Pie Up In The Sky

Today is the anniversary of a special guest apperance by legendary reggae artist Jimmy Cliff with the Jerry Garcia Band in 1989. Download this show from the Greek Theatre HERE and HERE.
Jimmy Cliff came on to the music scene when his movie "The Harder They Come" debuted in 1973. The movie was about one man's struggle for survival in Kingston Jamaica and his emergence through music. As someone who works on a daily basis with several people form Jamaica and the surrounding islands, the fact that there is english subtitles for people talking english in Jamaica, has always been the unintentional funniest part of the movie to me.
It didn't take Jerry long to become a fan of the movie and Jimmy Cliff. The movie was released February but didn't start to gain attention until it was made into a midnight feature in April. On July 10th of 1973, Jerry Garcia first covered the song with Merl Saunders, this also the same show that David Grisman sat in for on "Positive 4th Street." The song remained a standard of Jerry Garcia's side projects from then on. It is the third most played song in JGB history, to "How Sweet it is" and "Midnight Moonlight."

The article is right, there is sort of a struggle between Garcia and Cliff on stage. Cliff wants the song to be it's normal three and a half minute version of the song and Garcia of course is looking to stretch it. The two compromise somewhere in between. This was the only time the two collaborated and it was a magical.

I: Cats, TLEO, Forever Young, Run for the Roses, Mission, Harder They Come*, Deal

II: How Sweet, Stop that Train, Waiting for a Miracle, Think, Sis & Bros, Lucky Old Sun, Midnight Moonlight

* With Jimmy Cliff on vocals