Jerry Garcia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jerry Garcia | |
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| Born | August 1, 1942 San Francisco, California, USA |
| Died | August 9, 1995 (aged 53) Forest Knolls, California, USA |
| Alias(es) | Captain Trips |
| Genre(s) | Psychedelic rock, Rock, Folk rock, Bluegrass, Jam band |
| Affiliation(s) | Grateful Dead, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Old and in the Way, Legion of Mary, Reconstruction, Jerry Garcia Band, Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band |
| Label(s) | Rhino, Warner Bros., Arista, Grateful Dead, Acoustic Disc |
| Notable guitars | Guild Starfire 1957 Gibsons Les Pauls Gold-top Les Paul with P-90 Gibson SGs Fender Stratocaster "Alligator" Doug Irwin Custom "Wolf" Doug Irwin Custom "Tiger" Doug Irwin Custom "Rosebud" |
| Years active | 1960 - 1995 |
| Official site | JerryGarcia.com |
Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was the lead guitarist and vocalist of the psychedelic rock band the Grateful Dead. Named after composer Jerome Kern, Garcia started on the banjo and piano, moved on to the guitar, and other stringed instruments.
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[edit] Early years
Of mixed Spanish, Irish, and Swedish extraction,[1] Garcia was born in San Francisco, California, United States.
Garcia experienced the accidental amputation—by his brother Clifford Garcia ("Tiff")—of his right middle finger just below the first knuckle at age nine during a family camping trip while Tiff was chopping wood.
After a childhood spent in San Francisco's Excelsior district, he dropped out of Balboa High School and enlisted in the United States Army on April 12, 1960. After completing Basic Training and Service School Training as an auto maintenance helper, at Fort Ord California, Garcia was stationed at Fort Winfield in San Francisco's Presidio. Garcia was still spending his hours at his leisure, picking up the acoustic guitar after being introduced to the instrument by fellow soldier Lt. Eligh Hanning. He was discharged on December 14, 1960, after accruing two courts martial and eight AWOLs.
After his discharge Garcia, David Nelson, and a poet named Robert Hunter teamed up to make music—later on, Hunter would become the main lyricist for the Grateful Dead. Around this time Garcia was playing and teaching acoustic guitar and banjo. One of Garcia's students was Bob Matthews, who later engineered many of the Grateful Dead's albums. Matthews went to high school (and was friends) with Bob Weir, and on New Year's Eve 1963, he introduced them to one another.[2]
Between 1962 and 1964, Garcia sang and performed mainly bluegrass, old-time and folk music. One of the bands Garcia was known to perform with was the Sleepy Hollow Hog Stompers, a bluegrass act. The group consisted of Jerry Garcia on guitar, banjo, vocals, and harmonica, Marshall Leicester on banjo, guitar, and vocals, and Dick Arnold on fiddle and vocals.[3] Soon thereafter, Garcia joined a local bluegrass and folk band called Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions, whose membership also included and Ron "Pigpen" McKernan. In 1965, this group evolved into the Warlocks—, with the addition of Phil Lesh (bass) and Bill Kreutzmann (drums). Eventually, the band learned that another band was already called the Warlocks, a band led by Billy Gibbons, the future guitarist of ZZ Top. After several suggestions, Garcia came up with the name by flipping through a dictionary. The definition provided for "Grateful Dead" was "A song meant to show a lost soul to the other side."[4] The band all agreed on the name, and the Grateful Dead were born.
[edit] Career with the Grateful Dead
Garcia's mature guitar-playing melded elements from the various kinds of music that had enthralled him. Echoes of bluegrass playing (such as Arthur Smith and Doc Watson) could be heard. But the "roots music" behind bluegrass had its influence, too, and melodic riffs from Celtic fiddle jigs can be distinguished. There was also early rock (like Lonnie Mack, James Burton and Chuck Berry), contemporary blues (such as Freddie King and Lowell Fulson), country & western (such as Roy Nichols and Don Rich), and jazz (like Charlie Christian) to be heard in Jerry's style. Don Rich was the sparkling country guitar player in Buck Owens's "Buckaroos" band of the 1960s, but besides Rich's style, both Garcia's pedal steel guitar playing (on Grateful Dead records and others) and his standard electric guitar work, were influenced by another of Owens's Buckaroos of that time, pedal-steel player Tom Blumley.
Garcia's style varied somewhat according to the song or instrumental to which he was contributing . His playing had a number of so-called "signatures" and, in his work through the years with the Grateful Dead, one of these was lead lines making much use of rhythmic triplets (examples include the songs "Good Morning Little School Girl," "New Speedway Boogie," "Brokedown Palace," "Deal," "Loser," "Truckin'," "That's It For The Other One," "U.S. Blues," "Sugaree," and "Don't Ease Me In").
In 1967, Jerry Garcia lived at 710 Ashbury Street, San Francisco, in the heart of the Haight Ashbury district and played at the Human Be-In which inaugurated the Summer of Love.
From 1965 to 1995, the Grateful Dead toured almost constantly, developing a fan base known as deadheads, renowned for their intensity of devotion. Some fans dedicated their lives to the band, following the Grateful Dead from concert to concert, making a living by selling handmade goods, arts, crafts, and drugs.
[edit] Side projects
In addition to the Grateful Dead (who frequently toured for long periods), Garcia had numerous side projects, the most notable being the Jerry Garcia Band. He was also involved with various acoustic projects such as Old and in the Way and other bluegrass bands, including collaborations with noted bluegrass mandolinist David Grisman (the documentary film "Grateful Dawg" chronicles the deep, long-term friendship between Garcia and Grisman).
Other groups of which Garcia was a member at one time or another include the Black Mountain Boys [1], Legion of Mary [2], Reconstruction, and the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band. Jerry Garcia was also an appreciative fan of jazz artists and improvisation: he played with jazz keyboardists Merl Saunders and Howard Wales for many years in various groups and jam sessions, and he appeared on saxophonist Ornette Coleman's 1988 album, Virgin Beauty.
Garcia also spent a lot of time in the recording studio helping out fellow musician friends in session work, often adding guitar, vocals, pedal steel, sometimes banjo and piano and even producing. He played on over 50 studio albums the styles of which were eclectic and varied, including bluegrass, rock, folk, blues, country, jazz, electronic music, gospel, funk, and reggae. Artists who sought Garcia's help included the likes of the Jefferson Airplane (most notably Surrealistic Pillow), Tom Fogerty, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, David Bromberg, Robert Hunter, Peter Rowan, Warren Zevon, Country Joe McDonald, Ken Nordine, Ornette Coleman, Bruce Hornsby, Bob Dylan and many more. He was also one of the first musicians to really cover in depth motown music in the early-1970s and probably the most prolific coverer of Bob Dylan songs.
Throughout the early-1970s, Garcia, Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh, drummer Mickey Hart, and David Crosby collaborated intermittently with MIT-educated composer and biologist Ned Lagin on several projects in the realm of early electronica; these include the album Seastones (released by the Dead on their Round Records subsidiary) and L, an unfinished dance work.
Garcia also lent pedal-steel guitar playing to fellow-San Francisco musicians New Riders of the Purple Sage from their initial dates in 1969 to October 1971, when increased commitments with the Dead forced him to opt out of the group. He appears as a band member on their debut album New Riders of the Purple Sage, and produced Home, Home On The Road, a 1974 live album by the band. He also contributed pedal steel guitar to the enduring hit "Teach Your Children" by Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young, likely the most recognizable piece of music to feature the guitarist. Jerry also played steel guitar licks on Brewer & Shipley's 1970 album Tarkio. Despite considering himself a novice on the pedal steel and having all but given up the instrument by 1973, he routinely ranked high in player polls. After a long lapse, he played it once more with Bob Dylan in 1987.
An avid reader and cinefile, Garcia was particularly fond of Kurt Vonnegut's The Sirens of Titan and owned the novel's film rights for many years, struggling to adapt it with the likes of Al Franken.
Having studied art at the San Francisco Art Institute, Garcia made a second career out of painting. A series of neckties based on those paintings has been quite lucrative. The popularity of the ties might be attributed to their wild patterns and bright colors. Even in 2005, ten years after Garcia's death, new styles and designs continue to be sold at high-end men's stores.
[edit] Life and Death
Jerry Garcia married three times and had four daughters. With his first wife, Sara Ruppenthal Garcia, he had a daughter, Heather. With his second wife, Carolyn 'Mountain Girl' Adams Garcia, he had two daughters, Anabelle and Theresa. His third wife was Deborah Koons Garcia. Jerry Garcia had a relationship with Manasha Matheson and had a fourth daughter with her, Keelin Garcia. He had one brother, Clifford "Tiff" Garcia.
Jerry Garcia died on August 9, 1995, of a heart attack exacerbated by sleep apnea. Garcia, who struggled with tobacco and drug addiction (most notably smoked heroin)[citation needed] and sleep apnea for much of his adult life, was staying at the Serenity Knolls drug rehabilitation center in Forest Knolls, California at the time. On his passing, he was honored by President Clinton as being "an American icon." Memorial services were held in Golden Gate Park on August 13, 1995. Along with the band members, his family and friends, thousands of fans were present, many singing and playing in drum circles. Deborah Koons Garcia and Bob Weir, just after dawn on April 4, 1996, spread Garcia's ashes on the Ganges River 155 miles north of New Delhi, the idea of which came to Weir in a dream.
[edit] Legacy
In 1987, ice cream manufacturers Ben & Jerry's came out with Cherry Garcia, which is named after the guitarist and consists of "cherry ice cream with cherries and fudge flakes." It quickly became the most popular Ben & Jerry's flavor. For a month after Garcia's death, the ice cream was made with black cherries as a way of mourning.
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 #13 in their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time [5].
On July 21, 2005, the San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission passed a resolution to name the amphitheater in McLaren Park "The Jerry Garcia Amphitheater."[6] The amphitheater is located in the Excelsior District, where Garcia grew up. The first show to happen at the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater was Jerry Day 2005 on August 7, 2005. Tiff Garcia was the first person to welcome everybody to the "Jerry Garcia Amphitheater." Jerry Day is an annual celebration of Jerry in his childhood neighborhood. The dedication ceremony (Jerry Day 2) on October 29, 2005 was officiated by mayor Gavin Newsom.
On September 24, 2005, the Comes a Time: A Celebration of the Music & Spirit of Jerry Garcia tribute concert was held at the Hearst Greek Theatre in Berkeley, California. [7] The concert featured Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, Mickey Hart, Bruce Hornsby, Trey Anastasio, Warren Haynes, Jimmy Herring, Michael Kang, Jay Lane, Jeff Chimenti, Mark Karan, Robin Sylvester, Kenny Brooks, Gloria Jones, and Jackie LaBranch. Two of Garcia's longtime bandmates and friends, Phil Lesh and Robert Hunter did not attend. Phil Lesh stated that "my son went away to college and we had all kinds of family things going that week."[8]
About a thousand people have gathered annually since 2002 to celebrate Jerry Garcia's life on the first Sunday of August with an event known as Jerry Day.
[edit] Discography
- Old and in the Way
- Old and in the Way - 1975
- That High Lonesome Sound – 1996
- Breakdown – 1997
- Garcia & Grisman
- Garcia Grisman
- Not For Kids Only
- Shady Grove
- So What
- The Pizza Tapes (featuring Tony Rice) – 2000
- Been All Around this World
- Grateful Dawg
- Solo
- Garcia - 1972
- Compliments - 1974
- Reflections - 1976
- Run for the Roses - 1982
- Jerry Garcia Band
- Cats Under the Stars - 1978
- Jerry Garcia Band - 1991
- How Sweet it is - 1997
- Don't Let Go - 2001
- Shining Star - 2001
- After Midnight: Kean College, 2/28/80 - 2004
- Legion of Mary
- Compilations
- Garcia Plays Dylan - 2005
- The Very Best of Jerry Garcia - 2006
- Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band
- Almost Acoustic - 1988
- Pure Jerry Series - 2004-2006
- Theatre 1839, July 29 & 30, 1977
- Lunt-Fontanne, NYC, October 31, 1987
- This album is one of 10 "live jam releases of this century" according to the August issue of Guitar One magazine.
- Lunt-Fontanne, NYC, "Best of the Rest"
- Keystone Berkeley, September 1, 1974
- Merriweather Post Pavilion, September 1 & 2, 1989
- Warner Theatre, March 18, 1978
- Hampton Coliseum, November 9, 1991
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Entry 2006-06-29 of the Robert Hunter Archive from dead.net. Retrieved on 2006-11-18.
- ^ Traveling So Many Roads with Bob Matthews (2005-07).
- ^ Vintage Jerry Garcia/Sleepy Hollow Hog Stompers 1962 Torrent (2002-07).
- ^ Stories about the 'Grateful dead' appear in many cultures. The Jewish version is set out in The Book of Tobit. A common element is the soul of a dead person, or his angel, showing gratitude to someone who, as an act of charity, arranged their burial.
- ^ 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Rolling Stone Issue 931. Rolling Stone.
- ^ Jerry Garcia Amphitheater / San Francisco Parks District.
- ^ Trey, Weir Honor Garcia. Rolling Stone (2005-09-26).
- ^ Double Down Stage Spotlight: Phil Lesh & Friends. Las Vegas Weekly (2005-10-27).
[edit] External links
- The Jerry Site
- Big Brother & The Holding Company Site
- Dead Lists home page
- http://jerrygarcia.com/
- http://jerryday.org
- http://jerrygarciaamphitheater.org
- http://www.jgamp.org
- http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000999900
- http://www.dead.net/
- GDRADIO.NET - Streaming Grateful Dead and more.
- http://arts.ucsc.edu/gdead/agdl/
- Grateful Dawg at the Internet Movie Database
- Over 2800 Grateful Dead recordings available in streaming format
- Gratefuldeadbooks.com
- Rhino Entertainment - Rhino Records
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Categories: Articles lacking sources from February 2007 | All articles lacking sources | Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1942 births | 1995 deaths | American Episcopalians | American rock guitarists | Banjoists | Bluegrass musicians | California musicians | Deaths from cardiovascular disease | Grateful Dead members | Pedal steel guitarists | People from San Francisco | United States Army soldiers | People treated for drug addiction
