I thought he was underrated as far as the general music scene. We’d practice to get the general idea and then we’d finish it off at the gig. We’d rehearse, but he didn’t rehearse things to death. How would you describe Jerry as a bandleader? It was an experience I’ve never felt before or since. They were so happy to have Jerry Garcia back. It wasn’t the yelling and shouting, it was the love in that room. And when Jerry came out, you would have thought God himself had stepped out on that stage. He was down for a while and his first gig back was not with the Grateful Dead, it was with us at The Stone. I’ll tell you, though, I really understood the love the Deadheads had for Jerry when he went into a diabetic coma. We had to walk from the dressing room to the stage, and as I looked out, I said to myself: “Where did all these hippies come from? Where have they been?” The first time it became real was at the first gig we did. That’s when I met Jerry and put it all together. Then, after we learned all the songs with Melvin, we rehearsed with the band. I remember “Dear Prudence” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” were the ones I started with. I played in the orchestra and I always played the piano. Music was music to me, so I didn’t really question the music or the lyrics. Then, Melvin and Dee Dee and I started rehearsing the songs together. He asked me if I was interested in singing with the band and I said, “Sure, why not?” That’s how I got into it. We never disbanded, but we kind of stopped singing, and I did some recording work with Melvin in his studio. I was in a community choir and our director moved out of town. How familiar were you with Jerry Garcia and his music at that time? Your introduction to the Jerry Garcia Band came through Melvin Seals. We would go down after church to the Panhandle, and there would be some musicians playing, but we didn’t pay attention to who they were. I was young and we didn’t know the names of the bands. People complain about it now but parking was bad back then, too.ĭid you ever see the Dead perform in the Panhandle? Parking was always bad in that neighborhood. And later, when I found out from Jerry that they had moved around the corner on Ashbury, it was like, “Wow, interesting.” I can’t stress enough how wonderful it was to grow up during that time- other than maybe the parking.
Jerry garcia band rain free#
There were free concerts in the park in the Panhandle. We accepted it and went about our business. The streets were crawling with all the people coming in, but it wasn’t bad. Then, when the hippies came in, it got to the point in ‘67 where I was outside playing in my front yard and tour buses were driving around. It was just a great environment- Golden Gate Park, Kezar. You didn’t have to go downtown everything you needed was there: the movies, bowling, candy. The Grateful Dead moved into my neighborhood-that’s what I always told Jerry. You were living around the corner from the Grateful Dead in San Francisco when they moved into their house on 710 Ashbury St. LaBranch’s positive presence provided a direct link to the life and work of Garcia, as well as to their shared Bay Area origins. Jacklyn LaBranch, who joined the Jerry Garcia Band in 1982 and remained a member through Garcia’s death in 1995, contributed vocals on both legs of the tour. When the Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration returned this summer, a familiar face accompanied Warren Haynes and company.
0 kommentar(er)
