Jerry Garcia would have turned 63 on Monday.

That may come as a surprise to people who saw photos of him taken toward the end of his life, when various circumstances piled loads of phantom years onto his appearance.

I once overheard some high school kids (who must be in their mid-30s by now) laughing about a video called "Touch of Grey" with "some 80-year-old guy singing." At the time, Jerry would have been only in his mid-40s, and really didn't look anywhere near an octogenerian. Nevertheless, he'd have had trouble passing for 45 by that point.

The sketch I drew is based on the cover of an album released in 1980, when, of course, Jerry still would've been on the good side of 40 and still had a good bit of his jet-black hair. (And when I was one of those high school kids.)

Man, that was a long time ago ...