Grateful Dead Bio-Series in Development at Amazon
A limited-run Grateful Dead bio-series is in the works at Amazon, with Bob Weir slated to executive produce and oversee all aspects of the show’s music, Deadline reports.
The as-yet-untitled series is based on Steve Parish’s 2003 memoir, Home Before Daylight: My Life On the Road with the Grateful Dead. In the book, Parish — who will serve as an executive producer on the show — chronicles his time as a member of the Grateful Dead’s extended family, starting with his work as a roadie and later as Jerry Garcia’s manager and confidant.
In 2008, as Rolling Stone reported, Parish and producer Stephen Emery attempted to turn Home Before Daylight into a Grateful Dead biopic. The project, however, stalled despite having Weir signed on as music director, and Jefferson Airplane, Neil Young and Bob Dylan all set to contribute to the soundtrack.
Emery remains involved in the new project as a co-executive producer, though it’s unclear if Weir will have to start from scratch with the show’s music. Neither a writer, nor a director, are attached to the series yet.
News of the Amazon show arrives at the end of a monumental year for the Grateful Dead, who celebrated their 50th anniversary this summer with several Fare The Well concerts in the Bay Area and Chicago. The gigs boasted the group’s surviving members — Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart — with Phish’s Trey Anastasio filling in for the late Garcia. Following the concerts, Weir, Kreutzmann and Hart hit the road with John Mayer as Dead and Company, while Lesh resumed touring with Phil Lesh and Friends.