Search - Jerry Garcia :: Garcia

Cause for celebration

John Stodder | livin' just enough | 05/12/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"With the release of Jerry Garcia's first solo album on CD for the first time in many years -- complete with a wonderful remastering and a generous supply of alternate takes (really more like demos, but they are well performed) -- it is now possible to hear all the best of the Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter collaboration. For about three years, these two turned out some of the most beautiful, evocative songs about America ever written. From "Workingman's Dead" in 1970 through "Wake of the Flood" in 1973, Jerry and Bob filled the album tracks with portaits of working men, gamblers, gunfighters, visionaries, lovers and losers, and crafted a mythical vision of the American soul that is only rivalled in artistry by The Band, and that would make Mark Twain smile. All of this set to the most gorgeous melodies and inventive musicianship that reflected the fullness of the American folk, country and blues traditions, while maintaining an experimental edge.



Long unavailable, "Garcia" features some of the best songs and richest performances from this fertile period. Garcia plays all the instruments except for drums, and takes full advantage of the freedom the solo format gave him. Some of the tunes sound much like the Dead--"Sugaree" and "Deal" could have fit easily on "American Beauty"--but he becomes a musical painter on other cuts like "The Wheel," "To Lay Me Down," and "Loser," which feature layers of guitars and piano. The album also has a few instrumentals, some of which seem like stoned noodling, but at least one of which is a fine song, "Eep Hour."



The demos are thoroughly enjoyable, but they are similar performances to the official versions, with the layers of instruments stripped away. It's not why you'd spend money on this disc.



If you are a fan of "Workingman's Dead," "American Beauty," or "Europe '72," then you will be thrilled to hear "Garcia.""

A Brilliant Yet Dirty Gem Of An Album...

Mike | Philadelphia, PA, USA | 05/20/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Garcia" offers an interesting counterpoint to Bob Weir's "Ace". Where "Ace" offers mostly straight-laced tunes, "Garcia" offered more experimental arrangements. It would be hard to imagine a song with such celestial soundscapes like "Bird Song" or "The Wheel" on "Ace".



This album features 6 songs that were assimilated into the Dead's Live Reportoire.



"Deal" and "Loser" are songs very relative to those on "American Beauty" and "Workingman's Dead", which deals with people living the hard life, in this case, gamblers.



"Bird Song", a tribute to Janis Joplin, is filled with a smattering with guitars and organ that just echo a certain pain that Garcia must've felt.



"Sugaree" is somewhat based on an old folk tune with similar titles. This song probably has the sparsest arrangement on the album, with only acoustic guitar, bass, drums, and electric guitar fed into a Leslie Speaker.



"To Lay Me Down" is subliminal in it's subject matter. It could be about lost love, or the death of the 60's dream, choose your own interpretation.



"The Wheel" however feels like a solution to the pain and suffering presented throughout the other songs. But the solution could be different for everybody.



The other songs on the album are little snippets of electronic sound experiments that bridge between the 2 sides of the album.



"Late For Supper" and "Spidergawd" work well as an introduction to "Eep Hour". "Eep Hour" being an instrumental "song" on the album, it works well as transition back to Earth for "To Lay Me Down", but for some strange reason, there's no bass in the song. The only bottom end one hears is Kruetzmann's bass drum, but it's just not enough? How come there isn't any bass, did Garcia ever get asked about it and have a good answer for it? 'Cause I'd Like To Know.



"An Odd Little Place" also works well as an intro to "The Wheel", but there isn't much besides that."

I'm so happy I bought this CD!

MMS | Spokane, WA United States | 04/02/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've been a fan of the Grateful Dead studio output for maybe about ten years. I've recently joined the real deadheads somewhat and have started to appreciate the live jams. I'm coming along on the jam side of the Dead, which I think is the side that most deadheads love, but I absolutely love the great stuff from the "studio dead." I guess the studio dead is Workingman's Dead and American Beauty. This album should be bought by fans of those two abums. I think this is from the same era, and Jerry Garcia really seems to be at some sort of creative high. It provides a window into the "jam dead" in easily digestible 3-6 minute songs on some of the tracks, and further proof that Jerry Garcia could write great concise songs as well. There are a few spacy instrumentals that lead up to "Eep hour" that aren't all that great, but, as stated in the liner notes, these can work as an intro to Eep hour. If you're on the fence about this one, there are 7 incredible songs on this album, buy it!"