Merl and Jerry had a keen understanding of each other's musical strengths and pitfalls; moreover, Garcia picked up a wealth of new chops and rhythms from Merl-- adding Motown, reggae, funk, and soul to his repertoire of styles. Jerry and Merl played many solo gigs around the Bay Area-- and from time to time took the music on the road. In 1974, Martin Fierro, adding the sax and the flute, joined the band and stayed through the Legion of Mary tour.

Meanwhile, in 1973, David Grisman and Peter Rowan joined forces with Garcia to pluck a few old bluegrass tunes and subsequently formed Old and In The Way. In 1973, Jerry had the electric band with Merl, the bluegrass band-- and a very intensive touring schedule with the Grateful Dead. If you take a moment to listen to samplings of all three playing environments-- and how well Garcia moved in-between the three-- you have to consider that this was not only a peak in his many years of musical creativity but also ample evidence of what a versatile and inventive guitar player he was.

Old and In the Way only performed for a year. Grisman formed the Great American Music Band in 1974 and Garcia sat in with them a handful of times. Grisman formed his higly influential quintet in 1976 and began a journey into the world of new grass. Merl and Jerry, after touring as Legion of Mary, parted ways in mid-1975 and that Fall Jerry formed the Jerry Garcia Band with Nicky Hopkins on piano. This short-lived outfit produced some very intense sets! In 1976, after having sat in with Keith and Donna Godchaux's Heart of Gold Band a few times, Jerry invited the Godchauxs to join his solo band. They remained until late 1978 (also in 1978 Maria Muldaur, John Kahn's wife at the time, helped out on vocals).

In 1979, bassist John Kahn, who had long ago sealed himself as a permanent fixture in all of Jerry's solo projrcts, formed an interesting jazz ensemble-- The Reconstruction-- to keep himself busy while Garcia was on the road with the Grateful Dead. This band rejoined Garcia with Saunders. It was a short lived group, but they reached some rather amazing peaks-- especially on tunes like the Beatles' "Dear Prudence" and Jimmy Cliff's "Strugglin' Man." At the end of 1979, Jerry began the genesis of what would become the typical Garcia Band sound for the rest of his career. Ozzie Allers, on keys, was soon replaced by Melvin Seals and shortly afterwards Garcia began to bring in the background singers.

In 1982, Garcia was convinced to play a sole set at the intimate Capitol Theatre in Passaic, NJ. He managed one show entirely by himself-- but soon added John Kahn on acoustic stand-up bass (apparantly Garcia was nearly frozen by stagefright). Their reportoire was a little of everything-- a few Dead tunes interspersed with JGB material and a sampling of folk and Old Timey tunes. This acoustic collaboration lasted through 1986, with a few shows here and there in 1987-89. In 1987, Jerry expanded the acoustic sound and gathered together some old friends from his bluegrass days in the Bay Area and formed the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band (whose first public performance was at the ART benefit at the Fillmore in early 1987). Bill Graham,in October of 1987, scheduled both Garcia's acoustic and electric bands for two weeks of performances on Broadway in New York (as well as a few days at the Warfield and the Wiltern). They subsequently disbanded in 1988 with a final show at the Frost Amphitheatre with Hot Tuna. A couple of years later Garcia rekindled his friendship with David Grisman and the Garcia/Grisman experience was launched.

The electric Garcia Band went through several configurations in the Eighties as it developed into the gospel-like sound that dominated the Nineties JGB performances. In the Eighties, Garcia typically revolved the same tunes in and out of his sets, but by the late Eighties, after nearly dying, Garcia began to add many cover tunes-- resulting in many varied sets. As the Dead's popularity peaked, so did Garcia's and by the late Eighties he was touring larger halls around the country-- a big change from such dives as the Keystone Berkeley, Keystone Palo Alto, and The Stone in San Francisco. After early 1987, Garcia stopped playing the small clubs in the Bay Area and the Warfield became his new home.