Good Old Boys Live with Jerry Garcia

MVD Entertainment Group has released a double live CD that will be of interest to fans of California bluegrass in the 1970s, and followers of Grateful Dead alumnus, the late Jerry Garcia.

Good Old Boys Live – Drink Up & Go Home captures a special moment from 1975, when west coast grassers the Good Old Boys, which included mandolin legend Frank Wakefield, and David Nelson, guitarist with New Riders of the Purple Sage, hired Garcia to fill in on a tour when their regular banjo picker couldn’t make it. Jerry had produced an album for the band, recorded at Mickey Hart’s Ranch studio, and when the guys wanted to do some club dates, two members had previous commitments.

So when they showed up at Margarita’s Cantina in Santa Cruz for two nights in February of ’75, Garcia was on the roster. Both nights were captured on two-track tape, and those archived recordings have now been restored and mastered for release.

The result is Good Old Boys Live, a 2-CD set that conveys the looseness of an informal club set, with the musicianship of a finely-tuned ensemble.

A complete track listing follows:

Disc 1

  • Ashes of Love
  • Deep Elem Blues
  • Dim Lights, Thick Smoke
  • Toy Heart
  • Fireball Mail (Jerry Garcia on banjo)
  • I’ll Never Make You Blue
  • All the Good Times (Jerry Garcia vocals)
  • She’s No Angel
  • Here To Get My Baby Out Of Jail
  • Wildwood Flower
  • Teardrops In My Eyes
Disc 2
  • Lonesome Road Blues
  • Long Gone
  • Leave Well Enough Alone
  • White House Blues
  • T For Texas
  • Jesus Loves His Mandolin Player
  • First Whippoorwill
  • New Camptown Races
  • Pistol Packing Mama
  • Rawhide
  • Jerusalem Moan
  • Drink Up & Go Home (Jerry Garcia lead vocals)
  • Orange Blossom Special

Here’s a sample, Jerry singing the Flatt & Scruggs classic, All The Good Times Are Past and Gone in 4/4.

Good Old Boys Live is available now wherever you stream or download music online, and on CD from selected resellers.

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About the Author

John Lawless

John had served as primary author and editor for The Bluegrass Blog from its launch in 2006 until being folded into Bluegrass Today in September of 2011. He continues in that capacity here, managing a strong team of columnists and correspondents.