Grateful Dead Origins

Every story has a start… Follow the Grateful Dead's transformation from a bar band performing as the Warlocks to becoming the creators of their own sound and forefathers for the jamband culture with GRATEFUL DEAD ORIGINS, an original graphic novel written by Chris Miskiewicz and illustrated by Noah Van Sciver.

This Grammy-nominated disc heralds the origins of the highly acclaimed acoustic duo of Jerry Garcia (guitar/vocals) and David "Dawg" Grisman (mandolin). They had been chums for years by the time they began their direct partnership in earnest on December 7, 1990, with a nine-song set at the Sweetwater in Mill Valley, CA. Over half of that material would be reworked the following spring – for inclusion on this disc – at Grisman's newly appointed, plush, and well-lit Dawg Studios. Along with David Grisman Quintet members Jim Kerwin (bass) and Joe Craven (percussion/fiddle), Garcia and Grisman revive a few familiar tunes covering every dimension of popular music, ranging from the blues ("The Thrill Is Gone") to folk-rock ("Friend of the Devil"), as well as pop music standards such as Irving Berlin's "Russian Lullaby" – which Garcia had previously covered on his 1974 Garcia (Compliments) album – and Hoagy Carmichael's "Rockin' Chair." They also examined the origins of authentic traditional folk ("Walkin' Boss"/"Two Soldiers").