Touch of Grey, or How the Grateful Dead Became Pop Stars

John Brackett (Author)

9781478038894

Paperback / softback, published 4 August 2026

134 pages, 19 illustrations
22.9 x 15.2 x 0.8 cm, 0.445 kg

“A crucial, careful, and fun look inside one of the Grateful Dead’s least-examined and least-understood periods, perhaps ironically also their commercial peak.”—Jesse Jarnow, co-host of the Good Ol' Grateful Deadcast and author of Heads: A Biography of Psychedelic America

"Drawing on the Dead Archives . . . Brackett traces evolution of recording technology (radio broadcasts, cassettes, CDs, music videos), live performance venues, and frequent changes to the song’s lyrics—all evincing the fluidness characteristic of jam band culture."—Frederick Augustyn, Library Journal

Touch of Grey, or How the Grateful Dead Became Pop Stars draws on extensive archival research to tell the behind-the-scenes story of how one song fundamentally transformed the legacy of one of rock’s most iconic groups.

Touch of Grey, or How the Grateful Dead Became Pop Stars tells the story of how one song transformed the popular legacy of one of rock’s most iconic musical groups. John Brackett traces the history of the song “Touch of Grey,” beginning with songwriter Robert Hunter’s lyrical sketches and the Grateful Dead’s earliest live arrangements, culminating in the group’s popular renaissance following the release of “Touch of Grey” and the album In the Dark in the summer of 1987. Brackett details how particular recording technologies, notable musical characteristics, modes of attending and listening, and the mechanics of the contemporary music industry shaped this defining moment in the group’s career. Drawing on extensive archival research, Touch of Grey examines how the band and their label worked to produce a hit record, a dynamic music video, and an effective promotional campaign that would propel the Grateful Dead from a group with a devoted cult following to become a pop culture phenomenon.

Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: “
It Must Be Getting Early . . .”
1
1. “
Dawn is Breaking Everywhere”
: Writing and Performing (1980–
1986) 9
2. “
There’
s Really Nothing Much to It”
: Recording (Winter/Spring 1987) 25
3. “
Looks So Phony!”
: Videos (Spring 1987) 43
4. “
It’
s Going to Be a Dead Summer!”
55
5. “
Light a Candle, Curse the Glare”
: Aftermath (1988–
1990) 69
6. “
. . . But It’
s Alright”
: Legacy (1990–
?) 89
Coda. “
. . . Clocks Are Running Late”
103
Notes 109
Bibliography 115
Index 119