“He’s a musician”: Why David Bowie identified as the inverse of Jerry Garcia
Despite Jerry Garcia’s death in 1995, the Grateful Dead continues to grow in popularity. Their revised gigs still sell out, and old archived live recordings from when Garcia was still alive consistently reach the top of the charts. This enduring appeal highlights the power of their music, which stands the test of time, keeps fans engaged, and continues to inspire new listeners.
The band’s publicist, Dennis McNally, once spoke about how difficult he found it to describe and subsequently sell the Grateful Dead to others. Despite this challenge, their music’s enduring appeal, which keeps fans engaged and continues to inspire new listeners, speaks for itself. “It was always a challenge because there’s so much distraction about them,” he said, referring to the ever-changing members and side of the band and the drug community that surrounded their gigs, too.
It’s true that the Dead is a complicated band to try and describe to people; however, the reason they became so popular is straightforward: they’re were a group made up of some of the best musicians in the world. Being a great musician in the Grateful Dead doesn’t just mean being able to play the drums or guitar either, but it means being able to connect with the audience and the room that night and deliver music that matches the energy within.
The Grateful Dead were never a band known for recording music and playing a strict setlist. Their songs made up a slight setlist that would serve as a backbone, but it was never strictly adhered to. Instead, the band would deviate depending on how they were feeling and how the crowd was reacting to them.
This musical ability is the reason David Bowie claimed that he was the inverse of Jerry Garcia. While Bowie was an excellent musician and prolific songwriter, he acknowledged that there was more to his act than just the sound—there was a look and theatre to it. Jerry Garcia had access to a deeper layer of music.
“He’s a musician and I’m not a musician,” said Bowie when talking about the difference between himself and the Grateful Dead frontman. “I’m not into music you see on that level, I don’t profess to have music as my big wheel and there are a number of other things as important to me apart from music. Theatre and mime, for instance.”
While Bowie downplays himself a fair bit here, there is a point in the sense that Garcia and the band had a much more in-depth knowledge of music than many other artists. This is one of the main reasons that the band continues to see success even though Garcia passed away almost three decades ago. They make music on a totally different level, which people are often keen on experiencing.
