The Early Days of Rolling Stone - Ben Fong-Torres October 23, 2009

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Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2009/10/07/The_Grateful_Dead_Scrapbook_Ben_Fong-Torres

Rock journalist Ben Fong-Torres recalls his experience as an editor at Rolling Stone during the magazine's early days. "There were no studies or focus groups," he says, remembering the loose creativity of the early editorial strategy.

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Grateful Dead fans are legendary for their Dead-ication to the band and its enduring legacy of freewheeling musical exploration. The Grateful Dead Scrapbook collects rare removable memorabilia and evocative images culled from the Grateful Dead Archives at the University of California, Santa Cruz, including never-before-published photos, flyers, fan letters, and other ephemera.

To accompany the eye-popping visuals, renowned journalist Ben Fong-Torres draws on his personal knowledge of the San Francisco music scene in a rich text that conveys the Grateful Dead's story in a fresh way, centering each chapter on a pivotal song that encapsulates a certain era of the group's songwriting, performance, and community.

An attractive slipcase and an audio CD round out the book's beautiful design, delivering a richly illustrated volume as colorful as the band itself. - Booksmith

Ben Fong-Torres has published six books including his best-selling memoirs, The Rice Room: Growing Up Chinese American, his first collection of articles from his years at Rolling Stone, Not Fade Away and his latest, a second collection, Becoming Almost Famous. He is also a broadcaster and the radio columnist for The San Francisco Chronicle.