Grateful Dead Family Discography: Two Soldiers

Two Soldiers

Composer: Traditional

Two Soldiers was performed about 10 times by the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band in 1987 and 1988 and a similar number of times by Jerry Garcia and David Grisman between 1990 and 1994.

In Bob Dylan's liner notes for the 1993 World Gone Wrong album he acknowledges that Jerry Garcia showed him Two Soldiers;

Jerry Garcia showed me TWO SOLDIERS (Hazel and Alice do it pretty similar) a battle song extraordinaire, some dragoon officer's epaulettes laying liquid in the mud, physical plunge into Limitationville, war dominated by finance (lending money for interest being a nauseating and revolting thing) love is not collateral.....

Two Soldiers appears to be derived from a longer ballad which was published in the 19th century. This earlier song is usually called The Last Fierce Charge though versions have also been published with the titles The Battle of Fredericksburg and Custer's Last Charge.

Jerry Garcia

Garcia/Grisman, Jerry Garcia and David Grisman, 1991
Pure Jerry: Lunt-Fontanne, NYC, 10/31/87, Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band/Jerry Garcia Band, 2004
Ragged But Right, Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band, 2010
Garcia/Grisman Alternate, Garcia/Grisman, 2012

Other recordings

Mike Seeger, Mike Seeger, 1964
Hazel and Alice, Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard, 1973
Norman Blake and Tony Rice 2, Norman Blake and Tony Rice, 1990
World Gone Wrong, Bob Dylan, 1993
The Music Of Kentucky: Early American Rural Classics 1927-1937, Vol. 2, Various Artists (Monroe Gevedon), 1995
Down the Road, Laura Boosinger, 1998
Broken Things, Julie Miller, 1999
Jewels and Binoculars: The Music of Bob Dylan, Michael Moore, 2001
no info Diamonds in the Rough, Alton Elliott, 2004
Mountain Journey: Stars of Old Time Music, Various Artists (Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard), 2005
Early 21st Century Blues, Cowboy Junkies, 2005
no info Blasting Caps, Quickdraw String Band, 2005
no info Festivalink Presents Mike Seeger at Merlefest, Mike Seeger, 2006
no info Play 15 "Old Time" Quality Tunes & Songs, Amy & Karen, 2006
no info Two Soldiers: Reflections on the War Between the States, The Would Man, 2006
no info Through The Window Of A Train, Blue Highway, 2008
Divided & United: The Songs of the Civil War, Various Artists (Ricky Skaggs), 2013
The Book Of The Dawg: Dawg Roots, David Grisman, 2021