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DEADGOLD.com

 

Grateful Dead vocalist Donna Jean Godchaux McKay

August 22, 1947 - November 2, 2025

Celebrating the Life and Music of Donna Jean

GRATEFUL FOR DONNA JEAN

by Uncle John

Heart of Gold Band Reunion with Donna Jean

w/ special guest Bob Weir

Brian Godchaux, Fiddle  Greg Anton, drums

Steve Kimock, David MacKay, Mookie Siegel

August 1, 2016

Photo, courtesy DEADHEADLAND.com

She is the true harmony in the best of company.

She is the Sunrise Lady singing in the band.

From The Heart of Me her vocals ring fondly.

She is the heartbeat in the Heart of Gold Band

 

Donna Jean Thatcher was a backup singer on Elvis Presley´s

#1 hit "Suspicious Minds",

and on Percy Sledge´s

#1 hit "When A Man Loves A Woman".

She was part of the Muscle Shoals sound.

She is The Grateful Dead´s only female band member .

 

I have many fond memories of Donna Jean,

 her voice a perfect complement to The Grateful Dead.

 

It is at Winterland New Year´s Eve

I see and hear Donna Jean perform.

It´s her first show playing in the band

with The Grateful Dead.

Donna Jean what a scene!

photo courtesy, Dead.net

The greatest vocal song I ever heard anywhere

is the day I meet with the Godchauxs in their home in Stinson Beach.

I am in Donna´s Kitchen and baby Zion Rock is in a high chair.

She gives him a big cookie. He does not put it in his mouth.

He plays with it. Donna shares

 "Jerry Garcia comes over one day

 and sits in this kitchen with us.

He pulls out a pad & pen and starts drawing.

He tells me he´s drawing Zion´s thoughts.

He gives me the drawing and we use it on the cover

of our studio album KEITH & DONNA."

In the evening when she is upstairs putting baby Zion to bed

I hear her sing, the sweetest vocal sound ever- it makes my spine tingle.

I am sitting in the living room with Keith Godchaux

while Donna is singing their baby to sleep.

It is the loudest a cappella song I ever heard,

and I thought, the whole town must be able to hear this.

 It is wonderful! There is nothing like a mother´s love for her child.

It is a beautiful song that can be heard in Heaven.

Keith & Donna @ Winterland

SWEET BABY

Thanksgiving 2025, I am grateful in remembrance of Donna Jean,

a most special creative talented vocalist, Wonderful woman, who helped transform my life. After my divorce in California I returned to upstate New York for seven years in the area where I grew up. I started Music World Publishing Company in Albany, New York, where I was communicating with James Trumbo who was playing music with Donna Jean and her husband David MacKay in California. James once played with Van Morrison´s band. When I returned to California, I called James Trumbo and he invited me to a Sunday Service where he was playing keyboards. I was surprised to see Donna Jean sitting behind me that morning. In the evening there was a social gathering in the gym next to the church, and I had an opportunity to sit and talk with Donna Jean. I shared that I was dealing with alcoholism and it was a real problem. Donna confided in me with several stories that happened in her life in her last years with the Grateful Dead, and how some of her vacation in Egypt was a blackout. She prayed with me that night. Prayers heard in Heaven! I didn't need rehab, or meetings, and I stopped drinking, lost the desire for it, and her inspiration helped me to refocus rebuild and transform my life.

It is a special treasure remembering being in a Christmas play with her, listening to James Trumbo, Eric Isaacs, David MacKay play music with Donna Jean singing while I am part of the choir.

<GOLDEN CHIMES MADE TO SING IN PERFECT RHYME>

 
 
 
ATTICS OF MY LIFE
 
En Español
El Otro Uno
Se Aman
Debe haber sido las rosas
Pasajero
Misión bajo la lluvia
Rio Grande
Ramble en Rose
Enredado en azul
Cumberland Blues
Good Lovin '
Dancin 'en las calles
China gato girasol >
Te conozco jinete
Nuevo Speedway Boogie
Blues de EE.
Berta
Cuando pinto mi obra maestra
Suite de informes meteorológicos: parte 2 Let It Grow
Truckin '
A lo largo de la torre de vigilancia
E
 
Dama con un abanico
Los chicos en la sala del bar
 
 

winter READ

for READHEADS (new word by Robert Hunter)

Mission In The Rain

The Music Never Stopped

The Wheel

 

Help On The Way >

Cumberland Blues >

Scarlet Begonias >

Franklin's Tower

 

To Lay Me Down >

Lady With A Fan >

Midnight Moonlight

 

 Here Comes Sunshine >

St. Stephen >

Touch Of Grey

 E:

Simple Twist Of Fate

Cold Jordan

Ripple

 

COLD JORDAN

Traditional

 Acoustic Arrangement by the Grateful Dead & The New Riders of the Purple Sage

 

Oh sinner as you tread on life's journey

Take Jesus as your daily guide

Though you may feel pure and saintly

Without Him walking by your side

But when you come to make the crossing

 At the ending of his pilgrim's way

If you ever will need your Savior

You will surely need Him on that day

 

Now look at that cold Jordan

Look at its deep water

Look at that wide river

Oh hear the mighty billows roll

You better take Jesus with you

He's a true companion

Oh I'm sure without Him that you never will make it home

 

That awful day of judgment is coming in the by and by

We'll see our Lord descending in glory from on high

Oh let us keep in touch with Jesus &

In the special love of God

And may we ever be called ready

When He calls us over Jordan's tide

 

Now look at that cold Jordan

Look at its deep water

Look at that wide river

Oh hear the mighty billows roll

You better take Jesus with you

He's a true companion

Oh I'm sure without Him that you never will make it home

 

Now what you gonna do

Oh what you gonna say

Oh how you gonna feel

When you come to the end of the way

 

Now look at that cold Jordan

Look at its deep water

Look at that wide river

Oh hear the mighty billows roll

You better take Jesus with you

He's a true companion

Oh I'm sure without Him that you never will make it home

 

Jordania fría
Tradicional
Arreglo acústico de Grateful Dead y The New Riders of the Purple Sage

Oh pecador mientras pisas el viaje de la vida
Toma a Jesús como tu guía diaria
Aunque te sientas puro y santo
Sin él caminando a tu lado
Pero cuando vienes a hacer la travesía
Al final del camino de peregrino
Si alguna vez necesitas a tu Salvador
Seguramente lo necesitarás ese día

Ahora mira ese frío Jordan
Mira su agua profunda
Mira ese ancho río
Oh, escucha las poderosas olas rodar
Será mejor que te lleves a Jesús contigo
Es un verdadero compañero
Oh, estoy seguro de que sin él nunca llegarás a casa

Ese terrible día del juicio se acerca poco a poco
Veremos a nuestro Señor descender en gloria desde lo alto
Oh, mantengamos el contacto con Jesús y
En el especial amor de Dios
Y que alguna vez seamos llamados listos
Cuando nos llama sobre la marea del Jordán

Ahora mira ese frío Jordan
Mira su agua profunda
Mira ese ancho río
Oh, escucha las poderosas olas rodar
Será mejor que te lleves a Jesús contigo
Es un verdadero compañero
Oh, estoy seguro de que sin él nunca llegarás a casa

Ahora que vas a hacer
Oh qué vas a decir
Oh, cómo te vas a sentir
Cuando llegas al final del camino

Ahora mira ese frío Jordan
Mira su agua profunda
Mira ese ancho río
Oh, escucha las poderosas olas rodar
Será mejor que te lleves a Jesús contigo
Es un verdadero compañero
Oh, estoy seguro de que sin él nunca llegarás a casa

TRIBUTE TO BOB WEIR

by Uncle John

can be viewed at

https:SpecialPermission.com

Uncle John is not a musician.

He is a writer, poet, dancer and storyteller.

To listen to genuine GRATEFUL DEAD songs

 follow Bobby Weir´s Homecoming

and the mindblowing performance of

“RIPPLE” by John Mayer

 

Songs by BOB DYLAN

Performed by Uncle John

CITY OF GOLD > Tangled Up in Blue

City of Gold

Sweetwater, Mill Valley, California

October 16, 2001

 Recorded by Uncle John

Tangled Up in Blue

Caffè Lena

Saratoga Springs, New York, July, 1989

With Lena Spencer in the audience

Art Work by JERRY GARCIA

 

City of Gold

Live, SanFrancisco Bob Dylan, 1980