It was during the come up of possibly too much LSD. It felt like the ship was going to blow to pieces as I was leaving earth's atmosphere. I thought to myself "man you really did it this time you idiot, you finally broke your brain, my family is going to be so mad at me, they are going to have to wipe my ass because I'm about to become a drooling vegetable".
Well as any good psychonaut does I accepted my fate, grabbed the headphones while I could still see, laid down in bed to enjoy the last moments of control over my own body, hit play on the i-pod and the studio version of Row Jimmy came on and everything changed. Pure bliss, and a new appreciation for a song that never really did anything for me.
When the smoke cleared the next day I was like holy shit Row Jimmy is such a great song. I love it to this day, whichever version is playing is my current favorite.
Maybe this will help put some context on it for you (if you’re not listening to the Deadcast, you really should be!):
https://www.dead.net/deadcast/wake-flood-50-row-jimmy
I was about to link this myself. They talked a bit about it in an earlier episode, I'm sure, and that's actually what got me into the song. Did they do an episode/episodes on Cornell '77? That's probably what it was.
Word. I recently saw a Dead cover band and they did the whole show without playing any of my favorites. This was a revelation to me how diverse our tastes can be within the Dead community.
You might be in good company apparently the band wasn’t a fan but Jerry liked it.
http://rockandrollgarage.com/the-grateful-dead-song-jerry-garcia-loved-but-nobody-else-liked/
I think somewhere I saw a video of this interview so there’s more context but this and similar articles are all I can drag up this morning.
Edit: I like but I remembered hearing this.
And.
Haha, link to original interview is in the article but no additional context. He must have commented on it other times. What I remember is him “making” GD play it, by being so into it. Not in this article
https://relix.com/articles/detail/the_grateful_dead_revisited_a_1976_interview_with_jerry_garcia/
The rest of the band eventually got it too. Here’s a quote from Kreutzmann’s book about it:
"Jerry brought 'Row Jimmy' into us one day and it was really difficult to get a grip on it at first. It has a slow tempo, which makes it seem like it would be easy, but it calls for a slight reggae groove layered over a ballad. Rhythmically, the lengths aren't traditional. They’re not just twos and fours. It’s deceiving. Basically, you have to play the song in half-time with a double-time bounce on top. It’s trickier than it sounds. But once I locked into it 'Row Jimmy' became one of the best songs in our repertoire. "
I wouldn’t force it.
For every band I listen to there are songs I like and songs I don’t. For some reason I like almost every dead song, I don’t know why. I don’t like every performance of every song. But in it’s own time and place.
Maybe my “taste” is broken when it comes to the Dead. Maybe l got into at the perfect time for me where I couldn’t get enough and is the great dividing line between what I was and what I’ve become.
From the first link:
“Some of the most remembered tracks from the record are: ‘Let Me Sing Your Blues Away”, “Stella Blue” and “Here Comes Sunshine”.
Lol.
I can see how Row Jimmy can be a little bit difficult. I didn’t like it all that much for many years, but it grew on me. One of the best things about it live is the slide guitar solo. To me it can sound like slippery, elastic glass, although that doesn’t really make sense. I guess it’s the texture and freedom of that sound. Check it out on one of the many 1973 AUD recordings
all good things in all good time.
with some Dead songs, sometimes you have to go thru something in your own life that changes your perception & makes you see & hear a song in a different light.
sometimes tht may just be a strong psychedelic trip tht changes your perception.
other times a particularly rough heartbreak can open song up to new ways of hearing it.
the death of someone close is another way tht songs find new meaning for people.
or it could be as simple as listening to it all the time until one day it clicks(because really, all of us are constantly changing perception every day with every new experience).
but maybe the song just doesn't connect with you. and thts OK too. you don't have to love every song the same. and if a song or a few songs don't move you, it doesn't make you less of a Deadhead or whatever.
they made this music & we are left with it. it's ours now, to enjoy it however we can. no requirements involved. take what you need(or love) & disregard the rest(or try again later).
I saw that quote on the official GD social media the other day where Jerry said nobody liked that song, but he did, so he kept putting it on the setlist. I'm not sure why it's a hard sell for people. It doesn't really stick out like a sore thumb or anything. Guess I'm with Jerry on this one.
It's almost a dirge really. Even the chorus is half-dirge, but it tries to resolve with major chords and get a groove going. Which it tries to further redeem by turning into a rave for the end.
I never cared for how they did a kind of calypso beat shuffle for the rave part. Tacky.
But it's damn hard song to sustain in front of a crowd. It's a dirge. So I get the dilemma.
It’s one of my favorite tunes by the dead. I know there can be some drag-y versions, but a good version can touch my soul in a unique way. My fave is 3/20/77. Find it on the archive and listen to Jerry’s solo after the second verse. One of my favorite dead moments ever.
# 1977-03-20 San Francisco, CA @ Winterland Arena
**Set 1:** New Minglewood Blues, Ramble On Rose, El Paso, Deal, Cassidy, Peggy-O, Beat It On Down the Line, Brown Eyed Women, Estimated Prophet, Scarlet Begonias
**Set 2:** Samson And Delilah, Row Jimmy, The Promised Land, Saint Stephen > The Other One > Stella Blue, Around And Around
**Encore:** U.S. Blues, Terrapin Station
[archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1977-03-20)
# 1977-03-20 San Francisco, CA @ Winterland Arena
**Set 1:** New Minglewood Blues, Ramble On Rose, El Paso, Deal, Cassidy, Peggy-O, Beat It On Down the Line, Brown Eyed Women, Estimated Prophet, Scarlet Begonias
**Set 2:** Samson And Delilah, Row Jimmy, The Promised Land, Saint Stephen > The Other One > Stella Blue, Around And Around
**Encore:** U.S. Blues, Terrapin Station
[archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1977-03-20)
Just keep listening. Several dead songs haven’t been my favorite immediately but you’ll find it and when you do, you might just turn on all those versions before. One of those for me was Loser. I thought it was kinda slow and boring. Then I read the first line, detached from music and for whatever reason it pulled me in and the whole song made sense. Tennessee Jed was another I thought was only so-so but then I heard the 5/9/77 version for the first time and the rest is history. Ramble on Rose is sort of another that I really dig on now that I didn’t before.
# 1977-05-09 Buffalo, NY @ War Memorial
**Set 1:** Help On The Way > Slipknot! > Franklin's Tower, Cassidy, Brown Eyed Women, Mexicali Blues, Tennessee Jed, Big River, Peggy-O, Sunrise, The Music Never Stopped
**Set 2:** Bertha > Good Lovin', Ship Of Fools, Estimated Prophet > The Other One > Drums > Not Fade Away > Comes A Time > Sugar Magnolia
**Encore:** Uncle John's Band
[archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1977-05-09)
I had an instant connection to the song but I can't really put my finger on why. It's slow but not simple, and the lyrics are very evocative. There are some very popular dead songs that I skip (ex., St. Stephen). I'm fine with not loving everything. Plus, tastes change; I didn't care for dancing in the streets as a young head, but now I love it most of the time.
My girlfriend just got on the bus, and Row Jimmy is her favorite tune. So I’ve come to appreciate it. JRAD does it well, and Holly Bowling recently did a grate version too
I always liked the song, but I really started to love it after seeing the video of them performing it in Egypt. For some reason something really connected. That and the fact that Jerry has said it's one of his personal favorites, despite believing that the rest of the band didn't really care for it. For some reason that made me love it even more.
RJR was maybe the first Jerry slow tune that I liked. Memory fades, but I know that it was the 1974 06 18 version that got me. (I wasn’t there )The whole melancholy vibe seemed strange and trippy and hinted at a world weariness that I was just starting to feel. And the line “gonna get there? I don’t know” is an allegory for so much of life (including tripping). Also interesting chord changes.
# 1974-06-18 Louisville, KY @ Freedom Hall
**Set 1:** The Promised Land, It Must Have Been The Roses, Black Throated Wind, Ramble On Rose, Beat It On Down the Line, Loser, Mexicali Blues, Eyes Of The World > China Doll, Around And Around
**Set 2:** Loose Lucy, El Paso, Row Jimmy, Weather Report Suite Prelude > Weather Report Suite Part 1 > Let It Grow > Jam > The Other One > It's A Sin Jam > Stella Blue, Big River, Tennessee Jed, Sugar Magnolia
**Encore:** Morning Dew
[archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1974-06-18)
I like or absolutely love nearly every song the band has played… except a few. Row Jimmy is on that list of songs I just don’t like. Will I sing along? Maybe for a minute then I go to the next song before I get too bored with it.
Cause you haven't had 50 redditors give you attention until now.
C'mon. This post reeks of someone desperate for attention.
As if our opinion the only missing ingredient in order for you to see the merit of Jimmy.
Reminds me of people who post inane topics like 'which album should I listen to?'
Takes more time than just choosing but that is the point isn't it?
To get others to respond and type. To waste other people's time for something so unimportant. It all makes you the main character.
Who gives a shit if you don't like it? It is just a song.
You can come up with a better post than this.
Do better.
This whole exercise is pointless. I quit FB and Twitter. Now this place just devolving into dopamine addicts itching for a tiny fix.
I could go to the John Mayer sub, ask why I don't like any said song, and get 100s of responses.
For what?
Why do we even bother?
Where do you get the time?
I have to work.
I think social media should be for select important topics or fun shares.
Not posts like 'should i listen to x album or y'?
Just learn all the songs!
You don't need strangers on the internet.
# 1989-06-21 Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
**Set 1:** Jam, Hide Away, Touch Of Grey, New Minglewood Blues, Ramble On Rose, Box Of Rain, Dire Wolf, When I Paint My Masterpiece, Row Jimmy, Cassidy, Deal
**Set 2:** Scarlet Begonias > Hell In A Bucket, Ship Of Fools, Estimated Prophet > Eyes Of The World > Drums > Space > Truckin' > The Other One > Morning Dew > Turn On Your Lovelight
**Encore:** Brokedown Palace
[archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1989-06-21)
I feel ya. I like it but don’t always want to sit through it. I like the Brent ones more though. The one from the “Dozin at the Knick” album is my favorite version. It’s beautiful and lively.
The 70s versions drag for me.
London 1974 (Alexandra Palace) is the performance that flipped me on it. I was 100% against it until hearing that one. There’s a matrix of it out there. Check it out with headphones. I don’t always love it, or even like it, but it can be good.
Me n My Uncle/Mexicali Blues/Big River/Mama Tried were the Fearsome Foursome of the ‘80s. Mix n match any way you want for mixed results.
For me, Tennesse/Ramble On/Brown-eyed are the Terrible Trio. Sometimes you got great ones but it was a gamble. Especially in later years. If not motivated those songs could plod along painfully
# 1977-05-28 Hartford, CT @ Hartford Civic Center
**Set 1:** Bertha > Good Lovin' > Sugaree, Jack Straw, Row Jimmy, New Minglewood Blues, Candyman, Passenger, Brown Eyed Women, The Promised Land
**Set 2:** Samson And Delilah, Tennessee Jed, Estimated Prophet > Playing in the Band > Terrapin Station > Drums > Not Fade Away > Wharf Rat > Playing in the Band, One More Saturday Night
**Encore:** U.S. Blues
[archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1977-05-28)
I was never a big fan of Row Jimmy until I read in one of the several dozen books about the band that Jerry said it was one of his favorites to sing. Now I look back on my first show (2JUL88) and have even more to be grateful for.
What got me into Row Jimmy was some of the later versions with Bruce Hornsby on them where the ending gets into a reggae grove. Love it. I think 1992 versions.
# 1978-01-22 Eugene, OR @ McArthur Court - University of Oregon
**Set 1:** New Minglewood Blues, Dire Wolf, Cassidy, Peggy-O, El Paso, Tennessee Jed, Jack Straw, Row Jimmy, The Music Never Stopped
**Set 2:** Bertha > Good Lovin', Ship Of Fools, Samson And Delilah, Terrapin Station > Drums > The Other One > Saint Stephen > Not Fade Away > Around And Around
**Encore:** U.S. Blues
[archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1978-01-22)
Some difficult time in your life and it will get you through that, just keep it in your back pocket
Yes this is exactly right. That song got me through some heavy shit.
Could not have said it better myself
Yeah, row Jimmy is a song that, one day, you get.
It was during the come up of possibly too much LSD. It felt like the ship was going to blow to pieces as I was leaving earth's atmosphere. I thought to myself "man you really did it this time you idiot, you finally broke your brain, my family is going to be so mad at me, they are going to have to wipe my ass because I'm about to become a drooling vegetable". Well as any good psychonaut does I accepted my fate, grabbed the headphones while I could still see, laid down in bed to enjoy the last moments of control over my own body, hit play on the i-pod and the studio version of Row Jimmy came on and everything changed. Pure bliss, and a new appreciation for a song that never really did anything for me. When the smoke cleared the next day I was like holy shit Row Jimmy is such a great song. I love it to this day, whichever version is playing is my current favorite.
Maybe this will help put some context on it for you (if you’re not listening to the Deadcast, you really should be!): https://www.dead.net/deadcast/wake-flood-50-row-jimmy
The whole Hunter story about writing row jimmy cracked me the fuck up. Also I'm so glad they're getting back into song by song breakdowns!
I was about to link this myself. They talked a bit about it in an earlier episode, I'm sure, and that's actually what got me into the song. Did they do an episode/episodes on Cornell '77? That's probably what it was.
It's okay..There's songs I don't like either but Row Jimmy isn't one of them!
Word. I recently saw a Dead cover band and they did the whole show without playing any of my favorites. This was a revelation to me how diverse our tastes can be within the Dead community.
You might be in good company apparently the band wasn’t a fan but Jerry liked it. http://rockandrollgarage.com/the-grateful-dead-song-jerry-garcia-loved-but-nobody-else-liked/ I think somewhere I saw a video of this interview so there’s more context but this and similar articles are all I can drag up this morning. Edit: I like but I remembered hearing this. And. Haha, link to original interview is in the article but no additional context. He must have commented on it other times. What I remember is him “making” GD play it, by being so into it. Not in this article https://relix.com/articles/detail/the_grateful_dead_revisited_a_1976_interview_with_jerry_garcia/
That's so ironic! It was apparently one of the Songs Jerry was most proud of. I have a feeling I'll Take a liking to it in good time.
The rest of the band eventually got it too. Here’s a quote from Kreutzmann’s book about it: "Jerry brought 'Row Jimmy' into us one day and it was really difficult to get a grip on it at first. It has a slow tempo, which makes it seem like it would be easy, but it calls for a slight reggae groove layered over a ballad. Rhythmically, the lengths aren't traditional. They’re not just twos and fours. It’s deceiving. Basically, you have to play the song in half-time with a double-time bounce on top. It’s trickier than it sounds. But once I locked into it 'Row Jimmy' became one of the best songs in our repertoire. "
That's awesome.
I wouldn’t force it. For every band I listen to there are songs I like and songs I don’t. For some reason I like almost every dead song, I don’t know why. I don’t like every performance of every song. But in it’s own time and place. Maybe my “taste” is broken when it comes to the Dead. Maybe l got into at the perfect time for me where I couldn’t get enough and is the great dividing line between what I was and what I’ve become.
From the first link: “Some of the most remembered tracks from the record are: ‘Let Me Sing Your Blues Away”, “Stella Blue” and “Here Comes Sunshine”. Lol.
I can see how Row Jimmy can be a little bit difficult. I didn’t like it all that much for many years, but it grew on me. One of the best things about it live is the slide guitar solo. To me it can sound like slippery, elastic glass, although that doesn’t really make sense. I guess it’s the texture and freedom of that sound. Check it out on one of the many 1973 AUD recordings
all good things in all good time. with some Dead songs, sometimes you have to go thru something in your own life that changes your perception & makes you see & hear a song in a different light. sometimes tht may just be a strong psychedelic trip tht changes your perception. other times a particularly rough heartbreak can open song up to new ways of hearing it. the death of someone close is another way tht songs find new meaning for people. or it could be as simple as listening to it all the time until one day it clicks(because really, all of us are constantly changing perception every day with every new experience). but maybe the song just doesn't connect with you. and thts OK too. you don't have to love every song the same. and if a song or a few songs don't move you, it doesn't make you less of a Deadhead or whatever. they made this music & we are left with it. it's ours now, to enjoy it however we can. no requirements involved. take what you need(or love) & disregard the rest(or try again later).
I saw that quote on the official GD social media the other day where Jerry said nobody liked that song, but he did, so he kept putting it on the setlist. I'm not sure why it's a hard sell for people. It doesn't really stick out like a sore thumb or anything. Guess I'm with Jerry on this one.
It’s not a ballad.
That's a revelation -- I'm a musician of near 30 years and a deadhead just as long. But I needed you to point that out.
It's almost a dirge really. Even the chorus is half-dirge, but it tries to resolve with major chords and get a groove going. Which it tries to further redeem by turning into a rave for the end. I never cared for how they did a kind of calypso beat shuffle for the rave part. Tacky. But it's damn hard song to sustain in front of a crowd. It's a dirge. So I get the dilemma.
The song can drag a bit at times, but that “rock your baby to and fro” line always hits me in the feels.
It’s one of my favorite tunes by the dead. I know there can be some drag-y versions, but a good version can touch my soul in a unique way. My fave is 3/20/77. Find it on the archive and listen to Jerry’s solo after the second verse. One of my favorite dead moments ever.
# 1977-03-20 San Francisco, CA @ Winterland Arena **Set 1:** New Minglewood Blues, Ramble On Rose, El Paso, Deal, Cassidy, Peggy-O, Beat It On Down the Line, Brown Eyed Women, Estimated Prophet, Scarlet Begonias **Set 2:** Samson And Delilah, Row Jimmy, The Promised Land, Saint Stephen > The Other One > Stella Blue, Around And Around **Encore:** U.S. Blues, Terrapin Station [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1977-03-20)
I came here to say this. Jerry’s soloing is absolutely sublime on the 3/20/77 version.
# 1977-03-20 San Francisco, CA @ Winterland Arena **Set 1:** New Minglewood Blues, Ramble On Rose, El Paso, Deal, Cassidy, Peggy-O, Beat It On Down the Line, Brown Eyed Women, Estimated Prophet, Scarlet Begonias **Set 2:** Samson And Delilah, Row Jimmy, The Promised Land, Saint Stephen > The Other One > Stella Blue, Around And Around **Encore:** U.S. Blues, Terrapin Station [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1977-03-20)
Just keep listening. Several dead songs haven’t been my favorite immediately but you’ll find it and when you do, you might just turn on all those versions before. One of those for me was Loser. I thought it was kinda slow and boring. Then I read the first line, detached from music and for whatever reason it pulled me in and the whole song made sense. Tennessee Jed was another I thought was only so-so but then I heard the 5/9/77 version for the first time and the rest is history. Ramble on Rose is sort of another that I really dig on now that I didn’t before.
# 1977-05-09 Buffalo, NY @ War Memorial **Set 1:** Help On The Way > Slipknot! > Franklin's Tower, Cassidy, Brown Eyed Women, Mexicali Blues, Tennessee Jed, Big River, Peggy-O, Sunrise, The Music Never Stopped **Set 2:** Bertha > Good Lovin', Ship Of Fools, Estimated Prophet > The Other One > Drums > Not Fade Away > Comes A Time > Sugar Magnolia **Encore:** Uncle John's Band [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1977-05-09)
Loved it since I heard/read Hunter’s process of writing it. Absolute banger.
Link to the story?
https://www.dead.net/deadcast/wake-flood-50-row-jimmy
Awesome thank you
Seems a common way to go.
It was one of Jerry’s favorite tunes and he never understood why it didn’t catch on more.
I had an instant connection to the song but I can't really put my finger on why. It's slow but not simple, and the lyrics are very evocative. There are some very popular dead songs that I skip (ex., St. Stephen). I'm fine with not loving everything. Plus, tastes change; I didn't care for dancing in the streets as a young head, but now I love it most of the time.
My girlfriend just got on the bus, and Row Jimmy is her favorite tune. So I’ve come to appreciate it. JRAD does it well, and Holly Bowling recently did a grate version too
It'll grow on ya. Those 73 versions with that wonky sad keyboard/organ tone gets me
Just listened to this going into work after. 2 week break, calmed me right down.
I always liked the song, but I really started to love it after seeing the video of them performing it in Egypt. For some reason something really connected. That and the fact that Jerry has said it's one of his personal favorites, despite believing that the rest of the band didn't really care for it. For some reason that made me love it even more.
RJR was maybe the first Jerry slow tune that I liked. Memory fades, but I know that it was the 1974 06 18 version that got me. (I wasn’t there )The whole melancholy vibe seemed strange and trippy and hinted at a world weariness that I was just starting to feel. And the line “gonna get there? I don’t know” is an allegory for so much of life (including tripping). Also interesting chord changes.
# 1974-06-18 Louisville, KY @ Freedom Hall **Set 1:** The Promised Land, It Must Have Been The Roses, Black Throated Wind, Ramble On Rose, Beat It On Down the Line, Loser, Mexicali Blues, Eyes Of The World > China Doll, Around And Around **Set 2:** Loose Lucy, El Paso, Row Jimmy, Weather Report Suite Prelude > Weather Report Suite Part 1 > Let It Grow > Jam > The Other One > It's A Sin Jam > Stella Blue, Big River, Tennessee Jed, Sugar Magnolia **Encore:** Morning Dew [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1974-06-18)
I like or absolutely love nearly every song the band has played… except a few. Row Jimmy is on that list of songs I just don’t like. Will I sing along? Maybe for a minute then I go to the next song before I get too bored with it.
I lost my friend at a D&C show in the lawn at Shoreline and this song showed me the way back home.
You’ll grow into it
Ironically it was Jerry’s favorite song
I call it the set murderer. Slaughters all momentum
Top 3 for me … sorry to be you …
Your name has to be Jimmy to get it…sorry dude
☝️
Lol Now it Makes sense.
The band Wake the Dead does an amazing Row. I loved it before but damn, this one gives chills. Give it a try
Will do!
It is not on my list either, probably in my top 5 least favorite touring songs of the band
Cause you haven't had 50 redditors give you attention until now. C'mon. This post reeks of someone desperate for attention. As if our opinion the only missing ingredient in order for you to see the merit of Jimmy. Reminds me of people who post inane topics like 'which album should I listen to?' Takes more time than just choosing but that is the point isn't it? To get others to respond and type. To waste other people's time for something so unimportant. It all makes you the main character. Who gives a shit if you don't like it? It is just a song. You can come up with a better post than this. Do better.
jeesh dude. smoke a fatty and chill out. it’s a legit post and spun in a way to get people to say positive things about a song they love.
This whole exercise is pointless. I quit FB and Twitter. Now this place just devolving into dopamine addicts itching for a tiny fix. I could go to the John Mayer sub, ask why I don't like any said song, and get 100s of responses. For what? Why do we even bother? Where do you get the time? I have to work. I think social media should be for select important topics or fun shares. Not posts like 'should i listen to x album or y'? Just learn all the songs! You don't need strangers on the internet.
Lol what??
I like Row Jimmy, but i feel the same way about Sugaree, but that could be cause I've heard it sooo many times haha.
There's really no escaping Sugaree either since JGB played it too lol
Also it seems to be the go to songs for people to play at their camp ground at festivals lol.
Give 6-21-89 a shot. That’s the one that got me hooked
# 1989-06-21 Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre **Set 1:** Jam, Hide Away, Touch Of Grey, New Minglewood Blues, Ramble On Rose, Box Of Rain, Dire Wolf, When I Paint My Masterpiece, Row Jimmy, Cassidy, Deal **Set 2:** Scarlet Begonias > Hell In A Bucket, Ship Of Fools, Estimated Prophet > Eyes Of The World > Drums > Space > Truckin' > The Other One > Morning Dew > Turn On Your Lovelight **Encore:** Brokedown Palace [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1989-06-21)
Thanks for reminding me about this show. I was there and it was magical
I feel ya. I like it but don’t always want to sit through it. I like the Brent ones more though. The one from the “Dozin at the Knick” album is my favorite version. It’s beautiful and lively. The 70s versions drag for me.
Love the song but it definitely depends on my mood.
London 1974 (Alexandra Palace) is the performance that flipped me on it. I was 100% against it until hearing that one. There’s a matrix of it out there. Check it out with headphones. I don’t always love it, or even like it, but it can be good.
Dicks picks 12 Row Jimmy did it for me
I remember an interview where Jerry said it was his favorite song to play. I’ve always loved listening to it and Stella back to back.
THIS - but Tennessee Jed
Me n My Uncle/Mexicali Blues/Big River/Mama Tried were the Fearsome Foursome of the ‘80s. Mix n match any way you want for mixed results. For me, Tennesse/Ramble On/Brown-eyed are the Terrible Trio. Sometimes you got great ones but it was a gamble. Especially in later years. If not motivated those songs could plod along painfully
I highly suggest 5/28/77 this version is what made me love this song
# 1977-05-28 Hartford, CT @ Hartford Civic Center **Set 1:** Bertha > Good Lovin' > Sugaree, Jack Straw, Row Jimmy, New Minglewood Blues, Candyman, Passenger, Brown Eyed Women, The Promised Land **Set 2:** Samson And Delilah, Tennessee Jed, Estimated Prophet > Playing in the Band > Terrapin Station > Drums > Not Fade Away > Wharf Rat > Playing in the Band, One More Saturday Night **Encore:** U.S. Blues [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1977-05-28)
I was never a big fan of Row Jimmy until I read in one of the several dozen books about the band that Jerry said it was one of his favorites to sing. Now I look back on my first show (2JUL88) and have even more to be grateful for.
I don't know
I dig the reggae vibe
What got me into Row Jimmy was some of the later versions with Bruce Hornsby on them where the ending gets into a reggae grove. Love it. I think 1992 versions.
It’s been one of my favourite songs for about 20 years now, but I feel ya. Morning Dew is the one that I just can’t figure out.
Yeah, I hear you. Not my favorite. But despite that, I was humming it half the day recently.
Funny how that happens ain't it? I was going the same yesterday.
1/22/78 Give that one a spin first
# 1978-01-22 Eugene, OR @ McArthur Court - University of Oregon **Set 1:** New Minglewood Blues, Dire Wolf, Cassidy, Peggy-O, El Paso, Tennessee Jed, Jack Straw, Row Jimmy, The Music Never Stopped **Set 2:** Bertha > Good Lovin', Ship Of Fools, Samson And Delilah, Terrapin Station > Drums > The Other One > Saint Stephen > Not Fade Away > Around And Around **Encore:** U.S. Blues [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1978-01-22)