Jerry Garcia Band - Cats Under The Stars (1978)

The Jerry Garcia Band was a band led by guitarist Jerry Garcia, as a side project he worked with during breaks with The Grateful Dead.

In 1975 Jerry Garcia formed the Jerry Garcia Band as a side-project, with pianist Nicky Hopkins, bassist John Kahn and drummer Ron Tutt. He performed with them during breaks in The Grateful Dead's touring schedule, and they also backed him on half of his 1976 solo album Reflections. Hopkins did not stay with the band for long, and was replaced by James Booker, who in turn was replaced by keyboardist Keith Godchaux, who was also a member of The Grateful Dead. His wife Donna Godchaux also joined at the same time. This lineup (Garcia, Kahn, Tutt and the Godchauxs) recorded a studio album together, the first to be done so under the Jerry Garcia Band name. Cats Under The Stars was released in 1978.
It consisted of all new original material, mostly written by Garcia and his long-term lyrical collaborator Robert Hunter, with a few contributions from Kahn, and one from Donna. Stylistically it fit in with much of what The Grateful Dead were doing at the same time, with a jazzy, languid rock sound. However it turned out to be the only studio album the band would ever release. Though they continued to perform together (with various different lineups) all the way through the eighties and up to Garcia's death in 1995, their only other album was a live one in 1991 (though numerous posthumous live albums have since been released).

|> Jerry Garcia Band (1991)

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