Russian Lullaby is a JGB song that I always enjoy seeing on a release. Part of the reason for that is that you never know what you’re going to get. The song can be played in a very laid back manner, like it is here, or it can be very upbeat in an almost ragtime jazz feel.

I assume I’m like many others in that I really enjoy the breadth of the catalog of the JGB. While the Dead’s oeuvre was quite steeped in American popular music, most of that came through in the Dead’s original compositions. However, in the Garcia band Jerry was free to have fun with whatever he wanted and you could really hear how well he had assimilated all the different aspects of the American songbook. This type of tin pan alley tune is a great example. Some of the jazz chords and changes here, not to mention the melody drawn from them, aren’t always that common in popular music. But Garcia makes them seem natural and effortless.

I haven’t studied JGB set lists enough to make an educated assertion, but it seems to me based on a cursory look that about half, give or take a few, of the songs Garcia played regularly in his solo band were covers. Cover bands can get a lot of heat sometimes and are labeled as unoriginal, but I think Garcia does a great job proving that point wrong. He really brings something new to these songs and makes them his own. “Cover band” is probably a bit dramatic, but it gets the point across here.

It’s no wonder so many people still miss the big man so much. Jerry on gang!

This starts off in a lazy Sunday afternoon fashion. The feel is light and airy, and there is no rush to the music. When Jerry starts to sing the vocals are mixed way down, but come forward a bit after a while. You can really tell that Keith (or the keys player in general) is much more central in the JGB because Jerry is the only guitar so the keys have to hold down the melody when he’s soloing. Fortunately, this provides a window into Keith’s abilities. While his playing with the Dead may have been on the decline in the late 70s (really more so in 1978-79) he’s seems to have done just fine with the JGB. In typical JGB fashion, the instrumental sections here are quite lengthy. Jerry weaves some intricate tapestries when he takes leave, but also leaves some room for Keith to step out as well. Right when you think they’re about to head back into another verse. Everyone drops out by John Kahn. His bass solo starts by stating the Russian Lullaby melody, but once that’s established he starts to do some exploring of his own. When the rest of the band finally rejoins the part, Jerry contributes some soaring lines that evolve into a dance around the main melody. Finally, around the eleventh minute Jerry comes back in with the verse. They’re still lower in the mix than may be desirable, but the classic tin pan alley playing more than makes up for it as the song comes to a close.

Complete Setlist 7/29/77