Hart Valley Drifters

Among Jerry Garcia’s early folk organizations, and the to begin his projects to become documented on the saving, the Hart Valley Drifters formed in 1962 in SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA. Inspired by works just like the New Shed Town Ramblers, the Stanley Brothers, as well as the performers on Harry Smith’s famed Anthology of American Folk Music collection, the group presented Garcia on banjo, acoustic guitar, and vocals, Robert Hunter on bass, David Nelson on acoustic guitar, Norm Vehicle Maastricht on Dobro, and Ken Frankel on acoustic guitar, fiddle, and banjo. Though Garcia and Hunter have been collaborating collectively since 1961, the just documented live show of the group is at November 1962 at a folk event in close by San Mateo. Around that point, the band documented a program at Stanford University’s KZSU radio train station, which was shown on the favorite Folk Time display later on that month. Their repertoire included several old-time traditional music aswell as more sophisticated folk revivals tracks. While Hunter would continue to be the Thankful Dead’s longtime lyricist, and Nelson would later on sign up for Garcia in the brand new Riders from the Crimson Sage, the Hart Valley Drifters’ 1962 program was their just recording as an organization, looked after marked Garcia’s 1st known appearance on record. The tapes had been long regarded as lost, however in 2008, these were unearthed by previous Stanford studio room vet Ted Claire who had produced the initial program. In 2016, the recordings had been released by ATO Information under the name Folk Time.