Dec 14

Jerry Garcia

Greatly Appreciated

JERRY GARCIA

 
Jerry Garcia  (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician who was best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead.  Garcia was viewed by many as the leader or “spokesman” of the group, and he performed with the Grateful Dead for their entire thirty-year career (1965–1995).  Garcia also founded and participated in a variety of side projects, including the Saunders-Garcia Band (with longtime friend Merl Saunders), the Jerry Garcia Band, Old and in the Way, the Garcia/Grisman acoustic duo, Legion of Mary, and the New Riders of the Purple Sage (which Garcia co-founded with John Dawson and David Nelson).  He also released several solo albums, and contributed to a number of albums by other artists over the years as a session musician.  He was well known by many for his distinctive guitar playing and was ranked 13th in Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” cover story.   (More from Wikipedia)
 
 
Talking about “death” in the name is a good way to make it clear your band means business, and there have been several over the years.  The Grateful Dead is the best known of course; even today, when you mention “the Dead”, I think most everyone knows who you mean.  I was living in San Francisco when Jerry Garcia passed away in 1995, and that was a sad day that also spelled the end of the band.   
  
(July 2012)
 
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One of the best songs on the Thomas Anderson album Moon Going Down is “Jerry’s Kids”.  The reference is not to Jerry Lewis’s telethon children, but to the “Deadhead” followers of Jerry Garcia’s band the Grateful Dead.  Besides showing his lively sense of humor, the song illustrates his expansive outlook on life:  The song is full of expected praise for the idealistic Deadheads but does not dismiss the easy criticisms either – Thomas Anderson truly can see all points of view, unlike many of us who just say we do. 
 
(November 2012)
 
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Additionally, Pete Sears of the Sons of Fred has been a prominent session bass guitarist and keyboard player for more than four decades.  He played on four early Rod Stewart solo albums, including the classic Every Picture Tells a Story (the album that includes Rod’s mega-hit “Maggie May”), plus Gasoline Alley, Never a Dull Moment, and Smiler.  Pete Sears has also worked with Steamhammer, Stoneground, Long John Baldry, Los Lobos, and three of the founding members of the Grateful Dead:  Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, and Phil Lesh. 

 

(March 2014/2)

 
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Crosby, Stills, Nash and/or Young have released any number of cultural and counter-cultural touchstones over the years, such as “Teach Your Children” (featuring Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead on pedal steel guitar; the song actually made the country charts). 

 

(April 2014)

 

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Wikipedia states:  “Such songwriters as Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Bruce Springsteen, Robert Hunter, Harry Chapin, John Mellencamp, Pete Seeger, Andy Irvine, Joe Strummer, Billy Bragg, Jerry Garcia, Jay Farrar, Bob Weir, Jeff Tweedy, Bob Childers, and Tom Paxton have acknowledged [Woody] Guthrie as a major influence.”  

 

(March 2015)

 

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Bruce Hornsby and the Range, A Night on the Town – Allmusic provides the details:  John Mellencamp producer Don Gehman is on hand, and guest artists include Grateful Dead frontman Jerry Garcia, Shawn Colvin (early in her career), banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, and jazz bassist Charlie Haden. 
 
(December 2015)
 
Last edited: March 22, 2021