Rare 1979 Jerry Garcia Interview Surfaces

On December 6, 1979 one of the day’s most important writers sat down to chat with one of the day’s most important musicians as Studs Terkel interviewed Grateful Dead front man Jerry Garcia. Audio of the interview, which also featured Rolling Stone/Chicago Sun-Times scribe Abe Peck chiming in to add color, has been shared to shine a light on a Kickstarter campaign that aims to raise funds to build out the Studs Terkel Radio Archive.

While Terkel clearly isn’t familiar with the Grateful Dead’s music, Jerry is such an engaging personality that the two had no issues chatting away with help from Peck. Garcia weighs in on the roots of the Grateful Dead, the New Wave phenomenon (as Rolling Stone points out Jerry presciently notes Elvis Costello would survive the New Wave phase). The guitarist also comments on the music of Bruce Springsteen, stating The Boss’s impact was “very local…what Bruce Springsteen had to say to the kids of New Jersey didn’t apply to the kids in California.” Listen to entire fascinating interview:

[Via Rolling Stone]