Jerry Garcia Band

History

Over the years, the lineup of the Jerry Garcia Band changed many times. The one constant member besides Garcia himself was bassist John Kahn, who served as Garcia's principal musical collaborator outside of the Grateful Dead after 1970. The group did not perform between November 1978 and October 1979; during that year, Garcia, Kahn and keyboardist Merl Saunders (who performed with Garcia and Kahn from 1971 to 1975 in the Saunders/Garcia Band and Legion of Mary) briefly formed Reconstruction, a more egalitarian jazz-funk ensemble. Melvin Seals had the next longest tenure, serving as keyboardist from 1980 onward. Kahn briefly led the group (rechristened JGB) following Garcia's death in 1995; after Kahn's death in 1996, Seals became the bandleader. Seals is the only remaining member from the final iteration of the Jerry Garcia Band in JGB.

Jerry Garcia's musical interests were famously varied, and this was reflected in the diverse music played by his band. Like the Grateful Dead, the Jerry Garcia Band played rock music that was influenced by blues, folk, country, and jazz in an improvisatory milieu that largely served as a framework for Garcia's solos. However, the group eschewed the former band's avant-garde and world music influences in favor of a slower, groove-based "bar band" approach strongly oriented toward rhythm and blues (the band often featured female backing vocalists characteristic of the genre), gospel music and reggae; rock versions of contemporary Americana were also prominent.

Staples of the band's repertoire included Holland–Dozier–Holland's "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" (widely perceived as the group's signature song and their most-performed song), Peter Rowan's "Midnight Moonlight," Jimmy Cliff's "The Harder They Come" and "Sitting in Limbo," The Sensational Nightingales' "My Sisters and Brothers," Hank Ballard's "Tore Up Over You," Bob McDill and Allen Reynolds' "Catfish John," John Lennon's "Dear Prudence," Jesse Stone's "Don't Let Go," Allen Toussaint's "I'll Take a Melody" and "Get Out of My Life, Woman," Little Milton's "That's What Love Will Make You Do," Chuck Berry's "Let It Rock" and "You Never Can Tell," Bruce Cockburn's "Waiting for a Miracle," Irving Berlin's "Russian Lullaby," Smokey Robinson's "The Way You Do the Things You Do" and "I Second That Emotion," Peter Tosh's "Stop That Train," Bob Marley's "Stir It Up," Robbie Robertson's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," The Manhattans' "Shining Star," Van Morrison's "And It Stoned Me" and Norton Buffalo's "Ain't No Bread in the Breadbox." The band also performed Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's "Ole Man River" and Miles Davis' "So What" on one occasion apiece. As with the Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia regularly covered many songs by Bob Dylan with the group, including "Tangled Up in Blue," "Simple Twist of Fate," "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," "Forever Young," "Señor (Tales of Yankee Power)" and "When I Paint My Masterpiece."

Although the repertoire was strongly tilted toward covers, several Garcia-Robert Hunter originals (including "Run for the Roses," "Mission in the Rain," "Gomorrah," "Cats Under the Stars" and "Reuben and Cerise") were performed exclusively or near-exclusively by the group; however, several of the duo's songs ("Deal," "They Love Each Other," "Sugaree," "Ripple," "Friend of the Devil") were performed by both groups.

During Garcia's lifetime, the Jerry Garcia Band released one studio album, Cats Under the Stars, and one live album, Jerry Garcia Band. Several more live albums were released posthumously.

Discography

Personnel

Following are the lineups for the Jerry Garcia Band's live performances.