Rock Scully

Rock Robert Scully (August 1, 1941 – December 16, 2014, aged 73) was an American music manager, best known as one of the managers of the rock band the Grateful Dead from 1965 to 1985.

Living in Haight-Ashbury as a graduate student prior to the Summer of Love, Scully first saw the Grateful Dead play at one of Ken Kesey's Acid Tests, and signed on as the band's manager almost immediately. He started to book the band at local venues, like the Fillmore Auditorium and the Avalon Ballroom, where other bands such as Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother and the Holding Company, and Quicksilver Messenger Service got their start. Within a few years, the Dead became more successful, and Scully helped negotiate their initial contract with Warner Bros. Records. He also got them booked into larger concerts (including the Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock) and was one of the principal organizers of the Altamont Free Concert.

Although he developed an opiate addiction alongside several others in the Grateful Dead's social network in the late 1970s, Scully was employed by the group in various capacities (including stints as director of advance, road manager and publicist) until 1984, when he was fired by the group, in part for enabling Jerry Garcia's cocaine and heroin addictions. For several years, he had also served as manager of the Jerry Garcia Band and Garcia's housemate; alleged embezzlement from the Garcia Band played a role in the group's decision. Following rehabilitation, he returned briefly in 1985.

Scully was the author of a 1995 memoir, ''Living with the Dead: Twenty Years on the Bus with Garcia and the Grateful Dead'' (written with David Dalton). Provided by Wikipedia