For some time I’ve lamented that there isn’t a complete archive of Jerry Garcia interviews online. Many interviews in old publications are now more or less inaccessible – a few have been reprinted; a few others have been transcribed online; a few circulate in audio.
So I’ve decided to at least take a small step and try compiling links to the various interviews available to read or hear online. This list is just a start, and is meant to be a work in progress – I hope readers can suggest other interviews I’ve missed, so I can make additions.
This list is not meant to cover what’s available in books or DVDs – it’s a list of weblinks, not a bibliography. I was hesitant to include youtube videos; but there’s a lot of good material there. I drew the line, though, at listing every ten-second snippet!
I also (somewhat arbitrarily) decided not to include downloads, only things that can be streamed.
This is arranged by date – I tried to list the actual interview dates, but sometimes had to settle for publication date.
UPDATED November 2011 with more youtube interviews. I'm sure I've missed or forgotten other items online, so it would be appreciated if people could point out some of those!
Summer ’67 - http://www.archive.org/details/gd1967-XX-XX.sbd.bershaw.5419.shnf (Audio)
10/11/70 - http://www.itkowitz.com/mam1965text.php?aid=260 (by Jay Itkowitz, for Action World)
Feb ‘71 - ftp://gdead.berkeley.edu/pub/gdead/interviews/garcia-in-JazzPop-mag-Feb71 (by David Bromberg)
6/21/71 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zs0KQUF2zrg (has French voiceover)
Summer ’71 - ftp://gdead.berkeley.edu/pub/gdead/interviews/72-rs-interview (by Charles Reich & Jann Wenner; published in Signpost to New Space)
4/11/72 - http://www.muthergrumble.co.uk/issue05/mg0523.htm
April ‘72 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU30HpQlV94 (very short)
Oct ’73 - http://www.cameroncrowe.com/journalism/articles/crowe_jrl_dead2.html
Jan ’74 - http://www.cameroncrowe.com/journalism/articles/crowe_jrl_dead.html (by Cameron Crowe - not straight interviews, but use lots of Garcia quotes)
October '74 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve3NqNo7yEA (unreleased interview done for the Grateful Dead Movie) [Dead.net also had an unedited clip of this interview on a "Celebrating Jerry" page]
3/23/75 - http://www.archive.org/details/gd1975-03-23.sbd.snack.18525.flac16 (Audio - preshow interview included)
8/6/75 - http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/jerry-garcia/concerts/interview-august-06-1975.html (Audio - by Mary Travers)
4/1/76 - http://www.relix.com/features/2010/05/25/the-grateful-dead-revisited-a-1976-interview-with-jerry-garcia (by Steve Weitzman, for Relix)
1976 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjjsI_RDUBA (Audio - by Ben Fong-Torres for Rolling Stone; in 5 parts, follow links)
3/10/78 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIM3Jf0qGZ0 (Audio - radio interview w/ John Kahn about punk & new-wave bands – great music excerpts)
Oct ‘78 - http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/gp-flashback-/February-2010/108399 (by Jon Sievert; excerpts from Guitar Player interview)
http://www.deadhookforums.com/archive/index.php/t-17932.html (has a few short excerpts from later Guitar Player interviews)
Oct ‘80 Radio City press conference w/ Weir - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdp_MPqOn5E (pt 1)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCIbyHL_-iA (pt 2)
5/7/81 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWlYNdAmm0U (by Tom Snyder on Tomorrow TV show, with the band)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOSVpgkJIiQ (with Ken Kesey, about LSD)
7/10/81 - http://www.archive.org/details/jg1981-07-10-Interview.shnf (Audio)
Oct ’81 - ftp://gdead.berkeley.edu/pub/gdead/interviews/Musician.article.1981 (“In Search of the X Factor” – also includes other Dead interviews from Musician issue)
4/9/82 - http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/jerry-garcia/concerts/interview-april-09-1982.html (Audio - by Lisa Robinson)
4/13/82 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zFbjus3X18 (Letterman TV show w/ Weir)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1J0llPF8-U (another snippet)
1/21/83 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBJZSjOhQ2Q (Audio - FM radio interview)
6/2/83 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5dd7nyKlw8 (MTV, unedited prebroadcast interview)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo80ElbkoZk (part 2)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDTYoTpxQEU (part 3)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LUolgrxKtg (alternate copy, incomplete)
Fall ’84 - http://www.denniselsas.com/jerry-garcia/ (Video - “PM Magazine” TV interview by Dennis Elsas)
1/12/85 - http://jasobrecht.com/jerry-garcia-the-complete-1985-interview/ (complete Jas Obrecht interview for Frets; excerpt was used on guitar.com)
Sep ’85 - ftp://gdead.berkeley.edu/pub/gdead/interviews/Garcia.1985.by.Paul.Krasner (by Paul Krassner, for Realist)
10/14/86 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JOhtcJCjXA (by Steven Marcus)
April ’87 - http://edcone.typepad.com/wordup/2003/01/a_conversation_.html (Audio - brief)
’87 - http://blogcritics.org/music/article/interview-jerry-garcia-on-the-making/ (by Justin Kreutzmann, about the Touch of Grey video)
’87 - http://www.hulu.com/watch/11363/nbc-news-on-stage-grateful-dead-jerry-garcia-speaks-vol-1 - (Video - might not stream…)
11/12/87 - http://www.yoyow.com/marye/garcia.html (by Mary Eisenhart, for BAM – full transcript)
9/13/88 - http://hightimes.com/entertainment/ht_admin/609 (on rainforests)
7/3/89 - http://www.relix.com/features/2010/04/20/q-a-with-jerry-garcia-portrait-of-an-artist-as-a-tripper (by Jeremy Alderson, for Relix)
Oct ‘89 - http://www.relix.com/features/2010/11/08/built-to-last-an-exclusive-interview-with-jerry-garcia-relix-revisited?1 (by Steve Peters, for Relix)
Nov ’89 - http://www.dead.net/features/jerry-garcia-rolling-stone-interview-page-2
http://www.dead.net/features/jerry-garcia-rolling-stone-interview-page-3
http://www.dead.net/features/jerry-garcia-rolling-stone-interview-page-4
2/27/91 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vd-sxnfO8xE (Headliners TV)
3/1/91 - ftp://gdead.berkeley.edu/pub/gdead/interviews/Garcia-Costello-Musician-03011991 (w/ Elvis Costello, for Musician)
9/13/91 - ftp://gdead.berkeley.edu/pub/gdead/interviews/Jerry-Garcia-09.13.91 (by Scott Muni)
(Same as ftp://gdead.berkeley.edu/pub/gdead/interviews/jerry-interview-fall1991 and ftp://gdead.berkeley.edu/pub/gdead/interviews/garcia91 )
spring ’92 - ftp://gdead.berkeley.edu/pub/gdead/interviews/garcia-Tricycle-Buddhist-Review (by Barbara Meier, for Tricycle)
5/20/93 - ftp://gdead.berkeley.edu/pub/gdead/interviews/Guitar-Player-1993 (w/ Bob Weir - by Jon Sievert, for Guitar Player)
’93 - ftp://gdead.berkeley.edu/pub/gdead/interviews/New-Yorker-article (retrospective)
Jan ’94 – http://www.lycaeum.org/~maverick/garcia.htm (for Magical Blend)
(Different edits of this interview also available at ftp://gdead.berkeley.edu/pub/gdead/interviews/jerry-interview-Magic-Blend and
http://malfalfa1.tripod.com/garciainterview.htm and
ftp://gdead.berkeley.edu/pub/gdead/interviews/GarciaInterview-byDavidJayBrown-RebeccaMcClenNovick )
3/31/94 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rM64QhtDWGo (short interview on art)
5/2/94 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9tg3h0q-ms
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuqPlKqL-mo (part 2)
’94? - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBuBKctZ0xE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5af3P8gOOQo (part 2)
May '95 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo2E_n27WjQ (a brief reminiscence about the old Palo Alto days)
'95 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKUtyUmS4IE (Jerry talks about Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein)
ftp://gdead.berkeley.edu/pub/gdead/interviews/Jerry-on-Lord-Buckley.02dec1995
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cf28wgj5RbQ (a brief clip of Jerry talking about playing on Merl Saunders' Blues From the Rain Forest)
Nov ’91 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaT5FO-qkvU (some interesting Garcia comments in this news report)
Sadly, due to lack of time, this may be the last post I make here until late January. (Unless I can think of some really short topics... The things I want to write about, though, are all big time-intensive projects, so they'll have to wait for now.)
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post! Turns out, I just so happened to be looking for a collection of Garcia interviews, and here they were! Thanks a lot, enjoy your break.
ReplyDeleteThank-you LiA . This is from the '92 Tricycle article . It demonstrates of of the aspects of Garcia that I respect and appreciate the most .
ReplyDeleteBarbara Meier: You don't impose any political message.
Jerry Garcia: I couldn't do it. The power is frightening.
Barbara Meier: Are you ever tempted?
Jerry Garcia: No. I thought, if I'm going to be onstage I'm not going to say
anything to anybody or address the crowd, because it doesn't matter what you
say, sometimes just the sound of your voice might inadvertently set somebody
off. The situation with psychedelics is so highly charged that you never
know what's leaking in. I don't mind doing it in the music, because that's
where I divest myself of ego. It's egoless, something I trust. If the band
has something to protect, it's the integrity of the experience, which
remains shapeless and formless. As long as it stays that way, everything's
okay.
-micah
Garcia interviews from 10/2/77 and 3/28/81 are also available as downloads here & there.
ReplyDeleteHow could I have forgotten this short Garcia interview from July 1964? He talks about the different musical elements of the Mother McCree's jugband, and what the future holds for the bandmembers. Prophetic.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eJfdPThgD4
What I have found is so many good resources are now gone. Many of the old sites just faded away.
ReplyDeleteGreat list you tube seems to be where so much of the information has gone.
I've updated this with a few more youtube interviews. Are there other interviews I've missed? Let me know!
ReplyDeleteAnother one to add -
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igfxUvcu_-I
(12-31-84, with Father Guido Sarducci)
The '73/74 Cameron Crowe links don't work anymore; his page has changed.
ReplyDeleteThe '73 article:
http://www.theuncool.com/journalism/grateful-dead-circus-magazine/
The '74 article:
http://www.theuncool.com/journalism/the-grateful-dead-creem-magazine/
Jay Itkowitz wrote:
ReplyDelete"I am so pleased to see my interview with Jerry from 1970 archived. I always felt it was special but I don't think I dreamed that 41 years later people would still find it of interest, yet they clearly do.
The interview was kind of a blind shot in the sense I had no connections to the Dead. I got the interview because they played my college (Queens) and as an editor on the college newspaper I was able to get on stage while they were tuning up. I went directly up to Jerry at an opportune moment, handed him four reefers and asked him for an interview. He gave me the name of the band's manager and told me to call the next day. I called and they let me come up later in the afternoon.
When I got to the room at the hotel, there were quite a few people hanging out while Jerry just sat there and played riffs for about a half hour or so. When he finished, he turned to me and said okay, what do you want to know.
I had prepared for the opportunity by reading The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe and had a lot of questions about the formation of the group and how they got together with the Merry Pranksters. Jerry patiently answered every question I had.
The rest is, as they say, history. The interview was featured in Action World and was snapped up the moment it came out. The interview was periodically reissued by Action World over the years and was always very popular.
Ironically, about nine months later I was across the country in Oregon and thought I could get an interview with Ken Kesey. I located his number and actually got him on the phone. I asked him for an interview and his response was as follows: "I don't do interviews."
Jerry could have certainly taken the same position inasmuch as he was very sought after. He didn't."
I am trying relentlessly to get in contact with my aunt. She was the housekeeper/ maid for jerry in the 80's i believe. I think she is maybe be involved in the 1/12/85 interview titled "Nora's house". However, when i click on it the link is dead. If anyone could help me i would be so thankful..
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, it looks like some guitar site has taken over Jas Obrecht's site, but that interview is still available here:
Deleteftp://gdead.berkeley.edu/pub/gdead/interviews/JerryGarcia-complete-1985-interview.txt
Nora isn't mentioned; I've read that the interview took place at Nora Sage's house, but all Obrecht wrote was that it was at "the home of a Grateful Dead supporter who, it turned out, was letting Jerry Garcia live in her basement." (I wonder if this was Rock Scully's place where Garcia was staying, & Obrecht was misinformed.)
Dennis McNally has some negative comments about Nora Sage in his book Long Strange Trip, p. 524 & 589, basically categorizing her as a Garcia-stalker "who'd been incessantly sending mail and gifts to Garcia since 1976" and had been removed from a JGB show once at Garcia's request, but "managed to entrench herself" and became his housekeeper & drug connection. In 1991 Garcia apparently asked NY artist Vince Di Biase to "take over his art business from Nora Sage, who annoyed Garcia with her aggressive commercial instincts."
Blair Jackson interviewed her for his Garcia bio and has a more positive portrayal, basically presenting her as his caretaker who more or less saved his life in the '80s & got him turned around from the depths of his drug addiction, but got shut out afterwards - see p.337-38, 344-46, 350, & 413-14. (There are also a few comments in Robert Greenfield's Dark Star bio, p.207-08.)
Though she seems to have been very close to Garcia in the early '80s, she had some enemies among Garcia's other friends, and Garcia eventually kicked her out of the house after his coma in 1986. At some point after that, she became his art agent, but by '91 he wanted someone else to do that too.
So it seems to have been an off-and-on relationship - which wasn't uncommon at all with people who knew Garcia; various factions formed around Garcia, and he could often fall out with someone for years & then reconnect.
The aftermath:
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Jerry-Garcia-Estate-Sued-in-Dispute-Over-Art-Sales-3017376.php (As of 1995 she lived in Bend, Oregon.)