Jerry Garcia - Compliments (1974)

Jerry Garcia was an American singer-songwriter and musician, best known as the lead guitarist for the Grateful Dead.

Garcia's second solo album was a departure of sorts from his work with the Grateful Dead. Whilst it's predecessor (1972's Garcia) had pretty much been a Grateful Dead album with Garcia playing most of the instruments, with 1974's Compliments he distanced itself from the Dead and tried his hand at some things he wouldn't have been able to do within the group. As of such he is backed by a large group of session musicians, including bassist John Kahn, organist Merle Saunders, drummer Ron Tutt, and numerous horn players - indeed most of the album is notable for its horn-based sound. The album was produced by Kahn, who also dealt with the horn and string arrangements and wrote the one original song on the album, "Midnight Town" (in collaboration with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter). Kahn would keep working with Garcia over the years (playing alongside him in both Old And In The Way and the Jerry Garcia Band).
Apart from "Midnight Town", Compliments consists entirely of cover songs, and so shows off Garcia's musical tastes and versatility. The material is wide-ranging, and includes numbers from artists as diverse as Dr John, Van Morrison, Peter Rowan, Chuck Berry, Smokey Robinson and Irving Berlin.

Garica (1972) <|> Reflections (1976)
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