All the Years Combine: The Grateful Dead in Fifty Shows

by Ray Robertson

Overview

A Grateful Dead concert, Ray Robertson argues, is life.

Like life, it can be alternately compelling and lackluster; familiar and foreign; occasionally sublime and sometimes insipid. Although the Grateful Dead stopped the day Jerry Garcia’s heart did, what the band left behind is the next best thing to being there in the third row, courtesy of the group’s unorthodox decision to record all of their concerts. Meaning that it’s possible to follow the band’s evolution (and devolution) through their shows, from the R&B-based garage band at the beginning, to the jazz-rock conjurers at their creative peak, to the lumbering monolith of their decline.

In All the Years Combine: The Grateful Dead in Fifty Shows, Robertson listens to and writes ecstatically about fifty of the band's most important and memorable concerts in order to better understand who the Grateful Dead were, what they became, and what they meant—and what they continue to mean.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781771965705
Publisher:	Biblioasis
Publication date:	11/07/2023
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Ray Robertson is the author of nine novels, six collections of non-fiction, and a book of poetry. His work has been translated into several languages. He contributed liner notes to three Grateful Dead archival releases: Dave’s Picks #45, the Here Comes Sunshine 1973 boxed set, and the From the Mars Hotel 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition. Born and raised in Chatham, Ontario, he lives in Toronto.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for All the Years Combine

"You do not need to drop acid, get high, or be a Deadhead to enjoy Robertson’s long strange trip ... Through the author’s research, knowledge, passion and critical analysis you will gain new insights about this unique group."
—David McPherson, Toronto Star

"Robertson—writing at full, heart-exploding tilt—charts the course of the greatest American band (yes, I said it), from their humble start to their humbling end through capsule reviews of 50 shows. This is a glorious book, full of setlists and anecdotes and clear-eyed love."
—Robert J. Wiersema, Toronto Star

"Robertson has written an ideal companion for the devoted Deadhead while charting intimidating territory for the curious ... books like this one help enshrine (the music) with the reverence it deserves."
—Michael Strizic, Literary Review of Canada

"Ray Robertson's All the Years Combine is part love letter and part band history, showing why—and how—Deadheads really talk (and feel) about their favorite band."
—Peter Conners, author of Growing Up Dead and Cornell '77

“Ray weaves short stories around fifty shows—and altogether they tell the story of the The Grateful Dead’s timeline.”
—Karim Kanji, Welcome to the Music

"Ray Robertson ... walks listeners through the endless thicket of music. At points, his crackling prose froths over into hyperventilating superfan’s rants—an approach that befits a band with such a passionate following. Sometimes ... more is more."
—Spin

"Impressively insightfully informative, exceptionally well organized and thoroughly 'reader friendly' in presentation, All the Years Combine: The Grateful Dead in Fifty Shows is a 'must read' history for the legions of Grateful Dead fans."
—Midwest Book Review

“Author Ray Robertson delves into a staggering fifty Grateful Dead shows in his new collection … embark on a wild trip with Robertson and follow the trajectory of one of live music’s most groundbreaking acts.”
—Gabriel Sigler, Bad Feeling Magazine

"Delightfully genre-fluid—part critique, part review, part biography, part journalism."
—Ashwinin Gangal, Palo Alto Weekly

"If life were a Grateful Dead concert, Chatham author Ray Robertson would be its philosopher archivist."
—Dan Savoie, 519 Magazine

"All the Years Combine is a fast, enlightening read but it is also something to savor, like one of the Dead's notorious hour-long jams."
—Kevin Wierzbicki, Anti Music

"There is a huge amount of useful information collected in this book. And it was written as a serious criticism with love and affection and a large portion of honesty and humor thrown in for good measure."
—M. Sarki, The Rogue Literary Society

"As any Deadhead worth their weight in hemp and LSD will tell you, there’s nothing like a Grateful Dead concert, and the author capably demonstrates the good, bad, and ugly elements that followed the band around for decades ... A must for devoted Deadheads."
—Kirkus Reviews

"The great thing about this book is that if you know the Grateful Dead’s music, it’s a hum-along, sing-along tome ... His summaries of Dead concerts often display elements of verve, invention and colour in the telling ... Robertson’s other object is corrective—to change the focus of the Grateful Dead’s legacy in our culture. And in this, he succeeds admirably."
—Winnipeg Free Press

"This collection celebrating fifty concerts by the Grateful Dead shows them to be tougher and more complex than you might think ... meticulous readings of the band's concerts (alongside track listings) are impressively extensive but crucially they also build a surprising picture too."
—Louder Than War

"All the Years Combine is a superb book."
—Shannon MacLeod, The Miramichi Reader

"All the Years Combine is perhaps the first truly great book chronicling The Grateful Dead through the band’s live shows ... And for the Grateful Dead live neophyte ... the book provides a roadmap, a guide, a place to start and finish and explore the music while you read. And for these reasons, All the Years Combine, much like the music it heralds, transcends."
—Frank Valish, Under the Radar

“One of Canada’s most prolific writers ... one thing that’s always made Ray’s work stand out is how he seamlessly blends his favourite music into his prose, whether it’s fiction or non-fiction.”
—Jason Schneider, Roots Music Canada

"Fascinating and provocative."
—David Gans, "Tales from the Golden Road" on Sirius Satellite Radio

"Author Ray Robertson ... put[s] it all in perspective."
—Greg Prato, Ultimate Guitar

"Robertson ... tell[s] the story of one of the most loved and bewildering bands of all time."
—Trevor Wilhelm, Windsor Star

"A fascinating chronicle of the band’s history told in a series of essays."
—Ottawa Citizen

Praise for Ray Robertson's Lives of the Poets (with Guitars)

“On North American shores, writing about music and its cultural spin-offs has largely been defined by the snarky authority of Pitchfork and trash-talkin’ teardowns of VICE giving birth to the new, new cool. Whereas those writing for music publications in Britain, although still cheeky, offer far more in the way of literary craft, storytelling and historical insight compared to the brash Americans. Ray Robertson, a Canadian novelist, aligns himself closer to the British tradition reinforcing that smart, lively prose and a bit of wit go a long, marvelous way. One part of Lives of the Poets is a record guide revealing these undiscovered treasures, the other is Robertson’s gift of spewing out stories that simply shame most rock ‘n’ roll writers into the hacks they really are.”
—Beat Route

“Lives of the Poets (with Guitars) should come with a warning label: May cause significant increase of spending on music. Readers are strongly advised to avoid record stores within 72 hours of reading. There is much to love and admire about Lives of the Poets (with Guitars). Robertson brings a discerning ear and keen passion, a sly sense of humour and a deep sense of philosophical questioning to each of these pieces. [It] is a powerful book and one to which music fans are likely to often return.”
—Toronto Star

“Robertson toils for a higher purpose: to reveal the transcendent, enduring qualities of the artist and their importance to society. He establishes his intentions in the introduction: 'One wants to convey in words what it is that makes for a musically-transformed, more-alive human being.' With this collection of essays on 13 remarkable figures, Robertson leaves no doubt about the success of his endeavor.”
—Elmore Magazine

“Crossing a number of musical genres, Robertson is often effusive in his praise, but consistently provides a stirring rationale for the strong emotional impact that each artist elicits with their music ... Robertson offers the whole picture, warts and all. In doing so, he honors the music of artists who have enriched his life—and opens the door for his readers to experience the same magic.”
—Blues Blast Magazine

"Robertson brings a good ear and plenty of critical insight to essays aimed at helping readers discover new favorites or hear more familiar music from a fresh perspective.”
—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

10/06/2023

Robertson's (How To Die: A Book About Being Alive) book is a highly personal selection of what he considers to be the best, or most memorable, Grateful Dead live concerts. He regards the Dead's early years as their strongest and consequently includes only a handful of shows after 1978 (most are from 1971–78). Universal favorite shows—Cornell University in Ithaca, NY; Harpur College in Binghamton, NY; Old Renaissance Faire Grounds in Veneta, OR—are included, along with some more eccentric choices. The entry for each show is three or four pages long and contains band history, highlights, and Robertson's thoughts. Deadheads may find some of the assessments to be rather pedestrian, with few new insights into what makes the Dead interesting, but many readers will enjoy the short, funny, and moving memoir about how Robertson became a Deadhead. VERDICT This summary of Grateful Dead shows doesn't offer much new material for fans. Readers looking for something more comprehensive may want to start with David Browne's So Many Roads.—Derek Sanderson

Library Journal

2023-10-04
Chronicling the Grateful Dead’s long strange trip in 50 concerts.

“I believe that a Grateful Dead concert is life. Like life, it can be alternately compelling and lackluster; familiar and foreign; occasionally sublime and sometimes insipid.” So writes Robertson, author of Lives of the Poets (With Guitars), providing a reasonable encapsulation of the Dead experience. In this quick-hitting account of 50 memorable shows (in the author’s estimation), Robertson displays deep knowledge of the band’s personnel, songs, albums, mechanics, and milieu, and many of the vivid entries concisely capture the mysterious alchemy of what made the group a sui generis American rock band. As any Deadhead worth their weight in hemp and LSD will tell you, there’s nothing like a Grateful Dead concert, and the author capably demonstrates the good, bad, and ugly elements that followed the band around for decades. After a brief yet astute introduction, the author begins with the 7/29/66 show in Vancouver, ably describing the band’s unique lineup at the time: “Jerry Garcia was a banjo-picking bluegrass obsessive; Bob Weir was a teenage folkie; Bill Kreutzmann, a jazz-loving rock-and-roll drummer; Phil Lesh, another jazz fan, who wanted to compose contemporary classical music; and Ron ‘Pigpen’ McKernan liked to sing the blues.” Those disparate elements, in addition to various other members across the years, would create some of the most indelible rock music of the late 20th century. Of course, readers will quibble with Robertson’s selections and omissions, and the text is heavy on the first decade of the band’s career—though the author dutifully parses the final show, in 1995, before Jerry Garcia died. Robertson is a fluid music writer, and while the book offers little for newcomers to the Dead experience, it’s an enjoyable read nonetheless.

A must for devoted Deadheads; appealing to fans of classic rock; pass for everyone else.

Kirkus Reviews