History of key this is in?

[old man down]

Verified last night. Sugaree on Garcia is in key of E and sounded soooo good!

[Emoto]

Verified last night. Sugaree on Garcia is in key of E and sounded soooo good!

Interesting. I have to wonder why they bothered to publish the music in a different key.

[Tennessee Jedi]

Verified last night. Sugaree on Garcia is in key of E and sounded soooo good!

as in C to F ?
or B to E ?
Garcia version ( I thought) I went C to F .
Someone fill me in ...

Regardless , I prefer the B to E version as it has the open strings like Tiger said ( you can chromatically walk into the C and F but Jerry uses the open E that the C and F doesnt allow )and its the way they did it for the majority of their career.

[old man down]

B to E.

[jeffm725]

While I am muscially trained enough to transpose stuff on the fly, and I understand the need to change keys to fit vocal ranges, I am from the "the song was written in a certain key for a reason" school. One of my intital turn offs of early Phil and Friends shows was how just about every song had its key changed. This is an unreasonable comment but: I detest Sugaree in the Key of C, it just doesnt sound right!

I played with someone a while back who did Scarlet a step down (intro starting on A instead of B), it just lost all of its sparkle and shimmer. Scarlet just isn't Scarlet if it isn't in B..it loses that bright carribean vibe

Now some songs lend themselves better to transposition than others.

For example Let it Rock. I have heard Jerry do it in Bb when he had the Horns and do it in A with the Nicky Hopkins version of JGB and even heard an old version in B and another in C. That is OK. a 1-4-5 blues tune lends itself to key changes.

Jerry did change keys of a couple songs, but mostly for horn arrnagements.
In my Jer cover band, we will do road runner in F when the horn player is there (just like jer) or in E when he isnt (again, just like jer)

other than things like that Jerry usually kept things in the same keys through the years (with a few exceptions as people in this thread have noted)

Bottom line is that I personally favor doing songs in the main key they were either written in or played in the majority of the time. Just a stupid personal tic I have.

[RiverRat]

.

[tigerstrat]

This would be a great sticky topic imho, and maybe to be moved out of the "Sugaree" Discussion and as one of the top stickies (I'm like a broken record about "stickies", I know...) as Songs Played In Different Keys Over The Years?

I believe the key shift in Brokedown came precisely when Brent joined the band, but haven't fully researched it. Makes sense, with the shifting vocal trio parts that became possible for Jerry and Bob. The "doo doo doo" ending was dropped after the hiatus, last one 10/19/74.

[Rev_Roach]

I think Peggy O evolved from G to A. Trahsition probably early 70's

[CaptainTrips]

Ive always wondered about Peggy-O . . . . . sounds good in "G" but doesnt sound "dead" enough. "A" is much more bouncy.

[Emoto]

I think Peggy O evolved from G to A. Trahsition probably early 70's

WAITAMINNIT!!! That's in A?????

[Emoto]

Nevahmind... found it... the Whirlwind of cleanliness I call my wife "hid" it.

Heh. Funny. I haven't "lost" a single thing since the GF bailed.

[tigerstrat]

I think Peggy O evolved from G to A. Trahsition probably early 70's

Still G in the late 70's... 80's is when it took on the "bounce", so maybe then. No time to listen right now...

[ronster]

Changed from G to A after the hiatus in 75. I'll take me a bouncy 77 Peggy O in A anyday over the slow 74 versions.

[tigerstrat]

Changed from G to A after the hiatus in 75. I'll take me a bouncy 77 Peggy O in A anyday over the slow 74 versions.

6/29/76 is G I believe. First one I ever had on tape, in days of yore...

[jonarobb]

I think Peggy O evolved from G to A. Trahsition probably early 70's

Still G in the late 70's... 80's is when it took on the "bounce", so maybe then. No time to listen right now...

First Peggy-O in A is 7/13/76, a rather sweet one....

http://www.archive.org/details/gd76-07- ... sbeok.shnf