RIP Bob Weir

When at UNC, I stayed in Hinton James dorm, which had suites of four rooms with a shared bath/shower room. Because I was working about 24 hours a week (3 shifts, evenings or overnights) at Gravely Sanitorium and between working and studying, I really wasn't in my dorm room much. Once, on a Saturday night when I came back after finishing my shift at work, it was about 11:30 pm, I noticed there was a group of folks, boys and girls, in one of the other rooms just talking and drinking beer. To be polite, even though I was all beat to hell--I had worked the overnight shift Friday/Saturday and the evening shift on Saturday--I popped in to say hello. One of the unattached girls in the room, looked up, smiled at me, and said, "You look just like Bob Weir." I smiled and thanked her, stayed a few more minutes, and then went over to my room, collapsed on my bed, and immediately fell asleep. It was many years later that I realized . . . that girl was hitting on me. The notion that any girl would hit on me so farfetched to me at the time, that it never even crossed my sleep-deprived mind. For the record, neither then nor any time before or afterwards did I ever--even remotely--look like Bob Weir.
 
Peppers49 said:
I know the two drummers are still alive but Bob passing is definitely the end of an era in so many ways.
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Mickey wasn't an orignal member, he joined in 67, dropped out in Feb 71 and rejoined when the band came back from a nearly two year hiatus in 76, but of course he was without a doubt a full-fledged band member. From the little bit I've read, Kreutzman isn't in the best of health either. Love those guys but hard for me to see them using the Dead name with just one or even both of them in the band. Definitely the end of an era, but that's OK, there are tons of really good Dead-centric bands out there (quite a few better than Dead & Co, IMO), I don't see this music in live settings going away anytime soon and certainly plenty of bands and performers will be sprinkling Dead tunes in their live sets as well. The music never stops (sic)...
 
I think I've mentioned this before, but there's a great Weir doc on Netflix called The Other One. It really covers the whole history of the band and beyond (film was released circa 2015), but from Bob's perspective and there's plenty of other stuff just about him. Highly recommended, for the seasoned Deadhead as well as just the curious and anyone in between. I've seen it a couple of times but think I might just have to queue it up again...
 
hedge said:
Mickey wasn't an orignal member, he joined in 67, dropped out in Feb 71 and rejoined when the band came back from a nearly two year hiatus in 76, but of course he was without a doubt a full-fledged band member. From the little bit I've read, Kreutzman isn't in the best of health either. Love those guys but hard for me to see them using the Dead name with just one or even both of them in the band. Definitely the end of an era, but that's OK, there are tons of really good Dead-centric bands out there (quite a few better than Dead & Co, IMO), I don't see this music in live settings going away anytime soon and certainly plenty of bands and performers will be sprinkling Dead tunes in their live sets as well. The music never stops (sic)...
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Yep, I’m very familiar with the history of the band’s lineups over the years. I would consider Mickey a “core” member and a direct link back to their roots, even if he wasn’t there from the very beginning.

I’m fortunate to have a very high quality GD and JGB tribute band in my city. Seeing that music played in a more intimate, laid back setting is definitely my preference. I know Dead and Co was very polarizing. It was never quite my cup of tea either (JRAD and DSO are the best national touring acts IMO) but I still would try to go to at least a show or two every time they toured. It was mainly an excuse for my friends and I to all meet up since a lot of us live in different parts of the country. Also, just a different energy and experience bearing able to hear the catalogue played in the biggest venues with a giant crowd.
 
Peppers49 said:
Yep, I’m very familiar with the history of the band’s lineups over the years. I would consider Mickey a “core” member and a direct link back to their roots, even if he wasn’t there from the very beginning.
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No doubt. I have to admit, though, that my favorite era of Dead is when Keith joined the band (Oct 71) thru the beginning of the hiatus (Oct 74), i.e., the years Mickey wasn't in the band. Still, he was without a doubt a core member...
 
Peppers49 said:
It was mainly an excuse for my friends and I to all meet up since a lot of us live in different parts of the country.
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This is mainly my experience with Phish now. I'll never like their music as much as the Dead's but they are playing at a very high level and, as you said, it's an opportunity to commune with far-flung friends and enjoy really good music in great "large format" settings. I went to a couple of nights of their annual New Year's MSG run, third year in a row for me and look forward to many more. I also agree with you about seeing really good Dead cover bands in smaller settings...
 
hedge said:
No doubt. I have to admit, though, that my favorite era of Dead is when Keith joined the band (Oct 71) thru the beginning of the hiatus (Oct 74), i.e., the years Mickey wasn't in the band. Still, he was without a doubt a core member...
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Yeah, Mickey seems like a great man and I respect him as a musician bringing a different flare, but I agree that the early 70s years with just Billy were the crispest the band ever sounded.
 
hedge said:
This is mainly my experience with Phish now. I'll never like their music as much as the Dead's but they are playing at a very high level and, as you said, it's an opportunity to commune with far-flung friends and enjoy really good music in great "large format" settings. I went to a couple of nights of their annual New Year's MSG run, third year in a row for me and look forward to many more. I also agree with you about seeing really good Dead cover bands in smaller settings...
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Ha, couldn’t agree more about Phish. Never had a bad time at one of their shows but I’ve just never quite “gotten” it.

A lot of my friends are very into them though. A few have to be well over the 200 shows attended mark at this point.
 
A good friend of mine, the enviably named Dr. Tom Vennum, was an ethnomusicologist at the Smithsonian for many years. Among the books he published was one on Indian drum making. I doubt a dozen people read that book, but one of them was Mickey Hart. Based on that, he also became good friends with Vennum, which resulted in (among other things) Vennum getting all access tour laminates starting around 1985, which happened to coincide with my start as a Deadhead. Could always count on Vennum to procure a ticket, esp. any show in the DC area (or Hampton) and, on a couple of occasions, backstage passes. Good times...
 
hedge said:
No doubt. I have to admit, though, that my favorite era of Dead is when Keith joined the band (Oct 71) thru the beginning of the hiatus (Oct 74), i.e., the years Mickey wasn't in the band. Still, he was without a doubt a core member...
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Dicks Picks Vol 1 made me a fan. That is a fantastic run. For me I never really could get into 80’s-90’s Dead. I hate the switch from a piano sound to keyboards/organ whatever. The piano added some depth, texture, the latter was very thin, tinny, flat. But to each his own. I also really liked the initial sound that was just raw psychedelic energy and the transition and blending of psychedelia with cowboy dead.
 
05C40 said:
When at UNC, I stayed in Hinton James dorm, which had suites of four rooms with a shared bath/shower room. Because I was working about 24 hours a week (3 shifts, evenings or overnights) at Gravely Sanitorium and between working and studying, I really wasn't in my dorm room much. Once, on a Saturday night when I came back after finishing my shift at work, it was about 11:30 pm, I noticed there was a group of folks, boys and girls, in one of the other rooms just talking and drinking beer. To be polite, even though I was all beat to hell--I had worked the overnight shift Friday/Saturday and the evening shift on Saturday--I popped in to say hello. One of the unattached girls in the room, looked up, smiled at me, and said, "You look just like Bob Weir." I smiled and thanked her, stayed a few more minutes, and then went over to my room, collapsed on my bed, and immediately fell asleep. It was many years later that I realized . . . that girl was hitting on me. The notion that any girl would hit on me so farfetched to me at the time, that it never even crossed my sleep-deprived mind. For the record, neither then nor any time before or afterwards did I ever--even remotely--look like Bob Weir.
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Good story. We all blew chances.
 
Duke Mu said:
RIP Bob Weir

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Graduated, went to law school, dropped out, fell out with my parents, moved in with my girlfriend at Oak Terrace, and got a job making sandwiches at Blimpie's. The year was 1980.

The owner, Neil Horowitz let the kitchen manager, an old redneck from Hillsborough with mega years in the old Guilford Dairy Bar on Franklin and a drinking problem, pick the music. He kept it on some radio station that played the "hits" but not WQDR so it wasn't album rock but this song came on about once a day for a good while and it would make my beleaguered hung-over self mighty happy enough though it WAS disco-Dead.
 
HandsonFire said:
Dicks Picks Vol 1 made me a fan. That is a fantastic run. For me I never really could get into 80’s-90’s Dead. I hate the switch from a piano sound to keyboards/organ whatever. The piano added some depth, texture, the latter was very thin, tinny, flat. But to each his own. I also really liked the initial sound that was just raw psychedelic energy and the transition and blending of psychedelia with cowboy dead.
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I agree completely on the Mydland keyboard sounds, but then again I loved the vocals/harmonies he brought.
 
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