Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 782.421660922
EAN num: 9780312303532
ISBN number: 031230353X
Label: St. Martin's Press
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 288
Printing Date: September 19, 2003
Publishing house: St. Martin's Press
Sale Popularity Level: 583494
Studio: St. Martin's Press
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
The untold story of life on the road with the Grateful Dead, written by an insider who lived it from the early days to today.
Steve Parish was never one to walk the straight-and-narrow, even during his childhood growing up in Flushing Meadow, Queens. Busted as a teenager for selling acid in the summer of 1968, Parish landed in Riker's Island. The experience changed him and after getting out he did his best to stay out of trouble, securing a job moving music equipment at the New York State Pavilion. The very first show he worked was a Grateful Dead concert in July of 1969 and Parish was captivated by the music. A life seemingly headed nowhere had suddenly found its calling as he fell in quickly with a band of likeminded misfits who formed the nucleus of what would be the greatest road crew in rock 'n' roll history.
Parish traveled to California where his apprenticeship began. Working for the band for free and learning his craft, Parish got to know Jerry, Bobby, Phil, Billy and Mickey and through the years their relationships forged an unbreakable bond. He became very close with Garcia in particular, acting as his personal roadie and later manager for his solo performances and Garcia Band shows. He was there during times of trouble (like when a pimp held Garcia hostage at gunpoint in a New York hotel room), spending hours by his bedside when Garcia was in a coma in 1986, and performing the duties of best man at his wedding. He was also the last friend to see Garcia alive.
Throughout the Dead's historic run, there were parties of biblical proportion and celebrity run-ins with everybody from Bob Dylan to Frank Sinatra--but there was a dark side to life on the road and tragedy didn't just strike the musicians.
But Home Before Daylight is a story of friendship, of music and redemption. It is a piece of music history, one that reflects the American spirit of adventure and brotherhood. Seen through Steve Parish's eyes and experiences, The Grateful Dead's wild ride has never been so revealing.
Amazon.com Review:
The life of rock band roadie would hardly inspire the likes of say, Emile Zola. But Steve Parish's 30+ year tenure with the Grateful Dead, the Jerry Garcia Band, and its survivors makes for compelling reading, even if his low-key, often self-deprecating reportorial style can't hope to begin to unravel the complex psychology that drove the symptomatic excesses---and all too many tragedies--of the 60's most enduringly emblematic American band. There's more here than sex, drugs, and rock and roll, even if Parish's writing struggles to encompass the meaning of it all. And make no mistake; The Dead and their coterie were, in the estimation of unlikely Deadhead Joseph Campbell, nothing short of potent modern mythology evolving before his very eyes. In the fallout of one memorable backstage incident, the author even found himself parodied by John Belushi in an SNL skit written by Deadheads Al Franken and Tom Davis. Parish casts little judgment on the oft-debauched actions of his cohorts here, though he often stops to note the brightness of their humanity. A paradoxical marriage of unrestrained hedonism and radical Christian social conscience, The Dead's world seems to still baffle Parish. His continued wonderment at it all is one of the book's charms; his tortured sense of helplessness in the addiction-fueled decline and death of Jerry Garcia, its spiritual and musical leader, its most tragic mystery. --Jerry McCulley
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Rated by buyers 
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As with some of the other reviewers here, I started this book with higher expectations of the content than the book was ultimately able to deliver. Unfortunately, the author spends more time talking about his own behind-the-scenes life than he does on the band itself. As a glaring example, it's three full chapters before he gets into discussing the Dead at all.
The anecdotes that ARE related are great reading -- the one that stands out most is Parish's telling of went went on at the infamous 2/7/79 concert where Jerry gulped down a handfull of Valium just before taking the stage. But yeesh, Steve Parish was the band's road manager and not a word is written about the Wall of Sound shows and the accompanying logistical nightmares. And that is just one example.
All in all, I would reservedly recommend this book to a hardcore Deadhead, if only for the fact that there are some new nuggets in here. But that would be only after reading more comprehensive works such as "A Long Strange Trip," "Garcia", or Phil Lesh's own book.
Rated by buyers 
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Did a lot of drugs.
Got laid a lot.
That's about all he has to say.
Rated by buyers 
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One of the better Dead books I've read. Parish (with assist from Layden) surely has a lot of stories to tell and he does it in an affable manner - even when his own behavior is less than stellar. Learned a lot about Jerry Garcia, but little about the rest of the band. Though that's understandable since Parish was by far closest to Garcia.
In reading this back to back with the books by Rock Scully, Dennis McNally, and the Garcia oral history "Dark Star," there is a bit of Grateful Dead "Rashomon." That is, all three books sometimes cover the same people/events, but all with a slightly different take. And the "hero" in one version can be the "villain" in another. Still, an indispensable tome for both hardcore and casual Deadheads.
Rated by buyers -
The brutal reality about this book, just like all the others about the Grateful Dead, is that it reaches the same incredibly sad conclusion - Jerry was a addict, who in the end, could not un-do the damage that he had done to his body.
I liked this book - I've read all of 'em, and this one aligns quite closely with Rock's in style and substance. There are some real fun stories about the days on the road, and there are some heartbreaking stories about how addiction eventually over-shadowed the music that we all love so much. I applaud Steve for taking the time to get his thoughts and memories down on paper for those of us on *the outside*. I do wish he had spent a little more time (heck, any) on the gear and the sound. In Phil's book, he does an excellent job describing *how* he achieved some of his tones, and as I finished this book I couldn't help but wonder how much Steve really knew about Jerry's tones and style. I am left with the impression that Steve was just setting up the gear, and he had little or no knowledge about *how* Jerry played. This is fine, just an observation.
Bottom line - if you're a DeadHead, you'll probably like this book. You get to hear from someone *inside the ropes* what it was like to tour with these guys. It's a short, good read.
As an aside, I am hoping that one day Bob Weir takes the time to chronicle his life story. We've heard from Rock and Steve and Phil... I am really interested to hear Bobby's take on the whole trip... I think that book (if ever written) will explain more about how the songs were developed and crafted, and certainly, he should have more than enough road-stories to keep any fan satisfied.
Thanks Steve. Good job. Thanks for the hard work and all of the memories.
Rated by buyers -
I don't know why people are so neg. about this book. But I think it is that the younger fans can't relate. For me it was very enlightening.The dead's vinyl explosion came on the scene at the beginning of the 70's which was like a supernova confirmation of the 60's and made it easier to get into the 70's . Pot was always a benign substance but because the dead's lyrics had alcohol it became less of a turn off. Today alcohol is just another escape but in the 60's there was a generational difference in alcohol and pot. In the book Parish mentions the 3 problem drugs heroin cocaine and alcohol. I didn't care for cocaine and heroin scared me but alcohol was a good weekend escape in the 70's but by the 80's I was hooked and for 15 years was a practicing alcoholic with a full time job. I stopped through the steps of AA and have to laugh when Parish says " 12 step spiritual mumbo jumbo" in the book. I do still have fond memories of getting high and when Jerry died I hated that Clinton had to say something about his drug use. But now I can understand why he said that even though what Jerry gave the world was far better than any president other than FDR. This book shows that Jerry was very much a friend of the working man.
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