Remembering the Psychedelic Rock pioneer and 1960’s counterculture icon Jerry Garcia
The musician is mostly remembered for founding the San Francisco band Grateful Dead
Remembering the Psychedelic Rock pioneer and 1960’s counterculture icon Jerry Garcia
Jerry Garcia was born Jerome John Garcia on August 1, 1942, in San Francisco, California. His parents, José Ramon “Joe” Garcia and Ruth Marie Clifford Garcia were both musicians, which heavily influenced Jerry’s musical inclinations from an early age. Tragically, Garcia’s father died in a drowning accident when Jerry was just five years old, an event that profoundly impacted his childhood.
Garcia’s musical career began during his teenage years when he started playing the guitar. He was particularly influenced by rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and bluegrass music. In the early 1960s, Garcia became a prominent figure in the San Francisco music scene, performing with various bands. His breakthrough came when he co-founded the Grateful Dead in 1965, a band that would become legendary for its eclectic style and marathon live performances. The Grateful Dead, with Garcia as their lead guitarist, primary vocalist and one of the band’s main songwriters, became synonymous with the counterculture movement of the 1960s. Among their most notable songs are “Dark Star”, “China Cat Sunflower”, “Truckin'” and “Rosemary.”
The band, who lived in a Hippie community house in the epicenter of the Hippie movement, Haight-Ashbury, were already very popular act in San Francisco when they released their first album “The Grateful Dead” in 1967 and they were notorious for their long live jams that would often divert into several music styles such as f rock, folk, country, jazz, bluegrass, blues and gospel, which would culminate into a psychedelic signature sound, having their almost steady place in several popular concert halls at the time such as the Filmore and The Avalon Ballroom.
As the 1960’s came to an end and the hippie movement started to dissipate, the Grateful Dead carried on as a band, and with a cult following of fans that became known as “deadheads.”
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Garcia continued to thrive with the Grateful Dead, contributing to classic albums like “American Beauty” and “Workingman’s Dead.” Despite his struggles with substance abuse, which at times affected his health and performance, Garcia remained a beloved figure in the music world. In addition to his work with the Grateful Dead, he pursued various side projects, including the Jerry Garcia Band, which allowed him to explore different musical genres and styles.
The Grateful Dead had a popular resurgence during the 1980’s scoring two hits with the 1987 songs “Touch of Grey” and “Throwing Stones”, both with music videos that aired on heavy rotation in MTV.
Jerry Garcia married four times and had several children. His relationships and lifestyle often mirrored the tumultuous and free-spirited nature of the era he was a part of. Garcia’s health issues, exacerbated by his drug use, led to several attempts at rehabilitation, but he continued to struggle with addiction throughout his life.
Jerry Garcia passed away on August 9, 1995, at the age of 53. He died of a heart attack at the Serenity Knolls Treatment Center in Forest Knolls, California, where he was undergoing a rehabilitation program after decades of struggle with obesity, smoking, and longstanding heroin and cocaine addiction. His death marked the end of an era for the Grateful Dead and left a significant void in the world of music.
Garcia is often considered the pioneer of the 1960’s West Coast Psychedelic Rock; he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Grateful Dead in 1994 but declined to attend the ceremony.
Watch the 1987 music video for one of the Grateful Dead’s most popular songs, “Touch of Grey”
Also take some time to experience the Grateful Dead famous live jams with this 1974 performance of “Dark Star”, live at the Winterland, San Francisco
Watch more 1960’s related videos
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