Why the Grateful Dead Matter shares a remembrance of the band from the fresh perspective of a fellow fan of the band. Michael Benson separates the book in chapters that feel like anecdotes, making the storytelling engaging in the way a friend would share details from the music act. By adding his perspective, Benson provides a more personal touch to the sharing of facts about the band, adding a dimension that may be absent from other Grateful Dead books that tend to stay objective on the matter.

I obtained a copy of the book through LibraryThing, in exchange of an honest review. ( )

This is a book by a Deadhead for Deadheads, and a love letter to “not just a band that played songs, sold records, and gave concerts, but a band of sorcerers, conjurers, of a rare and different tune…” As a curious bystander and the sister of someone with a large Grateful Dead tattoo, I wanted to learn more about these American icons. While I did enjoy the book and the various stories told, I found myself expecting an answer to the question presented in the title, which the author seems to feel is rhetorical. My historian nature may have gotten the better of me, and I expected a different sort of book. It lacks a coherent overall structure and rambles at times. This is a read that is well suited for those already familiar with the history of the Grateful Dead, but not necessarily for those who want greater insight into this cultural phenomenon. Nonetheless, it is a short and fun read that will have you listening to plenty of music along the way. Note: I received a free copy of this book from the LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program. ( )

Why the Grateful Dead matter by Michael Benson...so excited to be selected to receive a copy of my own. I absolutely loved the cover of this book. Front to back, it's style falls right into the whole Hippie looking era and I still can't stop looking at it, weeks after receiving it. It's happily displayed on my favorite bookshelf for that reason alone. I have just finished this book and plan on writing out a fuller review soon because I have quite a bit to say about this book. I love Music books...I love music books about bands that I dig and this book proved itself to be a great book. Again, fuller review coming soon. ( )

Author and Dead fan Michael Benson has written a history of the Grateful Dead, using a variety of resources including his own memories. It’s his contention that the Dead matter more than other musicians because they weren’t *just* musicians, but creators of a way of life and a different way of providing music to the public. His focus is less on names and dates than it is on the impact the Dead have had. From being the house band at Ken Kesey’s Acid Tests in the early ‘60s, where LSD was put into Kool-Aid and distributed, to the remaining members (several members have died through the years) giving a farewell tour in 2015, he intersperses short chapters of band history with essays on how the Dead changed American hippie culture.

As a Dead fan but not a Deadhead (one of my regrets is that I never got to a Dead concert), I found the book very interesting if a bit rambling at times. I enjoyed reading about how they wrote their songs, and the behind the scenes descriptions of what the concerts felt like to the performers who were tripping on LSD while they played. I never realized that Garcia and Mountain Girl didn’t marry until a long time after they had split. I still don’t know how they achieved their ability to play wonderfully together when they changed the songs up constantly- mid song- like folk songs with a jazz sensibility. A true fan probably knows all these things already, but it was really fun for a person who is a casual fan. ( )

Reading this book as a "non-deadhead," feels a bit like reading the Book of Psalms as an atheist: I get it that the writer feels Jehovah or Jerry is the greatest, but merely reading isn't quite convincing. A true-believer; however, will love these vignettes and musings. Which is not to say this book holds nothing for those of us outside the church. Benson builds a case for the artistic, cultural and social relevance of a band and its surrounding gestalt that offers glimpses into a world of free expression, passion, tribal identity and experimentation that anyone can and should be inspired by. He deftly argues the Dead's musical genius that is too often lost due to the fervor of the band's followers--even if, as a non-believer, I'm not totally convinced of the claimed extent of this genius.
I've never been a deadhead, but I've traveled in similar circles: after months of hitchhiking and living out of a backpack, moving in and out of communes, Rainbow Gatherings, Hare Krishna temples, lot scenes, nomad camps and protest movements, it one day struck me how much meaning lay in the words, "What a long, strange trip it's been." For many, the Grateful Dead were guides, mapmakers and booking agents of the long, strange trip, and this book speaks to the heart and soul of the ride. ( )