Robert Hunter’s Lost Manuscript About Grateful Dead’s Origins To Be Released

Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter’s long-lost manuscript, The Silver Snarling Trumpet, has been set for publication. Out October 8th, the recently unearthed book will tell the band’s origin story.

The late Hunter — who co-wrote Grateful Dead songs like “Dark Star,” “Touch of Grey,” and “Box of Rain” — originally penned The Silver Snarling Trumpet: The Birth of the Grateful Dead — The Lost Manuscript of Robert Hunter in the early 1960s. At the time, he had just been introduced to Jerry Garcia and began chronicling the band’s early days in the Bay Area, including performances at Kepler’s Books and road trips through the countryside.

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The Silver Snarling Trumpet features a foreword by Dead & Company guitarist John Mayer, an introduction by the band’s biographer Dennis McNally, and an afterword by Brigid Meier, a close friend of Hunter’s. Pre-orders are ongoing.

“Fans will experience the early days of Hunter, Jerry Garcia, and their cohorts, following them into the stacks at Kepler’s Books, to rent instruments at Swain’s House of Music, and through the countryside on road trips,” promises the official description. “Readers will witness impromptu jams, inspired intellectual pranks, and dialogue that is, by turns, amusing and brilliant and outrageous.”

Though best known for his work with Grateful Dead, Hunter was also a solo performer. Rhino has announced an archival series honoring his memory, launching with a deluxe reissue of Hunter’s 1974 solo debut, Tales of the Great Rum Runners. Pre-orders are ongoing ahead of its June 7th release.

Meanwhile, Dead & Company continue to keep the spirit of Garcia and Grateful Dead alive. The supergroup is gearing up for a residency at The Sphere in Las Vegas beginning in May, and you can get tickets here.