ON, MAY 8, 1977, at Barton Hall, in the Cornell University campus, in front of 8,500 willing fans, the Grateful Inactive played a show so significant the Library of Congress inducted it in to the Country wide Saving Registry. The music group had simply released Terrapin Station and was still obtaining its ft after a protracted hiatus. In 1977, the Thankful Dead reached a musical peak, and their East Coast spring tour featured a fantastic string of shows, including the one at Cornell.

Many on the subject of Cornell ’77: The Music, the Myth, as well as the Magnificence of the Grateful Dead’s Concert at Barton Hall Deadheads claim that the grade of the live recording of the display created by Betty Cantor-Jackson (an associate of the crew) elevated its importance. Once those recordings-referred to as ‘Betty Boards’-began to circulate among Deadheads, the trustworthiness of the Cornell ’77 display grew exponentially. With time the display at Barton Hall acquired legendary status locally of Deadheads and audiophiles.

Rooted in dozens of interviews-including a conversation with Betty Cantor-Jackson about her recording-Cornell ’77 is about far more than just an individual Grateful Dead concert. It is a sociable and cultural history of 1 of America’s many enduring and iconic musical works, their devoted enthusiasts, and several Cornell learners whose interest for music drove them to provide the Dead to Barton Hall. Peter Conners offers intimate knowledge of the lover culture encircling the Deceased, and his knowledge brings the display alive. He leads listeners through a song-by-song analysis of the efficiency, from ‘New Minglewood Blues’ to ‘One Even more Saturday Night,’ and conveys why, forty years later on, Cornell ’77 continues to be regarded as a touchstone in the history of the music group.

As Conners notes in his Prologue: ‘You will hear from Deadheads who visited the show. You may hear from non-Deadhead Cornell graduates who have been responsible for putting on the show to begin with. You will hear from record executives, academics, scholars, Deceased family members, tapers, investors, and trolls. You will hear from those that still live the Thankful Dead every day. You are going to hear from those who would rather maintain their Grateful Dead passions personal for reasons both personal and professional. You are going to hear stories about the early days of being a Deadhead and what it had been like to attend, and perhaps record, those early shows, including Cornell ’77.’