Electric on the Eel


Electric on the Eel is a live album by the Jerry Garcia Band. It contains three complete concerts on six CDs. The shows were recorded on August 29, 1987, June 10, 1989, and August 10, 1991 at French's Camp in Piercy, California, near the Eel River. The album was released on March 15, 2019.
The three performances were promoted by Bill Graham and Wavy Gravy as benefit concerts for the nearby Hog Farm commune. They featured the mid-1980s to early-1990s lineup of the Jerry Garcia Band – Jerry Garcia on guitar and vocals, Melvin Seals on keyboards, John Kahn on bass, David Kemper on drums, and Gloria Jones and Jaclyn LaBranch on vocals.
Some copies of the album include a bonus disc called Acoustic on the Eel, recorded by the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band at the August 29, 1987 concert.
Additionally, Electric on the Eel: August 10th, 1991, a four-disc vinyl LP recording of that concert, was released on April 13, 2019 as part of Record Store Day.

Release and reception

Electric on the Eel debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Independent Albums chart, and at number 154 on the Billboard 200.
On Pitchfork, Jessie Jarnow wrote, " show Jerry Garcia at both the height of his fame and simultaneously escaping into his not-so-secret identity: himself.... he scope of the set is also a fine way for the Jerry-curious to take a deeper dive into what many consider to be the Garcia Band's golden period.... Its six discs are both a comprehensive document of the group's penultimate lineup and a fine introduction to the Jerry Garcia Band at their best, music to make the hassles disappear."
On AllMusic, Timothy Monger wrote, "Captured during the height of Garcia's late-period fame, these sets have a joyful and relaxed air to them, as did many of the Jerry Garcia Band shows of that era which often provided to him a sense of escapism from the touring and cultural behemoth that the Grateful Dead had become."
Glide Magazine said, "The six compact discs document a period in which this iconic musician was, arguably, as fully and joyfully engaged in such musical endeavors as any other time prior to his untimely passing in 1995.... Though the box set proper focuses on the electric sets, an Acoustic on the Eel bonus disc is also available exclusively at independent record stores and through JerryGarcia.com and it complements the primary contents..."

Track listing

Disc 1
  1. "How Sweet It Is " – 7:10
  2. "Forever Young" – 7:22
  3. "Get Out of My Life, Woman" – 6:46
  4. "Run for the Roses" – 5:16
  5. "And It Stoned Me" – 6:14
  6. "My Sisters and Brothers" – 4:01
  7. "Deal" – 6:58
Disc 2
  1. "The Harder They Come" – 10:25
  2. "I Shall Be Released" – 7:28
  3. "Think" – 6:36
  4. "Evangeline" – 2:57
  5. "Gomorrah" – 6:20
  6. "Let It Rock" – 6:37
  7. "That Lucky Old Sun" – 8:30
  8. "Tangled Up in Blue" – 9:43
Disc 3
  1. "I'll Take a Melody" – 10:23
  2. "They Love Each Other" – 6:20
  3. "Get Out of My Life Woman" – 7:51
  4. "Run for the Roses" – 5:31
  5. "Stop That Train" – 8:09
  6. "Mission in the Rain" – 7:41
  7. "My Sisters and Brothers" – 4:08
  8. "Deal" – 7:25
Disc 4
  1. "The Harder They Come" – 11:16
  2. "Waiting for a Miracle" – 6:16
  3. "I Shall Be Released" – 10:22
  4. "Think" – 6:54
  5. "I Hope It Won't Be This Way Always" – 4:50
  6. "Don't Let Go" – 14:13
  7. "Evangeline" – 3:35
  8. "That Lucky Old Sun" – 8:45
  9. "Tangled Up in Blue" – 10:30
Disc 5
  1. "The Way You Do the Things You Do" – 10:41
  2. "And It Stoned Me" – 8:25
  3. "You Never Can Tell " – 7:08
  4. "Waiting for a Miracle" – 5:32
  5. "Struggling Man" – 6:34
  6. "My Sisters and Brothers" – 4:53
  7. "Deal" – 8:18
Disc 6
  1. "Shining Star" – 11:29
  2. "Think" – 7:13
  3. "Lay Down Sally" – 8:00
  4. "Twilight" – 9:24
  5. "See What Love Can Do" – 6:32
  6. "Lazy Bones" – 6:28
  7. "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" – 10:25
Bonus disc: Acoustic on the Eel
  1. "Deep Elem Blues" – 6:56
  2. "I've Been All Around This World" – 5:50
  3. "Friend of the Devil" – 7:23
  4. "Trouble in Mind" – 5:06
  5. "Little Sadie" – 4:08
  6. "Diamond Joe" – 4:08
  7. "Spike Driver Blues" – 4:54
  8. "Oh Babe, It Ain't No Lie" – 5:51
  9. "I'm Troubled" – 4:26
  10. "Ripple" – 4:27

    Personnel

Jerry Garcia Band
Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band
Production