Some of my first (and best) memories of my freshman year in college involve the album Shady Grove, a collaboration between Jerry Garcia and David Grisman. The album was so far outside the boundaries of anything I’d ever listened to up until that year and have a couple of college acquaintances to thank for that.

I was working the early morning shift unloading boxes for the University – all of 18 years old – and that’s where I met my two friends Matt and Neil. Matt, if I remember correctly was a little older after transferring to our University. To not completely digress, by the time our morning was over (usually around 11am) we would grab some food from the cafeteria and head to their dorm room in West tower. There were usually two records we would listen to, the first being Pink Floyd’s Meddle, and the other is the one that has been resurrected from my collection recently, Shady Grove.

These days I can handle the mandolin for all of about five seconds, but that wasn’t always the case, and this album is proof of that. Any fan of the Grateful Dead, or just Jerry Garcia will obviously hear the beauty and delicacy contained within the eleven tracks on this disc, but these songs also have a welcoming aspect that is able to draw in outsiders as well. As summer approaches it’s always fun to dust off a few of my favorite Dead records and play them around the house or an outside barbeque.

As I’ve been listening to this album over the past week as waves of college memories wash over me, I can’t help but remember all the days, nights, highs, and hangovers this record soundtracked. I chose the song “Fair Ellender” to share below for a multitude of reason, but mostly because it highlights Grisman’s ability to marry Garcia’s delicate voice and song structure. It’s also a story, contained within a song, and a perfect sample of the album as a whole.

MP3: Jerry Garcia & David Grisman – Fair Ellender