Recorded during the Grateful Dead's three-year break between studio albums (1970-73), Jerry Garcia's self titled 1972 debut solo album shows the band's most well known member in a prime period for his singing, playing and songwriting (the last of course being shared with lyricist Robert Hunter). Playing the lion's share of the instruments as well as all vocal duties, there is perhaps no greater testament to Garcia's artistry.
Several of the songs on here - namely "Sugaree," "Deal," "Bird Song," "Loser," and "The Wheel" - all became regular staples in the Dead's live set for the remainder of their career. As with the Dead's own studio material, most of the versions here are fairly primitive compared to the live versions, but at the same time, they are far more fleshed out and hold their own much better than the Dead's often perfunctory studio takes. Take "Bird Song," for example: without the jazzy excursions it would drift off into concert, this take allows you to focus on the beauty and delicacy of Robert Hunter's lyrics, which are essentially Jerry and Hunter's eulogy to Janis Joplin. Then there's "The Wheel," the album's closer; this one of the few songs where the studio take is tops, as the live versions never capture the urgency present here.
Garcia's guitar playing is fantastic throughout the album as well. From the rolling arpeggios in the lead-up to "Sugaree"'s chorus to the sharp, vibrant country pluckings of "Loser" to the relaxed, rollicking Southern style on "Deal," Jerry really gets to show his chops here in a way he never did on most of the studio albums.
What keeps "Garcia" from getting a perfect rating are the instrumentals. While "Spidergawd" has a nice creepiness to it, all of them feel like prolonged filler and take away from the album's best features. Even so, "Garcia" is still excellent overall, and an argument can be made that it is better than any Grateful Dead album recorded afterward.
