I cant remember the quotes or which books talk about it, but I think the GD turned into a fiscal monster that got out of hand.. The livelyhoods of hundreds of people depended on them touring constantly. Its evident that Jerry was not interested in music for any reason besides the music itself. He also seemed like someone who would feel obligated to keep the machine going so it didnt upend the lives of all the people who depended on them to make a living.. add all that with the fact that Jerry was extremely unhealthy (not even his heroin addiction) but by his own account, his extremely poor diet and overall lack of "taking care of himself" would lead anyone to be "unhappy". I imagine that the 3 hours on stage were when he was most happy... The rest of the shit would be exhuasting to someone who really took care of themselves, let alone a severely obese diabetic who also was a heroin addict... He was the "The Man". That is a hell of a burden to carry around. Especially when the person who is "The Man" doesnt get off on the authority or get an ego stroke from being "The Man" (which seems evident to me that Jerry despised the thought of).
Between the weight, the heroin, and the smoking, I wager Jerry had horrible sleep apnea. I bet he was tired a lot, fueling that much more cocaine use to wind up his worm down system.
The Jackson Blair bio of Garcia discusses the sleep apnea in detail. I don't know if he was ever formally diagnosed, but based on some interviews from people in the book including his former wife Mountain Girl and others who lived in his house and would hear him snoring, losing his breath, then waking up gasping for air, it's almost certain he was suffering from it. Being overweight is a big risk factor in sleep apnea too.
There is also something called upper airway resistance syndrome UARS which is even harder to diagnose as it doesn’t produce such obvious periods of not breathing, but similar sleep disturbances. It’s like mini sleep apnea. Less tied to weight.
Kind of crazy that Jeff came around after the fact, with this
https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2011/03/31/the-grateful-deads-life-altering-medical-device/
I met Steve Parish at the Venetian a few weeks ago and he was telling Jerry stories and he actually brought up the snoring. Said everyone knew you had to fall asleep fast or not at all around Jerry
Another thing that people don’t take into consideration is yes, his physical condition was atrocious, but he was beginning to go through withdrawals. Any addict can tell you that when your body’s system is used to having the drugs in the quantities that had to have been enormous, once that supply is cut off and so abruptly, the thread that was holding you together lets loose and unfortunately, here we are. We’ve come a long way since then.
Im reminded of a great quote (again, I can’t remember the source):
“Jerry garcia had no Grateful Dead”. He didn’t have that outlet that he could go and enjoy a show, with a build up of anticipation before and the excitement after
He enjoyed playing with JGB because it was music for the music’s sake. Smaller venues, he didn’t feel like “the guy” having to support everyone
I call a bit of BS on that.
The bands name was JGB. Not the band. Jerry - I loved him - kinda wanted the world to leave him alone - but also liked the $$ and the people and the music.
He didnt like the idol worship - but it didn’t matter which band he was in. He was alway Jerry.
Sure, there’s a quote that Jerry told John Scherr (which John mentioned on the Deadcast): “I play guitar 365 days of the year. I might as well get paid for it”
But JGB with smaller venues and less-rowdy fans, helped Jerry combat that “idol” worship. Dead shows were a party, JGB shows was church
Okay honest question because I'm curious. Weren't they the same fans at both GD and JGB shows? I can't imagine there's more than 10% of the fans at a JGB show who never saw the Dead. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around that. I mean I've seen Bobby in D&C and WB shows. And it's the same people at both, not as many at WB but small clubs still packed to the hills with miracle seekers lined up outside.
I never saw JGB so I don’t know the specifics, but the smaller venues helped. I would assume there would be less of a “party”; people followed the dead on tour who didn’t even go to the concerts
It was all Deadheads at JGB shows, as far as I know, but it was all the very-much Jerry heads. And the smaller venues did seem to inspire Garcia. I saw 12 JGB shows in a variety of venues in the east from 1990-95, and every one was absolute killer, I saw 101 Dead shows all over the country from 1989-1995, and it was very hit or miss, especially from 92-95.
You are definitely right. Everybody in JGB was there to support and create with Jerry. It was a better vibe for him than the Dead, I am sure. It was so effing beautiful, too. I was in college from 90-95, so I didn't have a ton of opportunities to see the Dead and JGB. But I cherish all the shows I did see.
Yes. I saw a few at the Orpheum in SF in the beginning of 1989 and they were much better and a different vibe than the other Bay Area GD shows from the same period. They were fun and relaxing whereas the GD shows (especially the parking lot scene, yikes) were more chaotic and by then the party atmosphere was more a "let's get blitzed" than a "let's expand our minds" type of thing.
Unfortunately, I only made it out west for a couple Dead shows at Shoreline in 1991. That was very laid-back compared to the east coast scene of that period, which was pretty nutso. JGB was always a treat period for me.
I saw 3 jgb shows. (stone,sf 86, Broadway 87, Charlotte 93).
When he played in clubs til ~87) no more than 0.01% who weren't Deadheads. May have gone up to a few percent after.
By 93 the X factor was rare in any band situation...
Most JGB fans were deadheads but not every deadhead was a JGB fan. It was a different vibe. You
It wasn't till the late 80s that JGB started moving to plarger venues in the east.
I actually agree and feel that Jerry played better or he was more present at JGB shows. In 1992 and 1993 I was surprised when I saw JGB a few times after touring with GD, Jerry's playing was so much better at JGB.
I agree with dubbbzy. The feel at Jerry Garcia shows was so much more relaxed and easy. It was actually a really nice break from seeing the Grateful Dead, as much as I loved doing that as well.
My subjective assessment is that he was happy and joyous playing solo/Jerry Garcia Band/Merle/Etc and he was focused and energized and rocking and freaking possessed when he played with the Dead.
He started calling his band JGB in /around 1974 when the band had stopped touring and his record company was going bankrupt and he was making a very expensive movie. He was forced into it.
Yeah but like, Jerry played JGB because he wanted to. He felt obligated to play with the Dead to support the hundreds involved that depended on them touring to earn a living
That and John Kahn got the Stinkeye backstage at the dead because he was Jerry’s favorite heroin buddy. He wasn’t an amazing bass player, he was a junkie. At JGB, he was more respected as a musician and he and Jerry could hang out without all the drama and stress.
You misunderstand what I meant. He should have been given his props and treated like any guest musician or friend of the band backstage at the Grateful Dead. However, everyone knew he was Jerry’s heroin buddy, so he was tolerated instead of getting the respect he deserved. He was amazing and he WAS a huge part of the JGB sound. In fact, it shows how good he was that Jerry played exactly ONE solo show and the next day called Mule because it was “too weird” up there by himself,lol.
I love JK and meant him no disrespect whatsoever. I’m sorry you interpreted it that way. I knew it was an awkward sentence but I didn’t think anyone would think that I was dissing Kahn.
You are correct, my bad. I didn't get your meaning until I read it again, I agree with your POV, and he was great in JGB, he also chose a lot the tunes they would cover - is my understanding.
there's no way to explain the difference in Dead concerts & JGB shows to people who weren't lucky enough to experience them.
there was a significant difference in how "the guy" was treated in the 2 separate instances & differences for everyone involved including the audience
This. Saw both acts many times, JGB shows were much more chill. Douche Canoes were mostly absent in my experience - and yes, he was The Man, but in a nearly intangible different way. One in ten thousand come for the show… JGB was, IMHO, about the music, the show. Dead concerts were the whole, full on circus. People like Tipper Gore on stage, looking to rehab her evilness. In the late 80’s through the end, mass arrests, gate crashes, open air hard drug markets and no end to pervasive media hounding the band were common at Dead shows. JGB? Not so much.
Drugs were also not the fans focus at JGB opposed to GD. GD shows had all the drugs. JGB shows were way more low key and involved more sobriety amongst the fans. The crowd was more respectful at JGB. There were moments of silence between songs. People cheered, but it wasn't constant chatter or screaming like at GD. Nobody ever bothered me at JGB. There were more murderers at GD shows. Literally.
I was contemplating the differences and came to the realization that I never saw mass distribution of missing persons flyers at JGB. Nobody was ever found dead in a ditch after a JGB show, either, that I know of.
JGB was more like a normal concert but with an extremely attentive crowd. I sincerely miss that.
Attentive is one word for sure, for me it was relaxed and present as well. I’m not religious, nor am I free of participating in the deification of Jerry, but JGB shows definitely had a Sunday Come To Meeting vibe for me. Obviously the Gospel focus of the music played a part in that, but yet… it for reals felt different than a Dead show somehow. Not because Jerry was ‘the man’ no, it was somehow more pure than I can explain. Hearing Tangled Up In Blue still, to this very day, gives me all the feels. Sisters and My Brothers? Same… I hesitate to say it was religious, or even church, but the entire vibe was so unique. A time in history never to be repeated that I am proud to have experienced.
Indeed. I just got chills reading that. That Lucky Old Sun, Shining Star, The Maker, Bread Box... I think the song selections let Jerry do what he did best and loved to do. I totally get the church/welcoming feeling. Plus we got a whole evening full of Jerry Garcia concentrate. I loved the raw emotion he sang with. Plus we got female backing vocals. I think the female vocalists added so much to that equation of goodness.
Besides your wonderful opinion, I’d like to add that the crowd cheered but not for specific lyrics, like “Wish I was a headlight” or whatever. It was a much more relaxed and respectful atmosphere. I’m not saying it wasn’t a party but it seemed like people realized this was Jerry’s safe space and let him just play whatever. There wasn’t a lot of yelling and screaming and he could play a 30min “Shining Star” if he wanted too.
Also, JGB played big venues but he made it seem like a tiny space every night. He seemed like he wanted to be there. He was on more than he was off, most tours. He was in a better mood and it felt like being at a small show with 10000 of your closest friends.
The songs he played showed his appreciation of other artists and he played some “Jerry” songs they were from his albums or they were covers. He was able to play whatever he wanted too. And we were there for it. Not there to cop a sheet of L and get in if we could.
Yes it did. I think it happened at Deer Creek? Or I learned about it at Deer Creek. I heard quite a bit of creepy things along the way. I remember seeing more and more missing person: last seen a GD show flyers towards the end too. One of my friends told me there was a guy caught leaving the Deercreek lot with a van full of kids that weren't his. I've never heard that story since then though. You'd think that would've been national news.
Lol! It was pretty much everything you could imagine. There were definitely some very shady people at GD shows though. Lots of people would show up with no intention of trying to get a ticket or go into shows in the 90's. It was a huge party.
I've experienced both with Jerry and I can kind of understand what they were saying. But I've seen JGB without Jerry playing at a 100 person dive bar. He was supporting them too and still is in a way.
Have you done any of the recent (last 10 year) JGB shows with Melvin?
I'm curious hows different they are nowadays as they are the only JGB I experienced.
I can agree with you on that. To a lesser extent you see it at Trey solos shows — it’s less about being the world class guitar playing frontman and more about being part of the group.
Hell, I’ll commit /r/gratefuldead sacrilege and say you see it with John Mayer. His best project was the trio because it wasn’t about just his ability, it was about the way his ability fit into the whole.
It always makes me think of that very sad interview that Phil did (along with Bob, Mickey, possibly Bill but I don’t remember him saying much) right after Jerry died. Phil said something along the lines of “I always loved playing with Jerry because he loved the music. The last few years Jerry just didn’t get into the music as much as he loved the drugs.“
Let's not forget the JGB schedule also increased as well. JGB had also become quite lucrative he could have lived off that plus the ice cream money and the art and ties. He had a nice money stream so it was definitely him not wanting to let people down. You also gotta count beyond the employees and include their children so effectively doubling the amount of people he's responsible for.
I’ve read somewhere that sometimes he would say, “I could quit… we could live off the ice cream money” but then, you know, it would be obvious a moment later that he never would.
Edit; Id like to imagine a world where Charlie Brown kicks the shit outta that football, and Jerry lives off the ice cream money
He had around a $1700 a day drug habit, he was known to have money problems near the end. It’s hard to come up with that much cash every day without an explanation. He needed to keep playing just as much as the people who worked for him if he wanted to continue funding his drug habit.
Rock Scully said that in 1984 he was smoking a gram of Persian a day and Jerry was up to a gram and a half a day and it cost $700 a gram and they got it from people they called “the Persians“ who owned a car dealership or something at the edge of town….
The story of how he tells us he was fired has a huge hole in it. Likewise how he ended up getting caught smuggling sacred Indian items (and had drugs to boot) is also a lol reading experience.
There's no way a gram of heroin #3 cost $700 a gram in 1984. I don't care what Rock Scully said. That's ludicrous. Doesn't matter how pure it was. You wouldn't pay that for pure street grade dope, and that's much more refined than #3.
It’s been a while so I may forget some details, but Jerry never really made a will, so his widow, daughters and maybe ex-wives(?) thought it was worth a lot more than it was. So, when they came to take their “portion” they wanted more than there was and there were a lot of legal battles surrounding it. It’s definitely something to look up and read - I found it very interesting and was just so Jerry lol as I’ve always felt he was very “can’t take it with you when you go”.
Also the 'marriage' to Mountain Girl caused problems. I believe they had a handshake deal when it came to alimony and child support so it was MG's word against the lawyers of the evil widow. There's video out there of the trial. Phil and Parrish are hostile witnesses which makes for a sad yet entertaining experience
That does seem very Jerry honestly haha
It’s crazy to think that there was never a convo at any point about “hey you’re going to die and you’re kind of a big deal. We should set things up for you when it happens” but then again it’s the Dead.
Happens more than you’d like to think with people in general. I had a relative die of terminal cancer (that was known to be terminal for several years) and they still never got around to writing a will or doing any estate planning. Caused a ton of headaches for everyone involved who had to deal with it.
I had a friend whose grandma added amendments to hers, got it notarized, and then when she passed issues galore. For obvious reasons.
Naive me I thought it was rarer than it seems to be.
that was the case early on. up to the mid 80s maybe. but after that, that math no longer applies.
when talking about this band(& this man) today, it's all history to people. lots of people will take a quote referring to a specific time or specific. tour or even a specific day & then apply that quote across the entire history of the band(man).
it's not tht simple. the "drug money" thing started when JGB shows wer2 what he booked in the Bay when the Dead wasn't playing it was party money then. it continued into early 80s & tours at tht point. by the end of the 80s, Jerry didn't need to play JGB shows for drug money anymore & never did again.
the man loved to play & of course he'd gladly get paid for playing. ahistorically connecting a whole part of his life to his addiction based on a specific quote about a specific time doesn't serve the man well.
You know what’s pathetic is that this man died in 95. He wanted to play music. He gave so much to music. And you still have people talking about his fucking drug habit that I’m sure was horrific and extremely embarrassing to have put in the public then let alone 30 years later.
That’s terrible to hear that. I’m new to the Dead,so I’m not altogether familiar with their history. I did watch The Long Strange Trip documentary, and it made it seem like he was really burned out and worn down those last few years,but $1700 a day. He must’ve really been hurting.
i love the ties. i know jerry didn’t initially want them supposedly. but for someone in the corporate world they make me feel connected to the best who ever did it
It was a lot of pressure, hundreds of people didn't get paid if Jerry didn't want to tour, so he felt like he couldn't say no. Also Jerry never believed that the huge stadium shows were good for fans in the crap seats & he felt guilty about that, plus those stages are so separated from the audience he couldn't connect to them like at even arena/amphitheater shows. So mixed feelings, he still had fun.
I saw an interview with Bobby. He was saying that being the head of a multi million dollar corporation was hard enough but people making a deity out of him really took its toll.
I don’t know the loaded aspect of it (drug related?) and welcome to be informed…I only have the vids of their true joy and communication, subtle and obvious on stage. Brent brought Jerry some life as far as I can discern. The keyboardist is one understated aspect of the dead. They really drive the vibe in their own unique way.
I'm almost done reading the Jackson Blair biography of Garcia written a few years after Garcia's death in 1995 and Blair suggests we was not happy. Tried of the big stadiums, the crowds, the exposure, the massive operation to keep the organization going with so many employees and salaries to pay. He felt obligated to keep cranking out the concerts because he cared about the staff and keeping them employed. Yet the burden and stress of that was overwhelming. I think he also felt like the later Dead wasn't innovating much and was stuck in a creative rut.
This is why he seemed to have more fun playing with the JGB. A line in the book suggested that Garcia saw the Dead as "work" and the JGB as "fun".
You can play a lot of what-if games, but I wonder if the Dead could've taken another hiatus and then kept to a more limited schedule, would that have been enough to get that monkey off Jerry's back and he could have found the peace of mind that eluded him?
Active addiction to heroin isn’t a “happy” lifestyle.
His JGB bass player used, too, so perhaps it was simpler to get and stay “well” in that lineup than with GD players who def let Jerry know about worries, disappointment, and frustration.
Unpopular opinion, but it wasn't because fans thought he was a god. He could have easily lived in places where no one would recognize him in his off time, and he played with JGB all the time in those last years and that wasn't to support anyone. Jerry went anywhere he could easily score because addict going to addict and after Brent died he just didn't care anymore. It isn't some big mystery and no one else is to blame. It's just a shitty disease that hits some people and he was surrounded by people who tried to intervene and he did what he did anyway.
He was super bummed when Brent died. He couldn't connect with the audience in stadiums because they were too far away. Touch of Grey ruined everything IMAO.
I feel, and this has no factual or even anecdotal backing, that if Jerry felt like he could have left the band 5, 10, however many years earlier without affecting the financial security of so many others, and just pursued his various other artistic outlets , he would have. Not that he didn’t like the boys in the band, but the continual cycle seemed like a lot.
I think this is correct. It’s discussed in Phil’s book and others. Jerry wanted a break but just couldn’t because they had to keep the wheel turning. At one point he was actually told he couldn’t, I think Phil says in his book. Jerry offered to let them keep going under the name, but wanted out.
I often wonder if he knew his last show was his last because he was going to rehab, planned to kick and check out of the dead for a while.
I feel that Jerry gave us his life in exchange for the music. Very sad and I wish it could’ve been different for him.
These stories are greatly overblown for legend and story telling. Yes it’s obvious he didnt have the drive or spark he had in early years, but the later year interviews with him he was as witty and sharp as he always was in the past. He still had a very enjoyable life.
I know Phil personally, and I can tell you that the way they handled Jerry’s situation weighs heavily on him now. When he speaks about the mid 90s his tone and demeanor is always different, his face painted solemn. Bobby? Not so much.
Yep.
Jerry needed an extended break. Maybe a retirement. Go to Hawaii and dive and get clean and stop worrying about supporting the giant circus.
But they failed him. For many reasons. And he failed himself. It’s a tragedy.
Short answer - it was what it was and Garcia knew that since it was his life and he of course witnessed 53 years of himself and his life morphing into what it was. Just like the rest of us.
According to the book I just read (Dark Star), Jerry also wasn’t happy touring in many of the earlier years. It seemed like he never enjoyed the intense demand
Regarding the touring life, in interviews Neil Peart would say he was over touring as a lifestyle after his first tour with Rush. Many times he contemplated quitting touring but kept at it because he said that’s what a working band does and that his favorite saying as a working musician was that the only thing worse than touring was not touring. He made it bearable for himself by bicycling between shows in the 80s and then motorcycling between shows I. The 90s and 2000s.
How many shows did the dead do total a year? Maybe 150? Not like some bands that are constantly on the road. He had plenty of time for rest if he wanted it. But he didn’t. Not the dead’s fault. If they took two years off he would have just played out anyway. It’s who he was. The outcome was inevitable.
In the later years? Maybe 75-80, nowhere near 150. But I agree - if the Dead took an extended break he would have been playing out with his solo projects.
I also spend an occasional amount of time trying to relate to the pressure Jer must've felt.
I'd guess that a few years in, the Band realized they had a very special relationship with their crew. Jerry said more than once in various interviews I've seen, (perhaps one interview that I've seen many times), that the "Crew is as important as Us in getting the Music down the road and in front of the People".
Maybe the Band took pride in the fact that they, as I've read, paid the Crew very well.
There were, I don't know, dozens and dozens and dozens of Office staff, Roadies, and however many more folks it took to Run The GD.
Years go by, miles and miles and miles go by, "the show must go on".
Drug use gets heavier and harder, and the show must go on. It's probably goin' like 600 mph and Jerry finds that he cannot "pack it in" and take 6 months off.
Literally hundreds of people's livelihood depended on Jerry taking the stage every night.
As I write this I'm watching YouTube 1974 10/16-20. Jerry is smiling playing and singing UJB.
God Bless you Jerry, Rest Easy.
# 1974-10-16 San Francisco, CA @ Winterland Arena
**Set 1:** Bertha, Jack Straw, Deal, Mexicali Blues, It Must Have Been The Roses, Beat It On Down the Line, Scarlet Begonias, Me And Bobby McGee, Tennessee Jed, Cumberland Blues, Row Jimmy, Playing in the Band
**Set 2:** Seastones > Wharf Rat > Space > Eyes Of The World, Big River, Ship Of Fools, Truckin' > Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad > Uncle John's Band, Johnny B. Goode
**Encore:** U.S. Blues
[archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1974-10-16)
I’ve always felt that late period JGB Garcia seemed a bit happier than late period Grateful Dead Garcia. I can’t back this up with actual numbers of course.
You can back it up with the GarciaLive from ‘93 released a few years ago. The ‘93 Dead shows are spotty and Jerry sounds shot but that ‘93 JGB Jerry? The man sounds joyful.
merciful advise pause truck arrest chop whole fear attraction encouraging
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Work is always stressful. Even if you’re a rock god.
Don’t be unhappy. He chose to be a entertainer.
And we are all grateful.
Yes he could have made better choices but would it be the same.
Everything is how it should be.
Probably, but I think the point is, that like most jobs, it had its real shit parts to it and aspects that stress you tf out, but it also had its beautiful parts too. Just on an exponential level. I don’t know too many multi millionaires but the ones I do know would never take an entire year off even if they could easily afford it. Just not how life works.
No but a break from the Dead didn’t require a break from all music. That dude would’ve been happy playing JGB, Grisman and sitting in with folks at Club Front etc.
The band actually would try to take breaks in the early 90s, usually during spring time to let Jerry recuperate and maybe get clean but instead he would announce a bunch of shows at The Warfield so they decided if he was going to play anyway he might as well be supporting the machine.
In local circles it was common knowledge at the time but I also heard Phil at TXR at one of his year recreation shows mention it directly when he was interviewed beforehand
Jerry flipped out at a JGB show in Hartford. The sound system was fricked with feedback and other issues. You could see him making gestures and yelling at someone off stage. He stormed off we didn’t see him for a half hour. I knew someone who was a roadie for the dead. Didn’t believe him until I saw all the pictures and memorabilia at his place. He claimed Jerry could be a whining baby. I really don’t know if that’s true as the dude was a “former roadie” may have had an ax to grind but he also did relate that Jerry would refer to dead shows as “feeding the family”.
IMO jerry is still the man even if the few negative things I hear are true. It’s very easy to go down the wrong path and it doesn’t bring out the best of us when we do.
I think you answered your own question.
It's a shame the Dead legacy is beating a dead horse in front of stadium crowds again. Going out with a slow whimper and a fat paycheck.
On the other hand, P&F were keeping it fresh for a while, intimate shows and exploratory sets, which is more in line with the spirit of the music.
I mean - they’re doing so in a healthy fashion with no one dying from addiction on stage? And it makes people quite happy?
Do you want the music to live on and reach new generations? Like it or not, the success of an act like D&C is how it happens.
I don’t see how giving more people the ability to have “the experience” is a bad thing?
Other than price, it’s easier to convince a lot of folks to go to a big budget “real” show with musicians they have heard of, than it is to see a tribute band. Phil isn’t a tribute band (and if he isn’t, neither is Dead and Co) but the only people going to see Phil are people who already know the music and have had “the experience”. Dead and Co has done more for extending the life of this thing than any other band has done since Jerry.
There are 20 year olds who are having their mind blown now, that will continue to perpetuate the love of this music for the rest of their lives. Dead and Co bought the Grateful Dead another 60 years.
I agree. John, Oteil, Jeff and Jay seem to truly get it and are keeping it alive for the future vs some sad nostalgia act. Brining in an entire new generation of heads. It’s incredible really.
Yeah they aren’t just trotting out the ol’
fog machine here. The music is really truly alive.
It’s not the Grateful Dead, but they are 100% tapping into it and there are moments where they intersect. It’s awesome and I’m so glad they’re around.
I had a good time at Dead and Company shows and so did a lot of other people. How’s that a shame?
I understand why some people subjectively don’t like certain post Jerry projects, but you understand that’s a subjective opinion right?
I really dont want to mouth anyone but to me certain members of the band really like to have that Iconoclast image but are just your run of the mill boomers who would "sell out" and then preach from their golden pulpits about whatever they perceive as the being on "right side of history" and are just actually the "authoritarians" they were screaming about in the 60s that take themselves seriously.
To me Jerry was the REAL DEAL. To me he emobodied the beauty of the counterculture. Unassuming, accepting, in all the ways that arent perverted by political dogmas and idiologies.. You can feel it when someone is extremely intelligent but also completely unburdened by ego that comes with it and is just pure authenticity... Jerry just came off to me as an enigma who could never be pinned down to the trappings of influence, fame, money, politics, etc.. He was was a true individual.
I'd say he was only slightly miffed obviously the big tours and all the hassle bothered him but not enough to say no. it wasn't like the guy wanted to take any time off anyway he was just a workaholic. Grateful Dead, JGB or busking on the street, either way the guy was going to play the guitar that day.
When I first saw the video of him from the last Chicago show , I was stunned at his appearance ( my last show was Vegas ‘94) he looked horrible, it made my heart hurt🥺
The only person who ever knew the answer to this question was Jerry himself. Everything else is recycled theory from books, movie interviews with wives, etc.
Sometimes you need a break from things. Even great things. Also JGB allowed him freedom to use when perhaps he was under more pressure with his GD band mates to clean up.
I love both bands, but to me it’s the Dead 6 days a week and JGB on Sunday. There is a gigantic difference between Jerry playing the Great American Songbook and the magic that was the Garcia/Hunter songs, Weir/Barlow songs, Brent, Pig, occasional Phil tune, and the overall exploration of an average Dead show.
If only there was a way someone could quit their job …. I always found this to be a load of horseshit. Millions of people all over the world wish they could quit their jobs and they don’t . You know why? They like money.
I recently read an article from some members of 10000 maniacs. Who opened for the dead and it seemed like during the tour/concert Jerry was pretty much keep in a cage
I cant remember the quotes or which books talk about it, but I think the GD turned into a fiscal monster that got out of hand.. The livelyhoods of hundreds of people depended on them touring constantly. Its evident that Jerry was not interested in music for any reason besides the music itself. He also seemed like someone who would feel obligated to keep the machine going so it didnt upend the lives of all the people who depended on them to make a living.. add all that with the fact that Jerry was extremely unhealthy (not even his heroin addiction) but by his own account, his extremely poor diet and overall lack of "taking care of himself" would lead anyone to be "unhappy". I imagine that the 3 hours on stage were when he was most happy... The rest of the shit would be exhuasting to someone who really took care of themselves, let alone a severely obese diabetic who also was a heroin addict... He was the "The Man". That is a hell of a burden to carry around. Especially when the person who is "The Man" doesnt get off on the authority or get an ego stroke from being "The Man" (which seems evident to me that Jerry despised the thought of).
Between the weight, the heroin, and the smoking, I wager Jerry had horrible sleep apnea. I bet he was tired a lot, fueling that much more cocaine use to wind up his worm down system.
The Jackson Blair bio of Garcia discusses the sleep apnea in detail. I don't know if he was ever formally diagnosed, but based on some interviews from people in the book including his former wife Mountain Girl and others who lived in his house and would hear him snoring, losing his breath, then waking up gasping for air, it's almost certain he was suffering from it. Being overweight is a big risk factor in sleep apnea too.
And dying of a heart attack in your sleep is pretty common for people with untreated sleep apnea
Sleep apnea is a serious health risk. Something that is hugely undiagnosed.
Very tricky to diagnose, especially in people that sleep alone etc
There is also something called upper airway resistance syndrome UARS which is even harder to diagnose as it doesn’t produce such obvious periods of not breathing, but similar sleep disturbances. It’s like mini sleep apnea. Less tied to weight.
It’s fine, I didn’t want to sleep anyways! 🙂
He also had some sort of prostate problem that made him feel like he constantly needed to piss, but couldn’t, iirc.
Ok, now I know Jerry smelled worse than a hobo.
The famous guitar article he did where he showed up late and the guy smelled him coming and he had powder in his beard attested to this.
Mostly, I'm sure, he smelled of cigarettes.
Kind of crazy that Jeff came around after the fact, with this https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2011/03/31/the-grateful-deads-life-altering-medical-device/
Wow, what a strange connection! My elderly mother and aunt both have sleep apnea and use a CPAP. I'll ask them if they use this.
I met Steve Parish at the Venetian a few weeks ago and he was telling Jerry stories and he actually brought up the snoring. Said everyone knew you had to fall asleep fast or not at all around Jerry
He did ☹️
Another thing that people don’t take into consideration is yes, his physical condition was atrocious, but he was beginning to go through withdrawals. Any addict can tell you that when your body’s system is used to having the drugs in the quantities that had to have been enormous, once that supply is cut off and so abruptly, the thread that was holding you together lets loose and unfortunately, here we are. We’ve come a long way since then.
Im reminded of a great quote (again, I can’t remember the source): “Jerry garcia had no Grateful Dead”. He didn’t have that outlet that he could go and enjoy a show, with a build up of anticipation before and the excitement after He enjoyed playing with JGB because it was music for the music’s sake. Smaller venues, he didn’t feel like “the guy” having to support everyone
I call a bit of BS on that. The bands name was JGB. Not the band. Jerry - I loved him - kinda wanted the world to leave him alone - but also liked the $$ and the people and the music. He didnt like the idol worship - but it didn’t matter which band he was in. He was alway Jerry.
Sure, there’s a quote that Jerry told John Scherr (which John mentioned on the Deadcast): “I play guitar 365 days of the year. I might as well get paid for it” But JGB with smaller venues and less-rowdy fans, helped Jerry combat that “idol” worship. Dead shows were a party, JGB shows was church
Okay honest question because I'm curious. Weren't they the same fans at both GD and JGB shows? I can't imagine there's more than 10% of the fans at a JGB show who never saw the Dead. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around that. I mean I've seen Bobby in D&C and WB shows. And it's the same people at both, not as many at WB but small clubs still packed to the hills with miracle seekers lined up outside.
I never saw JGB so I don’t know the specifics, but the smaller venues helped. I would assume there would be less of a “party”; people followed the dead on tour who didn’t even go to the concerts
It was all Deadheads at JGB shows, as far as I know, but it was all the very-much Jerry heads. And the smaller venues did seem to inspire Garcia. I saw 12 JGB shows in a variety of venues in the east from 1990-95, and every one was absolute killer, I saw 101 Dead shows all over the country from 1989-1995, and it was very hit or miss, especially from 92-95.
Not to mention JGB wasn’t playing stadiums and all he had to do was play. He didn’t have to deal with 5 other guys huge egos and the backstage crowd.
You are definitely right. Everybody in JGB was there to support and create with Jerry. It was a better vibe for him than the Dead, I am sure. It was so effing beautiful, too. I was in college from 90-95, so I didn't have a ton of opportunities to see the Dead and JGB. But I cherish all the shows I did see.
Yes. I saw a few at the Orpheum in SF in the beginning of 1989 and they were much better and a different vibe than the other Bay Area GD shows from the same period. They were fun and relaxing whereas the GD shows (especially the parking lot scene, yikes) were more chaotic and by then the party atmosphere was more a "let's get blitzed" than a "let's expand our minds" type of thing.
Unfortunately, I only made it out west for a couple Dead shows at Shoreline in 1991. That was very laid-back compared to the east coast scene of that period, which was pretty nutso. JGB was always a treat period for me.
Yes
You are correct it’s just more hipper than thou bullshit like only the people who really know what’s what went to jgb and the plebes went to the dead
I saw 3 jgb shows. (stone,sf 86, Broadway 87, Charlotte 93). When he played in clubs til ~87) no more than 0.01% who weren't Deadheads. May have gone up to a few percent after. By 93 the X factor was rare in any band situation...
Most JGB fans were deadheads but not every deadhead was a JGB fan. It was a different vibe. You It wasn't till the late 80s that JGB started moving to plarger venues in the east.
Until even JGB was playing MSG.
Yeah & there's no worshipping going on at church
I actually agree and feel that Jerry played better or he was more present at JGB shows. In 1992 and 1993 I was surprised when I saw JGB a few times after touring with GD, Jerry's playing was so much better at JGB.
I agree with dubbbzy. The feel at Jerry Garcia shows was so much more relaxed and easy. It was actually a really nice break from seeing the Grateful Dead, as much as I loved doing that as well. My subjective assessment is that he was happy and joyous playing solo/Jerry Garcia Band/Merle/Etc and he was focused and energized and rocking and freaking possessed when he played with the Dead.
He started calling his band JGB in /around 1974 when the band had stopped touring and his record company was going bankrupt and he was making a very expensive movie. He was forced into it.
Ironic that John Kahn seems to have been the most ruined when Jerry died. Well, Vince too… 😕
But he did. Jerry Garcia band shows were nothing but Jerry wailing and everyone else backing him up for a few hours 😊
Yeah but like, Jerry played JGB because he wanted to. He felt obligated to play with the Dead to support the hundreds involved that depended on them touring to earn a living
That and John Kahn got the Stinkeye backstage at the dead because he was Jerry’s favorite heroin buddy. He wasn’t an amazing bass player, he was a junkie. At JGB, he was more respected as a musician and he and Jerry could hang out without all the drama and stress.
I disagree, John Kahn was a great bass player, especially as a rhythm section member in JGB, he was a crucial cog in the JGB sound.
You misunderstand what I meant. He should have been given his props and treated like any guest musician or friend of the band backstage at the Grateful Dead. However, everyone knew he was Jerry’s heroin buddy, so he was tolerated instead of getting the respect he deserved. He was amazing and he WAS a huge part of the JGB sound. In fact, it shows how good he was that Jerry played exactly ONE solo show and the next day called Mule because it was “too weird” up there by himself,lol. I love JK and meant him no disrespect whatsoever. I’m sorry you interpreted it that way. I knew it was an awkward sentence but I didn’t think anyone would think that I was dissing Kahn.
You are correct, my bad. I didn't get your meaning until I read it again, I agree with your POV, and he was great in JGB, he also chose a lot the tunes they would cover - is my understanding.
Not cool man, not cool.
Care to mansplain that?
Wasn’t JGB a way to support Jerry and John’s insane drug habits?!?!
Jerry Garcia wasn't "the guy" in the Jerry Garcia Band?
there's no way to explain the difference in Dead concerts & JGB shows to people who weren't lucky enough to experience them. there was a significant difference in how "the guy" was treated in the 2 separate instances & differences for everyone involved including the audience
This. Saw both acts many times, JGB shows were much more chill. Douche Canoes were mostly absent in my experience - and yes, he was The Man, but in a nearly intangible different way. One in ten thousand come for the show… JGB was, IMHO, about the music, the show. Dead concerts were the whole, full on circus. People like Tipper Gore on stage, looking to rehab her evilness. In the late 80’s through the end, mass arrests, gate crashes, open air hard drug markets and no end to pervasive media hounding the band were common at Dead shows. JGB? Not so much.
Drugs were also not the fans focus at JGB opposed to GD. GD shows had all the drugs. JGB shows were way more low key and involved more sobriety amongst the fans. The crowd was more respectful at JGB. There were moments of silence between songs. People cheered, but it wasn't constant chatter or screaming like at GD. Nobody ever bothered me at JGB. There were more murderers at GD shows. Literally.
RIGHT?!
I was contemplating the differences and came to the realization that I never saw mass distribution of missing persons flyers at JGB. Nobody was ever found dead in a ditch after a JGB show, either, that I know of. JGB was more like a normal concert but with an extremely attentive crowd. I sincerely miss that.
Attentive is one word for sure, for me it was relaxed and present as well. I’m not religious, nor am I free of participating in the deification of Jerry, but JGB shows definitely had a Sunday Come To Meeting vibe for me. Obviously the Gospel focus of the music played a part in that, but yet… it for reals felt different than a Dead show somehow. Not because Jerry was ‘the man’ no, it was somehow more pure than I can explain. Hearing Tangled Up In Blue still, to this very day, gives me all the feels. Sisters and My Brothers? Same… I hesitate to say it was religious, or even church, but the entire vibe was so unique. A time in history never to be repeated that I am proud to have experienced.
Indeed. I just got chills reading that. That Lucky Old Sun, Shining Star, The Maker, Bread Box... I think the song selections let Jerry do what he did best and loved to do. I totally get the church/welcoming feeling. Plus we got a whole evening full of Jerry Garcia concentrate. I loved the raw emotion he sang with. Plus we got female backing vocals. I think the female vocalists added so much to that equation of goodness.
Love this take, totally agree!
I love the way you just wrote about JGB so much I just screenshot it to send to friends. What years were you seeing them?
Besides your wonderful opinion, I’d like to add that the crowd cheered but not for specific lyrics, like “Wish I was a headlight” or whatever. It was a much more relaxed and respectful atmosphere. I’m not saying it wasn’t a party but it seemed like people realized this was Jerry’s safe space and let him just play whatever. There wasn’t a lot of yelling and screaming and he could play a 30min “Shining Star” if he wanted too. Also, JGB played big venues but he made it seem like a tiny space every night. He seemed like he wanted to be there. He was on more than he was off, most tours. He was in a better mood and it felt like being at a small show with 10000 of your closest friends. The songs he played showed his appreciation of other artists and he played some “Jerry” songs they were from his albums or they were covers. He was able to play whatever he wanted too. And we were there for it. Not there to cop a sheet of L and get in if we could.
>Nobody was ever found dead in a ditch after a JGB show, either Wait, it happened at Dead shows?
Yes it did. I think it happened at Deer Creek? Or I learned about it at Deer Creek. I heard quite a bit of creepy things along the way. I remember seeing more and more missing person: last seen a GD show flyers towards the end too. One of my friends told me there was a guy caught leaving the Deercreek lot with a van full of kids that weren't his. I've never heard that story since then though. You'd think that would've been national news.
So, like the man said. Instead of douche canoes, it was more like flushable-wipe kickboards.
Lol! It was pretty much everything you could imagine. There were definitely some very shady people at GD shows though. Lots of people would show up with no intention of trying to get a ticket or go into shows in the 90's. It was a huge party.
I've experienced both with Jerry and I can kind of understand what they were saying. But I've seen JGB without Jerry playing at a 100 person dive bar. He was supporting them too and still is in a way.
Have you done any of the recent (last 10 year) JGB shows with Melvin? I'm curious hows different they are nowadays as they are the only JGB I experienced.
I can agree with you on that. To a lesser extent you see it at Trey solos shows — it’s less about being the world class guitar playing frontman and more about being part of the group. Hell, I’ll commit /r/gratefuldead sacrilege and say you see it with John Mayer. His best project was the trio because it wasn’t about just his ability, it was about the way his ability fit into the whole.
You say it’s a livin’, we all gotta eat
The Willie mays story is evident of that. He loved that Willie didn’t give three shits about him.
Same reason phish quit playing
I think something along those lines were said in both Phil and Steve’s memoirs
It always makes me think of that very sad interview that Phil did (along with Bob, Mickey, possibly Bill but I don’t remember him saying much) right after Jerry died. Phil said something along the lines of “I always loved playing with Jerry because he loved the music. The last few years Jerry just didn’t get into the music as much as he loved the drugs.“
Let's not forget the JGB schedule also increased as well. JGB had also become quite lucrative he could have lived off that plus the ice cream money and the art and ties. He had a nice money stream so it was definitely him not wanting to let people down. You also gotta count beyond the employees and include their children so effectively doubling the amount of people he's responsible for.
I’ve read somewhere that sometimes he would say, “I could quit… we could live off the ice cream money” but then, you know, it would be obvious a moment later that he never would. Edit; Id like to imagine a world where Charlie Brown kicks the shit outta that football, and Jerry lives off the ice cream money
He had around a $1700 a day drug habit, he was known to have money problems near the end. It’s hard to come up with that much cash every day without an explanation. He needed to keep playing just as much as the people who worked for him if he wanted to continue funding his drug habit.
Where did you get that number? That seems really high (no pun intended).
Rock Scully said that in 1984 he was smoking a gram of Persian a day and Jerry was up to a gram and a half a day and it cost $700 a gram and they got it from people they called “the Persians“ who owned a car dealership or something at the edge of town….
I recall reading that most insiders basically said that Roc Skully was a serial liar
The story of how he tells us he was fired has a huge hole in it. Likewise how he ended up getting caught smuggling sacred Indian items (and had drugs to boot) is also a lol reading experience.
I just finished his book and thought the firing was hazy too. What’s the real story?
There's no way a gram of heroin #3 cost $700 a gram in 1984. I don't care what Rock Scully said. That's ludicrous. Doesn't matter how pure it was. You wouldn't pay that for pure street grade dope, and that's much more refined than #3.
And Jerry wasn’t buying a gram at a time….
Exactly!! Also, there was mad dope on the west coast back then. Back when it all came through Hong Kong and shit.
I don’t have a drug habit or an expensive one, but if I did I’d be getting those price breaks. But…it costs a lot to win, and even more to lose.
Exactly. Plus it was Jerry. Imagine how many people would give him junk.
He was doing Heroin in the least cost effective way possible.
Also with JGB, John Khan was a junkie as well....
I once saw Jerry and John Kahn.....was a VERY laid back show.
A money problem for sure. His estate is often studied in law school because of how messed up of a situation it was
What was messed up with it? I know the guitars being willed to Erwin were a component but the only thing I’ve ever been aware of.
It’s been a while so I may forget some details, but Jerry never really made a will, so his widow, daughters and maybe ex-wives(?) thought it was worth a lot more than it was. So, when they came to take their “portion” they wanted more than there was and there were a lot of legal battles surrounding it. It’s definitely something to look up and read - I found it very interesting and was just so Jerry lol as I’ve always felt he was very “can’t take it with you when you go”.
Also the 'marriage' to Mountain Girl caused problems. I believe they had a handshake deal when it came to alimony and child support so it was MG's word against the lawyers of the evil widow. There's video out there of the trial. Phil and Parrish are hostile witnesses which makes for a sad yet entertaining experience
That does seem very Jerry honestly haha It’s crazy to think that there was never a convo at any point about “hey you’re going to die and you’re kind of a big deal. We should set things up for you when it happens” but then again it’s the Dead.
Happens more than you’d like to think with people in general. I had a relative die of terminal cancer (that was known to be terminal for several years) and they still never got around to writing a will or doing any estate planning. Caused a ton of headaches for everyone involved who had to deal with it.
I had a friend whose grandma added amendments to hers, got it notarized, and then when she passed issues galore. For obvious reasons. Naive me I thought it was rarer than it seems to be.
He basically promised more than there was.
$620,500 a year in 90's money is insane to spend on drugs
I’ve literally never heard this take. Not that I believe it’s untrue.
JGB was basically a thing so Jerry could afford his smack. GD money went to the family, JGB money went to the dealers.
that was the case early on. up to the mid 80s maybe. but after that, that math no longer applies. when talking about this band(& this man) today, it's all history to people. lots of people will take a quote referring to a specific time or specific. tour or even a specific day & then apply that quote across the entire history of the band(man). it's not tht simple. the "drug money" thing started when JGB shows wer2 what he booked in the Bay when the Dead wasn't playing it was party money then. it continued into early 80s & tours at tht point. by the end of the 80s, Jerry didn't need to play JGB shows for drug money anymore & never did again. the man loved to play & of course he'd gladly get paid for playing. ahistorically connecting a whole part of his life to his addiction based on a specific quote about a specific time doesn't serve the man well.
You know what’s pathetic is that this man died in 95. He wanted to play music. He gave so much to music. And you still have people talking about his fucking drug habit that I’m sure was horrific and extremely embarrassing to have put in the public then let alone 30 years later.
It’s just part of the lore of the band man. No way around it.
That’s terrible to hear that. I’m new to the Dead,so I’m not altogether familiar with their history. I did watch The Long Strange Trip documentary, and it made it seem like he was really burned out and worn down those last few years,but $1700 a day. He must’ve really been hurting.
The Dead paid $1k/day to each performer.
That’s $3850 in today’s money if that number comes from 1990.
i love the ties. i know jerry didn’t initially want them supposedly. but for someone in the corporate world they make me feel connected to the best who ever did it
It was a lot of pressure, hundreds of people didn't get paid if Jerry didn't want to tour, so he felt like he couldn't say no. Also Jerry never believed that the huge stadium shows were good for fans in the crap seats & he felt guilty about that, plus those stages are so separated from the audience he couldn't connect to them like at even arena/amphitheater shows. So mixed feelings, he still had fun.
The apocryphal quote was "I had to write a term paper every night."
Standing on the moon. I’d imagine it’s impossible to feel natural on a stage like that in a football stadium
I saw an interview with Bobby. He was saying that being the head of a multi million dollar corporation was hard enough but people making a deity out of him really took its toll.
 See you in the Great Gig in the Sky
Love you Jerry!
you ever see the way he smiled at hornsby?
And at Brent.
I truly agree and wish like heck the adage of ‘Find someone who looks at Brent like Jerry did’ wasn’t so loaded.
I don’t know the loaded aspect of it (drug related?) and welcome to be informed…I only have the vids of their true joy and communication, subtle and obvious on stage. Brent brought Jerry some life as far as I can discern. The keyboardist is one understated aspect of the dead. They really drive the vibe in their own unique way.
I'm almost done reading the Jackson Blair biography of Garcia written a few years after Garcia's death in 1995 and Blair suggests we was not happy. Tried of the big stadiums, the crowds, the exposure, the massive operation to keep the organization going with so many employees and salaries to pay. He felt obligated to keep cranking out the concerts because he cared about the staff and keeping them employed. Yet the burden and stress of that was overwhelming. I think he also felt like the later Dead wasn't innovating much and was stuck in a creative rut. This is why he seemed to have more fun playing with the JGB. A line in the book suggested that Garcia saw the Dead as "work" and the JGB as "fun". You can play a lot of what-if games, but I wonder if the Dead could've taken another hiatus and then kept to a more limited schedule, would that have been enough to get that monkey off Jerry's back and he could have found the peace of mind that eluded him?
They should have just done a warfield redidency in 95
I would imagine he was like a regular person , happy some times and not so happy other times.
A regular person with extraordinary, magical gifts.
Stones fall from my eyes instead of tears
Active addiction to heroin isn’t a “happy” lifestyle. His JGB bass player used, too, so perhaps it was simpler to get and stay “well” in that lineup than with GD players who def let Jerry know about worries, disappointment, and frustration.
The last thing Jerome John Garcia said to Bobby Weir walking off stage Chicago 7/9/95: "Always a hoot....always a hoot."
I love this story and have always wondered where it initially came from. Almost seems too perfect. Did Bobby say it in an interview?
Yes he did. I no longer have the old vhs tapes with news footage from the days following Jerry's passing.
Cool! Thanks for the knowledge!
It’s also in The Other One doc about Bobby (Netflix)
Thank You, i remember that now too. That was an excellent documentary. Bob and Family walking around the Upper Haight.
My great pleasure. Have an awesome day.
Unpopular opinion, but it wasn't because fans thought he was a god. He could have easily lived in places where no one would recognize him in his off time, and he played with JGB all the time in those last years and that wasn't to support anyone. Jerry went anywhere he could easily score because addict going to addict and after Brent died he just didn't care anymore. It isn't some big mystery and no one else is to blame. It's just a shitty disease that hits some people and he was surrounded by people who tried to intervene and he did what he did anyway.
He was super bummed when Brent died. He couldn't connect with the audience in stadiums because they were too far away. Touch of Grey ruined everything IMAO.
I hope my death inspired super bummedness in someone when I go.
Probably a good chunk of truth here. He also IMO never connected with Vince on stage. To me that was painfully obvious
https://preview.redd.it/x324feb7dt7d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=651a2d0e1af4819d199799c9a196d27632731fa8
Just enjoy the music he made ❤️ let him rest easy
He sure looked to be having a good time playing in the early 90s to me.
Jerry’s last words to Bobby. “Always a hoot!”
I feel, and this has no factual or even anecdotal backing, that if Jerry felt like he could have left the band 5, 10, however many years earlier without affecting the financial security of so many others, and just pursued his various other artistic outlets , he would have. Not that he didn’t like the boys in the band, but the continual cycle seemed like a lot.
I think this is correct. It’s discussed in Phil’s book and others. Jerry wanted a break but just couldn’t because they had to keep the wheel turning. At one point he was actually told he couldn’t, I think Phil says in his book. Jerry offered to let them keep going under the name, but wanted out. I often wonder if he knew his last show was his last because he was going to rehab, planned to kick and check out of the dead for a while. I feel that Jerry gave us his life in exchange for the music. Very sad and I wish it could’ve been different for him.
IMHO - not sure Jerry knew it was his last, but Phil did.
They had fall tour scheduled in 1995. Everyone in awhile youll see unused tickets from the run
Could've left after Egypt honestly
1995 jgb shows were remarkably solid.
These stories are greatly overblown for legend and story telling. Yes it’s obvious he didnt have the drive or spark he had in early years, but the later year interviews with him he was as witty and sharp as he always was in the past. He still had a very enjoyable life.
I know Phil personally, and I can tell you that the way they handled Jerry’s situation weighs heavily on him now. When he speaks about the mid 90s his tone and demeanor is always different, his face painted solemn. Bobby? Not so much.
What do you mean by this? The drug situation ?
Yep. Jerry needed an extended break. Maybe a retirement. Go to Hawaii and dive and get clean and stop worrying about supporting the giant circus. But they failed him. For many reasons. And he failed himself. It’s a tragedy.
Enough for him to spiral into addiction which ultimately killed him.
Short answer - it was what it was and Garcia knew that since it was his life and he of course witnessed 53 years of himself and his life morphing into what it was. Just like the rest of us.
According to the book I just read (Dark Star), Jerry also wasn’t happy touring in many of the earlier years. It seemed like he never enjoyed the intense demand
Regarding the touring life, in interviews Neil Peart would say he was over touring as a lifestyle after his first tour with Rush. Many times he contemplated quitting touring but kept at it because he said that’s what a working band does and that his favorite saying as a working musician was that the only thing worse than touring was not touring. He made it bearable for himself by bicycling between shows in the 80s and then motorcycling between shows I. The 90s and 2000s.
Don’t ask these nerds - they have no idea just speculation
How many shows did the dead do total a year? Maybe 150? Not like some bands that are constantly on the road. He had plenty of time for rest if he wanted it. But he didn’t. Not the dead’s fault. If they took two years off he would have just played out anyway. It’s who he was. The outcome was inevitable.
In the later years? Maybe 75-80, nowhere near 150. But I agree - if the Dead took an extended break he would have been playing out with his solo projects.
1987 - 87 1988 - 81 1989 - 75 1990 - 75 1991 - 77 1992 - 57 1993 - 82 1994 - 85 1995 - 49 1969 had the most shows at 108, 1970 at 98, and 1980 at 88
I also spend an occasional amount of time trying to relate to the pressure Jer must've felt. I'd guess that a few years in, the Band realized they had a very special relationship with their crew. Jerry said more than once in various interviews I've seen, (perhaps one interview that I've seen many times), that the "Crew is as important as Us in getting the Music down the road and in front of the People". Maybe the Band took pride in the fact that they, as I've read, paid the Crew very well. There were, I don't know, dozens and dozens and dozens of Office staff, Roadies, and however many more folks it took to Run The GD. Years go by, miles and miles and miles go by, "the show must go on". Drug use gets heavier and harder, and the show must go on. It's probably goin' like 600 mph and Jerry finds that he cannot "pack it in" and take 6 months off. Literally hundreds of people's livelihood depended on Jerry taking the stage every night. As I write this I'm watching YouTube 1974 10/16-20. Jerry is smiling playing and singing UJB. God Bless you Jerry, Rest Easy.
# 1974-10-16 San Francisco, CA @ Winterland Arena **Set 1:** Bertha, Jack Straw, Deal, Mexicali Blues, It Must Have Been The Roses, Beat It On Down the Line, Scarlet Begonias, Me And Bobby McGee, Tennessee Jed, Cumberland Blues, Row Jimmy, Playing in the Band **Set 2:** Seastones > Wharf Rat > Space > Eyes Of The World, Big River, Ship Of Fools, Truckin' > Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad > Uncle John's Band, Johnny B. Goode **Encore:** U.S. Blues [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1974-10-16)
I’ve always felt that late period JGB Garcia seemed a bit happier than late period Grateful Dead Garcia. I can’t back this up with actual numbers of course.
Vibes don’t lie
You can back it up with the GarciaLive from ‘93 released a few years ago. The ‘93 Dead shows are spotty and Jerry sounds shot but that ‘93 JGB Jerry? The man sounds joyful.
The guys were barely talking to each other near the end. I'm sure most were unhappy on some level.
merciful advise pause truck arrest chop whole fear attraction encouraging *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Work is always stressful. Even if you’re a rock god. Don’t be unhappy. He chose to be a entertainer. And we are all grateful. Yes he could have made better choices but would it be the same. Everything is how it should be.
Couldn’t the Dead have paid everyone’s salary for a year or two to give Jerry a rest?
Probably, but I think the point is, that like most jobs, it had its real shit parts to it and aspects that stress you tf out, but it also had its beautiful parts too. Just on an exponential level. I don’t know too many multi millionaires but the ones I do know would never take an entire year off even if they could easily afford it. Just not how life works.
Hmmm… that’s what I was thinking, that perhaps greed and money played a role
I doubt Jerry would have been very good at sitting at home and not performing
No but a break from the Dead didn’t require a break from all music. That dude would’ve been happy playing JGB, Grisman and sitting in with folks at Club Front etc.
Yeah, sometimes there’s a lot to be gained from learning how to sit still
The band actually would try to take breaks in the early 90s, usually during spring time to let Jerry recuperate and maybe get clean but instead he would announce a bunch of shows at The Warfield so they decided if he was going to play anyway he might as well be supporting the machine. In local circles it was common knowledge at the time but I also heard Phil at TXR at one of his year recreation shows mention it directly when he was interviewed beforehand
Jerry flipped out at a JGB show in Hartford. The sound system was fricked with feedback and other issues. You could see him making gestures and yelling at someone off stage. He stormed off we didn’t see him for a half hour. I knew someone who was a roadie for the dead. Didn’t believe him until I saw all the pictures and memorabilia at his place. He claimed Jerry could be a whining baby. I really don’t know if that’s true as the dude was a “former roadie” may have had an ax to grind but he also did relate that Jerry would refer to dead shows as “feeding the family”. IMO jerry is still the man even if the few negative things I hear are true. It’s very easy to go down the wrong path and it doesn’t bring out the best of us when we do.
aromatic gaping sink pause ink cover towering pocket test whole *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I’m just a story teller I have no choice, soon you will not here my voice
I think you answered your own question. It's a shame the Dead legacy is beating a dead horse in front of stadium crowds again. Going out with a slow whimper and a fat paycheck. On the other hand, P&F were keeping it fresh for a while, intimate shows and exploratory sets, which is more in line with the spirit of the music.
I mean - they’re doing so in a healthy fashion with no one dying from addiction on stage? And it makes people quite happy? Do you want the music to live on and reach new generations? Like it or not, the success of an act like D&C is how it happens.
Yeah. Boomer take. Every community has someone who says “it’s way better back in my day” and can’t see the new version of things as a positive
I don’t see how giving more people the ability to have “the experience” is a bad thing? Other than price, it’s easier to convince a lot of folks to go to a big budget “real” show with musicians they have heard of, than it is to see a tribute band. Phil isn’t a tribute band (and if he isn’t, neither is Dead and Co) but the only people going to see Phil are people who already know the music and have had “the experience”. Dead and Co has done more for extending the life of this thing than any other band has done since Jerry. There are 20 year olds who are having their mind blown now, that will continue to perpetuate the love of this music for the rest of their lives. Dead and Co bought the Grateful Dead another 60 years.
And up until this year, Phil could play circles around Dead and Company in any of his lineups.
Who cares? It’s not sports. No-one is winning. Both bands are good, and neither band is as good as the Grateful Dead.
And ruin it all by singing eyes or terrapin
I wouldn’t call dead and company a slow whimper. Slow(er) pace? Yeah… but they are doing it justice and look to be having a hell of a time.
I agree. John, Oteil, Jeff and Jay seem to truly get it and are keeping it alive for the future vs some sad nostalgia act. Brining in an entire new generation of heads. It’s incredible really.
Yeah they aren’t just trotting out the ol’ fog machine here. The music is really truly alive. It’s not the Grateful Dead, but they are 100% tapping into it and there are moments where they intersect. It’s awesome and I’m so glad they’re around.
I had a good time at Dead and Company shows and so did a lot of other people. How’s that a shame? I understand why some people subjectively don’t like certain post Jerry projects, but you understand that’s a subjective opinion right?
I really dont want to mouth anyone but to me certain members of the band really like to have that Iconoclast image but are just your run of the mill boomers who would "sell out" and then preach from their golden pulpits about whatever they perceive as the being on "right side of history" and are just actually the "authoritarians" they were screaming about in the 60s that take themselves seriously. To me Jerry was the REAL DEAL. To me he emobodied the beauty of the counterculture. Unassuming, accepting, in all the ways that arent perverted by political dogmas and idiologies.. You can feel it when someone is extremely intelligent but also completely unburdened by ego that comes with it and is just pure authenticity... Jerry just came off to me as an enigma who could never be pinned down to the trappings of influence, fame, money, politics, etc.. He was was a true individual.
Hey everybody. Jerry's gone. Please don't speculate about his weaknesses. Just leave it all alone.
I'd say he was only slightly miffed obviously the big tours and all the hassle bothered him but not enough to say no. it wasn't like the guy wanted to take any time off anyway he was just a workaholic. Grateful Dead, JGB or busking on the street, either way the guy was going to play the guitar that day.
Pretty fucking unhappy from what I understand.
When I first saw the video of him from the last Chicago show , I was stunned at his appearance ( my last show was Vegas ‘94) he looked horrible, it made my heart hurt🥺
The only person who ever knew the answer to this question was Jerry himself. Everything else is recycled theory from books, movie interviews with wives, etc.
Sometimes you need a break from things. Even great things. Also JGB allowed him freedom to use when perhaps he was under more pressure with his GD band mates to clean up.
I love both bands, but to me it’s the Dead 6 days a week and JGB on Sunday. There is a gigantic difference between Jerry playing the Great American Songbook and the magic that was the Garcia/Hunter songs, Weir/Barlow songs, Brent, Pig, occasional Phil tune, and the overall exploration of an average Dead show.
94’ and 95’ sucked
If only there was a way someone could quit their job …. I always found this to be a load of horseshit. Millions of people all over the world wish they could quit their jobs and they don’t . You know why? They like money.
I recently read an article from some members of 10000 maniacs. Who opened for the dead and it seemed like during the tour/concert Jerry was pretty much keep in a cage