The Fader ran a special Jerry Garcia-goggled version of their little book for their latest go-round and today released, via their blog, a gem that got left on the cutting room floor: Craig Finn writing about what the Dead meant to him.

Here's a taste:

There are a fair amount of illicit transactions that happen around Dead shows. That became part of it, going to shows with friends. I saw them in Minneapolis and a couple other places. Then I went to college [at Boston College] in 1989 and the Dead were a huge part of that. Spring break my sophomore year I went up and saw them at Nassau Coliseum, which actually inspired the song "Nassau Coliseum" by my first band, Lifter Puller. It was rumored on the news in Long Island that it was the biggest drug bust in Grateful Dead history.

 

The whole piece can be read here.

And now, for some Friday Bonus Beats! No one's got "Nassau Coliseum" up on the Imeem, but this one will do just fine...