of all time, and touched the lives of millions in the process. Phil Lesh has been playing bass with the band from the beginning and now tells his story.

Mr. Lesh brings the reader along on his personal journey through life, an adventure consumed by noise/sound/music of all kinds. The son of working class parents he recalls one of his earliest memories; hearing music emanating through the wall of his Grandmothers room. Once discovered sitting outside, he was invited in for a listen. The music he heard on that fateful day was the New York Philharmonic’s version of Brahm’s First Symphony. Phil was hooked for life. Besides some of his more obvious musical influences (classical, the Beatles Jazz, avant-garde composers) Phil Lesh seems to be attuned to most sounds that the average listener takes for granted. From the rumble and pitch of trains coasting over railroad ties, to the sound of the still night air hovering just above the Nile, Phil is consumed with sound of all kinds. So much so that when addressing his recent Liver transplant, the reader senses the only time Mr. Lesh was truly scared was when he could not hear the Mozart he had selected to be played during the procedure. The transplant was successful and Lesh is alive today to tell his version of the Grateful Dead's history.

There have been many books written on all aspects of the band, but one would hope that Mr. Lesh could shed a unique light upon their collective being, and during the first half he does. Mr. Lesh has an affinity for the early portion of the Grateful Dead’s career which contain his fondest memories, and thus the part he focuses most upon are the first ten years of the groups existence. After the first 200 pages (out of 338) the reader is only brought to the end of 1971. The majority of these pages help us to understand the roots of a true American band by naming influence’s on their style (LSD being a large one), their problems with the music industry and perhaps most importantly the inner workings of Haight Ashbury. Lesh writes, “In retrospect, it seems we were extremely fortunate to have been starting out at this time; within six months the ballrooms were jumping five nights a week and a whole culture erupted full-blown from the City by the Bay.”

For younger readers descriptions of the Haight Ashbury scene in the mid-1960’s will act as history lesson, for those who lived it Lesh’s lines act as spark, unearthing some memories that have been buried by time and haze. To read Lesh discuss past problems with the band’s 1960’s scene, which in turn became an important piece of American History, is to see both how unique the changes were and yet how some things today have reverted back to before the whole decade began. But that is for historians to discuss, Mr. Lesh is consumed with sound and playing with his self-described drug, Jerry Garcia.

He discusses the problems the band (and in particular Garcia and himself) faced while recording and editing his favorite studio album Anthem of the Sun with a direct sense of accomplishment. Lesh also digs his heels into three particular instances with great detail, they are; his first time connecting with Jerry Garcia, playing the Acid Tests, and The Grateful Dead playing at the Great Pyramids in Egypt. The breath and scope used to describe these three landmark events in Phil’s history is exhilarating and the writing in these chapters deliver the reader to historic moments in musical history.

These events, which can be viewed as, The beginnings, The launching pad to a career, and The accomplishment of a dream, along with the birth of his children are seminal moments in Phil’s life. His affection for all of these events and the love of his wife Jill is palpable. Outside of these however his description of the “other” 30+ years of playing to audiences while suitable for casual fans will prove a bit lacking for diehard Deadheads. Some inner drama is exposed (i.e.: drug use and internal squabbles) but intense fans who’ve collected a thousand hours of music will want more from Phil regarding specific show details and more in-depth looks at tours. One can not help but think Dead Heads were looking for a bit more of a perspective on the touring years post 1971 such as 1977 and 1989. One aspect of the band, mentioned multiple times throughout the autobiography, acting both as harbinger and albatross, is the constant touring load that these years became. Mr. Lesh mentions often that the band should have stopped to allow Garcia to heal, but various things kept them on the road, and ultimately lead to the end for Jerry Garcia. The massive operation that the Grateful Dead became proved to be too much for all and Phil does mention at the end of his book that the Grateful Dead as an entity was just too big. Once he started writing he realized things would need to be left out, and no one can argue that the Dead was much larger then simply the sum of it’s parts.

The truth of the matter is that writing about the Grateful Dead will not do it justice. The MUSIC is the way all members of the Grateful Dead know how to communicate. When they were sparring behind the scenes the music was their apologies or “fighting words” to each other, and a cosmic soundtrack for their fans. Bill Graham’s famous quote comes to mind, “The Grateful Dead aren't the best at what they do; they are the only ones that do what they do.”

Without the remaining members of the band touring this summer for their 40th Anniversary, this book will work well to help relive some old memories or inspire a new fan to discover the quintessential summer band in American history. So pack up the car with a radio, an old tape (or Disk) that you haven’t listened to in a while and head to the beach with Searching for the Sound in tow.

…Right outside this lazy summer home…