Jerry Garcia created plenty of inspired, inspiring music outside of the Grateful Dead. Here are some moments we wanted to share on the occasion of Jerry’s 70th birthday.Here he is on pedal steel guitar with New Riders of the Purple Sage on “I Don’t Know You”Here’s “Jerry’s Breakdown” with Old and in the Way at the Boarding House in San Francisco in 1973.Jerry and Merl Saunders performed over 250 shows together between 1970 and 1974. Here’s “Expressway To Your Heart”
Garcia and Saunders next worked together in the short-lived but much-beloved Legio of mary with John Kahn, Martin Fierro and Ron Tutt.“Reuben and Cerise” is a beloved Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter song performed predominantly by the Jerry Garcia Band rather than the Grateful Dead. Here’s a version from 11/23/77More Non-Dead GemsHere’s “Another Star” from Reconstruction, the 1979 project where Garcia, Saunders and Kahn appeared with Ed Neumeister on trombone, Ron Stallings on sax and Gaylord Birch on drums.

Ozzie Ahlers appeared on keyboards for only a short period with the Jerry Garcia band but contributed to many memorable moments, such as this version of “After Midnight” which segues into “Eleanor Rigby” and then back into “After Midnight” on March 8, 1980. Here’s “Trouble In Mind” by the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band in 1987 with David Nelson, Sandy Rothman, John Kahn, Kenny Kosek and David Kemper.Here’s a fine performance of “Russian Lullaby” by Garcia and David Grisman at the Warfield on 12/8/91 We’ll close things out with a live clip of Shining Star by the Jerry Garcia Band on 11/9/91