Whether you're a "deadhead" or never heard of them, Phil Lesh, the much-celebrated bass player from this seminal San Francisco band, has quite a story to tell. As the fortieth anniversary of the Grateful Dead approaches, Lesh tells the whole truth about the band's history: it's genesis during the revolutionary hippie scene; it's drug experimentation as an effort to expand the bounds of perception; the band's many reinventions; and the famous live performances conceived as massive communal events.

Phil Lesh is the first of any of the surviving members of the Dead to offer an account this intimate. Lesh relives the tragic times with stories of the deaths of band mates McKernan, Keith Godchaux, Brent Mydland and more recently, Jerry Garcia. But he balances it all by celebrating his deep personal happiness with his wife, Jill and his two children.

The lessons for a young rocker to learn are manifold: Lesh contrasts what it was like to "storm heaven night after night" and the price he and others paid with bad management, drug addictions, depression and the insecurities that plagued band members.

Search For The Sound: My Life With The Grateful Dead is a truthful look into one of the great American bands that's written with humor, intelligence and a deep love. Currently, Lesh plays in his band Phil Lesh and Friends. Published by Little, Brown and Company, Search For The Sound: My Life With The Grateful Dead is 352 pages with nearly 100 photos. It's available in hardbound at $25.95. Visit www.twbookmark.com


Searching for the Sound: My Life with the Grateful Dead