Magical Moment Photos

JERRY GARCIA PERFORMING WITH THE JERRY GARCIA BAND IN CHENEY, WA. ON 10-27-78. PHOTO-ART BY BEN UPHAM.

THE GRATEFUL DEAD-
“CLOCK TWISTS BACKWARD AS DEADHEADS BOOGIE”
BY KIM CROMPTON
SPOKANE DAILY CHRONICLE
SPOKANE, WASHINGTON
JUNE 16, 1980

The “Dead” were resurrected at the Coliseum Saturday night, but they didn’t seem nearly as grateful as the audience which came to life with them.
The Grateful Dead, one of the old­est and most unique rock and roll groups of the past two decades, treated a relatively small but enthu­siastic crowd to three full hours of enjoyable music.
The diverse group of fans who came to see the group were almost as interesting, as the band itself. ­”Flower Children,” “Hippies,” mem­bers of outlaw motorcycle gangs and other societal outcasts of the Vietnam era were there, mingling freely and comfortably with others from that generation who have since conformed to more contemporary norms.
The Coliseum lights came on dur­ing a 45-minute intermission, re­vealing a scene similar to those at Woodstock, Blue Mountain and doz­ens of other outdoor rock concerts of that period in time.
One young woman with long blond hair moved slowly through the shifting bodies on the Coliseum floor, smelling a long-stemmed ­flower while holding aloft a sign which read, “I need a ride to L.A.” Wearing a long flowered skirt, she resembled many of the other wom­en from that era who were attracted to Spokane to hear their favorite group Saturday night.
Similarly, the men were scantily clad, for the most part, wearing no shirts and shoes, and many with beards and hair that reached to the middle of their backs. The crowd, overall, contrasted sharply with the group of teen-agers and young adults which gathers for most Spokane rock concerts. Members of this audience were older, ap­pearing more content on enjoying themselves than on impressing each other.
An example was the group of fans which normally stands at the rear of the Coliseum floor. Concerts featuring rock groups which appeal to a younger clientele generally cause that area of the floor to turn into a traffic zone with adolescents milling continually back and forth looking for someone they know or someone they would like to know.
The scene was different Saturday night, however, as rockers from the ’60s and late ’70s utilized that area as a gigantic dance floor. Grateful Dead fans, overcome with musical rapture, danced all evening and most of them were dancing alone.
The band’s music gave them ample reason to boogie, as The Dead were right on target with their inter­mingling of nostalgic numbers with newer songs. Lead guitarist Jerry Garcia was excellent throughout the night and was complimented by the back-up fingerings of rhythm gui­tarist Bob Weir. They thrilled the crowd with their performances on songs like “Alabama Getaway” and “It Looks Like Rain” and with their vocals on slower songs like “Ship of
Fools.”
Drummers Billy Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart also were good and awed the crowd with a five-minute duet involving a large drum set-up at the rear of the stage. The entire crowd standing on the Coliseum floor bounced to the rhythm of most of the band’s songs, cheered loudly after each one and eventually called the group back for a single encore song, “One More Saturday Night”.
If the band were to be criticized it would be for its lack of response to the crowd. Members of the group refused to acknowledge the crowd’s applause, took long breaks between each song and acted as though they were rehearsing inside an empty hall. The fans, known as “Deadheads” didn’t seem to mind, however, as they appeared caught up in their own nostalgic rock revival.

Grateful Dead Setlist from the Spokane Coliseum show on June 14, 1980:
Set I-
Alabama Getaway
Promised Land
Friend of the Devil
El Paso
Brown Eyed Women
Me & My Uncle
Big River
Far From Me
Big Railroad Blues
Looks Like Rain
Don’t Ease Me In

Set II-
Feel Like a Stranger
Ship of Fools
Estimated Prophet
Eyes of the World
Drums/Space
Lost Sailor
Saint of Circumstance
Stella Blue
Goin’ Down the Road Feelin’ Bad
Good Lovin’
Encore: One More Saturday Night

GRATEFUL DEAD DISCOGRAPHY:
1967 The Grateful Dead
1968 Anthem of the Sun
1969 Aoxomoxoa
1969 Live dead
1970 Workingman’s Dead
1970 American Beauty
1971 Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses)
1972 Europe ’72 (Live)
1973 History of the Grateful Dead (Bear’s Choice)
1973 Wake of the Flood
1974 Grateful Dead from the Mars Hotel
1975 Blues for Allah
1976 Steal your Face (Live)
1977 Terrapin Station
1978 Shakedown Street
1980 Go to Heaven
1981 Reckoning (Acoustic Live)
1981 Dead Set (Electric Live)
1987 In the Dark
1989 Dylan & the Dead
1989 Built to Last
1990 Without a Net (Live)

CLICK THE LINKS BELOW FOR GRATEFUL DEAD PHOTOS & ART:
GRATEFUL DEAD PHOTOS BY BEN UPHAM
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JERRY GARCIA BAND PHOTOS BY BEN UPHAM
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GRATEFUL DEAD ART BY BEN UPHAM
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GRATEFUL DEAD FINE ART AMERICA IMAGES BY BEN UPHAM

Jerry Garcia's Spirit of Light will Shine Forever. Photo-Art by Ben Upham. Magical Moment Photos.

JERRY GARCIA-
“3rd SOLO LP”
BY KATHIE STASICA & GEORGE MANGRUM
THE DAILY REVIEW
HAYWARD, CALIFORNIA
FEBRUARY 6, 1976

The “San Francisco Sound” has been synonymous with the name Jerry Garcia since the early 60′s when he began putting out music with the Grateful Dead. Today the name has a new meaning — Jerry has worked himself into a music legend in the Bay Area.
Jerry is 33 now, but he still eats, sleeps and works music 24 hours a day. If he isn’t playing, practicing, writing or recording with the Grateful Dead, he is out doing solo gigs with the different bands he’s put together. Even on days when he has a concert, Jerry will practice for hours ahead of time.
Jerry has begun this year with his third solo album, “Reflections” on which he has eight strong cuts, including an old tune, “I’ll Take A Melody.”
I’m very pleased with it (the new album),” Jerry said during a rehearsal break at Keystone Berkeley. “I’ve been working on it since August. I didn’t just sit down and record it, I’ve been working on it off and on. Some of the later cuts we began recording as recently as December.” Four of the songs are co-written by Jerry and Robert Hunter. The rest are by people like Allen Toussaint and Hank Ballard.
“I pretty much like all the songs on this album equally. There were no cuts that I looked back on as mistakes to have put on the album as I have on some. I like the ones on this album. They are there because of my interest in them.”
The Grateful Dead will also be having a new album coming out this summer, which is a sound track from a new movie about them. “The movie will really be about the five-night concert we did at Winterland, the concert and the people,” he said. “It won’t be just a filmed concert, although the music will feature largely. “I’ve been living with the memory of those concerts during the past year. I still get off on them.”
And of course, there is the always asked question about the reunion of the Grateful Dead. Jerry cleared that up quick. “We will be rehearsing in about a month and we will probably continue to rehearse for a couple of months and then go out and play.
Besides creating a lot of good albums, what else has Jerry Garcia been into lately?
“Well, I’ve been listening to a lot of piano. I’ve been getting more into keyboards, harmony, chord voicing and arrangements. The kinds of things I am interested in are modern instruments, modern approaches. By modern I mean 20th Century.
What happened to the famous $200,000 sound system that the Grateful Dead bought?
“Well, the most part of it is in mothballs. Some parts of it are out helping other bands like Kingfish. “We have plans, some time or other, to build ourselves a place to perform that would be like our home base. I think the direction we would like to go toward would be to install some kind of permanent sound system that could use the place as a building to perform, and as a lab to new kinds of ideas. “It would not be large but it would be large enough to have concerts in and to present ourselves in. It would be somewhere between one and three thousand capacity.”

GRATEFUL DEAD DISCOGRAPHY:

1967 The Grateful Dead
1968 Anthem of the Sun
1969 Aoxomoxoa
1969 Live dead
1970 Workingman’s Dead
1970 American Beauty
1971 Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses)
1972 Europe ’72 (Live)
1973 History of the Grateful Dead (Bear’s Choice)
1973 Wake of the Flood
1974 Grateful Dead from the Mars Hotel
1975 Blues for Allah
1976 Steal your Face (Live)
1977 Terrapin Station
1978 Shakedown Street
1980 Go to Heaven
1981 Reckoning (Acoustic Live)
1981 Dead Set (Electric Live)
1987 In the Dark
1989 Dylan & the Dead
1989 Built to Last
1990 Without a Net (Live)

JERRY GARCIA BAND DISCOGRAPHY:

1971 Hooteroll? (w/ Howard Wales)
1972 Garcia
1973 Live at Keystone (w/ Merl Saunders)
1974 Compliments
1976 Reflections
1978 Cats Under the Stars
1982 Run for the Roses
1988 Almost Acoustic (Live)
1991 Jerry Garcia Band (Live)
1991 Garcia Grisman
1993 Not For Kids Only (w/ Grisman)
1996 Shady Grove (w/ Grisman)
1997 How Sweet it is (Live)
1998 So What (w/ Grisman)
2001 Dont Let Go (Live)
2001 Shining Star (Live)
2004 After Midnight (Live 1980)
2005 Garcia Plays Dylan (Live)
2009 Let it Rock (Live 1975)

CLICK THE LINKS BELOW TO SEE JERRY GARCIA PHOTOS:
GRATEFUL DEAD PHOTOS BY BEN UPHAM
AND
JERRY GARCIA PHOTOS BY BEN UPHAM
AND
JERRY GARCIA FINE ART AMERICA IMAGES BY BEN UPHAM

JERRY GARCIA...STANDING ON THE MOON...PHOTO ART BY BEN UPHAM....

JERRY GARCIA-
“LOOKING INTO THE NEXT CENTURY”
BY ANTHONY DeCURTIS
SYRACUSE HERALD JOURNAL
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK
NOVEMBER 7, 1993

Now 51, battling diabetes and other health problems, Jerry Garcia still looks unstintingly ahead. In conversation he is a marvel, bouncing associatively from topic to topic, sharing his amiable intelligence as if it were a gift, in love with good talk. Childlike in his curiosity and enthusiasm, he has more projects going — and more different types of projects — than most musicians half his age.
The Grateful Dead is planning to record a new studio album, the first since “Built to Last” in 1989, for release next spring. As the band’s summer tour crossed the country, a collection of Garcia’s artwork — pen-and-ink drawings, watercolors,computer-generated images — accompanied it, with gallery displays in the various cities the Dead have visited.
An album of traditional children’s songs, “Not for Kids Only,” with mandolinist David Grisman, was released this fall on Grisman’s label, Acoustic Disc. For a collaboration with the Redwood Symphony, with which his eldest daughter plays violin, Garcia is commissioning works for orchestra and guitar.
Of course, the Jerry Garcia Band is a going concern, with an East Coast tour now under way, including a stop next Sunday in Syracuse. And Garcia also hopes at some point to pull together another band, featuring Edie Brickell on vocals, for shows of entirely improvised music and lyrics. Clearly, this is not a man who has run out of either energy, ideas or passion:
Q What about your own musical beginnings?
Music was something I was not good at. I took lessons on the piano forever, for maybe eight years — my mom made me. None of it sank in. I never did learn how to sightread for the piano — I bluffed my way through, I was attracted to music very early on, but it never occurred to me it was something to do — in the sense that when I grow up I’m going to be a musician — although I knew that my father had been a musician.
Q What about bluegrass? When did you come to that?
My grandmother was a big Grand Ole Opry fan. Now this is in San Francisco, a long way from Tennessee, but they used to have the Opry on the radio every Saturday night all over the United States. My grandmother listened to it religiously. I probably heard Bill Monroe hundreds of times without knowing who it was. When I got turned on to bluegrass in about 1960, the first time I really heard it, it was like, “Whoa, what is this music?” The banjo just … it just made me crazy. It was like the way rock ‘n’ roll affected me when I was 15. When I was 15, I fell madly in love with rock ‘n’ roll. Chuck Berry was happening big, Elvis Presley — not so much Elvis Presley, but I really liked Gene Vincent, you know, the other rock guys, the guys that
played guitar good: Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly, Bo Diddley. And at that time, the R&B stations still were playing stuff like Lightnin’ Hopkins and Frankie Lee Sims, these funky blues guys. Jimmy McCracklin, the Chicago style blues guys, the T-Bone Walker-influenced guys, that older style, pre-B.B. King stuff. Jimmy Reed — Jimmy Reed actually had hits back in those days. You listen to that, and it’s so funky. It’s just a beautiful sound, but I had no idea how to go about learning it.
When I first heard electric guitar, when I was 15, that’s what I wanted
to play. I petitioned my mom to get me one, so she finally did for my
birthday. Actually, she got me an accordion, and I went nuts — Aggghhh, no, no, no! I railed and raved, and she finally turned it in, and I got a pawnshop electric guitar and an amplifier. I was just beside myself with joy. I started banging away on it without having the slightest idea of . . . anything. I didn’t know how to tune it up; I had no idea. My stepfather tuned it in some kind of weird way, like an open chord. I thought: “Well, that’s the way it’s tuned. OK.” I played it that way for about a year before I finally ran into some kid at school who actually could play a little. He showed me a few basic chords, and that was it I never took any lessons. I don’t even think there was anybody teaching around the Bay area. I mean electric guitar was like from Mars, you know. You didn’t see them even.
During this time, too, I was going to the art institute on Saturdays and
summer sessions — they had this program for high-school kids. So I
was picking up that head. This was also when the beatniks were happening in San Francisco, so I was, like, in that culture. I was a high school kid and a wanna-be beatnik! Rock ‘n’ roll at that time was not respectable.
Q When the Dead started out, did yon have a sense that it would last this long?
We had big ideas. I mean, as far as we were concerned, we were going to be the next Beatles or something — we were on a trip, definitely. We had enough of that kind of crazy faith in ourselves. We were always motivated by the possibility that we could have fun, big fun. I was reacting, in a way, to my bluegrass background, which was maybe a little over-serious. I was up for the idea of breaking out. When we were in the Warlocks, the first time we played in public, we had a huge crowd of people from the local high school, and they went — nuts! The next time we played, it was packed to the rafters. It was a pizza place. We said, “Hey, can we play in here on Wednesday night? We won’t bother anybody. Just let us set up in the corner.” It was pandemonium, immediately. I don’t remember ever thinking, “Now, am I going to be doing this in 20 years?” But it never occurred to me that I wouldn’t be doing it And as things went on, we went past my own personal — what? — goals, visions, my own imagining, “This is how far we could go.” So we’re way over in the land of pure gravy, so to speak — pure gold. Now it’s like stuff that I might idly have wished for one day in 1957 is coming up.
Q So what does a studio album mean for the band now?
I can’t encompass it with my point of view, because it usually isn’t made up of just my material — it’s made up of all of our material The material has to speak to us, you know — “This album seems to be going in this direction, or it contains these elements,” and then you try to see if you can sew it together. The basic odyssey format or variety show, you know. Something rubbery tike that usually is best because it’s tough to get everything under the same umbrella. Sometimes the sound of it will be the unifying feature. Sometimes it’s not there at all.
Q Are all of you in compatible spaces as far as this upcoming particular album is concerned?
I think so. It used to be wildly different If you checked on each of us
about what our version of Grateful Dead music was, it used to be way
different from each other. We’re all sort of looking at the same thing
now — kind of. I mean, each person still sees it through his own frame of reference, but that’s what Grateful Dead music is, you know: Grateful Dead music is a holographic experience. It’s made up of the points of view of all of the members of the band: consequently, every angle that you look at it from, it’s different. And a lot of times, it’s unpredictable. That’s one of the things that makes it interesting to keep doing.
The way we’re approaching this album, and we’ve done it in the past, too, with our better albums, is to let the material live onstage for about a year. It starts to evolve into something different. I mean, it’s probably a way of saving, “This is a collaborative effort.”
Q How do you perceive your various musical relationships — the Dead, your band, your projects with David Grisman? Do they merge, or are they clearly compartmentalized in your mind?
They do bleed into each other, but that’s OK, I don’t prevent that from
happening. But I do try to keep them separate, because I love them for reasons of their own. I like their identities to be clear.
Q What are the differences?
The Garcia Band really reflects my musical personality. The people in that band think — musically, conceptually — the way I do. Their notion of the way the instruments should speak to each other — I don’t have to show anybody anything. When we work out a tune, all I have to do is say: “Here’s the tune. Here’s the changes. Here’s the chords” — and it just happens. And it happens perfectly. It happens better than if I told everybody, “This is exactly what I want you to play.” I mean, that band, to me, is total resonance. It’s consonance. It’s like — yes, yes, that’s my version of music! The Grateful Dead has more dissonance in it. It has more variables and more wild cards and more oddness. And it has more tension, too. I mean, to Grateful Dead fans, my band might be a little bit too agreeable. Grisman is a very rigorous musician. He likes to rehearse and get things down perfectly. He’s a master of detail. I’m not those things, but we balance each other out. I’m loose enough to loosen him up, and he’s tight enough to tighten me up. We also share a love for American traditional music, for bluegrass and for acoustic music. And for swing. Me and David are working on a children’s album right now. It’s something I never would have thought to do. It’s kind of a reaction to the revisionist approach to children’s songs.
Q Like what?
Well, there are these shows that have the old children’s songs, but they’ve rewritten the lyrics to make them tamer or more gentle. It’s infuriating because these songs are part of the oral tradition of America. A lot of them are perfectly lovely. Some of them have teeth, but, hey, so what? I mean, kids get enough mindless, senseless stuff. So we’ve gone poking around in some mountain music and traditional stuff for children’s songs that don’t want to be changed. We’d like to introduce them to the kids the way they are and let them be. We’ve been taking a real simple and spontaneous approach — just picking and singing, you know. This music should be heard. It’s part of our heritage.
Q One of your goals seems to be to explore every genre of American music.
Oh, definitely. If I live long enough, I hope to do exactly that I missed out on a lot of legitimate music by not being a music student I didn’t play a band instrument; I didn’t have that background. But I’ve been learning about these other worlds. I would love to be able to play, like, Gershwin tunes. And I will do it. There’s a lot of great music in the American experience, and l hope to be able to touch as much of it as I can. I feel that I can honestly contribute something.
Q With your health problems, were you concerned that you might never get to do all the things you’ve been talking about wanting to do?
Absolutely. I was getting to the place where I had a hard time playing
a show. I was in terrible … shape. I mean I was just exhausted, totally exhausted. I could barely walk up a flight of stairs without panting and wheezing. I just let my physical self slide as far as I possibly could.
Q Did you deny to yourself what was happening?
Oh, yeah, because I’m basically lazy. Things have to get to the point where they’re screaming before I’ll do anything. I could see it coming, and I kept saying to myself: “Well, as soon as I get myself together, I’m going to start working out. I’m going on that diet.” Quit smoking ~- ayiiiii (waves lit cigarette).
Q What about in terms of the Dead? Were there times when the band was discouraged about its future?
Well, there were times when we were really in chaotic spaces, but I don’t think we’ve ever been totally discouraged. It just has never happened. There have been times everybody was off on their own trip to the extent that we barely communicated with each other. But it’s pulses, you know? And right now everybody’s relating pretty nicely to each other, and everybody’s feeling very good, too. There’s a kind of healthy glow through the whole Grateful Dead scene. We’re gearing up for the millennium.
Q Oh, yeah? What’s the plan?
Well, our plan is to get through the millennium (laughs). Apart from that, it’s totally amorphous.
Q Historically, turns of the century have been really intriguing times. Does that date hold any real significance for you?
No, the date that holds significance for me is 2012. That’s (writer and self-described expert in “the ethnopharmacology of spiritual transformation”) Terence McKenna’s “alpha moment,” which is where the universe undergoes its most extraordinary transformations. He talks about these cycles, exponential cycles in which, in each epoch, more happens than in all previous time. Like he talks about novelty, the insertion of novelty into the time track. His first example of novelty is, say, the appearance of life. So the universe goes along, brrrmmmmm, then all of a sudden, life appears… bing! So that’s something new. Then the next novelty is, like, vertebrates. Then the next novelty might be language — that sort of thing. They’re transformations of a huge kind, gains in consciousness. So he’s got us, like, in the last 40-year cycle now — it’s running down, we’re definitely tightening up — and during this period, more will happen than has happened in all previous time. This is going to peak in 2012.
Q Are you concerned about what you’d leave behind?
No. I’m hoping to leave a clean field — nothing, not a thing. I’m hoping they burn it all with me. I don’t feel like there’s this body of work that must exist I’d just as soon take it all with me. There’s enough stuff — who needs the clutter, you know? I’d rather have my immortality here while I’m alive. I don’t care if it lasts beyond me at all I’d just as soon it didn’t.
Q Maybe it will just scorch in 2012.
Yeah, I’m hoping that the transformations will make all that — everything — irrelevant We’ll all just go to the next universe as pure thought forms — wowwwnnnng. Yeah!

GRATEFUL DEAD DISCOGRAPHY:

1967 The Grateful Dead
1968 Anthem of the Sun
1969 Aoxomoxoa
1969 Live dead
1970 Workingman’s Dead
1970 American Beauty
1971 Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses)
1972 Europe ’72 (Live)
1973 History of the Grateful Dead (Bear’s Choice)
1973 Wake of the Flood
1974 Grateful Dead from the Mars Hotel
1975 Blues for Allah
1976 Steal your Face (Live)
1977 Terrapin Station
1978 Shakedown Street
1980 Go to Heaven
1981 Reckoning (Acoustic Live)
1981 Dead Set (Electric Live)
1987 In the Dark
1989 Dylan & the Dead
1989 Built to Last
1990 Without a Net (Live)

JERRY GARCIA BAND DISCOGRAPHY:

1971 Hooteroll? (w/ Howard Wales)
1972 Garcia
1973 Live at Keystone (w/ Merl Saunders)
1974 Compliments
1976 Reflections
1978 Cats Under the Stars
1982 Run for the Roses
1988 Almost Acoustic (Live)
1991 Jerry Garcia Band (Live)
1991 Garcia Grisman
1993 Not For Kids Only (w/ Grisman)
1996 Shady Grove (w/ Grisman)
1997 How Sweet it is (Live)
1998 So What (w/ Grisman)
2001 Dont Let Go (Live)
2001 Shining Star (Live)
2004 After Midnight (Live 1980)
2005 Garcia Plays Dylan (Live)
2009 Let it Rock (Live 1975)

CLICK THE LINKS BELOW TO SEE JERRY GARCIA PHOTOS:
GRATEFUL DEAD PHOTOS BY BEN UPHAM
AND
JERRY GARCIA BAND PHOTOS BY BEN UPHAM
AND
GRATEFUL DEAD ART BY BEN UPHAM
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JERRY GARCIA FINE ART AMERICA IMAGES BY BEN UPHAM

JERRY GARCIA LIKES TO ROCK OUT IN THE WOODS. PHOTO ART BY BEN UPHAM.

JERRY GARCIA BAND-
“STAYS HONEST”
BY JOHN WISNIEWSKI
THE POST STANDARD
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK
FEBRUARY 20, 1980

Singer/songwriter/guitarist Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, the most
enduring and best-loved of the San Francisco bands that came into prominence during the psychedelic music era of the late-1960s, is currently touring the, East Coast with a band of friends to raise money for the screen rights to novelist Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s “The Sirens of Titan.”
It was evident from the Garcia Band’s standing-room-only performance Tuesday night at the nearly 3,000 seat Syracuse Area Landmark Theatre that Garcia has no intentions of making the tour a simply take-the-money-and-run proposition. No matter what the motives for the tour are, they have not taken away from the integrity of the music.
This edition of the Jerry Garcia Band includes drummer Johnny D’Fronesca, keyboards player Ozzie Ahlers and bassist John Kahn — as fine a non-Dead lineup as Garcia has ever assembled. The four piece band exhibited very appealing jazz tendencies that made for some refreshing re-workings of old Garcia/Dead favorites.
“Sugaree,” the night’s opener, for instance, was an impressive showcase for Ahlers’ knockout electric-piano work and Garcia’s trademark guitar lines – lines that build into beautifully slithery and elastic melodies.
Without a doubt, the musicianship was at the forefront. While Garcia is an able vocalist, he has never been a great one. He will probably always be remembered more for his playing than his singing.
The night was full of moments of inspired improvisation by Ahlers and Garcia, who seemed at their best when playing off of each other.
Kahn’s bass work was in the same solid and-economically tasteful style for which he has become noted. And D’Fronesca’s drums left nothing to complain about. It was a night of competent and spirited musicianship that created a lot of good feeling — something for which, it seems, Garcia can always be counted on.

JERRY GARCIA BAND DISCOGRAPHY:
1971 Hooteroll? (w/ Howard Wales)
1972 Garcia
1973 Live at Keystone (w/ Merl Saunders)
1974 Compliments
1976 Reflections
1978 Cats Under the Stars
1982 Run for the Roses
1988 Almost Acoustic (Live)
1991 Jerry Garcia Band (Live)
1991 Garcia Grisman
1993 Not For Kids Only (w/ Grisman)
1996 Shady Grove (w/ Grisman)
1997 How Sweet it is (Live)
1998 So What (w/ Grisman)
2001 Dont Let Go (Live)
2001 Shining Star (Live)
2004 After Midnight (Live 1980)
2005 Garcia Plays Dylan (Live)
2009 Let it Rock (Live 1975)

CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW TO SEE JERRY GARCIA PHOTOS:
JERRY GARCIA BAND PHOTOS BY BEN UPHAM
AND
GRATEFUL DEAD PHOTOS BY BEN UPHAM
AND
GRATEFUL DEAD ART BY BEN UPHAM
AND
GRATEFUL DEAD FINE ART AMERICA IMAGES BY BEN UPHAM

JERRY GARCIA PLAYS "TERRAPIN STATION" FOR THE TURTLES AT THE LAKE. PHOTO ART BY BEN UPHAM.

GRATEFUL DEAD-
“DESCRIBE NEW ALBUM”
BY JOHN WISNIEWSKI
THE POST STANDARD
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK
OCTOBER 8, 1977

By now nearly everyone has heard or read about the events of Sept. 3 at Englishtown Raceway in Old Bridge, N J., where some 110,000 persons turned out for an 11-hour, outdoor concert by the Grateful Dead, the Marshall Tucker Band and the New Riders of the Purple Sage.
Rumor had it that the Heirs Angels and other motorcycle gangs were planning to attend the concert, the largest ever in New Jersey.
Rolling Stone reported, “The Angels, however, didn’t show, and the violence was kept to a minimum. Only two persons were arrested, and area hospitals treated about 30 persons for overdoses.”
Promoter of the concert was John Seher, who promoted the ill-fated Great American Music Fair at the State Fairgrounds here Sept. 2, 1975.
The Englishtown concert was carried on radio in the New Jersey area, as was an interview with Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann. Weir and Hart did most of the talking.
Of “Terrapin Station,” the Dead’s latest album, Weir said, “Basically, it’s the same old us dressed up in a whole new way by our producer (Keith Olsen), who’s really good at it.” “Terrapin Station” marks the first time the group has used an outside producer. “I think it was pretty well successful” Weir offered. He added the album was a good first attempt at feeling our way out as regards our relationship (with Olsen) there — if that’s to continue.”
Weir went on to say, “Sometimes with our attempts at production there are a lot of rough edges, and sometimes those rough edges have gotten in the way of the music. Keith Olsen is capable enough to capture the music without ‘overslickifying’ or whatever. Weir called Olsen “a dynamite producer. He’s much better than I’ll ever be at producing.”
Hart said of “Terrapin Station’ “It was a major effort on our part, as far as discipline goes, because we’re really not exactly what you’d call a disciplined band, you know. It was sort cf a challenge to do it. It’s a major work; it’s a larger work.
There are a few songs within ‘Terrapin Station’ to make a larger vehicle from which we could go to other places. Commenting on the origin of “Terrapin Station,” Hart said, “It’s a thing that was slowly evolved out of all of us. These little bits and ‘n’ pieces came up to the surface, showed their ugly heads and whatever.” The remark prompted Weir to retort, “I rather like it.” Hart then backtracked, saying, “No, I thought it was real nice myself. I think ugly is beautiful.”
Weir was asked about “The Grateful Dead Movie.” “I don’t know much about it”, he said. “l like the movie, Cinematographically, I think, it’s a success. The band is playing better now than we were back then, so the music is a little irksome for me. The music notwithstanding, the
movie is, I think, a good movie. I think it’ll be around for awhile”.
Asked what contemporary bands he enjoys, Weir answered, “I haven’t listened.. I’ve been too busy to listen to the radio in the last little while. I intend to take, I guess, the month of “November or something, maybe October, and listen to the radio, relax and all that kind of stuff.
But I haven’t had an opportunity to do that, so I really wouldn’t know where to start”.
At the mention of punk rock, Hart said, “If it moves me, you know, I’ll let it move me, I’m not really ashamed to be moved. Nothing has come up to my door, knocked on it and opened it up. So, I really haven’t been moved, but I’m ready. I’m certainly ready”.
On the same topic, Weir said, “I’m going to start listening to all that stuff and see if there’s anything that I like, ’cause I know that I’ve missed a lot. I’ve kind of always been this way though. But then I don’t listen to much rock ‘n’ roll’ and never have.. I like other kinds of music, almost any other kind of music really”.
When the talk turned to Kingfish (a band that served as a sidetrip for Weir), Weir said, ”I’m not entirely sure what’s happening with Kingfish. I didn’t have enough time to really devote to playing with them and it was grossly unfair. And they just went off without me. And that’s best because otherwise I would be burning the candle at half-a-dozen ends. I heard they were in England last.”
Weir said he was working on a solo album. “I hope to wrap it up, I guess., next week — or hopefully next week — for release, I guess, in mid-October. “Garcia’s (Jerry) making a record, too,” Weir added. “I don’t know anything about his record and my record is not done, so there’s not all that much to talk about.”
Hart was asked if the Diga Rhythm Band (a sidetrip for him) was “re-emerging.” “It is,” Hart replied. “It certainly is. I hope to have it working in about another month.”
Meanwhile, Warner Bros; Records has just issued “What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been: The Best of the Grateful Dead,” a two-LP set consisting of “New, New Minglewood Blues,” “Cosmic Charlie,”
‘Truckin’,” “Black Peter,” ‘.’Born Cross-eyed,” “Ripple”,”Doin’ That Rag,” “Dark Star,” “High Time,” “New Speedway Boogie,” “St. Stephen”, “Jack Straw”,”Me & My Uncle”, “Tennessee Jed”, “Cumberland Blues”, “Playin’ in the Band”, “Brown Eyed Women” and “Ramblin’ Rose”.

GRATEFUL DEAD DISCOGRAPHY:
1967 The Grateful Dead
1968 Anthem of the Sun
1969 Aoxomoxoa
1969 Live dead
1970 Workingman’s Dead
1970 American Beauty
1971 Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses)
1972 Europe ’72 (Live)
1973 History of the Grateful Dead (Bear’s Choice)
1973 Wake of the Flood
1974 Grateful Dead from the Mars Hotel
1975 Blues for Allah
1976 Steal your Face (Live)
1977 Terrapin Station
1978 Shakedown Street
1980 Go to Heaven
1981 Reckoning (Acoustic Live)
1981 Dead Set (Electric Live)
1987 In the Dark
1989 Dylan & the Dead
1989 Built to Last
1990 Without a Net (Live)

CLICK THE LINKS BELOW TO SEE GRATEFUL DEAD PHOTOS:
GRATEFUL DEAD FINE ART AMERICA IMAGES BY BEN UPHAM
GRATEFUL DEAD PHOTOS BY BEN UPHAM
GRATEFUL DEAD ART BY BEN UPHAM

JERRY GARCIA AND DONNA JEAN GODCHAUX OF THE JERRY GARCIA BAND PERFORMING ON 10-27-78. PHOTO BY BEN UPHAM.

THE JERRY GARCIA BAND-
“HOW SWEET IT WAS”
BY BEN UPHAM

After becoming an official “Deadhead” at the Winterland 12-27-77 show I was anxious to see the band again as soon as possible. My next actual Grateful Dead show wouldn’t take place for 3 1/2 years (6-14-80 Spokane), however, just as special, on October 27,1978 at the “Performing Arts Pavilion” at Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Wa. (about 15 miles from Spokane) I saw this fine double bill. The Bob Weir Band was opening and the Jerry Garcia Band were the headliners…Both bands were on the road together for a very brief, three show tour, hitting Portland, Cheney, and Seattle. They were promoting their new solo albums, “Heaven help the Fool” for Weir and “Cats Under the Stars” for Garcia, both are excellent records that were selling well at the “Eucalyptus Records” store that I worked at in Spokane.
Anticipation grew for this “Dead Event”, and some good friends of mine from Ford, Wa. (25 miles North of Spokane) were turning their van into an official “Garcia Tour Bus” packing it full of friendly Hippie folks that were heading to the show!
We all got prepared for the show (as good Deadheads do) and made our way into the venue on campus. The Bob Weir Band played first and it was a high energy set that sounded great! The band featured Weir on Guitar and Vocals, Bobby Cochrane on Guitar and Vocals, Brent Mydland on Keyboards, Dee Murray on Bass and John Maucer on Drums. They played a set mostly comprised of tracks from the new record, but threw in a few songs that the Deadheads could really relate to such as “Minglewood” and’ Lazy Lightning”.
“Poison Ivy”, “Easy to Slip” and “Shade of Grey” were the standouts for me.
After a short intermission Garcia and his band took the stage. No announcement at all, they just walked on and the crowd went nuts!
This incarnation of the Jerry Garcia Band consisted of Garcia on Guitar and Vocals, Keith Godchaux on Electric Grand Piano, John Kahn on Bass, Buzz Buchanan on the Drums and Donna Jean Godchaux & Maria Muldaur on Vocals.
The band was amazing…They came to jam, and jam they did! The first set was 65 minutes of pure Heavenly Rock Music like I had never heard before! It was so unique from the Dead, yet had so much in common as well.
Set 1:
How Sweet it Is
Catfish John
That’s what Love will make You Do
Russian Lullabye
Second that Emotion
Mystery Train
Each song was an open doorway to jamming and soloing…Garcia was playing wonderfully and having a great time. John Kahn was as good on Bass as Lesh and really complimented Jerry’s style. All of my JGB Photos are from this show.
After their break the Band came back out for a killer second set that included three songs from the new record.
Set 2:
Love in the Afternoon
Tore Up
Ruben & Cherise
Gomorrah
I’ll be with Thee
Midnight Moonlight
Everybody left the show very satisfied and happy and we all gathered outside for a big outdoor party well into the night…

My next experience with the Garcia Band came almost three years later on August 7, 1981 at “Freeborn Hall” on the University of California at Davis Campus. I was living just North of Redding, Ca. at the time. This show took place on a very hot day. I believe that it was 104 degrees outside, and unfortunately the venue had no air conditioning (or it wasn’t working). I believe that it was the same temperature inside the building, only much more humid from the mass of sweaty Deadhead bodies!
The Garcia Band had some different players this time. Kahn was still there on Bass, this time joined by Melvin Seals on Organ, Jimmy Warren on Electric Piano and Clavinet, Daoud Shaw on the Drums, and Essra Mohawk & Liz Stires on Vocals.
Set one was about 50 minutes in length (possibly shortened due to the heat?) and consisted of:
Set 1:
The Way you do the Things You Do
They Love each Other
Simple Twist of Fate
Second that Emotion
Deal
The version of “Simple Twist of Fate” (Bob Dylan song) was the standout, with Kahn showing us all his great abilities as a soloist on the Bass.
When the Band came back out for the second set it was just plain uncomfortable in that building! Sticky is an understatement! But the set we heard was SO COOL that it made things bearable…
Set 2:
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
Roadrunner
Night they Drove Old Dixie Down
Dear Prudence
Midnight Moonlight
The version of “Heavens Door” was out of this World! Jerry was playing all these gentle delicate notes that were bouncing off of the tops of everyone’s heads. The rush that it created seemed to divert attention from the dreadful heat!

About eight months later we got to celebrate Saint Patricks Day with the Jerry Garcia Band in Chico, Ca. at Chico State University.
This show was taking place under much mellower weather conditions (thank God).
The Band personnel was only slightly different from the Davis show, as they had replaced Drummer Shaw with Bill Kreutzmann of the Grateful Dead! This show had it’s own VERY UNIQUE twist of fate to it making it stand out as a very rare and historic Jerry Garcia Band show!
The show was scheduled to start at 7:00 and at about 6:30 there was an announcement from the stage that the show was going to be running a little bit late since Bass player John Kahn was brokedown on the road about a hundred miles away…Okay….Just light up another joint, relax and wait for the Bass player…right?
NO….As it turns out there was another Bass player in attendance that was VERY ABLE to hop up and join the Band onstage for the entire first set! He just so happened to live in Chico and was an old buddy of Jerry’s anyway! The Band takes the stage at about 7:10 with none other than Dave Torbert on Bass from the original New Riders of the Purple Sage! Dave played like he had been with the Band for years! Absolutely saved the day!
Set 1:
How sweet it is
Catfish John
Simple Twist of Fate
Let it Rock
Sitting Here in Limbo
Mystery Train
Torbert’s showing up was indeed a Twist of Fate that kept us all from Limbo…The whole set was the Highlight!
By the time the second set rolled around John Kahn was there and we were treated to a sweet second set that consisted of:
Set 2:
Sugaree
I’ll Take A Melody
Tore Up
Russian Lullabye
Night they Drove Old Dixie Down
Dear Prudence
Tangled up in Blue
“Melody” and “Lullabye” were the second set killers this time. A very enjoyable show that was quite historic in the guest Bass player scenario.

Sadly, I would only see one more Garcia Band show, but happily it was probably the BEST ONE!
Over eleven years had passed by since the Magical event took place in Chico. I recall seeing that the Garcia Band announced a show in Seattle and I scored a ticket pronto! The show took place at “Memorial Stadium” right underneath the Space Needle in the heart of Seattle. It was on the same date as the dreadfully HOT Davis show from 1981….August 7th. Only this time in was the year 1993 and it was outdoors on a PERFECT DAY…75 degrees, gentle breezes, and clear Blue Skies! Perfect weather for an amazing show!
We drove over from Spokane (275 miles, roughly a 5 hour drive). The place was PACKED! And there was a pretty bad back-up of people waiting to get in. I’m not sure if it was caused by the security search or what but the HUGE LINE was moving very slowly and it was approaching time for the show!
As I was about 25 people away from the point of entry I heard the Band start playing “How Sweet it is”…and I still had a ways to go once I got in, this was a very large stadium! Slightly frustrated by the slow proceedings getting in the security started to “Hurry Up” a bit once they heard the Band was playing. “How Sweet” is normally a 7-10 minute song and it took all of it for me to just get where I could actually see the field! From that point it was SMOOTH SAILING…I made my way down from the nosebleed section to the field as the band was playing their second song, “Stop that Train”. Everything was starting to sound really good as I made my way down onto the field.
I found my “Sweet Spot” about 40 yards from the stage, Dead Center. I Lit up a joint and smiled at the sky! Then the band played a song I had never heard before…”The Maker” (by Daniel Lanois) and it was a purely blissful time…Everything around me was in perfect Harmony with the Moment…Huge Smiles on all the faces I could see, Wonderful Twirling Dancers everywhere, and…as I turned around to take in the view of the whole stadium I noticed that the place had “Tye-Dye Flags” all around the entire perimeter of the stadium. I really cannot describe accurately the feeling of joy and peace that came to me during that song. Melvin Seals was playing gorgeous Piano fills around Jerrys echoed leads and the background vocals by Gloria Jones & Jaclyn LaBranch were simply beautiful. David Kemper was the Drummer this time around. The song ended with Jerry and Melvin having a Musical conversation between their instruments that was really delicate and tender…the notes drifting up high into the clear Blue Sky, just Amazing stuff…
At this point I am totally dialed in to the energy of the Moment and appreciating all of the great talent that is in front of me. The rest of the first set was spectacular, with the highlight being the Crying Solo by Jerry in “Like a Road”…
Set 1:
How Sweet it is
Stop that Train
The Maker
Run for the Roses
Like a Road
Lay Down Sally
Sisters & Brothers
Deal
For the second set I made a very smart move. I made my way up to the VERY FRONT…Right in front of Jerry…where I could make some eye contact with him…The second set started very cool…Nice and slow…working it’s way into the first song which was “Shining Star”…I had never heard Jerry do this song and it was another Diamond in his Crown that day! The female vocalists were outstanding on this track and gave me massive goosebumps in 75 degree weather! After the nearly 20 minute version of “Shining Star” the band was in high gear and glided right into the best version of “Waiting for a Miracle” that I’d ever heard! Jerrys solos were stunning that day, just cascading huge flows of notes out over the happy crowd. The rest of the set was mind-blowing and totally captivating with every song shining bright and clear…Once again I find myself struggling to find words that can describe these songs…Maybe the Yardbirds said it best when they said, “Over, Under Sideways, Down”, as it seemed like the band went EVERYWHERE!
Set 2:
Shining Star
Waiting for a Miracle
Simple Twist of Fate
Ain’t No Bread in the Breadbox
Think
Don’t Let Go
Luck Old Sun
Midnight Moonlight
And with this show I ended my Live Experiences with Jerry Garcia…
I only saw him play live 6 times (2 with the Dead and these 4 with JGB) which by Deadhead standards is a very small amount, being that many Deadheads have seen HUNDREDS of shows. My tastes are very broad Musically and so I never was able to put all of my energy into seeing one artist tons of times…It was more important for me to see as many of the really good ones at least a handful of times.
Jerry Garcia was a superior musician and he played beautifully every time I was at one of his shows…I feel very Blessed to have seen and heard him as I did. When I listen to the Tapes of these shows now I am able to transport myself back in Time to the event, and if I close my eyes I can visualize the things that I saw. It has enriched my life greatly and I thank you for that Mr. Garcia…

JERRY GARCIA BAND DISCOGRAPHY:
1971 Hooteroll? (w/ Howard Wales)
1972 Garcia
1973 Live at Keystone (w/ Merl Saunders)
1974 Compliments
1976 Reflections
1978 Cats Under the Stars
1982 Run for the Roses
1988 Almost Acoustic (Live)
1991 Jerry Garcia Band (Live)
1991 Garcia Grisman
1993 Not For Kids Only (w/ Grisman)
1996 Shady Grove (w/ Grisman)
1997 How Sweet it is (Live)
1998 So What (w/ Grisman)
2001 Don’t Let Go (Live)
2001 Shining Star (Live)
2004 After Midnight (Live 1980)
2005 Garcia Plays Dylan (Live)
2009 Let it Rock (Live 1975)
2010 Ragged But Right

CLICK THE LINKS BELOW TO SEE JERRY GARCIA PHOTOS:
JERRY GARCIA FINE ART AMERICA IMAGES BY BEN UPHAM
JERRY GARCIA BAND PHOTOS BY BEN UPHAM