Grateful Dead in Concert: Essays on Live Improvisation

This book offers a spirited analysis of the unique improvisational character of Grateful Dead music and its impact on appreciative fans. The 20 essays capture distinct facets of the Grateful Dead phenomenon from a broad range of scholarly angles. The band’s trademark synergizing focus is discussed as a function of complex musical improvisation interlaced with the band members’ collective assimilation of an impressive range of marginal musical forms and lyrical traditions. These facets are shown to produce a vibrant Deadhead experience, resulting in community influences still morphing in new directions 45 years after the band’s initial impact.

Jim Tuedio, professor of philosophy and director of the university honors program at California State University-Stanislaus, is the author of numerous scholarly articles and is a past president of the American Society for Philosophy, Counseling and Psychotherapy. He lives in Denair, California. Stan Spector is a professor of philosophy at Modesto Junior College in Modesto, California, and is the author of many scholarly articles. He is a past director of the college honors program and is currently co-chair of the Grateful Dead Caucus.