Earlier this week Jerry Moore, a veteran Grateful Dead taper and the first editor of Relix, passed away in his sleep. He was 56.
Moore co-founded Relix in 1974 and served as the magazines editor until 1977, when Jeff Tamarkin took the magazines editorial reigns. Grateful Dead historian David Gans offered the following on the magazine co-founder:
This week our community lost one of its great characters. Jerry Moore was one of the original Grateful Dead tapers, working his fiendish magic in the days when recording shows entailed coming up with clever ways to get your gear into the venue and then dodging the baleful eye – and wire cutters – of the roadies. Jerry was also a co-founder, with Les Kippel, of Relix Magazine, which began as an outgrowth of the Grateful Dead Free Underground Tape Exchange.
Jerry Moore was an active poster on DeadNet Central, almost a stereotype of the poetic Irish soul but with a bit of a psychedelic edge to his tone. He was as generous as could be with the fruits of his audio labors – the Grateful Dead collection on archive.org is loaded with shows he made available from his stash of masters. We’ve had his audience master of 5/8/77 in the library for quite a while, and we’ll be adding more in the weeks to come. Jerry provided what many consider to be the definitive recordings of quite a few great Dead concerts – June 23, 1974 in Miami being perhaps his greatest achievement.
The posters on DeadNet Central were shocked to hear the news on Wednesday, because he was involved in several colorful conversations there right up until his last hour on Earth.
Jerry Moore will be missed by his many friends and loved ones. His legacy is in the recordings he shared with the world; we will cherish that music and his memory forever.
Gans will re-broadcast his January, 2008 interview with Moore on Sirius XMs Grateful Dead Channel this weekend. The interview will air at both Saturday at 10 AM EST and Sunday at 8 PM EST. Please click here for more from Gans over Moore’s life and legacy.