not canceling fall tour '90 and hiring vince were the two worst organizational decisions the dead ever made. the first was only money driven and the 2nd was lazy and disrespectful to the legacy and genius of brent.
To me, Pig was an organ player, TC was a hybrid pianist/organist, Keith was a pianist, Brent was an organ player/keyboardists and Vince was really the only true keyboardist. Not really a fan of Vince.
I don't call Pig a keyboardist because he barely played the organ, it was more a prop to give him something to do when he wasn't singing. The congas were just embarrassing.
But common', an organ IS a "keyboard", because it HAS a keyboard.
I liked sound of Pigpen's organ playing, because of the instrument. Raw. I wouldn't say there was finesse, but there was the sound he and the machine made.
That's a cool pic of pig playing that vox. Didn't know he ever played that with the band. The organ is just a lot different than just a standard keyboard. There are Different techniques and there are bass pedals and such. A pipe organ actually running through pipes is completely different in every way from a piano. I personally just always look at them as two different instruments. Was Beethoven a keyboard player because his piano had a keyboard on it?
Lol. You're the first person I've ever heard call Beethoven a keyboard player. That's awesome. And no I live in jerseyland. Lived in phillly like 10 yrs ago and yes there is a difference. North jersey is actually more like NYC.
Yeah. I was actually expecting a more energetic response on that one.
Don't me wrong, I love east coast energy, whether from New Jersey, Philadelphia, New York, wherever.
There was a great moment during today's 49ers/Giants game. The Giants went for a 4th-&-1 and got stuffed, and the empty stadium was filled with recorded boo's.
A friend told me that Philadelphia does that too.
How awesome is that?
I'm not sure what the players think of their home stadium piping in fake booing, but I think it's great.
I put on a Vince show this morning and thought about asking you people if you ever heard anyone say anything complimentary about Vince during his era. Like maybe a
Part of my hiatus was geographical and financial. I moved to Humboldt county in 1969 and then to Eugene in 1974. Circumstances didn't often take me far from where I lived. Then in 1983 I was able to quit my job (my grandpa died and left me what was a lot of money to me, $27K) so I changed to making art for my living, which gave me some space to move around. I was a pro pumpkin carver for businesses and private commissions, carved rubber stamps to use in designing logos and t-shirts, and also used them to create GD art, mostly postcards. Which took me to all the shows in the Bay Area til 1990. And that's how I got back to it. I sold art to GD Merchandising, was a vendor in the lot, did Golden Road covers, etc. I stopped going to shows very often after Brent died which happened a little after I met and fell in love with Greg and didn't want to travel anymore. Now you know some of the the long story.
I guess I did hear other keyboard players because we went to shows in Oregon in the '90s, but they didn't do it for me.
<<<>>>not canceling fall tour '90 and hiring vince were the two worst organizational decisions the dead ever made. the first was only money driven and the 2nd was lazy and disrespectful to the legacy and genius of brent.
One of rock's most dangerous jobs: Playing keyboards for the Grateful Dead
It's sometimes called "the curse of the Grateful Dead keyboardists."
The first four keyboard players for the famed rock group died untimely deaths - three of them before they'd reached their 38th birthdays.
Without Ron McKernan, the Dead might not have happened at all. It was McKernan who first suggested forming the band that began as the Warlocks and evolved into the Grateful Dead. In the band's earliest years, McKernan acted as front man, playing the harmonica and keyboards while adding gritty blues vocals.
The son of an R&B disc jockey who moonlighted as a boogie woogie piano player around his San Bruno, California, home base, McKernan's drinking and biker image led his expulsion from Palo Alto High School around the same time he met Jerry Garcia, who played for a local band, the Zodiacs.
Although McKernan was a mediocre keyboard player and had a rough, unpolished voice, Garcia was impressed with his rough-edge persona. Garcia - who tagged McKernan with the nickname "Pigpen" - eventually added him to his band, which evolved into Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Band, then the Warlocks and, finally, the Grateful Dead. In 1965 - as the band was shifting away from folk music - McKernan suggested they go electric.
That was just one change for the band, however. While Garcia and most of his Dead bandmates started experimenting with psychedelic drugs, McKernan elected instead to stay with his Thunderbird wine and Southern Comfort.
McKernan's drinking forced his bandmates to recruit some backup help to fill in for their increasingly unreliable keyboard player. But whenever possible, the Dead called on McKernan to close their shows with Turn On Your Lovelight, the Bobby Womack song that McKernan had transformed into what famed critic Ralph Gleason once referred to as "a one-man blues project ... building to climax after climax."
But McKernan's hard-drinking life finally caught up with him. He was hospitalized with liver trouble in 1971 and his failing health caused himto leave the band for good in June 1972. On March 8, 1973, he was found dead in his apartment at age 27 of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage.
Keith Godchaux, the backup who filled in for the ailing McKernan in 1971, became his permanent replacement in 1972. A Seattle, Washington, native, Godchaux grew up in the East Bay area of Concord, California, and had played with Dave Mason before Garcia invited him into the Dead. Godchaux's wife, Donna, also joined the group.
Godchaux spent most of his first three years with the Dead on the road, then spent the next three years mostly on the sidelines as the band took a break. He filled the time with recording projects with his wife and Garcia. In 1978, the Dead hit the road again where Godchaux succumbed to anxiety. Bouts of depression and heavy drug use followed and, after a few shows where he nodded of at the keyboards and Donna sang off-key, both were booted out of the band in 1979.
Keith and Donna formed a new group, the Heart of Gold Band. After a night of rehearsals at the Dead's Front Street Studio, Godchaux and a friend drove from a toll plaza into the back of a flatbed truck. He died at age 32 two days later from injuries sustained in the crash.
Godchaux's place in the Grateful Dead had been taken by Brent Mydland, a Bay Area musical veteran who caught Garcia's attention as keyboardist for a band that Dead guitarist Bob Weir had put together for a solo project.
Mydland was a better fit for the band than his predecessor and contributed many songs to the Dead catalogue, including Far From Me, Easy to Love You, Tons of Steel and I Will Take You Home. During his tenure with the Dead, Mydland also took part in some of the band's many side bands.
On July 26, 1990, shortly after completing a summer tour with the Dead, Mydland died in his Lafayette, California, home of an accidental drug overdose. He was 37 years old.
Bruce Hornsby was a temporary fill-in on keyboards for the Dead until another Bay Area music veteran, Vince Welnick stepped in as Mydland's replacement. Welnick, a former member of avant garde group The Tubes, had also played for Todd Rundgren before joining the Dead.
In 1995, though, Welnick was diagnosed first with throat cancer, then emphysema. While he beat the cancer, the emphysema was more persistent. Coupled with the death of lead guitarist Jerry Garcia on August 9, 1995, Welnick was overcome by depression and attempted suicide while on tour with bandmate Bob Weir's RatDog Revue later that year.
Welnick left the band and never quite regained his footing. He died, apparently by suicide at his California home, at age 55 on June 2, 1996.
Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, musician
Born: September 8, 1945
Died March 8, 1973 (age 27)
Keith Godchaux, musician
Born: July 19, 1948
Died: July 21, 1980 (age 32)
Brent Mydland, musician
Born: October 21, 1952
Died: July 1, 1990 (age 37)
Vince Welnick, musician
Born: February 21, 1951
Died: June 2, 2006 (age 55)
Vince was a mistake as was Lenny hart
Brent played the longest and the best Tons of steel
But mr pig was a holy roller revival of endless crescendos
love light was as good as it got
likely my singular highest moment of deadness was the ending of lovelight in 68 or 69
and there likely would never have been the dead without him. ( popped my cherry on June 67)
Lotta misinformation and errors in that article. Bad writing too.
I saw and heard all the GD keyboardists/piano players/organ players live in person.
Pig wasn't much of an organ player, although I liked some of his early stuff. He was much better on harmonica. Regardless, he was the original leader and the soul of the band. Caught him live three times.
TC was a strange one. Brought in to add some baroque sensibility to the band during its most psychedelic period, he was found to be less compatible with the different, folkier direction the band was taking ca. 1970. According to Phil, "he couldn't swing" Only saw him live once, at my first show.
Keith was perfect for the Dead in 71, and was their keys player for perhaps their greatest period ever Unfortunately he faded in 78 and was gone in 79. Saw him a bunch. Most of those 70s shows were pure bliss.
Brent was the GDs longest lasting keys player - 11 years. He had mucho chops and good harmony vocals, but I didn't like most of his songs or his lead voice. Probably not all his fault, but around the time Brent came in the band acquired a grittier sound that I felt didn't really serve the music. And there was Jerry. Still, lots of great shows in this era, especially 81-82 and 89 -90.
Vince came in in a hurry after Brent's death and was not a great fit for the band. His abilities as a player and singer were adequate, but his Bralove tones could be extremely annoying.
Loved Bruce with the GD. Amazing chops and.had a good feel for the music. Too bad he didn't sing high harmony and had other irons in the fire. Too bad Garcia was a shadow of his former self during most of those end years.
Jerry: One of the original members has gone to the Great Beyond - we think. Since then we’ve recruited a few other stooges.
Phil: If I could have one wish in the world, it would be that Pigpen could still be with us. I think it’s safe to say we all miss Pigpen... He (Keith) was so brilliant at the beginning. That guy had it all, he could play anything. But after a certain point he didn’t want to play.
IMHO Keith was the best keyboard player. TC was very unique & talented, but he did not last. Pigpen was wonderful as a blues singer and offered an interesting approach as an organ / keyboardist , but Keith's contribution in the early 70's drove the band to a furthur level.
Bill Kreutzmann once said of Keith, “he could pick up whatever Jerry and I started playing that day, and just run with it. He didn’t need to know the material first. He could learn songs before he was even done hearing them for the first time. And he could play just about anything."
heat - i did not - had to double check &&&&&& awesome song, some folks favorite tbh
also pig did write several songs....recorded some solo - one friend has some handwritten by pig lyrics sheet too I might even have an outtakes reel to reel somewhere in the garage
What are they seeing when they look in each other's eyes?
What are they feeling when they see each other's smile?
Is it a love I've never known or an emotion that I've outgrown?
Did I take a wrong turnin' on life's winding road?
Won't somebody help me find the, find the right way to go?
My life need some correction, alteration in direction
Won't someone come with me for a while, for a while, yes, yes I'm lost
What is the secret of this tie that binds
Two souls in communion, both body and mind
Is it special magic or just the nature of things?
Conceived of great spirit, not for beggars but kings
You who have found it, please help me along
I'm a man, I'm a man, I'm not, I'm not made out of stone
My needs they are simple, I don't want many things
But I truly want to fly on them wings of love one more time
That's all I need
I wanna fly on them wings
I wanna fly on them wings of love
I'm a stranger here
Won't somebody help me now
I wake up early in the morning
You know, you know, you know my pillow gets soaking wet
All I need, all I need
That's to fly on them wings
I'm in love one more time
I'm a stranger in your town
Don't [Incomprehensible] on them wings
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Lance minimum goad Newberry
Keith.
Keith.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: treat island
Brent
Brent
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Mike Dalton
LLTD - I can only guess your
LLTD - I can only guess your choice.
Keith until 74. Then Brent, then Bruce.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: long live the dead
Well. Good to see you dalton
Well. Good to see you dalton!
Not exactly / way off lol
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: jeff
not canceling fall tour '90
not canceling fall tour '90 and hiring vince were the two worst organizational decisions the dead ever made. the first was only money driven and the 2nd was lazy and disrespectful to the legacy and genius of brent.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nebulous nelly
Brent
Judit, you've seen every keyboardist?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: gypsy tailwind
seen many times: brent
never saw: keith
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Mike Dalton
LLTD - of course your fave is
LLTD - of course your fave is Pigpen. I figured that was a gimme.
How about some love for Ned Lagin? Nothing like 20 minutes of electronic music opening a set to get the crowd going.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: intentionally blank
I only saw Keith play once,
I only saw Keith play once, so I'm going to have to go with Brent.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Mtndog
Brent
Brent
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: (~)};)StealYourFace
Richard Wright...
Richard Wright...
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Lance minimum goad Newberry
And there's WALSTB, paying
And there's WALSTB, paying attention.
You win a cookie.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Old Fart Message Board
To me, Pig was an organ
To me, Pig was an organ player, TC was a hybrid pianist/organist, Keith was a pianist, Brent was an organ player/keyboardists and Vince was really the only true keyboardist. Not really a fan of Vince.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Lance minimum goad Newberry
And there's timpane, being
And there's timpane, being uber-picky.
No cookie for you.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Old Fart Message Board
Can you call Pigpen a
Can you call Pigpen a keyboardist when he never touched a keyboard with the band?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: treat island
What do you mean Pigpen never
What do you mean Pigpen never touched a keyboard with the band? So confusing. He played organ, using the keyboard.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: intentionally blank
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Lance minimum goad Newberry
I don't call Pig a
I don't call Pig a keyboardist because he barely played the organ, it was more a prop to give him something to do when he wasn't singing. The congas were just embarrassing.
But common', an organ IS a "keyboard", because it HAS a keyboard.
You Philly people just like to argue.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: treat island
Nope, OCLT, I never saw Keith
Nope, OCLT, I never saw Keith live, and I don't think I saw anyone after Brent's death.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: treat island
I liked sound of Pigpen's
I liked sound of Pigpen's organ playing, because of the instrument. Raw. I wouldn't say there was finesse, but there was the sound he and the machine made.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Old Fart Message Board
That's a cool pic of pig
That's a cool pic of pig playing that vox. Didn't know he ever played that with the band. The organ is just a lot different than just a standard keyboard. There are Different techniques and there are bass pedals and such. A pipe organ actually running through pipes is completely different in every way from a piano. I personally just always look at them as two different instruments. Was Beethoven a keyboard player because his piano had a keyboard on it?
and I'm from New Jersey, fucko
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Lance minimum goad Newberry
>>>Was Beethoven a keyboard
>>>Was Beethoven a keyboard player because his piano had a keyboard on it<<<
When he was playing the piano he was.
And I thought you lived in Philadelphia Mr. T.
Is there really that much of a difference?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Old Fart Message Board
Lol. You're the first person
Lol. You're the first person I've ever heard call Beethoven a keyboard player. That's awesome. And no I live in jerseyland. Lived in phillly like 10 yrs ago and yes there is a difference. North jersey is actually more like NYC.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Mike Dalton
Careful the Jersey/Philly
Careful the Jersey/Philly thing Lance. Tread lightly...
Signed, Exit 125
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Lance minimum goad Newberry
>>>Careful the Jersey/Philly
>>>Careful the Jersey/Philly thing Lance<<<
Yeah. I was actually expecting a more energetic response on that one.
Don't me wrong, I love east coast energy, whether from New Jersey, Philadelphia, New York, wherever.
There was a great moment during today's 49ers/Giants game. The Giants went for a 4th-&-1 and got stuffed, and the empty stadium was filled with recorded boo's.
A friend told me that Philadelphia does that too.
How awesome is that?
I'm not sure what the players think of their home stadium piping in fake booing, but I think it's great.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: New & Improved
Poor New Jersey. So
Poor New Jersey. So misunderstood.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: intentionally blank
Poor Timpane. So consistently
Poor Timpane. So consistently wrong about so many things.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Lance minimum goad Newberry
A more interesting question
A more interesting question for debate...
Computers have keyboards, so is THIS guy a "keyboard" player?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: ogkb
tri state trash. all of you.
tri state trash. all of you.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Mike Dalton
-- Yeah. I was actually
-- Yeah. I was actually expecting a more energetic response on that one.
Lance, it's only because I now have 40 years of west coast mellow that I went easy on you. Otherwise my boys would be after you.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: nebulous nelly
Judit, I remember you writing about seeing the band early on, what brought you back in the Brent years? If you don't mind me asking
LLTD, have you seen every keyboardist?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Hitchhiker awaiting "true call"
I put on a Vince show this
I put on a Vince show this morning and thought about asking you people if you ever heard anyone say anything complimentary about Vince during his era. Like maybe a
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: treat island
Part of my hiatus was
Part of my hiatus was geographical and financial. I moved to Humboldt county in 1969 and then to Eugene in 1974. Circumstances didn't often take me far from where I lived. Then in 1983 I was able to quit my job (my grandpa died and left me what was a lot of money to me, $27K) so I changed to making art for my living, which gave me some space to move around. I was a pro pumpkin carver for businesses and private commissions, carved rubber stamps to use in designing logos and t-shirts, and also used them to create GD art, mostly postcards. Which took me to all the shows in the Bay Area til 1990. And that's how I got back to it. I sold art to GD Merchandising, was a vendor in the lot, did Golden Road covers, etc. I stopped going to shows very often after Brent died which happened a little after I met and fell in love with Greg and didn't want to travel anymore. Now you know some of the the long story.
I guess I did hear other keyboard players because we went to shows in Oregon in the '90s, but they didn't do it for me.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Lance minimum goad Newberry
>>>Man, Vince really stepped
>>>Man, Vince really stepped up and saved that set<<<
At any point in their 30-year career, if the keyboard player/s ever "saved" a set, then it was a bad set.
Whenever the Grateful Dead were great, and whenever they weren't great, it was NEVER because of the keyboard player.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: ogkb
<<<>>>not canceling fall tour
<<<>>>not canceling fall tour '90 and hiring vince were the two worst organizational decisions the dead ever made. the first was only money driven and the 2nd was lazy and disrespectful to the legacy and genius of brent.
pretty horrible decisions, no doubt.
never taking a hiatus in 94/95...
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: long live the dead
Ned lagan
Saw Ned lagan, tom Constanen
Prob more and;
One of rock's most dangerous jobs: Playing keyboards for the Grateful Dead
It's sometimes called "the curse of the Grateful Dead keyboardists."
The first four keyboard players for the famed rock group died untimely deaths - three of them before they'd reached their 38th birthdays.
Without Ron McKernan, the Dead might not have happened at all. It was McKernan who first suggested forming the band that began as the Warlocks and evolved into the Grateful Dead. In the band's earliest years, McKernan acted as front man, playing the harmonica and keyboards while adding gritty blues vocals.
The son of an R&B disc jockey who moonlighted as a boogie woogie piano player around his San Bruno, California, home base, McKernan's drinking and biker image led his expulsion from Palo Alto High School around the same time he met Jerry Garcia, who played for a local band, the Zodiacs.
Although McKernan was a mediocre keyboard player and had a rough, unpolished voice, Garcia was impressed with his rough-edge persona. Garcia - who tagged McKernan with the nickname "Pigpen" - eventually added him to his band, which evolved into Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Band, then the Warlocks and, finally, the Grateful Dead. In 1965 - as the band was shifting away from folk music - McKernan suggested they go electric.
That was just one change for the band, however. While Garcia and most of his Dead bandmates started experimenting with psychedelic drugs, McKernan elected instead to stay with his Thunderbird wine and Southern Comfort.
McKernan's drinking forced his bandmates to recruit some backup help to fill in for their increasingly unreliable keyboard player. But whenever possible, the Dead called on McKernan to close their shows with Turn On Your Lovelight, the Bobby Womack song that McKernan had transformed into what famed critic Ralph Gleason once referred to as "a one-man blues project ... building to climax after climax."
But McKernan's hard-drinking life finally caught up with him. He was hospitalized with liver trouble in 1971 and his failing health caused himto leave the band for good in June 1972. On March 8, 1973, he was found dead in his apartment at age 27 of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage.
Keith Godchaux, the backup who filled in for the ailing McKernan in 1971, became his permanent replacement in 1972. A Seattle, Washington, native, Godchaux grew up in the East Bay area of Concord, California, and had played with Dave Mason before Garcia invited him into the Dead. Godchaux's wife, Donna, also joined the group.
Godchaux spent most of his first three years with the Dead on the road, then spent the next three years mostly on the sidelines as the band took a break. He filled the time with recording projects with his wife and Garcia. In 1978, the Dead hit the road again where Godchaux succumbed to anxiety. Bouts of depression and heavy drug use followed and, after a few shows where he nodded of at the keyboards and Donna sang off-key, both were booted out of the band in 1979.
Keith and Donna formed a new group, the Heart of Gold Band. After a night of rehearsals at the Dead's Front Street Studio, Godchaux and a friend drove from a toll plaza into the back of a flatbed truck. He died at age 32 two days later from injuries sustained in the crash.
Godchaux's place in the Grateful Dead had been taken by Brent Mydland, a Bay Area musical veteran who caught Garcia's attention as keyboardist for a band that Dead guitarist Bob Weir had put together for a solo project.
Mydland was a better fit for the band than his predecessor and contributed many songs to the Dead catalogue, including Far From Me, Easy to Love You, Tons of Steel and I Will Take You Home. During his tenure with the Dead, Mydland also took part in some of the band's many side bands.
On July 26, 1990, shortly after completing a summer tour with the Dead, Mydland died in his Lafayette, California, home of an accidental drug overdose. He was 37 years old.
Bruce Hornsby was a temporary fill-in on keyboards for the Dead until another Bay Area music veteran, Vince Welnick stepped in as Mydland's replacement. Welnick, a former member of avant garde group The Tubes, had also played for Todd Rundgren before joining the Dead.
In 1995, though, Welnick was diagnosed first with throat cancer, then emphysema. While he beat the cancer, the emphysema was more persistent. Coupled with the death of lead guitarist Jerry Garcia on August 9, 1995, Welnick was overcome by depression and attempted suicide while on tour with bandmate Bob Weir's RatDog Revue later that year.
Welnick left the band and never quite regained his footing. He died, apparently by suicide at his California home, at age 55 on June 2, 1996.
Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, musician
Born: September 8, 1945
Died March 8, 1973 (age 27)
Keith Godchaux, musician
Born: July 19, 1948
Died: July 21, 1980 (age 32)
Brent Mydland, musician
Born: October 21, 1952
Died: July 1, 1990 (age 37)
Vince Welnick, musician
Born: February 21, 1951
Died: June 2, 2006 (age 55)
Vince was a mistake as was Lenny hart
Brent played the longest and the best Tons of steel
But mr pig was a holy roller revival of endless crescendos
love light was as good as it got
likely my singular highest moment of deadness was the ending of lovelight in 68 or 69
and there likely would never have been the dead without him. ( popped my cherry on June 67)
Here's McKernan performing his signature song:
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Hitchhiker awaiting "true call"
>>>>>>>Bruce Hornsby was a
>>>>>>>Bruce Hornsby was a temporary fill-in on keyboards for the Dead until another Bay Area music veteran, Vince Welnick stepped in
Until? Did he play a show before Vince joined?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Localcountyline
No.
No.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Is forgiveness possible?
Tom Constanten
Tom Constanten
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Back to Back
Tyner
Tyner
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Is forgiveness possible?
^^^
^^^
Left hand, right hand - or both?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Is forgiveness possible?
Can I change my vote to Holly
Can I change my vote to Holly Bowling?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Def. High
Lotta misinformation and
Lotta misinformation and errors in that article. Bad writing too.
I saw and heard all the GD keyboardists/piano players/organ players live in person.
Pig wasn't much of an organ player, although I liked some of his early stuff. He was much better on harmonica. Regardless, he was the original leader and the soul of the band. Caught him live three times.
TC was a strange one. Brought in to add some baroque sensibility to the band during its most psychedelic period, he was found to be less compatible with the different, folkier direction the band was taking ca. 1970. According to Phil, "he couldn't swing" Only saw him live once, at my first show.
Keith was perfect for the Dead in 71, and was their keys player for perhaps their greatest period ever Unfortunately he faded in 78 and was gone in 79. Saw him a bunch. Most of those 70s shows were pure bliss.
Brent was the GDs longest lasting keys player - 11 years. He had mucho chops and good harmony vocals, but I didn't like most of his songs or his lead voice. Probably not all his fault, but around the time Brent came in the band acquired a grittier sound that I felt didn't really serve the music. And there was Jerry.
Still, lots of great shows in this era, especially 81-82 and 89 -90.
Vince came in in a hurry after Brent's death and was not a great fit for the band. His abilities as a player and singer were adequate, but his Bralove tones could be extremely annoying.
Loved Bruce with the GD. Amazing chops and.had a good feel for the music. Too bad he didn't sing high harmony and had other irons in the fire. Too bad Garcia was a shadow of his former self during most of those end years.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Is forgiveness possible?
All kidding aside, I am in at
All kidding aside, I am in at least 85% agreement with Surf here.Good stuff!
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Def. High
Oh, I saw Lagin and Wales as
Oh, I saw Lagin and Wales as well.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: gypsy tailwind
great thread.
great thread.
judit, lltd, and surf
thanks for your insight
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Dave
Jerry: One of the original
Jerry: One of the original members has gone to the Great Beyond - we think. Since then we’ve recruited a few other stooges.
Phil: If I could have one wish in the world, it would be that Pigpen could still be with us. I think it’s safe to say we all miss Pigpen... He (Keith) was so brilliant at the beginning. That guy had it all, he could play anything. But after a certain point he didn’t want to play.
IMHO Keith was the best keyboard player. TC was very unique & talented, but he did not last. Pigpen was wonderful as a blues singer and offered an interesting approach as an organ / keyboardist , but Keith's contribution in the early 70's drove the band to a furthur level.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: gypsy tailwind
Bill Kreutzmann once said of
Bill Kreutzmann once said of Keith, “he could pick up whatever Jerry and I started playing that day, and just run with it. He didn’t need to know the material first. He could learn songs before he was even done hearing them for the first time. And he could play just about anything."
- Mickey Hart
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Is forgiveness possible?
Just because of 71-74 alone -
Just because of 71-74 alone - the answer is most likely Keith Godchaux.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: gypsy tailwind
yep, one drummer shows with billy on skins, that's where the magic happened.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Is forgiveness possible?
You know it. One drummer
You know it. One drummer shows were the best.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Ken D.
Billy Powell and Jon Lord are
Billy Powell and Jon Lord are up there as far as dead keyboardists go.
As for dead Dead keyboardists, it would be Keith. Pig was great, but he was more of a singer and frontperson than a keyboardist.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: intentionally blank
Keyboardists who are deceased
Keyboardists who are deceased for $1000, Alex? Glenn Gould and Bill Evans for sure.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Old Fart Message Board
Bil Evans was a pianists. He
Bil Evans was a pianists. He actually despised the keyboard
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: ogkb
pig lovelights are boring imo
pig lovelights are boring imo. same w/ good lovin'. pass.
keith was the best they had.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: long live the dead
Nice note surf
Nice note surf
total agreement And thanks 6 and Dave for your contributions. On point
heat , whatever dude no pig , no dead and nanny nanny, you never saw him live. Maybe he was a Democrat? Lol
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: ogkb
haha
haha
lltd -- you ever see pig perform the stranger?
what an awesome song, huh?
you have a favorite version?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: doctor
Nice interplay between Jerry
Nice interplay between Jerry and Vince going back and forth on Shakedown Street in Berlin. And it's a fantastic Shakedown to boot.
Reminds me of the 4/6/82 Spectrum Shakedown with Jerry and Brent going back and forth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ai_M6NJZLs&t=608s
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: long live the dead
heat - i did not - had to
heat - i did not - had to double check &&&&&& awesome song, some folks favorite tbh
also pig did write several songs....recorded some solo - one friend has some handwritten by pig lyrics sheet too I might even have an outtakes reel to reel somewhere in the garage
played 13 times
THE STRAND LYCEUM
LONDON,
GRATEFUL DEAD
5/26/1972
ROTTERDAM CIVIC HALL
ROTTERDAM,
GRATEFUL DEAD
5/11/1972
THE STRAND LYCEUM
LONDON,
GRATEFUL DEAD
5/23/1972
CONCERTGEBOUW
AMSTERDAM,
GRATEFUL DEAD
5/10/1972
ACADEMY OF MUSIC
NEW YORK, NY
GRATEFUL DEAD
3/21/1972
OLYMPIA THEATER
PARIS,
GRATEFUL DEAD
5/4/1972
THE STRAND LYCEUM
LONDON,
GRATEFUL DEAD
5/24/1972
ACADEMY OF MUSIC
NEW YORK, NY
GRATEFUL DEAD
3/23/1972
ACADEMY OF MUSIC
NEW YORK, NY
GRATEFUL DEAD
3/22/1972
ACADEMY OF MUSIC
NEW YORK, NY
GRATEFUL DEAD
3/28/1972
ACADEMY OF MUSIC
NEW YORK, NY
GRATEFUL DEAD
3/26/1972
ACADEMY OF MUSIC
NEW YORK, NY
GRATEFUL DEAD
3/27/1972
take care
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: long live the dead
What are they seeing when
What are they seeing when they look in each other's eyes?
What are they feeling when they see each other's smile?
Is it a love I've never known or an emotion that I've outgrown?
Did I take a wrong turnin' on life's winding road?
Won't somebody help me find the, find the right way to go?
My life need some correction, alteration in direction
Won't someone come with me for a while, for a while, yes, yes I'm lost
What is the secret of this tie that binds
Two souls in communion, both body and mind
Is it special magic or just the nature of things?
Conceived of great spirit, not for beggars but kings
You who have found it, please help me along
I'm a man, I'm a man, I'm not, I'm not made out of stone
My needs they are simple, I don't want many things
But I truly want to fly on them wings of love one more time
That's all I need
I wanna fly on them wings
I wanna fly on them wings of love
I'm a stranger here
Won't somebody help me now
I wake up early in the morning
You know, you know, you know my pillow gets soaking wet
All I need, all I need
That's to fly on them wings
I'm in love one more time
I'm a stranger in your town
Don't [Incomprehensible] on them wings
no favorite - i would have to listen to all 13...
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: ogkb
^cool man.
^cool man.
here's an awesome show showcasing keith's talents, imo.
immediate impact once he became a member, as one can hear clearly.
https://archive.org/details/gd71-10-21.sbd.cotsman.5071.sbeok.shnf