Jerry Garcia Songbook:
His Solo Repertoire

Aspiring guitarists and musicians alike ought to be excited about the long overdue release of the Jerry Garcia Songbook. This collection compiles nearly 90 songs from Jerry Garcia’s solo repertoire and makes the perfect complement to the previously released Grateful Dead Anthology. As Garcia’s long-time fans are aware, the lead guitarist performed a huge array of cover songs at his solo performances, and these ran the gamut from classic rock (Van Morrison’s He Ain’t Give You None, Eric Clapton’s Lay Down Sally, and Bob Dylan’s Positively 4^th Street — to name a few) to country (Merle Haggard’s Sing Me Back Home) to reggae (Peter Tosh’s Stop that Train) to gospel (Charles Johnson’s My Sisters and Brothers) to folk (Elizabeth Cotton’s Oh Babe, It Ain’t No Lie) to blues (the Roy Hawkins/Rick Darnell tune The Thrill Is Gone). Of course, there are quite a few of Garcia’s compositional collaborations with Robert Hunter included as well.

Like its predecessor, the Jerry Garcia Songbook includes a full listing of lyrics for each tune, and the songs are all arranged in guitar lead line format. Unlike its predecessor, this collection features a short forward by Alan Trist, the head of Ice Nine Publishing, as well as a complete discography, numerous insightful photographs, and a terrific historical essay by San Francisco Chronicle critic Joel Selvin. As such, the Jerry Garcia Songbook becomes a valuable resource for both musicians and collectors interested in Garcia’s world outside the Grateful Dead.