On March 26, 1975, The Grateful Dead were ensconced in Bobby Weir’s Marin County home studio edep in the production of their eventual release “Blues For Allah,” which turns 50 next year. The band had stopped touring and was in prime creative form. Building what may be their most musically accomplished album from the ground up, the early sketches have just been released on the “Blues For Allah: Angle’s Share” release.
Amongst the early versions of eventual crowd favorites like “Franklin’s Tower” is an instrumental piece simply entitled “Surf Jam.” At nearly eight minutes long, it’s a rolling, rollicking, tune that starts with shades of Dick Dale as Jerry Garcia’s turns the reverb up on his guitar. Launching into a heavier, rhythmically driven number, it’s a hell of a groove. The Dead must have had the beach on their mind in March of ’75 as the new release also features a jam called “Sand Castles and Glass Camels.”
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“The things that keep opening in front of you, the more you do them the better you get, that idea, it’s really a nice idea to have in your life, it keeps you centered to something,” Garcia explained in a 1976 interview. “You don’t have to be worried about how you’re being judged in some absolute sense, but you can judge your own progress on a day-to-day basis. And when you’re doing something like that you know when you’re off and you know when you’re on. “
Jerry was never a surfer, but later in life is did get heavily into scuba diving, spending a lot of time in the water around Hawaii. The Dead’s surf cred goes to drummer Billy Kreutzmann, who’s got a spot over on Kauai.
“At one point after Jerry’s passing, I was alone visiting a beach in Hawaii. Two huge Samoan guys just got back from spearfishing and they emerged from the water like creatures from the dark lagoon. They were as massive as sumo wrestlers and they were carrying spearguns with them, for fishing purposes,” recalled Kreutzmann on social media in 2021. “But, you know, a weapon’s a weapon. And to prove it, they had dead fish hanging off their belts. I kept my cool when they started walking right toward me, but I’d be bluffing if I said I wasn’t a bit nervous. When they approached, all they said was, ‘Sorry to hear about da kine.’ They were speaking in Hawaiian Pidgin – local slang – but were talking about Jerry Garcia.”
“He would’ve loved that, like it was some sort of prank that made up for the time the dive instructor in Kona asked him for his autograph, 20 feet below the surface,” Kreutzmann continued. “It made me smile. Jerry was ‘da kine.’ And it showed just how far and wide his reach was, and how deeply he was embedded in the American consciousness.”
Heading out to check the surf? Pop on “Surf Jam” by the Dead and dig on the groove, it’s da kine.