Grateful Dead

Rolling Stone magazine has been celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, and the two issues they’ve put out so far specifically celebrating this milestone are well worth tracking down. The first installment, which came out in May, featured a gaggle of fantastic interviews with musicians such as Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, Neil Young and our own Bob Weir, writers Tom Wolfe and Norman Mailer, filmmakers Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Michael Moore, and political and cultural figures ranging from Jimmy Carter to Stewart Brand. Great reading!

But it’s their latest anniversary special, dated July 12-26, that will be of particular interest to Dead Heads. The entire issue focuses on the year 1967 and includes excerpts from Rolling Stone’s first issues; fine essays on the cultural and musical revolutions that erupted in that magical year; reflections on how the Summer of Love played in different areas, including L.A., New York, London, Memphis and, of course, San Francisco; a colorful reminiscence by Bob Weir (called “LSD Forced Us to Listen to Each Other”); stories about Monterey Pop and the making of Sgt. Pepper; and perhaps most interesting of all, a fascinating profile of Owsley Stanley (aka Bear), the Dead’s innovative first sound man, benefactor, chemical explorer and the driving force behind the famous Wall of Sound. Bear lives in Australia these days and still does occasional sound and recording work—all of it to his famously exacting standards—as well as work in art and jewelry. To find out much more about Bear, check out his thought-provoking web site, thebear.org.