Why did Jerry Garcia have an issue with Bob Dylan’s sound?
When it came to music, Grateful Dead leader Jerry Garcia always appreciated beauty. Aside from the explosive entity that continues to thrive within the community he fostered, Garcia knew that music’s true power stemmed from its ability to reach deep into the soul, nesting a perfect home for itself in the voids of the heart. While his musical tastes became diverse over time, much of his style was shaped by his appreciation for the 1960s folk boom.
Growing up, Garcia was influenced by the intricacy of music, allowing it to shape his interests and creative vision. Enjoying the sounds of three main groups—bluegrass, jazz, and folk music—was never really so much about where the music came from or who made it as much as whether it truly meant something. As he once explained, “If it’s well-played music — I mean, if you’re a musician, you know when somebody’s really playing and when they’re not really playing. If it’s well-played music, I like it.”
Evidently, this mindset shaped the widespread appeal of the Dead, but it also allowed Garcia to adopt a consistent open-mindedness without many preconceptions about the kind of music he should or shouldn’t like. When the folk singer-songwriter movement of the ’60s began to flourish, Garcia enjoyed the delicacy of many of its players, like Joan Baez, who, to him, epitomised the balance between meaningful lyrics and intricate guitar playing.
Many of his favourites play into this trope, and the ones who don’t explicitly display the same appeal as Baez still hold up to a certain beauty that Garcia regarded as a standard of excellence. John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band, for instance, was also one that caught his attention because, in his view, “There’s a lot of beauty — incredible, delicate music”. Many of his favourite pieces of music adopt a certain authenticity, using simplicity and delicacy as a conduit, which formed the basis of many of the Dead’s stylistic choices.
Interestingly, one folk pioneer stood out even as many of Jerry Garcia’s favourites fell short. For many, Bob Dylan set a new standard for musical excellence, but for Garcia, Dylan didn’t immediately strike a chord. Reflecting on this, he once said, “I never used to like Bob Dylan until he came out with electric music.”
He added, “And I’m not sure why I like that more. I sure liked it a lot more. Boy, when Bringing It All Back Home came out. Yeah, lovely. Very fine guitar player.”
Despite the many positive words Garcia shared about one of his musical heroes during his life and career, this initial dislike likely stemmed partly from the many aspects of singer-songwriter music that he found stale or vapid. Though he never explicitly explained why he enjoyed the sounds of artists like Baez over Dylan, it could point towards his knack for detecting brilliance from stylistic simplicity, which wasn’t always a common thread in Dylan’s more complicated poetic musings.
One of Garcia’s favourite Dylan songs was ‘Joey’, a considered track which showcases the power in Dylan’s own flavour of simplicity. Moreover, Bringing It All Back Home paralleled with Garcia’s immersion in amplified rock and counterculture sounds, likely striking a chord following years of trying to get under the skin of what made Dylan so endearing to others. The two eventually grew to respect each other immensely, even forming a mentorship bond of sorts, showing that Garcia’s inability to appreciate his work could have even had nothing to do with dislike at all—just timing.
Never Miss A Tale
The Far Out Bob Dylan Newsletter
All the latest stories about Bob Dylan from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.