Jerry Garcia sits in the pantheon of the greatest guitarists of all time, with Rolling Stone placing him at No. 13 on the list of the greatest guitars.
In a recent list of the greatest guitar solos of all time, Rolling Stone put Jerry Garcia’s 1977 performance of Morning Dew, a song released in 1967, at No. 16.
“Jerry Garcia loved to play Morning Dew his entire life. Folk singer Bonnie Dobson wrote it in 1961, but in Garcia’s hands, it became an epic psychedelic lament. This glorious 14-minute “Morning Dew” has gone down in history — the legendary climax of the most legendary show the Dead ever played, at Cornell University on May 8, 1977,” Rolling Stone wrote.
“It’s Garcia at his most transcendent. They dropped this Dew on a crowd already dazed by a 27-minute Scarlet > Fire, coming right out of St. Stephen and Not Fade Away. Garcia soars on his Travis Bean TP500 guitar, especially in the final six minutes, where he builds from a hushed whisper to a full-on electric-funeral howl.”
Jerry Garcia Was Overwhelmed With Emotion During ‘Morning Dew’ Performance
During the final stop on a tour as the band began to perform Morning Dew, Garcia couldn’t hold back his emotion.
“He’s playing with his back to the audience, tears streaming down his face, the music playing the band…Ecstacy on every level,” band publicist and biography Dennis McNally recalled later, according to Far Out Magazine.
That story was later corroborated by tape operator Dennis ‘Wiz’ Leonard who remembered, “He did a good part of his solo in that tune with his back to the audience, with tears streaming down his face. Because he was right there. He was playing for all of us: all of human kind.”
The Deadheads weren’t the only ones impacted by the band’s legendary music.
Related: 1969 Hit Named ‘Greatest Drum Solo of All Time’
This story was originally published by Men’s Journal on Jun 15, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men’s Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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