An American Beauty: Grateful Dead 1965–1995, curated by Ricki Blakesberg and Jay Blakesberg is hanging at New York’s David Koransky Gallery until August 7. I attended the opening reception to give you an inside tour.
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I have known Jay Blakesberg for decades, working on many Guitar World assignments together. We are old dogs, and it’s always a pleasure to collaborate. I was really happy that I was able to attend the opening. The exhibit features the work of photographers whose portfolios Jay and his daughter Ricki have purchased as part of their excellent Retro Photo Archive, including my bestie Kirk West.
An abridged press release reads “The David Kordansky Gallery is pleased to present An American Beauty: Grateful Dead 1965–1995, an exhibition of photographs of the iconic band curated by Ricki Blakesberg and Jay Blakesberg. The exhibition is on view in New York at 520 W. 20th St. through August 7, 2026.
An American Beauty: Grateful Dead 1965–1995 features twenty-one large-scale and more than two dozen smaller photographic prints documenting all eras of the Grateful Dead experience. The exhibition centers on the work of Grateful Dead photographers Jay Blakesberg, Adrian Boot, Suki Coughlin, Greg Gaar, Andy Leonard, Rosie McGee, Bob Minkin, Ron Rakow, Jon Sievert, Elizabeth Sunflower, and Kirk West who documented the Dead from its early days in the Haight-Ashbury through the Jerry Garcia years.”
Jay took me on a video tour of the exhibit:
I was thrilled to see one of Kirk’s great shots hanging in glorious, large-scale form. I think it is the ultimate photo of the Wall of Sound.
It was a rather amazing experience to meet former Dead co-manager Ron Rakow, who gave me a tour of some of his excellent photos. Like Twiggs Lyndon and Kirk with the ABB, Rakow was an insider with a great eye and a great camera. He took photos no one else could have been in position to snap.
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It was really amazing to meet Ron, who is a Grade A character who has always fascinated me. He was the Wall Street guy who loaned the Dead money to buy gear and eventually became a manager and started the Dead’s record labels.
WIKIPEDIA: “In March 1972, Ron came up with the idea for Grateful Dead Records and Round Records and worked with Jerry Garcia to develop the business plan known as the ‘So What Papers’. In July 1972, he was invited to Bill Kreutzmann’s house to present the initial idea to the band. In April 1973, the plan was finally approved and Grateful Dead Records and Round Records was born. The labels went on to produce four of the bands records between 1973-1976.”
That is a rather bloodless description of a fascinating character. I highly recommend this excellent edition of Jesse Jarnow’s always great Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast. I promise you it is 90 minutes well spent. The core subject is Rakow’s trial in front of the Hell’s Angels on the charges of stealing from the Dead. Just trust me on this.
Here’s Ron discussing this photo.
If you’re in New York this summer, go see the exhibit! And come see Jaimoe with Friends of the Brothers!
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Brothers and Sisters: the Allman Brothers Band and The Album That Defined The 70s was my third straight book to debut in the New York Times Non-Fiction Hardcover Bestsellers List, following Texas Flood: The Inside Story of Stevie Ray Vaughan and One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band. My first book was Big in China: My Unlikely Adventures Raising a Family, Playing the Blues and Becoming a Star in Beijing, about my experiences raising a family in Beijing and touring China with a popular original blues band. It was optioned for a movie by Ivan Reitman’s Montecito Productions. I am also a guitarist and singer who fronts two bands, Big in China and Friends of the Brothers, the premier celebration of the Allman Brothers Band.
