Photo © Jay Blakesberg / Retro Photo Archive

In celebration of Jerry Garcia’s 80th birthday, which occurred last week on Aug. 1, Relix has put together Jerry Garcia: 80 for 80, a playlist of music that works through a sliver of the virtuoso musician’s immense live and studio recorded catalog. The playlist consists of over 11 hours of music, ranging from instrumentally composed masterpieces to electric numbers that will keep your head bopping and hips shaking. In addition, we’ve pulled in some folk-laden arrangements to round out Jerry Garcia: 80 for 80, giving listeners a genre-bending exploration of Garcia’s vast archive. 

Jerry Garcia: 80 for 80 presents a selection of tracks performed by Garcia alongside Legion of Mary, New Riders of the Purple Sage and Old & In The Way, along with a number of collaborations featuring Merl Saunders, David Grisman, Howard Wales, John Kahn, Tony Rice, Robert Hunter and more. While there might be a noticeable lack of Grateful Dead compilations, listeners might be surprised when they land on a track off Bear’s Sonic Journals: Dawn of the New Riders of the Purple Sage, featuring a 22-year-old Bobby Weir. The latter sings lead on “Slewfoot,” more commonly known as “Ole Slew-Foot,” a tapped recording by Owsley Stanley from Family Dog in San Francisco on Aug. 28, 1969. Needless to say, all 80 songs offer something to get excited about as you move from track to track on a journey through Garcia’s 35 year career.  

The playlist was co-curated by Relix assistant editor Hana Gustafson and editor-in-chief Dean Budnick, who shared the duty of pulling songs and compiling arrangements for Jerry Garcia: 80 for 80. The release of the playlist comes after the launch of our latest August issue of Relix, which highlights aspects of Garcia’s life through interviews and stories as told by friends, family and collaborators. Read a synopsis of the current issue here and order the magazine by following this link

In celebration of Garcia and the Days Between, which conclude today on the 27th anniversary of the musician’s passing, we have also shared the second part of a 1980 Relix interview conducted by Jeff Tamarkin, which corresponds with the first section of the conversation which was shared last week on the musician’s birthday, Aug. 1. 

Read Jerry Garcia: The Relix Interview (Part I) and Jerry Garcia: The Relix Interview (Part II)

To stream Jerry Garcia: 80 for 80, visit Relix’s Spotify channel or click here