Just a little over a month since his declaration to Terrapin Nation to “Be Kind”, Mickey was quoted in an interview with Billboard, when asked about guitarists, as saying “having Jerry clones in there? I’d rather drink 5 gallons of Clorox.” You can find that interview here. Apparently our favorite Vulcan gave an enormous wedgie to many who read the article. The breakout of Butthurt was rampant on Mickey’s FB Page as fans of cloning were totally outraged. Those who thought the behavior was unkind returned the favor by saying shitty things back to Mickey all in the name of Kindness. Apparently, when you don’t think something someone said was Kind, The appropriate thing for a self proclaimed kind person to do is respond with statements that are much more unkind than the initial unkind statement. Where the hell does that leave us?
As an individual with an edgy sense of humor, I thought Mickey’s comments were funny. I imagined the manner in which he presented that statement and the content in his heart when he said it. I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Was he looking to throw a dart at any one individual or an entire handful of darts at all of the guys that spend their lives playing Jerry’s stuff? Maybe… Maybe the statement just flew out his mouth while he was being asked about guitarists and the joke fell a little flat with some of you. Here’s what I find interesting about it. Many of the same people that have done nothing but talk vitriolic shit about the musicians that have been chosen to play were the first to jump on the bandwagon bashing Mickey. If you’re really as kind as YOU claim to be, why wouldn’t you just find it within yourself to immediately forgive him for the statement that you found to be offensive and move on? People that proclaimed to be kind themselves ranted on his page about his comments to “be Kind” in Chicago and proceeded to be as nasty as they possibly could during the same sentence. Mickey played with Garcia for decades, he’s not interested in playing with the guys that attempt to play that role and I don’t blame him. Maybe we’re all just fucked up human beings that have found The Dead Community and it’s Music make us much better people when we’re surrounded by it and sometimes just as vulnerable and volatile when we’re away from it. The kind thing to do when encountered by something as docile as a joke that you don’t find funny is to brush it off and instantaneously visualize unicorns hopping happily through a field of healthy and vibrant landscape, completely encapsulated in a warm and loving white light that brings forth abundant healing to your own heart and all of the magical spaces in between the cells that make up your body! That’s what I did anyway…
I got a message from a brother that felt a little slighted by the comment and he approached me in a really kind and humble way. His name is Michael Morrow and he’s the singer and guitarist for Pure Jerry. They’re a band out of Philly that plays mostly JGB stuff. He told me he considered himself more of a disciple than a clone and thought the statement was a little hurtful from his perspective. When he wrote me, I couldn’t help but go to YouTube and check out his band. I personally never heard them before. I have to say, I was incredibly surprised by what I found. The brother has incredible chops that truly honor the songs and his voice was his own. It wasn’t a poor attempt at sounding like the master but a soulful sound that was completely and totally his. So much so that I’m not sure I’d consider him a Jerry Clone. I like him as much or better than anybody that’s out there doing what he does at the moment. While he might not be the most popular of the bunch, he’s definitely among the best of ’em. If you don’t know Michael or his band, you should check him out. He’s a great human and an outstanding artist. He helped me see things from the perspective of someone that sits in that position. His love for the Band, the Man and The Music run deep. Thanks for getting in touch with me Michael!
In the end, I don’t think Mickey was attempting to be malicious. I think he was attempting to be funny. I took it that way but apparently a lot of others didn’t. Mickey said “Be Kind” and good advice is good advice regardless of where it comes from. While we’re busy being Kind, I hope we can loosen up and not always look for reasons to be offended. Kind People don’t deal unkindly with unkind people… Or do they? My friends are some of the most beautiful Souls on the planet. They don’t hand out daisies at airports or wear long robes. They don’t talk to me with their hands in prayer like positions in hushed and gentle tones. They’re a bunch of comedians. They jokingly talk shit about my mama, make fun of damn near everything on the planet and have absolutely no sense of what political correctness means. At the same time, they have charitable hearts, Love deeply and they’re helpful in any and all situations. They would drop whatever they were doing if their assistance was required and they are compassionate as people can be. Kindness is more about what exists internally than every statement that comes out of someone’s mouth. In the meantime, Let’s all hope that Mickey can just get rid of the fuckin oven mitts and quit playin with the damn spatulas and Barbecue brushes and get himself a drum set again. Mama Mia, if I have to see him beating endlessly on shit that nobody hears again I’m gonna throw a fit. Can somebody make sure the Spock looking Motherfucker gets a cymbal or two and a pair of damn drumsticks this time around? Mickey, don’t bother telling us to be kind and we won’t bother letting you know when you’re not. While I’m at it, why don’t all of you damn blog reading fuckers go jump in a lake full of piranhas!!!
See… All that… I was just kiddin’… Love y’all Long Time!
dean (Total Nobody)
…. just don’t diss JK…. Not that Micky doesn’t love HIM….
Remember JK-raggers, there is a strong argument to be made for the following words I once heard:
“If it wasn’t for John K, there might never have been a Fare Thee Well!” Huh?, i gasped.
And then I was told to consider that JK did something no one else had succeeded in doing since Jerry died: He got Phil and Bobby playing together amicably and successfully for 4 frigging years! No Furthur, no Fare Thee Well??? That could be pushing the point, but it’s sumthin to consider….
Uh, meanwhile where’s all that Furthur/FTW/Be Kind love now, Phil, Bobby, Micky et al guilty parties??
Great, on the money and funny points, Dean.
Need to say: Mickey’s “kind” speech has been given before. Musta missed the ensuing firestorm after the first said speech, and the second, and so on…
Mmmmmmm….Pirhanas.
Right on Dean, I applaud your articulation of the situation; you had several points that made me stop in my tracks and reconsider for a moment due to their thoughtfulness and meaning; others gave me a really good laugh.
Thankfully you can help us be reminded that life need not be taken so seriously, and in fact those very leanings are what helped to define us as a subculture now more mainstream than ever for better or worse. It has been the mainstreaming that has pulled like gravity Others into the realm of Good; and so as it must always be, it becomes slightly altered in the whole by the wrong intentions and tendencies of the few.
I still have faith in The Family. but at times it needs to take a step back and reconsider itself, on an individual basis. Please ask what we each can do, ourselves, every day, to be a better person and make the world a little better. that’s all Mickey was asking of us. I find it humbly simple..
Timmy
As I keep saying, Jerry was an absolute original who spent his life exploring the boundaries of his ability. Therefore the best way to emulate Jerry is to sound like yourself. I suspect that’s the only point Mickey was trying to make.
Right on Dean, I applaud your articulation of the situation; you had several points that made me stop in my tracks and reconsider for a moment due to their thoughtfulness and meaning; others gave me a really good laugh.
Thankfully you can help us be reminded that life need not be taken so seriously, and in fact those very leanings are what helped to define us as a subculture now more mainstream than ever for better or worse. It has been the mainstreaming that has pulled like gravity Others into the realm of Good; and so as it must always be, it becomes slightly altered in the whole by the wrong intentions and tendencies of the few.
I still have faith in The Family. but at times it needs to take a step back and reconsider itself, on an individual basis. Please ask what we each can do, ourselves, every day, to be a better person and make the world a little better. that’s all Mickey was asking of us. I find it humbly simple.
Timmy
Nice one Dean!
Your chops with photoshop are indeed improving leaps & bounds.
The sight-gag you created for today’s rant was almost funnier than your printed “content”.
For me, you pulled it out last minute with the jag about Mickey & the “oven-mits”, & bar-b-que gear, about which I agree completely.
Save for this little missing “kindness”;
Billy K is all the drummer I need for any GeeDee-related repertoire, as he so ably proved constantly throughout the FTW boondoggles.
I was thrilled to not be able to hear whatever the (highly overrated & probably over monetarily compensated) Mickster was butchering over there stage left, with all the sundry kitchen utensils on tubs, sans cymbals. (his thudding “ham-fisted (footed)” kick-drum was sadly audible throughout the festivities, however)
I just wished I couldn’t hear what he was conjuring with the TV-style remote-control, & extraneous electronic gee-gaws during the Drumz segments. (30 minutes a show times 5, of my life I will never retrieve!)
Despite his obviously uber-kindly “intentioned” sentiments about the “Jerry-Clones”, I would happily, much sooner, endure an evening of JK or Stu Allen flogging those tunes, than 5 minutes worth of Mickey dumbing down the tempos & fluidity with his wankage on standard traps, despite which guitar-genius is plugged into the Jerry-Hole.
(all of the above opinions & sentiments delivered with all the appropriate “kindness” necessary to maintain requisite political-correctness for your highly-sensitive readership)
Keep up the good work Mang–the KINDNESS starts with U!
XXXJer
I wasn’t offended at all, I took it as his addressing people complaining over the choice of John Mayer for the upcoming shows..I took it to mean, they were looking for real talent, that can stand on their own merit..not trying to find the person that sounds the most like Jerry…Which I totally got. I never saw it as a negative thing. What musician would want to play with someone that was just trying to mimic someone you played with for decades…I can certainly dig that.
He’s the one drinking the Clorox.
I totally get what he means. They are not a tribute band. They wish to be a creative force.
I’m not sure that Jerry Clones is a valid term. We’re not talking about Elvis and I don’t see early Jerry, fat Jerry or Vegas Jerry guitarist running around. Anyway, it’s about the music now, not the player.
Kind of funny really. Especially in light of the fact Trey had his Jerry shoes on big time at FTW. I’m not saying that’s bad,I certainly didn’t want to hear his pish stuff. I just heard many & more JG licks coming from him.
I love them all, individually, and collectively. My take away from the statement rang every happy bell with me. There IS no other Garcia; there will never be. Replacement is futile, but acknowledgment and respect is attainable. I assumed that’s what he was referring to, and I agreed whoke-heartedly! I’d rather drink Clorox and arsenic and whatever else would kill me quickly than listen to a Jerry clone! Give me someone who does the music justice, without emulation, and I’m a happy lady. There’s no evolution without innovation, and I personally feel Jerry would prefer the latter. And happy eyebrows. Gotta know how to work those facial caterpillars, man.
Also, your headline made me grin and laugh and feel cool things inside. Actually…on a blog, is it a headline, or title? Either way, I liked it.
Thanks for the mention Dean and your…forgive me… kind words. I appreciate your funny viewpoints and take on the situation. As a Garcia influenced player, the struggle is for me not unlike Jazz or Reggae, where the genre is largely influrenced by a single artist. How to perform the material without disrespecting the original and reject any impulse to stay in some kind of musical box. I must clarify that while I was not personally hurt by Mickey’s comments, there are many great players that could be put in that category. SINGING the stuff is the tricky part and not everyone can pull it off without seeming jive. Stu Allen, Jeff Madsen,Hebert, John K , Butchy…they all rip it up at a high level and undoubtedly have the juice to do the gig. After thirty years of faithful service, it is tough to hear from the head office that what we have been doing is in some way seen as uncool. John Mayer is a fine choice if you disregard any idea of GD “seniority” where the most deserving candidates are chosen. I will continue to do my thing as a faithful disciple, and since by your description I am not a clone, I will patiently wait for that call from the boys for the next tour. Thanks for the plug brother Dean.
The same is true today as it was in 1984. Mean People Suck.
Nice people swallow