Shady Grove cover

Shady Grove

Jerry Garcia and David Grisman

Album · 1996 · Acoustic Disc ACD 21

Shady Grove was issued by Acoustic Disc in 1996 (ACD 21), the year after Jerry Garcia’s death on 9 August 1995. Garcia and David Grisman produced it from sessions recorded at Dawg Studios in Mill Valley, California, between 1990 and 1993; the title song was cut on 4 June 1992.

Garcia sings lead on every track, and Grisman adds a vocal on “Stealin’.” Garcia plays guitar and banjo; Grisman plays mandolin, mandola, mandolin-banjo, banjo and guitar. Several tracks are the two of them alone, among them “Casey Jones,” “The Handsome Cabin Boy” and “Whiskey in the Jar.” On “The Sweet Sunny South” both play banjo, and on “I Truly Understand” Grisman plays guitar to Garcia’s banjo. The rest of the group is Jim Kerwin on bass and Joe Craven on fiddle and percussion, with Matt Eakle on flute for “Fair Ellender,” Bryan Bowers on autoharp for “Dreadful Wind and Rain,” and Will Scarlett on harmonica for “Down in the Valley.”

The songs include “Shady Grove,” “Jackaroo,” “Louis Collins” (a Mississippi John Hurt song), “Off to Sea Once More” and “Fair Ellender,” and the album closes with an uncredited “Hesitation Blues.” Craig Miller was executive producer, and John Cohen contributed liner notes. The album reached No. 135 on the Billboard 200 and No. 19 on the Top Country Albums chart.

Tracklist

  1. 1 Shady Grove alt version 4:19
  2. 2 Stealin' 3:31
  3. 3 Off To Sea Once More 5:48
  4. 4 The Sweet Sunny South alt version 3:24
  5. 5 Louis Collins 5:57
  6. 6 Fair Ellender 6:05
  7. 7 Jackaroo 4:02
  8. 8 Casey Jones Source Recording Traditional · key G · 80 bpm 4:05
  9. 9 Dreadful Wind and Rain Source Recording Traditional · key E · 83 bpm 4:47
  10. 10 I Truly Understand 3:41
  11. 11 The Handsome Cabin Boy 6:14
  12. 12 Whiskey In The Jar 4:15
  13. 13 Down In The Valley 8:06

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