Legion of Mary was an American rock band, formed by

Jerry Garcia Jerome John Garcia (August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995) was an American musician best known for being the principal songwriter, lead guitarist, and a vocalist with the rock band Grateful Dead, which he co-founded and which came to prominence ...

of the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, country, jazz, bluegrass, blues, rock and roll, gospel, reggae, world music, ...

and his friend and musical collaborator Merl Saunders. The band existed from July 1974 to July 1975, and played about 60 live shows.Jackson, Blair (2005). Liner notes for ''Legion of Mary: The Jerry Garcia Collection, Vol. 1''. Its members were Garcia (guitar and vocals), Saunders (keyboards), John Kahn (bass guitar),

Martin Fierro Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austr ...

(saxophone and flute) and Ron Tutt (drums). The previous lineup of the band, with Paul Humphrey on drums, is sometimes also referred to as Legion of Mary, but later research has shown that they did not use the Legion of Mary name. In their concerts, Legion of Mary played rock music that had an eclectic mix of influences, including

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mi ...

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm ...

, and especially

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

. Performances included extended improvisational solos, which Garcia made famous with his role in the Grateful Dead.

Discography

'' Legion of Mary: The Jerry Garcia Collection, Vol. 1'' is a two-CD album recorded live at various shows from December 1974 to July 1975. It was released by

Rhino Records A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species ...

on August 23, 2005. ''

Garcia Live Volume Three ''Garcia Live Volume Three'' is a three-CD album by Legion of Mary, a band led by Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders. It was recorded live on December 14 and 15, 1974, at the Paramount Theatre in Portland, Oregon and the EMU Ballroom in Eugene, Oreg ...

'' is a three-CD album recorded on December 14 and 15, 1974. It was released by ATO Records on October 15, 2013. '' Pure Jerry: Keystone Berkeley, September 1, 1974'' is a three-CD album containing a complete concert by an earlier lineup of the band, not yet known as Legion of Mary, with Paul Humphrey on drums. It was released by Pure Jerry Records on December 28, 2004.Metzger, John (February 2005)
''Pure Jerry: Keystone Berkeley'' album review
''The Music Box'', Vol. 12 No 2.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Legion Of Mary 1974 establishments in California 1975 disestablishments in California Rock music groups from California Jerry Garcia Musical groups established in 1974 Musical groups disestablished in 1975