Think you don’t like The Grateful Dead?
Ya might wanna think again. Ray Robertson was the last person you’d expect to become a Deadhead. Here’s how it happened — and how it could happen to you too!
“It’s like a cult,” says author Ray Robertson about The Grateful Dead’s music. In other words, you could sell even the most reluctant listeners on the band because there’s likely something for every taste in The Dead’s endless ocean of live recordings. Robertson should know—he was the last person one would expect to become a Deadhead and now he calls himself a Deadhead, and a newfound jazz lover to boot. And he’s got a new book in tow titled All The Years Combine: The Grateful Dead in Fifty Shows.
Robertson was also commissioned to write the liner notes for two Dead releases in 2023: the sprawling 17-disc box set Here Comes Sunshine and Dave’s Picks Vol. 45. How does someone who never even cared for improvisational music get here? Find out in our delightful chat above, wherein Robertson talks about how he never dreamed he would one-day describe a 20-minute jam as “too short.” A devoted connoisseur of archival live Dead recordings, Robertson has devoted himself to poring over what distinguishes one performance from another.
Still, his card-carrying credentials are sometimes challenged, thanks to his contrarian streak and willingness to be critical—qualities that separate his voice from the devotional tone one often encounters with superfans.
You don’t actually have to care one bit about The Dead to be entertained by our conversation, which encompassed writing, tribalism, Flannery O’Connor, Moby Dick, the corporatization of music, the role of being critical when considering the things we love, and even the secrets to a successful marriage.
Enjoy!
<3 SRK