Jerry Garcia: The Complete 1985 "Frets" Interview (HD Audio)
Jerry Garcia: The Complete 1985 "Frets" Interview (HD Audio)
A Musical Masterclass With the Founder of the Grateful Dead
In celebration of the Grateful Dead’s upcoming twentieth anniversary, I was hired by the acoustic-instrument Frets magazine to do a Jerry Garcia cover story interview. After a series of postponements at Jerry’s request, we finally met mid-afternoon on January 12, 1985, in the San Rafael, California, home of a Grateful Dead supporter who was letting Jerry stay there. Two other people were present in the room during our conversation: Lissy Abraham, a freelancer and dedicated Deadhead who had volunteered to write the intro for the Frets cover story, and my friend Jon Sievert, who showed up midway through the interview to shoot the cover photo.
In the spirit of full disclosure (and to help explain some of the sounds heard during the interview), I think it’s best to mention Jerry’s condition on the day of the interview. After our arrival, he shuffled slowly into the living room. His black T-shirt was sprinkled with white powder and his fingertips were blackened. Jon Sievert, who knew Garcia far better than I did, wrote that “Jerry was probably at his absolute nadir at the time of the interview, as witnessed by his bust in Golden Gate Park six days later. In between the interview and the bust, the band and Mountain Girl staged an intervention in which Jerry was told he had to choose between drugs and the band. In the few times I was around Garcia in a private setting, that was the only time I saw him openly snort cocaine. What I remember most, however, was how articulate he remained when talking about music. As you can tell by listening to the tape, his enthusiasm never waned.”
I have to agree with Jon: Garcia was bright, articulate, and thoughtful as he revealed a wealth of insight into the creative process, guitar playing in general, his acoustic shows, the Grateful Dead, and other subjects. After I completed my interview, Jon Sievert asked Jerry about Clarence White, which sparked additional conversation. I’ve included this section in the podcast, along with the sounds of Jerry playing an acoustic guitar as birds sing in the background.
Here’s the audio of our complete interview:
About a year after this interview, Jerry Garcia’s struggles with drug addiction and poor dietary habits led to his falling into a diabetic coma. He recovered and continued to play, but his physical decline continued. On August 9, 1995, the 53-year-old suffered a fatal heart attack during a stay at a rehabilitation clinic. Luckily for us, his brilliant musicianship lives on in countless official and unofficial recordings.
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For more on Jerry and the Dead, check out this podcast:
Bob Weir: Psychedelia and the Birth of the Grateful Dead
Thanks to Dennis McNally for setting up this interview, to podcast producer Nik Hunt, to the University of North Carolina’s Southern Folklife Collection, and to all of my subscribers — your support is much appreciated!
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