Song:Panama Red
Album:Breakdown
Old & In The Way was a one off side project led by Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead. They recorded a 1973 album, played a few shows. And that was it. It was never supposed to be anything more than a one off thing. Garcia did it because he loved bluegrass music. It was similar to the jazz group he had with Howard Wales. Not surprisingly, it's an all star band. Garcia played banjo. The rest of the band was Peter Rowan on guitar, David Grisman on mandolin and John Kahn on bass. John Hartford was supposed to be the fiddler but he couldn't clear his schedule so Vassar Clements replaced him. Hartford replaced Richard Greene during rehearsal sessions. That's an all star band. Old & In The Way released one album on Grateful Dead Records. It was recorded Oct. 6, 1973 at The Boarding House in San Francisco. Unfortunately that album is out of print. The 1997 CD Breakdown is from the same series of shows. It's much longer than the original album. Panama Red was written and sung by Peter Rowan. Panama Red was recorded by The New Riders of the Purple Sage. Most of the album is bluegrass standards. After Garcia's 1995 death and John Kahn's 1996 death, the remaining members reformed and released the 2012 album Old & In The Gray. Session musician Herb Pedersen replaced Garcia and Nashville session musician Bryn Bright replaced Kahn. Rowan and Grisman have a long history together going back to the 60s. So I would not be surprised to see them record as Old & In The Way again. Here's a video of Old & In The Way performing Panama Red at the San Rafael Bluegrass Festival Apr. 28, 1974.
No comments:
Post a Comment