Pure Jerry: Lunt-Fontanne, New York City, The Best of the Rest, October 15-30, 1987

This 2004 triple-CD compilation is drawn from Jerry Garcia's two weeks on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in October of 1987. The shows included acoustic and electric sets, and Pure Jerry: Lunt-Fontanne, The Best of the Rest contains nearly three hours of highlights taken from various performances during the run. The first discs are "plugged in," with Garcia, John Kahn (bass), David Kemper (drums), Melvin Seals (keyboards), and background singers Jaclyn LaBranch and Gloria Jones in a host of Jerry Garcia Band repertoire favorites. Notable are the effective interpretations of Bob Dylan's "Forever Young," "Simple Twist of Fate," and "Tangled Up in Blue." Garcia's Grateful Dead bandmate Bob Weir makes a special appearance, contributing to "When I Paint My Masterpiece" and "All Along the Watchtower." There are also several R&B nuggets: "Think" (which is not the Aretha Franklin song, but rather the one done by Jimmy McCracklin), Allen Toussaint's "Get Out of My Life Woman," and "Like a Road Leading Home," made popular by Albert King. The selections gathered on the acoustic CD provide a different kind of musical Americana. The combo boasts David Nelson (guitar/vocals), Sandy Rothman (mandolin/vocals), and Kenny Kosek (fiddle), as well as Garcia, Kahn, and occasionally Kemper. Standouts are the traditional "Rosa Lee McFall," "Drifting With the Tide," and the Blue Sky Boys' 1930s cut "I'm Here to Get My Baby Out of Jail," not to mention a few rare recordings of the Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band rehearsals as they work through "Ashes of Love," "Poison Love," and the aforementioned "I'm Here to Get My Baby Out of Jail." Pure Jerry: Lunt-Fontanne, The Best of the Rest and the companion four-disc Pure Jerry: Lunt-Fontanne, NYC, 10/31/87 collection are available on Garcia's website.