The best Jerry Garcia’s movies
We present our ranking of the best Jerry Garcia’s movies. Do you love cinema? Or are you looking for a movie of your favorite actor to watch tonight? Surely you have some to see or that you did not know yet about Jerry Garcia.
Gimme Shelter
7.8/10
The landmark documentary about the tragically ill-fated Rolling Stones free concert at Altamont Speedway on December 6, 1969. Only four months earlier, Woodstock defined the Love Generation; now it lay in ruins on a desolate racetrack six miles outside of San Francisco.
Woodstock
8.1/10
An intimate look at the Woodstock Music & Art Festival held in Bethel, NY in 1969, from preparation through cleanup, with historic access to insiders, blistering concert footage, and portraits of the concertgoers; negative and positive aspects are shown, from drug use by performers to naked fans sliding in the mud, from the collapse of the fences by the unexpected hordes to the surreal arrival of National Guard helicopters with food and medical assistance for the impromptu city of 500,000.
Festival Express
7.4/10
The filmed account of a large Canadian rock festival train tour boasting major acts. In the summer of 1970, a chartered train crossed Canada carrying some of the world's greatest rock bands. The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band, Buddy Guy, and others lived (and partied) together for five days, stopping in major cities along the way to play live concerts. Their journey was filmed.
Grateful Dawg
7.2/10
Jerry Garcia, legendary lead guitarist for the Grateful Dead and David Grisman, virtuoso mandolinist and founder of "Dawg" music… Now, for the first time ever, the musical matrimony and extraordinary friendship of Garcia and Grisman is traced in the award-winning documentary Grateful Dawg.
Magic Trip
6.8/10
A freewheeling portrait of Ken Kesey and the Merry Prankster’s fabled road trip across America in the legendary Magic Bus. In 1964, Ken Kesey, the famed author of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” set off on a legendary, LSD-fuelled cross-country road trip to the New York World’s Fair. He was joined by “The Merry Band of Pranksters,” a renegade group of counterculture truth-seekers, including Neal Cassady, the American icon immortalized in Kerouac’s “On the Road,” and the driver and painter of the psychedelic Magic Bus.
Long Strange Trip
8.2/10
The tale of the Grateful Dead is inspiring, complicated, and downright messy. A tribe of contrarians, they made art out of open-ended chaos and inadvertently achieved success on their own terms. Never-before-seen footage and interviews offer this unprecedented and unvarnished look at the life of the Dead.
The Grateful Dead Movie
7.9/10
Released in 1977 and directed by Jerry Garcia, is a film that captures performances from the Grateful Dead's October 1974 five-night stand at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. This end-of-tour run marked the beginning of an extended hiatus for the band, with no shows planned for 1975. The movie also faithfully portrays the burgeoning Deadhead scene. The film features the "Wall of Sound" concert sound system that the Dead used for all of 1974.
Hells Angels Forever
6.1/10
What starts off as a squadron of American daredevil bombers in World War II, branded by society as renegades, turns into a revealing ride into the world of honor, violence, and undying passion for motorcycles on the road.
Big Family: The Story of Bluegrass Music
Examine the history of bluegrass music, from its origins to its eventual worldwide popularity, and hear from dozens of musicians who explain the ways bluegrass music transcends generational, cultural and geographic boundaries.
Bill Monroe: Father of Bluegrass Music
7.9/10
No single figure in American music so dominated a genre as did Bill Monroe with bluegrass. BILL MONROE: FATHER OF BLUEGRASS MUSIC features performances by Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys, Lester Flatt, Emmylou Harris, Paul McCartney, the Osborne Brothers, Dolly Parton, Ricky Skaggs, Marty Stuart, John Hartford and a once-in-a-lifetime Blue Grass Boys reunion featuring Del McCoury, Chubby Wise and Bill Keith. The film features archival footage and rare 1990s performances from Monroe's final years including many of the greatest songs from his six decades of recording.
The Acid Test
Sound and image captured by the Merry Pranksters in late 1965 and early 1966: the bus on the road, the Grateful Dead playing an Acid Test, Kool-Aid ritual, etc.
All Tomorrow's Parties
7.1/10
All Tomorrow's Parties is a 2009 documentary film directed by All Tomorrow's People and Jonathan Caouette covering the history of the long running All Tomorrow's Parties music festival. Described as a "post-punk DIY bricolage", the film was created using footage generated by the fans and musicians attending the events themselves, on a multitude of formats including Super8, camcorder and mobile phone. All Tomorrow's People is a name representing the contributions of these attendees.
Grateful Dead: Crimson, White & Indigo
Grateful Dead: Crimson, White & Indigo | Philadelphia July 7, 1989: SET I: 1)Hell In A Bucket, 2. Iko Iko, 3. Little Red Rooster, 4. Ramble On Rose, 5. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again, 6. Loser, 7. Let It Grow, 8. Blow Away | SET II: 1. Box Of Rain, 2. Scarlet Begonias, 3. Fire On The Mountain, 4. Estimated Prophet, 5. Standing On The Moon, 6. Rhythm Devils, 7. Space, 8. The Other One, 9. Wharf Rat, 10. Turn On Your Lovelight, 11. Knockin' On Heaven's Door
Grateful Dead: New Jersey Half-Step Uptown Toodleloo - Live at The Capitol Theater
1977 saw The Grateful Dead at the height of their powers. The new songs were solid, the band was playing better than ever and the bootleg recordings from that year prove it. This video captures the second and third nights of a three-night stand at Passaic, New Jersey's Capitol Theater. Highlights include: "Estimated Prophet", "Eyes Of The World", "Sugar Magnolia", "Promised Land", "Loser" and many more.
Deadheads
Covering 10 years, this 60 minute art documentary takes an inside look at the artisans, magicians, musicians, and lunatics that make up this cult of devotees, deadicated to a band that originated in 1965. Why these fans leave their schools, families and jobs to be part of these ritualistic tribal celebrations of dance, drugs and community, is a 20th century American cultural phenomenon captured here in this time capsuled video tape.
Grateful Dead: All The Years Combine, Bonus Disc
Bonus Disc Performances Shoreline Ampitheatre • Mountain View, CA • October 2, 1987 14-1 China Cat Sunflower 14-2 I Know You Rider 14-3 Man Smart, Woman Smarter Sullivan Stadium • Foxboro, MA • July 2, 1989 14-4 Friend Of The Devil The World Ampitheatre • Tinley Park, IL • July 22, 1990 14-5 Hey Pockey Way Soldier Field • Chicago, IL • June 22, 1991 14-6 Shakedown Street 1992 Documentary Backstage Pass, Directed By Justin Kreutzmann 14-7 Backstage Pass New Interview With Grateful Dead Archivist David Lemieux 14-8 New Interview With Archivist David Lemieux
Grateful Dead: Ticket to New Year's Eve Concert
8.4/10
Grateful Dead's New Year's Eve concert 12/31/87 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.
Grateful Dead: Live on Rockpalast
The Grateful Dead performs two sets at Essen's Grugahalle in March of 1981. WDR's Rockpalast captures the magic for German televison -- including a special guest: Pete Townsend of The Who.
Grateful Dead: The Making of "Built to Last"
The Making of "Built to Last" documents a rare behind the scenes look at the Grateful Dead's thirteenth and final studio album, Built to Last. The behind the scenes footage contains members of the band working on three songs for the album: Picasso Moon, Blow Away, & Just a Little Light. The footage was filmed at Club Front Studio in San Rafael, CA on March 1st 1989.
Grateful Dead: So Far
8/10
So Far is a music documentary video by the Grateful Dead. Directed by Jerry Garcia and Len Dell'Amico, it is intended to give a subjective view of the Grateful Dead experience. The soundtrack includes Dead song performances, largely from 1985. The visuals combine scenes of the band playing the songs, other Dead related material, computer animation, and found footage that has been altered and edited in various ways. So Far was released on VHS videotape and on laserdisc in 1987, and has a running time of 55 minutes.
