Bob Dylan and the anniversary of Jerry Garcia's death - Part three

Dylan, "Friend Of The Devil", Dubuque, Iowa, November 12, 1996.

Dylan joined the Dead for eight songs in Los Angeles in February, 1989. The next day, Dylan is said to have called the Grateful Dead's office asking to join the band as a full-time member. According to the Dead's Bob Weir, the band took a vote. Weir was willing to include Dylan as a "temporary member".  One lone person in the Dead, however, "didn't particularly care for him," so Dylan did not get the gig.  

Dylan covers "Alabama Getaway", Philadelphia, August 20, 1997

The day after Garcia died, Dylan's publicist Elliot Mintz released the following statement:

“There’s no way to measure his greatness or magnitude as a person or a player. I don’t think any eulogizing will do him justice. He was that great, much more than a superb musician, with an uncanny ear and dexterity. He’s the very spirit personified of whatever is Muddy River country at its core and screams up into the spheres. He really had no equal. To me, he wasn’t only a musician and friend, he was more like a big brother who taught and showed me more than he’ll ever know. There’s a lot of spaces and advances between The Carter Family, Buddy Holly and say Ornette Coleman, a lot of universes, but he filled them all without being a member of any school. His playing was moody, awesome, sophisticated, hypnotic and subtle. There’s no way to convey the loss. It just digs down really deep”

Dylan & The Dead, "It's All Over  Now, Baby Blue", Giants Stadium, New Jersey, July 12, 1987

TRIVIA: Wavy Gravy (Hugh Romney) married Bob Dylan's Minnesota friend and "barber", Bonnie Beecher, who became Jahanara Romney.

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