Jerry Garcia Band

Jerry Garcia Band

Company type	Band
Industry	Music
Founded	1975
Founder	Jerry Garcia
Defunct	1995
Headquarters	San Francisco Bay Area , United States
Products	Rock music performances and recordings

The Jerry Garcia Band was a rock ensemble based in the San Francisco Bay Area, fronted by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. Established in 1975, it served as Garcia's main side venture until his passing in 1995. Over more than twenty years, the band toured extensively and recorded intermittently, often performing during breaks from Grateful Dead activities.

History

Although the official adoption of the Jerry Garcia Band name occurred in early 1976, its origins date back to 1970 with club performances featuring Garcia, Merl Saunders, John Kahn, and a rotating cast of musicians including Tom Fogerty, Martin Fierro, Nicky Hopkins, and drummers like Bill Kreutzmann. The partnership between Garcia and Kahn began in 1970 at San Francisco's Matrix club.

The band's lineup changed frequently; while Garcia remained constant, bassist John Kahn was a steady collaborator throughout, and keyboardist Melvin Seals became a long-standing member from 1981 onward.

Embodying Garcia's wide-ranging musical tastes, the group blended rock with elements of blues, folk, country, and jazz but preferred a laid-back, groove-oriented "bar band" approach emphasizing rhythm and blues, gospel, and reggae influences. This style stood in contrast to the Grateful Dead’s experimental tendencies. The ensemble regularly included female backing singers typical of R&B bands. Drummer David Kemper observed that the band favored relaxed tempos guided by Garcia and Kahn.

Their core repertoire featured covers such as Holland–Dozier–Holland's "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)"—which became their hallmark tune—Peter Rowan's "Midnight Moonlight," Jimmy Cliff's "The Harder They Come," and Bob Dylan songs including "Tangled Up in Blue," "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," among others. Additionally, they performed original compositions by Garcia and Robert Hunter like "Run for the Roses," "Cats Under the Stars," as well as sharing some pieces with the Grateful Dead such as "Deal" and "Sugaree."

The band took a hiatus from late 1978 until late 1979; during this interval, Garcia, Kahn, and Saunders briefly formed the jazz-funk group Reconstruction.

Linda Kahn highlighted that John Kahn was responsible for selecting much of the band's cover material from his vast record collection, tailoring song choices to suit evolving personnel.

Throughout Garcia’s lifetime, the band released one studio album, Cats Under the Stars, along with one live album titled Jerry Garcia Band. Numerous live recordings were issued posthumously.

Following the commercial breakthrough of the Grateful Dead's 1987 album In the Dark, the Jerry Garcia Band expanded their performance venues from smaller clubs to larger arenas and amphitheaters—particularly across northeastern U.S. markets—while maintaining a regular presence at San Francisco’s Warfield Theatre, which seats 2,300. Clarence Clemons notably appeared as a guest during tours in 1989-1990.

After Garcia’s death in 1995, John Kahn briefly led a renamed version known as JGB. Upon Kahn’s passing in 1996, Melvin Seals took over leadership; as of 2017, he remains the only member from the final Jerry Garcia Band lineup still active with JGB.

Personnel

Throughout a span of more than twenty years, the Jerry Garcia Band's live configurations underwent considerable transformations, mirroring deliberate partnerships and changes in their artistic approach.

August 5 – December 31, 1975	Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals John Kahn – bass Nicky Hopkins – piano, vocals Ron Tutt – drums
January 9–10, 1976	Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals John Kahn – bass James Booker – piano, vocals Ron Tutt – drums
January 26, 1976 – August 12, 1977	Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals John Kahn – bass Keith Godchaux – piano, vocals Donna Godchaux – vocals Ron Tutt – drums
November 15, 1977 – November 3, 1978	Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals John Kahn – bass Keith Godchaux – piano, vocals Donna Godchaux – vocals Maria Muldaur – vocals Buzz Buchanan – drums
October 7, 1979 – March 27, 1980	Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals John Kahn – bass Ozzie Ahlers – keyboards, vocals Johnny d'Fonseca – drums
July 18– November 16, 1980	Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals John Kahn – bass Ozzie Ahlers – keyboards, vocals Greg Errico – drums
December 20, 1980 – June 1, 1981	Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals John Kahn – bass Melvin Seals – organ Jimmy Warren – electric piano, clavinet Daoud Shaw – drums
June 25 – August 23, 1981	Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals John Kahn – bass Melvin Seals – organ Jimmy Warren – electric piano, clavinet Bill Kreutzmann – drums Essra Mohawk – vocals Liz Stires – vocals
September 7, 1981	Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals John Kahn – bass Melvin Seals – organ Jimmy Warren – electric piano, clavinet Bill Kreutzmann – drums Julie Stafford – vocals Liz Stires – vocals
September 18 – November 20, 1981	Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals John Kahn – bass Melvin Seals – organ Jimmy Warren – electric piano, clavinet Ron Tutt – drums Julie Stafford – vocals Liz Stires – vocals
December 17, 1981 – June 24, 1982	Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals John Kahn – bass Melvin Seals – organ Jimmy Warren – electric piano, clavinet Bill Kreutzmann – drums Julie Stafford – vocals Liz Stires – vocals
October 13–23, 1982	Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals John Kahn – bass Melvin Seals – organ Greg Errico – drums
October 24, 1982–June 5, 1983	Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals John Kahn – bass Melvin Seals – organ Greg Errico – drums Jaclyn LaBranch – vocals DeeDee Dickerson – vocals
July 20, 1983–August 28, 1984	Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals John Kahn – bass Melvin Seals – organ David Kemper – drums Jaclyn LaBranch – vocals DeeDee Dickerson – vocals
September 15, 1984–September 28, 1985	Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals John Kahn – bass Melvin Seals – organ David Kemper – drums Jaclyn LaBranch – vocals Gloria Jones – vocals
October 7, 1985–February 2, 1986	Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals John Kahn – bass Melvin Seals – organ Gaylord Birch – drums Jaclyn LaBranch – vocals Gloria Jones – vocals
February 21, 1986–November 19,1993	Jerry Garcia – guitar, vocals John Kahn – bass Melvin Seals – organ David Kemper – drums Jaclyn LaBranch – vocals Gloria Jones – vocals
February4 ,1994–April23 ,1995	*JerryGarcia—guitar,vocals *JohnKahn—bass *MelvinSeals—organ *DonnyBaldwin—drums *JaclynLaBranch—vocals *GloriaJones—vocals

Discography

• Cats Under the Stars – 1978
• Jerry Garcia Band – 1991
• How Sweet It Is – 1997
• Don't Let Go – 2001
• Shining Star – 2001
• Pure Jerry: Theatre 1839, San Francisco, July 29 & 30, 1977 – 2004
• After Midnight: Kean College, 2/28/80 – 2004
• Pure Jerry: Lunt-Fontanne, New York City, October 31, 1987 – 2004
• Pure Jerry: Lunt-Fontanne, New York City, The Best of the Rest, October 15–30, 1987 – 2004
• Pure Jerry: Merriweather Post Pavilion, September 1 & 2, 1989 – 2005
• Pure Jerry: Warner Theatre, March 18, 1978 – 2005
• Garcia Plays Dylan – 2005 (a compilation featuring tracks by the Jerry Garcia Band)
• Pure Jerry: Coliseum, Hampton, VA, November 9, 1991 – 2006
• Pure Jerry: Bay Area 1978 – 2009
• Let It Rock: The Jerry Garcia Collection, Vol. 2 – 2009
• Garcia Live Volume One – 2013
• June 26, 1981, Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, CA – 2013
• Garcia Live Volume Two – 2013
• Fall 1989: The Long Island Sound – 2013 (featuring Jerry Garcia Band alongside Bob Weir & Rob Wasserman)
• Garcia Live Volume Four – 2014
• Garcia Live Volume Five – 2014
• On Broadway: Act One – October 28th, 1987 – 2015 (includes performances by both Jerry Garcia Band and Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band)
• Garcia Live Volume Seven – 2016
• Garcia Live Volume Eight – 2017
• Garcia Live Volume 10 – 2018
• Electric on the Eel – 2019
• Garcia Live Volume 11 – 2019
• Garcia Live Volume 13 – 2020
• Garcia Live Volume 16 – 2021
• Garcia Live Volume 17 – 2021
• Garcia Live Volume 19 – 2022
• Garcia Live Volume 20 – 2023
• Garcia Live Volume 21 – 2024
• Live at the Warfield – scheduled for release in 2025

See also

• JGB Band

Further reading

• Jackson, Blair (1999). Garcia: An American Life Penguin Books. ISBN 0786507101

External links

• Jerry Garcia official site
• Grateful Dead official site
• JGB official site