Jerry Garcia
2020
Multi-Layer Woodcut Relief Print
12” x 12”
^click this text for video link
The 7/18/89 performance of Dear Mr. Fantasy beautifully encapsulates the Grateful Dead’s collaboration as well as their respect and admiration for one another. The song begins with keyboardist Brent Mydland singing the lyrics of the song, which are about a performer who helps his audience to escape from their troubles through music, even if only for a short while. The second verse goes on to describe how that responsibility is both physically and emotionally exhausting for the performer. The entire time Brent is looking directly at Jerry Garcia, lead guitarist, with a look of admiration in his eyes. The lyrics he sings are particularly heavy, as both Brent and Jerry would, years later, die of overdoses that were the indirect result of the many years they had spent performing. At the end of the second verse, Jerry’s guitar starts malfunctioning- an issue with the pickups. He struggles with this for a few seconds, and there is a noticeable lack of his presence in the song where he was supposed to begin his solo. Brent notices this and breaks out into his own solo, giving Jerry time to switch to another guitar and rejoin the ensemble. At the end of the jam, they bring it back and repeat the second verse, this time Jerry and Brent are singing together and directly to each other. The mutual respect and admiration is almost palpable, and they both sing with such emotion.
With these pieces I wanted to highlight this group dynamic, as it is part of what makes the Grateful Dead so impactful. This respect and admiration is not exclusively within the band either. Lyricist John Barlow once described in an interview “a symbiosis between the audience and the band” being a two way street, claiming that the band feeds off the energy of the crowd. This sentiment is common among both band members and Deadheads alike. Going to a Grateful Dead concert, it felt like you were part of it, because in a way you were. Arguably even more so than the psychedelic drugs that were common at Dead concerts, this interaction between band and audience created an experience like no other.