Today is this year's Official Jerry Day.

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Sun, 08/04/2019 - 8:00am

Alrghty now class, It's officially Jerry Day, for Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995), who would no doubt be greatly amused that such a thing exists, and love the fact that it is not on his birthday, but on a Sundsay so as to facilitate concrts. He was one of those few who truly was a legend in his own time. A talented multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter who was comfortable in a great many genres. Merl Saunders (IIRC) said thta it was amazing how, when confrnted with any piece in any style, he always knew just what to play.

He will be celebrated today, August 4, with live music, of course, in San Francisc0, of course, at the the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater (where else) in McLaren Park, San Francisco, Excelsior District. The Foors will open at 11:00 am and the show will begin at 11:30. I guess the Official, heh, Jerry Day just has to be Sunday, so most years, true fans will get to have two, the real one on August 1, and the Official, heh, one on the nearest Sunday. Lucky us.

Bookends

Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions - Cocaine Habit Blues

Old and In the Way

some of the rest

“They aren't the best at what they do, they are the only ones that do what they do." - Bill Graham

Oh yes, sorry, can't forget their contribution to the world of ballet:

Tags:

Jerry

Jerry Day

Garcia

Jerry Garcia

ballet

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Comments

Submitted by detroitmechworks on Sun, 08/04/2019 - 8:40am

Grateful Dead always had a very "Muppets" vibe to me

growing up as a kid. But then, you have to remember I grew up while the first run of the Muppet show was on, so... the stoned feel was still very there. (I remember the sex jokes on SNL, Henson has been Bowdlerized.)

Course, I also associate the Dead with trips to San Fran in the 80s, back when you could actually enjoy the city without a Dilithium credit card. Somewhere along the line everything went to hell. I'm just glad I got to experience what I did when I did.

That is one thing that always frustrates me. The younger generation is never going to be able to experience certain aspects of my life in anything but anecdote. I suppose that's always been the way, but the importance of documenting and writing become even more important.

And this one I always saw with a Muppet scene I keep imagining but never actually happened.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INk1IswODfE]

—

I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Sun, 08/04/2019 - 11:10am

good morning, detroit. As a child of the fifties and sixties, I

@detroitmechworks
know the Muppets pretty minimally, mostly from you tube clips involving music, o I don't really see it, but that's my loss, I'm sure.

I do know what you mean about the city, though it was even getting pricey back in the eighties. Being an old codger I can recall when it wasn't really exceptionally costly at all if one knew where to go and what to do. Ah well ...

Thanks for the clip & have a great one.

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by Lookout on Sun, 08/04/2019 - 9:08am

Most of my buddies are big dead heads

Many followed them around as they toured. Jerry started out as folkie like me...
In 1964, before the Grateful Dead got together, Jerry Garcia caravanned across the country from California to tag along with bluegrass legend Bill Monroe. Garcia, who first picked up a banjo in 1950, had become a master player, and after meeting Monroe in Los Angeles in 1963, toyed with the idea of auditioning for Monroe’s band.
https://gardenandgun.com/articles/jerry-garcias-bluegrass-roots/
https://bluegrasstoday.com/before-the-dead-a-preview/

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Sun, 08/04/2019 - 11:02am

Good morning Lookout. I knew he had bluegrass roots, but

@Lookout
was not aware of all that by any means. You can hear it in the music, even if you didn't know.

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by JtC on Sun, 08/04/2019 - 11:56am

I have a CD...

@Lookout
of Jerry and The Wildwood Boys from 1963 that's pure early Jerry bluegrass. It's a live recording and has pretty rough audio but none the less it's a great listen for Jerry Garcia fans.

For further info on how this CD can be obtained send me a PM.

Submitted by Lookout on Sun, 08/04/2019 - 12:56pm

I think I've got that on cassette tape

@JtC

I've got a box full of tapes from my dead head friends. However I rarely listen to tapes these days. Just when I'm search for something in particular. I listen to LP's more than the tapes, but cd's are just so easy that I typically play them...or listen to youtube cuts.

When I'm learning a new one that's my go to trick - listen to every version on youtube you can find. Of course some pieces have never been recorded.

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by Azazello on Sun, 08/04/2019 - 9:45am

Shall we dance ?

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsp5Lm3Ku1A width:500 height:300]

—

We wanted decent healthcare, a living wage and free college.
The Democrats gave us Biden and war instead.

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Sun, 08/04/2019 - 11:00am

Heh. Thanks Az. This appears to be a more common meme

@Azazello
than I had imagined, since I have spent most of my life not watching TV. In my Real but unofficial Jerry Day column (in the cross posting, iirc) somebody posted clips from both The Honeymooners and the Dick Van Dyke show of characters essaying with various degrees of success to dance to the dead. Yep, senor unoball posted these there:

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by thanatokephaloides on Sun, 08/04/2019 - 11:35am

MTM dancing to the Grateful Dead

@enhydra lutris

Mary Tyler Moore was one hot lady in her heyday. She was roughly contemporary with Donna Jean Godschaux, too, the only woman to be officially a member of the Grateful Dead.

(Thank you for the Jerry Days postings, enhydra lutris!)

—

"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Sun, 08/04/2019 - 11:55am

Good morning DH. Mary Tyler Moore, in that clip at any rate

@thanatokephaloides
seems both foxy and cool, Never saw the show - back in my "No TV at all" era, I think. Always happy for an excuse to post some Dead/Jerry music, so definitely my pleasure..

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by thanatokephaloides on Sun, 08/04/2019 - 11:40am

Help On The Way - Slipknot - Franklin's Tower

This suite is considered to be a single piece of music by many Dead heads including myself.

[video:https://youtu.be/XkbzCTggD80]

Nihil umquam in oblivione est. (Nothing is ever forgotten.)

—

"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Sun, 08/04/2019 - 11:57am

A lot of those segues and suites evolved a separate life of

@thanatokephaloides
their own beyond that of the component songs, which is partly why albums never really were able to capture the essence of a Dead performance. Thanks for the clip.

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by eyo on Sun, 08/04/2019 - 3:43pm

Dire Wolf

dire

Please....Don't murder me..

Not so much a dead design, just a line from dire wolf.

The title page of those batiks is called John Lennon. huh

Here's Jerry's page:
http://rastabatik.com/id4.html
fare the well

My Rastafari friend might go to McLaren Park today, I told her about Jerry Day thanks a lot el. Her herbsman nephew arrived at SFO yesterday and she is in the city with him so why not. right on

I deleted my pointless bitter comment about how accessible McLaren Park is nowadays, remembering more than one free concert in Golden Gate Park when I was growing up, for thousands of people at a time. 1500 maximum seems about right now I guess. get smaller

PEACE
edit to add: thanks daytime tv
The Grateful Dead performing Dire Wolf on the Tom Snyder Show on 7-5-81
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhqyg_dTaTg width:420]

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Sun, 08/04/2019 - 12:01pm

G'morning eyo, thanks for reading. I too recall those free

@eyo
concerts, especially at the Polo Fields. Gone are the days, as they say.

Have a good one.

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

Submitted by orlbucfan on Sun, 08/04/2019 - 2:47pm

What's John Lennon got to do

@eyo with a batik title page? Fact he was murdered by bullets? Rec'd!! Knew plenty of diehard Deadheads in my time.

—

Inner and Outer Space: the Final Frontiers.

Submitted by eyo on Sun, 08/04/2019 - 4:16pm

Channeling the river spirits

I don't know what else to call weird coincidences like, Friday night after getting half baked we strolled a few blocks down to the plaza to listen to Roy Rogers and the Delta Rhythm Players. The Russian River runs parallel to Cloverdale, it is a half mile from my door. On the way my friend said "I think I just saw Bob Weir drive by." and then we were laughing, ya had to be there. Turns out I really can't even be around small crowds but it was definitely worth the try, it was really fun for a minute.

I run Slackware Linux, and the example domain is always called darkstar.net 'cause Pat Volkerding is a Deadhead since forever. So I went looking for yet another dark star recording and stumbled this up instead:

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/grateful-dead/alligator

"Alligator" was Robert Hunter's first credit with the Grateful Dead. Hunter would go on to become the band's lyricist and a longtime collaborator with Jerry Garcia. The partnership may never have happened the way it did if not for an extended trip (the physical, not psychedelic, kind) the band took in May of 1967.

John Warnecke, friend of Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann, had invited the crew out to the Russian River in northern California. The band accepted and stayed there for a couple of weeks.

Warnecke's father was a world-famous architect who'd built a vacation home surrounded by smaller cabins in the picaresque setting. The Dead stayed in the cabins and set up their equipment on a platform beside the river. For the duration of their stay, they ingested large amounts of acid and tried to freak out vacationers that were using the river. They turned the speakers towards the water and blasted out animal sounds and strange vocal noises. "I don't know if any kayaker actually fell over from the shock of what sounded like a giant 80-foot bullfrog or anything," Kreutzmann recalls in Deal: My Three Decades of Drumming, Dreams, and Drugs with the Grateful Dead, "but we sure tried."

do or do not? lol

Grateful Dead - Alligator
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdlm6bdDDck width:420]
In the beginning, I hear a kazoo. I grew up vacationing on the river, paternal grandpa was a Bohemian with a second house south of Monte Rio, it was called Sans Souci and I partied the place to the ground in the late 70s, early 80s. Cremation of care anyone? I'm not sure where Warnecke's place was, I think maybe way farther upstream, Mendocino County but I don't know. It's a big beautiful river, I love it and Jerry sounds really good today. good vibes thanks a lot

Submitted by enhydra lutris on Sun, 08/04/2019 - 6:46pm

Kazoo indeedy. You'll find kazoo going way back with the

@eyo
dead, such as all the way to Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions, including their recordng of Cocaine Habit Blues leading off today's music, and what better place for a kazoo than down by the riverside.

I don't know what else to call weird coincidences like, Friday night after getting half baked we strolled a few blocks down to the plaza to listen to Roy Rogers and the Delta Rhythm Players. The Russian River runs parallel to Cloverdale, it is a half mile from my door. On the way my friend said "I think I just saw Bob Weir drive by." and then we were laughing, ya had to be there. Turns out I really can't even be around small crowds but it was definitely worth the try, it was really fun for a minute. I run Slackware Linux, and the example domain is always called darkstar.net 'cause Pat Volkerding is a Deadhead since forever. So I went looking for yet another dark star recording and stumbled this up instead: https://www.songfacts.com/facts/grateful-dead/alligator "Alligator" was Robert Hunter's first credit with the Grateful Dead. Hunter would go on to become the band's lyricist and a longtime collaborator with Jerry Garcia. The partnership may never have happened the way it did if not for an extended trip (the physical, not psychedelic, kind) the band took in May of 1967. John Warnecke, friend of Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann, had invited the crew out to the Russian River in northern California. The band accepted and stayed there for a couple of weeks. Warnecke's father was a world-famous architect who'd built a vacation home surrounded by smaller cabins in the picaresque setting. The Dead stayed in the cabins and set up their equipment on a platform beside the river. For the duration of their stay, they ingested large amounts of acid and tried to freak out vacationers that were using the river. They turned the speakers towards the water and blasted out animal sounds and strange vocal noises. "I don't know if any kayaker actually fell over from the shock of what sounded like a giant 80-foot bullfrog or anything," Kreutzmann recalls in Deal: My Three Decades of Drumming, Dreams, and Drugs with the Grateful Dead, "but we sure tried." do or do not? lol Grateful Dead - Alligator [video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdlm6bdDDck width:420] In the beginning, I hear a kazoo. I grew up vacationing on the river, paternal grandpa was a Bohemian with a second house south of Monte Rio, it was called Sans Souci and I partied the place to the ground in the late 70s, early 80s. Cremation of care anyone? I'm not sure where Warnecke's place was, I think maybe way farther upstream, Mendocino County but I don't know. It's a big beautiful river, I love it and Jerry sounds really good today. good vibes thanks a lot

—

That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --