Electric On The Eel, a 6-CD box set featuring the Jerry Garcia Band’s performances at French’s Camp On The Eel River in Piercy, California in 1987, 1989 and 1991 is due via Round Records on March 15. JamBase is pleased to premiere the JGB’s version of “Mission In The Rain” from Electric On The Eel.
The “Mission In The Rain” below was recorded on June 10, 1989. For all three shows, the Jerry Garcia Band lineup featured Garcia on guitar, keyboardist Melvin Seals, bassist John Kahn, drummer David Kemper and vocalists Gloria Jones and Jacklyn LaBranch. While the JGB performed “Mission In The Rain” over 200 times, the gorgeous Hunter/Garcia tune was only played five times by the Grateful Dead. Garcia recorded “Mission In The Rain” for his 1976 solo album Reflections. “[‘Mission In The Rain’ is] a song that might be about me. It’s my life; it’s like a little piece of my life. Hunter writes me once in a while,” Jerry said in an interview as per Dead.net. “I used to live over in the Mission when I was just starting to write for the Dead full time. I wasn’t living at 710, I was living over on 17th & Mission, and that was very much a portrait of that time: looking backward at ten years,” Hunter told Relix about the tune.
Listen to “Mission In The Rain” from Electric On The Eel below:
Electric On The Eel features original recordings produced by Jerry Garcia and recorded by John Cutler. The shows included in the box set took place on August 29, 1987; June 10, 1989 and August 10, 1991. In 1987, Wavy Gravy asked Garcia to perform a concert to raise funds for the counter-culture icon’s Hog Farm at Black Oak Ranch. Jerry told Wavy he’d do it if Bill Graham could co-produce. Wavy complied and Jerry performed at the rural venue with both his electric and acoustic bands as a precursor to his famed Broadway run, which started the following October. The concert went well so the JGB came back in 1989 and 1991 for more electric sets. An Acoustic On The Eel bonus disc featuring the entire Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band set from August 29, 1987 is available as part of the CD pre-order via Garcia Family Provisions while supplies last.
Among the memorable performances from the 1987 electric show are standout versions of “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You),” Van Morrison’s “And It Stoned Me” and Jimmy Cliff’s “The Harder They Come.” Highlights from the 1989 portion of the set are takes on Garcia/Hunter originals “Deal” and “They Love Each Other,” a pair of Allen Toussaint covers (“I’ll Take A Melody” and “Get Out My Life Woman”) and the first rendition of the gospel standard “I Hope It Won’t Be This Way Always” to be officially released. As for the 1991 portion, which is described as “the jewel of the collection showcasing the group at the height of their powers,” there’s a sublime “Shining Star,” hot version of Chuck Berry’s “You Never Can Tell,” rare interpretations of Mercer/Carmichael’s “Lazy Bones,” The Band’s “Twilight” and Eric Clapton’s “See What Love Can Do” (written by Jerry Lynn Williams) and more.
