Garcia’s most accomplished bluegrass band, active from fall 1963 to spring 1964. It had a changing lineup around Garcia’s banjo and David Nelson’s mandolin.
The Black Mountain Boys were the peak of Garcia’s bluegrass years. With Nelson now on mandolin and a series of strong guitarists (first Eric Thompson, then Sandy Rothman), the band played hard-driving, traditional bluegrass modeled on Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs. It was based at the Top of the Tangent but toured more widely than any of Garcia’s earlier groups: a November 1963 run to Eugene and Medford, Oregon, then gigs in Santa Cruz, San Mateo and at Berkeley’s Cabale. Several Tangent sets from January and March 1964 were broadcast or taped and later included on Before the Dead. In the spring of 1964 Garcia and Rothman drove east to the bluegrass festivals, partly hoping to find a way into Monroe’s circle. By the time Garcia got back, his attention was turning to the jug band with Bob Weir and Pigpen.
