Reddit mentions of A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead

http://www.amazon.com/Long-Strange-Trip-History-Grateful/dp/0767911865

This one is great. Pretty comprehensive.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0767911865

The Archive has everything

Click on "Shows on this Day in History" and scroll to the bottom/last page. Look for the keywords "Soundboard" (I don't recommend starting with Audience recordings, but I'm a sbd snob) and "Charlie Miller" (his remasters are the best).

Start off looking for the '68 and '69 shows, riding that psych rock groove you've built up. Dark Star, The Other One, and Caution will acclimate you well to the band's free-flowing musicality and train your ear for the spacier jams that come up there and later when Playing In The Band enters the rotation (and Drums and Space in the late 70s on).

From there, jump around between '70 and '77. Things become jazzier in '72 when Keith joins and Mickey temporarily departs, and the wave crests at the end of '77.

After all that, you should be ready for '78, '79, the '80s with Brent, and the '90s. Lots of ups and downs (imho) during these years, but still quality and fun listens.

This UCSC website has all the lyrics to help you sing along (which you will).

If you're hooked on the music and want to learn more about the band, buy A Long Strange Trip by Dennis McNally: a detailed, well-written account of the band's history.

A Long Strange Trip... has a personal favorite story about Wiz Leonard dosing very hard during 5/26/72 and leaving the sound truck unattended during Morning Dew, which ended up making the E72 album anyway!

Conversations with the Dead by David Gans is probably a good place to start. It is a compendium of interviews, a good read.

A Long, Strange Trip by Dennis McNally is a good book, might be another one to check out.

)

Billy's Book, Deal

Phil's Book

Dennis McNally's book

David Brown's Book

Jerry on Jerry: Unpublished Interviews

Start with these

basically anything written about the GD that mentions the roadies will comment on how awfully brutal they were to everyone.

http://www.amazon.com/Long-Strange-Trip-History-Grateful/dp/0767911865