Home
Black Peter
Composer: Jerry Garcia / Robert Hunter
Robert Hunter included notes for Black Peter in Box Of Rain: Lyrics 1965-1993;
I wrote this as a brisk piece like Kershaw's 'Louisiana Man.' Garcia took it seriously, though, dressing it in subtle changes and a mournful tempo. The bridge verse - 'See here how everything lead up to this day...' - was written after the restructuring of the piece and reflects the additional depth of possibility provided for the song by his treatment.
Black Peter was first performed by the Grateful Dead in December 1969. It was then a fairly regular part of the repertoire being absent in only 1975 and 1976. In total the song was performed nearly 350 times.

Grateful Dead recordings

info Workingman's Dead, 1970
info History Of The Grateful Dead, Vol. 1 (Bear's Choice), 1973
info What A Long Strange Trip It's Been, 1977
info American Beauty / Workingman's Dead, 198?
info Dozin' At The Knick, 1996
info Dick's Picks, Vol. 8, 1997
info View From The Vault, 2000
info View From The Vault (DVD), 2000
info The Golden Road (1965-1973), 2001
info Steppin' Out with ....: England '72, July 2002
info Workingman's Dead, 2003 (exp CD extra version)
info Grateful Dead Movie Soundtrack, 2004
info Dick's Picks, Vol. 34, 2005
info Dick's Picks, Vol. 36, 2005
info Trilogy, 2005
info Grateful Dead Download Series Vol. 2: 1/18/70, 2005
info Grateful Dead Download Series - A Night At The Family Dog 2/4/70, 2005
info Road Trips: Vol 1, Number 2: October 1977, 2008
info Road Trips Download: Philadelphia, Nov 6, 1979, 2008

The Dead

info Millwaukee, WI, July 1, 2003
info Dead ’09: Hartford, CT, April 26, 2009
info Dead ’09: Los Angeles, CA, May 9, 2009

Ratdog

info San Francisco CA, March 2, 2004
info Seattle WA, March 8, 2004
info Boulder CO, March 15, 2004
info Philadelphia PA, March 26, 2004
info Worcester MA, April 2, 2004
info Tulsa OK, September 15, 2004Ratdog, 2004
info Indianapolis IN, April 4, 2005
info Sayreville NJ, April 12, 2005
info Milwaukee, WI, October 25, 2005
info Atlanta, GA, November 15, 2005
info Santa Fe, NM, December 3, 2005
info Reno, NV, December 14, 2005
info Danbury, CT, March 20, 2006
info Syracuse, NY, March 30, 2006
info Oklahoma City, OK, July 4, 2006
info Hampton Beach, NH, August 24, 2006
info Albany NY, November 3, 2006
info St. Petersburg FL, November 17, 2006
info Portland OR, February 16, 2007
info Boston MA, March 13, 2007
info Boston MA, July 10, 2007
info Council Bluffs IA, July 20, 2007
info San Diego CA, July 27, 2007
info Bushkill PA, August 18, 2007
info University Park, PA, November 4, 2007
info Charleston, SC, April 11, 2008
info Boise, ID, June 23, 2008
info Bethel, NY, August 12, 2008
info Clarkston, MI, August 27, 2008
info Washington, DC, November 6, 2008

  
Other recordings

info Deadbeats Acoustic, Deadbeats, 1996
info Stolen Roses, Various Artists (Patti Smith Band), 2000
info Live In Amsterdam, Billy Goodman, 2000
info Solo Acoustic, David Gans, 2001
info Built To Grass (Grass Is Dead, Vol. 2), Grass Is Dead (Crazy Fingers), 2001
info The Blues Tribute To The Grateful Dead, Various Artists, 2001
info Fennario: Songs by Jerry Garcia & Robert Hunter, Emory Joseph, 2008
info Piano Expressions, Lore Constantine, 2008
  album cover

album cover

album cover

album cover

album cover

album cover

album cover