119-490: Philip Chapman Lesh (March 15, 1940 – October 25, 2024) was an American musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead , with whom he developed a unique style of playing improvised six-string bass guitar. He was their bassist throughout their 30-year career. After the group disbanded in 1995, Lesh continued the tradition of Grateful Dead family music with a side project, Phil Lesh and Friends , which paid homage to
238-609: A diabetic coma for several days in July 1986, leading to the cancelation of all concerts in the fall of that year. Garcia recovered, the band released In the Dark in July 1987, which became its best-selling studio album and produced its only top-40 single, " Touch of Grey ," Also, that year, the group toured with Bob Dylan , as heard on the album Dylan & the Dead . Mydland died in July 1990 and Vince Welnick , former keyboardist for
357-879: A Christmas gig which included Bob Weir and Jackie Greene at the Tenderloin Middle School cafeteria attended by 250 people. Lesh and his wife administered their charitable organization, the Unbroken Chain Foundation Lesh had a lifelong interest in the occult and was a member of the Research Into Lost Knowledge organisation. In 1998, Lesh underwent a liver transplant as a result of a chronic hepatitis C infection. He became an outspoken advocate for organ donation on live recordings of his performances. On October 26, 2006, Lesh stated on his official website that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer ,
476-657: A Star " ( Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. , 1976), and " Heaven Must Have Sent You " ( Bonnie Pointer , 1979). He also played on recordings by Robert Palmer ( Pressure Drop , 1975), Dennis Coffey ( Instant Coffey , 1974), Wah Wah Watson ( Elementary , 1976), Rhythm Heritage (1976), Al Wilson (1977), Dennis Wilson ( Pacific Ocean Blue , 1977), Eloise Laws (1977), Smokey Robinson (1978), Ben E. King (1978), Hubert Laws (1979), Tavares (1980), Joe Sample / David T. Walker ( Swing Street Cafe , 1981), and Bloodstone (1982). However, in Los Angeles, Jamerson
595-828: A catalog of soul hits of the 1960s and early 1970s. His work includes hits such as, among hundreds of others, " You Can't Hurry Love " by the Supremes , " My Girl " by the Temptations , " Shotgun " by Jr. Walker & the All Stars , " For Once in My Life " and " I Was Made to Love Her " by Stevie Wonder , " Going to a Go-Go " by the Miracles , " Dancing in the Street " by Martha and the Vandellas , " I Heard It Through
714-606: A composer. Lesh enrolled at the College of San Mateo , where he wrote arrangements for the community college 's big band and played trumpet. After transfering with sophomore standing to the University of California, Berkeley in 1961, he befriended future Grateful Dead keyboardist Tom Constanten . At Constanten's suggestion, he studied under the Italian modernist Luciano Berio in a graduate-level course at Mills College in
833-513: A couple of records featuring electric instrumentation. Grateful Dead members have said that it was after attending a concert by the touring New York City band the Lovin' Spoonful that they decided to "go electric" and look for a "dirtier" sound. Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir (both of whom had been immersed in the American folk music revival of the late 1950s and early 1960s), were open-minded about
952-521: A discordant jam into a blues or country song. In the 30 years between 1965 and 1995 Lesh played almost 2,500 concerts with the Grateful Dead, many of them lasting for up to six hours. Lesh collaborated with Owsley "Bear" Stanley , the Dead's onetime sound engineer (and former source of LSD ) in designing the Wall of Sound , an enormous sound reinforcement system they used for forty-odd shows in
1071-668: A few albums. Hart has toured with his world music percussion ensemble Planet Drum as well as the Mickey Hart Band. Kreutzmann has led several different bands, including BK3 , 7 Walkers (with Papa Mali ), and Billy & the Kids . Donna Godchaux has returned to the music scene, with the Donna Jean Godchaux Band , and Tom Constanten also continues to write and perform music. All of these groups continue to play Grateful Dead music. In October 2014, it
1190-412: A fluid feeling. He played with a relaxed and light touch. Jamerson's amplifier of choice at club performances was an Ampeg B-15 ; in larger venues, he used a blue Kustom with twin 15-inch speakers. On both, the bass knob was typically turned up full and the treble turned halfway up. On most of his studio recordings, his bass was plugged directly into the custom-made mixing console together with
1309-607: A folk music coffeehouse operated by Stanford Medical Center doctors Stuart "Stu" Goldstein and David "Dave" Shoenstadt on University Avenue in Palo Alto (1963). As the Warlocks, the band's first show was at Magoo's Pizza Parlor, at 639 Santa Cruz Avenue in suburban Menlo Park , on May 5, 1965, now a Harvest furniture store. The band continued playing bar shows, like Frenchy's Bikini-A-Go-Go in Hayward and, importantly, five sets
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#17327919200331428-798: A great deal of their character to his experience playing Scruggs style banjo, an approach which often makes use of note syncopation , accenting , arpeggios , staccato chromatic runs , and the anticipation of the downbeat . Garcia had a distinctive sense of timing , often weaving in and out of the groove established by the rest of the band as if he were pushing the beat. His lead lines were also immensely influenced by jazz soloists : Garcia cited Miles Davis , Ornette Coleman , Bill Evans , Pat Martino , George Benson , Al Di Meola , Art Tatum , Duke Ellington , and Django Reinhardt as primary influences, and frequently utilized techniques common to country and blues music in songs that called back to those traditions. Garcia often switched scales in
1547-633: A night, five nights a week, for six weeks, at the In Room in Belmont as the Warlocks, but quickly changed the band's name after finding out that a different band known as the Warlocks had put out a record under that name. ( The Velvet Underground also had to change its name from the Warlocks.) The name " Grateful Dead " was chosen from a dictionary. According to Lesh, Garcia "picked up an old Britannica World Language Dictionary ... [and] ... In that silvery elf-voice he said to me, 'Hey, man, how about
1666-473: A number of concerts that year, releasing a live album, The Strange Remain , the following year. In 2000, the Other Ones toured again, this time with Kreutzmann but without Lesh. After taking another year off, the band toured again in 2002 with Lesh. That year, the Other Ones then included all four living former Grateful Dead members who had been in the band for most or all of its history. At different times
1785-487: A psychedelic, kaleidoscopic tapestry in the hopes of elucidating America's national character . At least one of Hunter and Bob Weir's collaborations, " Jack Straw ", was inspired by the work of John Steinbeck . Grateful Dead have been called a "symbol of the counterculture movement of the sixties ". Beginning in the early 1990s, a new generation of bands became inspired by the Grateful Dead's improvisational ethos and marketing strategy , and began to incorporate elements of
1904-761: A run of twelve concerts by Phil Lesh and Friends. When not on tour, Lesh's sons, Grahame and Brian, served as the house band at Terrapin Crossroads. In addition to songs from the Dead catalog, Lesh played material by Mumford & Sons , Zac Brown Band and other contemporary acts with his sons. Terrapin Crossroads closed in November 2021 when their lease on the property expired. Lesh began performing again with Phil Lesh and Friends in 2012. Furthur disbanded in early 2014 and, at age 74, Lesh ceased touring full time. Thereafter he performed regularly at Terrapin Crossroads with various Phil Lesh and Friends lineups as well as with
2023-399: A second lead guitar. In contrast to most bassists in popular music , Lesh often avoids playing the root of a chord on the downbeat, instead withholding as a means to build tension . Lesh also rarely repeats the same bassline, even from performance to performance of the same song, and often plays off of or around the other instruments with a syncopated , staccato bounce that contributes to
2142-436: A song or instrumental, and in the group's long improvised jams in their live performances Lesh's six-string bass complemented Garcia's guitar solos with cascades of notes and unusual time signatures. This became a characteristic part of the so-called San Francisco Sound in the new rock music. Early on, Lesh grasped the sonic possibilities presented by recording in the studio, and his style of playing often led to complaints by
2261-433: A standard set, played with minor variations, the Grateful Dead did not prepare in this way. Garcia stated in a 1966 interview, "We don't make up our sets beforehand. We'd rather work off the tops of our heads than off a piece of paper." They maintained this approach throughout their career. For each performance, the band drew material from an active list of a hundred or so songs. The 1969 live album Live/Dead did capture
2380-535: A string broke. He did not particularly take care of the instrument, as he stated: "The dirt keeps the funk". The neck may have eventually warped, as many claimed it was impossible to play. While this made it more difficult to fret, Jamerson believed it improved the quality of the tone. In the mid-1970s, a producer attempted to modernize Jamerson's sound by asking the bassist to switch to brighter-sounding roundwound bass strings, but Jamerson politely declined. One aspect of Jamerson's upright playing that carried over to
2499-489: A tortoiseshell pickguard, rosewood fretboard and chrome pickup and bridge covers (the latter containing a piece of foam used to dampen sustain and some overtones). On the heel of the instrument, he carved the word "FUNK" in blue ink. He typically set its volume and tone knobs on full. This instrument was also stolen, just days before Jamerson's death in 1983, and never recovered. Jamerson used La Bella heavy-gauge (.052–.110) flatwound strings which were never replaced, unless
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#17327919200332618-528: A unique, complex interplay, balancing Kreutzmann's steady shuffle beat with Hart's interest in percussion styles outside the rock tradition. Kreuzmann has said, "I like to establish a feeling and then add radical or oblique juxtapositions to that feeling." Hart incorporated an 11-count measure to his drumming, bringing a dimension to the band's sound that became an important part of its style. He had studied tabla drumming and incorporated rhythms and instruments from world music , and later electronic music , into
2737-476: Is now regarded as one of the greatest and most influential bass players in modern music history. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. As a session musician he played on twenty-three Billboard Hot 100 number-one hits, as well as fifty-six R&B number-one hits. In its special issue "The 100 Greatest Bass Players" in 2017, Bass Player magazine ranked Jamerson number one and called him
2856-524: Is reported to have played on nearly every Motown recording between 1963 and 1968, which includes over 60 top-fifteen pop singles. Jamerson performed on 23 number-one hits on the pop charts, a record narrowly surpassed only by Paul McCartney of the Beatles , who cites Jamerson as his biggest influence. Jamerson also performed on 56 number-one hits on the R&;B charts. Jamerson is noted for expanding
2975-949: The Beach Boys named Jamerson as his favorite bassist. Jamerson has received several accolades in his home state of South Carolina . These include a two-day tribute hosted by the Charleston Jazz Initiative and the College of Charleston's Avery Research Center (2003), the Gullah/GeeChee Anointed Spirit Award (2008), the Independent Tone Award for lifetime achievement (2016), the Dr. Martin Luther King Dream Keeper Award (2018), induction to
3094-530: The Disco Biscuits . Many of these groups began to look past the American roots music that the Grateful Dead drew inspiration from, and incorporated elements of progressive rock , hard rock , and electronica . At the same time, the Internet gained popularity and provided a medium for fans to discuss these bands and their performances and download MP3s . The Grateful Dead, as well as Phish, were one of
3213-557: The Hollywood Bowl , in Los Angeles; he died on March 8, 1973, of complications from liver damage. Pigpen's death did not slow down the Grateful Dead. With the help of manager Ron Rakow , the band soon formed its own record label, Grateful Dead Records . Later that year, it released its next studio album, the jazz-influenced Wake of the Flood , which became their biggest commercial success thus far. Meanwhile, capitalizing on
3332-476: The Kennedy Center Honors . The Grateful Dead began their career as the Warlocks, a group formed in early 1965 from the remnants of a Palo Alto, California jug band called Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions and members of The Wildwood Boys (Jerry Garcia, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, David Nelson, Robert Hunter, and Norm Van Maastricht). As The Wildwood Boys they played regularly at The Tangent,
3451-513: The Post Office Department , where he drove a service truck. In spring 1965 he saw Garcia's new band, the Warlocks, in concert, and was impressed. A few weeks later Garcia invited him to become the group's bassist. This was unexpected, as Lesh had never played bass guitar. According to Lesh, the first song he rehearsed with the band was " I Know You Rider ". He joined them for their third or fourth gig (memories vary) and stayed until
3570-498: The Rhythm Devils , Phil Lesh and Friends , RatDog , and Billy & the Kids . Despite having only one Top-40 single in their 30-year career, " Touch of Grey " (1987), the Grateful Dead remained among the highest-grossing American touring acts for decades. They gained a committed fanbase by word of mouth and through the free exchange of their live recordings, encouraged by the band's allowance of taping . In 2024, they broke
3689-483: The jam band world". The Grateful Dead was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area during the rise of the counterculture of the 1960s . The band's founding members were Jerry Garcia ( lead guitar and vocals), Bob Weir (rhythm guitar and vocals), Ron "Pigpen" McKernan ( keyboards , harmonica , and vocals), Phil Lesh ( bass guitar and vocals), and Bill Kreutzmann ( drums ). Members of
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3808-611: The 1960s. Jamerson's earliest sessions were performed on double bass but, in the early 1960s, he switched to playing an electric Fender Precision Bass for the most part. Like Jamerson, most of the Funk Brothers were jazz musicians who had been recruited by Gordy. For many years, they maintained a schedule of recording during the day at Motown's small basement "Studio A" (which they nicknamed "the Snakepit"), then playing gigs in jazz clubs at night. They also occasionally toured
3927-545: The 1974 tour. After two years of problem-solving and planning, the forty-foot high Wall of Sound was first used publicly at the Cow Palace in San Francisco on March 23, 1974. With nine independent channels, the powerful system contained 604 speakers driven by 26,400 watts of power. Lesh compared playing through the system to "piloting a flying saucer. Or riding your own sound wave". According to Lesh, Owsley persuaded
4046-472: The 2002 documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown , Gaye was desperate to have Jamerson play on " What's Going On ", and went to several bars to find the bassist. When he did, he brought Jamerson to the studio, but Jamerson was too intoxicated to stay upright, so James played the classic line while lying flat on his back. Jamerson had stopped touring in 1964 and did studio work on a full-time basis. He
4165-498: The Acid Tests and who, in early 1966, became the band's financial backer, renting them a house on the fringes of Watts, Los Angeles , and buying them sound equipment. "We were living solely off of Owsley's good graces at that time. ... [His] trip was he wanted to design equipment for us, and we were going to have to be in sort of a lab situation for him to do it", said Garcia. One of the group's earliest major performances in 1967
4284-528: The Acid Tests was crucial both to the development of their improvisational vocabulary and to their bonding as a band, with the group having set out to foster an intra-band musical telepathy. Kaler has further pointed out that the Dead's pursuit of a new improvisatory rock language in 1965 chronologically coincided with that same goal's adoption by Jefferson Airplane , Pink Floyd and the Velvet Underground . Earlier demo tapes have survived, but
4403-585: The Capitol Theatre. Lesh married Jill Johnstone, a waitress from the cafe next door to the Grateful Dead's office in San Francisco. They had two sons, Grahame and Brian, both of whom became musicians and played with their father in the Terrapin Family Band. They frequently played together, both publicly and in private. They performed in an annual benefit concert group known as Philharmonia, dating from 1997, including on December 18, 2011 at
4522-566: The Dead to record every one of their shows, emphasizing the necessity of listening to the tapes. In 1994, Lesh was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Grateful Dead. After the Grateful Dead disbanded, Lesh continued to play the band's music in concert with its offshoots The Other Ones and The Dead and to promote San Francisco hippy philosophy, as well as performing with his own band, Phil Lesh and Friends . In 1999 and 2000, he co-headlined two tours with Bob Dylan . Lesh published his autobiography, Searching for
4641-596: The Dead's music by playing their repertoire, as well as songs by members of his own group. Lesh operated a music venue called Terrapin Crossroads . From 2009 to 2014, he performed in Furthur alongside former Grateful Dead bandmate Bob Weir . He scaled back touring in 2014 but continued to perform concerts. Lesh was born in Berkeley, California , on March 15, 1940, the only child of Frank Lesh, an amateur piano player, and Barbra Chapman. His father encouraged him to take up
4760-436: The Dead's unique rhythmic character. Weir, too, was not a traditional rhythm guitarist , but tended to play unique inversions at the upper end of the Dead's sound. Weir modeled his style of playing after jazz pianist McCoy Tyner and attempted to replicate the interplay between John Coltrane and Tyner in his support, and occasional subversion, of the harmonic structure of Garcia's voice leadings. This would often influence
4879-560: The Garcia biography Captain Trips , author Sandy Troy states that the band was smoking the psychedelic DMT at the time. The motif of the "grateful dead" appears in folktales from a variety of cultures. The first show under the name Grateful Dead was in San Jose on December 4, 1965, at one of Ken Kesey 's Acid Tests . Scholar Michael Kaler has written that the Dead's participation in
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4998-668: The Grapevine " by Gladys Knight & the Pips and later by Marvin Gaye , and most of the album What's Going On by Marvin Gaye, " Reach Out I'll Be There " and " Bernadette " by the Four Tops . He occasionally recorded for other labels, such as " Boom Boom " by John Lee Hooker in 1962 and " Higher and Higher " by Jackie Wilson in 1967. Motown released 537 singles in 1960s and over 200 albums. According to fellow Funk Brothers in
5117-491: The Grateful Dead for 11 years until his death by narcotics overdose in July 1990, becoming the third keyboardist to die. Shortly after Mydland found his place in the early 1980s, Garcia's health began to decline. He became a frequent smoker of "Persian," a type of heroin, and he gained weight at a rapid pace. He lost his liveliness on stage, his voice was strained, and Deadheads worried for his health. After he began to curtail his opiate usage gradually in 1985, Garcia slipped into
5236-628: The Grateful Dead song " Althea ", and that soon Grateful Dead music was all he would listen to. Dead & Company toured every year (except 2020), until announcing that their summer 2023 tour, which saw Kreutzmann replaced by Lane, would be their last. However, they later clarified that it was only their last tour , and they continue to perform concerts. Since 1995, the former members of the Grateful Dead have also pursued solo music careers. Both Bob Weir & RatDog and Phil Lesh and Friends have performed many concerts and released several albums. Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann have also each released
5355-533: The Grateful Dead". The shows were performed on June 27 and 28 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California , and on July 3, 4 and 5 at Soldier Field in Chicago . The band stated that this would be the final time that Weir, Lesh, Hart, and Kreutzmann would perform together. They were joined by Trey Anastasio of Phish on guitar, Jeff Chimenti on keyboards, and Bruce Hornsby on piano. Demand for tickets
5474-418: The Grateful Dead's live performances into their own shows. These include the nightly alteration of setlists , frequent improvisation, the blending of genres , and the allowance of taping , which would often contribute to the development of a dedicated fanbase. Bands associated with the expansion of the "jam scene" include Phish , The String Cheese Incident , Widespread Panic , Blues Traveler , moe. , and
5593-594: The Grateful Dead, "They're not the best at what they do, they're the only ones that do what they do." Academics Paul Hegarty and Martin Halliwell argued that the Grateful Dead were "not merely as precursors of prog but as essential developments of progressiveness in its early days". Often (both in performance and on recording) the Dead left room for exploratory, spacey soundscapes. Their live shows, fed by an improvisational approach to music, were different from most touring bands. While rock and roll bands often rehearse
5712-425: The Grateful Dead, originally known as the Warlocks , had played together in various Bay Area ensembles, including the traditional jug band Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions. Lesh was the last member to join the Warlocks before they changed their name to Grateful Dead, replacing Dana Morgan Jr., who had played bass for a few gigs. Drummer Mickey Hart and non-performing lyricist Robert Hunter joined in 1967. With
5831-463: The Grateful Dead?'" The definition there was "the soul of a dead person, or his angel, showing gratitude to someone who, as an act of charity, arranged their burial." According to Alan Trist, director of the Grateful Dead's music publisher company Ice Nine, Garcia found the name in the Funk & Wagnalls Folklore Dictionary , when his finger landed on that phrase while playing a game of Fictionary . In
5950-762: The Lowcountry Music Hall of Fame (2018), induction to the Carolina Beach Music Hall of Fame (2018). Also, the South Carolina Senate , the House of Representatives and the town of Edisto Island have passed resolutions in recognition of his contributions. Jamerson started on a school-owned upright bass. After graduating from high school, he bought a German upright bass which he later used on such Motown hits as " My Guy " by Mary Wells and " Heat Wave " by Martha and
6069-599: The Motown record label. He played bass on the Smokey Robinson single " Way Over There " (1959), John Lee Hooker album Burnin ' (1962) and the Reflections ' " (Just Like) Romeo and Juliet " (1964). There he became a member of a core of studio musicians who informally called themselves the Funk Brothers . This close-knit group of musicians performed on the vast majority of Motown recordings during most of
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#17327919200336188-588: The Motown sound and in turn impacted popular music. Early examples of Jamerson's impact are " Rescue Me " by Fontella Bass and " You Won't See Me " and " Nowhere Man " by the Beatles . In a 1983 interview with Musician magazine , Jamerson said Motown's songwriting-production team "would give me the chord sheet , but they couldn't write for me. When they did, it didn't sound right. (...) When they gave me that chord sheet, I'd look at it, but then start doing what I felt and what I thought would fit. (...) I'd hear
6307-664: The Outlaw Music Festival, Telluride Blues & Brews Festival , and Dirt Farmers Festival. He was expected to make a full recovery. Lesh died on October 25, 2024, at the age of 84. The Other Ones : Phil Lesh and Friends : Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in Palo Alto, California in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues , jazz , folk , country , bluegrass , rock and roll , gospel , reggae , and world music with psychedelia ,
6426-578: The Sound: My Life with the Grateful Dead in 2005. In 2009, he went on tour with the remaining members of the Grateful Dead. After the 2009 summer tour, Lesh formed a new band with Bob Weir named Furthur which debuted in September 2009. In 2012, Lesh founded a music venue called Terrapin Crossroads , in San Rafael, California . The venue officially opened on March 8, 2012, with a first of
6545-645: The Terrapin Family Band. In the early 2010s he performed select shows at venues throughout the United States, notably the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York , as well as at festivals. He took part in the 2015 Fare Thee Well concerts, and a short North American tour with Bob Weir in the spring of 2018. In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked him as the 11th greatest bass player. In March 2023, he celebrated his 83rd birthday and hundredth show at
6664-705: The Tubes , joined as a band member, while Bruce Hornsby , who had a successful career with his band the Range, joined temporarily as a bridge to help Welnick learn songs. Both performed on keyboards and vocals—Welnick until the band's end, and Hornsby mainly from 1990 to 1992. Saxophonist Branford Marsalis played five concerts with the band between 1990 and 1994. The Grateful Dead performed its final concert on July 9, 1995, at Soldier Field in Chicago. Jerry Garcia died on August 9, 1995. A few months after Garcia's death,
6783-471: The U.S. with Motown artists. For most of their career, however, the Funk Brothers went uncredited on Motown singles and albums, and their pay was considerably less than that received by the main artists or the label, hence their occasional freelance work elsewhere. Eventually, Jamerson was put on retainer for $ 1,000 a week (US$ 8,762 in 2023 dollars ), which afforded him and his expanding family a comfortable lifestyle. Jamerson's discography at Motown reads as
6902-566: The United States by a single act for 47 years. Keith and Donna Jean Godchaux left the band in February 1979, citing artistic differences. Following the Godchauxs' departure, Brent Mydland joined as keyboardist and vocalist and was considered "the perfect fit." The Godchauxs then formed the Heart of Gold Band , before Keith died in a car accident in July 1980. Mydland was the keyboardist for
7021-653: The United States in 2003, 2004 and 2009. The band's lineups included Jimmy Herring and Warren Haynes on guitar, Jeff Chimenti and Rob Barraco on keyboards, and Joan Osborne on vocals. In 2008, members of the Dead played two concerts, called " Deadheads for Obama " and " Change Rocks ". Following the 2009 Dead tour, Lesh and Weir formed the band Furthur , which debuted in September 2009. Joining Lesh and Weir in Furthur were Chimenti (keyboards), John Kadlecik (guitar), Joe Russo (drums), Jay Lane (drums), Sunshine Becker (vocals), and Zoe Ellis (vocals). Lane and Ellis left
7140-578: The Vandellas . This instrument is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1960 to 1961 he transitioned to electric bass. Jamerson played mainly the Fender Precision Bass , but is known to have briefly used a Fender Bass V and a Hagström eight-string later in his career. He continued to use the upright bass occasionally, as in 1964's " My Guy ". His first electric bass was a refinished 1957 Precision, nicknamed "Black Beauty". The bass
7259-706: The album's success, the band soon went back to the studio, and in June 1974 released another album, From the Mars Hotel . Not long after, the Dead decided to take a hiatus from live touring . The band travelled to Europe for a string of shows in September 1974, before performing a series of five concerts at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco in October 1974, and delved into various other projects. The Winterland concerts were filmed, and Garcia compiled
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#17327919200337378-825: The band modulates to a new tonal center . Some of the Dead's more extended jam vehicles, such as " The Other One ", " Dark Star ", and " Playing in the Band " almost exclusively make use of modulation between modes to accompany simple two-chord progressions. Following the songwriting renaissance that defined the band's early 1970s period, as reflected in the albums Workingman's Dead and American Beauty , Robert Hunter , Jerry Garcia's primary lyrical partner, frequently made use of motifs common to American folklore including trains, guns, elements, traditional musical instruments , gambling, murder, animals, alcohol, descriptions of American geography , and religious symbolism to illustrate themes involving love and loss, life and death, beauty and horror, and chaos and order. Following in
7497-441: The band in 2010, and vocalist Jeff Pehrson joined later that year. Furthur disbanded in 2014. In 2010, Hart and Kreutzmann re-formed the Rhythm Devils , and played a summer concert tour. In the fall of 2015, Hart, Kreutzmann and Weir teamed up with Chimenti, guitarist John Mayer , and bassist Oteil Burbridge to form a band called Dead & Company . Mayer recounted that in 2011 he was listening to Pandora and happened upon
7616-614: The band in-form, but commercial success did not come until Workingman's Dead and American Beauty , both released in 1970. These records largely featured the band's laid-back acoustic musicianship and more traditional song structures. With their rootsy, eclectic stylings, particularly evident on the latter two albums, the band pioneered the hybrid Americana genre. As the band and its sound matured over thirty years of touring, playing, and recording, each member's stylistic contribution became more defined, consistent, and identifiable. Garcia's lead lines were fluid, supple and spare, owing
7735-423: The band is famous for improvisation during their live performances , and for their devoted fan base, known as " Deadheads ". According to the musician and writer Lenny Kaye , the music of the Grateful Dead "touches on ground that most other groups don't even know exists." For the range of their influences and the structure of their live performances, the Grateful Dead are considered "the pioneering godfathers of
7854-494: The band's intellectual property and merchandising rights. At Kant's recommendation, the group was one of the few rock 'n roll pioneers to retain ownership of their music masters and publishing rights . James Jamerson James Lee Jamerson (January 29, 1936 – August 2, 1983) was an American bassist . He was the uncredited bassist on most of the Motown Records hits in the 1960s and early 1970s (Motown did not list session musician credits on their releases until 1971), and
7973-407: The band's extended, psychedelic improvisation , likely inspired by John Coltrane and other jazz artists' interest in the sitar music of Ravi Shankar . Lesh was originally a classically trained trumpet player with an extensive background in music theory , but did not tend to play traditional blues-based bass forms. He often played more melodic, symphonic and complex lines, often sounding like
8092-410: The band's live performances. The Dead's live performances featured multiple types of improvisation derived from a vast array of musical traditions. Not unlike many rock bands of their time, the majority of the Dead's songs feature a designated section in which an instrumental break occurs over the chord changes . These sections typically feature solos by Garcia that often originate as variations on
8211-480: The band's money; Kreutzmann was once again as the sole percussionist. Hart rejoined the Grateful Dead for good in October 1974. Tom "TC" Constanten was added as a second keyboardist from 1968 to 1970, to help Pigpen keep up with an increasingly psychedelic sound, while Pigpen transitioned into playing various percussion instruments and vocals. After Constanten's departure, Pigpen reclaimed his position as sole keyboardist. Less than two years later, in late 1971, Pigpen
8330-455: The band's record label. Joe Smith of Warner Bros. wrote a letter about cost overruns that had accumulated during studio sessions for the band's second album, Anthem of the Sun (1968). According to music critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine , Smith singled him out as "the catalyst for chaos within the band", writing: "It's apparent that nobody in your organization has enough influence over Phil Lesh to evoke anything resembling normal behavior." Lesh
8449-465: The band's shows were recorded by Deadhead tapers, and it became possible to listen to any given performance from 1972 or 1974 and hear the Grateful Dead interpreting the musical innovations that Lesh stimulated through Coltrane's influence. Throughout the Dead's career, his interest in jazz avant-garde music remained a crucial influence on the group. He later introduced the band to composer Charles Ives , which created their ability to go spontaneously from
8568-402: The band, until he largely relinquished singing high parts to Donna Godchaux (and subsequently Brent Mydland and Vince Welnick ) in 1974 because of vocal cord damage from improper singing technique. In the early 80s, he resumed singing lead vocals on songs closer to his natural vocal range. Lesh introduced his bandmates to the aural explorations of the jazz saxophonist John Coltrane . All of
8687-458: The direction the band's improvisation would take on a given night. Weir and Garcia's respective positions as rhythm and lead guitarist were not always strictly adhered to, as Weir would often incorporate short melodic phrases into his playing to support Garcia and occasionally took solos, often played with a slide . Weir's playing is characterized by a "spiky, staccato" sound. The band's two drummers, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann , developed
8806-522: The disease that killed his father, and would be undergoing an operation in December 2006. On December 7, 2006, he reported that he had undergone prostate surgery and the cancer had been removed. In October 2015, Lesh announced that he had had bladder cancer surgery. He stated that his prognosis was good and that he expected to make a full recovery. In August 2019, Lesh announced that he was to undergo back surgery and he and his band canceled engagements at
8925-640: The dynamic range of the human experience (Heaven and hell, law and crime, dark and light, etc.). Hunter and Garcia's earlier, more directly psychedelic-influenced compositions often make use of surreal imagery, nonsense , and whimsey reflective of traditions in English poetry . In a retrospective, The New Yorker described Hunter's verses as "elliptical, by turns vivid and gnomic ", which were often "hippie poetry about roses and bells and dew". Grateful Dead biographer Dennis McNally has described Hunter's lyrics as creating "a non-literal hyper-Americana" weaving
9044-443: The electric bass guitar was the fact that he generally used only his right index finger to pluck the strings while resting his third and fourth fingers on the chrome pickup cover. Jamerson's index finger even earned its own nickname: "The Hook". Another aspect of Jamerson's upright playing that carried over was his use of open strings, a technique long used by jazz bass players, to pivot around the fretboard which served to give his lines
9163-571: The end. The group changed its name to the Grateful Dead and began playing at Ken Kesey 's Acid Tests parties ( LSD then being legal in California). In late 1966 Lesh moved with the group to San Francisco , where they were signed to a recording deal with Warner Brothers , and found himself playing at venues such as the Filmore and the Avalon. As Lesh had never before played bass he learned "on
9282-598: The exception of McKernan, who died in 1973, and Hart, who left the band from 1971 to 1974, the core of the band stayed together for its entire 30-year history. Other official members of the band included Tom Constanten (keyboards from 1968 to 1970), John Perry Barlow (non-performing lyricist from 1971 to 1995), Keith Godchaux (keyboards and occasional vocals from 1971 to 1979), Donna Godchaux (vocals from 1972 to 1979), Brent Mydland (keyboards and vocals from 1979 to 1990), and Vince Welnick (keyboards and vocals from 1990 to 1995). Bruce Hornsby (accordion, piano, vocals)
9401-424: The first bands to have a Usenet newsgroup. Hal Kant was an entertainment industry attorney who specialized in representing musical groups. He spent 35 years as principal lawyer and general counsel for the Grateful Dead, a position in the group that was so strong that his business cards with the band identified his role as "Czar". Kant brought the band millions of dollars in revenue through his management of
9520-641: The first of over 2,000 concerts known to have been recorded by the band's fans was a show at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco on January 8, 1966. Later that month, the Grateful Dead played at the Trips Festival, a three-day psychedelic rock weekend party and event produced by Ken Kesey , Stewart Brand , and Ramon Sender , that, in conjunction with the Merry Pranksters , brought the nascent hippie movement together for
9639-540: The first time. Other supporting personnel who joined early included Rock Scully , who heard of the band from Kesey and signed on as manager after meeting them at the Big Beat Acid Test; Stewart Brand , "with his side show of taped music and slides of Indian life, a multimedia presentation" at the Big Beat and then, expanded, at the Trips Festival; and Owsley Stanley , the "Acid King" whose LSD supplied
9758-405: The footage into The Grateful Dead Movie , a feature-length concert film released in 1977. In September 1975, the Dead released their eighth studio album, Blues for Allah . The band resumed touring in June 1976, playing multiple dates in small theaters, rather than the stadium shows that had become common, and had exhausted them, in 1974. That same year, they signed with Arista Records , and
9877-432: The footsteps of several American musical traditions , these songs are often confessional and feature narration from the perspective of an antihero . Critic Robert Christgau described them as "American myths" that later gave way to "the old karma-go-round". An extremely common feature in both Robert Hunter's lyrics, as well as the band's visual iconography, is the presence of dualistic and opposing imagery illustrating
9996-498: The guitars from Eddie Willis , Robert White and Joe Messina . He adjusted the console so that his sound was slightly overdriven and had a mild tube compression. In 2017, it was reported that Jamerson gave a 1961 Fender Precision bass to bassist Billy Hayes in 1967 or 1968. This instrument is in the Musicians Hall of Fame . In 1977, Jamerson was photographed with a 1965–1968 Precision bass (a line of instruments which had
10115-546: The job", which meant he had no preconceived ideas about the instrument's traditional role in the rhythm section and was free to develop his own style. In his autobiography, he credited Jack Casady (the bassist in San Francisco band Jefferson Airplane ) as an influence on the direction in which his instincts were taking him. He said that his playing style was influenced more by Bach 's counterpoint than by contemporaneous rock and soul bass players. He also cited Jack Bruce of Cream as an influence. Lesh became an innovator in
10234-427: The liver, heart failure and pneumonia on August 2, 1983, in Los Angeles. He is interred at Detroit's historic Woodlawn Cemetery . Motown's founder Berry Gordy called Jamerson an "incredible improviser" and said "I, like some of the other producers, would not do a session unless at least two of the Funk Brothers were present – namely, [drummer] Benny Benjamin and James Jamerson." However, Jamerson, along with
10353-1254: The melody line from the lyrics and I'd build the bass line around that." Bassists who have noted Jamerson's contribution or been influenced by him include Rocco Prestia , Anthony Jackson , Pino Palladino , Paul McCartney , Bob Babbitt , Nathan Watts , Will Lee , Geddy Lee , Chuck Rainey , Marcus Miller , Mike Mills , Phil Chen , John Entwistle , Michael League , Mike Watt , Sting , John Paul Jones , Bernard Odum , Victor Wooten , Robert DeLeo , Glenn Hughes , Tommy Shannon , Suzi Quatro , Ron Asheton , Tony Sales , Peter Cetera , Robert Kool Bell , Bootsy Collins , Michael "Flea" Balzary , Jaco Pastorius , Stanley Clarke , Michael Henderson , Jack Bruce , John Patitucci , Jason Newsted , Rick Danko , Garry Tallent , Alan Gorrie , Jerry Jemmott , Andy Fraser , Brian Wilson and others. Shortly after Motown moved their headquarters to Los Angeles in 1972, Jamerson moved there himself and found occasional studio work, but his relationship with Motown officially ended in 1973. He went on to perform on such 1970s hits as " Neither One of Us " by Gladys Knight & The Pips (1973), " Boogie Down " ( Eddie Kendricks , 1974), " Boogie Fever " ( The Sylvers , 1976), " You Don't Have to Be
10472-539: The midst of a solo depending upon the chord changes played underneath, though he nearly always finished phrases by landing on the chord-tones . Jerry most frequently played in the Mixolydian mode , though his solos and phrases often incorporated notes from the Dorian and major/minor pentatonic scales . Particularly in the late 1960s, Garcia occasionally incorporated melodic lines derived from Indian ragas into
10591-458: The most important and influential bass guitarist . In 2020, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Jamerson number one in its list of the 50 greatest bassists of all time. A native of Edisto Island, South Carolina , he was born to James Jamerson Sr. and Elizabeth Bacon. He was raised in part by his grandmother who played piano, and his aunt who sang in church choir. As a child he was a competent piano player and performed in public. He briefly played
10710-399: The musical style and role of bass playing in popular music of the time, which, (in 1950s and '60s R&B, rock and roll, and country), largely consisted of root notes, fifths and simple, repetitive patterns. By contrast, many of Jamerson's basslines relied heavily on chromatic runs, syncopation , ghost notes and inversions , with frequent use of open strings. His nimble bass playing
10829-553: The new contract produced Terrapin Station in July 1977. The band's tour in the spring of that year is held in high regard by its fans, and its concert of May 8 at Cornell University is often considered one of the best performances of its career. Their September 1977 concert at Raceway Park in Old Bridge Township, New Jersey was attended by 107,019 people and held the record for largest-ticketed concert in
10948-510: The new role that the electric bass was developing during the mid-1960s. Contemporary bass players such as Casady, Bruce, James Jamerson , and Paul McCartney had adopted a more melodic, contrapuntal approach to the instrument. Before this, bass players in rock had generally played a conventional timekeeping role within the beat of the song, within (or underpinning) the song's harmonic or chord structure. While not abandoning these elements, Lesh went on his own improvised excursions during
11067-402: The other Funk Brothers, received little formal recognition for his lifetime contributions. His work was uncredited until later in his career, and he remained largely anonymous, even to bassists who emulated his style. The first time he was credited on a major Motown release was in 1971 for his performance on Marvin Gaye's What's Going On . He was noted as "the incomparable James Jamerson" on
11186-754: The record for most Top-40 albums on the Billboard 200 chart. Rolling Stone ranked the Grateful Dead number 57 on its 2011 list of the " 100 Greatest Artists of All Time ". The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, and a recording of their May 8, 1977 performance at Cornell University 's Barton Hall was added to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in 2012 for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 2024, Weir, Lesh, Kreutzmann, and Hart were recognized as part of
11305-432: The record's sleeve. Jamerson was the subject of a book by Allan Slutsky in 1989 titled Standing in the Shadows of Motown . The book includes a biography of Jamerson, transcriptions of his bass lines, two CDs in which 25 bassists such as Pino Palladino , John Entwistle , Chuck Rainey , and Geddy Lee speak about Jamerson and play the transcriptions. His story was featured in the subsequent 2002 documentary film of
11424-410: The remaining members of the Grateful Dead decided to disband. Since that time, there have been a number of reunions by the surviving members involving various combinations of musicians. Additionally, the former members have also begun or continued individual projects. In 1998, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, and Mickey Hart, along with several other musicians, formed a band called the Other Ones , and performed
11543-404: The same title . Jamerson's work has continued to be the subject of various publications. Jamerson was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, among the first-ever group of "sidemen" to be inducted. He received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004, and he was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame in 2007 both as a member of the Funk Brothers. In 2009 he
11662-414: The shifting lineup of the Other Ones also included guitarists Mark Karan , Steve Kimock , and Jimmy Herring , keyboardists Bruce Hornsby , Jeff Chimenti , and Rob Barraco , saxophonist Dave Ellis , drummer John Molo , bassist Alphonso Johnson , and vocalist Susan Tedeschi . In 2003, the Other Ones, still including Weir, Lesh, Hart, and Kreutzmann, changed their name to the Dead . The Dead toured
11781-473: The song's melody , but go on to create dynamic phrases that resolve by returning to the chord-tones. Not unlike traditional improvisational jazz , they may occasionally feature several solos by multiple instruments within an undecided number of bars , such as a keyboardist, before returning to the melody. At the same time, Dead shows almost always feature a more collective, modal approach to improvisation that typically occurs during segues between songs before
11900-406: The spring of 1962, where their classmates included Steve Reich and Stanford University cross-registrant John Chowning . While volunteering for radio station KPFA as a recording engineer, Lesh met bluegrass banjo player Jerry Garcia and invited him to perform on the station's Midnight Special show, and despite their different musical interests they became friends. Lesh briefly worked in
12019-478: The trombone. As a teenager he was a reserved person, and passionate about music. He listened to gospel , blues and jazz music on the radio. Jamerson moved with his mother to Detroit in 1954. He attended Northwestern High School ; there he started on the upright bass . He began playing in Detroit area blues and jazz clubs and was influenced by jazz bassists Ray Brown , Paul Chambers and Percy Heath . He
12138-783: The use of electric guitars. The Grateful Dead's early music (in the mid-1960s) was part of the process of establishing what " psychedelic music " was, but theirs was essentially a "street party" form of it. They developed their "psychedelic" playing as a result of meeting Ken Kesey in Palo Alto, California , and subsequently becoming the house band for the Acid Tests he staged. They did not fit their music to an established category such as pop rock, blues, folk rock, or country & western. Individual tunes within their repertoire could be identified under one of these stylistic labels, but overall their music drew on all of these genres and, more frequently, melded several of them. Bill Graham said of
12257-577: The violin at the age of eight. At El Cerrito High School in East Bay he became a member of the school's marching band. While enrolled at Berkeley High School he switched to trumpet and participated in the school's music-related extracurricular activities. He studied the instrument under Bob Hansen, conductor of the symphonic Golden Gate Park Band and became interested in avant-garde classical music and free jazz . By his mid-teens, inspired by Beethoven and Charles Ives, he had decided that he wanted to be
12376-432: The youngest original member of the group, played rhythm guitar . Ron "Pigpen" McKernan played keyboards , percussion , and harmonica until shortly before his death in 1973 at the age of 27 . Garcia, Weir, and McKernan shared the lead vocal duties more or less equally; Lesh sang only a few leads, but his tenor was a key part of the band's three-part vocal harmonies. Bill Kreutzmann played drums , and in September 1967
12495-614: Was a touring member from 1990 to 1992, as well as a guest with the band on occasion before and after the tours. After Garcia's death in 1995, former members of the band, along with other musicians, toured as The Other Ones in 1998, 2000, and 2002, and as The Dead in 2003, 2004, and 2009. In 2015, the four surviving core members marked the band's 50th anniversary in a series of concerts in Santa Clara, California , and Chicago that were billed as their last performances together. There have also been several spin-offs featuring one or more core members, such as Dead & Company , Furthur ,
12614-581: Was announced that Martin Scorsese would produce a documentary film about the Grateful Dead, to be directed by Amir Bar-Lev . David Lemieux supervised the musical selection, and Weir, Hart, Kreutzmann, and Lesh agreed to new interviews for the film. Bar-Lev's four-hour documentary, titled Long Strange Trip , was released in 2017. Barlow died in 2018 and Hunter in 2019. Lesh died in 2024. In 2015, Weir, Lesh, Kreutzmann, and Hart reunited for five concerts called "Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of
12733-537: Was considered an integral part of the " Motown Sound ". He created melodic lines that were nonetheless locked to the drum groove. Jamerson's transition from upright to electric bass was at a time when electric bass was a relatively new instrument, and its use and style of play was not well established. Jamerson's background as a jazz musician and upright bassist informed his playing style, and over time his technique and improvisational approach became more nuanced. By mid-1960s, his style became an indispensable part of
12852-771: Was inducted into the Fender Hall of Fame by fellow Motown session bassist and friend, Bob Babbitt . He received the Bass Player magazine's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011. He received the Samson, Hartke and Zoom International Bassist Award in 2012. He was awarded a bust at the Hollywood Guitar Center's Rock Walk , and in 2013 the Funk Brothers received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . In 2015 songwriter and bassist Brian Wilson of
12971-471: Was joined by a second drummer, New York City native Mickey Hart , who also played a wide variety of other percussion instruments . 1970 included tour dates in New Orleans , where the band performed at The Warehouse for two nights. On January 31, 1970, the local police raided their hotel on Bourbon Street and arrested and charged 19 people with possession of various drugs. The second night's concert
13090-411: Was joined by another keyboardist, Keith Godchaux , who played grand piano alongside Pigpen's Hammond B-3 organ . In early 1972, Keith's wife, Donna Jean Godchaux , joined the Grateful Dead as a backing vocalist. Following the Grateful Dead's " Europe '72 " tour, Pigpen's health had deteriorated to the point that he could no longer tour with the band. His final concert appearance was June 17, 1972, at
13209-416: Was not a prolific composer or singer with the Grateful Dead, though he did occasionally make contributions such as the opening track on American Beauty , " Box of Rain ". He co-wrote several of the band's best-known compositions, including "St Stephen", "The Eleven" and "Dark Star". His high tenor voice contributed to the Grateful Dead's three-part harmony sections in their group vocals in the early days of
13328-403: Was not working with a steady group of musicians, and he was not as free to improvise. He felt out of place and over time his increased dependence on alcohol affected his work. As other musicians went on to use high-tech amplifiers, round-wound strings, and simpler, more repetitive bass lines incorporating new techniques like slapping , Jamerson's style fell out of favor with local producers as he
13447-463: Was offered a scholarship to study music at Wayne State University , and he declined. After graduating from high school, he continued performing in Detroit clubs. He joined blues singer Washboard Willie 's band and later toured with Jackie Wilson . His increasingly solid reputation started providing him opportunities for sessions at various local recording studios. Starting in 1959, he found steady work at Berry Gordy 's Hitsville U.S.A. studio, home of
13566-514: Was performed as scheduled after bail was posted. Eventually, the charges were dismissed, except those against sound engineer Owsley Stanley , who was already facing charges in California for manufacturing LSD. This event was later memorialized in the lyrics of “ Truckin' ", a single from American Beauty that reached number 64 on the charts. Hart took time off from the band in February 1971, after his father, an accountant, absconded with much of
13685-419: Was previously owned by his fellow bass player Horace "Chili" Ruth. The instrument was soon stolen, leading him to replace it with an early sixties sunburst Precision, although this was stolen too. He then acquired a stock 1962 Fender Precision Bass, which would become his primary instrument for most of his career. It was nicknamed "The Funk Machine" by his fellow musicians. It had a three-tone sunburst finish,
13804-497: Was released on Warner Brothers in 1967. On May 3, 1968, the band played a free concert at Columbia University during the anti–Vietnam War student protests during which students occupied several campus buildings. In order to play, the band, equipment and all, had to be “smuggled” on campus in the back of a bread delivery truck. “We were already jamming away before the security and police could stop us.” Classically trained trumpeter Phil Lesh performed on bass guitar . Bob Weir ,
13923-493: Was reluctant to try new things. By the 1980s he was unable to get any serious gigs working as a session musician. Jamerson married Annie Wells shortly before graduating from high school. They had four children. His son, James Jamerson Jr. (1957–2016), was a professional session bassist and a member of the disco band Chanson . He had two other sons, Joey and Derek, and a daughter, Dorene (Penny). Long troubled by alcoholism, Jamerson died of complications from cirrhosis of
14042-760: Was the Mantra-Rock Dance , a musical event held on January 29, 1967, at the Avalon Ballroom by the San Francisco Hare Krishna temple. The Grateful Dead performed at the event along with the Hare Krishna founder Bhaktivedanta Swami , poet Allen Ginsberg , bands Moby Grape and Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin , donating proceeds to the temple. The band's first LP, The Grateful Dead ,
14161-656: Was very high. The concerts were simulcast via various media. The Chicago shows have been released as a box set of CDs and DVDs. The Grateful Dead formed during the era when bands such as the Beatles , the Beach Boys and the Rolling Stones were dominating the airwaves. "The Beatles were why we turned from a jug band into a rock 'n' roll band", said Bob Weir. "What we saw them doing was impossibly attractive. I couldn't think of anything else more worth doing." Former folk-scene star Bob Dylan had recently put out
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