Audio CD review:
Merl Saunders & Jerry Garcia - Live at Keystone, Vol. 1

Merl Saunders & Jerry Garcia - Live at Keystone, Vol. 1

Band: Merl Saunders & Jerry Garcia Title: Live at Keystone, Vol. 1 Rating: Release Date: 1990-10-25 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Keepers - Jerry Garcia, Saunders, Merl 2: Positively 4th Street - Jerry Garcia, Dylan, Bob 3: The Harder They Come - Jerry Garcia, Cliff, Jimmy 4: It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry - Jerry Garcia, Dylan, Bob 5: Space - Jerry Garcia, Saunders, Merl 6: It's No Use - Jerry Garcia, Clark, Gene [1] 7: Merl's Tune - Jerry Garcia, Saunders, Merl

I can't believe I didn't know about this I'm 52 and I didn't know. OMG. I've missed 30 years of listening to this! I've been a Dead fan since college in 1973, and I've got most of the Garcia Grisman stuff, but I never knew there was a funk/Dead collaboration (never mind funk/Dead/Reggae for "The Harder They Come". Thank goodness for the Amazon list that turned me on to this one. My pod has 8000 songs on it, but this is now on the top. Sorry not to offer a more sophisticated review, but if you are "of my generation" and you also missed this one, jump on it now. There is still time. Best Garcia Live disc available! It is the (along with the 2 other Keystone recordings) Garcia album that I keep coming back to over and over. I have absolutely loved this album since first getting it as a record in the 70's. Jerry's singing is as soulful as on any recording he ever made. His gitar playing during this period is a bit more sparse than during later periods, but is as emotional as it gets. Although "Space" and "merls tune" are a bit lacking compared to the Dead's jams, all the other songs are classics. On "It's too late" (my personal favorite) Jerry makes his gitar sing. Merl's keyboards complement Garcia very well. He gives Jerry the room to shine shine shine. If you buy only one Garcia album this is it. (Vol 2 and Keystone Encores rate a close 2nd and 3rd. ). Live At Keystone, Vol. 1 [LIVE] Get all of the Keystone releases. Get this. John Kahn is a fantastic bassist who provides an interesting contrast to the Dead's bass player, Phil Lesh. His playing helps bring out plenty of sweet lyrical magic from Jerry's guitar. you gotta have this on vinyl - get the cd Positively & It Takes A Lot To Laugh are classics in themselves - everything else is candy and its way sweet candy - you wont be disappointed - get this CD. You can see a complete list of all Merl Saunders & Jerry Garcia discography, or go back to the Merl Saunders & Jerry Garcia tabs