#dave torbert

New Riders Release Vintage Video with Jerry Garcia Sit In

On Dec. 15, 1973, Jerry Garcia joined his former New Riders of the Purple Sage bandmates onstage at Winterland and with his replacement, Buddy Cage, ably handling pedal-steel duties, played a Telecaster as the band romped through “Sea Cruise.”

Garcia and Cage provide the highlights of NRPS’ otherwise-rough performance of Frankie Ford’s 1959 hit, just unearthed from deep inside the New Riders’ vault. The small-screen, black-and-white video shows every bit of its 46 years, but is nevertheless a fascinating peak at a NRPS reunion outside the context of a Grateful Dead show.

The beardless Garcia is positioned behind Cage and takes a decidedly un-Grateful solo at John Dawson’s request before he and Dave Torbert dig into some more off-key ooowees. Rough sailing for sure, but a “Sea Cruise” worth checking out - for the sights more than the sounds.

New Riders of the Purple Sage 1972 Gypsy Cowboy.

Even Bobby can’t believe all the bullshits simultaneously occurring in this photo: he is done with it.

A small aside: in true Dead fashion, this is maybe the largest, clearest picture of anything Dead-related I’ve ever seen. Not the cool black-and-white shots from Lindley Meadows, nothing from Winterland or Radio City: this thing. It’s enormous, too. You could make it your desktop, if you hated…