START “HEAR”: Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter (Bob and Jerry) - "All My Trials" - Before The Dead (04:00)
-- Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter ("Bob and Jerry") perform "All My Trials" from the upcoming Jerry Garcia retrospective, Before The Dead.
This traditional song is associated with Joan Baez, who had it on her first album. Very much part of the Civil Rights Movement. The first three songs and their performance were part of the common stock of the American folk revival. But here Bob and Jerry, as budding musical professionals, began to bring in personal touches—care- fully arranged vocal and instrumental parts—to the music. This is a haunting song, and their rendition delivers an appropriately somber intensity.
Part 1: ROBERT HUNTER & JERRY GARCIA
“Let there be songs to fill the air…”
Their collaboration was…what can we say? Just listen to their combined magic…
In 2015, they were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.


--at The Calderone in Hempstead, NY
--per uploader: “*There is almost 2 minutes of dead air+crowd noise beginning at 4:45. I left it in by accident.”
--video by Bill Kreutzmann’s son Justin (see next article)
--What is it like to grow up Dead…as Bill Kreutzmann's son?
-- Justin Kreutzmann was born into the highly creative if unconventional world of the Grateful Dead. So, it comes as no surprise that when his dad gave him a Super-8 film camera back in 1977, his path was set for life. Find out more about Justin's work as a documentarian, what bands he'd love to work with, and of course, what life was like growing up Dead in this edition of All In The Family.
You are in the unique position of being able to share experiences of what life was like growing up Dead so to speak. Give us a little taste of what that was like.
Click on above link to read the rest of this story.
For more Robert Hunter, see “Encores” below.
Part 2: BRIDGE (over troubled waters)

This section will attempt to connect Part 1 to Part 3 using the song “Bertha” – another “grate” Hunter-Garcia “joint” project. In Part 3, I tell the tale of my recent replacement of our ceiling fan in the master bedroom. It was a “long, strange trip” in which I had to pause often to “listen to the music play…” so as to stay calm and focused on all the twists and turns…
As you’ll read in the next article, according to some Dead lore, the inspiration for this tune was a story about an office fan “that would run around and try and catch everyone and cut their fingers off. They started calling it Bertha.”


(L) from next article, (R) at my 2019 kundalini yoga class in Echo Park, W. Hempstead, NY
Greatest Stories Ever Told - "Bertha" (article)
--Jerry just smiling and enjoying himself…as the beach balls go bouncing by…
Part 3: JOHN HUNTER

This home repair project began when I tried to purchase a replacement remote controller for our master bedroom ceiling fan. It was here when we moved in over 25 years ago. No part was available. I grew up with a Dad who could fix anything and I also worked with my hands for many years…so, rather than spend hundreds of dollars on a new fan, I looked for another solution.
I found a kit that included a replacement receiver to attach to the original fan motor (below) and matching controller for under $50 bucks.

I like challenges and learning new things, so, I figured I’d give it a try. Well, after weeks of on and off time with this project and learning all about the different kinds of fan motor wiring, I found out that the kit wouldn’t work and had to give up and buy a new fan.
Along the way, I stopped to ask directions...REALLY!!! I asked a friend who's a union electrician for help with my fan motor wiring questions. Interestingly, once I reached out to him to set up a date to meet...I was able to figure out that the kit I bought wouldn't work. Hmmm...I needed to let go of trying to figure it out...and then was shown the light...

New fan - Before installation

One of the two studs for the fan mounting bracket was loose…had to access it from the attic side to tighten

In the attic above bedroom to access the ceiling box and secure the loose studs to the fan mounting bracket .
Fortunately, Eileen saved me a bunch of time - as she had gone through all the various models and selected a beautiful replacement from Hunter. THANKS, MATE!!!


Hunter’s Customer Service representatives were very helpful – from my first call about getting a wiring diagram for our old fan…to help in selecting a new one.
Part 4: LESSONS LEARNED

--with cool video imagery
Part 5: ENCORES
-- Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter recalls being “alarmed” by Jerry Garcia’s kind words in the days leading up to the mainman’s death…
--Jerry Garcia moved fluidly between duos, trios, and larger bands from the early 1960s, all the way to the end of his life in 1995. Each new endeavor had Jerry jumping between instruments and roles with a ceaseless passion for revolutionary forms, interesting sounds, and the next opportunity to effect rapid change on an ever-evolving art form.
--Jerry and Bob were a duo from May ’61 to June ’61.
Lyrics By: Robert Hunter
Music By: Jerry Garcia, Bill Kreutzmann
In another time's forgotten space
Your eyes looked from your mother's face (note a)
Wildflower seed on the sand and stone
May the four winds blow you safely home
Roll away the dew
Roll away the dew
Roll away the dew
Roll away the dew
I'll tell you where the four winds dwell (note b)
In Franklin's tower there hangs a bell
It can ring, turn night to day
It can ring like fire when you lose your way
God save the child who rings that bell (note c)
It may have one good ring, baby, you can't tell (note d)
One watch by night, one watch by day
If you get confused, listen to the music play
Some come to laugh their past away
Some come to make it just one more day
Whichever way your pleasure tends
If you plant ice, you're gonna harvest wind
In Franklin's tower the four winds sleep (note e)
Like four lean hounds the lighthouse keep
Wildflower seed in the sand and wind
May the four winds blow you home again
(a) Robert Hunter's lyrics in "Box Of Rain" are "Your eyes looked through your mother's face"
(b) the lyrics in "Box Of Rain" are "You ask me where the four winds dwell"
(c) the lyrics in "Box Of Rain" are "God help the child ..."
(d) the lyrics in "Box of Rain" are "It may have one good ring left ..."
(e) this is the lyrics in "Box Of Rain" and the studio recording, but Jerry mostly sang "I'll tell you where the four winds sleep." Thanks to Dan Franzen for pointing this out.
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