Grateful Dead: Garcia Sings 1993-1994

This is one of the most personally important Grateful Dead curations I’ve assembled under the Save Your Face moniker. It presents Jerry Garcia knocking 16 of his classic songs out of the park, in a period known for his creakiness and errors.

This is a necessary demonstration, IMHO. It’s terrible that decades after Garcia’s death, no attempt has been made to put a respectful and powerful coda on his career, in the form of a curated, final-years, live Grateful Dead album.

I first encountered many of these performances during Save Your Face’s extensive post-Hornsby-era mixtape project some years ago. Gradually, “amazing versions” and “versions to beat” emerged, as I continued to relisten to those mixes. 

To determine IF they could be beaten, I listened to every 1993-1995 soundboard recording of Garcia-sung songs, with a focus on those for which terrific lead vocals are the necessary starting point for a great performance. I confirmed many of my existing picks and found some new-to-me takes that I liked better.

I skipped over jammier songs like “Dark Star” and “Fire,” and avoided covers with the exception of “Morning Dew” and two Garcia-owned traditionals. Ultimately, it's a Hunter/Garcia joint.

Other Hunter/Garcia compositions are missing because no version checked all of my boxes:

  • A soundboard mix in which Garcia’s vocals are very present
  • Garcia in command of the lyrics
  • Garcia singing with passion and nuance
  • An exciting and involving collective performance, with memorable details
  • Everyone properly represented in the SBD mix
  • No intrusive “bad tones”

On the basis of these restrictive filters, I ended up with 16 performances that continue to thrill me after many, many listens. 

The ever-generous Mr. Completely (Tyler) supplied me with the best source FLACs for all tracks, so these performances are as high fidelity as possible.

Are there little flaws here and there? Sure. Are these performances practically perfect in every way? Yes. 

May you rest easy, Jerry Garcia. 

***

Cover art: Al Hirschfeld

2 hours and 17 minutes

  • Help on the Way > Slipknot! (edit) (3/22/93 Atlanta > 10/18/94 NYC)
  • Jack-A-Roe (3/27/94 Uniondale, NY)
  • Bertha (3/21/94 Richfield, OH)
  • Black Peter (7/31/94 Auburn Hills, MI)
  • Crazy Fingers > Playin’ Jam (3/24/93 Chapel Hill, NC)
  • China Doll (6/18/93 Chicago, IL)
  • The Wheel > (7/26/94 Maryland Heights, MO)
  • Attics of My Life (7/26/94 Maryland Heights, MO)
  • Wharf Rat (7/19/94 Noblesville, IN)
  • Peggy-O (edit) (6/26/94 Las Vegas, NV)
  • Stagger Lee (10/15/94 NYC, NY)
  • Stella Blue (3/21/94 Richfield, OH)
  • Terrapin Station (10/1/94 Boston, MA)
  • Comes a Time (10/9/94 Landover, MD)
  • Morning Dew (3/27/94 Uniondale, NY)
  • Brokedown Palace (12/19/94 Los Angeles, CA)

Downloads

320kbps MP3s derived from lossless

FLAC files


Editing Notes

There are two edits (but no re-EQ anywhere):

  • The “Slipknot” following this great “Help on the Way” didn’t cut it, so I appended a different performance, terminated by its “Franklin’s Tower” coda.
  • “Peggy-O”: The band skipped a whole verse (seamlessly), which makes The Captain less of an asshole. This led to verse confusion after the instrumental break. However, the band re-approached and corrected their error. I’ve edited out the 30 seconds of confusion. And yes, a missing verse is a big “vocal error,” but it doesn’t interrupt anything; it just modifies the story.

Upvote Upvoted 7
38 responses
I'm so glad you posted this. I'm downloading now. I'm a big fan of late-era Dead, and always appreciate when the gems of that era are given their due respect and appreciation.
— Steven C
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I will be listening soon.
— Dervla
Deadication! Well done
— Catfish Otiel
Thank you for your hard work and passion.
— Freducator
Glad to see the one Dew I caught made the cut! Would love to know which versions, if any, of Days Between, Standing on the Moon, So Many Roads, or Althea were in the running. Those were my favorite Jerry vocals from this era, but Bob’s guitar tone could be quite strident in all of them.
— Green Swizzle
Not sure how I got sent this email, but I want to thank you so very much. The work you do on SaveYourFace is amazing, and I hope you get my reply, because I want you to know how much I appreciate your gifts to us! David -- Reply above this line to comment on this post --John Hilgart @4CPcomics created a new post on saveyourface:Grateful Dead: Garcia Sings 1993-1994 This is one of the most personally important Grateful Dead curations I’ve assembled under the Save Your Face moniker. It presents Jerry Garcia knocking 16 of his classic songs out of the park, in a period known for his creakiness and errors.This is a necessary demonstration, IMHO. It’s terrible that decades after Garcia’s death, no attempt has been made to put a respectful and powerful coda on his career, in the form of a curated, final-years, live Grateful Dead album.I first encountered many of these performances during Save Your Face’s extensive post-Hornsby-era mixtape project some years ago. Gradually, “amazing versions” and “versions to beat” emerged, as I continued to relisten to those mixes. To determine IF they could be beaten, I listened to every 1993-1995 soundboard recording of Garcia-sung songs, with a focus on those for which terrific lead vocals are the necessary starting point for a great performance. I confirmed many of my existing picks and found some new-to-me takes that I liked better.I skipped over jammier songs like “Dark Star” and “Fire,” and avoided covers with the exception of “Morning Dew” and two Garcia-owned traditionals. Ultimately, it's a Hunter/Garcia joint.Other Hunter/Garcia compositions are missing because no version checked all of my boxes:A soundboard mix in which Garcia’s vocals are very present Garcia in command of the lyrics Garcia singing with passion and nuance An exciting and involving collective performance, with memorable details Everyone properly represented in the SBD mix No intrusive “bad tones” On the basis of these restrictive filters, I ended up with 16 performances that continue to thrill me after many, many listens. The ever-generous Mr. Completely (Tyler) supplied me with the best source FLACs for all tracks, so these performances are as high fidelity as possible.Are there little flaws here and there? Sure. Are these performances practically perfect in every way? Yes. May you rest easy, Jerry Garcia. ***Cover art: Al Hirschfeld2 hours and 17 minutesHelp on the Way > Slipknot! (edit) (3/22/93 Atlanta > 10/18/94 NYC) Jack-A-Roe (3/27/94 Uniondale, NY) Bertha (3/21/94 Richfield, OH) Black Peter (7/31/94 Auburn Hills, MI) Crazy Fingers > Playin’ Jam (3/24/93 Chapel Hill, NC) China Doll (6/18/93 Chicago, IL) The Wheel > (7/26/94 Maryland Heights, MO) Attics of My Life (7/26/94 Maryland Heights, MO) Wharf Rat (7/19/94 Noblesville, IN) Peggy-O (edit) (6/26/94 Las Vegas, NV) Stagger Lee (10/15/94 NYC, NY) Stella Blue (3/21/94 Richfield, OH) Terrapin Station (10/1/94 Boston, MA) Comes a Time (10/9/94 Landover, MD) Morning Dew (3/27/94 Uniondale, NY) Brokedown Palace (12/19/94 Los Angeles, CA) Downloads320kbps MP3s derived from losslessFLAC files Editing NotesThere are two edits (but no re-EQ anywhere):The “Slipknot” following this great “Help on the Way” didn’t cut it, so I appended a different performance, terminated by its “Franklin’s Tower” coda. “Peggy-O”: The band skipped a whole verse (seamlessly), which makes The Captain less of an asshole. This led to verse confusion after the instrumental break. However, the band re-approached and corrected their error. I’ve edited out the 30 seconds of confusion. And yes, a missing verse is a big “vocal error,” but it doesn’t interrupt anything; it just modifies the story. View the post and reply »Unsubscribe from new posts on this site Change your Posthaven email settings
— David Silva
I normally avoid post-coma ('86) Dead, but this being curated, so to speak, I'll give it a try. Thanks for your efforts here.
— steve
I was at the 3.27.94 show. Garcia's guitar was driving him crazy. At one point he left the stage and had Steve Parish take a look at it. When he landed on "Morning Dew" I remember him playing the guitar almost like he was punishing it. He wanted to teach it a lesson - and he did. It's a great version.
— J.M.N.
very excited to listen to this. I almost never listen to this era but am psyched for a best-of.
— jeff
" It’s terrible that decades after Garcia’s death, no attempt has been made to put a respectful and powerful coda on his career, in the form of a curated, final-years, live Grateful Dead album." so, what do you call this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ready_or_Not_(Gra...
— lek
Beautiful, thoughtful work, as always. Just a heads-up -- on the FLAC and MP3 versions, track 14 (Comes a Time from Landover) is missing metadata.
— Jack Kluggmann
I’m so glad to see people welcoming this mix. Thank you for commenting. I’m eager to hear feedback from those who actually listen to the mix, especially those who listen in their ideal circumstances (of sound and mind). “Garcia Sings 1993-1994” is the result of a long labor of love. When I started this blog/mixtape project in 2016, I would never have imagined I would end up caring deeply about the band’s final years. Demonstrating specifically that Garcia could be incredibly mighty near the end seemed like an important thing to do. I mean, how do you judge someone like him - by his batting average or by his home runs? Ultimately, I think that performances like these (presented is near-perfect mixes like these) are what everyone needs to hear to establish a proper take on Garcia’s and the band’s final years. In 2025, almost literally nobody cares about the quality of an end-to-end Grateful Dead show from the 1990s. It’s not an important or relevant question for the Dead or any other band. However, being in love with some Dead/Garcia performances from the final years strikes me as something every Head should aspire to. You only hurt yourself by leaving the band’s final years as a personal gray area. As soon as a few 1990s song-takes enter your permanent playlist, you’re a true, complete Head. There’s no credibility in saying you stopped listening to the Grateful Dead in Year X, because there are always a million people who heard objectively amazing music from the band after that - and they have the tapes to prove it. RESPONDING TO INDIVIDUAL COMMENTS: Green Swizzle, I assembled my favorite takes of the new songs (that weren’t included on the official “Ready or Not”) here: https://saveyourface.posthaven.com/the-grateful... Steve, I made a mix of awesome 1987 post-coma Garcia/Hunter takes that you can check out here: https://saveyourface.posthaven.com/grateful-dea... J.M.N., what a great in-person take on this show/song! Thank you. There’s one performance on this mix that I saw in person, and I didn’t appreciate it at the time. It’s insane how different things sound, song-by-song, versus the-whole-show-experience.
— John Hilgart @4CPcomics
PS: The "Morning Dew" from 3-27-94 is excellent. Glad you included it. That and the version from 10-17-94 might be the best of the year.
— Steven C
Wow. Thank you. Have been waiting for this for decades. No kidding. I appreciate the time it takes to do even the most basic playlist, and your passion, dedication, and discernment, is outstanding. Here is a joke for you: I was listening to the Stones, Howard, Velvets, and many other playlists, yes, the Kiss ones too ( Miles is my go to fav for non GD), anyway and was complaining the audio was somehow degrading over time…hahaha! Turns out I was going deaf and didn’t know it. My guitars were sounding like crap too. Very one turned into a mumbled! Humbled when I got hearing aides and very thing was roses roses again. Your work is a gift to many and is appreciated in ways ou will never know. It is an act of service and love. Best regards always!
— Campfire Bob
You are doing the work of a gold miner. Your companion album for "Ready or Not" is great and I know this new 90s list will be, too. Someone mentioned the official release Ready or Not...if any of you have it, check the end of the CD liner notes: "Special thanks to John Hilgart"! Some day I hope to see what you could do with 1986...I feel like it's similar. There's gold in them there hills. Thank you!!!
— Ryan Bouchard
good to have you back with these mixes and the stories behind them they are always a hoot thank you
— Andy W
What a fantastic collection. I’m half way through and it sparkles! I’ve added all of the shows from which the songs are taken on Attics I order to give them a listen/relisten. Thank you, thank you. Any chance of a vol.2 from Jerry’s ‘solo’ work?
— Matt
*in order
— Matt
Delighted to see recent responses to this mix! Ryan, I appreciate the “gold miner” comparison. That’s the spirit of my listening, but also, every Head has the streams they need to gold miner any and every Dead period, if they want. I find it very satisfying to separate the tunes I want hear again and those I probably don’t ever need to hear again. This mix is the result of long filtration toward something I felt was pure gold. Campfire Bob! I’m so sorry to learn of the hearing loss, but I’m delighted that hearing aids fixed the music for you! I wonder how many people share the musical Venn diagram you and I share? Matt, good luck with whole shows from 1993-1994! I don’t know if you’ve seen that I reduced a lot of them to shortlists of the best stuff over the course of this SYF blog, but if you search 1993 or 1994, you’ll find some short cuts to the best stuff. (A lot of it is also on YouTube and Archive, if you search “Grateful Dead Save Your Face.”) Cheers to all.
— John Hilgart @4CPcomics
This playlist is a thing of beauty and is now my favorite Grateful Dead music from the final years. I usually listen to this period with a tinge of funereal sadness and a sense of mourning, but this is strong, righteous, gorgeous prime-of-life stuff. A million thanks.
— Hal Espen
Hal Espen, what a tremendous compliment to the music and the geek who assembled it. Thank you so much!
— John Hilgart @4CPcomics
First, it's good to see you back. I've missed your mixes over the past year or so. Through them, I have learned and appreciated the 1990s Dead much, much more than I did contemporaneously. I find that the moments in the Vince era are very strong, more than the 80s version of the band. I've come to appreciate the generousness of Vince as a musician. I do prefer him and his playing to Brent, which may be a minority view but whatever. I received The Music Never Stopped (I didn't get the box - didn't really want more than half of it and the 3 CD compilation is good enough for me) the same day your mix came out. Needless to say, I enjoy Garcia Sings more than the compilation. Sounds better and has better playing, overall. Thanks again for sharing. And sharing, and sharing.
— David KS
Woah hey now, a new SYF compilation! It was great to see this pop up John, it's been quite a while I hope you're doing well. Can't wait to give this one a listen and, if the copyright gods allow it, I will put this up on YouTube as well.
— Cory
Cory, hi! Glad you found the mix. I was going to get in touch, but I don't think I have any way to do so anymore. I'm sure people will enjoy a streaming option - thank you!
— John Hilgart @4CPcomics
Sharing our playlist work with this fine community
— Catfish Oteil
https://www.youtube.com/feed/playlists
— Catfish Oteil
Not a comment about this mix per se, because I have not yet listened. But I want to thank you overall for the amazing and creative work you have done with GD music. Such a service to us in the Dead Head community who are always looking for new insights into the band's music. Thank you! Much appreciation!
— David
Reach out to the Endless Dead crew at belikeotiel @ gmail.com. We would love to meet you and invite you to one of our streaming shows.
— Catfish Oteil
As always, my compliments on finding yet another venue, in mirroring David's comment, to present the Dead in a fresh way. As I have said before, my initial vector into GD was the Greyfolded project with John Oswald, which took a quarter century of Dark Star and shaped it into a non-linear yet immense blend. My appreciation of the Dead since has come almost completely from your mixes. They may not have the heavy appreciation in me that the true Heads have, but much as I said about Brian Wilson recently, they may not be in my wheelhouse, but I can appreciate what they did better now than I did 30 years ago when I worked a circular delivery job with a boss who played nothing but Dead, reggae and Sinatra, and I was burned out on hearing the Dead by the second year of the five I clearly recall working for him LOL And a clean Jerry Sings mix for the most part is a nice trip to take :)
— Fredrick Beondo
Fredrick, you've been a wonderful, participatory audience for so long. I appreciate your qualified love of the Dead, as I'm someone who has chosen "delete file" for so, so, so many live Dead performances.
— John Hilgart @4CPcomics
Thank you, sir, I appreciate the compliment. If it were not too presumptious, I would call your mixes "John's Picks," as some of your mixes compliment the ones by Mr. Richard LOL, while others, as I have said and others have commented , have plumbed depths into the performances that the estate have still not yet found themselves (else why credit you on an 'official' release?), and though you have said yourself the venues are narrowing, I have faith that the long, strange trip is nowhere near the end of the road just yet. :)
— Fredrick Beondo
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