Artist Profiles

Rev Gary Davis

Gary Davis was a powerful vocalist and a masterful guitar player. He wrote Death Don't Have No Mercy and recorded a version of Samson and Delilah. He is probably the Dead's source for both these songs and is rumored to have given Bob Weir guitar lessons.

Blind Willie Johnson

Willie Johnson is credited with one of the earliest recordings of Samson and Delilah, entitled If I Had My Way. He also recorded Nobody's Fault But Mine as well as Keep Your Lamps Trimmed And Burning.

Lightnin' Hopkins

Lightnin' Hopkins wrote Katie Mae and Ain't It Crazy, sometimes refered to as The Rub, both of which were sung by Pigpen in the early days.

Howlin' Wolf

Chester Burnett, aka Howlin' Wolf, made famous many of the classic blues tunes penned by Willie Dixon. He recorded Little Red Rooster, Smokestack Lightning, Spoonful and Wang Dang Doodle.

Willie Dixon is the author of Little Red Rooster, The Same Thing, Spoonful, Wang Dang Doodle and I Just Want To Make Love To You. Willie also co-wrote Eternity with Bob Weir.

The Memphis Jug Band recorded On The Road Again, Stealin and The Lindberg Hop in the 1920s.

These two jug bands from the mid 1960s served as the critical link between the original jug bands of the 1920s (Cannon's Jug Stompers, Memphis Jug Band) and Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions.

The Stanley Brothers

Ralph and Carter Stanley wrote and recorded many songs performed by Garcia, both with the Dead and solo. Included are (Cold) Jordan, White Dove, Pig In A Pin, Little Glass Of Wine and The Fields Have Turned Brown.

The New Lost City Ramblers recorded many of the "old timey" tunes that Garcia was playing prior to the Grateful Dead when his primary focus was banjo. Some of these tunes later showed up with Old And In The Way, The Black Mountain Boys and Garcia/Grisman. The New Lost City Ramblers, recording in the late 1950s and early 1960s, tried to accurately reproduce the "old time" sound that they heard on old 78s and Library of Congress recordings from the 1920s and 1930s.