The Tragic Odes of Jerry Garcia and The Grateful Dead

" The Tragic Odes of Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead is a multifaceted study of tragedy in the group's live performances, showing how Garcia engineered psychic renewal by leading songs of grief, mortality, and ironic fate in a participatory theatrical context focused on catharsis through dance and communal sublime experience.

The Tragic Odes of Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead is a multifaceted study of tragedy in the group's live performances showing how Garcia brought about catharsis through dance by leading songs of grief, mortality, and ironic fate in a collective theatrical context.

This musical, literary, and historical analysis of thirty-five songs with tragic dimensions performed by Garcia in concert with the Grateful Dead illustrates the syncretic approach and acute editorial ear he applied in adapting songs of Robert Hunter, Bob Dylan, and folk tradition. Tragically ironic situations in which Garcia found himself when performing these songs are revealed, including those related to his opiate addiction and final decline. This book examines Garcia's musical craftsmanship and the Grateful Dead's collective art in terms of the mystery-rites of ancient Greece, Friedrich Nietzsche's Dionysus, 20th century American music rooted in New Orleans, Hermann Hesse's Magic Theater, and the Greek Theatre at Berkeley, offering a clear prospect on an often misunderstood phenomenon.

Featuring interdisciplinary analysis, close attention to musical and poetic strategies, and historical and critical contexts, this book will be of interest to scholars and researchers of Popular Music, Musicology, Cultural Studies, and American Studies, as well as to the Grateful Dead's avid listeners.

Autorentext

Brent Wood is Lecturer in the Department of English and Drama, University of Toronto at Mississauga, Canada, and is the author of several articles on the music and poetry of the Grateful Dead.

Inhalt

Introduction: Mystery Dances in the Magic Theater

1 "Morning Dew" and the Greek Theatre

2 "Death Don't Have No Mercy": Catharsis and Redemption

Death Don't Have No Mercy * He Was a Friend of Mine

Cryptical Envelopment Brokedown Palace Bird Song * He's Gone

3 Befriending Chaos: "Dark Star," Dionysus and Psychedelics

4 Dancing to Fateful Folk Tales

Reuben and Cherise Fennario Dire Wolf * Sugaree

Dupree's Diamond Blues Stagger Lee Casey Jones

5 Meditations on Mortality, from Uncle John to Stella Blue

Uncle John's Band New Speedway Boogie Black Peter * Loser

Wharf Rat China Doll It Must Have Been the Roses * Stella Blue

6 Chasing the Dragon and Escaping the Netherworld

Fire on the Mountain Comes a Time Althea

Black Muddy River * Standing on the Moon

7 Knockin' on Heaven's Door: Dylan and Garcia

It's All Over Now, Baby Blue She Belongs to Me The Mighty Quinn

Knockin' on Heaven's Door * Visions of Johanna

8 Is it the End or Beginning?

So Many Roads Days Between Mason's Children

9 The Rebirth of Tragedy