So he said, “these people are helping us through life, let’s share this thing with them.” It really worked well. He was a guy who loved the working man - he was raised that way. Jerry really respected the people who worked for him. And the Grateful Dead took that PA over and that solidified it. We started working at a place called Alembic, building a PA. He claimed we kind of invented ourselves in a way. Jerry’s imprint was on everybody - he was that kind of guy. But with the Dead, you guys were an integral part of band. With most bands, the crew functions as hired help. It was such a unique crew experience it was like no other band. I wanted to talk about what it was like to be on the crew and what life was like in that world. I stayed out of a lot things that other people had dealt with - the history, which Dennis dealt with in his book paying back people, which Scully seemed like he was doing, trying to be put the knife in a couple of people - which I wasn’t out to do to. I didn’t want to delve into things that other people had written about. I’ve read other books about the Dead, such as A Long Strange Trip : The Inside History of the Grateful Dead by Dennis McNally and Rock Scully’s Living With the Dead: Twenty Years on the Bus With Garcia and the Grateful Dead, but yours had a personal touch I found appealing. I want to ask you about your book Home Before Daylight, which does an excellent job of chronicling your 30 years with the Grateful Dead. The following interview took place in 2006. In keeping with the cutting-edge tradition of the Grateful Dead, Parish told me he was reviving as a podcast. In addition, he has busied himself with a flurry of other activities, including hosting, an online roundtable where Deadheads can get the inside scoop of life on the road, featuring interviews with band members and other key associates of the inner circle. He has also worked intermittingly with various members of the iconic band, as well as been involved with various Jerry Garcia posthumous releases. Since then, Parish has written Home Before Daylight, a delightful book about his experiences with the Grateful Dead that’s heading to the big screen. Parish was one of the last people to see Garcia alive. The tight bond between Garcia and Parish lasted right up until the very end, when on August 9, 1995, Jerry Garcia passed away. Parish not only handled Garcia’s gear he was also manager of the Jerry Garcia Band. In so many ways, Parish, along with other sprite characters like Ramrod, Kid Cadelero, Rex Jackson, and Dan Healey, were as vital to the long and strange trip as the band members themselves. Anyone with a passing knowledge of the band knows the Dead’s road crew wielded an exceptional amount of power and influence. Stumbling onto the scene in 1969, he was absorbed into the band’s organization as a roadie, close friend and confidant. Steve Parish was a primary family member of the Grateful Dead for over 30 years. Aside from their innovative musical mix of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, country, and jazz, the ever iconoclastic, unconventional Dead were pioneers on a variety of fronts: from allowing their fans to tape their shows to creating an extended family that included everyone from their close friends to their faithful road crew. The Grateful Dead, over ten years after their final performance, remain the quintessential psychedelic jam band.
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