For me, these qualities especially hold true with his playing of the pedal steel. It was unique, his tone always great, his licks authentic, playful, and masterful. Garcia wasn’t flashy, but his playing is always recognizable and identifiable. Rolling Stone magazine ranks Jerry as the 13 th greatest rock guitarist of all time. For all you guitar geeks, he played a ZB Custom D-10, and at the time of the Dead’s and New Riders last performances at the Fillmore, he played an Emmons D-10. During this time, besides his work with the New Riders, and The Dead, he lent his playing talents to some of the top artists of the early seventies – most San Francisco based, and recording out of the Wally Heider Studio. Garcia only played the pedal steel guitar from 1969 – 1974. They were having so much fun that they decided to form a band, The New Riders of the Purple Sage. He began playing in coffee houses with his friend John ‘Marmaduke’ Dawson. At the time, he was living with Mountain Girl, and she said he immersed himself in the instrument, and would get up early every morning and play for hours. According to his friend and fellow pedal steel player Pete Grant “…he dove into the pedal steel like jumping into a swimming pool without even checking the water…” He didn’t take any lessons, he didn’t read any books – he just sat down and played. In 1969 he was inspired to take up the instrument. In Garcia’s hands, though, it was an entirely different matter. The pedal steel guitar is that strange thing you sit down at, and it is often found in Nashville studios, played by guys on twangy country western songs. The musical legacy he left behind after his short but fertile time spent playing this guitar has been astonishingly overlooked. I couldn’t let the month go by without some words of tribute about Jerry’s playing of the instrument known as the Pedal Steel Guitar. Celebrations have been held in his honor. It also marks the 17 th anniversary of his untimely death. This year, August marks what would have been Jerry Garcia’s 70 th birthday. August – an important month for all us Leos for a variety of reasons.