Grateful Dead Family Discography: Black Muddy River

Black Muddy River

Composer: Jerry Garcia / Robert Hunter

Black Muddy River was first performed by the Grateful Dead in December 1986. It was a regular part of the live repertoire through the rest of the 1980's. The song was played only a handful of times in 1990 and 1991 and not at all in the 1992 to 1994 period. The song returned in the Summer of 1995 and was the last song sung by Jerry Garcia with the Grateful Dead on July 9, 1995.

Robert Hunter spoke of Black Muddy River in a Rolling Stone interview in 1987;

Black Muddy River is about the perspective of age and making a decision about the necessity of living in spite of a rough time, and the ravages of anything else that's going to come at you. When I wrote it, I was writing about how I felt about being 45 years old and what I've been through. And then when I was done with it, obviously it was for the Dead.

Grateful Dead recordings

In The Dark, 1987
The Arista Years, 1996
Beyond Description, 2004
Grateful Dead Download Vol. 9: 4/2 & 3/89, 2006
In The Dark, 2006 (bonus on exp. CD)

Other recordings

Norma Waterson, Norma Waterson, 1996
Fire On The Mountain: Reggae Celebrates The Grateful Dead, Vol. 2, Various Artists (Israel Vibrations), 1997
Stolen Roses, Various Artists, 2000
Might as Well...The Persuasions Sing Grateful Dead, The Persuasions, 2000
The Grass Is Dead, Crazy Fingers, 2000
Here Come The Noisemakers, Bruce Hornsby, 2000
Wake the Dead, Wake The Dead, 2000
Tanz & Folkfest: Rudolstadt, 7-9 Juli 2000, Various Artists, 2000
Gifts From The Dead, Gifts From The Dead, 2001
Storytellers, Vol. 2, Various Artists (Norma Waterson), 2001
Ukulele Summit 5, Various Artists, 2002
Heart of England Volume Two, Various Artists (Waterson:Carthy), 2002
Guitar Harvest, Vol. 1, Various Artists, 2003
Beginner's Guide to Folk Music, Various Artists (Norma Waterson), 2003
All Together Now, Danny Kalb, 2003
Mighty River of Song, Various Artists, 2004
Fishes & Fine Yellow Sand, Waterson : Carthy, 2004
Bee Speed, Bee Speed, 2005
Hell Or High Water, Andrew Murray, 2005
Bruce Hornsby Live: August 2, 2002, Asheville, NC, 2005
Bruce Hornsby Live: September 22, 2004, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2005
Bruce Hornsby Live: October 9, 2004, Charlotte NC, 2005
Faces, Blueground Undergrass, 2006
The Definitive Collection, Norma Waterson, 2006
This Is Folk, Various Artists, 2006
Stories, Misty River, 2007
Cool As Folk (Cambridge Folk Festival), Various Artists (Norma Waterson), 2007
Tesseract3, Tesseract3, 2008
Songs of the Grateful Dead: A Tribute to Jerry Garcia & Robert Hunter, Jesse McReynolds & Friends, 2010
The Wheel: A Musical Celebration of Jerry Garcia, Various Artists, 2011
Persuasions Of The Dead, The Persuasions & Friends, 2011

Furthur

Nov 19, 2011, Madison, WI

Ratdog

Ocean City, MD, August 9, 2005
Cleveland, OH, November 1, 2005
Worcester, MA, November 12, 2005
St. Petersburg, FL, November 18, 2005
Phoenix, AZ, NM, December 4, 2005
Danbury, CT, March 21, 2006
Morrison, CO, July 1, 2006
New York, NY, July 14, 2006
Newark, NJ, November 11, 2006
New York NY, March 8, 2007
Norfolk VA, March 20, 2007
Columbus OH, July 17, 2007
Burgettstown PA, August 15, 2007
Myrtle Beach, SC, November 10, 2007
Covington, KY, March 25, 2008
Las Vegas, NV, July 3, 2008
Canandaigua, NY, August 22, 2008
Richmond, VA, November 3, 2008
Upper Darby, PA, November 15, 2008