Remembering Jerry Garcia
In remembering this very complex man I would (of course) like to do justice to (firstly) his musical memory. For me no other guitar player has EVER come close to Jerry. It wasn’t a matter of his technique (there were more technically gifted players) but rather what (through his music) he managed to ‘do with my head’ when he played. Garcia was a master alchemist of ‘musical moo
d’ and could and did take me on inner journeys that were beyond my ability to describe. His was music for ‘stoned people’ and in those days we were all ‘off our tits’ letting him lead us through gardens of earthly and heavenly musical delights. I ALWAYS felt ‘safe’ with Garcia in the sense that I felt I could ‘surrender’ to his music and after a long and discursive musical ‘journey’ he would both whip me round the universe at great speed and generally ‘blow me away’ before gently depositing me back at the beginning of the musical journey. He was for me the master of improvisation and a man of exquisite musical taste. On a personal level as a Tour Manager, there was never a man easier to work for, though he could be absolutely scathing should something happen of which he disapproved. His ‘core criteria’ for our gigs (and I did over three hundred with him) was “is this going to be FUN?” - if the fun came FIRST then the rest, he believed, would naturally follow. He was RIGHT!! He had to make some hard calls in his personal life and I am convinced that his life as a musician became almost too much to bear but who am I to judge the man ? To this day I listen to him play every day - his music says it all. He was a wonderful and VERY human man. RIP Jerry and THANK YOU - one love ♥
