Mandolin master David Grisman celebrates his 74th birthday today. Much of Dawg’s output over his 50+ year career comes from the world of traditional bluegrass and contemporary newgrass, performing alongside many equally talented pickers both as band leader and sideman. This edition of Saturday Stream celebrates some of the lesser-known collaborations recorded by Grisman through a Spotify Playlist featuring a wide-range of other musicians.
The playlist begins with Grisman performing on a 1966 live radio broadcast with Red Allen & The Kentuckians. Other early-career cuts include Grisman with The Even Dozen Jug Band and Earth Opera. Perhaps the most well-known tracks on the playlist, two songs on the Grateful Dead’s 1970 album American Beauty – “Friend Of The Devil” and “Ripple” – were augmented by Grisman, marking the first of countless collaborations with Jerry Garcia.
Also featured on the playlist are Grisman’s contributions to recordings by James Taylor, Doug Sahm (with Garcia), John Sebastian, Bonnie Raitt, Tommy Emmanuel, Bill Keith, Maria Muldaur, Assembly Of Dust, Steel Train, Ace Of Cups and Dan Fogelberg. And Dawg can be heard on tracks separately supporting Linda Ronstadt and Dolly Parton and backing the pair of vocalists with Emmylou Harris on their Trios II album.
Stream the Spotify Playlist below:
