| Searching for Jerry Garcia | |
| Type: | Album |
| Artist: | Proof |
| Cover: | ProofSearchingForJerryGarcia.jpg |
| Released: | August 9, 2005 |
| Recorded: | 2002–2005 |
| Length: | 67:37 |
| Label: | Iron Fist |
| Prev Title: | Grown Man Shit |
| Prev Year: | 2005 |
| Next Title: | Hand2Hand: The Official Mixtape Instruction Manual |
| Next Year: | 2006 |
Searching for Jerry Garcia is the only studio album by Detroit rapper and D12 member Proof. It was released on August 9, 2005, through his own independent lable, Iron Fist Records. The album is named after Grateful Dead member Jerry Garcia, with its release date intentionally coinciding with the ten-year anniversary of Garcia's death.
Proof found inspiration in an unlikely person - the late jam rocker Jerry Garcia, saying to Rolling Stone Magazine: "I was watching Searching for Bobby Fischer and Mark Hicks (D12's manager) put in a Jerry Garcia documentary. In this movie, he talked about never doing the same show twice. I did that to D12 sets overseas. Plus, he didn't care about record sales — he just wanted to make fans happy."
"I called his estate, and I couldn't believe they gave me permission [to use the name]!" says the rapper. "They didn't ask for money. So I'm like a disciple, preaching the gospel of Jerry Garcia. The dude is phenomenal."
The album's artwork includes multiple homages to Garcia, one of which is the cover featuring a skeleton, a common motif on Grateful Dead album covers. Another is found in the inner artwork, where one image depicts Proof partly skinned amid roses, drawing inspiration from E. J. Sullivan's 1900 drawing, A Skeleton Amid Roses, which appears on the Grateful Dead's self-titled 1971 album and merchandise.
In addition to Garcia, Proof pays homage to Nirvana's late frontman, Kurt Cobain, on the album's closing track, deliberately titled "Kurt Kobain". The song is a rap in the form of a suicide note, which is also reflected on the album's inner artwork. "The circumstances of Kurt's death are freaky to me. I don't think he killed himself," Proof says. "But I'm not trying to keep Elvis alive, and I'm not saying that Tupac is in Cuba." Proof's thoughts on the conspiracy that Cobain was murdered echo through the songs outro, where, after seemingly shooting himself in the head, Proof repeatedly whispers, "Love killed me", serving as a nod to the popular theory that Cobain's wife, Courtney Love, murdered him. Proof also references the singer's death at the end of the album's opening song, "Clap Wit Me".
Death is a running theme throughout the album. In the interlude "When God Calls," Proof is depicted as being killed, which is followed by the song "Forgive Me," where he confesses his sins to God. Other references on the album involving the death of musicians include numerous references to Bugz, the late former member of D12, joining 2Pac in heaven, the murder of John Lennon, and artwork paying tribute to members of the 27 Club. Less than a year after the album's release, on April 11, 2006, Proof was shot to death in his hometown in Detroit. The album includes his final song with Eminem and D12, "Pimplikeness."
Some songs on the album were recorded as early as 2002, with most being completed in 2004 and 2005. A bonus DVD titled High World was released with the limited edition version of the album, featuring unreleased footage from D12's 2004 European Tour, a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the song "High Rollers," and cameos from D12, Obie Trice, Busta Rhymes, B-Real, and Method Man."
It debuted at number 65 on the U.S. Billboard 200 Albums Chart.