Long Strange Trip

source: Long Strange Trip

Nothing beats the Grateful Dead. Much love...Love the all the stories and love the music and love the people and characters involved. I think this is of course a must for all deadheads who were there as well as the ones who wish they were. Gawd those were the best of times. This kind of media I can never get enough of. Dead for life!

This is one of the best music documentaries I've ever seen. Nearly split my sides laughing but the music and integrity of the band is truly astonishing.

I was never a Deadhead per se, and I was barely around when some of the events in this movie are took place, but this movie really took me back. There are few documentaries/movies which present the times - the excesses and joys, the band, Jerry Garcia, his vision, demons, and travails - in such compelling manner. Long Strange Trip is culled from the movie archives deep, deep from the Dead vaults. Particularly compelling are the interviews. These are interviews from the people most intimately familiar with the evolution of the band: Barbara Meier, JC's spouse; Sam Cutler, their band manager from 1970 to 1975; Jon McIntire, another band manager; Dennis McNally, their long-time publicist; and, of course, surviving band members, and others. Long Strange Trip makes effective and moving use of these interviews. With current events being what they are, it is difficult sometimes to believe there was a time and place like that presented in this documentary. But it's true. It did happen, and it is all in this documentary, warts and all.

It was certainly entertaining to take a trip from the beginning of the Dead experience to the end of the journey, but, for me personally, I was somewhat disappointed by the lack of real insight from the main 'characters.' The director did an amiably job in collecting and presenting tons of archival footage, but, it could have used way more personal reflections from the surviving members. Some of the most insightful footage was from reporters, publicists and other ancillary people. While, it was good to see how the Dead affected all of these people, I wanted more of what the band members really thought about the footage in the movie not just a commentary about how 'cool' it was to see the 'old stuff.' Maybe, I was expecting this to be something it was never meant to be. In the end, however, kudos to all who were involved with putting this together.

Watched this on Amazon Prime and it brought back a lot of good memories. I saw The Grateful Dead live front row in Colorado at Mile High Stadium back in the day. The part about recording bootleg tapes was cool. I had over 1500 live bootleg tapes at one point. 🎸🎶 🎼 🎵

Just enough detail to make people get it. The rest is discovered through the music and the experience still today.

I've been "shaking my bones" to over 100 Grateful Dead shows since my first. The 15th anniversary show in 1980 in Denver Colorado at age 15 . It is great to be a Dead Head in Colorado after 1978 the first time The Dead played here Red Rocks . Great encore Warren Zevon's " Werewolves of London" This is an excellent film 3h 58 min but I loved it all .

The nature the phenomenon of, perhaps, the greatest truly American rock band of our era is also one of the most nuanced and difficult happenings in the history of music. The music itself is the greatest clue and even in and of itself it really doesn't reveal the singular reason for The Grateful Dead's "Long Strange Trip". If cornered I'd say it is something the music triggered inside of the listener which put in motion a revolution of sorts. This six-part documentary goes a long way in explaining everything else that was integral in this truly emotional journey of the band and it's fans. Since only those who were there along the way can best tell an insiders viewpoints it is fortunate the story is told with ample footage and interviews of the actual band members. Added to this is a number of the employees and record executives giving invaluable related insights. This is truly an insider's look into the journey. It's very sensibly put together and told using a, mostly, linear timeline. The interesting flow is quite enlightening and entertaining making a six-part series feel much more concise and compact. I watched it all in one setting without a break. That says a lot for the care and excellence in the telling of the story. This isn't suppose to be an examination of the actual songs and while we get some of that there should be no distress in what songs were, in part, included or not mentioned. It's more about the things going on around the music and I think, since the music speaks loudly for itself, this is perfect. This is, perhaps, the only band that played for four decades that never broke up and only took breaks to rest, regroup, and revitalize. That is a big thing of course. The bigger thing here becomes, in time, to be the phenomenon behind the phenomenon. Of course I'm referring to the most fervent music fans the world has ever seen...The Deadheads. Going back to what birthed the following behind the young band it was rooted in what emotionally happens inside each listener. Though that would be different for every individual what was universal was how it bound the fans together. It became a social brother and sisterhood no band had tapped. Though fruitless to objectively explain it you see how it grew and how the band received something equally intangible that kept it going. It was amazing and as good as this film is it can not replace being at even one Dead concert let alone the thousands the band logged. For film, however, it truly gives one a glimpse of something amazing no one truly understood. The Dead's production company and archivists did an impeccable job here. This is truly on the level this great music and singular band deserves. The platform and support of Amazon is to be applauded for making this available to a wide audience. Along with many books on Jerry Garcia and The Grateful Dead this documentary will be a integral piece of the preservation of a musical phenomenon that was and will remain never to be duplicated. Even the other undisputed greatest rock band, The Beatles, didn't birth the emotions and camaraderie which is "Long Strange Trip". Because of this I say even if you are not a fan you should see it...And, if you're a fan it's hard to see how one couldn't be amazed and pleased to have so much insight and information brought to the screen in one documentary.

There are a few surprises in this series. None are really startling, but they make you understand more why you like this band in the first place. If you don't, hear them more. The Grateful Dead have all the goods: Joy, bravery, humanity, and musicianship. They're not without fault - see "humanity". This an excellent series for fans and, I hope, soon-to-be-fans. Advice: don't skip the credits. Their soundtracks are worth it.