August 1: The late Jerry Garcia was born in 1942

There’s no way to measure his greatness or magnitude as a person or as a player. I don’t think eulogizing will do him justice. He was that great – much more than a superb musician with an uncanny ear and dexterity. He is the very spirit personified of whatever is Muddy River Country at its core and screams up into the spheres. He really had no equal. To me he wasn’t only a musician and friend, he was more like a big brother who taught and showed me more than he’ll ever know. There are a lot of spaces and advances between the Carter Family, Buddy Holly and, say, Ornette Coleman, a lot of universes, but he filled them all without being a member of any school. His playing was moody, awesome, sophisticated, hypnotic and subtle. There’s no way to convey the loss. It just digs down really deep.
~Bob Dylan (Jerry Garcia’s Obituary – 10 August 1995)

Bruce Hornsby inducts the Grateful Dead at the 1994 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony:

Jerry Garcia Band – I Shall Be Released:

From Wikipedia:

Jerome John “Jerry” Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician who was best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead. Though he disavowed the role, Garcia was viewed by many as the leader or “spokesman” of the group.

One of its founders, Garcia performed with the Grateful Dead for their entire three-decade career (1965–1995). Garcia also founded and participated in a variety of side projects, including the Saunders-Garcia Band (with longtime friend Merl Saunders), Jerry Garcia Band, Old and in the Way, the Garcia/Grisman acoustic duo, Legion of Mary, and the New Riders of the Purple Sage (which Garcia co-founded with John Dawson and David Nelson). He also released several solo albums, and contributed to a number of albums by other artists over the years as a session musician. He was well known by many for his distinctive guitar playing and was ranked 13th in Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” cover story.

From Allmusic (William Ruhlmann):

Guitarist, singer, and songwriter Jerry Garcia was best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead, the rock band for which he served as de facto leader for 30 years, 1965-1995. Concurrently for much of that time, he also led his own Jerry Garcia Band (JGB), and he performed and recorded in a variety of configurations and a variety of styles, particularly styles of folk and country music, sometimes switching to banjo or pedal steel guitar for the purpose. But the Grateful Dead remained his primary musical outlet, and he performed thousands of concerts with them and appeared on dozens of their albums (many of them live recordings), 28 of which reached the Billboard chart during his lifetime, including the million-sellers Workingman’s Dead, American Beauty,Europe ’72, Skeletons from the Closet: The Best of Grateful Dead, What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been: The Best of the Grateful Dead, and In the Dark, and another eight that went gold.

 

Jerry Garcia Interview “The History of Rock ‘N’ Roll” (52min video):

Lagacy:

• Garcia was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Grateful Dead in 1994.
• In 2003, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Jerry Garcia 13th in their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
• According to fellow Bay Area guitar player Henry Kaiser, Garcia is “the most recorded guitarist in history. With more than 2,200 Grateful Dead concerts, and 1,000 Jerry Garcia Band concerts captured on tape – as well as numerous studio sessions – there are about 15,000 hours of his guitar work preserved for the ages.”
• Seattle rock band Soundgarden wrote and recorded the instrumental song “Jerry Garcia’s Finger”, dedicated to the singer, which was released as a b-side with their single “Pretty Noose”.

Peggy O – live 1994 Las Vegas:

Two wonderful albums:

Working Man’s Dead (1970) (reissue from 2003 with xtra material)
1. “Uncle John’s Band” 0:00
2. “High Time” 4:44
3. “Dire Wolf” 10:00
4. “New Speedway Boogie” 13:13

Side two
5. “Cumberland Blues” (Garcia, Hunter, and Phil Lesh) 17:20
6. “Black Peter” 20:37
7. “Easy Wind” (Hunter) 26:21
8. “Casey Jones” 31:19

2003 reissue bonus tracks 9. “Dire Wolf” 36:00 recorded at Santa Rosa Veteran’s Memorial Hall on 6/27/1969
10 “Black Peter” 38:30 recorded at Golden Hall Community Concourse in San Diego on 1/10/1970
11 .”Easy Wind” 47:37 recorded at Springer’s Ballroom in Portland on 1/16/1970
12. “Cumberland Blues” 55:50 recorded at the Oregon State University Gym on 1/17/1970
13. “Mason’s Children” 1:00:37 recorded at the Civic Auditorium in Honolulu on 1/24/1970
14. “Uncle John’s Band” 1:07:17 recorded at Winterland on 10/04/1970

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American Beauty (1970) – full album:
1. Box of Rain
2. Friend of the Devil
3. Sugar Magnolia
4. Operator
5. Candyman
6. Ripple
7. Brokedown Palace
8. Till the Morning Comes
9. Attics of My Life
10. Truckin’

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-Egil