“Death Don’t Have No Mercy”

Chapter 2 ties the band’s name and related thematics to Garcia’s psychology as impacted by close encounters with mortality, while examining the musical structures, lyrics and histories of six songs from the late 1960s and early 1970s to reveal their tragic circumstances and creative strategies. Garcia’s 1966 adaptation of “Death Don’t Have No Mercy” by Rev. Gary Davis responded to the loss of his father and laid a foundation for cathartic redemption at concerts. His 1967 original “Cryptical Envelopment” and 1968 adaptation “He Was a Friend of Mine” are linked with the 1961 car crash which killed fellow passenger Paul Speegle and motivated Garcia to develop his gifts. The entwined evolution of “Brokedown Palace” and “Bird Song” is explored, the latter an elegy for Janis Joplin which ultimately became a tribute to Garcia illustrating the “grateful dead” folktale theme. The transformation of “He’s Gone” is followed from lament for original lead vocalist Ron “Pigpen” McKernan in 1973 to a dirge ironically prefiguring Garcia’s own demise.