Home Jambase The ‘Love Scene’ Improvisation Jerry Garcia Recorded On Solo Electric Guitar

The ‘Love Scene’ Improvisation Jerry Garcia Recorded On Solo Electric Guitar

August 8, 2023

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Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia was born on August 1, 1942 and died on August 9, 1995 at the age of 53. Each year, the “Days Between” Garcia’s birthday and the anniversary of his death mark a period of time to reflect on and celebrate the beloved musician’s life and career.

On January 20, 1970, Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia entered MGM Studios in Los Angeles and according to JerryGarcia.com recorded “his only solo electric guitar performance” that was released as an official track.

The purpose of the recording session was to contribute to the soundtrack of director Michelangelo Antonioni’s experimental film, Zabriskie Point, which premiered weeks later on February 5, 1970, and featured Garcia’s instrumental improvised solo guitar track “Love Scene.”

Days later, on February 11 when the Dead were in New York City for a run at the Fillmore East, Garcia spoke with journalist Howard Smith about the recent session at MGM Studios. Garcia told Smith he was screened part of the film and played along to it while tapes rolled.

As its title implies, Garcia described the part of the movie he was shown as “a whole lot of people balling in Death Valley.” (Garcia noted one of the actors “balling in Death Valley” was likely Bill Walker, who designed the cover art for the Dead’s 1969 album Anthem Of The Sun).

Along with Garcia’s “Love Scene,” also featured in the film and its soundtrack were recordings by Pink Floyd, The Youngbloods, Patti Page, Kaleidoscope, and John Fahey, among others. A snippet of the Grateful Dead performing “Dark Star” was also included.

“Well, what happened was that apparently [Antonioni] heard ‘Dark Star,’ and used a little piece of it somewhere,” Garcia told Smith. “And was interested in having somebody – he wanted some sort of music behind that particular scene and hadn’t had anything successful after repeated tries with other bands, and other musicians and conventional scores and that sort of thing, and he just wasn’t successful. So they got in touch with me eventually.

“I went to LA, to the MGM place, you know, and spoke to him and he showed me the, you know, rough cut, and you know, immediately went down to the studio, brought my guitar and amplifier, and in about two hours, you know, it was like what he wanted. It wasn’t what I wanted, but it was what he wanted.”

Garcia recorded four different improvised options for Antonioni to use. The seven-minute “Love Scene” track that ended up in the movie and its soundtrack was made up of parts of two of the improvisations. Garcia revealed in a later interview he did some double-tracking. The four improvised tracks were later included in an expanded reissue edition of the Zabriskie Point soundtrack.

Zabriskie Point is available to view here (Garcia’s “Love Scene” begins at 1:08:24, note NSFW). Listen to the soundtrack version of “Love Scene” and four alternate versions Jerry Garcia recorded on solo electric guitar below:

Outtakes of Pink Floyd’s attempts to score the “Love Scene” were also released as part of the expanded Zabriskie Point soundtrack. Stream them below:

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