Loud and Clear

The Grateful Dead’s Wall of Sound and the Quest for Audio Perfection

By: Brian Anderson

Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

The first book to tell the full story of the Grateful Dead’s “Wall of Sound,” an unprecedented and since unparalleled speaker system.

Loud and Clear is the first book to tell the full story of the Grateful Dead’s “Wall of Sound,” an unprecedented and since unparalleled speaker system that was as tall as a school bus is long and more than a hundred feet wide. The band’s quest for roaring yet crystal clear sound began after their formation in 1965, colliding with the ‘60s progressive social climate.

Over the next few years, the Dead’s growing crew of sound-obsessed techies and eccentric roadies took their speaker system to new technological heights. But as the Dead’s relentless, drug-fueled touring schedule met this increasingly burdensome yet sonically perfect machine, in 1974, the Wall brought the band to its knees. The two years of “Wall shows” are legend among Deadheads, and this character-driven tale about human ambition, achievement, and the limits of both on a larger-than-life scale has the potential to reach a wide range of music fans and readers of cultural history.

Author Brian Anderson interviewed hundreds of people associated with the band and the construction of the Wall itself, including band members, roadies, tech wizards, fans and many more. This fascinating inside story of one of the most legendary rock bands of all time will appeal to Deadheads, music fans, audiophiles and many more.

©2025 Brian Anderson (P)2025 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Much more than just an examination of the most famous sound system in music history—the Wall of Sound— Brian Anderson's Loud and Clear is a lively, meticulously researched and compelling behind-the-scenes portrait of the Grateful Dead and the unsung heroes (and heroines) who toiled long and hard in service of that "band out on the highway" during the group's formative and fascinating first decade. It's an evolution story populated by an intriguing assortment of cool, driven, brilliant, strange, volatile, visionary, and eccentric characters; and filled with adventures, misadventures, triumphs and disasters all along the way. This book will definitely show you a side of the Grateful Dead scene you've never seen before." —Blair Jackson, author of Garcia: An American Life and Grateful Dead Gear

"A gloriously fun unpacking of the most ambitious and pivotal year in Grateful Dead history, making it one of the most ambitious periods for any artist ever, where they succeeded at rewriting the rules of record distribution, live sound, and even music itself, with no better symbol than the hyperreal Wall of Sound that loomed behind them as they performed, channeling luminous music and generating myths at every tour stop." —Jesse Jarnow, co-host of official Grateful Deadcast & author of Heads: A Biography of Psychedelic America

"An industrious reporter and passionate writer with deep ties to the communities he writes about, Brian embodies the sheer joy of being present when 'something new is waiting to be born' creatively, as the Grateful Dead put it. He's a trustworthy guide to experiences that are hard to put into words." —New York Times bestselling author Steve Silberman, co-creator of Skeleton Key: A Dictionary for Deadheads