A Grateful Dead concert, Ray Robertson argues, is life. Like life, it can be alternately compelling and lackluster; familiar and foreign; occasionally sublime and sometimes insipid. Although the Grateful Dead stopped the day Jerry Garcia’s heart did, what the band left behind is the next best thing to being there in the third row, courtesy of the group’s unorthodox decision to record all of their concerts. Meaning that it’s possible to follow the band’s evolution (and devolution) through their shows, from the R&B-based garage band at the beginning, to the jazz-rock conjurers at their creative peak, to the lumbering monolith of their decline. In  All the Years Combine: The Grateful Dead in Fifty Shows , Robertson listens to and writes ecstatically about fifty of the band's most important and memorable concerts in order to better understand who the Grateful Dead were, what they became, and what they meant—and what they continue to mean. Praise for  All the Years Combine "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." —David McPherson,  Toronto Star "Robertson—writing at full, heart-exploding tilt—charts the course of the greatest American band (yes, I said it), from their humble start to their humbling end through capsule reviews of 50 shows. This is a glorious book, full of setlists and anecdotes and clear-eyed love." —Robert J. Wiersema, Toronto Star "Robertson has written an ideal companion for the devoted Deadhead while charting intimidating territory for the curious ... books like this one help enshrine (the music) with the reverence it deserves." —Michael Strizic, Literary Review of Canada "Ray Robertson's  All the Years Combine  is part love letter and part band history, showing why—and how—Deadheads really talk (and feel) about their favorite band." —Peter Conners, author of Growing Up Dead and Cornell '77 “Ray weaves short stories around fifty shows—and altogether they tell the story of the The Grateful Dead’s timeline.” —Karim Kanji, Welcome to the Music "Ray Robertson ... walks listeners through the endless thicket of music. At points, his crackling prose froths over into hyperventilating superfan’s rants—an approach that befits a band with such a passionate following. Sometimes ... more is more." —Spin "Impressively insightfully informative, exceptionally well organized and thoroughly 'reader friendly' in presentation, All the Years Combine: The Grateful Dead in Fifty Shows is a 'must read' history for the legions of Grateful Dead fans." —Midwest Book Review “Author Ray Robertson delves into a staggering fifty Grateful Dead shows in his new collection … embark on a wild trip with Robertson and follow the trajectory of one of live music’s most groundbreaking acts.” —Gabriel Sigler, Bad Feeling Magazine "Delightfully genre-fluid—part critique, part review, part biography, part journalism." —Ashwinin Gangal, Palo Alto Weekly "If life were a Grateful Dead concert, Chatham author Ray Robertson would be its philosopher archivist." —Dan Savoie, 519 Magazine " 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 "There is a huge amount of useful information collected in this book. And it was written as a serious criticism with love and affection and a large portion of honesty and humor thrown in for good measure." —M. Sarki, The Rogue Literary Society "As any Deadhead worth their weight in hemp and LSD will tell you, there’s nothing like a Grateful Dead concert, and the author capably demonstrates the good, bad, and ugly elements that followed the band around for decades ... A must for devoted Deadheads." —Kirkus Reviews "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 "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 band's 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." —Shannon MacLeod, The Miramichi Reader " All the Years Combine is perhaps the first truly great book chronicling The Grateful Dead through the band’s live shows ... And for the Grateful Dead live neophyte ... the book provides a roadmap, a guide, a place to start and finish and explore the music while you read. And for th