Papa Jerry's solo career proved just as entrancingly expansive and anarchic as the Grateful Dead's. Releasing his first full-length in 1972, the singer, guitarist, collaborator, and fleet-fingered banjo picker found the loose threads lurking at the edges of folk rock and bluegrass, funk and jazz, and wove them into a uniquely American tapestry. Just as central to the hippie legend's identity was his emotional temperament. Garcia loved a sad song, and with his disarmingly soulful voice, he had a gift for conveying an aching spectrum of melancholy and loss.