Jerry Garcia

Guitarist Jerry Garcia earned lasting renown as the creative force behind the Grateful Dead, the ensemble he co-established in 1965 and guided until his passing three decades later. Throughout those years he simultaneously fronted the Jerry Garcia Band, while also exploring folk and country idioms in assorted lineups that sometimes found him on banjo or pedal steel. The Grateful Dead nevertheless remained his central platform, yielding thousands of concerts and dozens of albums—many captured live—of which twenty-eight reached Billboard’s rankings before his death, among them the platinum sellers Workingman’s Dead, American Beauty, Europe ’72, Skeletons from the Closet: The Best of Grateful Dead, What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been: The Best of the Grateful Dead, and In the Dark, plus eight additional gold-certified titles. Although the group rarely chased singles, Garcia wrote or co-wrote the music for four of its six Billboard Hot 100 entries—“Uncle John’s Band,” “Truckin’,” “Alabama Getaway,” and the Top Ten smash “Touch of Grey”—as well as his lone solo chart success, “Sugaree.” Beyond music, he came to symbolize the 1960s hippie ethos, the psychedelic-fueled counterculture the Dead represented for their devoted followers, the Deadheads, and for the wider public.

Born Jerome John Garcia on August 1, 1942, in San Francisco, California, the second son of Spanish immigrant Jose Ramon Garcia and former nurse Ruth Marie (Clifford) Garcia, he received his middle name in tribute to composer Jerome Kern. His father, once a clarinetist, saxophonist, and bandleader, abandoned music after a union dispute and purchased a tavern; young Jerry lost the upper half of his right middle finger in a wood-chopping mishap at age four, then lost his father to a fishing accident the following year. After his mother assumed tavern management, the boy lived with grandparents for five years before rejoining her upon her 1953 remarriage. The family relocated repeatedly across San Francisco and its suburbs; Garcia attended multiple schools, repeated eighth grade, and showed greater aptitude for art, enrolling at the California School of Fine Arts in summer 1957. For his fifteenth birthday that year his mother exchanged an unwanted accordion for a guitar. He soon joined high-school bands, lost interest in academics, dropped out in January 1960, and enlisted in the Army that April, only to receive a dishonorable discharge eight months later.

At eighteen Garcia settled informally in Palo Alto, performing in clubs and bookstores near Stanford University and meeting future longtime collaborators, including poet Robert Hunter, with whom he first played bass in the duo Bob & Jerry. During the early-1960s folk revival he immersed himself in old-time country and bluegrass, performing guitar and banjo in groups such as the Sleepy Hollow Hog Stompers, the Wildwood Boys, and the Hart Valley Drifters. In winter 1962–63 he met Stanford student Sara Lee Ruppenthal; they performed as Jerry & Sara, married April 25, 1963, and welcomed daughter Heather Garcia—later a classical violinist—on December 8, 1963.

Following his marriage Garcia took a job at a music store. In 1964 he joined the jug band Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions, whose members included guitarist Bob Weir and singer-harmonica player–keyboardist Ron McKernan (Pigpen). The group electrified in early 1965, added drummer Bill Kreutzmann, renamed itself the Warlocks, recruited bassist Phil Lesh by June, and first performed as the Grateful Dead that December. Its debut single, the traditional pair “Stealin’” and “Don’t Ease Me In,” appeared on Scorpio Records in June 1966, with Garcia singing lead. That autumn he unofficially produced Jefferson Airplane’s Surrealistic Pillow—contributing arrangements, guitar, and the album title—yet contractual restrictions listed him only as “musical and spiritual advisor.” The Grateful Dead’s self-titled Warner Bros. debut followed in March 1967, featuring Garcia’s “Cream Puff War” and reaching the Top 100. By then he had separated from his wife (later divorced) and begun living with Carolyn Adams, known as Mountain Girl, mother of daughters Annabelle (1970) and Theresa (September 1974).

Although Anthem of the Sun (July 1968) credited all songs to the band, Garcia had already enlisted Hunter for lyrics, a partnership formally introduced on Aoxomoxoa (June 1969). The Garcia–Hunter composition “Dark Star” received its definitive reading on Live/Dead (November 1969). Concurrently Garcia took up pedal steel, co-founded the country-rock New Riders of the Purple Sage with John Dawson and David Nelson, and sat in for Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (“Teach Your Children”), Jefferson Airplane (Volunteers), and It’s a Beautiful Day (Marrying Maiden). His first solo track, “Love Scene,” appeared on the 1970 Zabriskie Point soundtrack. Club dates with keyboardist Howard Wales led to the album Hooteroll? (Douglas, 1971), credited to Wales and Garcia.

Country-rock leanings surfaced on Workingman’s Dead (May 1970), seven of whose eight songs Garcia composed or co-composed, including the band’s first chart single, “Uncle John’s Band.” American Beauty (November 1970) yielded further Garcia contributions—“Friend of the Devil” and “Ripple”—both later widely covered. The New Riders’ Columbia debut (summer 1971) extended the sound; Garcia departed amicably that autumn yet played on Powerglide and produced Home, Home on the Road (1974). His own Warner Bros. debut, Garcia (January 1972), split between country-rock and experimental material, reached the Top 40 behind the single “Sugaree.” Fantasy issued Heavy Turbulence (1972) and Fire Up (1973) under Merl Saunders’s name, though both featured Garcia’s club band, preserved live on Live at Keystone (1974).

Grateful Dead (September 1971, “Skull & Roses”) introduced Garcia–Hunter songs “Bertha” and “Wharf Rat”; the triple album Europe ’72 (November 1972) added “He’s Gone,” “Brown-Eyed Woman,” and “Tennessee Jed.” In winter 1973 Garcia formed the bluegrass ensemble Old & in the Way—alongside David Grisman, Peter Rowan, John Kahn, and either Richard Greene or Vassar Clements—which debuted March 1, lasted a year, and released a 1975 Round Records album that charted. Round and its parent Grateful Dead Records emerged after the Warner contract expired; their first release, Wake of the Flood (October 1973), contained five Garcia compositions.

Round’s Garcia (June 1974), retitled Compliments after a promotional sticker, consisted largely of covers yet reached the Top 50. Grateful Dead from the Mars Hotel followed weeks later, again featuring five Garcia–Hunter originals. The band’s October 1974 Winterland stand was filmed and recorded before a touring hiatus. Garcia’s Saunders band, now called Legion of Mary, continued until summer 1975. That year Garcia ended his relationship with Adams and briefly partnered with filmmaker Deborah Koons before returning to Adams in 1977.

Blues for Allah (August 1975) consisted mostly of Garcia material. The first official Jerry Garcia Band—Kahn, Nicky Hopkins (soon replaced by Keith Godchaux), and Ron Tutt—appeared on Reflections (February 1976), half Garcia–Hunter originals and half covers, which peaked at number 42. Touring resumed June 1976; Grateful Dead Records closed temporarily after Steal Your Face, and the band signed with Arista. Garcia edited footage into The Grateful Dead Movie (June 1, 1977). Terrapin Station (July 27, 1977) featured his sidelong suite “Terrapin Part One.” His Arista solo debut, Cats Under the Stars (April 1978), credited to the JGB, comprised entirely original material yet missed the Top 100. Shakedown Street (November 1978) contained only three Garcia–Hunter songs. Reconstruction, a jazz-oriented side project with Kahn and Saunders, lasted nine months in 1979; Garcia then re-formed the JGB with keyboardist Ozzie Ahlers and drummer Johnny d’Fonseca, the lineup changing seven times over three years while Kahn remained.

Go to Heaven (April 1980) yielded the chart single “Alabama Getaway.” October 1980 Warfield and Radio City shows produced Reckoning, Dead Set, and the video Dead Ahead. No new studio recordings followed until 1987. Garcia married Adams on December 31, 1981, largely for tax reasons; they had already separated. Run for the Roses (October 1982) included three Garcia co-writes plus Beatles and Dylan covers and barely reached number 100.

Drug use, long centered on psychedelics (with arrests in 1970 and 1973), escalated to cocaine and heroin, resulting in a January 18, 1985, arrest. Garcia avoided jail by entering treatment and performing a benefit. Smoking and other habits further eroded his health. On July 10, 1986, he suffered a three-day diabetic coma. During recovery Adams and their daughters returned. He resumed JGB dates in October and Grateful Dead shows in December.

While reconciled with Adams, Garcia began a relationship with fan Manasha Matheson, who gave birth to daughter Keelin Noel Garcia on December 20, 1987. They separated in 1989. The Grateful Dead’s first album in seven years, In the Dark (July 6, 1987), went double platinum and reached the Top Ten behind “Touch of Grey.” October 1987 Broadway acoustic and electric shows yielded Almost Acoustic (1988). The Dead toured extensively; the JGB expanded its reach, including a September 1989 arena tour. Built to Last (Halloween 1989) contained three Garcia–Hunter songs and earned gold certification.

In February 1991 Garcia formed an acoustic duo with Grisman, releasing Jerry Garcia/David Grisman on Acoustic Disc; 1990 Warfield JGB dates supplied the 1991 Arista set Jerry Garcia Band, his first solo chart album in nine years. The Grateful Dead remained his primary commitment. After falling ill on August 4, 1992, he returned with the JGB on October 31. He separated from Matheson in December 1992, resumed his relationship with Koons in 1993, divorced Adams that year, and married Koons on Valentine’s Day 1994.

Further Garcia–Grisman collaborations appeared, including Not for Kids Only (September 1993). The Dead grossed $45.6 million in 1993 and $52.4 million in 1994. Archival releases such as One from the Vault (1991) and Two from the Vault (1992) began satisfying collector demand. The band’s final concert occurred July 9, 1995, at Soldier Field. Garcia entered the Betty Ford Clinic shortly afterward, left after two weeks, then checked into a Forest Knolls facility on August 8. He died of a heart attack in his sleep on August 9, 1995, at age 53.

The surviving members’ December 1995 announcement that the Grateful Dead would disband without him surprised no one. Later configurations included the Other Ones (1998) and the Dead. Posthumous releases proliferated: ongoing archival concert series, Grisman compilations (Shady Grove, 1996; So What, 1998; The Pizza Tapes, 2000; Been All Around This World, 2004), Pure Jerry on the Garcia estate label, and Garcialive on ATO. Tribute albums and concerts kept the music alive for new generations.

In May 2015 the surviving members organized the all-star Dear Jerry tribute; two months later they reunited for 50th-anniversary concerts at Soldier Field, with Trey Anastasio of Phish filling Garcia’s role—the first performances under the Grateful Dead name since his death. A previously unreleased 1962 Hart Valley Drifters recording appeared in 2016.