Jerry Garcia
I have an obsession with music. I listen to, catalogue, research, edit, store, collect and mix as much of it as I can fit into my life. I think the main reason behind this uncontrollable passion, which I am sure will plague me for the rest of my days, is Jerry Garcia. The first record I ever bought was ‘Terrapin Station’ by the Grateful Dead, one of the bands for which Garcia was the front man. It was on my ninth birthday that I bought a vinyl copy of this album and I treasure it to this day. At the time I think I was probably drawn to it by the crazy artwork and headstrong rocking anthems such as ‘Passenger’ and ‘Estimated Prophet’. It wasn’t until much later, when I had a library of music as basis for comparison, that I realised that very few musicians, singers or songwriters could top that of Jerry Garcia. Tracks such as ‘Ripple’ and ‘Scarlet Begonias’ are nothing short of lyrical perfection, and the flow and tact of Garcia’s many different styles of guitar playing are now legendary. Garcia died in 1995 and no matter how much music I obsess over, covet and crave, I am still to find an artist as impressionable and inspiring as he.
