JG

Sorry to keep bringing up Garcia. I've been digging a lot of the songs from this solo collection. On most of it, the Dead aren't his backing band, so it hits you differently--you don't say, "oh yeah, that loosy goosy rhythm with the tingle dinkly guitar solo". Like I said, the first album it's all him (guitar, bass, pedal steel, piano, organ)+ one of the Dead drummers. Hardly a guitar solo over 15 seconds long.
So I was googling interviews with Jerry, because they're usually pretty interesting and far-reaching. You'd think, between all the touring, recording and drug taking, when did he have time to read all these books that he goes on and on about?

So there's this one from 1988 and 2 things struck me:

1) He mentions having gone to see Suzanne Vega in NYC and how he loves her so much and offered to produce her record.
Now, that didn't happen and I can guess one of the reasons why, and it makes me feel bad for Garcia: If you are a hip, young, intelligent folk rocker from NYC you really don't want the name Jerry Garcia on your record. You may love the guy, you may love his music, but oh my god, talk about a stigma you don't wanna have. You may as well wear a tye-die on the cover of "Solitude Standing".
See? It's a trap. Hipness, man. Lou Reed, sure he can produce my album.
However, Suzanne did play with the Dead once in '88, where they covered a Robyn Hitchcock song (rather poorly).
Kate Bush having David Gilmour produce her is cutting it close--but Kate Bush was always in her own fairy tale world.

2) He mentions how it's the end of the Reagan era, and how he and most of his generation are realizing that in all, the good guys won the revolution. With the focus on ecology and peace efforts, and the 60's generation now older and in charge, they thought Reagan was the worst it could possibly get and it was now just a matter of time 'till everyone recycled and looked out for their brother and sister. Oh, could he have ever imagined..
You know there's a story that Karl Rove was beat up by a girl who supported JFK when he was 12 or something. And the theory that the neo-cons are all the guys who couldn't get laid in the 60's. Or who, like Bush said "liked the Beatles until they started getting weird" (i.e. groundbreaking)

Ok, next time I'll write about The Fall or 13th Floor Elevators so you know it's really me.