The mind of a musician is an elusive beast and one that is difficult to completely grasp. No matter how many writing classes you take, no matter how many records you listen to, eventually, you have to come to terms with the fact that some people are musically minded, and others simply are not. What’s more, most musicians are completely unaware of what makes them musical; it is merely an instinctive and inexplicable attribute. Many have tried to get into the heads of musicians over the years, but most have failed, especially when it came to Grateful Dead songwriter Jerry Garcia. 

In fairness, the mind of Jerry Garcia was a particularly tough code to crack; at times, even Garcia was none the wiser as to what was going on inside his cranium. Then again, what more could you expect from the leader of a band which formed as a result of mid-1960s acid tests and a particular penchant for psychedelic substances? However, Garcia’s constant quest to keep his third eye firmly open meant that, for the most part, he was more tuned into the intricacies of consciousness than most of his fellow musicians. 

Despite his reputation as a spaced-out hippie god, Garcia always seemed pretty humble and down to earth during interview appearances – in stark contrast to his other-worldly music and songwriting. Aside from the joys of LSD and mind-expansion, one of Garcia’s favourite topics to discuss was the world of literature and research. If anybody was in a position to recommend books on the mind of a musician or the human mind in general, then it was Garcia, having dedicated a lot of his life to research – of sorts – on that very topic. 

Reportedly, Garcia’s love of literature has its roots in childhood. During a 1982 interview, he shared, “I was asthmatic, and because of that I had to go slower than the other kids. That’s what got me into reading”. That story likely resonates with a lot of less athletic children, but few of them went on to achieve the artistic greatness of Garcia. Of course, as he became more interested in the world of music and drugs, the reading habits of the songwriter changed somewhat.

A particular favourite of Garcia’s was The Horn, a 1958 novel by the American professor and poet John Clellon Holmes. The book, concerning the history of jazz music and an artist who changes the lineage of the genre indefinitely, is often considered one of the earliest novels of the ‘beat generation’. As if that description was not worthy of Garcia’s attention already, he was apparently given a copy of Holmes’ book by none other than Ken Kesey.

Reflecting upon his appreciation of The Horn, Garcia said, “It’s really a musician’s book,” explaining, “It’s about a black bop musician, and it really does a great job of communicating a musician’s head”. Whether the novel does a good job of communicating the mind of Garcia himself or a general musician – i.e. one not riddled with acid – is not clear, but Garcia clearly held a special place in his heart for Holmes’ groundbreaking work. 

However accurate Garcia’s assessment of the novel is a chance to peek inside the mind of a songwriter, especially one as eccentric and far-out as Jerry Garcia, is certainly worth the price of a second-hand book.