All The Years Combine: Day Two – Jerry Waving, 1969 by Baron Wolman

We move into the second day of our All The Years Combine: Celebrating Jerry Garcia in Picture tribute with a portrait of Jerry taken in 1969 by Baron Wolman, Rolling Stone’s first editor of photography.

Jerry Garcia

“It was early in 1969, that Jann [Wenner] finally decided to do a Rolling Stone cover story on the Grateful Dead.  We all wondered why it took him so long – of all the homebrewed bands in San Francisco, the Dead was the one with the greatest mystique, the ones with the fans, the delightfully rabid Dead Heads. The editorial crew asked me how I wanted to shoot the Dead.  I decided I would make the photos in the style of one of my photographic heroes, Richard Avedon, one by one, with a plain studio grey background and simple studio lighting.  There is much more to this story but this shot of Jerry Garcia tells a lot of it.  The entire band was relaxed when they showed up at my home-based studio, a couple of blocks from the Dead’s house at 710 Ashbury St.  It was an even more relaxed Jerry who opened his hand to me, the one with the missing digit, for, as far as I can tell, the first time he publicly and so openly showed his imperfect picking hand.  I call the photo, ‘Jerry Waving.'” – Baron Wolman

Signed & numbered limited edition archival photo prints of Jerry Waving, 1969 are available for a limited time via the Garcia Family Provisions online store.  To learn more about Baron Wolman’s photography, visit FotoBaron.com.