Description
This collection consists of an unpublished draft of a memoir by a Deadhead who toured and taped for ten years. Fan-recorded
tapes were a significant part of the Deadhead subculture, and those who taped at shows were often highly professional about
their efforts. Daley's memoir recounts his own experiences as a taper and as a touring Deadhead, casting light on the scene
and many aspects of Deadhead life.
Background
Jim Daley was born Nov. 26, 1961. He attended Catholic schools and was a Boy Scout until the age of 18. His first concert
was the famed Grateful Dead performance at Englishtown, NJ, in 1977, and he began taping shows in 1979. He worked in retail
through high school and was earning enough to support himself by age 22. As he recalled in 2011, "I was so caught up in the
Dead scene that I didn't go to college but kept my job through years of touring, taking my time off exclusively for Dead tours
for 10 years, until I met my wife, married and had a child. The idea for the book came about when, after my divorce and my
mother's death, I was going through some old storage and found my ticket stubs in a photo album, neatly catagorized, and began
remembering the good times. Every ticket told me a new story so I started putting them down on paper."
Extent
0.25 Linear feet
(1) quarter-document box
Restrictions
Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creator of the records and his
heirs. For permission to publish or to reproduce the material, please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.
Availability
The collection is open for research.