Well, keep in mind that Jerry Garcia was, what, 24 in 1965? And I've heard some pretty iffy tapes of what they were doing at that time, but I've also heard qui

Well, keep in mind that Jerry Garcia was, what, 24 in 1965? And I've heard some pretty iffy tapes of what they were doing at that time, but I've also heard quite polished things, too. 20 years of 150-shows-a-year might have improved them. And as I said, there might be a fair amount of sour grapes going on there, too. A lot of folks have really funky egos. One of the other old dudes I used to play with in Kerrville, TX was Marc Benno... I read a rolling stone interview with him where he claims not to have known who the Doors were when he got hired to play on the LA Woman sessions... I dunno if I believe that, but either way it seems like an easy way to characterize a lot of the almost-famous folks I've played with. I perform dead tunes pretty routinely (I've been working up Dire Wolf on pedal steel and ac. guit lately)... I feel pretty strongly about the music. You don't have to sell me on the goodness of it. I'm just reporting what old dudes told me.