21-04-2025
Jerry Garcia Scores A New Hit Album, But Misses The Top 10 For The First Time
Even decades after his passing, Jerry Garcia continues to find success on the charts in the United States. The late Grateful Dead frontman earns another Billboard hit this week under his own name, thanks to a brand new vinyl pressing that also features longtime collaborator David Grisman. Their latest joint project brings Garcia back to a genre list where he's been steadily collecting wins for years now.
Bare Bones Vol. 2 – Other Tunes and Arrangements opens at No. 11 on the Top Bluegrass Albums chart. The title is credited to both Garcia and Grisman, who recorded the material together years ago. It's the latest offering from the duo's Bare Bones series, and like its predecessors, it's found a solid audience. The collection may not have launched inside the top 10, but a debut just outside that region is still a notable showing, especially for a posthumous release in such a niche genre.
Bare Bones Vol. 2 marks Garcia's fifth solo appearance on the Top Bluegrass Albums chart. This is the first of Garcia's placements on the tally to fall short of the top 10. The previous four releases all climbed to either No. 1 or No. 2, making this the outlier in what's otherwise been a very successful streak.
Three of those five projects are collaborations with Grisman, and all come from the Bare Bones series. Another title that brought Garcia to the tally was credited to the Good Old Boys, a group he helped lead. That collection landed on the tally back in 2019.
Bare Bones Vol. 2 is available in several formats, but it looks like a particular version helped push the set onto the tally. The Garcia Family Provisions Exclusive — a double LP pressed on marbled gray wax — has quickly become a coveted item among collectors. That limited edition includes gatefold packaging and was produced in a run of just 1,000 copies. It's not clear exactly how many of those exclusive vinyls sold, but clearly enough were snapped up to give the effort a boost that brought it to this list.
Garcia and Grisman now have three volumes in the Bare Bones series available for purchase. Each installment has been issued on both CD and vinyl, often in a variety of styles, colors, and exclusive editions. For collectors and longtime fans, these offerings are irresistible, and they usually sell well enough to become chart wins.
