Listen to the Music Play
Read through some suggestions for building a collection of Grateful Dead recordings from 1968-1995. These pages are generously filled to the brim with photos for you to enjoy.

Jerry Garcia and Bob Dylan
The Music Archive presents a look at the musical crossroads of Jerry Garcia & Bob Dylan.

Run for the Roses
As awe-inspiring as the Grateful Dead's music could be, I must openly admit that many of my favorite moments seeing Garcia perform happened during the solo adventures he pursued away from the Grateful Dead. This section of The Music Archive explores the various incarnations of Garcia outside the dead (including, among others, the Jerry Garcia Band, Old and in the Way, The Reconstruction, and even some of the various guest appearances Jerry made with other artists).

Grateful Dawg
My favorite of all of Jerry Garcia's projects away from the Grateful Dead is the work he did with David Grisman. There is little to no information available on the internet about the wonderful music these two consumate musicians wove when together, so I decided that The Music Archive needed to take an in-depth look at this unique pairing.

Grateful Dead Photo Gallery
This is an ongoing collection of concert photos of the Grateful Dead. The Music Archive has received some wonderful photos from friends on the internet and these galleries are filled with them-- as well as a variety of shots culled from my wanderings around the internet. We are always looking for more. Please email please email if you have any to share.

The Jerry Garcia Band Photo Gallery
A gallery filled with a variety of shots representing the many incarnations of Jerry's solo work. I am actively looking for any photos or memorabilia anyone might have any scans of, so if you have anything you can share with this site(photos, reviews of shows you might want to write about, shows that you think should be added to the best of sections, etc.), please email .

When Jerry Garcia died of a heart attack in 1995, the world of music lost one of its most innovative and interesting guitar players. Sure-- there were nights when Garcia simply went through the motions, but there were also those moments when he would lock his groove into the melody and unleash wave after wave of musical intensity, an intensity that could be at once terrifying or beautiful, calming or, quite frankly, a bit disturbing. It is that intensity, that ability to reach those peaks, that Garcia ultimately leaves behind as his legacy.

For some, Garcia was a guru of sorts, a charismatic, psychedellic Santa Clause who said little on stage but spoke volumes through his guitar. For others he was an enigma. I have come to think that Garcia, in a lot of ways, is one of the more tragic figurs of the 20th Century. His music was so enticing to so many that it, in the end, alienated him from his own fans, leaving him uneasy and unable to walk in the public limelight. Certainly this is the price that anyone who tastes fame often has to pay, but there was something ironic about the fact that the joy Garcia brought to so many was, in part, his undoing. Naturally, no one forced Garcia to turn to heroin, but it apparantly served as an escape from a burden few would be willing to carry.

But even during those years when he would nod in mid song, his chin draped against his signature black tee, there were those moments when he would simply come alive, letting loose those waves of intesnsity that shined so bright that most failed or refused to recognize the fading light inside.

But it is not Garcia the person we wish to discuss in these pages-- we leave that to his family and friends. It is Garcia the musician and his various journeys through rock, jazz, blues, old timey, folk, bluegrass and country that fills these pages. Most people have at least heard of the Grateful Dead, and it seems that new generations of music fans who have never even seen them play live are embracing the music that has been left behind on thousands of hours of tape-- many released officially and even more traded amongst those who wish to relive some of the tastier licks left behind to float in the air. And it is those live recordings that we wish to look at, in the hopes of painting a historical picture by which the sheer originality and eclective nature of Garcia's music can be expressed-- and then hopefully enjoyed by those who are curious to find out more.

Within these pages you will find many photos, some that were donated to us, some found while surfing on the net, and some scanned from the webmaster's personal collection (bought from deadheads out in the vending area before and after shows). You will also find reviews of the best shows-- and in some cases a detailed history of a particular solo project (The Garcia/Grisman pages).