John the Revelator

Studio Collaboration

This is the song that was refined into the more well-known JTR, and for many years was called John the Revelator.

There is evidence of the riff originating in 1998, but the song itself was hashed out during Dave Matthews' collaboration with Carlos Santana in the studio sessions for the album 'Supernatural' released in 1999. While this song never made it onto the album proper, it was included on the "Legacy Edition" of Supernatural, released in 2010, finally establishing its official title (it's likely, though, that this title was used only to avoid confusion with the traditional song called "John the Revelator," which is interpolated in this song but is not the same song). It also surfaced live during a few Dave and Tim and full band shows in 1999, 4 out of 5 of which Carlos Santana guested on.

During the Lillywhite studio sessions prior to the summer tour of 2000, the "John the Revelator" lyrics were removed and the title was shortened to "JTR."

While the riff of the song is original, the "John the Revelator" refrain comes from a traditional gospel song.