# The Best Grateful Dead Guitar Solos

> The 18 best Grateful Dead guitar solos, ranked. #1 is Dark Star (1969), then Morning Dew (Cornell, 5/8/77) and Eyes of the World.

Canonical URL: <https://greatestsolos.com/list/grateful-dead-guitar-solos/>

Jerry Garcia turned the guitar solo into an open-ended conversation, spinning long, melodic improvisations that never played the same way twice. With Bob Weir's unorthodox rhythm work beside him, the Grateful Dead built the template for every jam band that followed.

Informed by: [GuitarsExchange](https://guitarsexchange.com/en/psych-out/841/jerry-garcias-10-best-solos/), [American Songwriter](https://americansongwriter.com/5-top-grateful-dead-guitar-solos/)

1. [Dark Star](https://greatestsolos.com/song/grateful-dead-dark-star/) — Grateful Dead · solo by Jerry Garcia · 1969
2. [Morning Dew (Cornell, 5/8/77)](https://greatestsolos.com/song/grateful-dead-morning-dew-cornell-5-8-77/) — Grateful Dead · solo by Jerry Garcia · 1977
3. [Eyes of the World](https://greatestsolos.com/song/grateful-dead-eyes-of-the-world/) — Grateful Dead · solo by Jerry Garcia · 1973
4. [China Cat Sunflower](https://greatestsolos.com/song/grateful-dead-china-cat-sunflower/) — Grateful Dead · solo by Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir · 1972
5. [That's It for the Other One](https://greatestsolos.com/song/grateful-dead-that-s-it-for-the-other-one/) — Grateful Dead · solo by Jerry Garcia · 1968
6. [Help on the Way/Slipknot!](https://greatestsolos.com/song/grateful-dead-help-on-the-way-slipknot/) — Grateful Dead · solo by Jerry Garcia · 1975
7. [Scarlet Begonias](https://greatestsolos.com/song/grateful-dead-scarlet-begonias/) — Grateful Dead · solo by Jerry Garcia · 1974
8. [Fire on the Mountain](https://greatestsolos.com/song/grateful-dead-fire-on-the-mountain/) — Grateful Dead · solo by Jerry Garcia · 1978
9. [Terrapin Station](https://greatestsolos.com/song/grateful-dead-terrapin-station/) — Grateful Dead · solo by Jerry Garcia · 1977
10. [Stella Blue](https://greatestsolos.com/song/grateful-dead-stella-blue/) — Grateful Dead · solo by Jerry Garcia · 1973
11. [St. Stephen](https://greatestsolos.com/song/grateful-dead-st-stephen/) — Grateful Dead · solo by Jerry Garcia · 1969
12. [Playing in the Band](https://greatestsolos.com/song/grateful-dead-playing-in-the-band/) — Grateful Dead · solo by Jerry Garcia · 1971
13. [Wharf Rat](https://greatestsolos.com/song/grateful-dead-wharf-rat/) — Grateful Dead · solo by Jerry Garcia · 1971
14. [Let It Grow](https://greatestsolos.com/song/grateful-dead-let-it-grow/) — Grateful Dead · solo by Jerry Garcia · 1973
15. [Truckin'](https://greatestsolos.com/song/grateful-dead-truckin/) — Grateful Dead · solo by Jerry Garcia · 1970
16. [Althea](https://greatestsolos.com/song/grateful-dead-althea/) — Grateful Dead · solo by Jerry Garcia · 1980
17. [Shakedown Street](https://greatestsolos.com/song/grateful-dead-shakedown-street/) — Grateful Dead · solo by Jerry Garcia · 1978
18. [Touch of Grey](https://greatestsolos.com/song/grateful-dead-touch-of-grey/) — Grateful Dead · solo by Jerry Garcia · 1987

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GreatestSolos ranks the greatest guitar solos by consensus across published lists. Agent guide: [llms.txt](https://greatestsolos.com/llms.txt) · [Sitemap](https://greatestsolos.com/sitemap.xml) · [Dataset (CSV)](https://greatestsolos.com/data/greatest-guitar-solos.csv) · [How we rank](https://greatestsolos.com/method/)