Day 73: Jerry Garcia...Mount Rushmore

Jerry Garcia is the 3rd face of my Mount Rushmore of Music.

I have previously written about two of the others.

Bob Dylan

Artwork, Movies, Real People in Song

Richie Havens

Things I didn't know about him.

All Along the Watchtower

It would not be impossible for me to have a blog just devoted to Jerry.  There are dozens out there and it is a worthy rabbit hole. Instead, I will focus on some of Jerry's non-Grateful Dead bands and projects.



1961: Hart Valley Drifters

Bluegrass Group included Jerry on banjo, guitar and vocals and among others long time collaborator and lyricist Robert Hunter on bass and New Riders of the Purple Sage co-founder, David Nelson.

Jerry and Robert Hunter

1962: Sleepy Hollow Hog Stompers

1963: Wildwood Boys, AKA Jerry Garcia and Wildwood Boys

1964: Black Mountain Boys

1964: Mother McCree Uptown Jug Stompers

They recorded "Monkey and the Engineer" but it's not on Spotify. I included a Grateful Dead version of the tune on the playlist.

1964: The Warlocks

Pigpen ( Ron McKernan) suggests Mother McCree's plug in. Another band had the name, Warlocks (not The Warlocks who formed in 1989). Jerry and his Warlocks recorded 6 tunes in November 1965 as The Emergency Crew.

1969-1971: New Riders of the Purple Sage

Jerry plays pedal steel guitar. New Riders are on my list of bands I wished I'd played in. Very stoned hippie vibe.

1971-1990 Variously Legion of Mary, Merl Saunders and Friends, Reconstruction, Blues from the Rainforest

Peggy and I saw Merl Saunders playing at a bar near the Russian River in California in '74 or '75. Literally 'trippy.'

1973- 1974 Old and In the Way

1975-1995 Jerry Garcia Band

According to setlist.fm, the Jerry Garcia Band played "How Sweet It Is" 373 times in concert making it their most performed song.

1987-1988 Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band

1991: Jerry Garcia / David Grisman

1993: Not for Kids Only

We've played this album for our grandkids when they used to visit. Peggy and I tried to play "Teddy Bears Picnic." We could never get the bridge right.

Here is a Spotify Playlist with a tune from each band (where available)





Peace.