Celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the most popular and enduring band ever: “Even the most hardcore Deadheads will be impressed by this obsessively complete look at the Grateful Dead’s lyrics” (Publishers Weekly). The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics is an authoritative text, providing standard versions of all the original songs you thought you knew forwards and backwards. These are some of the best-loved songs in the modern American songbook. They are hummed and spoken among thousands as counterculture code and recorded by musicians of all stripes for their inimitable singability and obscure accessibility. How do they do all this? To provide a context for this formidable body of work, of which his part is primary, Robert Hunter has written a foreword that goes to the heart of the matter. And the annotations on sources provide a gloss on the lyrics, which goes to the roots of Western culture as they are incorporated into them. An avid Grateful Dead concertgoer for more than two decades, David Dodd is a librarian who brings to the work a detective’s love of following a clue as far as it will take him. Including essays by Dead lyricists Robert Hunter and John Perry and Jim Carpenter’s original illustrations, whimsical elements in the lyrics are brought to light, showcasing the American legend that is present in so many songs. A gorgeous keepsake edition of the Dead’s official annotated lyrics, The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics is an absolute must-have for the fiftieth anniversary—you won’t think of this cultural icon the same way again. In fact, founding band member Bob Weir said: “This book is great. Now I’ll never have to explain myself.”

Additional edition statement from dust jacket.

"Robert Hunter is an essential member of the Grateful Dead, an offstage presence who has written the lyrics for most of their songs for nearly three decades, primarily working in partnership with guitarist Jerry Garcia."--Jacket.

An expansive commentary to James Joyce's 1922 novel Ulysses with over 12,000 annotations that explain its many references from Shakespeare to popular culture, from Aquinas to horse racing, and from Dante to Dublin slang.

Arranged in chronological order, these pieces add up to nothing less than a full-scale history of the greatest tour band in the history of rock. From Tom Wolfe's account of the Dead's first performance as the Grateful Dead (at an Acid Test in 1965), to Ralph Gleason's 1967 interview with the 24-year-old Jerry Garcia, to Mary Eisenhart's obituary of the beloved leader of the band, these selections include not only outstanding writing on the band itself, but also superb pieces on music and pop culture generally. Fans will be fascinated by the poetry, fiction, drawings, and rare and revealing photographs featured in the book, as well as the anthology's many interviews and profiles, interpretations of lyrics, and concert and record reviews. Still, The Grateful Dead was more than a band--it was a cultural phenomenon. For three decades it remained on one unending tour, followed everywhere by a small army of nomadic fans. This phenomenon is both analyzed and celebrated here, in such pieces as Ed McClanahan's groundbreaking article in Playboy in 1972, fan-magazine editor Blair Jackson's 1990 essay on the seriousness of the drug situation at Dead concerts, and Steve Silberman's insightful essays on the music and its fans.

Featuring more than three hundred photographs from the Grammy nominated rock photographer, this magical illustrated journey captures the essence of the legendary rock band on and off stage, from the 1970s to the 1990s.