Watch Jerry Garcia Tell The Tale Of ‘Jack-A-Roe’ With Grateful Dead At RFK Stadium In 1991

The band at the time featured the double keyboard attack of Bruce Hornsby and Vince Welnick.

By Nate Todd Jan 11, 2024 • 12:27 pm PST

Grateful Dead Jack-A-Roe video RFK 1991

The Grateful Dead shared pro-shot video of “Jack-A-Roe” as the latest in the All The Years Live series. The footage is from the band’s June 14, 1991 concert at the historically significant RFK Stadium in Washington D.C.

A great example of the Grateful Dead’s prowess in taking a traditional song and breathing new life into it, “Jack-A-Roe” arrived in the Grateful Dead live repertoire during the vaunted 1977 Spring Tour on May 13 in Chicago. The song fell in and out of favor with the band over the next decade until becoming a staple from late 1988 onward, as Dead archivist David Lemieux outlined in his notes accompanying the RFK ‘91 “Jack-A-Roe” video.

“Debuting in 1977, ‘Jack-A-Roe’ stuck around for a couple of years, returned for the acoustic sets in 1980, after which it was played quite frequently to start the 1980s, petering out by the mid 1980s. In December 1988, however, it returned and would remain a consistent part of the Dead’s live sets until 1995.”
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In 1991, the Grateful Dead featured the double keyboard attack of Bruce Hornsby and Vince Welnick. Bruce, who snaps to from his bluesy musings when guitarist Jerry Garcia charges into the “Jack-A-Roe” opening riff, provides sparkling piano while Vince utilizes what sounds like a fiddle patch on his keyboard.

Watch Jerry tell the tale of “Jack-A-Roe” from RFK Stadium in 1991:

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Grateful Dead (See 158 videos)
Grateful Dead (See 1,338 videos)

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