I'm gona go out on a limb and say Bobby has played more music in front of more people than anyone that has ever existed..and maybe been in front of more people than anyone ever..not just musicians..he has been doing what he does for over 60 years ..
He's gotta be right up there. As far as total gigs check out George Thorogood. Lonesome George has done, I think, over twice the number of shows as the Dead did. For awhile way back when I remember hearing the band Asleep At The Wheel held the record, I think, for most gigs. It's said that Roy Acuff traveled the most road miles as a touring musician.@@hazelmoore4754
Yep, he played pedal steel with GD and New Riders too. He also played various keyboards on Mars Hotel and on his first solo album and mandolin prior to GD (i.e., Sara and Jerry on JG Before the Dead box set).
I think his parents listened to Charli Christian, Django and Grant Green. The GG album The Latin Bit is a good example. Jerry even played a riff from Tico-Tico in between songs on one of the Dicks Picks CDs.
Great insights. One thing you might notice is after the '78 Egypt trip his sound shifted significantly to what you mention, I guess more stacatto or a different attack. You'd know better than I. But it didn't exist until post-Egypt. There's really the pre-Egypt Jerry sound or the post-Egypt Jerry sound. One cool thing I remember about those shows is Jerry had the capability when he wanted to to turn up his guitar WAY louder than it was in the mix, to the point where it was deafening, totally drowns out everybody. Lol. He rarely ecer did it, usually like on a set closer "Deal" or the like, but when he did it was like, "Whoa!" There was always miles of smiles. It comes across on tapes but not like it was live. Great memories.
Noodling goes nowhere. That ain't Jerry. That's improvisation. What the greats are known for. You lack musical comprehension, regardless of your personal taste.
I loved the Dead when they were still the Warlocks! Yeah, I'm that old and I was born & raised in San Francisco. Jerry was incredible in so many ways! 😘
Yeah …. have to agree with the assessment of Garcias talent relative to the rest of the band. He was the engine. However, Bill Kreutzman is a surprisingly alert drummer. He was very conscious of changes in dynamics and tempo. He could shift and drag when a song called for it. And Phil Lesh…. yeah not sure what he was about. He doesn’t play bass lines and sometimes it does leave the music a little ungrounded
There's a lot to give kudos to Jerry for, as there is a lot to Critisize him for. I choose to keep in mind the time. Ol' Captain holds a place in time that would be hard to "relinquish his duties" from. I hear both sides.
Only other who allowed semi-unauthorized recordings of live music was The Ramones, for all the smaller concerts where band was not already being recorded. Meaning The Ramones often did deals for recordings for smaller venues or lesser venues by privateers.
Bobby and the Midnites allowed recording as well as The Jerry Garcia band. There are likely several million hours saved on casette tapes stored in closets Worldwide. I liked The Dead back in the day and have about 10 hours of bootleg shows. Mostly California, Winrerland, San Jose, San Diego. Some Madison Square Garden.
I recently heard that Jerry Garcia played the steel guitar on treat your children well. I always loved that song. I remember a Ted Nugent interview or he was asked about lots of different guitarist. He really slammed Garcia. It was hilarious.
Never really got into THE GREATFULL DEAD only have one of their albums it's a early greatest hits package ( SKELETONS FROM THE CLOSET ) . But the band is very talented and planning on getting more of their music. 🤘❤🇺🇸
He was great in a band context, but Tory Slusher would embarrass him if they were both in a room with 2 guitars. He was a prolific player, and he played a lot. Is what it is. I like the Grateful Dead.
I think that jerry's best playing was with jerry garcia band and his session work for other bands like CSN. The grateful dead were inconsistent, sometimes sublime, sometimes terrible.
Jerry was a massive talent I have a few more suggestions 😁 Jim Croce or even more interesting.. Maury Muehleisen.. Or James Burton Also Arlo Guthrie. Two others.. Albert Lee and Alvin Lee (no relation..) Oh, and Mark Farner. There.. that outta keep you busy 🤣 You'll have to do A LOT of digging to find most of these as far as how you've structured this series
Garcia had a clear talent for pedal steel (yeah, everyone mentions 'Teach Your Children,' but he's even better on some of the Dead's own work like 'Dire Wolf' and 'Pride of Cucamonga,' along with NRPS), but was technically nothing special on guitar (Weir in his prime was more interesting). Still, arguments over whether he was a guitar god or not miss the point: Great PLAYERS (which Garcia was not) are a dime-a-dozen, but HE wrote a lot of great SONGS.
Really?! I didn’t have to and I found the spice quite nice. Mmmmm spicy! Love me some spice. Some people like licorice….some don’t. I LOVE it! American music at its very best. Be well. 😎❤️
I guess Coltrane, Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown and countless other improv modal jazz players were aimless too? I'm not putting Garcia in that league of player and I don't think he ever would either, they were some of the most incredible musicians we've ever heard but he's from that same spirit of playing. It's improvisational music, always exploring. That's part of it's appeal, you don't know where it's going.
Meh, I've always found Garcia overrated. The meandering solos bores me to tears. Actually that pretty much sums up my thoughts on the Dead in general. I get why people like it, it just never worked for me. Maybe it's the ADHD.
The Dead were, more often than not, indeed terrible overall (poor singing, Jerry fumbling around), BUT they were also, on enough occasions to matter, fucking great. Hence, the debate will always rage.
@@AugustWest888 don't sweat "jerry haters" - its a free insight into people's musical "taste" i.e if they don't regard or respect jerry they have very poor taste in music, and unfortunately for them that's a poor look. often times they just haven't been exposed to the right material w/ the right guide to point it out. look, if you don't "like" jerry's music, that's different. you can not like something and still regard and respect it. i don't love or even like a lot of "butt rock" or death metal, but I sure as hell respect it. those guys are INSANELY talented, but just in a different way.
My band, the Gang, played a gig with the Dead in 1967. Overall the band had very little talent. Jerry Garcia was by far the most talented in the band and also, oddly enough, the nicest guy in the band. With that said, by 1967, Jerry Garcia was, at best, a decent guitar player. Donny Henderson who played lead for the Gang literally could play circles around the guy. At the end of our set- the Dead did not even want to get up on stage unless we allowed them to sing thru our PA. They thought if they sang thru our PA they would be able to sing as well as we did- it didn't help- no one in the band could actually be called a professional singer. Pig Pen sat at a B3 organ and never touched the keys!!! Sorry for raining on your parade but this is all true.
Then again, I have a number of Grateful Dead albums, and I've never heard of your band. Technical proficiency doesn't necessarily translate to musicality. With 21 albums to make gold or platinum they obviously did something right.
@@kenbash2951 Well, she only has 9 albums, so she probably doesn't have 21 that are gold, but aside from that, yeah, even though her style of music doesn't appeal to me personally, it's obvious that it appeals to a lot of people. She's doing something right. So far, all the music I've written has been in odd time signatures, so I'm not winning any popularity contests ;-)
@klausnordmeyer trucking was a cool song. I couldn't stand to listen to too much. As a guitarist for 55 years listened to all types of music. Just couldn't get into their style.
@@greyguy69Have you listened much to live versions of their less "radio-friendly" songs? If nothing else, do a youtube search for "Grateful Dead - China Cat Sunflower/I Know You Rider (Winterland 10/17/74)" and check that out. I'm not really a musician, but I don't really know any other "rock" band that can open up a song like the Dead, and touch your very soul. And then, there is the lyrics. Robert Hunter was basically a 20th century version of Walt Whitman. That's not widely recognized currently, but I'm sure it will be in 50 - 100 years. Of course, I'm a major deadhead. So take anything I say with a huge grain of salt.
An average guitarist hyped to the moon. Jerry was fortunate to have his listeners be high af. His solos go nowhere, his playing is rudimentary and his overall sound was meh. I am sure he was a nice guy and it is a shame he whacked himself by doing so much smack.
I can't believe this band made it big touring and touring and touring I guess. He's decent. Not great. Not in the top 100. There's kids playing in their garage right now that are better than him. He's certainly no David Gilmour.
Bob weir has been recorded more by now how far behind was he in 95
That's true!!!!
Jerry is the most recorded lead guitarist
@@TCshore1 Ya, that's basically what I meant... Shoulda been more specific.
I'm gona go out on a limb and say Bobby has played more music in front of more people than anyone that has ever existed..and maybe been in front of more people than anyone ever..not just musicians..he has been doing what he does for over 60 years ..
He's gotta be right up there. As far as total gigs check out George Thorogood. Lonesome George has done, I think, over twice the number of shows as the Dead did. For awhile way back when I remember hearing the band Asleep At The Wheel held the record, I think, for most gigs. It's said that Roy Acuff traveled the most road miles as a touring musician.@@hazelmoore4754
What I always respected about the Dead was their music was a bridge for a connection of humanity.More than just music!
D-oh. Shoulda known better! Thanks!
Pizza Tapes is a great album.
Jerry rocked. I got into the Dead in 95, after he passed. He was special
Jerry also played the pedal steel guitar. Thats him on 'teach your children' by CSN
That's right!
Yep, he played pedal steel with GD and New Riders too. He also played various keyboards on Mars Hotel and on his first solo album and mandolin prior to GD (i.e., Sara and Jerry on JG Before the Dead box set).
That’s also him playing the heartbreakingly beautiful pedal steel on Crosby’s “Laughing”
Thats one of my favorite songs ever. Yeah that steel is haunting.@how2know924
I actually liked his pedal steel and acoustic playing a lot more than his electric playing
Met jerry twice lived in kitsilano Vancouver drove a convertible 50's Mercedes he loved that car just loved it a nice guy
Loved this piece. RIP Jerry
I think his parents listened to Charli Christian, Django and Grant Green. The GG album The Latin Bit is a good example. Jerry even played a riff from Tico-Tico in between songs on one of the Dicks Picks CDs.
RIP “Captain Trips”
The "how ______ really sounded on guitar" is a great series.
Appreciate the support!!! 😎
Great insights. One thing you might notice is after the '78 Egypt trip his sound shifted significantly to what you mention, I guess more stacatto or a different attack. You'd know better than I. But it didn't exist until post-Egypt. There's really the pre-Egypt Jerry sound or the post-Egypt Jerry sound.
One cool thing I remember about those shows is Jerry had the capability when he wanted to to turn up his guitar WAY louder than it was in the mix, to the point where it was deafening, totally drowns out everybody. Lol. He rarely ecer did it, usually like on a set closer "Deal" or the like, but when he did it was like, "Whoa!" There was always miles of smiles. It comes across on tapes but not like it was live. Great memories.
Excellent observations. I like the "pre-Egypt" idea. I think he was really focused during that period, playing constantly.
One of the best of that era...
I believe a technical term of what he was doing is called noodling.
That would be dismissive of his skills. He's the king of noodlers.
@@sammy-whirl8500 king noodle.
Noodling goes nowhere. That ain't Jerry. That's improvisation. What the greats are known for. You lack musical comprehension, regardless of your personal taste.
If listen closely to the phrasing starting around 1:52 it's apparent that he's playing to a fairly standard swing chord progression.
@@dlparker folksy.
I seen Jerry many many times he was the best. What a great guitar player he was and I know how good he was. I also play.
Each performance was unique.
That would make Bob Weir the most recorded guitarist.
You could tell he listened to a lot of Django Reinhardt
Everyone should listen to Django Reinhardt
Probably cuz the finger thing huh?
I loved the Dead when they were still the Warlocks! Yeah, I'm that old and I was born & raised in San Francisco. Jerry was incredible in so many ways! 😘
I'd say "lucky" not necessarily old!
@@TalkLinkMusic-gd7fz Bless Your Lovin' Heart! 😘
🥰
Its like a combination of country, bluegrass and beebop jazz
He always plays melodies that seem like they've always existed but can't actually be placed.
Yeah …. have to agree with the assessment of Garcias talent relative to the rest of the band. He was the engine. However, Bill Kreutzman is a surprisingly alert drummer. He was very conscious of changes in dynamics and tempo. He could shift and drag when a song called for it. And Phil Lesh…. yeah not sure what he was about. He doesn’t play bass lines and sometimes it does leave the music a little ungrounded
Great comment!
Jerry was Great 👍
Love the love! The sounds of Jer playing electric was basically what you heard between almost every first set song.
Yup! 😎
Don't forget the work he did with ' New Riders ...' on pedal steel .
That's right! He was so versatile I couldn't get all his credits in one vid!
Well, he really sounded great when he played the steel guitar on Teach your children for CSNY on the Deja Vu album ✌🏻
The best guitarist ever!
That third clip 'Crazy fingers' is one of his best expressions from an exceptionally good album 'Blues for Allah'..
There's a lot to give kudos to Jerry for, as there is a lot to Critisize him for. I choose to keep in mind the time. Ol' Captain holds a place in time that would be hard to "relinquish his duties" from. I hear both sides.
Killer banjo player.
SOOOOOOOOOO DAMNED TRUE👍🏻
Ya!
Only other who allowed semi-unauthorized recordings of live music was The Ramones, for all the smaller concerts where band was not already being recorded. Meaning The Ramones often did deals for recordings for smaller venues or lesser venues by privateers.
and Phish.
@@AHgameplay forgot about them.
You have selection of interesting videos, and I think I’ll subscribe.
Love him on Warren Zevon's Transverse City.
Bobby and the Midnites allowed recording as well as The Jerry Garcia band. There are likely several million hours saved on casette tapes stored in closets Worldwide. I liked The Dead back in the day and have about 10 hours of bootleg shows. Mostly California, Winrerland, San Jose, San Diego. Some Madison Square Garden.
I recently heard that Jerry Garcia played the steel guitar on treat your children well. I always loved that song. I remember a Ted Nugent interview or he was asked about lots of different guitarist. He really slammed Garcia. It was hilarious.
Actually bob weir is way more recorded than jerry
No he’s not
Ya, I pinned a comment already that pointed that out. Thanks for the catch! 😎
Never really got into THE GREATFULL DEAD only have one of their albums it's a early greatest hits package ( SKELETONS FROM THE CLOSET ) . But the band is very talented and planning on getting more of their music. 🤘❤🇺🇸
Get one of the live albums like Dead Set or Europe 72. Give ‘em a few listens and I think you will like what you hear.
Might I suggest working man's dead....I bought it when released, it cemented me as a fan.
@@jammininthepast American Beauty and Workingman's Dead were the gateway to the Dead for so many of us.
He was great in a band context, but Tory Slusher would embarrass him if they were both in a room with 2 guitars. He was a prolific player, and he played a lot. Is what it is. I like the Grateful Dead.
Hadn't heard of Tory Slusher thanks for the shout out.
@@TalkLinkMusic-gd7fz be warned. When you hear her play, you will quit playing guitar.
I think that jerry's best playing was with jerry garcia band and his session work for other bands like CSN. The grateful dead were inconsistent, sometimes sublime, sometimes terrible.
Even the most diehard deadhead would have to agree that the GD was inconsistent.
Garcia played mandolin too. The lead on Friend of the Devil starts out as a guitar playing a descending riff, but crossfades to Jerry on mandolin
True!
That was David Grisman playing the mandolin on that song
No, that's Grisman on Mandolin. Garcia was not a mandolin player. He may have picked one up somewhere/sometime, but all the mandolin work was Grisman.
What a fantastic video have a wonderful weekend ❤😊
Jerry was a massive talent
I have a few more suggestions 😁
Jim Croce or even more interesting..
Maury Muehleisen..
Or James Burton
Also Arlo Guthrie.
Two others..
Albert Lee and Alvin Lee (no relation..)
Oh, and Mark Farner.
There.. that outta keep you busy 🤣
You'll have to do A LOT of digging to find most of these as far as how you've structured this series
Thanks for the suggestions!!!
Garcia had a clear talent for pedal steel (yeah, everyone mentions 'Teach Your Children,' but he's even better on some of the Dead's own work like 'Dire Wolf' and 'Pride of Cucamonga,' along with NRPS), but was technically nothing special on guitar (Weir in his prime was more interesting). Still, arguments over whether he was a guitar god or not miss the point: Great PLAYERS (which Garcia was not) are a dime-a-dozen, but HE wrote a lot of great SONGS.
Jerry was lead guitar but pigpen was the only "frontman" till he died.
All good man
Accomplished pedal steel guitarist also ...
Sam Brown is a mudrocket!
Really?! I didn’t have to and I found the spice quite nice. Mmmmm spicy! Love me some spice. Some people like licorice….some don’t. I LOVE it! American music at its very best. Be well. 😎❤️
honestly,one of the MOST aimless soloists I've ever suffered though,painful...
I guess Coltrane, Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown and countless other improv modal jazz players were aimless too? I'm not putting Garcia in that league of player and I don't think he ever would either, they were some of the most incredible musicians we've ever heard but he's from that same spirit of playing. It's improvisational music, always exploring. That's part of it's appeal, you don't know where it's going.
I found it to be painful the one time I saw them
@@zeusapollo8688 my 9 times were all awesome 2 or 3 magical.
Aimless...spot on. He meandered around scales with zero variability.
@@5400bowenjryy was a master at leading chromatics and chord tones … do some transcribing and find out.
Here's a full concert of solo Jerry:
th-cam.com/video/vMHXMRd1KTI/w-d-xo.htmlsi=yFrlMvVzP1G4J1zO
Coltrane influence of course
Meh, I've always found Garcia overrated. The meandering solos bores me to tears. Actually that pretty much sums up my thoughts on the Dead in general.
I get why people like it, it just never worked for me. Maybe it's the ADHD.
john Malkovich
If Gerome isn't number 1 on your improv list then your list is worthless. At least if you only use 73 & 74 Dead or winter 80 JGB!
The Dead were, more often than not, indeed terrible overall (poor singing, Jerry fumbling around), BUT they were also, on enough occasions to matter, fucking great.
Hence, the debate will always rage.
Not into it. Not into Bob Dylan either.
I'm sure it sounds better stoned.
What doesn’t?
Everything does.
@@AugustWest888 And maybe you have cloth ears.
@@AugustWest888 don't sweat "jerry haters" - its a free insight into people's musical "taste" i.e if they don't regard or respect jerry they have very poor taste in music, and unfortunately for them that's a poor look. often times they just haven't been exposed to the right material w/ the right guide to point it out. look, if you don't "like" jerry's music, that's different. you can not like something and still regard and respect it. i don't love or even like a lot of "butt rock" or death metal, but I sure as hell respect it. those guys are INSANELY talented, but just in a different way.
My band, the Gang, played a gig with the Dead in 1967. Overall the band had very little talent. Jerry Garcia was by far the most talented in the band and also, oddly enough, the nicest guy in the band. With that said, by 1967, Jerry Garcia was, at best, a decent guitar player. Donny Henderson who played lead for the Gang literally could play circles around the guy. At the end of our set- the Dead did not even want to get up on stage unless we allowed them to sing thru our PA. They thought if they sang thru our PA they would be able to sing as well as we did- it didn't help- no one in the band could actually be called a professional singer. Pig Pen sat at a B3 organ and never touched the keys!!! Sorry for raining on your parade but this is all true.
Faked it til they maked it.
Ok boomer.
Then again, I have a number of Grateful Dead albums, and I've never heard of your band. Technical proficiency doesn't necessarily translate to musicality. With 21 albums to make gold or platinum they obviously did something right.
@@bob-rogers I guess the same could be said of Britney Spears.
@@kenbash2951 Well, she only has 9 albums, so she probably doesn't have 21 that are gold, but aside from that, yeah, even though her style of music doesn't appeal to me personally, it's obvious that it appeals to a lot of people. She's doing something right.
So far, all the music I've written has been in odd time signatures, so I'm not winning any popularity contests ;-)
in my opinion, Jerry was the most overrated guitar player ever. His banjo playing was much better than his guitar playing
Grateful Dead was a music joke. Mediicore musicians at best.
Any thoughts regarding their songs?
@klausnordmeyer trucking was a cool song. I couldn't stand to listen to too much. As a guitarist for 55 years listened to all types of music. Just couldn't get into their style.
@@greyguy69Have you listened much to live versions of their less "radio-friendly" songs?
If nothing else, do a youtube search for "Grateful Dead - China Cat Sunflower/I Know You Rider (Winterland 10/17/74)" and check that out.
I'm not really a musician, but I don't really know any other "rock" band that can open up a song like the Dead, and touch your very soul.
And then, there is the lyrics. Robert Hunter was basically a 20th century version of Walt Whitman. That's not widely recognized currently, but I'm sure it will be in 50 - 100 years.
Of course, I'm a major deadhead. So take anything I say with a huge grain of salt.
Jerry Garcia was an average guitarist. He isn't at a level of current guitarists.
Thank you for proving what I've been saying for years, the man sucked on guitar!!!
I take it you have never picked up a guitar before. Garcia, could play any genre. You just don’t have good taste in music
Garcia really sounded bad, really bad.
Lol no he didn't
An average guitarist hyped to the moon. Jerry was fortunate to have his listeners be high af. His solos go nowhere, his playing is rudimentary and his overall sound was meh. I am sure he was a nice guy and it is a shame he whacked himself by doing so much smack.
Lol not impressive
I can't believe this band made it big touring and touring and touring I guess. He's decent. Not great. Not in the top 100. There's kids playing in their garage right now that are better than him. He's certainly no David Gilmour.
Horrible, he couldn't play lick to save his ass.