Deadheads Remember Englishtown ’77
The Largest Gathering in New Jersey History
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Mike; "We got to Englishtown the night before, and got onto the field area with a bunch of other freaks. We got up close, about 25 feet from the stage and we were set. I had a little beach chair, a cooler with some beer and we listened very intently to the New Riders and then to Marshal Tucker. As soon as the Dead started playing, people rushed past, falling over top of me, crushing my little beach chair. I was dumbfounded and pissed. We moved to the back of the field after that, beyond the first set of speakers. We left during Terrapin to find the car and when I started it the radiator hose blew. I mean, I didn’t know what had happened right away, but there was smoke (steam) billowing out from under the hood. I managed to check the radiator and found there was no water in it. We crashed for the night in the car, and then I trekked back to the concert field to find water, and boy the story gets better. First of all, the field was a disaster. Cans and bottles everywhere, trash piled up and scattered for two football fields, maybe three. Looking around for a water source, I found a baggie of pot, a bunch of blankets and chairs just abandoned, and a rolled up wad of cash, $110.00. Just the amount I needed to make rent that month, if you can believe that. If I had a shopping carriage or something like that I could’ve had the biggest score of my life. This isn’t even the craziest thing that happened yet. I had to walk to the nearest gas station to get a hose for my radiator, and the water that I couldn’t find on the field, and they actually had the hose for my radiator in stock. Yes. They had some obscure radiator hose for my car at a gas station in Englishtown. Craziest fucking thing ever. One of the Greatest shows I ever saw, and I’ve seen nearly 200".
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About the Book
Deadheads may disagree on which Grateful Dead concert was their best ever, but no one would argue that their performance at Englishtown on Sept. 3, 1977, was something special. For Jim Daley, who saw the band for the first time on that date, it was a life-changing experience that he looks back on with fondness more than forty years later. Like many others, he does n’t remember much about that day … but he sure does remember the music. In this tribute to the band he loves so much, the author commemorates the landmark concert by sharing memories from those who were there.Together, the tapestry of recollections reveals a detailed picture of what that day was like, and why it was a defining moment for the band. Some people remember the day quite vividly, while others are a little foggy on details. For most people, however, the music is at the forefront of their recollections. Discover what it was really like on that hot, humid day at Raceway Park in Old Bridge,New Jersey, and how – at least for the day – the Grateful Dead got everything “Just exactly perfect”.
About the Author
Jim Daley, a lifelong Grateful Dead fan, is also the author of Grateful Memories: Ten Years on the Road Taping the Grateful Dead. This is the first Grateful Dead Memoir written by a taper. Jim started recording the Grateful Dead in 1979, at Nassau Coliseum.