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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

info In The Dark, 1987
info The Arista Years, 1996
info Beyond Description, 2004
info Grateful Dead Download Vol. 9: 4/2 & 3/89, 2006
info In The Dark, 2006 (bonus on exp. CD)
info Spring 1990 (box set), 2012
info Complete Studio Albums Collection, 2013
info Complete Studio Rarities Collection, 2013
info Spring 1990 (The Other One), 2014
info The Best Of The Grateful Dead, 2015
info July 12 & 13, 1989, Washington, DC, , 2017

Furthur

info Nov 19, 2011, Madison, WI

Dead & Company

info Noblesville, IN, 17 June, 2016
info Bristow, VA, 23 June, 2016
info Boulder, CO, 02 July, 2016
info Boston, MA, 15 July, 2016
info Chula Vista, CA, 27 July, 2016
info Mountain View, CA, 3 Jun, 2017
info Boston, MA, 17 Jun, 2017
info Cuyahoga Falls, OH, 28 Jun, 2017
info Philadelphia, PA, 16 Nov, 2017
info Charlotte, NC, 28 Nov, 2017
info Camden, NJ, 1 Jun, 2018
info Hartford, CT, 13 Jun, 2018
info East Troy, WI, 23 Jun, 2018
info Noblesville, IN, 12 Jun, 2019
info Dallas, TX, 2 Jul, 2019
info Bristow, VA, Aug 18, 2021
info Saratoga Springs, NY, Aug 27, 2021
info The Woodlands, TX, Oct 15, 2021
info Chula Vista, CA, Oct 27, 2021
info Cincinnati, OH, June 22, 2022
info Bristow, VA, July 8, 2022

Ratdog

info Ocean City, MD, August 9, 2005
info Cleveland, OH, November 1, 2005
info Worcester, MA, November 12, 2005
info St. Petersburg, FL, November 18, 2005
info Phoenix, AZ, NM, December 4, 2005
info Danbury, CT, March 21, 2006
info Morrison, CO, July 1, 2006
info New York, NY, July 14, 2006
info Newark, NJ, November 11, 2006
info New York NY, March 8, 2007
info Norfolk VA, March 20, 2007
info Columbus OH, July 17, 2007
info Burgettstown PA, August 15, 2007
info Myrtle Beach, SC, November 10, 2007
info Covington, KY, March 25, 2008
info Las Vegas, NV, July 3, 2008
info Canandaigua, NY, August 22, 2008
info Richmond, VA, November 3, 2008
info Upper Darby, PA, November 15, 2008
info Louisville, KY, March 12, 2014

  
Other recordings

info Norma Waterson, Norma Waterson, 1996
info Summer Caravan 1996, Various Artists (Norma Waterson), 1996
info Fire On The Mountain: Reggae Celebrates The Grateful Dead, Vol. 2, Various Artists (Israel Vibrations), 1997
info Stolen Roses, Various Artists (The Persuasions), 2000
info Might as Well...The Persuasions Sing Grateful Dead, The Persuasions, 2000
info The Grass Is Dead, Crazy Fingers, 2000
info Here Come The Noisemakers, Bruce Hornsby, 2000
info Wake the Dead, Wake The Dead, 2000
info Tanz & Folkfest: Rudolstadt, 7-9 Juli 2000, Various Artists, 2000
info Gifts From The Dead, Gifts From The Dead, 2001
info Storytellers, Vol. 2, Various Artists (Norma Waterson), 2001
info Ukulele Summit 5, Various Artists, 2002
info Heart of England Volume Two, Various Artists (Waterson:Carthy), 2002
info Guitar Harvest, Vol. 1, Various Artists, 2003
info Beginner's Guide to Folk Music, Various Artists (Norma Waterson), 2003
info All Together Now, Danny Kalb, 2003
info Mighty River of Song, Various Artists, 2004
info Fishes & Fine Yellow Sand, Waterson : Carthy, 2004
info Bee Speed, Bee Speed, 2005
info Hell Or High Water, Andrew Murray, 2005
info Bruce Hornsby Live: August 2, 2002, Asheville, NC, 2005
info Bruce Hornsby Live: September 22, 2004, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2005
info Bruce Hornsby Live: October 9, 2004, Charlotte, NC
info Faces, Blueground Undergrass, 2006
info The Definitive Collection, Norma Waterson, 2006
info This Is Folk, Various Artists, 2006
info Stories, Misty River, 2007
info Cool As Folk (Cambridge Folk Festival), Various Artists (Norma Waterson), 2007
info Tesseract3, Tesseract3, 2008
info Songs of the Grateful Dead: A Tribute to Jerry Garcia & Robert Hunter, Jesse McReynolds & Friends, 2010
info The Wheel: A Musical Celebration of Jerry Garcia, Various Artists, 2011
info Persuasions Of The Dead, The Persuasions & Friends, 2011
info Harpin' On The Dead, Anela Lauren, 2013
info Source To Sea, Jenny Sturgeon, 2014
info 8/23/14, San Rafael, CA, Anders Osborne, 2014
info 9/4/15, New York, NY, Anders Osborne, 2015
info 10/29/15, Phoenix, AZ, Greensky Bluegrass, 2015
info The Promised Land, Sagol 59 & Ami Yares, 2015
info Songs Of Their Own, Various Artists, 2015
info 25 Jahre TFF Rudolstadt 1991-2015, Various Artists, 2015
info Wolf (single), Stephen Kellogg, 2016
info The Promised Land (LP), Sagol 59 & Ami Yares, 2016
info Day Of The Dead, Various Artists (Bruce Hornsby and DeYarmond Edison), 2016
info Grateful Dub, Roots Of Creation, 2017
info Southern Blood, Gregg Allman, 2017
info Untied, StringBound, 2019
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album cover

album cover