"Me and My Uncle", often also written "Me & My Uncle", is a song composed by John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas, and popularized by the Grateful Dead and Judy Collins. The Mamas & the Papas (credited as The Mama's and the Papa's on the debut album cover were a Vocal group of the 1960s. The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939 in Seattle, Washington) is an American folk and standards Singer
Origins
John Phillips originally wrote "Me and My Uncle" at a drinking session in a hotel room with Judy Collins and Neil Young (among others) in 1963. Neil Percival Young OM (born November 12, 1945, Toronto Ontario) is a Canadian Singer-songwriter, Musician According to Grateful Dead Lyric & Song Finder[1]
- John often used to tell the story behind "Me and My Uncle". Years ago he began receiving publishing royalties from a song on a Judy Collins record with which he was unfamiliar. It was titled "Me and My Uncle". He called Judy to let her know of the mistake because he hadn't written any such song. She laughed and told him that about a year before, in Arizona after one of her concerts, they had a 'Tequila Night' back at the hotel with Stephen Stills, Neil Young and a few others. They were running a blank cassette and John proceeded to write "Me and My Uncle" on the spot. The next day, John woke up to the tequila sunrise with no recollection of the songwriting incident. Judy kept the cassette from that evening and then, without informing John, recorded the song for her own record. Over the years the song was recorded by several people, and eventually became a standard of the Grateful Dead. John used to joke that, little by little, with each royalty check, the memory of writing the song would come back to him.
Performances
"Me and My Uncle" was first recorded by Judy Collins at some point in 1964, and performed at The Judy Collins Concert.
It was later heard by the Grateful Dead, who adopted it as one of their standard performances. Bob Weir is reported to have learned it from Curly Jim Cook, a member of the Bay Area A. Bob Weir (born Robert Hall Weir, October 16 1947 is an American singer songwriter and guitarist most recognized as a founding member of the Grateful Dead The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, or the Bay, is a geographically and ethnically diverse metropolitan region that surrounds the B. Skhy Blues Band. According to Deadbase, the Grateful Dead first played the song in late 1966. The earliest commercially released performance of it is from the Electric Theater in Chicago, on April 26, 1969, and is available on Dick's Picks Volume 26. Events 1467 - The miraculous image in Our Lady of Good Counsel appear in Genazzano, Italy. Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Dick's Picks Volume 26 is the twenty-sixth installment of the Grateful Dead 's archival series Their best-known version is from the 1971 live Skull & Roses album. The informal titles for this album "Skull and Roses" and "Skull Fuck" redirect here The song continued to be performed regularly until Jerry Garcia's death and the end of the band in 1995. Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia (August 1 1942 &ndash August 9 1995 was a Musician, Songwriter, Artist, and Lead guitarist and According to Deadbase, it was the most-played song of all in the Dead's long concert career, with 616 performances.
The song was later performed by the surviving members of the Grateful Dead, reunited as The Dead, and by Bob Weir's band Ratdog, starting in 2003 with the latter performing the song into 2006. The Dead is an American rock band composed of former members of the Grateful Dead. Bob Weir (born Robert Hall Weir, October 16 1947 is an American singer songwriter and guitarist most recognized as a founding member of the Grateful Dead RatDog (often misspelled Ratdog and also known as Bob Weir and RatDog, is an American rock band
"Me and My Uncle" has also been performed by John Denver, Dino Valente, Mike Wilhelm and by John Phillips himself. John Denver (December 31 1943 &ndash October 12 1997 born Henry John Deutschendorf Jr Chester (Chet William Powers Jr (November 7 1943 – November 16 1994 was an American Singer-songwriter. Mike Wilhelm started his career as the backup guitarist for the Chambers Brothers after having studied guitar with Brownie McGee
References
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic