Me and My Uncle

Last updated
"Me and My Uncle"
Song
Written1963
Genre Country Rock
Songwriter(s) John Phillips

"Me and My Uncle", often also written as "Me & My Uncle," is a song composed by John Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas, and popularized in versions by Judy Collins and the Grateful Dead. It relates the journey of a narrator and his uncle from southern Colorado towards west Texas, involving standard cowboy song themes like a poker game in Santa Fe, accusations of cheating, gunplay, gold, and death. [1]

Performances

John Phillips originally wrote "Me and My Uncle" at a drinking session in a hotel room with Judy Collins, Stephen Stills, and Neil Young among others in 1963. It was first recorded by Judy Collins in 1964 on The Judy Collins Concert . [1]

The song was later covered by the Grateful Dead, who adopted it as part of their standard repertoire. It was the single most frequently played song in their live performances, featuring in 616 different shows. [2] Bob Weir is reported to have learned it from James “Curly” Stalarow, [3] a member of the Texas psychedelia scene. The earliest commercially released performance of the song by the Grateful Dead is from the Electric Theater in Chicago, on April 26, 1969, and is available on Dick's Picks Volume 26 . One of the earliest performances at the Matrix was recorded on November 29, 1966. The song continued to be performed regularly until Jerry Garcia's death and the end of the band in 1995, and remains a staple of the surviving members' repertoire.

"Me and My Uncle" has been covered by Joni Mitchell, John Denver, Dino Valente, Mike Wilhelm, Widespread Panic, Michael Longcor, Billy Strings, Max Creek, Goose (American band) and John Phillips.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Garcia Band</span> American musical group

The Jerry Garcia Band was a San Francisco Bay Area rock band led by Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead. Garcia founded the band in 1975; it remained the most important of his various side projects until his death in 1995. The band regularly toured and recorded sporadically throughout its twenty-year existence, generally, but not always, during breaks in the Grateful Dead's schedule.

"Morning Dew", also known as "(Walk Me Out in the) Morning Dew", is a contemporary folk song by Canadian singer-songwriter Bonnie Dobson. The lyrics relate a fictional conversation in a post-nuclear holocaust world. Originally recorded as a solo performance, Dobson's vocal is accompanied by her finger-picked acoustic guitar playing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uncle John's Band</span> Grateful Dead song

"Uncle John's Band" is a song by the Grateful Dead that first appeared in their concert setlists in late 1969. The band recorded it for their 1970 album Workingman's Dead. Written by guitarist Jerry Garcia and lyricist Robert Hunter, "Uncle John's Band" presents the Dead in an acoustic and musically concise mode, with close harmony singing.

<i>Dicks Picks Volume 4</i> 1996 live album by Grateful Dead

Dick's Picks Volume 4 is the fourth live album in the Dick's Picks series of releases by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on February 13 and February 14, 1970, at the Fillmore East in New York City, and released in February 1996. It was the first of the Dick's Picks CDs to have three discs. It was also the first Dead album to include the song "Mason's Children".

<i>Dicks Picks Volume 11</i> 1998 live album by Grateful Dead

Dick's Picks Volume 11 is the 11th live album in the Dick's Picks series of releases by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded at the Stanley Theater in Jersey City on September 27, 1972.

<i>Dicks Picks Volume 21</i> 2001 live album by Grateful Dead

Dick's Picks Volume 21 is a three-CD live album by the rock group the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete concert that was recorded on November 1, 1985, at Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia. It also includes several bonus tracks recorded on September 2, 1980, at the Community War Memorial in Rochester, New York. It was released on March 20, 2001.

<i>Dicks Picks Volume 23</i> 2001 live album by Grateful Dead

Dick's Picks Volume 23 is a three-CD album by the rock group the Grateful Dead. It is the 23rd installment in the Dick's Picks series of live archival recordings. It was recorded on September 17, 1972 at the Baltimore Civic Center in Baltimore. It contains the complete concert, except for the encore, which was "One More Saturday Night".

<i>Dicks Picks Volume 31</i> 2004 live album by Grateful Dead

Dick's Picks Volume 31 is a four-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on August 4 and 5, 1974 at the Philadelphia Civic Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and on August 6, 1974, at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was released in March 2004.

<i>Road Trips Volume 3 Number 2</i> 2010 live album by Grateful Dead

Road Trips Volume 3 Number 2 is two-CD live album by the American rock band the Grateful Dead. The tenth in their "Road Trips" series of albums, it was released on February 24, 2010. It contains the complete concert recorded on November 15, 1971, at Austin Memorial Auditorium in Austin, Texas. This concert was the 16th concert after Keith Godchaux joined the Grateful Dead on piano. Ron "Pigpen" McKernan did not perform at this or any of the October and November, 1971 concerts due to poor health.

<i>Road Trips Volume 4 Number 1</i> 2010 live album by Grateful Dead

Road Trips Volume 4 Number 1 is a live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. The 13th of the Road Trips series of archival releases, it contains two complete performances by the band, recorded on May 23 and 24, 1969. It was released as a three-disc CD on November 16, 2010.

<i>Road Trips Volume 4 Number 3</i> 2011 live album by Grateful Dead

Road Trips Volume 4 Number 3 is a live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. Subtitled Denver '73, it contains the complete concert recorded on November 21, 1973, at Denver Coliseum in Denver, Colorado. It also includes three songs recorded the previous night at the same venue. The 15th of the Road Trips series of archival albums, it was released as a three-disc CD on April 26, 2011.

<i>Europe 72 Volume 2</i> 2011 live album by Grateful Dead

Europe '72 Volume 2 is a live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It is a two-CD set which features 20 tracks from the band's Spring 1972 tour of Europe. As such, it represents a belated sequel to the band's original three-LP 1972 release, Europe '72. Around the time of the production of the massive Europe '72: The Complete Recordings box set in 2011, Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux was charged with the task of developing this follow-up compilation, nearly four decades later, without repeating any of the songs that appeared on Europe '72. As with the box set, all of the music for this CD was remastered from the original 16-track tapes and encoded with HDCD specifications. The artwork for the release is by Stanley Mouse, who, along with his late partner, Alton Kelley, created the recognizable images for the original release.

<i>Winterland: May 30th 1971</i> 2012 live album by Grateful Dead

Winterland: May 30th 1971 is an album by the rock group the Grateful Dead. As the name suggests, it was recorded live at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, California on May 30, 1971. The album includes most of the second set from that concert, as well as the encore. It was produced only as a two-disc vinyl LP, in a limited edition of 7,500 copies, and was released on November 23, 2012, in conjunction with Record Store Day.

<i>Daves Picks Volume 5</i> 2013 live album by Grateful Dead

Dave's Picks Volume 5 is a three-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete concert recorded on November 17, 1973 at Pauley Pavilion, on the campus of UCLA in Los Angeles, California. It was released on February 1, 2013.

<i>Family Dog at the Great Highway, San Francisco, CA 4/18/70</i> 2013 live album by Grateful Dead

Family Dog at the Great Highway, San Francisco, CA 4/18/70 is a live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It was recorded at the Family Dog concert hall in San Francisco on April 18, 1970. It was released by Rhino Records on November 29, 2013. The album was produced as a single-disc CD, and also as a two-disc vinyl LP, the latter in a limited audiophile edition of 7,500 copies.

<i>Daves Picks Volume 10</i> 2014 live album by Grateful Dead

Dave's Picks Volume 10 is a three-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete concert recorded on December 12, 1969, at the Thelma music venue in Los Angeles, California. It was produced as a limited edition of 14,000 numbered copies, and was released on May 1, 2014.

<i>30 Trips Around the Sun</i> 2015 live album by Grateful Dead

30 Trips Around the Sun is an 80-CD live album, packaged as a box set, by the rock band the Grateful Dead. Announced for the celebration of their 50th anniversary, it consists of 30 complete, previously unreleased concerts, with one show per year from 1966 through 1995. Comprising 73 hours of music, the box set is individually numbered and limited to 6,500 copies. It was released on October 7, 2015.

<i>Daves Picks Volume 22</i> 2017 live album by Grateful Dead

Dave's Picks Volume 22 is a live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete concert recorded at the Felt Forum in New York City on December 7, 1971. It also includes the second set and the encore recorded at the same venue the previous night. It was produced as a limited edition of 16,500 copies, and released on May 1, 2017.

<i>Daves Picks Volume 30</i> 2019 live album by Grateful Dead

Dave's Picks Volume 30 is a 3-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It contains the complete early and late shows recorded on January 2, 1970 at the Fillmore East in New York City, along with five songs from the band's performances at the same venue the following night. It was released on May 3, 2019 in a limited edition of 20,000 copies.

<i>Daves Picks Volume 43</i> 2022 live album by Grateful Dead

Dave's Picks Volume 43 is a three-CD live album by the rock band the Grateful Dead. It was recorded on November 2, 1969 at the Family Dog at the Great Highway in San Francisco, California, and on December 26, 1969 at McFarlin Memorial Auditorium in University Park, Texas. It was released on July 29, 2022, in a limited edition of 25,000 copies.

References

  1. 1 2 Jermance, Frank, ed. (2003). Navigating the Music Industry: Current Issues & Business Models. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 153. ISBN   978-0-634-02652-2.
  2. ↑ Sclafani, Tony (2013). The Grateful Dead FAQ:All That's Left to Know About the Greatest Jam Band in History. Backbeat Books. ISBN   9781617135828.
  3. ↑ Corry342 (2011-06-03). "Hooterollin' Around: Who Was Curly Jim? (Me And My Uncle)". Hooterollin' Around. Retrieved 2023-07-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.