In roughly three and half hours of live and studio recordings, captured
in various ways at a variety of locales between 1961 and 1964, Before the Dead documents the late Jerry Garcia’s
formative years as a musician. Overflowing with meticulous attention to
detail in sound, text and graphics, this 4-CD set reveals how this
iconic musician nurtured those attributes that eventually stood him in
such good stead as titular leader of the Grateful Dead, the namesake of
the Jerry Garcia Band and the catalyst for the many other collaborative
efforts over the course of his thirty-plus year career.