Grateful Dead Family Discography: Me & My Uncle

Me & My Uncle

Composer: John Phillips

John Phillips always claimed that he couldn't remember writing Me & My Uncle. The story behind the song is summarised in the liner notes of the Phillips 66 album.

John often used to tell the story behind "Me And My Uncle." Years ago he began receiving publishing royalties from a song on a Judy Collins record with which he was unfamiliar. It was titled "Me And My Uncle." He called Judy to let her know of the mistake because he hadn't written any such song. She laughed and told him that about a year before, in Arizona after one of her concerts, they had a 'Tequila' night back at the hotel with Stephen Stills, Neil Young and a few others. They were running a blank cassette and John proceeded to write "Me And My Uncle" on the spot. The next day, John woke up to the tequila sunrise with no recollection of the songwriting incident. Judy kept the cassette from that evening and then, without informing John, recorded the song for her own record. Over the years the song was recorded by several people, and eventually became a standard of the Grateful Dead. John used to joke that, little by little, with each royalty check, the memory of writing the song would come back to him.

Me & My Uncle was a regular, and often commonly played, part of the Grateful Dead repertoire throughout their existence. It was performed more than 600 times. It was out of favor though during 1968 and 1976.

Grateful Dead recordings

Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses), 1971
What A Long Strange Trip It's Been, 1977
Dead Ahead (Video), 1981
Hundred Year Hall, 1995
Dick's Picks, Vol. 4, 1996
Dick's Picks, Vol. 5, 1996
Dick's Picks, Vol. 7, 1997
Downhill from Here (Video), 1997
Dick's Picks, Vol. 11, 1998
Dick's Picks, Vol. 12, 1998
Dick's Picks, Vol. 15, 1999
Dick's Picks, Vol. 19, 2000
Ladies and Gentlemen ... The Grateful Dead, 2000
Dick's Picks, Vol. 21, 2001
The Golden Road (1965-1973), 2001
Dick's Picks, Vol. 23, 2001
Dick's Picks, Vol. 25, 2002
Dick's Picks, Vol. 26, 2002
View From The Vault IV, 2003
Dick's Picks, Vol. 28, 2003
Dick's Picks, Vol. 29, 2003
The Closing of Winterland, 2003
The Closing of Winterland (DVD), 2003
Rockin' The Rhein, 2004
Dick's Picks, Vol. 32, 2004
Dick's Picks, Vol. 35, 2005
Grateful Dead Downloads Vol. 1: 4/30/77, 2005
Grateful Dead Downloads Vol. 3: 10/26/71, 2005
Grateful Dead Downloads Vol. 5: 3/27/88, 2005
Grateful Dead Downloads - A Night At The Family Dog 2/4/70, 2005
Grateful Dead Downloads Vol. 10 - 7/21/72, 2006
Eternally Grateful, 2007
Winterland 1973: The Complete Recordings, 2008
Road Trips: Vol 1, Number 3: Summer 1971, Grateful Dead, 2008
Road Trips Download: Philadelphia, Nov 6, 1979, Grateful Dead, 2008

The Dead / Ratdog

Holmdel, NJ: June 25, The Dead, 2003
Vernon, NY: June 29, The Dead, 2003
Wantagh, NY: August 10, The Dead, 2003
Philadelphia PA: October 16, 2003, Ratdog, 2003
Poughkeepsie NY: October 26, 2003, Ratdog, 2003
Chicago IL: November 3, 2003, Ratdog, 2003
DeKalb IL: November 14, 2003, Ratdog, 2003
San Francisco, CA: Feb 9, 2004, The Dead, 2004
Las Vegas NV, Feb 25, 2004, Ratdog, 2004
Rochester NY, March 19, 2004, Ratdog, 2004
Syracuse NY, March 20, 2004, Ratdog, 2004
Burlington VT, March 23, 2004, Ratdog, 2004
Jim Thorpe PA, March 27, 2004, Ratdog, 2004
Worcester MA, April 2, 2004, Ratdog, 2004
Morrison, CO - June 20, 2004, The Dead, 2004
Saratoga Springs, NY: Aug 1, 2004, The Dead, 2004
Tulsa OK, Sept 15, 2004, Ratdog, 2004
Madison WI, March 29, 2005, Ratdog, 2005
Cleveland OH, April 5, 2005, Ratdog, 2005
Boston MA, April 23, 2005, Ratdog, 2005
Johnson City NY, May 1, 2005, Ratdog, 2005
Covington, KY, June 8, 2005, Ratdog, 2005
Erie, PA, October 28, 2005, Ratdog, 2005
Frederick, MD, November 8, 2005, Ratdog, 2005
Atlanta, GA, November 16, 2005, Ratdog, 2005
San Francisco, CA, Dec 13, 2005, Ratdog, 2005
Philadelphia, PA, March 24, 2006, Ratdog, 2006
Hampton Beach, NH, March 31, 2006, Ratdog, 2006
Oklahoma City, OK, July 4, 2006, Ratdog, 2006
Ridgefield, CT, August 22, 2006, Ratdog, 2006
Columbus OH, October 26, 2006, Ratdog, 2006
Utica NY, November 4, 2006, Ratdog, 2006
St. Petersburg FL, November 17, 2006, Ratdog, 2006
Portland OR, February 16, 2007, Ratdog, 2007
Greensburg PA, March 4, 2007, Ratdog, 2007
Boston MA, March 13, 2007, Ratdog, 2007
Masontown WV, July 13, 2007, Ratdog, 2007
Morrison CO, July 24, 2007, Ratdog, 2007
Bridgeport CT, August 11, 2007, Ratdog, 2007
Camden NJ, August 17, 2007, Ratdog, 2007
Wantagh NY, August 21, 2007, Ratdog, 2007
University Park, PA, November 4, 2007, Ratdog, 2007
Orlando FL, November 16, 2007, Ratdog, 2007

Other recordings

The Judy Collins Concert, Judy Collins, 1964
no info The Twiliters In Concert, The Twiliters, 1966
Dino Valente, Dino Valente, 1968
Rockbusters: The Blockbusting Label Presents, Various Artists (Dino Valente), 1968
no info Wilhelm, Mike Wilhelm, 1976
Still Got That Look in His Eye, Rory McNamara, 1984
Mike Wilhelm, Mike Wilhelm, 1985
Do They Come From You (EP), Chris Bailey, 1993
no info Gone West, John Greene, 1994
The Wildlife Concert, John Denver, 1995
Dangerous Heroes, Michael Longcor, 1996
Desperados Waiting For The Train, Texas Lone Star, 1997
Live In Tokyo, Mike Wilhelm, 1997
Cowboy's Conscience, Craig Chambers, 1998
no info Live at the Sydney Opera House, John Denver, 1999
Halfway Home, Sno Rogers, 1999
Love Is A Verb, Bob Cook, 2000
no info Characters, Various Artists (Mike Wilhelm), 2000
no info New Rose Story: 1980-2000, Various Artists (Mike Wilhelm), 2000
Phillips 66, John Phillips, 2001
Cowboy Girl, Katy Moffatt, 2001
no info Junko Partner, Mike Wilhelm, 2002
The Harbor Lights Concert, John Denver, 2002
no info Acoustically Native, Mark Holt/Kimberlee Holt Tully, 2003
no info Rick Bedrosian, Rick Bedrosian, 2003
no info Judy Collins 3 & 4, Judy Collins, 2004
no info Judy Collins 3 / Judy Collins Concert, Judy Collins, 2004
no info DM Blues, Chris Bailey, 2004
no info Play New Rose For Me, Various Artists (Chris Bailey), 2004
Live at Berkner Hall, Great Caesar's Ghost with G.E. Smith, 2005
no info At Least, John Greene, 2006