‘Captain Trips’ Embodies Garcia
“He’s gone, gone, nothing’s gonna bring him back. He’s gone.” The lyrics were sung a cappella by the Grateful Dead whenever the group lost a friend or family member.
The band’s patriarch, Jerry Garcia, left for the great rock concert in the sky on Wednesday, but his memory lives on in “Captain Trips: A Biography of Jerry Garcia” (Thunder’s Mouth Press; $22.95), by San Diego attorney Sandy Troy, a grizzled Deadhead who jumped on the bandwagon at Woodstock in 1969.
The highly detailed if not altogether polished writing personalizes a man who remained largely a mystery to the throngs of fans he played for.
The enigmatic star never strayed far from the 100 or so musicians, roadies and management types who made up the Dead’s core family. A brilliant free thinker, he never spoke from the stage - or allowed anyone else to - for fear devotees would misinterpret him as an oracle, and he rarely granted interviews.
“Captain Trips,” an affectionate moniker donned by Garcia, is most worthy for unfurling his early years.
How he was raised by his grandparents, who had little time or energy for discipline and may be to blame - or thank - for his remarkable independence and antiauthoritarianism.
How the death of an artist friend in 1961 spurred him on to make a name for himself in music.
How Garcia and his band mates discarded the names Mythical Ethical Icicle Tricycle, Bimini and the Vivisectionists, Nonreality Sandwich and Emergency Crew before stumbling onto Grateful Dead in a dictionary.
After the mid-‘70s, much of the 288-page book is predictable and tiring.
However, it should serve Deadheads well enough to unravel the musician whose greatest line may have been, “There’s no law against being weird.”
Dead ‘Roots’ album coming
Following Jerry Garcia’s death, the tributes to the Grateful Dead will undoubtedly begin to flow. However, a wonderful project in the works before his death may prove to be a very fitting homage to the influential Garcia, as it highlights the artists who influenced him.
On Oct. 15, Shanachie will release “The Music Never Stopped: Roots of the Grateful Dead,” a 17-song collection of tunes that the Grateful Dead have covered over the years, performed by the artists who made them famous.
The album works on several levels. For fans of the Dead, many of whom undoubtedly thought that the band had written such songs as Bonnie Dobson’s “Morning Dew” or Obray Ramsey’s “Rain And Snow,” the compilation will provide an education; for fans of American folk and blues music, the record will serve as a joyous assembly of home-grown treasures.
Plenty of Dead videos
If you want to check out a young Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead, the band appears in “Petulia” (Warner Home Video), Richard Lester’s acclaimed 1968 comedydrama set in San Francisco’s hippie heyday. Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company also perform. Julie Christie and George C. Scott star.
Garcia and the Dead also are featured in four concert videos: “The Grateful Dead Movie” (Monterey Home Video) is a 1979 film that combines footage from the group’s 1976 appearances at Winterland with rare early footage. Monterey just lowered the price to $30. On Sept. 19, Monterey is also releasing the 1980 “The Grateful Dead: Dead Ahead” ($25) which features excerpts from a weeklong marathon of shows at Radio City Music Hall. “The Grateful Dead: The Making of The ‘Touch of Grey’ Video” (6 West Home Video) is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the group’s “In the Dark Album.” And 1987’s “The Grateful Dead: So Far” (6 West Home Video) presents an overview of the band’s two decade-plus career.