Grateful Dead Music Forum

Does anybody know if Jerry or Bobby use ever used alternate tunings with the Dead? A fair few songs involve some slide guitar (Casey Jones, Little Red Rooster, Candyman, Althea etc.) but I can't really tell whether they are being played in standard or not. I'm fairly certain Althea and Casey Jones are played in stanard but I don't know about LLR or Candyman. I've never noticed Bobby or Jerry change guitars during a set (in video, never saw them live), so I suspect that the slide parts are played in standard tuning. Any insight would be appreciated.

I recall some bottom string re-tuning and capo action during the 1970 acoustic sets, but other than that, no, I think it was all standard tuning. (Might have been Pig doing the open tuning on the acoustic stuff.)

I loved the story Weir told about Joni Mitchell, how she used to put her guitars into weird open tunings and write songs and record them, then when she went on tour her band would have to teach her how to play her own material again in a standard tuning.

I never saw then change up guitars before sllide tune either, so I would have to say that they were playing them in standard.

Standard tuning always for Both Jerry and Bob on slide and i believe the slide work done on Candyman was done a steel lap.

I posed the very same question a while back (do a search for alternative tuning and you'll find it) because I loved the song Comin' Back to Me by the Airplane and Jerry gave them the main riff, which is in open E. Wish I knew how to post the link to that discussion here...

Album versions may have been in Alt tunings like "Cassidy" which is in some weird tuning Dave Crosby tought to him. I also think may be Mountains of the Moon & Dupree's my be in Alt tunings too but IDK for sure.

i'm pretty sure all live stuff was standard tuning. i have a 74 or 78 dvd where it shows jerry during Row Jimmy, and he literally pulls a slide out of his front pocket and slips it on before his solo, and then puts it back after it's done. i'll send a copy out to anyone that wants it. it's really good.

Is the clip on youtube?

amyjared wrote:I posed the very same question a while back (do a search for alternative tuning and you'll find it) because I loved the song Comin' Back to Me by the Airplane and Jerry gave them the main riff, which is in open E. Wish I knew how to post the link to that discussion here...

Jerry actually plays that part on the Surrealistic doesn't he? Saw Ricky Lee Jones do a great version of that song once; said it was the firsrt tune she learned on guitar.

actually, i think it is on youtube as 8-4-76, it's in two parts on there.