Heads

A Biography of Psychedelic America

By: Jesse Jarnow

Narrated by: Jesse Jarnow

Length: 15 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

Heads: A Biography of Psychedelic America uncovers a hidden history of the biggest psychedelic distribution and belief system the world has ever known. Through a collection of fast-paced interlocking narratives, it animates the tale of an alternate America and its wide-eyed citizens: black market chemists, the LSD-slinging graffiti writers of Central Park, the Grateful Dead-loving AI scientists of Stanford, utopian Whole Earth homesteaders, government-wanted Anonymous hackers, rogue explorers, East Village bluegrass pickers, spiritual seekers, Internet pioneers, entrepreneurs, pranksters, pioneering DJs, and a nation of Deadheads.

Drawing on extensive new firsthand accounts from many never-before-interviewed subjects and a wealth of deep archival research, music writer and WFMU DJ Jesse Jarnow takes readers on a panoramic tour of a comic-book-colored American landscape. And with psychedelic research moving into the mainstream for the first time in decades, Heads also recounts the story of the quiet entheogenic revolution that for years has been brewing resiliently in the Dead's Technicolor shadow.

Featuring over four dozen images, Heads weaves one of the 20th and 21st centuries' most misunderstood subcultures into the fabric of the nation's history.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2016 Jesse Jarnow (P)2022 Hachette Books

Critic reviews

"Music, history, and psychopharmacology blend together in Heads.... Jarnow describes in colorful and scrupulously researched detail how psychedelic music fused with actual psychedelics to create a ceaselessly regenerating 'hip economy' that persists to this day.... It's a head trip and then some." —Rolling Stone, "10 Best Music Books of 2016"

"A brilliant study of the transformative impact of LSD on a half-century of US art, music, movies, spirituality, and technology." —Uncut, "Book of the Year," December 2016

"[Jarnow] is our generation's foremost Grateful Dead chronicler, and something of a cultural ambassador to the punks and indie kids who might not otherwise pay the band any mind." —Spin

No turn left…

A wonderfully detailed from the ground up historical account of a ton of really cool shit.
Well done Mr. Jarnow
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The Grateful Deadheads are still alive and great!

This is a rich and encompesing history of a time I observed from afar being born in 1951 but was never a real part of but remember well. I had many friends who were a part of it all. I knew them well and loved them all. They were never in it for the money and violence was nearly unheard of. It was a exploration of the mind in search of itself. Change your thinking to change the world. This is also a very amusing and very funny account of the psychodilect explosion in America and the world.

A Head for the Heads!

After being sucked in by everything he does on the Grateful Deadcast I had to immediately download the book as soon as it came out. Everything Jesse writes about, and especially when he talks about it, grabs and enthralls my excitement for being a Head, for what it meant to be a Head and for what it is going to be in to be a Head in the future. I don’t want to finish this book! I’m about halfway through and I’m so entralled!!!

Eye opening

Who would have thought that psychedelics not only influenced music but the information technology and art. Only alluded to how LSD was created and Albert Hofmann and the Timothy Leary story, so a listener my need to familiarize themselves. The narrator read a little fast for me also or this would have been a 5 star book.

Really great book!

This book is a great survey of “Headdy” culture from the 60s to today. Funny, sweet and thought provoking. It’s well written and well researched. If you’re interested in the way drugs interact with culture, you’ll love it!

Thank you Jesse

Your passion and love for the Dead is unmatched, the more we learn about the depths of the scene and history that surrounded them the better we understand their true intentions. The more I learn the more I come to understand the experiences I had and have with psychedelics align with the dead’s ethos. much love and thanks for everything you do!

Essential guide to a Hidden history of the latter half of the 20th century

Jarnow connects the dots outlining the psychedelic map of America after WWII. For some, the entire story will be a revelation. For others it will fill in the blanks that were long suspected, but never until now detected.

insider history of deadheads

As a lifelong deadhead i always wondered who was making the scene happen that surrounded the GD. now i know. the GD totally influenced my life especially my high school years which were my best. this book connects a lot of dots about journeys that intersected and interconnected. since i have a passion for reminiscing this book was written for me. i loved every minute. i’m very grateful to the author. and i love the grateful dead podcast also. keep on truckin’ bro may the sun shine on you. peace love and happiness

We’re still everywhere.

Jesse did the work. You could be uninterested in music and have never touched an illicit drug and still enjoy and benefit from this carefully researched and fairly presented work of history. And the author’s off hand editorials are a hoot. Yes, Dick Chaney, do that.

Disappointed

I was expecting more, being a fan of Jarnow on the Good ‘Ole Grateful Dead podcast. The narrative is scattered and lacks linearity and cohesion. At times it seems like he’s reaching for subject matter, and it’s often only vaguely tangential to the ostensive theme. As another reviewer commented, this is mostly centered around Dead Heads, but that’s not what bothers me. It’s just not that entertaining.