Ignored Obscured Restored
Today marks the 30th anniversary of the passing of Jerry Garcia — singer, songwriter, master guitarist, and founding member of the Grateful Dead. Garcia was so central to the band’s identity that, after his death on August 9, 1995, the surviving members chose to retire the Grateful Dead name rather than continue without him.
Yet, the Grateful Dead’s popularity endures. Dead & Company — featuring former Dead members Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, and (until 2023) Bill Kreutzmann, along with John Mayer, Jeff Chimenti, and Jay Lane — draw massive audiences performing a setlist steeped in Grateful Dead classics.
The group played 30 mostly sold-out shows at the Las Vegas Sphere in 2024, followed by another 18 in 2025. Just last weekend, they drew about 60,000 fans each night for three shows in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park — a testament to the music’s ongoing cultural pull.
Beyond Dead & Company, countless Grateful Dead tribute bands perform in the U.S., filling theaters, clubs, and festival stages with devoted fans eager to keep the music alive.
In tribute to Garcia, today’s SotW is “The Wheel” from his debut solo album Garcia (1972).
Although released on a solo record, “The Wheel” became a Deadhead favorite, performed by the band more than 250 times. Closing Side Two of Garcia, the track showcases Garcia in his pedal steel guitar period. On the studio version, he played all instruments except the drums, which were handled by Kreutzmann.
The lyrics — penned by Garcia’s longtime collaborator Robert Hunter (with Kreutzmann also receiving a co-writer credit) — reflect the free-flowing, life-embracing ethos that runs through much of the Dead’s best work:
The wheel is turning and you can’t slow down
You can’t let go and you can’t hold on
You can’t go back and you can’t stand still
If the thunder don’t get you then the lightning will
In a 1981 interview with music journalist Ken Hunt, Garcia explained:
“The Wheel was the least formed of any of them [songs on Garcia]. I really just improvised the changes, and the way it came out is a tribute to Hunter’s tremendous skill because I set up those chord changes, explained it, and he just listened to it, worked out some couplets, a few stanzas here and there, and I fooled around with them and it ended up being that nice little tune. But to start with it was only a set of chord changes. Nothing else.”
Jerry Garcia’s artistry and vision make him one of the most significant figures in rock history — a musician whose influence continues to resonate, three decades after his passing.
Enjoy… until next week.