Remembering Jerry on year 70
8/1/2012
August 1, 1940, Jerry Garcia, the man that so many acknowledge as the ultimate performance artist to have ever lived, was born to musician parents in Palo Alto, CA. Both were of generations from the San Francisco area that during the time of Garcia's upbringing was on the cusp of becoming the mecca of counterculture for activism and experimentation. In the late fifties the bluesy, folk rock was a presence to be heard within the touring circles. And at the age of 15 Jerry acquired his first guitar after having been accustomed to piano lessons from his parents since an early age. He entirely learned the rudimentaries of the instrument himself as his parents didn't play the guitar. So for the first year, using an improperly tuned electric with a small amplifier, he practiced becoming versed in the sounds and feel. After a year, he met a peer who became a playing partner for a time and devoted hours a day to developing his skills. The direction he was going in his life prior to college was an an artist, but in his late teens his talent developed where he began playing small gigs in the San Francisco scene with like minded players of David Nelson and John "Marmaduke" Dawson. By the mid 1960's the friends went in separate directions. Nelson moved to LA with Robert Hunter who became a vital part to the Grateful Dead during it's formation in the next few years. Early on Garcia teamed up with Ron "Pigpen" McKernan and they played as an ensemble of side projects until the joining of the other musicians Phil Lesh on bass, Bill Kreutzman on drums, and finally Bob Weir at which point the band called "The Warlocks" was officially formed.
Their comarderie was strong, living together in a house in Haight Ashbury San Francisco where they shared an important closeness that began to take shape in part due to the movement that was underway. Vietnam had been going on since 1964 after Lyndon Johnson's declaration in response to the shelling of a US Navy ship. At the same time, the triumph of the Free Speech Movement in Berkley, CA for which anyone whose read the chapter in Ayn Rand's Capitalist, understands the severity of those demonstrations. "The Acid Tests" were a ritual of gathering at one's home or venue to experiment with the drugs which were emerging among college campuses and being tested by the CIA. Among the group that helped popularize this counter culture were the Merry Pranksters that included author Ken Kesey, Tim Leary, Kenn Babbs, and Mountain Girl. The liscivous activities brought on a strange pyscodelic creativity and "The Warlocks" had become the regular entertainment. From this, their reputation grew for their musical prowess and social presence within the scene. Soon after "The Warlock's" learned that their name was in use by another band and in the late decade, the name was changed to the Grateful Dead after Garcia fumbled upon it after having glanced through a dictionary.
According to a 1994 article Jerry reflects upon the era: "up to that point we had been playing all of the time, six nights a week then do a Sunday afternoon show and another one that night. During the "Tests" their was less demand. We could play a few songs and then stop if we felt like it." Although these weren't necessarily the formative years of the Grateful Dead, they were immensely important in the conscious development of the band for exploring the realm of mysticism that could transcend the otherwise confining stricture of the music. The one to lead the group through the fog of play was Garcia as they tested melodies and wandered through uninhabited musical riffs on stage. The nickname given to Garcia was, "Captain Trips." As quoted from the book Sweet Chaos" Carol Brightman says, "If the Acid Test planted the seeds from which the Grateful Dead grew like Jack's beanstalk, Jerry Garica's attachment to traditional American music provided the seedbed."
Jerry was at the time married to a young girl who he met at a coffee shop and had one child together. A life of constant touring, drugs and independence didn't nurture the family life and his marriage ended. Throughout his road life a strong compassion existed between him and ardent follower Carolyn Adams aka Mountain Girl, who he later married in 1981. With her he had two daughters before they eventually went their separate ways. A forth child was had in 1987 with Manasha Matheson.
Jerry Garcia, the musician, not the family man though is what he'll always be remembered as. Sprinting all areas of the map to follow a relentless touring agenda during the heyday of the bands existence from the mid 1970's through the late eighties, developing a following that spawned a devotion never seen before. They hit most everywhere they could including stops in London, Paris, Germany, Egypt and others. It may be unfair to define specific locations as promenant destinations for where they played but the home stints in San Francisco and performances in New York provide convincing argument that these were among the top venues.
In later years hearing Garcia speak about the adoration that he showed for the fan base is heart touching. It's a dynamic that seems to have kept him in humble reserve as a person. He comments on the position of influence from the captivating loyalty that the fans displayed. In an interview he said, "For the first 18 years or so I had a lot of doubts about the Grateful Dead. I thought that maybe this is a bad thing to be doing because I was aware of the power. So I did a lot of thing to sabotage it, I thought I won't be a part of this. I dragged my feet as much as possible but it still kept happening." He went on deeper to express the impact on people's minds from what they were able to create musically and foster socially. He said, "I've made an effort not to be aware of it because it's perilously close to fascism. If I started to think about controlling that power or fiddle around with it, then it would become fascism. This is something that I learned from my pyscodelic experience, you don't want to be king."
A poignancy from the musical legend is evident in the sound perfection emanated from the band that derived some broad commercial appeal from the 1971 track "Truckin'" and later had a hit with "Touch of Grey" in 1987. During the median years though they were fueled with a passionate outlook on life and continually experimented with sound and collaborations with different artists and projects. It's still seen today with the popularity and influence of the remaining members playing to the crowd in festivals and shows. The Grateful Dead played over 2300 shows archiving more than 500 individual songs.
Garcia was asked during a 1994 interview about his personal stance on global interests such as the environment and he reflected upon the support him and the band had shown in preserving the rain forests. For him it was a process of evaluation to find the organization that was a legitimate shared believer fighting for the the right cause. Paraphrasing his comments he expressed, the environment is something that what we are and from where we've evolved. There's a vast wisdom up there and we're here casting our viewpoint on the world or maybe we are the viewpoint of something much larger.
His presence among those of us on Earth who have the opportunity to enjoy the force that he helped design, will be felt for generations to come. We thank Jerry for the inspiration, comaderie, culture and of course the Music!
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