happy Jerry Week everyone
JEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYY!
The guy was something else. "he looked right at me".....The Reluctant mystic. You always felt he was your friend. A guy you could hang with. The thing about Jerry was how absolutely intellegent he was, despite his less than stellar educational history. Just watching him in interviews or reading many of the publications he is quoted in, you can seee that he is far beyond most people in intellegence.
When you think about it, you have to be amazed. Not only did he have a band that played stadiums in 1973, but STILL played them in 1995. Without, until almost the end, any radio play or an actual hit record. He also had his own band which was very different than The Dead and played the Great American songbook. He also played the single most recognizable pedal steel guitar lick in history, "Teach Your Children" by CSNY. Then, if that wasnt enough, he played banjo on 5 of the top ten selling bluegrass albums of all time with Old and In The Way (featuring an all star band). His solo work with David Grisman (and the phenominal Joe Craven) was incredible as well. Some of his most beloved songs came late in his history. Unlike most music people, Jerry was productive until the end. He had new songs like Liberty, Standing on the Moon and many others.
It still boggles my mind how many absolutely brilliant people came to San Francisco (or like Jerry, were born there) at about the same time. And all became part of the Dead, and Jerry's, sphere of influence. Robert Hunter and Bob Dylan. JP Barlow. Neil Cassady. Steve Jobs. Tim Leary. Ken Kesey. Bill Walton. Stewart Brand. Me (ha ha). The people that actually DID change the world, all hit SF at the same time. They changed the culture. A modern Rennaisance, and the Dead played the soundtrack.
I met him once, at the Oasis Ballroom in Sacramento. A Reconstruction show. Id been kicked out for smoking weed and waited for him to show up (he was WAY late) and told him my tale of woe. He got me in backstage. Not sure he said more than "Sure man" but it was cool. Funny that there's no set list or recording of that show, nor is there for my first Dead show (12-31-68). Weird.
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