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| The vinyl version of Reckoning contained the song Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie |
I've written about this before, but my Grateful Dead origin story began in August 1992 when Eric Clapton's Unplugged CD came out. I was in the record store Digits on West Broad Street in Richmond to buy that Eric Clapton CD when the record clerk said "If you like that, you should check out the original unplugged, pre-MTV" and he handed me the Grateful Dead CD Reckoning, their live acoustic album culled from fall 1980 performances at The Warfield Theater and Radio City Music Hall. I got that CD then and there, and thus began my Grateful Dead journey.
Reckoning was a great way to jump into the Grateful Dead because it accustomed me the to the idea of live recordings and introduced me to their roots and influences. Not only did it have superb originals such as Dire Wolf, It Must Have Been the Roses, Cassidy, and Bird Song, but it also included covers and traditional songs such as The Race is On (country), Dark Hollow and Rosa Lee McFall (bluegrass), Been All Around this World (old-time/traditional), Jackaroe (Celtic folk), and Deep Elem Blues and On the Road Again (blues). This led me in all kinds of places as I started to check out artists ranging from Mississippi John Hurt to Elizabeth Cotton to Bill Monroe to Miles Davis and beyond. I was already interested in folk and Americana, but this really propelled that fascination.
The 2-CD live album simply called Jerry Garcia Band had recently come out (August 1991) so that was the first non-Grateful Dead Jerry Garcia CD that I got, followed shortly thereafter by the Garcia/Grisman CD Not for Kids Only and the self-titled CD by potent but short-lived bluegrass band Old and in the Way, featuring Garcia in a side-man role on banjo alongside Peter Rowan, David Grisman, John Kahn, and Vassar Clements. I also got the first New Riders of the Purple Sage CD since it had Jerry on steel guitar.
In 1992/1993, the idea of releasing entire, unabridged Grateful Dead or Jerry Garcia Band concerts song for song, warts and all, had not hit yet so unless you had tape trading connections you relied on the officially released live albums such as Without A Net which were almost always comprised of a la carte recordings from different live shows designed to emulate the flow of a live concert but not actually tracked start to finish from one show. For the first couple years this was my only option, although I would sometimes tape episodes of David Gans' The Grateful Dead Hour off the radio. It took a couple years, but I eventually started accumulating tapes via the kindness of Deadheads through blanks and postage, including the famous 5/8/77 Cornell and 8/27/72 Veneta Oregon shows. After I transferred from Longwood to VCU, all my college friends and I did was listen to Grateful Dead music!
I got to see the Grateful Dead with Jerry Garcia live a total of 6 times from 1994 to 1995, however, my first actual Grateful Dead related concert was The Jerry Garcia Band on 11/18/93 at Richmond Coliseum. I went to it as a complete noob (my only companion was a mate from the golf team) but I thoroughly enjoyed the music. Honestly, 1994/1995 Grateful Dead was not that good, but 1993 Jerry Garcia Band could be transcendent! Go back and listen. Later on I would see the John Kadlecik version of Dark Star Orchestra many, many times, as well as The Other Ones and Furthur. None of it was quite the same without Jerry. I kind of closed the book on The Grateful Dead with the conclusion of the Fare The Well shows in 2015 so I didn't ever really get on board with Dead and Co.
I still like to listen to the Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia Band every once in a while, but it doesn't completely dominate my listening and world view like it once did. I think that's a healthy way to go about it. Jerry Garcia remains my favorite musician of all time. Listening to him sing and play guitar is as good as music can get, in my view.
Reckoning was a great way to jump into the Grateful Dead because it accustomed me the to the idea of live recordings and introduced me to their roots and influences. Not only did it have superb originals such as Dire Wolf, It Must Have Been the Roses, Cassidy, and Bird Song, but it also included covers and traditional songs such as The Race is On (country), Dark Hollow and Rosa Lee McFall (bluegrass), Been All Around this World (old-time/traditional), Jackaroe (Celtic folk), and Deep Elem Blues and On the Road Again (blues). This led me in all kinds of places as I started to check out artists ranging from Mississippi John Hurt to Elizabeth Cotton to Bill Monroe to Miles Davis and beyond. I was already interested in folk and Americana, but this really propelled that fascination.
The 2-CD live album simply called Jerry Garcia Band had recently come out (August 1991) so that was the first non-Grateful Dead Jerry Garcia CD that I got, followed shortly thereafter by the Garcia/Grisman CD Not for Kids Only and the self-titled CD by potent but short-lived bluegrass band Old and in the Way, featuring Garcia in a side-man role on banjo alongside Peter Rowan, David Grisman, John Kahn, and Vassar Clements. I also got the first New Riders of the Purple Sage CD since it had Jerry on steel guitar.
In 1992/1993, the idea of releasing entire, unabridged Grateful Dead or Jerry Garcia Band concerts song for song, warts and all, had not hit yet so unless you had tape trading connections you relied on the officially released live albums such as Without A Net which were almost always comprised of a la carte recordings from different live shows designed to emulate the flow of a live concert but not actually tracked start to finish from one show. For the first couple years this was my only option, although I would sometimes tape episodes of David Gans' The Grateful Dead Hour off the radio. It took a couple years, but I eventually started accumulating tapes via the kindness of Deadheads through blanks and postage, including the famous 5/8/77 Cornell and 8/27/72 Veneta Oregon shows. After I transferred from Longwood to VCU, all my college friends and I did was listen to Grateful Dead music!
I got to see the Grateful Dead with Jerry Garcia live a total of 6 times from 1994 to 1995, however, my first actual Grateful Dead related concert was The Jerry Garcia Band on 11/18/93 at Richmond Coliseum. I went to it as a complete noob (my only companion was a mate from the golf team) but I thoroughly enjoyed the music. Honestly, 1994/1995 Grateful Dead was not that good, but 1993 Jerry Garcia Band could be transcendent! Go back and listen. Later on I would see the John Kadlecik version of Dark Star Orchestra many, many times, as well as The Other Ones and Furthur. None of it was quite the same without Jerry. I kind of closed the book on The Grateful Dead with the conclusion of the Fare The Well shows in 2015 so I didn't ever really get on board with Dead and Co.
I still like to listen to the Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia Band every once in a while, but it doesn't completely dominate my listening and world view like it once did. I think that's a healthy way to go about it. Jerry Garcia remains my favorite musician of all time. Listening to him sing and play guitar is as good as music can get, in my view.
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