What's the deal with Jerry?

[zappahead]

You are gonna run into a problem by trying to find a single song where Jerry was brilliant. Jerry was what he was and personally I think recognizing how great he was goes beyond taste in music.  
 
Jerry was very different from the names I saw in the initial post. If you are looking for a guitar god or someone who tore frets up with blistering speed and precision, he really isnt gonna be your guy.  
 
Jerry had an inate ability to strike a cord and connect to people through his music. His guitar playing (for a lot of us) was a huge part of the mix, but Im not sure you can disconnect him from his songs which are not just simply vehicles for him to solo off of.  
 
He did do a lot of things you dont see everyday. How many of the other so called guitar gods routinely played as the centerpiece of a band performing improvised music night in and night out? Jerry might not have been able to do some of the things others can do from a sheer technical standpoint, but the guy also did things that some of the most widely proclaimed guitar players could never do and wouldnt even attempt to do.
 
On his best night he was the best I have seen, thats personal taste, but I think his place in the scheme of things is more than secure even if you dont like his music. His body of work speaks for itself.

[studiorecluse]

Zappahead,
Thanks for the thoughts.  I don't know where the idea that I was looking for a guitar god or someone who tore frets up with blistering speed and precision came from, if that is your view of Carlton and Akkerman then you have missed the best they have to offer.  
 
A guitar hero to me must posses sufficient skill to relay what is in the heart, but skill as it's own reward is a shallow art.  Since this started I have listened to more Dead than probably ever before combinded, and I see some of what you are saying about the improve.  But doing something different isn't always enough- Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull used to play concerts standing on one foot.  That didn't make him a good flautist, although he was/is.  
 
If what is special about Jerry is that he had the yarbles to play off the top of his head night after night, OK, then my question is answered.  I think really what I am hearing is that the beauty of Jerry is the way he played as part of a bigger thing.  That thing included the music, the band, and the audience.  It is remarkable how well the Dead followed each other musically.  That is a gift and a fine one at that.  
 
So maybe that's the answer.  Maybe the deal with Jerry is the way he became part of a bigger thing, greater than the sum of the parts.
 
Cary

[David Houck]

Nice analysis Cary!

[the_8_string_king]

I think much of Jerry?s guitar work on the live recording ?Grateful Dead? (1971) (unofficially dubbed ?Skull and Roses? or ?Skullf***? (Phil?s nickname) ) is brilliant or at least borderline brilliant.  I?d especially recommend their covers of ?Mama Tried? and ?me and my uncle.?
 
For that matter, the whole band SMOKES on that recording; it's my personal all-time favorite live Dead recording. And, lest I forget, for any who may not know, the recording was done by none other than Alembic!

[kmh364]

Ahhhh! Now you're on to something! You've gotten a good start now...keep on with your journey and see where it leads! Something about the Golden Road To Unlimited Devotion...?!?!?! LOL! J/K.
 
More food for thought:
 
Remember what I said about the Harley analogy?  
 
For me, It's about how it makes you feel. Virtually all bikes, like virtually all music, are cool in their own way and are fun...but, to me, the way a Harley makes me feel when riding it is like the way Jerry and the Dead make me feel when I experience their music: unlike most of the others, IT JUST FEELS RIGHT!!!!!  
 
That's as close as I can come to quantifying and qualifying the whole thing in words.
 
Cheers,
 
Kevin

[lbpesq]

Cary:
 
You're getting it.
 
Bill, tgo

[studiorecluse]

Well, when I started this thread I knew that I was opening a can of worms, but this has definitely played out differently than I had expected.  I think that what I am reading here is that (contrary to the above mentioned Akkerman, Carlton and Johnson... and Coltrane for that matter) nobody can name a song where Jerry is brilliant.  You like them because you like them.  Period.
I am reminded of a story of the emperor?s new clothes... (ROFL)
Thanks for the ride.
Cary

[keith_h]

I have to say I never got the Dead either however I had friends in high school that were fanatics.  
 
Keith

[David Houck]

Ok Cary, I'll throw out one.
 
the best examples of Jerry's playing  
- song and album
 
Unbroken Chain from Mars Hotel
 
It's not the best example, but it's one of my favorite tunes and since the only other suggestion so far, Let It Grow from View From The Vault I, is hard to come by, I'm offering this one as a starting point.  (I'm quite surprised that of all the Garcia fans on this board, Charles was the only one to take you up on your challenge.)  So give Unbroken Chain a try.  When you get to the instrumental part, listen not only to what Jerry is playing but the setting as well; the chord changes, the time signatures, the mood of the piece.  Notice his use of synchopation and phrasing.  He's not trying to blow anyone away, he's responding to and complimenting what the other instruments are playing.  In my view, Jerry's not about showing off and saying see what I can do on the guitar; Jerry plays from the heart.  His playing is a conversation with the band and with the audience.  Yes he's noodling; but in Unbroken Chain he's improvising over some complex chord changes and time signatures, and crafting a nice pleasing statement that fits the mood of the piece, and making it all sound quite natural and easy.  It's not the best example of his work, but it's a good example of what he's doing.  And it's one of my favorite tunes!  It's also a good showcase of Phil Lesh's playing and that of Keith Godchaux.

[lbpesq]

Cary:
 
Jerry was brilliant on ALL of them, even when he was wasn't!  You want a specific song that shows off technique?  Try Crazy Fingers or Sage & Sirit on  Blues for Allah  A specific song(s) that epitomizes playing from the soul?  Try Saint Stephen > The Eleven off of Live/Dead.  Songs that show off Jerry's broad range and versatility?  Try CSN's Teach Your Children!  Yup, that's Jerry on pedal steel!  Or how about the original Old & In The Way album - Jerry on Banjo!  Or the Grisman recordings - Jerry on acoustic.  Jerry as songwriter?  Listen to Ripple on American Beauty.  All of the material people have named above are illustrative of Jerry's brilliance.  Spend some time listening to them.  Maybe you'll get it, maybe you won't.  Meanwhile I'll listen to the river sing sweet songs to rock my soul.
 
Bill, tgo

[David Houck]

Bill's right; it's all so good, it's hard to pick one out.  But here are a couple more for you to consider.
 
the best examples of Jerry's playing  
- song and album
 
Help On The Way/Slipknot from Blues For Allah
 
King Solomon's Marbles from Blues For Allah
 
 
I love Help On The Way/Slipknot; and I would like to see it make our setlist.  My guitar player and I worked on it once; it's quite complex.
 
I wouldn't have thought of King Solomon's Marbles, but I just listened to it closely and it's very complex.  Jerry's doing some very neat stuff here, as is the whole band.

[zuperdog]

Hah! Funny, Dave! I've also been working on Help on the way/Slipknot with my band. Complex, indeed; also a brilliant show of Jerry's playing. There's a lot more going on there than first meets the ear, as usual. Although, I also have to agree that it's hard to pick just one, I'll second your vote.
 
I also have to repeat that hearing Jerry, or anyone from the Dead for that matter, play on a recording is more than slightly lacking from the experience that went along with their playing. There's a reason so many people followed them around the country to see them play, rather than just sit at home and listen to an album. I second the Video/Movie necessity as well. It's at least a step in the right direction... as close as you can get now.
 
Also, try sitting down and jamming along with a song or two. As much as I liked the dead before, I don't think my true admiration for Jerry's playing was there before I sat down and started trying to play what he was playing.
 
Cheers!
Rob

[kmh364]

Inclusive of all that was mentioned above, don't forget those 32nd (64th?) notes from the Terrapin Station Suite, or how about the sublime envelope filter stuff from the same album's Estimated Prophet or Go To Heaven's Althea? I could go on forever, ad nauseum.
 
The point is, unlike Yngwie,Carlton, Akkerman, Eric Johnson, etc., Jerry was not a GUITAR God, has never been billed as such, and never wanted to be such. He was a gifted musician that knew how to soulfully communicate through many instruments.  
 
I can tell you exactly where to go (in a song or two) for all of the other players mentioned here in order to showcase their guitar chops, but not for Jerry. Jerry was a lot of different things to a lot of different people...remember what I said about if I had to explain? LOL!
 
Cheers and enjoy the music!
 
I know I will,
 
Kevin  
 
P.S., too bad SF is so far away, or I'd be spending New Year's Eve with Phil Lesh and Friends groovin' to old Dead ditties (et al) instead of Southside Johnny and the Asbury Dukes...he's a lot closer (i.e., Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ), LOL!

[spose]

as much as I dig the Dead..I was always more of a JGB fan.  
check it..
 
Jerry Garcia Band
After Midnight
Eleanor Rigby
After Midnight (Reprise)
from Kean College, 2/28/80

[studiorecluse]

THANK YOU.
This is what I wanted- I will indeed check out these recordings.  It took a little ribbing, but now I have what I was after.
Have a wonderful New Years, the lot of you.
Cary