Has it been ten years already?

[kvk]

Jerry Garcia 8/1/1942-8/9/1995

Seems like yesterday. Where does the time go?

[SternART]

Yeah.....I was just thinking the same. As my personal memorial I went out & bought a dozen
black T shirts on 8-9-95. (Garcia always wore black T shirts) I've had to replace them a
few times since. I'm fortunate to have seen Jerry play with Grisman both in the OAITW days,
back in the 70's......as well as the later Grisman/Garcia era in the 90's.

[Pete Braccio]

Yep. A true black anniversary. I still miss this wonderful musician. You never knew where Jerry would take you during a show.

Pete

[Fred G]

ten long years. I have spent the last few days thinking about all the good times I had at the shows. All the friends I went with, made, and the random people that were all because of JG. May his memory live forever.

[AlanN]

His passing was big news. Huge front page spread in the New York Times.

[fatt-dad]

Having seen Jerry play banjo, pedal steel and guitar, now I wonder whether he ever played a mandolin?

fatt wow-what-a-fast-10-years dad

[TeleMark]

I set up an "All Things Jerry" playlist on my iTunes, and that's what's playing all day. Right now it's the first song I ever saw the Dead play live - Bertha, from the July 4, 1989 show in Buffalo.

Fare you well, Captain!

http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

[ira]

amazing how much garcia/the dead colored so many parts of mylife (3 out of the 1st 4 dates with my wife, the meeting of so many friends, seeing the country, etc...). a true loss of a unique musical genius and icon.

actually reentering the scene a bit,as i'm going to the gathering of the vibes this coming weekend. they are having a big jerry tribute - dark star orchestra with donna, tom c., melvin seals, peter rowan and others. should be a blast. bob w's band is playing the night before, maybe he will stay and play a bit on saturday night as well. either way, music and joy are the most fitting way to remember j.g. (imho).
peace,
ira

[bjc]

Wow 10 years...and it happened on my birthday...man, the second atomic bomb dropping and Jerry

[recklessmando]

Great sentiments everybody. I've been having similar thoughts.

I got into bluegrass music because of Jerry and started playing mando because of BG music so I guess I can blame him for all the time I spend here. Once in a while you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right.

Telemark,in case you're not aware, that 4th of July Buffalo show just got released on DVD. My copy came in the mail yesterday; haven't watched it yet (DeeVeeDees.com if you're interested).

[garyblanchard]

It is indeed a sad day to mark, but I hold onto the joy of his music, which lives on and grows. I was amazed to find 14 of the old-time/good-time songs that I play have ties to Jerry and the Dead.

The music never stops.

[kvk]

When our son arrived, Garcia/Grisman "Not for Kids Only" lived in the CD player in his room for like a year. Basically that's what inspired me to take up mando.

Ever go to amazon.com and search on Jerry Garcia and/or David Grisman? What's interesting is that usually four out of five of the best selling Grisman albums have Jerry on 'em and four out of five of the best selling Jerry albums have Grisman on them.

[garyblanchard]

The Garcia/Grisman combination is great, probably because it was done in fun and friendship. It was the Shady Grove CD that encouraged me to try out the mandolin. Great stuff.

[kvk]

Actually I just checked Amazon and the top five Jerry albums and the top five Grisman albums are the same five albums!!!

[PaulD]

10 years... thankfully Dawg has been trickling out new music from their private sessions over the last decade. I wouldn't be surprised if Garcia noodled on mando... he did take a stab at fiddle... but I doubt he ever seriously played it. I was surprised to find that he recorded a track on Rob Wasserman's Trios where he played piano; I don't think there's anything he couldn't play if he tried.

I'm envious of those who got to see Garcia and Grisman together... shows like that rarely happen in Utah! I especially would have liked to have seen OAITW... it sounds like Vassar's not likely to be around much longer either. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif They will live on in our memories and in their music.

[TeleMark]

Telemark,in case you're not aware, that 4th of July Buffalo show just got released on DVD. My copy came in the mail yesterday; haven't watched it yet (DeeVeeDees.com if you're interested).
Oh, I'm aware... http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif I pre-ordered the set (CD, DVD, T-shirt...). Someone mentioned on a Phish forum that it was coming out, and it seemed like a good idea to replace the multi-format version at archive.org.

That, JGB, the Pizza tapes, and some of the Garcia/Grisman disks have been going all day. I love the loose feel of The Pizza Tapes. The conversation between songs, as well as the screw-ups, make it a real treasure.

[Paul Kotapish]

Each year on this anniversary we remember and celebrate Jerry at a great little festival up in Willits, California, called "Dead on the Creek." It's a sweet weekend long campout and festival for about 100 folks, with music all day and night on a nice stage with great sound. The music mix includes Dead tribute bands, bluegrass bands, and various other acoustic and roots music bands, and there are usually some Garcia-Band alumni there, too. Always some mandolins. The site, food, and scene are lovely. It's fun and funky, and a great way to celebrate Jerry's varied musical interests and his ongoing inspiration.

Our band, Wake the Dead, always plays Friday night, and the David Nelson band often closes the weekend on Sunday. Other groups this year include Broke Mountain (bluegrass from Colorado with Robin Davis on mandolin), Adrienne Young, Lorin Rowan's (Pete's brother, played with Garcia on occasion, great guitarist and mandolinist) Rattlebox Band, the Deadbeats, Due West (great bluegrass band), and the Flying Other Brothers.

Check it out:

http://www.deadonthecreek.com/

[jefflester]

Last week I went and saw Shakespeare by The Sea (http://www.shakespearebythesea.org) do their production of "The Merry Wives of Windsor" in Hermosa Beach (South Bay area of L.A.). In an otherwise period setting (it wasn't some adaptation to modern times), the show started with one of the minor characters on stage eating an apple while Dawg and Jer's NFKO rendition of "Horse Named Bill" played over the P.A.

Put a smile on my face.

[wah]

Last night we watched our "Grateful Dawg" dvd. It really is a heartfelt tribute to Jerry. I love watching him in that relaxed setting, Jerry and Dawg really bring out the best in each other.

Sunday we went to McClaren Park in SF where they have named the music ampitheater after Jerry. They've been having this Jerryday for a few years. A nice free event in a cool venue. They even had bluegrass - a bay area band named Harmony Grits - among the Dead cover bands. The best moment was singing Happy Birthday to Jerry, it felt like we were not just celebrating his birth and life but also honoring his passing.

I've been playing "How Sweet It Is" and "The Way You Do The Things You Do" trying to add themn to FOTD, "Ripple," and "Catfish John" in my songlist.

Wayne http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[Dave Gumbart]

Well, on the day of his passing, I was the first to call a close friend and ask "Did you hear about Jerry?..." A short conversation, since there wasn't a whole lot to say right there and then. Later in the day, my friend met his wife as she was leaving a business training meeting or some such. Having shed more than a few tears, my friend describes his look at that moment as something similar to what the cat dragged in. His wife, not a Deadhead (but into good music in general), sees the obviously distraught husband and blurts out what she (mis)heard of the news during the day: "Did you hear the guy from Ben and Jerry's ice cream died?"

We crack up pretty hard over that one now.

Short Jerry moment: got to see one of the "Jerry on Broadway" shows when he played a run at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater (think I got the name right), which included a set with the Acoustic Band. When he was introduced (by Sandy Rothman, maybe), the crowd gave a long, sustained ovation. Not raucous, no shrieking, and I don't even recall hearing a single "JERRY!!!" Just an outpouring of appreciation for giving us the gift of music for so long.

Thanks Jerry.

[AlanN]

Speaking of the Pizza Tapes, my fave part is right where Dawwgy flubs the intro to, I think, Long Black Veil. After the 3rd flub, Rice says "What the F was that?" Gets me every time.

[ira]

hey dave g- thanks, haven't thought of those l-f broadway shows in a long time. just phenomenal music. such great acoustics and a small sound, and jerry was right on!

[kvk]

Fare you well, my honey
Fare you well, my only true one
All the birds that were singing
Are flown, except you alone

Gonna leave this brokedown palace
On my hands and my knees, I will roll, roll, roll
Make myself a bed by the waterside
In my time, in my time, I will roll, roll, roll

In a bed, in a bed
By the waterside I will lay my head
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

River gonna take me, sing me sweet and sleepy
Sing me sweet and sleepy all the way back home
It's a far gone lullaby sung many years ago
Mama, Mama, many worlds I've come since I first left home

Going home, going home
By the waterside I will rest my head
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Going to plant a weeping willow
On the banks' green edge it will grow, grow, grow
Singing a lullaby beside the water
Lovers come and go, the river will roll, roll, roll

Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

[wah]

There are two cd packages of those Lunt-Fontanne shows available at jerrygarcia.com. One is the Halloween shows, both acoustic and electric, and the other is a "best of the rest." A total of seven cd's of pure magic. No financial interest it's just what I listen to when I want some Jerry.

Wayne

[PaulD]

Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Great tune... one of my favorites. I've picture him "Standing on the Moon" several times over the last 10 years. In fact... the Man In The Moon looks a little like Jerry... hmmm. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
I never considered myself a Dead-Head... in fact back in the '80s when my Dead-Head friends would accuse me of being on I would tell them that I was really more of a Dawg-Head. I was a Jerry-Head, though... it really struck me how he could burn it up on a tune but make it look so easy, unlike most of the rockers I used to watch who tried to make it look painful.

[berkeleymando]

Oh, I just noticed this thread. Unfortunately I missed the inauguration of the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater this past weekend over in the Excelsior District in San Francisco...this all makes me remember the Garcia memorial event in Golden Gate Park.

At the May Phil Lesh & Friends concert at the Warfield in SF (5/13/05) they had a great beautiful photo of Jerry in the lobby, set up like a shrine surrounded by roses, amid all the classic concert posters on the walls. He has the most hilarious grin in the picture. The Warfield is so great ... lots of great events there in the 1980s and 1980s.

The Dead and Garcia in particular were such a great contribution to the musical culture. !

[maynard g. krebs]

OLD AND IN THE WAY IS SAID TO BE THE BEST SELLING BLUEGRASS ALBUM OF ALL TIME!

plus the remaster job sounds great, better then most live recordings from that day (in my opinion of coarse)

PS: EVEN MY 80 YEAR OLD GRANDMOTHER CALLED ME ON THAT FATEFUL DAY 10 YEARS AGO

[wah]

There was nothing like a Jerry show at the Warfield.

September 24th at the Greek Theater in Berkeley is "Comes a Time - a Celebration of the Life and Music of Jerry Garcia." All the remaining memers of the Dead (except Phil)will be joined by members of String Cheese, Trey Anastacio, Bruce Hornsby, Warren Haynes, David Nelson, Sandy Rothman, and a bunch of others. It's a benefit for the Rex Foundation. My mail order is in! #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

Wayne

[jefflester]

OLD AND IN THE WAY IS SAID TO BE THE BEST SELLING BLUEGRASS ALBUM OF ALL TIME!
I've always heard that as well, supposedly double platinum - though I'm having trouble tracking down an actual reference. Now that a couple of Alison Krauss albums have gone double platinum, it may not be the case anymore.

Actually, if the "O Brother" soundtrack is considered bluegrass, that would definitely take the prize - 7 times platinum.

[berkeleymando]

Just so any interested persons are aware, the special concert in memory of Jerry Garcia to be held in Berkeley - in the beautiful Greek Theater on the UC Berkeley campus - on September 24th is a Rex Foundation benefit concert.

The general admission tickets are on sale through ticketmaster.com at 10 am PDT on Sunday August 14th!

If you go to ticketmaster.com, search on the event name "Comes a Time".

Hope to see some of you folks there.

[withak]

American Beauty has been in my CD player all week. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[wah]

berkeleymando, I've also got tickets from ticketmaster so I'm definitely going even if my mail order doesn't come through. I'm hoping that with Nelson and Rothman on the bill we'll hear some acoustic Jerry, maybe with Kang on the mando. That would be so nice.

Wayne

[berkeleymando]

Just got two tickets this morning when they went on sale. The whole thing looks like a special all star line up - all the remaining dead folks (minus Phil), the back up singers from the J Garcia Band, the String Cheese guys, Donna Jean Godchaux etc. I'm walking distance from this show, which is great. The Greek is my favorite bay area outdoor venue...
I heard a rumor about some mid-October bay area Phil lesh and Friends shows.

[berkeleymando]

Oh yeah, and Melvin Seals is a great keyboardist! I recall many fine evenings of him performing as part of the Jerry Garcia Band.

Interestingly, Jackie la Branch and the other lady (whose name I can't recall right now - some one remind me please) who sang with the Garcia Band, are now taking really great 'lead' vocal roles in the some of the recent PL & F shows. It is great to hear them tear up the old Pigpen tunes, like "Mr Charlie".

[bjc]

Did someone say "pig pen'? Years ago, and a different time....

[Wesley]

I saw a Lyle Lovett concert two or three days after Jerry died. He opened the show with a slow version of "Friend of the Devil". It makes a great ballad.

[berkeleymando]

Did someone say "pig pen'? Years ago, and a different time....
Yes, this Pigpen!

http://www.dead.net/merchandising/music/DECD289/pig.jpg

[berkeleymando]

http://www.dead.net/merchandising/music/DECD289/band.jpg

[kvk]

Nice pic. Post more!!!!

[berkeleymando]

Just to give due credit, these pics are linked to directly off the dead's web site at the following URL about Dick's Picks #35:

http://www.dead.net/merchandising/music/DECD289/index.html

[Spruce]

That could be the back of my head in that pic...

Looks like 8/6/71 at the Hollywood Palladium....

It was also one of the first times I ever saw a bluegrass band....
High Country with Butch Waller on mandolin opened, along with the Rowen Bros. and NRPS...

Gawd I'm old....

[berkeleymando]

Spruce, if you were at that show, you were one lucky fella. I love the reel-to-reel tape there. I've got boxes and boxes of Dead soundboard tapes on cassettes I collected in the early 1980s after I met an old deadhead who let me copy many of his tapes. I've been meaning to copy them onto digital formats, but now most of it is becoming available for free (yes FREE) download on archive.org .

[berkeleymando]

In fact there was even a National Public Radio segment last week titled something like "Finding Jerry Garcia's legacy online" in which they directed people to the archive.org web site. Check it out.

[Spruce]

"Spruce, if you were at that show, you were one lucky fella. I love the reel-to-reel tape there. "

We recorded it using a Sony 770 stereo reel-to-reel machine, and to this date it remains one of my favorite recordings, with great stereo imaging, etc.
Holding the mic was a PITA, however...

Ironically, the soundboards of those two nights (with the exception of the snippet they just released) are apparently lost, having gone to Keith Godchaux to learn the tunes....

It was a pretty magical evening, partly due to the apple pie I naively downed backstage... #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif

[berkeleymando]

"Spruce, if you were at that show, you were one lucky fella. I love the reel-to-reel tape there. "

We recorded it using a Sony 770 stereo reel-to-reel machine, and to this date it remains one of my favorite recordings, with great stereo imaging, etc.
Holding the mic was a PITA, however...
Hey Spruce, check out this (downloadable) complete audience recording of that evening, made by someone else in the audience with a Sony 770 reel-to-reel recorder - named Rob Bertrando. Know him?

http://www.archive.org/audio/etree-details-db.php?id=14856

[Spruce]

Yep....

Here's (http://groups.google.com/group/rec.music.gdead/browse_thread/thread/1d0238028f550239/f025aa2321490216?q=tonewoods+rockisland+&rnum=4&hl=en#f025aa2321490216) the whole story....

[GVD]

Great story Bruce.

GVD

[phynie]

I've heard this show. good stuff. GREAT to hear the background story! thanks spruce!

[JD Cowles]

jerry was a real loss. i still miss him, but have him to thank for getting me into bluegrass and so much more. with vassar's passing this week i realized we've only got dawg and pete rowan left from OAITW. been listening to a lot of those oldies lately.

[mandoman15]

when i'm not listening to mandolins i'm almost certaintly listening to the dead, i didn't realize that there were alot of dead fans pickin a mando, pretty cool! archive.org does have any concert you could wish for free for downloading it's great! i was suprised to find out that many of you were inspired to play mandolin from the garcia grisman recordings because i learned how to play mandolin from listening to the pizza tapes! i also got in to playing alot of acoustic dead on the mando, and was suprised how good it sounds, do any of you play dead in your sets? btw i'm pretty sure garcia could play mando, he did play fiddle a bit back in his grass days.
just keep truckin' http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[recklessmando]

Bruce,

I think I read within the last month that the '71 SB tapes have resurfaced. I should get the facts straight before I say for sure, but it seems to me that Keith's brother found them on a boat the family owns. As usual I'm probably wrong, though.

[berkeleymando]

Reckless man do, this is described on the Dead's page that I linked to above...Dick's Picks #35 had what soundboard material they were able to recover from the boat. Unfortunately the 8/6/71 show is incomplete but the San Diego show from around the same period is complete.

[phynie]

mandoman! I play a bunch of dead on mandolin too. I also learned to play from the pizza tapes. I actually was a guitar player and realized I had a mandolin sitting in the closet. After I heard the pizza tapes, it was not longer in the closet. Now, the guitar is =)
My band plays a bunch of dead songs. Eyes, Scarlet/fire, franklin's, friend, deal, dark star, dire wolf, monkey, the list goes on. I say, why keep em' for between sets, let's just add a dead set =)

[Spruce]

"My band plays a bunch of dead songs. #...Dark star "

Anybody ever heard the single 45-version of "Dark Star"?

It's under 2 minutes long, is super-fast, sounds like a bluegrass tune, and has a banjo on it...

It, uhhhh, evolved over the years....

[Paul Kotapish]

Anybody ever heard the single 45-version of "Dark Star"?

It's under 2 minutes long, is super-fast, sounds like a bluegrass tune, and has a banjo on it...

That original "single" version or "Dark Star" is available as a bonus track on the remastered CD of Live/Dead and on the Golden Road box set of material from the Warner Brothers years. It's all there--just incredibly compressed and twitchy in the vein of that very first LP.

[AlanN]

Yep, heard that one, Bruce. I also had an 8-track tape (yikes) of Workingman's Dead, and the song list showed Uncle John's Damned (if this last word gets bleeted out, it sounds like Dammed, but has an 'n').

[Spruce]

"...compressed and twitchy..."

Good desription...
The first time I saw them was 3/26/68 at Melodlyland Theater, across from Disneyland opening for the Airplane....

They played the first album verbatim, and everything was short and to the point...
And very fast....

Melodyland was a theater-n-the-round, and they played on a revolving stage.....
Pretty interesting evening...

[phynie]

on a revolving stage?! weeeeee http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif
That would be insane. how was the feedback portion of the show? Musta been bouncing all over the place. 360 degree phil bombs!!!!!

Needless to say, I'm jealous

[Spruce]

"how was the feedback portion of the show?"

No Feedback...
Just the tunes from the first LP....

I remember walking into the place and seeing tie-dyed Dual Showmans stacked everywhere onstage, and thinking "there's no way you need that much gear for just 2 bands!"...

Well, the Dead played, and they cleared the stage and then set up the Airplane's gear... #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

During the Airplane's set, a beardless Garcia came and sat down in front of us, and I have never to this day seen an uglier human being.... #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif

The beard was a necessary addition....

[Jim M.]

And if you want to sign a petition to get Jerry on a stamp, check out:
Jerry Stamp (http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?Garcia)

[phynie]

well spruce, you better add notes on your petition asking for the stamp to be of a bearded Jerry as opposed to that crazy hippy with the frizzy hair and monster chops. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[chirorehab]

That's a good one, Spruce......

I never heard -"Don't eat the apple pie!" - before!!!

Relix magazine has a great spread with stories about Jerry from Sandy Rothman, Blair Jackson, Peter Rowan, David Nelson & more.... A lot of great stories about the old days.....

Eric

[Spruce]

"you better add notes on your petition asking for the stamp to be of a bearded Jerry as opposed to that crazy hippy with the frizzy hair and monster chops."

I dunno...
This pic might make a good stamp, but kinda shows you what I was talking about...

[phynie]

I'm uncle sam, that's who I am! #
I like that picture, but he did tend to look a little more grizzly without the beard #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif
Anyway, it's hardly his face that sends me into the stratoshpere when I listen. #To me, Jerry's music walked the razor thin edge between genius and lunatic. But it always sounds like jerry. Just beautiful.

[ira]

jerry's music and legacy are very much alive today. beside all of us who play the tunes (i do many dead and jerry g. tunes on mando and blues harp), i just went to the gathering of the vibes - a festival dedicated to keeping jerry's legacy alive- very well attended, the music was great (jamie m/jmp- were amazing!!!!! as were rre and many others), and they did a ten year tribute with dark star orchestra for 5 hours -1st set- peter rowan, david nelson and a bunch of other dudes with dso (lead guitarist for dso played mando for that whole set)- doing lots of oaitw stuff, then electric time- melvin seals, donna godchaux and other former jerriettes, fuzz from deep banana blackout did a killer new speedway boogie, and on it went- fantastic!
most of the music i listen to stems from my listening to the dead-and jerry- if not for them. i would prob be strictly a rock n roll guy- i don't know if i would be playing mando, listening to blues, jazz, bg, folk, jugband, etc..., and many bands who have melded genres would not be doing what they are doing. a pretty amazing legacy.

sorry for the ramble- a passionate subject.
peace all.

[berkeleymando]

And if you want to sign a petition to get Jerry on a stamp, check out:
Jerry Stamp (http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?Garcia)
... stamps ... from some other countries have honored Jerry!

[berkeleymando]

.....

[phynie]

wonder what happens when you eat one of those owsley bear stamps......... http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif