Home Before Daylight: My Life on the Road with the Grateful Dead

By Joe Layden and Steve Parish

Book Overview

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 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.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 031230353X
• ISBN13: 9780312303532
• Release Date: September 2003
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.6" x 1.1" x 6.4"

Customer Reviews

Fun, fast, and interesting read...

I picked this book up at the Barnes and Noble bargain book section for like 4 or 5 bucks. It was a very pleasurable and fun read. The other reviewers are right; the book is about Steve Parish and his life and his experiences, he just happened to be a groupie and apparently an integral part of the GD scene. His life revolved around the Grateful Dead it seemed, so you got a fair bit of that. People keep saying it was horribly written. I can read and write and maybe it wasn't technically fancy, but it did the job for me. Everything was easy to understand and there were no holes. It didn't jump around too much. I thought this book really paints a picture of how important drugs were to the whole scene. It gave a decent feeling of what the 60s might be like. Whether that portrait is true or not, it is Steve's Portrait. I'm not a deadhead a hippy or a stoner and I really enjoyed this book, you might too. I generally don't read much fiction I mostly read nonfiction, and I thought this book read like a novel, except most of the stuff was probably true. I was amazed at all the raunchy details that are in this book, it is probably not for kids.

A deeper look

I found this book to be a deep, insightful look into the world of rock and roll from a very different and very personal perspective. This is not, nor does it purport to be another "Grateful Dead history".Steve was uniquely situated to both participate in and observe the Grateful Dead as a band and as an institution. His perspective allows us to catch glimpses of the real action behind the scene that was often the basis for the magic (or sometimes lack of it)in the on-stage performances.Of far greater impact to me, however, was Steve's willingness to share his personal travails, passions, successes and failures over the past 30 years. He reveals one very involved, very sensitive and very insightful man's interaction with the power and impact of rock and roll on people in and around the scene, both the famous and sometimes the infamous. In telling his own story, Steve often challenges conventional and traditional assumptions about who are really "good guys" and who are "bad".He shows us the humanity that drove the unfortunately unrealistic desire of Jerry and others to make it only "all about the music". Through his unparallelled access Steve is able to the efforts of those in and around the Band to enjoy normal lives and meaningful interpersonal relationships while fending off, or all too often sucumbing to the dangers of hard drugs, greed and the many other down-sides of "fame" in 20th Century America.He accomplishes all of this with humility and well-placed humor. I have read many rock and roll biographies of both individuals and bands, and I strongly recommend Steve's book as offfering a truly "one of a kind" perspective.

Friend of the Devil...

Great outstanding, finally a book from a real insider. I've been in the dead scene for over thirty years, and like most deadheads can't get enough. I especially liked the stories about the odd happenings on the road that only a true roadie would know. Terrific stories, told in an exciting and humerous way. I read it in one sitting and finished it just before daylight.

One From The Heart

There are loads of books filled with facts about the Grateful Dead, but none of them comes as close to the truth as this one. It takes wisdom to recognize the truth, and courage to tell it. Steve Parish has both. Jerry would have been proud. This one gets it right.

I'm Glad He Came Home Before Daylight

I am not and never have been a deadhead but I was very entertained by these road stories. Initially it was very hard for me to read as I am a little too close to the author... but as I continued reading I distanced myself and found I could not put this book down. What an unusual life this guy had - I laughed, I cried, then I kissed the author. Enjoy it, it's quite a ride.