“Garcia” - Jerry Garcia
My college roommate had this album, and I would later purchase a copy for my self. I thought it was remarkable as Garcia plays all the instruments except drums. This would include acoustic and electric guitars, pedal steel guitar, bass, piano and organ. Six of the eight tracks would find their way into Dead setlists for the next 25 years. The song “Loser” was one of my favorites, and there’s a story to tell.
We were living in Steamboat Springs in the early ‘80s. Terri gave a newsprint picture of Garcia to an artist friend, and ask her to replicate it with her own ideas for a birthday present to me. This artist created the work pictured here, which hangs on the wall in my Man Cave basement. When I saw the picture I was blown away. I told our friend that I loved the way she incorporated verse three of “Loser” into her drawing. She said, “what are you talking about”.
To this day I wonder how she came up with the idea for the poker hand theme in the picture. It’s perfect.
“Everybody's braggin’ and drinking that wine. I can tell the Queen of Diamonds by the way she shines. Come to daddy on an inside straight. Well I got no chance of losing this time…”
R. Hunter
