The roots of the New Riders can be traced back to the early 60s folk/bohemian/beatnik scene in San Francisco, where future Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia, then considered to be one of the finest banjo players of the folk revival, often played gigs with like-minded guitarist David Nelson. The young John MarmadukeDawson, from a well-to-do family centered in Millbrook, New York, also played some concerts with Garcia, Nelson, and their compatriots while visiting relatives on summer vacation. Enamored with the sounds of Bakersfield-style country music, Dawson would turn his older friends onto the work of Merle Haggard and Buck Owens while providing a vital link between the East Coast, Timothy Leary-dominated psychedelic scene and the West.
Dawson went on to college, Nelson briefly became a Scientologist and moved on to Los Angeles with future Grateful Dead/New Riders lyricist Robert Hunter & tape archivist Willy Legate, and Garcia formed the Grateful Dead with an acquaintance, blues singer Ron Pigpen McKernan.
By the time Nelson returned to the Bay Area after leaving the Church of Scientology in 1966, the Merry Pranksters-led Acid Tests were in full swing, with the Dead serving as house band. Though the group briefly considered replacing Bob Weir with the more experienced Nelson, this never materialized. Throughout 1967 and 1968, Nelson worked as a journeyman musician in the San Francisco area, playing anything from electric psychedelic rock (he was briefly lead guitarist of Big Brother and the Holding Company after Janis Joplin and Sam Andrews departed) to contemporary bluegrass with groups such as the Mescaline Rompers.