Remembering Jerry

Hey Jond.....please note that he DIED 9 years ago today....I am not celebrating.

Hey Fat Parrot. Smoking The Persian (Heroin) was Jerry's passion. He's in the big H now, a place I feel he gave me glimpses of on more than a few occasions. It's been a long strange trip from the first be-in's and Acid Tests. Kesey, Neal, Pigpen and Jerry. I think I'll listen to 4/26/71 and wish I was there. I'll offer up a sweet Garcia/ Grisman Quintet 5/7-11/91 Warfield disc in Jerry's memory. Thanks for the reminder FP.

Garebear, I knew that!, where "happy birthday" came from I have no idea! How embarassing. Anyway, hopefully you got the idea. The Grateful Dead were my major in college and so I owe Jerry a lot. 65 shows just wasn't enough. Peace.

The older I get the more I appreciate Jerry. I think when I really started appreciating him was when I started listening to the Deads live stuff. A perfect example is comparing the song "Dancing in the Street's" on "Teripin (sp?) Staion" and then listening to the same song on their live Cornell 1977 version. It sounds like two different bands and Jerry sounds totally absent in the studio version. On the live version you will hear a mesmerizing 12 minute long guitar solo that gives me goose bumps every time I hear it. Having all those live shows on recordings is a true musical treasure. What a treat it is to discover a live show and listening to a 12 minute Jerry jam that I've never heard before. I am also really getting into his bluegrass. i'm digging both the old stuff with "Old and In The Way" and his later stuff with "Grateful Dog." He left a great American musical legacy in the way he made Bluegrass cool. There is a wonderful swelling roots musical movement on college campuses today that is highly influenced by Jerry.

I will say it again....I miss him everyday and that signature guitar sound.....I feel that the musical world has not been the same since 1995....it's different now....the musical values have changed.....he made music matter....instead of a generation where music is only an avenue to something else.....