Len Dell'Amico - Friend of the Devil
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JP (J Bomb)
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Very enjoyable so far.
A different perspective of Garcia, particularly Jerry's interest in movies, art and technology/media forms. The insight into how Dead Ahead came together is worth the purchase alone.
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Relix review: https://relix
Relix interview with Dell'Amico: https://relix.com/articles/detail/so-near-so-far-len-dellamico-shares-hi...
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Lance minimum goad Newberry
I just finished this one. It
I just finished this one. It's not very well written, but he apologizes for that right at the beginning, which doesn't completely absolve the issues, but it helps forgive the lumps and bumps.
It seems odd that he would wait 30 years to write this, and after all these years that makes me question the veracity of the stories, but given some writer's leeway there is still a different insight into Jerry than we've heard before, with one or two notable takes that maybe no one has heard before, both coming late in the book.
The first one is a small quote from Jerry that REALLY stood out to me, so much so that I had to read it twice. As far as I know it's something we've never heard before.
During a time in late '94/early '95 Dell'Amico is telling a story about Jerry seeming down, and when asked he quotes Jerry as saying that he was feeling bad because his current wife was getting into his business affairs digging for money and he thinks she married him just for his money.
It's just one little sentence in the book, but damn, have we ever heard any supposed direct insight into Jerry's relationship with the Black Widow like that?
Dell'Amico immediately covers it by saying maybe she was just trying to keep the money out of Jerry's hands so he couldn't buy drugs, but he states it as a quote, which IMO is a pretty inflammatory quote to make.
We haven't heard anything from or about Deborah Koons in a very long time, but I can't help but wonder if there was a response/repercussion from her to that one little quote.
The other point the author makes that I haven't heard before is that he believes Jerry knew his time was short, that he was consciously saying goodbye to everyone and that he went to Serenity Knolls knowing he was checking out there. That seems a real stretch, but who knows?
Otherwise, it's an OK if sloppy book with some sense of what it was like to hang with Jerry outside of the band dynamic, and that Jerry was damned bright and damned lonely, but as always for those of us who have been immersed in this grand tale over the years there isn't much we didn't already know.
Except that maybe Jerry thought his latest wife was a con?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: JP (J Bomb)
I particularly loved the
I particularly loved the insight into the legendary night at New Georges w/Los Lobos.
Before leaving for the show, MG gives Len and Jerry a strict edict there is to be absolutely no drinking and no drugs. When they get seated at their table the waitress comes. Before Len can request just water for the table, Garcia immediately orders a white russian and the evening commences. Classic.
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>>>Dell'Amico immediately
>>>Dell'Amico immediately covers it by saying maybe she was just trying to keep the money out of Jerry's hands so he couldn't buy drugs
Yeah no. Jerry didn't need money to buy drugs. I remember being told about an after show party where Jerry was incoherently wasted sitting in a chair and people were trying to give him more drugs. Also he could probably cover his habit with money found in the couch cushions.
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Or with the drugs found in
Or with the drugs found in the couch cushions!
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>Or with the drugs found in
>Or with the drugs found in the couch cushions!<
Ha!