Personal life

Jerilyn Lee Brandelius was born June 25, 1948 in La Jolla, California to homemaker Dorothy Anne Reid and Marine Edwin Carl Brandelius II. Jerilyn was the first of five children.

As a young man Edwin raced motorcycles on the ice. Early on her parents moved to Detroit, Michigan

Detroit, Michigan

Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

 to help with her great-grandmother towards the end of her life. Edwin began working as a mechanic and racing for Blake's Autobody where "Ma Blake" gave him the racing nickname "Brandy Blake." The nickname "Brandy" stuck and he participated in Sprint car racing

Sprint car racing

Sprint cars are high-powered race cars designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa....

 until flipping his car and puncturing a lung in 1956. Reid and Brandelius separated in 1962 and Reid moved back to La Jolla. Brandelius traveled extensively in Mexico driving a dune buggy

Dune buggy

A dune buggy is a recreational vehicle with large wheels, and wide tires, designed for use on sand dunes or beaches. The design is usually a modified vehicle and engine mounted on an open chassis. The modifications usually attempt to increase the power-to-weight ratio by either lightening the...

 where he met his last wife Arizona folk singer and author Katie Lee (singer)

Katie Lee (singer)

-Biography:Katie Lee is an Arizona folk singer, writer, actress and photographer.She graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. After that, she went on to study with two of the most successful folksingers of the 1940s, Burl Ives and Josh White...

.

Brandelius gave birth to a daughter in 1964 followed by a son in 1967. Brandelius was in an intimate relationship for ten years (1971–1981) with Grateful Dead

Grateful Dead

The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...

 drummer Mickey Hart

Mickey Hart

Mickey Hart is an American percussionist and musicologist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band the Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 to February 1971, and from October 1974 to August 1995...

.

Career

In 1968 Brandelius began working for Translove Airways Productions at the Hippodrome Ballroom in San Diego which led to her meeting members of the Grateful Dead

Grateful Dead

The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...

, Steve Miller Band

Steve Miller Band

The Steve Miller Band is an American rock band formed in 1967 in San Francisco, California. The band is managed by Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals, and is known for a string of mid-1970s hit singles that are staples of the classic rock radio format.-History:In 1965, Steve Miller and...

, Quicksilver Messenger Service

Quicksilver Messenger Service

Quicksilver Messenger Service is an American psychedelic rock band, formed in 1965 in San Francisco.-Introduction:Quicksilver Messenger Service gained wide popularity in the Bay Area and, through their recordings, with psychedelic rock enthusiasts around the globe and several of their albums ranked...

, The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited...

, Electric Flag

Electric Flag

The Electric Flag was a blues rock soul group, led by guitarist Mike Bloomfield, keyboardist Barry Goldberg and drummer Buddy Miles, and featuring other well-known musicians such as vocalist Nick Gravenites and bassist Harvey Brooks. Bloomfield formed the Electric Flag in 1967, following his stint...

, and more.

In 1969 Brandelius moved to San Francisco, met music promotor and cultural icon Chet Helms

Chet Helms

Chester Leo "Chet" Helms , often called the father of San Francisco's "1967 Summer of Love," was a music promoter and a cultural figure in San Francisco during its hippie period in the late Sixties....

 (founder of the Avalon Ballroom and father of San Francisco's 1967 Summer of Love

Summer of Love

The Summer of Love was a social phenomenon that occurred during the summer of 1967, when as many as 100,000 people converged on the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, creating a cultural and political rebellion...

). Brandelius worked for him at The Family Dog Ballroom as a personal assistant until it closed at which point Brandelius went to work for Pete Marino (close friend of Liberace

Liberace

Wladziu Valentino Liberace , best known simply as Liberace, was a famous American pianist and vocalist.In a career that spanned four decades of concerts, recordings, motion pictures, television and endorsements, Liberace became world-renowned...

) at Warner-Elektra-Atlantic Records as a production assistant.

Brandelius' photographic archive includes rare images from the Grateful Dead's 1987 tour to Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

.

In 1989, Brandelius published the book The Grateful Dead Family Album

The Grateful Dead Family Album

The Grateful Dead Family Album is a photographic music reference book by Jerilyn Lee Brandelius, cover art by Stanley Mouse with hundreds of intimate photographs and stories from members of the Grateful Dead and the Dead Family....

. Cover art by Stanley Mouse

Stanley Mouse

Stanley George Miller , better known as Mouse and Stanley Mouse, is an American artist, notable for his 1960s psychedelic rock concert poster designs and Grateful Dead album cover art.-Early life:...

. The book was originally signed to a small publisher but re-signed and pushed into full production with Warner Brothers following Jerry Garcia

Jerry Garcia

Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...

's hospitalization and near fatal diabetic coma

Diabetic coma

Diabetic coma is a reversible form of coma found in people with diabetes mellitus. It is a medical emergency.Three different types of diabetic coma are identified:#Severe diabetic hypoglycemia...

 in 1986.

Television and Documentary

Brandelius appears in the 1995 documentary "Tie-Died" which offers a look at the band and the fans known as "Deadhead

Deadhead

Deadhead or Dead Head is a name given to fans of the American jam band, the Grateful Dead. In the 1970s, a number of fans began travelling to see the band in as many shows or festival venues as they could. With large numbers of people thus attending strings of shows, a community developed...

s.
Brandelius appears in The American Experience, a television documentary series aired on PBS, in a 2007 episode titled "Summer of Love"

External links

• http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050703/news_z1j3helms1.html Chet Helms obituary
• http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2617094/ IMDB listing
• http://www.ukrockfestivals.com/egyptbam2.htm article written by Mickey Hart regarding Egypt tour
• http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/134482/Tie-Dyed-Rock-n-Roll-s-Most-Deadicated-Fans/overview New York Times overview of movie Tie-Died