JGB exclusive Garcia/Hunter collabs - Poll!

The Dead thread is active enough that I thought there'd be a few people who'd spilled over into the JGB world too! Was I wrong?

Not wrong, missed the thread, excited to ponder. Reuben is my instinctive choice as I’ve deeply loved it for decades but I don’t even know all of these so I’ve gotta give ’em a listen!

I do have to add - thinking about these songs is making me deeply wistful for the pre-streaming era. Somewhere along the line as a teenager I picked up a tape of Garcia & Kahn @ Oregon State Prison 1982, a single acoustic set. That tape was my introduction to 3 of these tunes - Run for the Roses, Valerie, Reuben & Cherise. I was pretty neutral on Valerie but those other 2 tunes, it felt like stumbling on a treasure chest you had no idea existed. I wore that shit out and cherished it like gold. Still have the exact cadence of Garcia's Reuben intro burned in my brain... "this song's got a lotta words, I might not remember 'em all." Feeling sad for my kids and their generation how much harder it is to have that experience of getting let in on something arcane and precious and rare.

Missed this too! Interesting to see who participates.

My gut says "Mission in the Rain", since hearing versions of that early one in the days when friends played tapes was a "holy crap, why is this gem buried?" moment. I still have a soft spot for it. "Reuben" would be a close runner-up.

It gets a little weird thinking about some of the others, like I really dislike the studio version "Run for the Roses", but I've heard some exquisite live takes.

I made a playlist (for the 3 of us? lol) in case others want to brush up before voting:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6QwRUESb9Y7dkK56p3iOeq?si=e7c68a9161cc4294

Thanks Lavator! I like the JGB studio records, even if invariably & as usual the best versions of these songs are live ones. What a loss that Midnight Getaway and Leave the Little Girl Alone didn't enter live rotation.

Palm Sunday too, for that matter...! Shoulda closed every JGB show ever!!

Oh whoooa, I fucked up! -- today I learned that Leave the Little Girl Alone is actually Kahn/Hunter, not Garcia/Hunter. And here I spent decades certain it was a (lesser, sure, but good) Garcia tune.

Head spinning a bit, pursuing the Kahn/Hunter line led me to learn that there's a *third* (actually the first of the three, chronologically) Kahn/Hunter composition on Compliments Of: Midnight Town. Sounds like it would've been a good one live -- but the more remarkable thing is hearing how Garcia and Hunter returned to the chorus motif years later for Lazy River Road.

1984 live version of Rhapsody in Red that bursts into flame in the back half.

I really dislike the studio version "Run for the Roses", but I've heard some exquisite live takes.

Yeah, that's an especially glaring studio/live divide that I'd say Reuben & Cherise shares as well. I'm fond of the studio Roses and Reuben both, but it's partly *because* of how odd they sound. Whereas, listen to this 1990 Run for the Roses! Pure starlight.

don't know all of these, but i do know and love "gomorrah" and know a great version of "run for the roses" w/ john kahn from one of the garcialive tapes. i'll take a listen to the playlist.

listened and i am glad i did. "rhapsody in red" is a banger, so is "cats under the stars," but "gomorrah" is still the one for me.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Narrowed it down to Reuben, Mission, and Midnight Getaway, then really had to wonder... Mission in the Rain is one of the best and clearest-eyed songs of depression ever. I love Midnight Getaway's patience, the way the narrator hesitates and lingers on his lonesome way out, and above all that long, slow, ecstatic outro. But Reuben has an ecstatic outro too, live. And Hunter in my favorite myth-making mode. And those cyclic chords of Jerry's.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Glad to see those four lurker votes. And one for Cats under the Stars! One of my favorite Garcia riffs.

Really I'm just glad I made this poll and that people participated, now I'm on a GD / JGB / Furthur kick all over again. Just want to say here how glad I am John Kadlecik joined the scene. I get the sense people harp on him because of the whole Dark Star Orchestra tribute band connection, but to me he sounds more like someone who just really loves Jerry and internalized some of Jerry's skillset. The way he's kept the flame burning...! I listen to more of his solo side-projects than I do to Ratdog or Phil & Friends.

Lurker voter here. I’ve found myself putting on JGB more than the Dead for a while now. I travel a lot with a friend who cannot stand the noodley/meandering parts of the Dead, but I can get away with JGB in the van.