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It's been ten years since Jerry died. We can't believe it either. How often have we thought of Garcia, listened to his music, considered his impact? Where would we be - any one of us - without Jerry Garcia? He has shaped our world in ways we'll never know. Plotted a path we'll never even see. His legacy lives on in bands and cover songs, influences heard and not, tales of truth and those of myth, and most of all, in the people who still love him, and always will. With Respect and Love, we honor Jerry Garcia the JamBase way.
DONNA JEAN GODCHAUX
Grateful Dead (L to R): Weir, Donna Jean, Garcia, Kreutzmann
By Jay Blakesberg |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
Having come from a recording studio environment in Muscle Shoals, Alabama I was thoroughly blown away at the spontaneity and the depth of Garcia's music. His philosophy was so woven into his music that I don't think they can be separated. He had more capacity to communicate high things than anyone I have ever known, both in music and when he spoke. I was always amazed at how naturally he did this, and at the unassuming way he carried himself given the adoration of so many. His influence on me was profound, to say the least, both in my music and in every other aspect of my life. Still is.
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
I was one of the most fortunate people in the world to have spent the time with Jerry that I did. There are countless memories that I remember with such fondness and gratitude that I consider that time spent the most valuable of my life. Recording vocals in the studio was such a blast. He was so incredibly funny, and between Jerry, Bobby, and me, the session dissolved inevitably into a pool of laughter. Yeah, I think I loved laughing with him almost more than anything.
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
This should be a no-brainer, but it's hard to condense into words. I believe he gave the world a view of music and life that lifts people out of the ordinary into the extraordinary, from the predictable to the unpredictable, from the expected to the unexpected, and most of all - a hunger and appreciation for it that never goes away. He did all this with a guitar and wonderfully scraggly voice. Amazing.
JamBase | San Francisco
Go Listen to Garcia
KELLER WILLIAMS
Keller Williams by C. Taylor Crothers |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
The man, the musician, the guitar player has influenced me on the guitar in infinite ways. Just from his spacing and his cadence of lead playing, as well as his very vulnerable singing and his lyrics, which were mainly written by Robert Hunter, but he made them his own. And he definitely influenced me greatly in his music. As far as the life path goes, just the Grateful Dead in general, I traveled so many times to see the band, and that in turn crossed over into traveling to my own gigs. So by the time it came to travel to my own gigs, it was easy because I had already done it.
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
I would say it's probably Sandstone Amphitheater in Kansas. I think it was '90, or maybe '91. Jerry was totally tan, and he was wearing shorts and his legs were all brown. He was happy, and he was looking good.
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
Well, I would say For the Faithful or another title for the record would be Reckoning. Two different titles, same record. I think that's the most significant thing that Jerry has given.
JamBase | San Francisco
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DAVID LEMIEUX
David Lemieux |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
Just watching Jerry and listening to him for so many years, he taught me to never take things too seriously. To expect the unexpected. To embrace the unexpected. And to never trust a prankster.
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
Never having met him, my best memories were things I recall from seeing him live. What comes to mind immediately are the times when everything would go wrong, technically, onstage. As soon as Jerry's equipment got fixed or his guitar got re-strung, he rarely eased his way back into a jam or a song; he threw himself into it with a flurry of notes or power chords, as if to say, Hey, I'm back
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
Aside from the obvious, he sure had a lot of quiet integrity. There are those who open their mouths and spew about anything that is on their mind, but they often lack credibility and come off as being full of hot air. Jerry didn't seem to feel a need to pontificate to everyone about everything. When he did, though, it usually really mattered and came from his heart, and people listened.
JamBase | San Francisco
Go Listen to Garcia
JIM JAMES :: MY MORNING JACKET
Jim James with MMJ
Bonnaroo 2005 by Dave Vann |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
There are certain songs of his that take me to this place... and it is a place to which only his music, his voice, can take me. There is this realm he knew that I think no one else has really quite mastered. It is a place that is not sad, not happy, not fast or slow, but all these things at once. And when I'm feeling tired and beat down, or discouraged about
life, it is a place I like to go to hear the simple, sweet, sound of his voice, and I always end up feeling better when I come back. I try to remember that, to just be simple and sweet sometimes, especially when I am feeling like being an asshole.
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
Oddly enough, my fondest memories of Jerry really don't have much to do with the Dead or his music per se, as I did not really discover that music till much later in life. The first time I recall hearing him was his amazing steel part on Teach Your Children by CSNY. I think that guitar part is one of the sweetest sounds ever made; it makes me want to cry and have kids every time I hear it. I feel like all mysteries of life could be revealed if that guitar part was isolated and analyzed in a lab. We would know then what we've been trying to figure out for so long. It's not even what he is playing, but the way he played it. It's cool how all those guys worked together too, 'cuz another fave of mine is his steel part from Laughing off Crosby's first solo record If I Could Only Remember My Name. I like how he just pops up when you least expect it. Pure genius.
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
There is a certain sweetness to everything he touched and sang and played on. Something so human, yet so divine it is hard to describe. We know he came from another place, but he had such a great way of getting us humans to try and love life and to see all the beauty
and possibility that exists in music.
JamBase | San Francisco
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JOE CRAVEN :: DAVID GRISMAN QUINTET
Joe Craven |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
My perception of Jerry Garcia's recorded music and his approach to making art, in general, has reinforced my own sense of the importance of always striving to be investigative, exploratory, and intuitive in my own music and visual art. His musical voice, broad-based and imprecise, speaks of endless possibility... a hallmark of rich aesthetic language.
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
A recording session at the home of David Grisman in the winter of 1989 in which, in the middle of a take, Jerry stops playing, lights up a cigarette, and launches into a dissertation on foreign film directors with almost professorial confidence and delivery.
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
A persona that, like his guitar language, speaks of mystery, enigma, and therefore, a reminder of the lenses through which possibility, interpretation, and experience in life exist.
JamBase | San Francisco
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OTIS TAYLOR
Otis Taylor |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
Jerry's sense of adventure and personal integrity has made it a bit easier for artists like myself who are flying under the radar and don't fit neatly into a little box. It's like when Magellan came to America - it opened up things for a lot of people.
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
When I first went to Haight-Ashbury in the 60's, and I saw a poster for the Grateful Dead. That name I thought it was just way too cool. F---n hip.
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
You can count the times on your hands and feet when an artist has had such a profound impact on musical style and popular culture. Northern California had the Dead, and Southern California had the Beach Boys. Think about it: both are American bands that spawned subcultures that are still thriving today - Deadheads and surfers. Most artists have to die before they receive the type of widespread acclaim that Jerry had, but he had it long before that.
JamBase | San Francisco
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AL SCHNIER :: moe.
Al Schnier by Jake Krolick |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
Jerry's emotive vocals and fluid guitar lines are indelibly stamped in my memory. He was my hero for a long, long time. I've never really sat down and tried to figure it out from a musical standpoint (like I did with Rush albums in junior high). I'm not sure I really want to know. I'm too big of a fan, and I'd hate to spoil it. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Regardless, all of those years spent hanging on every last note of his certainly formed a lot of what I know today about improvisation. Regarding the life path - it's sad, but Jerry's disregard for his own well-being is a reminder to stay healthy. It's too easy to fall into those trappings when you're the house band everybody wants to party with EVERY NIGHT. Garcia's frailty was only a small part of the human quality that resonated thru his playing (not to mention humor, heartache, the prankster, etc.). It's hard to imagine what it would have been like listening to a Jerry that was also a marathoner.
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
My fondest memory has to be the night I saw him do back to back acoustic shows (with John Kahn) at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, NJ about 1984. The place was like a zoo - hippies hanging from the rafters, a rundown theatre, Garcia holding court with an acoustic guitar and upright bass - and the place was raging, dumbfounded, lit for sure. I was sure a Trojan horse was going to burst through a wall at any moment. What a night.
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
It's a tough call. It's obvious that his musical contributions will reverberate through generations of musicians for a long time to come. In some way, it's hard not to think that he sacrificed himself in the process. He is surely missed, but he's celebrated every day.
JamBase | San Francisco
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REED MATHIS :: JACOB FRED JAZZ ODYSSEY
Reed Mathis by Jeremy Scott |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
Jerry influenced the course of modern music on so many fronts... as a songwriter, as the catalyst and organizer of one of the most legendary ensembles in music history, as a virtuoso instrumentalist, and as a spiritual icon and father figure to millions. He constantly grew and reinvented himself and his bag of tricks throughout his life, and the music he left for us is as varied, original, and innovative as the masters of the jazz and classical world. Personally speaking, I'd say the thing that touches me the most is the naked beauty and honesty in his guitar playing... the sensitivity of it, the revelations in it, the whole vibe of it just slays me. And also, all those songs Amazing songs. Crazy Fingers, Stella Blue, Eyes of the World - these are some of my favorite songs ever written.
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
I never saw Jerry in person. The Dead didn't really come to Oklahoma much, but when I was just getting to be old enough to hang out with some older players and sit in at some local clubs, many of the cats who befriended me were teaching me Dead tunes so I could sit in on their gigs. I'll never forget hearing those melodies and badass chord changes and lyrics coming out of us, and the elation of the audience when they figured out what song it was. So I maybe got to feel 0.0000001% of the real magic of the Dead experience there, and it touched me.
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
JamBase | San Francisco
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JAY BLAKESBERG
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
A Young Jay Blakesberg |
Being 15 or 16 or 17 years old in suburban anywhere USA is always a difficult time. It doesn't matter what decade it is, you are just searching for your place in the script. Any of our high school friends could have been born with the same distorted Psychedelic chip that I was lucky enough to win in the DNA lottery, but it is just as likely they wouldn't. You might just have to go somewhere else to find those like-minded people. The teen friends you are hanging with might drop acid with you on a snow day, but for them it is a party day. For you, your mind is forever blown, and it is a life-changing experience. Most of my friends from those beer and bong-drenched days in the late 1970's never made it past the 50-mile radius of ground zero in suburban NJ. I remember in 1976 my friend Nick Katsanis told me we have to go see the Grateful Dead before they break up I did a Jerry Garcia Band show in July 1977 (Asbury Park, NJ), followed by my first Dead show at Englishtown, Labor Day Weekend 1977. I smoked pot, drank beer, and grooved to a few songs that I thought I knew. I was 15. Within two years, I would travel to shows that were five or more hours away. I met people who were like me. I danced by myself to live bootleg cassettes in the family rec room on the lame stereo that came with the house when we moved in around 1971. I was changing. My friends in high school were not. They were still your classic 1970's stoner knuckleheads drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon cans and smoking Colombian pot in U.S. Bongs bought down at the mall. By the time I graduated high school, with a Skull & Roses patch hand-sewn to my blue graduation gown, my life was changed. I might not have known it right then and there, but two very pivotal things had happened to me: psychedelics and the Grateful Dead. I was on the bus, and thru a strange set of circumstances, I had a camera with me. I love taking pictures It gave me a certain identity that maybe I was searching for as the lost stoner in high school. Little did I know that it would be my career (and still my identity to many people). I didn't have any understanding what a photography career could be back then. In about 1981, I was at a party with my DeadHead hippie girlfriend at her father's Upper West Side apartment. He was in the textile business, and many of his colleagues were there. A very nice gay man asked what I wanted to do with my life. I said photography. When he asked what kind, I had no idea. I didn't even know what the options were. I was clueless Lou Reed wrote (but Page sang it to us all), my life was saved by Rock and Roll. I could not be any more like that person than I am today. Photography, and the creative outlet it has given me, started with bringing my camera to Grateful Dead concerts. Today it is what I live, think, and breathe everyday. I love this and am so happy that I have made it as far as I have doing something that brings me so much joy that brings a positive reaction to so many of the people who have seen my work over the years (if you read photo credits). I hate to think where I would have landed in that 50-mile radius if the Grateful Dead, psychedelics, and photography all hadn't come together for me.
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
Jerry Garcia by Jay Blakesberg |
I am a firm believer that life should be fun. Yes, life is serious business. Politics, environmental awareness, economic reality, children, and everything else we do are important facets of living, but you still have to have fun When I graduated from high school and went on tour, the real fun began, and it was non-stop. Going on tour or to cool rock festivals to experience the wealth of incredible music today is a much different journey than it was when I started to see the Grateful Dead. Listen to any Dead show from the mid 1970's and you are likely to hear mind-blowing rock and roll that was so far out in left field compared to anything else that was happening at the time. It was the beginning of a new and exciting time for music that we took very seriously, but also realized how much fun and joy could be had from being on tour with all these other crazy, like-minded freaks. The music was bliss, and it was Jerry's playing and the words he sang that were the focus of my Grateful Dead experience. Jerry's playing was truly like no other, and for a true music fan like myself, it was an experience that will stay with me forever. His playing could at times be so spectacular that we literally had to be scraped off the floor after an incredible show (but let's be real and remember that it wasn't always an incredible show). I can still go back and listen to Dick's Pick's # 15 (Englishtown - 77) and listen to the He's Gone/Not Fade Away jam at full volume and have the hair stand up on the back of my neck. That 35-plus-minute section of music is some of the most inspiring playing I have ever experienced, and compared to anything else being played in 1977 by any other artist, it is so completely original and truly mind-blowing. Yes, the music played by the Grateful Dead and the times we had on tour were very fun, and for that I will be forever grateful
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
Jerry Garcia by Jay Blakesberg |
As a young DeadHead, almost anything Jerry did I thought was great. We placed him high on a pedestal and thought he was channeling the word of God (pretty easy to think on 1000 mics). By the time I moved to the Bay Area in the mid 1980's, I was thinking about how I could make a living taking pictures. Relix Magazine would publish my photos, and by that time the pay had increased from under $10 per picture in the late 1970's to a whopping $25 per image. As my life changed to that of a working photojournalist, I began to get opportunities to photograph many amazing musicians whose music had touched me in some way. After a few years of trying to ignore a bloated and inconsistent Grateful Dead, I returned to them with enthusiasm after Jerry's 1986 coma. They came back playing stronger than they had in many years, and I tapped right back into the zeitgeist. I also was shooting more of the scene again. Beginning in 1987, I started a wonderful relationship with The Golden Road Magazine. Thru that relationship, I got my first opportunity to do a solo portrait with Garcia. It was January of 1991, and it was to be at the Dead office in San Rafael. I was so excited to have this opportunity and thought about all the different ways I could spend what I thought would be maybe a thirty-minute photo session. Dennis McNally (GD publicist) put me in an office so small that I had to climb on the desk to get in front of Garcia to shoot. I was given under three-minutes to do the entire shoot of Garcia alone and Garcia with Robert Hunter. The solo portrait of Jerry turned out to be my absolute favorite shot that I ever did of him, and it will grace the new, special 40th anniversary issue of Relix Magazine this month. It was also that day that I realized that Jerry was just a regular guy who did not really like all the limelight stuff that came with being a rock star. He didn't really care about the photo shoot and was only there because he was told it was part of the deal for the interview. He became a very human guy to me that day, but still a guy that could play music that moved people in ways they didn't even know they could move.
For more of Jay Blakesberg's work, please go to www.blakesberg.com. For information on Between the Dark and Light: The Grateful Dead Photography of Jay Blakesberg, click here.
JamBase | San Francisco
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DAVE SCHOOLS :: WIDESPREAD PANIC, STOCKHOLM SYNDROME
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
Dave Schools by Josh Miller |
Garcia taught me a lot of lessons both musical and life-wise: first and foremost was the fact that as a musician one did not have to confine oneself to any one particular style or genre. In fact, it was helpful to experiment with all kinds of music and in doing so carve out a personal niche that was more personally satisfying as well as musically unique. As a person I think Garcia helped to shatter the "Rock and Roll Pipe Dream" aspect of stardom. Was he a happy person because of his success? I don't know but it never really seemed like he was happy in the last half of the Dead's career... except when he was playing music! I think Garcia and I share the same need to be making or listening to music at all times. I'll bet the guy even dreamed music... I know I do... I need a bedside tape recorder!
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
One of my great personal highlights was watching a performance by the Dead at the Hampton Coliseum in May of 1981 (a banner year for "energetic" performances). As I watched this group of middle aged men in t-shirts and jeans create some of the most amazingly heavy ("Stranger," "Other One") and beautiful ("He's Gone," "Wheel," "Wharf Rat") music I had ever seen it struck me that this was something real and intangible that tapped into some kind of universal subconscious primal memory that we all share: mystery and wonder. The intent of the band, the "x-factor," the whole of the group being greater than the sum of its parts: all of these things combined to deliver what became a mind-blowing lesson for a young sixteen-year-old budding bassist. That lesson was to follow one's heart and to try to be a conduit for not just music but also the energy of life. To be mindful and able to listen to those with whom you are creating music was the key to something so much more than just playing music together. Somehow that night at the helm of all of these forces was a slightly gray haired man who was ripping the guitar to shreds. I can remember thinking that they were rocking more intensely than The Who (my other favorite band still to this day). To me, I had just learned a new lesson in the School of Rock - and no, I wasn't tripping!
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
I think I pretty much covered that in the above two responses but I did think of this: I feel that Garcia's ability to interpret the words of Robert Hunter was a wonderful extension of the great songwriters and lyricists of the older days like Johnny Mercer/Henry Mancini. In addition, Garcia's voice, though never what one would call "sonically mellifluous" always seemed to convey more emotion than that of any other "properly trained" vocalist. Garcia understood the ultimate wonderful connection that makes magic when music is combined with words and then he carried that connection to the listener and conveyed the intent of the song in a memorable package. This is why the Dead were the most archived band of all time and why songs like "Ripple" and "Uncle John's Band" will stick around for generations to come. I wish more modern day musicians would make this connection.
JamBase | San Francisco
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BUDDY CAGE :: NEW RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE
Buddy Cage |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
There is no Rule Book.
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
Agreeing to pick out the winners of all our Record Plant road-remote tapes and thereby saving us - all of us burnt out from playing a two month tour - and of course, just kinda stayed on [the road]. HE LOVED THE MUSIC SO MUCH. He ended up producing the Home, Home On The Road album.
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
On stage danger - risks. AND pulling it off.
JamBase | San Francisco
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SAM BUSH
Sam Bush by Tony Stack |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
Jerry's music influenced me to be unafraid to step out. In the early days when we started New Grass Revival, we were one of the first bluegrass bands to do extended jamming. The Dead and the Allman Brothers fashioned a way for us to follow on our acoustic instruments in search of the perfect jam.
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
It was December 31, 1989. New Grass Revival had been invited to play on the Grateful Dead's New Year's Eve Show at the Oakland, CA Coliseum. This was the last set for the Revival ever, and after stepping offstage we were greeted by Jane Fonda, Bill Walton and Jerry Garcia. Jerry gave us an ecstatic review of our show in the form of "THAT WAS REALLY FAR OUT, MAN!" He made us feel totally comfortable in what could have been a really nervous situation. He couldn't have been nicer.
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
Jerry inspired a sense of freedom to experiment with music. He influenced a lot of young people who had never heard acoustic or bluegrass music to give it a good listen. Through the band Old & In The Way, he turned on a lot of people to bluegrass who would otherwise have never heard the genre.
JamBase | San Francisco
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REID GENAUER :: ASSEMBLY OF DUST
Reid Genauer |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
At the risk of sounding cliché - Jerry Garcia is probably the sole reason I ever really got into music. Before I discovered the Grateful Dead music listening was sort of superficial to me - a pleasant form of entertainment. I was initially drawn to the music because all the naughty/cool kids in 8th grade (particularly my friend’s older sister) were into The Dead. But when I heard the music and began to understand it I was moved. I was captured by the lore and the craftsmanship of the songwriting and the emotion of the performance. From then on The Dead and music in general became less entertainment and more obsessions. The Dead were a window into all forms of music for me: pop, jazz, bluegrass, folk etc. Long and short is that Jerry Garcia and his partner in crime Robert Hunter are what drew me to want to be a musician and a songwriter.
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
I'm not really sure about this one. I guess it was an interview that he gave that I had at the end of a bootleg (it might have been a tape of the Grateful Dead Hour) where he talks about being really pissed off after a show because he thought it was bad. He goes on to tell about how he threw Phil Lesh down a flight of stairs afterwards because he was so bent out of shape and then that he listened back to the show years later and loved it. I loved this story for two reasons: 1) the thought of Jerry being so rip shit seemed kind of intriguing and oddly entertaining, 2) I feel that way on occasion after a show and its reassuring to know that I am not alone in the universe of dissatisfied performers AND I have had that happen to me - A show I felt was lame that sounded great after the fact. What's worse though is one that feels great during and sounds awful upon listening back.
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
Soul, hope and humility.
JamBase | San Francisco
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JAMIE JANOVER :: ZILLA
J. Janover by T. Voggesser |
1) How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
The guitar of Garcia was the driving force for me loving the Grateful Dead and the Dead were my favorite improvisers for many years right as I started playing the hammered dulcimer. For me, Garcia taught me the art of selfless channeled beauty through melody.
2) What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
Playing basketball backstage at the Oakland Coliseum Dec. 31, 1989
3) What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
The legacy of how to take your own path and make it evolve into something way beyond the music itself, all the way to the point where your very creative spirit has a profound and healing effect on large numbers of people.
JamBase | San Francisco
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JEFF AUSTIN :: YONDER MOUNTAIN STRING BAND
Jeff Austin by Robert Massie |
1) How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
The extent of Garcia's influence on my music and life are almost too far reaching to tell in a short amount of time. When I would watch him play and sing, he always gave me such hope...he showed that you could get up on stage night after night, and even if your voice was tired, your body had nothing left, if you just let that spirit grab you and TRUST IT (these being the key two words), amazing things can happen. Suddenly, your voice is gold, your hands feel like two math geniuses at work. Also, the way that he let the fans help him along through his career was amazing...he really loved us all, and his music and ENERGY showed it. It makes you realize that you are not alone up there. I'd rather watch him play everyday than any of the "virtuoso musicians" that are out there today. Just show me something real...and he did.
2) What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
I would have to say that I have three. The first being in 1987, when I was in sixth grade - I was your typical dork...Bob Dylan on my headphones as I headed to choir class, trying not to get beat up. My mom asked me if I wanted to go see something really, really cool...something she thought I would like. She drove me and an older friend of the family - who has also since passed - to the UIC Pavilion in Chicago (I lived in the suburbs) and let us go to the show. She didn't come with us...she always told me she had already experienced it and didn't want her memories of it to be changed if the scene had changed as much as she had heard it had. What a great gift to give to your son. They killed, and the next year I had the second best experience at the Rosemont Horizon, also in Chicago. Opening the first set with "Scarlet" > "Fire," "Louie, Louie" > "Cumberland Blues..." it was too much. The last one I have to mention is Richfield Coliseum in Ohio 3.21.94. It was the greatest Jerry I ever saw out of 98 shows. He commanded the evening...taking over "Bobby's Greatest Story" with "Bertha"...and the most moving "Stella Blue" you have ever seen. I swear he was crying...I know I was. He never left the stage that evening, played straight through "Drums" and into "Space." God, what memories.
3) What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
I think the greatest thing he has given us is that if you truly love what you do, and embrace the gifts you have been given, it will carry you through hell and high water. People will look at you with love and admiration because of the chances you take. Give you all the energy you could ever need to get you past those lowest of life's moments. That's all anyone could ask for in life. Also, in a weird kind of way, he gave us all a great gift with his passing...look at all of the bands that he inspired that are now traveling, making livings, and inspiring other people all over that he or the Dead may have never reached with their music. It just shows how far one mans spirit can go...weather he's with us or not.
JamBase | San Francisco
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WARREN HAYNES :: GOV'T MULE, ALLMAN BROTHERS
Warren Haynes by Susan J. Weiand |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
Jerry and I are very different, musically speaking, but I have a feeling if we'd had the chance to talk music and influences we'd have shared a lot of common ground – from blues to jazz to bluegrass to soul music. He influenced me in several ways but perhaps the most important way being that he forged his own path that was uniquely his and didn't let anything convince him not to. Playing in so many formats, bands, projects, etc., covering songs from all genres, and writing songs in all genres, all the while bucking the mainstream.
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
One night at Madison Square Garden, Bruce Hornsby pulled my wife Stefani and I up on stage and sat us right behind his piano. We were literally ten feet from Jerry. My wife was a huge DeadHead so she was freaking out. We were able to watch from the band's point of view how they communicated, how Jerry subtly lead the band, and the audiences attention being so focused on him. Unfortunately, I didn't meet him that night, which would have been my best chance, but I still have a mental picture of what I consider one of my "Forrest Gump Moments."
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
His entire being – it came out in his music. All the history, the passion, the vulnerability, the uniqueness – all flowed out of him into other people.
JamBase | San Francisco
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VINCE HERMAN :: LEFTOVER SALMON, SPIRIT OF GUTHRIE, GREAT AMERICAN TAXI
Vince Herman by Susan J. Weiand |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
I first saw him in 1977 at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh and the power of that music just knocked me over. I saw him a couple more times in high school and then in college kinda hit the road hitchhiking to see a bunch of shows. That really gave me the road-bug, the traveling-jones, in pursuit of music. I think that seed was planted deeper during my time traveling with the Dead than at any other period in my life. And I was in West Virginia at that time and I was really a bluegrass player and getting deep into that, but rock & roll and the Dead still did it for me because it was from that deep Americana Well that Jerry pulled the tunes from and made that folk music come alive in great ways.
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
I think my favorite memory was a 1984 show in Morgantown and Jerry was playing this incredible "China Doll" just doing that ascending lick and these people in my area were bouncing this balloon around and everyone was just following this balloon and Jerry is singing, "Just a little nervous from the 'fall'" and right on 'fall' the balloon hit something an popped! and the whole crowd just went "Ohh!" It was just a beautiful thing. Those crowd scenes where the whole crowd would catch this buzz or jump back, there were some powerful group consciousness things going on, those were my fondest memories.
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
The most significant thing that Jerry gave the world very well may be that he gave the hippies a door to the banjo and to bluegrass and the whole roots thing, he pointed a lot of kids in that direction. And just 'good being,' I think that's all any of us can do... Here's to Jerry, long may he run.
JamBase | San Francisco
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DAVID GANS
David Gans |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
I learned so much from Jerry that it's hard to know where to begin. I think the most important lesson, as our mutual friend Henry Kaiser always quotes, is to "serve the music." Jerry was there for the music, not for his own glory.
Because I spent a good portion of my formative years as a musician studying Jerry and the Grateful Dead, you can always hear him peeking around the corners of my songs and my performance. But I also learned from Jerry to be myself, to (in Kesey's words) "take what you can use and let the rest go by." So I compose songs and choose covers that further my personal narrative, and I don't know how to be anyone but myself.
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
I had many opportunities to hang out with him, and I interviewed him many times for print and radio. He was almost always in a good mood, and in interviews he was unfailingly generous with his time and thoughts.
I think my favorite memory of Jerry was the interviews he gave to Blair Jackson and myself on two nights in the spring of 1981. We talked about so many subjects, and he was so full of positive energy. The full transcripts are in Conversations with the Dead, if you're interested in reading this phenomenally wide-ranging dialogue.
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
Jerry was a great American musician: he listened to everything, and he drew on a multitude of sources in the creation of his own unique book of original compositions. He had a very good ear for songs; you can look at the list of material he covered in his many incarnations and follow those threads into a world of wonders. The expressiveness of his singing and guitar playing, always tasteful and faithful to the song and the story being told, make much of mainstream music seem shallow and gaudy in comparison.
JamBase | San Francisco
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MARC BROWNSTEIN :: THE DISCO BISCUITS, CONSPIRATOR
Marc Brownstein by Adam Gulledge |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
Well, in a way his music has influenced my music exponentially. Would we be able to truly go anywhere if we had not been shown that anywhere can be gone to... The road less traveled has a lot of traffic, all because of the Dead.
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
Rich Stadium. Sting opening for the Dead. No one in the place. Jerry walks onto stage. Instantly 80,000 people appear. Jerry leaves. They boo.
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
Truth and Passion.
JamBase | San Francisco
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DAN LEBOWITZ :: ALO
Dan Lebowitz by Susan J. Weiand |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
Musically speaking, the thing that always impressed me most about Jerry was the unique sound of his guitar playing. You can spot him from a single note. There are other players who share this attribute, but Jerry took it a step further by taking his sound into all sorts of genres. Electric, acoustic, rock & roll, folk, bluegrass, it never made a difference, he always sounded like Jerry. A common thread between all the players I admire most is that they possess a unique sound all to themselves. It's something that I put a lot of value on and Jerry is a great example of it.
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
I only got to see Jerry live a few times and, while I had a great time, I was pretty young so I'd have to say that my fondest "in person" memory of him is from when I was about five or six years old. I was traveling to the east coast with my family and seated a few rows behind us was Jerry. My dad recognized him and pointed him out to me. I still remember the larger than life vibe of not only him, but the whole entourage. I also remember it being the first time that I thought about what it would be like to be a musician traveling from place to place playing music for people. Apparently, the idea stuck.
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
Some of my early concert experiences were Grateful Dead shows that my parents took me to when I was a kid. Interestingly enough, I have very little memory of the actual music. It wasn't until I got older that the music really spoke to me. The scene, however, spoke volumes to me. I found it really inspiring, this whole notion that you don't have to fit into the norm, it was okay to step outside of the box and be yourself. I was totally blown away by the creative expression that all the "heads" embodied. Jerry, along with the rest of the Grateful Dead were not only pioneers of the scene, but brought it to people like me who would never have found this sub-culture while growing up in the suburbs.
JamBase | San Francisco
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ROBERT C. MATTHEWS
Matthews & Garcia |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
Major, major. I was privileged to probably be the person who got to spend more time than anybody else on a one-on-one basis in the creative environment of the studio with Jerry. I was, I feel blessed to have the experience. It was a unique relationship that worked very smoothly where he could look to me to be able to help him create the music and count on me to, as I described, remove the technical issues to help the music occur. Once to twice he would yell at me for, "Don't try to second guess me!" But that was part of what I did. And being able to play music with him in the New Riders that was also pretty fun. He was a great friend, a fantastic person; I learned how to give a good interview from him, the style of communication, perspective. Major influence on my life. And actually family; he pointed out to me that we were both Brothers-in-Law. My wife's sister is married to Jerry's brother. So a small little, another little closure or coincidence.
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
Probably I would have to say, Garcia his solo record, working with him on that. Because that was artistically, esthetically, relationship wise, from a creativity perspective that was almost perfection. As far as its ability to spontaneously create new music from the ether quickly, without any fanfare, it just fell into place, the music told us what to do, and of course Jerry was very good at listening to what the music said, I would have to say that that was probably the fondest memory.
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
A) Have fun at what your doing. B) If it's not fun look for another direction, go for what you're driven towards.
JamBase | San Francisco
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JOSH CLARK :: TEA LEAF GREEN
Josh Clark by Josh Miller |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
The first time I saw a "steal your face" was in my Drivers Ed course. Someone had penciled in a version in my drivers' handbook. I thought it was a sign for a heavy metal band. I learned it was, of course, a symbol for the Grateful Dead. Little did I know this symbol and band had an entire universe attached to it. I live in this universe. It's huge, it's still expanding, and like its "leader" this universe and its inhabitants seek adventure and embrace mystery with a great sense of irony and wit.
Having never been to a Grateful Dead show featuring Jerry Garcia I suppose I'm a Dead Head by association. I have a big bag of bootlegs in my truck, I can't get rid of them and they seem to be multiplying on their own. As far as Jerry Garcia's influence on me musically, I suppose in a self imposed world of technical perfection of guitar playing he came out of a Driver's Ed handbook and told me I don't have to stay in the yellow lines. So if anyone's got a problem with my driving, blame it on Captain Trips.
JamBase | San Francisco
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AL HOWARD :: K23 ORCHESTRA
Al Howard by Elyssa Page |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
Jerry's music opens up a road that traverses through experience, time, landscape and perception. It is free, complex and knows no boundary of genre. It has touched the lives of so many musicians, artists and people in general in an immensely profound way. Jerry has taught me to free myself from categorical confinement and that one can create unfiltered soulful expression and still reach masses of people.
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
I never got to see the Dead and in fact didn't really catch on until kind of late in the game. When I was 19 I went and saw Page and Plant. It was a time in my life when I partied pretty hard and on that particular evening I was completely tilted. I came home from the show and put on the first Mr. Bungle album, I wanted to challenge my brain with the most uncomfortable music it could handle. After a 70-minute barrage of circus jazz metal I decided to massage my thoughts (as well as frantic heartbeat) with something a little less abrasive. I had a copy of American Beauty on vinyl. I placed it on this old wood covered turntable, it was the size of a washing machine and had built in speakers. I sat down on the massive beanbag in corner of my room and got comfortable, blue lights and candles. From the moment the needle hit the vinyl notes of perfection filled all the space in my room. Every harmony, every melody, each word resonated with something deeper, every subtlety surfaced. I remember tearing up after "Brokedown Palace." There is something about his voice on that song, completely pure, stripped, raw and refined, filled with hopeful remorse. I remember it all making sense to me at that moment. Sounds, circumstance and timing all coming together.
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
Jerry and his friends sculpted a subculture that at its finest moments embodies some of the most beautiful aspects of humanity; creativity, freedom, music, individuality, unity, art, nature and a feeling that we are all sharing in something greater.
JamBase | San Francisco
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STEVE MOLITZ :: PARTICLE, HYDRA
Steve Molitz by Casey Flanigan |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
Jerry's commitment to music in general is really inspiring to me. The idea of living music - not just playing it - requires that you surrender your entire being to this intangible, infinite entity simply for the pure love of what you might discover if you search deep enough. I don't think Jerry played music, he just was music. It's like that old saying about playing the blues... "it's not enough to know which notes to play; you have to know why you're playing them." I think Jerry always knew why he was playing, and I'm inspired by the fact that he was constantly challenging himself to play outside of his comfort zone. It's a strange paradox... being comfortable without a comfort zone. In that sense he really was a 'headlight on a northbound train,' and that bravery influenced me to get on board and find out where the train was headed...
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
I regret that I never got to see Jerry perform live, so I suppose my fondest memory of him would have to come from stories I've heard. The first one that comes to mind is fairly simple, but for some reason it really stuck with me. In Phil Lesh's book he describes a pre-Grateful Dead Jerry always sitting around picking and strumming out riffs and somehow never repeating himself. There's just something really beautiful and mysterious about a guy who can play the guitar for decades and always find something new to play.
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
A renewed sense of magic. There's an entire sub-culture of people all over the world that believe in miracles again thanks to Jerry Garcia...
JamBase | San Francisco
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NAT KEEFE :: HOT BUTTERED RUM STRING BAND
Nat Keefe |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
He was serious about his work. The Grateful Dead worked so hard on their craft. I thought about this even when I was a twelve-year-old jamming in the garage with my first band and certainly with Hot Buttered Rum. The lessons from his shortcomings have influenced me too: Keep substance use under control. Don't let the inertia of the organization you create work you ragged. Talk about "family" problems.
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
My dad and uncle took me to see my first Dead show at Frost Amphitheater in Palo Alto, CA when I was ten years old. I remember walking in there and thinking it was so cool to have two drum sets. Then the band comes on and everybody stands up and starts dancing. I had never really danced like that before but some nice ladies got me dancing with them and boy did I have a good time! I've been hooked on rockin' and rollin' ever since!
I was thrilled when they started playing "Chinacat Sunflower," one of the few songs I knew. That's a song that can really appeal to a kid. Then when they went into "I Know You Rider" it felt like we were making history. I was impressed with Garcia's nonchalant demeanor onstage. Most of the rock 'n' roll I'd seen was flashy 80s hair bands. The Dead were definitely not flashy, but had a relaxed living room appeal to them, like one of them could be my dad.
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
He brought together different strains of American music into a popular, danceable form. In the Dead I hear the improvisatory exploration of Miles Davis and John Coltrane, the ancient tones of bluegrass and old time music, and the dance pop sensibility of 50s and 60s rock 'n' roll. This created a music which is now itself a genre. It's both modern and ancient. It's serious and fun.
JamBase | San Francisco
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MARTIN FIERRO
Fierro, Kahn, Garcia |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
He influenced me in the folk department of playing as I was coming from the jazz background. He got me into more of the middle of the road type of music - so obscure and beautiful. Where is he coming up with all of this material? The songs he sang were so earthy and beautiful. I never met anyone with that type of approach to music. He wasn't technical but down to earth and soulful.
He was a musical historian too – he knew so many old songs, stuff that was totally outrageous. Traditional music from a hundred years ago and old Irish songs. I wasn't into that before; I was strictly a jazz and rock & roll guy. Jerry opened a whole universe to me.
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
The first time I met Jerry: When I came to San Francisco in 1968 I was playing with conga players in Golden Gate Park and this scrappy looking guy showed up and he said, "Hey what's your name?" I said "Martin Fiero" he said "You new in town?" I said yeah "I'm from El Paso, Texas" he said "You want to come play with us tonight? My name is Jerry Garcia we're playing down at the Matrix tonight with John Kahn, Howard Wales and Bill Vitt."
I had no idea who he was – he was just another nice person inviting me to play a gig. It turned out to be one of the most incredible experiences of my entire life, of my entire career. He came and introduced himself to me. I was brand new in town – having a person like that invite me to a gig – WOW! I didn't know it at the time; it was just an invitation to sit in at a gig.
We were friends for both of our entire lives. To me it's always meant a lot that he went out of his way to come and talk to me. Now I try to go out and find people in the world and pump spirituality and love and energy into their playing. Especially guys who are new in town. I go talk to them and hopefully give them a lot of strength. Tell them they'll do ok and go out there and do your thing and eventually the world will listen to you. That's what Jerry gave me – the ability to go out in the world and encourage and give people spiritual health so they can feel good about themselves.
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
Himself. His hard work, his music, his love, his conviction. His crazy zany intellectual bullshit he always had. He gave everything he had to us.
Watching Jerry pour his heart and soul out to the audience, playing with so much love – he gave everything of himself to the people; just watching him perform – his humility was so disarming he was a totally soulful person. A lot of different Jerrys to a lot of different people – to me he was so loving. If it wasn't for Jerry I wouldn't be where I am today musically and artistically. I'm known throughout the world because of Jerry.
He took you to a place you'd never been to before. He touched a spot in your soul and your heart that nobody could ever do quite the same. That spot that cries and feels and sings beautiful stuff. He was a minstrel and he was a hell of a fucking guitar player.
JamBase | San Francisco
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JOSH BARON :: RELIX, EXECUTIVE EDITOR
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
The music of Jerry Garcia has influenced my life in some incredible ways—and I'm not even a musician like the rest of those asked. When I got turned on to the Grateful Dead in junior high amidst devotion to Pearl Jam and Nirvana, everything changed. Whereas before I would get off on those big lyrical hooks—"Here we are now, entertain us" or "Oooooh, I'm still alive"—I started waiting for those magical moments of improvisation where Jerry would hit those notes at those pinnacle moments. When I started high school, I found like-minded people and they in turn shaped who I was, etc (to the extent that I actually had two pages in the yearbook my senior year devoted to Jerry's passing). But it was studying Jerry's different projects outside of the Dead that got me into being a musicologist of sorts, constantly reading, talking, listening and thinking about music in a serious way. And it was that passion, combined with some good luck and timing, that landed me at Relix.
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
My fondest memory of Garcia... that's a tough one as I didn't attend all that many Dead and Jerry Band shows nor ever had any personal interaction with the man. I guess my fondest memory of Jerry would probably be the first time I ever saw him in-person: April 16, 1993 at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles. I vividly remember being extremely moved by, among other songs, the second set opener of "Shining Star."
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
The most significant thing Jerry Garcia has given the world is probably the sense that music can make a difference in peoples' lives. Whether bringing people together to protect the rainforest or stop nuclear proliferation, giving life to a party or a tone to a somber event, getting someone through a day or accompanying them in hard times, Jerry Garcia worked. Let me rephrase that slightly: Jerry Garcia works.
JamBase | San Francisco
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TOM SPEED :: HONEST TUNE MAGAZINE, PUBLISHER
Tom Speed |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
Jerry Garcia had a profound and pivotal impact on me, directly and indirectly. Jerry and the Dead helped me to tap into a vast world of music that I didn't know existed. I discovered a universe of music that transcended time and genre and geography. The Grateful Dead opened the door for me to bluegrass and jazz and blues and especially everything in between. It gave me a much better appreciation for all American music and how it's connected.
Also, it was an epiphany for me, and my seventeen-year old ears, learning that there was music beyond what you could hear on the radio or even through records. I learned that music lived in the moment and that there was magic in those moments. For me, that magic has never subsided and as it turns out, I've spent a lot of time examining and relaying that experience as much as I can.
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
I never met Jerry, so all of my memories of him are limited to what I saw and heard from the stage, and what I've read about him or seen on TV. Like a lot of folks, I sort of feel that I knew him on some elemental level beyond that of the corporeal—maybe not the person, the guy you go to the movies with, but the spirit behind the person, the elemental essence. That's in the songs.
The musical memories are numerous: The first time I saw him completely captivate a crowd with the stillness of "Stella Blue" just floored me. I'd never seen anything like that. The way he'd flash a devilish grin on stage always put a smile on my face too. I could go on forever about specific shows and songs, about soaring the cosmos and all that. But I think one of my favorite memories may be a non-musical one. It was an appearance on David Letterman's show where Jerry and Bob were doing these goofy parlor tricks, ever the pranksters. It was hysterical and human. It makes me laugh just thinking about it.
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
I think he impacted music and the way people approach music—both as practitioners and fans—in an extremely powerful way. There are a lot of people all over the world who, because of his influence, get a lot more out of music than they otherwise would; a lot more insight, a lot more joy. He promoted a love of music and a love of songs that a lot of people picked up on. So that was significant; that and the spirit of leading an inquisitive life, of loving what you do and doing what you love.
JamBase | San Francisco
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JOHN KADLECIK :: DARK STAR ORCHESTRA (GUITAR/VOCALS)
John Kadlecik :: DSO by Weiand |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
What a huge question. Musically, I can honestly say that I learned how to improvise in major scales from listening to Jerry. At the point in my life when I got turned on to the music of Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead I had studied classical violin for nine years, taught myself guitar for three years to learn about improvisation, and was beginning to get into jazz, Zen Buddhism, and psychedelics. Jerry's music rolled all that together into an amazing bridge between rock and jazz. And while one might normally think of a bridge as just a way to get from point A to point B, the people I met going back and forth across that bridge, the view from the bridge, and the great perpetual party happening there made me want to hang a while... a long while. And from the stories I read about Jerry Garcia, the man, what resonated deepest with me is the notion of consciousness-at-large, that when brainstorming for a solution to a problem in a group situation, the best solution can come from any of the participants. Whether that problem is a business logistics issue, how to create a great jam, or just how to have a good time, everyone in a group that is plugging in their creative energy has the potential to become the focus point of the collective energies and manifest the best solution. And while the boardroom and recording studio make obvious examples, I think by far the best is the concert hall, where the entire audience can "plug in" their creative juices with the band and sound and light crews to brew up the best possible time for all involved. And who out there, at one Dead show or another, hasn't had the experience of going to a show with some unresolved personal issue, danced their butt off for 3 1/2 hours, and come away with the perfect answer to their problem?
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
Regrettably, I never got to meet Jerry Garcia in person, so I feel I should only write from personal concert experiences. With that said, I can still only narrow down my fondest memories of Jerry to two: "What a Wonderful World" from November 24, 1991 Jerry Garcia Band performance in Minneapolis, and the first set "Standing on the Moon" from a March 21, 1990 Grateful Dead performance in Hamilton, Ontario.
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
I would say the most significant thing Jerry has given the world is a thirty year body of musical work that unifies the "high art" music of classical, neo-classical, and jazz with the "street" music of American blues, folk, and bluegrass, in the context of the modern rock dance-concert-as-archaic-revival. I would include both the songwriting/studio recording aspect and the live concert experience as two equally important sides of that work. Furthermore, collaboration seemed to be a hallmark of Jerry's efforts on both halves of this musical equation. With lyricist Robert Hunter, Jerry's songwriting achieved a perfect marriage of storytelling and melody, chord changes and archetypal literary imagery, poetry and soundscape. In the Grateful Dead he co-created a musical style that is as distinct from the rest of rock music as bluegrass is from the rest of folk music. Jerry and Bob Weir crafted some of the finest examples of how two electric guitars can work together; with Phil Lesh he worked out an incredible way for two superb melodicists to create simultaneously. Even all of Jerry's side projects, including his own namesake band, featured other singers, songwriters, and soloists. I personally think that the full impact of Jerry Garcia's musical legacy has yet to be felt by society, that it will be a touchstone for artists, musicians, and counterculture types for decades or even centuries to come, and that history will ultimately regard his work as a high water mark for mankind in the twentieth century.
JamBase | San Francisco
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SEAN A. CANAN :: BOCKMAN (GUITAR)
Sean Canan :: Bockman by SuperDee |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
A big lesson to learn from Jerry is that he virtually ignored the mainstream society through his entire career. One of the few to succeed further than most mainstream icons without succumbing to those temptations. He ALMOST escaped the 1980's without giving in, something that every single star from the 60's and 70's reluctantly fell for.
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
I remember when I was about eight years old; my dad brought home the record In the Dark. It didn't take long before I was acting out entire basketball games in my basement while singing along to "West LA Fadeaway." Not long after that I realized that he had been playing Europe '72 and Reckoning since the I popped out of the womb. Around that time, the same thing happened to me with "Back in the Highlife" by Steve Winwood and his Traffic records.
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
Well, certainly the most obvious thing is that through the Grateful Dead, Jerry created an entire sub-culture that is still running strong. Maybe always will in some shape or form. His music became the hymn for the congregation of a modern day nomadic society for which the slang is... oh I can't remember... starts with an H.
However, I don't think that his cult leadership is the most important of his creations. His contribution to the music world is what I like to remember. Jerry's ability to channel a sort of divine musical breeze through his guitar solos are not equaled on the guitar by anyone, especially at the time. He may have been the first guitarist to completely let go of his ego. His band followed in suit. Some people called it psychedelic, but the Dead really were the first rock band to hone the idea of group improvisation.
JamBase | San Francisco
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DENNIS McNALLY :: GRATEFUL DEAD PUBLICIST & BIOGRAPHER
Dennis McNally |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
I spent at least twenty-five years listening to the Grateful Dead a lot; everyday. So you could call that an influence. Thanks to Jerry I got the intellectual opportunity of a lifetime to write the book I wanted to write. I got the job of a lifetime, which has basically been my life career, and through Jerry – and the wider ramifications of the Grateful Dead – I met my wife and daughter, and the great bulk of my friends, it's fairly completely influenced my life; and in almost universally good ways. Other than my birth-family, it's everything – it didn't just influence my life, it filled it up!
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
When the Grateful Dead did the National Anthem for a Giants game, we did sound check at ten and then the game/show/song wasn't until one and because of the traffic no one could leave the stadium. So I had these bored musicians I had to entertain from ten until one and at some point I saw some very famous ex-Giants, and you have to remember that Jerry grew up as a kid in the Bay Area, he wasn't a huge sports fan, but he was enough of a sports fan to know who Willie McCovey was, and he was very impressed to meet Willie McCovey. Now Willie McCovey is a natural born gentleman and they schmoozed for a while and that was all cool. Then I went up to Willie Mays and I said, "Mr. Mays can I introduce you to Jerry Garcia, he's going to be signing the National Anthem?" Now Willie Mays is notoriously grumpy, and he said, "No!" and called out to the other players – there was some kind of Giants alumni gathering before the game – and he said, "Come on you guys I want to get to the party" and they left. And Jerry cackled! First he was talking about how cool it was to talk with Willie McCovey, it touched a part of him that was sixteen, and then he just laughed almost till he cried at how wonderful it was – and he meant it – to be snubbed by Willie Mays. Not because it was personal, Willie Mays didn't want to talk to God at that point, but it was normal, and frankly, Jerry liked being treated normally.
Jerry Garcia by Jay Blakesberg |
Melvin Seals tells a story about when he auditioned for the band; he didn't know who Jerry was. And Jerry loved that! You know how most famous people, "Don't you know who I think I am!?" Well in this case it was, "He doesn't know who I am? Great! We're just jamming, fine, I'm another musician.
One of the cooler New Year's Eves that the Grateful Dead ever played was with Etta James. And there was this great moment, and it was very much a normal showbiz moment, Etta came up and she leaned her arm on Jerry's shoulder as he's playing, I think she even gave him a little hip-bump. And I was thinking, in most Dead Heads mind's you don't touch Jerry as he's playing! The Grateful Dead didn't go in for any showbiz stuff! And I could imagine them being shocked. Jerry was obviously gassed, he loved it. This was Etta James for Christ's Sake. So I made some remark about that after the show and I said something to the effect of, "At that moment you looked like you could have been very happy just being the backup musician in some anonymous band." And he said, "Absolutely!" And he gave my wife away; he acted as the Father of the Bride. Those were the moments, it was the normal stuff where he didn't need to be Jerry Garcia with a capital "J" "G," he was just Jerry. That was my blessing, that's what I got. Because he was a sweet boy, at his grumpiest he was always basically civil. And it was only right at the end where he was just miserable-among other things, from diabetic mood-swings and he wouldn't hang out. Most of the time he just loved smoking a fat one and raving.
Jerry Garcia by Jay Blakesberg |
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
Jerry Garcia is the greatest success story of all time. It just depends on how you measure success. He lived his life on his own terms, some of them weren't the smartest terms, so he ended up not being physically healthy – and that's dumb – and he was dumb about that. But on the whole he wanted to devout his life to music and to honoring music; and he did that. And he and the Grateful Dead got this incredible success despite the fact – in fact in part because – they did everything the wrong way. They did things for musical reasons not financial reasons, and they ended up being able to live life on their own terms; what could be better than that? All he asked out of life was the ability to keep playing.
Do you have a memory of Jerry you'd like to share? A moment that influenced your life? A meeting with the man that left an impression? If so, please use our Comment box below to share.
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ERIC MCFADDEN :: ALEKTOROPHOBIA, ERIC MCFADDEN TRIO, P-FUNK, STOCKHOLM SYNDROME
Eric McFadden by Weiand |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
He was a sincere, cynical and talented man who influenced me mostly through the influence that ran through him.
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
I have no memories of him... I never knew him. I have only visions.
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
Consideration.
BUCKWHEAT ZYDECO
Buckwheat Zydeco by Joseph A. Rosen |
I wasn't that familiar with the Grateful Dead, but when Buckwheat Zydeco opened for Eric Clapton's tour a while ago, the Dead's tour was sort of following ours into stadiums and such all over the country. Everywhere we went we'd see hundreds of kids camped out days before the Dead's shows waiting for them. I remember thinking, "Damn those guys must really mean something to these kids." I thought it was great and really showed how music can be more than just something you listen to -- it can really move you. The Dead and Jerry Garcia sure did that!
SAM HOLT :: OUTFORMATION
Sam Holt |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
It opened up possibilities. His music let me know that the whole can be greater than the sum, and that there is more going on than what you can touch.
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
Alpine '89 "Morning Dew." Jerry giving everything he had during that song - and how powerful it was. It really moved me.
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
He built something (even though he probably wasn't consciously trying) that will never be torn down. His music will live forever, and inspire generations. He also let people know that there is no limit to what can be accomplished through music.
ROB KORITZ :: DARK STAR ORCHESTRA (DRUMS)
Bob Koritz :: DSO |
1. How would you say the music of Jerry Garcia and/or the man himself has influenced your music, your craft, and/or your life path?
Well, if it wasn't for the music and the man, I obviously wouldn't be in the group I am in. However, no matter what music I am playing, Jerry taught us that it is OK to take chances out there where everyone can hear your mistakes, and that is the joy of true spontaneity and improvisation.
2. What is your fondest memory of Jerry Garcia?
Berlin, Germany 1990, I am with a few traveling buddies at the Brandenburg Gate, when all of a sudden Garcia pops out of a black BMW. He has a huge smile on his face and we say "Hey Jerry." Well, Jerry takes the time to turn around, figure out who was yelling to him and then ask "You kids having fun over here? Enjoy the show tonight!" That night I was right up front, and when Jerry saw me, he said, "Wasn't the gate cool today?" That was my only personal encounter with him, but it left the impression of a warm, caring, funny man.
3. What would you say is the most significant thing Jerry has given the world?
A true artist, who was all about his craft, whether it be music or art. The ability to realize that music is bigger than the individuals on stage and if it is done right, that the music, the players and the audience all become one and no component is more important than another.
JAMIE McLEAN :: THE DIRTY DOZEN BRASS BAND (GUITAR)
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