"For almost three decades, the Grateful Dead was America's most popular touring band. [This is] the first book to ask the simple question of why--and attempt to answer it. Drawing on new research, interviews, and a fresh supply of material from the Grateful Dead archives, Richardson ... recounts the Dead's colorful history, adding new insight into everything from the acid tests to the band's formation of their own record label to their massive late career success, while probing the riddle of the Dead's vast and durable appeal"-- Provided by publisher.