As the news from America becomes more and more worrying it's good to look back to the last century when everything was different and some American rock musicians brought joy to the world. Peace and Love meant something back then.

The Grateful Dead were very successful despite having no chart hits and they had a huge dedicated fanbase.

They were formed in California in 1965 and performed regularly for 30 years.

The anniversaries have spawned renewed interest in the band.

Dennis McNally was their official archivist.

This conversation was recorded in 2015.

Kind of Blue is the most successful jazz LP ever made. It was recorded over two sessions in New York in 1959 and is still revered as a masterpiece.

Ashley Kahn told David Freeman the story behind a historic music event.

This novel is set in the 1960s with a backdrop of The Beatles and other music of the time.

It tells the story of Daisy Shoemaker who is 15 in 1964. She was born into a fundamentalist Mormon community on the US - Canada border.

In a ceremony called Placement she is given as a teenage wife to a much older man. She finds this intolerable and runs away.

The church official who makes the decisions is known as Bishop and he assures his followers that he has a direct line to God. Amazingly they believe him.

It's a gripping and enraging read. It's fiction but events like the book describes are still happening today. The fundamentalist cult is vey much alive and well.

There is a Netflix documentary about the group .. Keep Sweet : Pray and Obey.