Praise for All the Years Combine
“All the Years Combine is a fast, enlightening read but it is also something to savor, like one of the Dead’s notorious hour-long jams.”
—Kevin Wierzbicki, Anti Music.com
“All the Years Combine is a fast, enlightening read but it is also something to savor, like one of the Dead’s notorious hour-long jams.”
—Kevin Wierzbicki, Anti Music.com
“Fascinating and provocative”
–David Gans, Tales from the Golden Road (The Grateful Dead Channel)
“For all the talk about The Grateful Dead being primarily a band you need to hear live . . . the fact that there has not been a truly great book chronicling the band’s live shows is surprising. That is until now . . . Ray Robertson’s All the Years Combine tells the story of 50 of some of the best Grateful Dead concerts, chronicled in order from 1966 to 1995. But Robertson’s book is really more than just that . . . That narrative, one that’s been told in numerous tales and tomes already, is presented here in utterly unique and spellbinding fashion. . . . All the Years Combine is engaging and enjoyable front to back. And for the Grateful Dead live neophyte (and with so many concerts available on any of numerous platforms who among us isn’t?), the book provides a roadmap, a guide, a place to start and finish and explore the music while you read. And for these reasons, All the Years Combine, much like the music it heralds, transcends.”
–-Under the Radar
“If life were a Grateful Dead concert, Chatham author Ray Robertson would be its philosopher archivist.”
—519 Magazine
“The great thing about this book is that if you know the Grateful Dead’s music, it’s a hum-along, sing-along tome . . . His summaries of Dead concerts often display elements of verve, invention and colour in the telling . . .Robertson’s other object is corrective — to change the focus of the Grateful Dead’s legacy in our culture. And in this, he succeeds admirably.”
—Winnipeg Free Press
“One of Canada’s most prolific writers . . . one thing that’s always made Ray’s work stand out is how he seamlessly blends his favourite music into his prose, whether it’s fiction or non-fiction.”
—Roots Music Canada
“Ray Robertson has written a rather wonderful book . . . There is a huge amount of useful information collected in this book. And it was written as serious criticism with love and affection and a large portion of honesty and humor thrown in for good measure.”
—Rogue Literary Society
“You do not need to drop acid, get high, or be a Deadhead to enjoy Robertson’s long strange trip… Through the author’s research, knowledge, passion and critical analysis you will gain new insights about this unique group.”
—Toronto Star
“Robertson has written an ideal companion for the devoted Deadhead while charting intimidating territory for the curious . . . The music never stops, and books like this one help enshrine it with the reverence it deserves.”
—Literary Review of Canada
“Robertson displays deep knowledge of the band’s personnel, songs, albums, mechanics, and milieu, and many of the vivid entries concisely capture the mysterious alchemy of what made the group a sui generis American rock band . . .A must for devoted Deadheads.”
—Kirkus Review
“This collection celebrating fifty concerts by the Grateful Dead shows them to be tougher and more complex than you might think…meticulous readings of the bands concerts (alongside track listings) are impressively extensive but crucially they also build a surprising picture too.”
— Louder Than War
“All the Years Combine is a superb book.”
–The Miramichi Reader
