Fare Thee Well

The Final Chapter of the Grateful Dead's Long, Strange Trip

By: Joel Selvin, Pamela Turley

Narrated by: John Glouchevitch

A tell-all biography of the epic in-fighting of the Grateful Dead in the years following band leader Jerry Garcia's death in 1995

The Grateful Dead rose to greatness under the inspired leadership of guitarist Jerry Garcia, but the band very nearly died along with him after his sudden death in 1995. So long defined by Garcia's artistic vision, the surviving "Core Four" were reduced to conflicting agendas, strained relationships, and catastrophic business decisions that would lead the iconic band into utter disarray for the next 20 years.

Acclaimed music journalist and New York Times best-selling author Joel Selvin was there for much of the turmoil following Garcia's death, and in this book, he offers a never-before-explored insider account of the ebbs and flows that occurred in the decades that followed. Culminating in the landmark tour bearing the same name, Fare Thee Well charts the arduous journey from Garcia's passing all the way up to the uneasy agreement between the Core Four that led to the series of shows celebrating the band's 50th anniversary - finally allowing for a proper, and joyous, sendoff of the group revered by so many.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2018 Joel Selvin (P)2018 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Most [Grateful Dead] books end with the 1995 death of Jerry Garcia. Fare Thee Well...takes the opposite approach...[it] examines every sad twist, turn, and betrayal involved in the Dead's various offshoot groups leading up to their 2015 Fare Thee Well reunion." (Rolling Stone)

"Well-written...[Selvin] has covered the Dead nearly since their inception and did extensive research and interviewing for this book." (Library Journal)

"[Fare Thee Well] engages readers intrigued by the Dead's mystique. For Deadheads, sure, but also rock fans who may wonder where the road led after Jerry died." (Kirkus)

Good stuff

Fills in the gaps or provides another perspective. Gives me more reason to read more about the Grateful Dead.

Solid Book

A very interesting text that delves deep into the lives of The Grateful Dead Band members after Jerry Garcia’s death in 1995. It is a look at the politics of the band and the struggles the group had finding any real desire to play together due to personality conflicts. Lesh and Kruetzman are portrayed less favorable than Hart and Weir. Lesh is portrayed as a bit of a chip on his shoulder contrarian who feels like he needs to assert his control and collect the lion share of revenue. His wife is portrayed less favorably. She’s portrayed as often combative, elitist, arrogant and greedy…who loves Phil and her family. Kruetzman is portrayed as a borish, bitter substance abusing bully who yells more often than he speaks and a man, who despite his amazing success and good fortune is often unkind to anyone that offers a different opinion than his. Hart is portrayed a purist of a musician who has vast talent but can be volatile and difficult get along with. He’s ego gets the worst of him often, but he’s always looking to push the envelope and be an innovator. Bob Weir is portrayed as a kind, driven kind soul who gets what the legacy means and also the importance of the stories that make up the world of The Grateful Dead.

the slow agonizing death of a great band

as a lifelong Deadhead from the 1970s i was wondering why the band stopped composing new songs and didn’t stay unified. this book points to the explanation without stating so directly. the Allman Brothers band replaced lost members while staying true to their original sound as best they could. the Dead never found new members comparable to Jerry’s playing and singing. now i understand why i’m so disappointed in the band and their lack of cohesion. i watched the Dead at the LA Forum during 2019 after Fare Thee Well (without Phil) and couldn’t hear anything they were playing that sounded like Jerry. their sound is now totally unbalanced and there are large empty gaps in the songs. and the repertoire is dated and stale from the lack of new songs. there is no lack of talent onstage, there is a lack of sound without Jerry’s improvisation and interpretation. a worldwide search for new young players and singers after Jerry’s worldly exit would have been a great joy to fans like me who live by the Dead. i enjoyed listening to an informed reporting of the timeline and the facts behind the events we witnessed from afar. i am no longer hopefully waiting for the Dead to come back to life. thank for giving me peace of mind.

New insight

I've read/listened to a few books on The Dead, this one gave me some new insight...some good...some bad but it's definitely worth a read

Good chronicle of the post Jerry era

Good book and worth the read or in my case the listen. A few facts were wrong like who bought wolf and Tiger, when they started playing built to last in concert and repeatedly saying woman instead of women when mentioning brown eyed women.

Bummer about phil but we always kinda knew.

its cool in "dead land" to love phil and wear those classic "let phil sing" shirts but, as an old tour friend of mine used to say, "take jerry out of phils life and hes a shoe salesman." and apparently a controlling, self-important shoe salesman on a big league ego trip with his wife. but everyone always knew phil was the resident snob of the dead. we just didnt know how controlling and vindictive he really was. now we do. at least jerry would be proud of bob. bob and the rest of the guys. people always ask why phil doesnt play with dead and co, now we know why. because they cant stand him. and rightfully so. whats amazing to me is that bob agreed to the duo tour this past spring. good book. not a good look for phil tho.

Great story

All the comments about hating on Phil are overblown. The author didn’t hold back on any of their behavior. It was a fair look at what happened and was an enjoyable listen.

The book that every Deadhead needs to read

The title of this review says it all: if you are Deadhead and want to know what happened to the Dead once Jerry Garcia died then you need to read this book. It all there, warts and all and while the music was paramount in the Grateful Dead this book takes you way behind the scenes of the Dead organization post-Jerry and makes you realize that in the end it all comes down to what it takes to run a business once one of it's key members dies. It's not pretty as you can imagine and you will be fascinated.

Finally, a book that keeps it real!

After all the glossy coffee table books and tributes written by folks that have been drinking the (electric) Kool-Aid for decades, we finally have a well-researched account that gives us some true perspective regarding the surviving band members from 1995 through to today. It also sheds some much-needed light on Phil and Friends, which essentially has operated as a Dead cover band for decades now. To me, that's the same as Stu Cook -the original bass player from CCR - touring with a group of other musicians that call themselves Creedence Clearwater Revisited, playing (and profiting off of) all of John Fogerty's songs night after night. Then you get a chance to see a John Fogerty show - or in this case Dead & Company with Bob Weir standing center stage in front of Mickey & Bill - and you realize there's a very big difference between margarine and butter!

Bobby v Phil

Great read...it's a wonder they were able to pull it together for Fare the Well! Painted a dark picture of the Lesh family and glorified Bobby. I understand that Phil won't ever play with Dead & Co but it's just not the same dynamic. Phil's pounding bass forced Bobby to be on his game. Well done nevertheless and RIP Jerry!