He was 29 when Garcia was released, but his voice was of some indeterminate age. When Garcia sings these roles, he sounds older than he was at the time he recorded them. And yet, there he was, doing it over and over again. I remember an interview with Bob Weir in which he talked about this-how difficult it was for him to sing songs in which he was a gunslinger or a criminal. It’s a challenge, first-like taking on an acting role in a part that goes against one’s natural type. There’s something appealing for a singer about settling into this kind of narrative persona-getting fearlessly inside the head of a bad person.
“Me and My Uncle.” “Jack Straw.” “Candyman.” “Mexicali Blues.” “El Paso.” The songs generally referred to as “cowboy songs,” and those generally in the “gambler” category. (Did I really just use the phrase “houses of ill-repute”?) The characters may or may not be cowboys, but they do seem, generally, to be gamblers, or thieves, or both. “Deal,” which opens the album, is a perfect example, a perfectly-crafted gem of a song that kicks off a set of songs with a character who may be the same as the one in a number of other songs, including another one on Garcia, “Loser.” Are they the same character?Ī certain subset of Grateful Dead songs seems to be set in the same time and place-the American West pre-automobile, but well-enough settled to have plenty of bars and houses of ill-repute. Jerry Garcia’s first solo album, Garcia, yielded quite a set of songs for the band’s repertoire over the years.
(I’ll consider requests for particular songs-just private message me!)
#Mexicali song buddy free#
Therefore, the best part, I would hope, would not be anything in particular that I might have to say, but rather, the conversation that may happen via the comments over the course of time-and since all the posts will stay up, you can feel free to weigh in any time on any of the songs! With Grateful Dead lyrics, there’s always a new and different take on what they bring up for each listener, it seems. Here’s the plan-each week, I will blog about a different song, focusing, usually, on the lyrics, but also on some other aspects of the song, including its overall impact-a truly subjective thing.
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