Octogenarian singer/mandolin player
Jesse McReynolds is quick to point out in his liner notes that
Songs of the Grateful Dead does not mark the first time this venerable bluegrass musician has ventured into the rock realm, having played on
the Doors'
Soft Parade and, with his brother in their duo
Jim & Jesse, cut a
Chuck Berry tribute album,
Berry Pickin' in the Country. This tribute is not nearly as much of a stretch as that one, however. As Deadheads know,
Dead leader
Jerry Garcia was a big bluegrass fan, and his songs for the group often reflected that taste. Also, he sometimes played bluegrass in his side projects, and
McReynolds has enlisted some of
Garcia's sidemen in this effort, the "friends" of the artist credit specifically referring to
David Nelson of
the New Riders of the Purple Sage and
Stu Allen of
the Jerry Garcia Band, with
Garcia friend
Sandy Rothman picking a banjo on
"Deep Elem Blues" and penning his own liner notes in which he attests to his and
Garcia's affection for
Jim & Jesse. With all this mutual admiration, then, it's not surprising that the album comes off so well.
McReynolds has not restricted himself to what might seem like the obvious choices from such country-oriented
Dead albums as
Workingman's Dead and
American Beauty, also including some of the later songs by
Garcia and lyricist
Robert Hunter, such as
"Black Muddy River" and
"Standing on the Moon." Just as
Garcia's melodies reveal bluegrass and country influences, so
Hunter's aphoristic lyrics, full of Western imagery, work just fine with
McReynolds' rural inflections. And the players are not averse to going for some
Dead-style space jamming on such selections as
"Bird Song" and
"Franklin's Tower." It all comes to an appropriate close with a new
McReynolds/
Hunter composition, the lightly philosophical
"Day by Day." "If
Jerry was here, he'd be playing on this album," writes
Rothman, and that's hard to doubt; even without his actual presence, his spirit is evoked. ~ William Ruhlmann
