The band Jerry Garcia said had “glib slickness”
The late Jerry Garcia is closely tied to the heady days of the counterculture when free love was in the air, and LSD was the tipple of choice. The leader of the era’s definitive band, Grateful Dead, in just a few short years, Garcia rose to an almost mythical status with a wealth of music and outrageous anecdotes to his name.
A titan in every sense, whilst he might be inextricably linked to the era of hippiedom, Garcia’s music taste stretched far outside of this area, with him mentioning a host of different artists as his favourites throughout his time.
Garcia once surprised everyone when he noted the brilliance of industrial pioneer Gary Numan, telling one interviewer that he’d even feel “intimidated” in the company of the British musician. He said: “Oh no! I’d be intimidated by him. Shit yeah… These guys all seem so much more together than I feel. I feel like someone who is constantly on the verge of losing it, of blowing it. I feel tremendously insecure. When I see people perform with such panache… I don’t see how they do it. It takes tremendous nerve, tremendous balls”.
A fan of good music in all forms, one group that Garcia was particularly enamoured with was new wave heroes Cheap Trick. When speaking to WCMF in 1978, the Grateful Dead leader was asked about which new music he was listening to at the time, and it was there that he revealed his love for the Rockford, Illinois band. He effused about their “glib slickness” and explained why people love them so much.
Discussing the ‘Surrender’ band, Garcia stated: “Some of that stuff I really like a lot. The so-called new wave music. Well, I really like the band Cheap Trick.”
He continued: “I like them a lot. They’re great. I think they’re really great. What I like about it is the spirit, you know. I mean, the guys are putting out and trying hard. The whole American heavy-duty production, the slickness, the glib slickness of all. It’s gotten to be so mechanical and so predictable and so safe, you know.”
“It’s a formula trip, it’s almost a formula trip,” he added. “So this other music is real raw and real nasty and the players are not very good. But the spirit, the spirit is there. I think that young people can always dig that”.
Listen to Jerry Garcia discuss Cheap Trick below.
