Sam RubinJerry Garcia Obit18 June 2015

Legendary Rock Star Jerry Garcia Dies at 53

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. Jerry Garcia, 53, better known as the lead guitarist for

the legendary rock band the Grateful Dead, died yesterday from a heart attack at a

residential drug treatment center outside of San Francisco.

He was found dead in bed around 4:23 am

Pacific Standard Time said to the Marin County

sheriff’s office.

Garcia was one of the founders for legendary

cult rock band the Grateful Dead. He performed with

the band for its entire 30-year saga in addition to a

successful solo career. Working primarily with lyricist

Robert Hunter, Garcia wrote about half of the Dead’s material. Aside from playing with

the Dead, Garcia formed many side projects and released several solo albums. Rolling

Stone Magazine ranked him 13th on its “100 Greatest Guitarist of All Time.”

Garcia pursed all styles of music and art. Outside of the Dead, Garcia produced

for other bands such as Jefferson Airplane and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. He even

sometimes ventured away from psychedelic music playing jazz-rock and bluegrass. His

last recording before his death was a children’s album entitled “Not for Kids Only.” His

love for abstract artwork, lead to a line of neckties that earned him more than $30 million.

“Today we lost a legend, an idol and a genius,” said former “Deadhead” Dee

Mayhew.

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“Deadhead,” is a term used to refer to a person who followed the Dead from

concert to concert and city to city. Each year the Dead would gross tens of millions from

concert sales. Their shows were an embodiment of hippie counter culture.

The Grateful Dead was formed in 1964 under the name The Warlocks. The bands

original members were guitarist Bob Weir, bass player Phil Lesh and drummer Bill

Kreutzman, who joined in 1967, and Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, who died of a liver

ailment in 1973. In 1966 they became the Grateful Dead after finding out that

“Warlocks” was taken.

“We never decided to be the Grateful Dead. What happened was the Grateful

Dead came up as a suggestion because we were at Phil’s house one day; he had a big

Oxford dictionary, I opened it up and the first thing I saw was the Grateful Dead. It said

that on the page and it was so astonishing. It was truly weird, a truly weird moment,” said

Garcia in an interview with Rolling Stone.

The group was not influenced by one sound or style of music, but rather found

influence from an array of genres. The Dead combined rock, blues, bluegrass and folk to

create a sound completely unique to them. Garcia was a major contributor to the band as

the lead guitarist, sometimes vocalist and main composer. Some of the bands most

famous songs are “Truckin’,” “Casey Jones,” and “Friend of the Devil”

“Garcia’s gentle voice and gleaming, chiming guitar lines embodied the

psychedelic optimism of the Grateful Dead for three decades,” said New York Times

reporter Jon Pareles.

Born to humble beginnings, Jerome John Garcia was the second son of

bandleader Jose Garcia and saloon owner Ruth Garcia. After his father’s death in 1947,

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Garcia’s mother primarily raised him. At age 15 Garcia started playing guitar, he also

became interested in painting and the arts at this time. Garcia was more concerned with

his passions than his schoolwork; he dropped out of high school after one year to peruse

other interested; he eventually found himself in trouble and was forced to join the Army

by his mother. Nine months later, Garcia was discharged and started taking classes at

what is now the San Francisco Art Institute.

His wife Deborah Koons Garcia and his four daughters Heather, 32, Annabelle

25, Teresa, 21 and Keelin, 6 survive him.

“Ideally I would just like to disappear gracefully and not leave behind any legacy

to hang people up. I don’t want people agonizing over who or what I was when I was

here when I’m not here anymore,” Garcia Said in a 1993 interview with KFOG-FM. “I

would like to be thought of as a competent musician. That would be good. I’d like that.”

While Garcia may have disappeared gracefully, his legacy, to thousands of fans,

will never be forgotten.

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