Phish Dedicates ‘I’m Blue, I’m Lonesome’ To Jerry Garcia On Fall Tour 1995

This year marks 25 years since Phish’s historic Fall Tour 1995. In recognition of that noteworthy tour and to make up for the lack of shows this fall, JamBase presents a daily retrospective highlighting a noteworthy moment from a Phish fall tour concert that took place on that date over the past 25 years (read a note on Fall 1997 here). The 25 Years Of Phish Fall Tour series runs each day between the start of Phish Fall Tour 1995 on September 27 through that tour’s finale on December 17.

Phish was off the road when Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia died at age 53 on August 9, 1995. The quartet began a fall tour later the next month and used an opportunity at the fourth show of the run to honor Jerry with a special dedication.

On September 30, 1995, Phish made their headlining debut at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California, a Bay Area venue close to Garcia’s hometown of San Francisco. The band transitioned from their normal electric gear to an acoustic setup for their penultimate song of the evening’s first set.

Guitarist Trey Anastasio, celebrating his 31st birthdday, took to the mic to dedicate “I’m Blue, I’m Lonesome” to Garcia. “This was the last place that personally, myself and I know two other guys in the band saw Jerry alive,” Anastasio said. “We thought this would be a good opportunity to play one of his favorite songs and I know he’s up there listening. So, this is for you Jerry.”

The Father Of Bluegrass, Bill Monroe, wrote “I’m Blue, I’m Lonesome” and recorded the song in 1950. Jerry was a huge fan of Monroe and the genre. Garcia was a member of a few ensembles that focused on bluegrass before he joined the Dead and performed in the iconic bluegrass band Old & In The Way in 1973 with David Grisman, Vassar Clements, John Kahn and Peter Rowan. Phish debuted their cover of “I’m Blue, I’m Lonesome” on November 16, 1994 and played the song 29 additional times through June 22, 2000.

Watch video featuring most of Phish’s September 30, 1995 concert below with the dedication coming at the end of the “Run Like An Antelope” track: