Product Review

For the Grateful Dead and their devotees, 1977 was one long party from start to end, and author Howard Weiner takes us on that ride again. From the legendary gigs in Cornell, Englishtown, and the Winterland, to the releases of The Grateful Dead movie and Terrapin Station, this is a blow-by-blow narrative of a band peaking at the right moment in history. Once upon a time the Dead had the largest cult following in music, but before their days were numbered, they became an American institution, and €˜77 was the year that changed their fate. These psychedelic pranksters from the streets of San Francisco became the embodiment of professionalism in the thick of the schizoid seventies as they mobilized a new generation of Deadheads with inspired performances. A blueprint for future activity, 1977 catapulted the Grateful Dead on to the golden road of unlimited prosperity and fame.