Listen to the Jerry Garcia Band play ‘Jingle Bells’
Over their 30-year career, the Grateful Dead played just about every holiday and other notable occasions on the calendar. Their New Year’s Eve shows quickly became legendary gatherings for Deadheads to spin the clock into a brand new year, with concert promotor Bill Graham often making dramatic entrances dressed up as Father Time. You can find concerts on Valentine’s Day, Independence Day, and even Thanksgiving. But Jerry Garcia apparently drew the line at Christmas.
That’s right, if you want to celebrate this year’s Xmas with a Dead concert that landed on December 25th, you’re out of luck. Neither the Dead nor Garcia’s frequently active side project, The Jerry Garcia Band, ever played on Christmas Day. It was probably for practical purposes. All of the Dead had families and responsibilities outside of the band, so one day off the road to celebrate the birth of Christ was probably acceptable.
That’s not to say the Dead didn’t enjoy celebrating Christmas when they did take the stage during the yuletide season. At their show on December 27th, 1981, Bob Weir wishes the crowd a merry Christmas, and Garcia proceeds to noodle out ‘Jingle Bells’ for a few bars. Ron ‘Pigpen’ McKernan got into the holiday season by taking the lead on ‘Run Rudolph Run’ a handful of times in 1971.
It wasn’t just the Dead who paid tribute to the holidays. The Jerry Garcia Band had their way with a few Christmas songs, whether it was ‘Christmas Time’s A-Comin’ or ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’. During a JGB show on December 12th, 1975, Garcia spearheaded a show at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco that featured Weir’s band Kingfish, Keith and Donna Godchaux playing solo, and Clover (the same band that backed up Elvis Costello two years later on his debut album My Aim is True).
Despite more than half of the Dead’s members being in attendance, the Grateful Dead didn’t actually play that night. After taking a touring hiatus at the end of 1974, the Dead only played four concerts total in 1975, the lowest number of shows in their 30 years together. Garcia wasn’t ready to stop playing live (the touring hiatus was largely an excuse to trim down the band’s massive payroll of employees), so he and the JGB took the stage just five nights before Christmas.
During the set, legendary session keyboard player Nicky Hopkins (who was a member of the JGB at the time) takes his microphone and asks for a drink. While the other band members indulge in something else, Hopkins briefly considers doing a rendition of ‘Greensleeves’ before changing his mind and pounding out the familiar tones of ‘Jingle Bells’. The crowd gets in on the action by singing the song’s refrain. Garcia eventually plucks out a few notes during the song’s back half, but it’s mostly Hopkins showing off his exceptional keyboard skills.
Check out the Jerry Garcia Band playing ‘Jingle Bells’ down below.
