In late 1974, Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia formed the short-lived band Legion Of Mary with keyboardist Merl Saunders, bassist John Kahn, saxophonist Martin Fierro and drummer Ron Tutt. Tutt was brought into Garcia’s orbit by Kahn who recruited the drummer for the 1974 recording sessions in Los Angeles for Garcia’s solo album, Compliments.
At the same time, Tutt was the primary drummer for Elvis Presley, performing regularly around the United States with the legendary musician. According to the official Jerry Garica website:
Legion of Mary was the group name used by the final lineup of Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders, beginning in December of 1974. The core members of the group, Garcia, Saunders, and John Kahn, had been performing together since 1971. New members included Martin Fierro on saxophone and flute, and Elvis Presley drummer, Ron Tutt. In fact, the presence of Tutt was what determined the band’s billing for each show—with him they were Legion of Mary, and without him they played as Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders. The group played together until the summer of 1975, after which the Jerry Garcia Band became Garcia’s main performing group when the Grateful Dead were off the road.
Tutt was also part of the original Jerry Garcia Band lineup along with Kahn and keyboardist Nicky Hopkins. The first public concert billed as the Jerry Garcia Band took place on September 18, 1975, at Sophie’s in Palo Alto, California.
According to the Elvis Presley In Concert database, Tutt was behind the kit for 107 live concerts in 1975. According to JerryBase.com, between February and New Year’s Eve, Tutt performed with Legion Of Mary 54 times and with Jerry Garcia Band 41 times in 1975.
There were two songs in both JGB and Elvis Presley’s live repertoires at the time, “That’s All Right” by Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup and “Mystery Train” by Junior Parker. In fact, there was at least one instance in 1975 when Tutt played “Mystery Train” with JGB and again with Elvis only three days later.
In 2017, Tutt was asked about the “Mystery Train” overlap during his tenures with Presley and Garcia telling Rolling Stone:
For Garcia’s 1976 album Reflections, you cut a version of “Mystery Train.” Did Jerry ever grill you about Elvis?
Nah. I think he really appreciated what he did but he was never a quote-unquote fan or never wanted to know inside information.
In terms of what they expected from you as a drummer, how were Garcia and Elvis different?
Elvis’ music was a lot more in your face; you could never play enough. But with Jerry we never talked about it, but I just knew my role with that band, no matter what configuration it was, was to help keep it together. We weren’t there to do flashy solos. I don’t know that I ever even did a solo. That wasn’t our purpose. I almost liken it to a jazz gig in the sense that the songs had as we call ’em a head, a front, and then everybody played as much as they wanted to play and then did the out and that was it. There wasn’t much rehearsal.
Tutt spent the early part of 1975 playing with Legion Of Mary including two shows in Boulder, Colorado on March 16. Two days later Tutt was in Las Vegas to begin an extensive run with Elvis that lasted through April 2. Tutt then went on an East Coast and Midwest tour with Legion Of Mary that wrapped on April 20 in Madison, Wisconsin.
Tutt then joined Elvis for a Southeastern tour that ran from April 24 to May 7. Legion Of Mary was back on the road for a brief tour from May 12 to May 24. He then rejoined Elvis on tour through the South between May 30 and June 10. Legion Of Mary played a few shows in June and early July, playing their final gig on July 30. Tutt also spent much of July 1975 touring the East Coast with Elvis.
After the final Legion Of Mary concert, Tutt played a short engagement with Elvis in Las Vegas in late August. The aforementioned official JGB debut followed on September 18. The newly formed band played regularly on both the West and East coast throughout September, October and November 1975.
Tutt played with JGB on November 29, 1975, and three days later was onstage with Elvis to start another residency in Vegas that spanned December 2 to December 15. Due to his commitment to perform with Elvis in Las Vegas, Tutt was absent from the Jerry Garcia Band’s concert on December 17, 1975 at the Keystone. Sly & The Family Stone drummer (and later a JGB member) Greg Errico filled in.
Tutt and JGB performed a few more times that month, wrapping with early and late shows on December 28, 1975 at La Paloma Theatre in Encinitas, California. Tutt then flew to Detroit to perform a New Year’s Eve concert with Elvis at the Pontiac Silverdome.
At the November 29, 1975, JGB show, Tutt, Garcia, Kahn and Hopkins performed “Mystery Train,” which had been part of Garcia’s live repertoire for several years and remained a JGB staple through the mid-1980s. Elvis Presley’s 1955 recording of “Mystery Train” was integral in popularizing the song Junior Parker issued in 1953. When Tutt backed Elvis three days later in Vegas, the setlist also included a cover of “Mystery Train” that was paired with “Tiger Man.”
Recordings of varying quality of Tutt playing “Mystery Train” on November 29, 1975, with JGB and again on December 2, 1975, with Elvis Presley below.
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JGB
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Elvis
Tutt remained a member of Presley’s backing group — the TCB Band — through Elvis’ untimely death in 1977. Tutt played with JGB throughout much of 1977, was replaced that year and returned for a second stint with the band in 1981. Tutt contributed to Garcia’s 1976 solo album Reflections, 1978’s Cats Under The Stars and 1982’s Run For The Roses.
In addition to his time with Elvis and Garcia, Tutt’s impressive body of work included performing with Neil Diamond, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Gram Parsons, the Carpenters, Glen Campbell, Kenny Rogers, Stevie Nicks, Michael McDonald, and the other Elvis, Elvis Costello, among many others. Tutt appeared on Billy Joel’s 1973 album The Piano Man including on the hit title track.
Tutt, a Dallas native, died in 2021 at age 83.
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Ron Tutt 1977 Drum Solo
