Level: 2/3
Tuning: Standard

"Dire Wolf" is on the 1970 "Working Man's Dead" album that included "Casey Jones" and "Uncle John's Band." Influenced by Crosby, Stills & Nash's vocals and emulating the Bakersfield country sound, the Dead turned away from rambling instrumental jams and focused on songs with tight arrangements and pretty vocal harmonies. They followed it, later that year, with the "American Beauty" album, continuing the trend. Robert Hunter says his lyric for "Dire Wolf" was inspired by the movie version of "Hound of the Baskervilles," which he and Garcia watched one night on TV. Fennario, mentioned in the song, is also referred to in various old Scottish folk songs, including "Pretty Peggy-O." This fingerpicking arrangement in G has some moveable chords and a Travis-style alternating thumb-bass throughout the tune.