Jerry Garcia - Garcia Plays Dylan

The Grateful Deads's revered Jerry Garcia pursued an eclectic array of side projects throughout his life. While he always remained central to the Dead's sound and mythology, his other acclaimed musical incarnations included the Jerry Garcia Band-both acoustic and electric configurations-the short-lived, jazz flavored Legion of Mary, solo outings featuring Merl Saunders, and bluegrass supergroup Old and In The Way. On his own and with the Dead (who toured with Dylan), Garcia's interpretations of the "Zimmerman" canon are rich musical masterpieces that embody the very soul of American roots music. This newly compiled 2-disc set celebrates many of the best of those memorable performances. Album Description

Jerry Garcia and Dylan

Many people attempt to sing Dylan songs. Jerry always seems to nail it; in his own style. This is a great two CD set. The cover is different as advertised. No Problem. It features the Jerry Garcia Band - Legion of Mary and of course the Dead. Jerry up front in all three. Highly recommended. August 15, 2007

THERE ARE SOME OUTSTANDING COVERS HERE....

This was a great album to get. Jerry Garcia sings Dylan is the first disc to properly combine the talents of Jerry (and The Dead in some cases) with the genius of Bob Dylan. It was attempted in the late eighties with Dylan and The Dead, an album that while although the album cover was pretty cool, the material was pretty much all very lame. It was also attempted a few years before this release with Postcards Of The Hanging: Grateful Dead do Dylan... also, less then exceptional.
Here it is done well. Here I can't complain that the album gets stale as it plays out like I could with Postcards... (I think the main reason with Postcards is that most of the cuts are Bob Weir singing really lengthy Bob Dylan tunes and Bob Weir just shouldn't sing that much. I mean, I've seen him do a few Dylan covers well in in concert, but stacked on top of each other they get old fast)
Jerry handles Dylan much nicer, and in fact, the tunes performed with Jerry Garcia Band are much better then songs he performed with the Dead.. (perhaps Dylan and The Dead just don't mesh as well as it seems like they should).
In point... I think that SHE BELONGS TO ME is the same version from Postcards, and that may have been the one stand out track from that disc, so right away it should be easy to just forget about it and put your eggs into this basket.
The bulk are from The JGC and are easily the highlights...my personal top three are TOUGH MAMA, WICKED MESSENGER and TALES OF YANKEE POWER although pretty much everything is worth listening to. They don't seem like a waste of time, it feels like there is emotion to these takes, and the band bring it a life of their own. That is essentially why this disc is good, and Postcards isn't.
Here new life is added to Dylan songs, there its like a karaoke show, and you wish you just had the real Dylan cuts.
Here is a disc thats worth listening to, whether you are a fan of Dylan or Jerry or The Dead or all of the above... there is some great stuff on here. January 26, 2007

Nice

This is quite good for anybody who wants a good representation of Jerry's interpretations of Dylan's music, with some fine versions of Tough Mama and Simple Twist of Fate. I must admit that I am a sucker for Jerry Band covers of Dylan. The Dylan lyric with the Jerry Band mojo is perfect for Jerry's style and soul to come shining through. A regrettable omission is Tears of Rage. April 8, 2006

Dylan play some Garcia

I love Dylan and I love Jerry even more, so it goes without saying that I probably enjoyed this two-disk set more than the casual fan of either artist would. That being said, if you are strictly a Dylan fan you should enjoy the majority of these tracks. If you are strictly a Garcia fan you will certainly love all of these tracks. If you are both you are in for a real treat. This compilation has been done before with "Postcards From The Hanging" a few years back. However, Postcards was all Grateful Dead interpretations of Dylan. This comp includes Jerry's other projects, which are the highlight of the majority of the album.

Sound quality is generally very good considering the time periods. Highlights include a scorching Tough Mama, a surreal Knockin' on Heaven's Door (Donna wails well in this one folks), Simple Twist of Fate & I Shall Be Released are excellent, there is no other option, Tangled Up In Blue includes some mind boggling guitar work. The album closes with a nice take on It's All Over Now Baby Blue circa 1990 Dead. These are just highlights to me mind you (there are more I'm sure); the rest of the disk is great as well. The only glitch may be the 13-minute Masterpiece where Jerry butchers the lyrics (not in a forgetful sense, in a tonal sense. However, the guitar work is typical jaw dropping Jerry). Wicked Messenger wears me a little thin as well.

Overall a great compilation of work played by one of the greatest musicians (and his cast of friends) ever, interpreting one of the greatest songwriters ever, now that's hard to beat.
January 25, 2006

This is a must have

The songs on this two-disc set are some of Dylan's greatest (Tangled up In Blue, Knockin' On Heaven's Door, Simple Twist of Fate, and It's All Over Now, Baby Blue to name a few) being covered by Jerry throughout his career (both with the Dead and the Jerry Garcia Band). Rhino did a great job compiling these tracks. While they come from different bands over many years, all the songs flow well together and this is a collection that you'll treasure forever. This is truly a must have for both Jerry and Dylan fans. December 29, 2005

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