‘Captain Trips: A Biography of Jerry Garcia’ by Sandy Troy, and ‘Dead Heads’ by Linda Kelly – Booksigning and Discussion

Sat. Dec. 17th, 3pm, 2016

Sandy Troy

Sandy Troy is an attorney, author, musician and producer of films. Born in NYC, he pursued the musical arts as a youth, studying jazz guitar at the New School in NYC. During this time, Troy went to numerous jazz concerts in Greenwich Village, seeing such notables as Miles Davis and McCoy Tyner.

In August of 1969, Troy worked security at Woodstock and ended up hanging out with the Grateful Dead. Soon thereafter, he became an avid Deadhead and went to San Francisco to soak up the cultural delights of the Haight-Ashbury and check out the local San Francisco music scene and the Beat scene in North Beach.

Troy saw many shows by the Grateful Dead and solo shows by Jerry Garcia. The solo shows were often an intimate experience. Consequently, Troy met Jerry Garcia and connected with him on a personal level. In 1978, Troy conducted a three-hour interview for Relix Magazine with Jerry Garcia and Dan Healy, the Dead’s soundman. Garcia was impressed with the interview and opened the door for Troy to get backstage passes to Dead shows for years to come.

After amassing a large number of interviews with such ’60s luminaries as Carolyn “Mountain Girl” Garcia, Chet Helms, Rock Scully, and Tom Constanten, Troy wrote One More Saturday Night—Reflections with the Grateful Dead, with illustrations by Stanley Mouse. His next book, Captain Trips, a biography of Jerry Garcia, came out in the fall of 1994 to rave reviews, and became a bestseller when Garcia unexpectedly passed away on August 9, 1995 at the age of 53. Captain Trips was the only biography in existence at the time of his death.

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Linda Kelly

Just what was it about the Grateful Dead that made them rock and roll’s most beloved band? In Deadheads, those with the real story, who were there and are still listening to the music, explain it all.

Grateful Dead lyricist John Perry Barlow talks about his lifelong friendship with Dead guitarist Bob Weir. Cajun chef Rick Begneaud shares his memories of feeding the Dead. John Popper of Blues Traveler recalls playing with the Dead at Bill Graham’s memorial tribute, while publicist Dennis McNally shares some wild adventures of working with the band for more than thirty years. Author Linda Kelly recalls being dragged to her very first Dead show, hanging with Jerry in New York City, and more.

First-show revelations, backstage adventures, parking lot hoopla, how-to- live-life philosophies, strange tangential experiences stemming from being in that certain place at that certain time—these intriguing anecdotes evoke wonderful images, lots of smiles, and a close look into a fascinating phenomenon in the history of music.

This twentieth-anniversary edition of Deadheads celebrates fifty years of music and includes the best stories from the original 1995 edition, two new chapters, as well as new interviews with various friends, artists, and followers of the Grateful Dead.