CBS Sunday Morning with Bob Weir

Thanks Joy, here is a link https://youtu.be/chmE7JglAKo

Fun to watch. The piece CBS did this morning on the Chelsea Hotel was also interesting.

Bob Weir might still be leading orchestras in 300 years the way he is going.

Joy, Don't you know, that this is more a Political rant site,Than an actual site about Music!!!!  I always thought that's what is was Really about.... MUSIC & GOOD FOLKS~

 Miss Ya My Friend..  Coyotte~

release the 83 SBDs mr. music 

Somebody posted recently that Bob's music of late sounds better if you bump the playback speed to 1.25x. That worked pretty well for this interview too.

There are no easy ways 
Here in this world 
No bed of roses, no jolly ride 
No piece of cake this life is 
Its ‘Dangerous’ be aware of it. 

Seema Aarella

I loved the extended interview and the feeling of almost being in conversation with Bobby.

I also enjoyed the video that followed on the link I used to get to the interview with Weir. The Making of Me/And/Dad (Official Version) Billy Strings. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cak46GUOgE

"He left some unfinished business."

Well I guess it's a little late for Jerry to take a bow but at least his good friend can. Go Bobby!

Weir everywhere'd

>Don't you know, that this is more a Political rant site,Than an actual site about Music!!!! I always thought that's what is was Really about.... MUSIC & GOOD FOLKS~<

Then you should start some threads concerning music and good folks.

The Republican party and about 25% of the population has embraced fascism as their platform.  I feel this is an existential threat to our Democratic Republic and an important topic to address. 

Some just want to hammer about love between brothers and sisters and try to ignore the danger and warning part.

Enjoyed the interview...two questions:

1. Why wasn't Phil mentioned (at all) as he was the most symphonically versed and I'm guessing he had some early influence on Bob's thinking about orchestration? (Bob makes it sound like it was only him and Jerry piloting the spaceship).

2. What's up wih the left side of his mustache? Are asymmetric beards a thing, now?

^^^ it was Bob's interview.  Phil can speak for himself and what role did phil play in bringing a symphony to the wolf bros?  probably none.  it was also interesting that bob said he likes bringing the music to the people as opposed to the people coming to him.  this seemed directed squarely at phil.  great interview and bob has become sage 

>Phil can speak for himself and what role did phil play in bringing a symphony to the wolf bros<

that wasn't really my point....Bob wasn't talking about the Wolf Bros, he was talking about how the Grateful Dead songbook can be expanded/ enhanced/ optimized / affected by orchestration. I think it's Grateful Dead 101 that initially Phil had a bit more experience and knowledge about orchestration and symphonic composition than Bob and I was just wondering how the former's ideas influenced the latter  -- especially how it relates to symphonic improvisation. Bob made it seen he is just recently pondering these challenges. Good on him for finding time to explore this fertile ground.

(I went to the first show in DC and enjoyed it. I also was at the Davies Hall gig in 1996 where some of these ideas were batted around in various interviews, so it's not first time they interacted with GD orchestration..)

Also, he mentioned how he and Jerry "led" the band and all the players looked at him or Jerry to "manage the direction and tempo of the song."  That might have been truer in the later eras, and yes, bandmembers typically defer to the songwriters and vocalists,  but I think Phil had a little more influence in the direction of the music in the GDs formative years and beyond than Bob acknowledged in this interview. It's not like Phil was a sideman in the Grateful Dead. A good argument could be made that Phil and Jerry led the band and Bob was "merely" the special glue between them. And I recall reading sometimes the drummers didn't always appreciate Bob's "direction."  But like you say, it was his interview.

Regarding eco-touring.... me getting on a plane that's already flying to SF and ubering to TxR is a bigger carbon footprint than all the trucks and planes required to set up and crew a stadium show? I'd have to do the math. If it's a concern, why not just stream from that fancyTRI studio place?

^ Let's not forget this unique show. 3-17-70

It would be interesting to hear how the GD approached it musically and how that compares to the ideas that Bob is articulating now. I can only believe Phil and Jerry at least, had some interesting "philosophical" conversations related to the impending event.

Grateful Dead following in the footsteps of Bach in the next 300 years? Indubitably. Wolf brothers? a hard-to-find footnote.

[On March 17, St. Patrick’s Day 1970, The Grateful Dead performed in Buffalo with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra at Kleinhans Music Hall. The concert is shrouded in mystery. While a tape exists of almost all performances of the Dead, a recording of this “lost performance” at Kleinhans has yet to ever surface.

The original St. Patrick’s Day performance of 1970 featured the Grateful Dead lineup of Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart with the BPO and then-music director Lukas Foss. Combining a rock band with an orchestra almost never happened at that time, but Foss, an innovator, decided to take a chance on the Dead.“... we knew it was a sign,” said Daniel Hart, executive director of the BPO. “That show became not only a monumental piece of Dead fan history, but it also marked one of the earliest collaborations between a rock band and an orchestra.”]

(there's another good article or two out there about this show.)

https://www.wnypapers.com/news/article/current/2020/02/04/139996/buffalo...

>  he mentioned how he and Jerry "led" the band and all the players looked at him or Jerry to "manage the direction and tempo of the song."

This made me think of a passage about the GD from Bob Dylan's new book, The Philosophy of Modern Song:

What makes then essentially a dance band probably begins with the jazz classical bassist, Phil Lesh, and the Elvin James-influenced Bill Kreutzmann. Lesh is one fo the most skilled bassists you'll ever hear in subtlety and invention. And combined with Kreutzmann, this rhythm section is hard to beat. That rhythm section along with elements of traditional rock and roll and American folk music is what makes the Dead unsurpassable. Combined with their audience, it's like one big free-floating ballet. Three main singers, two drummers and triple harmonies make this band difficult to compete with. A postmodern jazz musical rock and roll dynamo.

Then there's Bob Weir. A very unorthodox rhythm player. Has his own style, not unlike Joni Mitchell but from a different place. Plays strange, augmented chords and half chords at unpredictable intervals that somehow match up with Jerry Garcia--who plays like Charlie Christian and Doc Watson at the same time. All that and an in-house writer-poet, Robert Hunter, with a wide range of influences--everyone from Kerouac to Rilke--and steeped in the songs of Stephen Foster. This creates a wide range of opportunities for the Dead to play almost any kind of music and make it their own.

This is an interesting one to dust off -- I haven't listened to it in ages. At the time - early post Jerry -- it was a big deal:

Phil Lesh and Friends Live at Davies Symphony Hall on 1996-06-16

San Francisco Symphony Michael Tilson Thomas conducts An American Festival

Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart, Vince Welnick, (Bob Bralove,)and Michael Tilson Thomas (on MIDI piano):

"Space" for Henry Cowell

https://archive.org/details/1996-06-16.sfo.aud-fm.vernon.19785.sbeok.fla...

Cool pics:

The San Francisco Symphony captions this photo as: Michael Tilson Thomas with composers Phil Lesh, Lou Harrison, and John Adams. 

Talking about GD orchestration circa 1996. (maybe Bob was wondering  how the orchestra was going to play strange, augmented chords and half chords at unpredictable intervals)

https://www.sfsymphony.org/Larry-s-Play-Folder/z-OLD/1995-96-(2)

"A good argument could be made that Phil and Jerry led the band"

Best argument is listening to the Grateful Dead for a few seconds.

Of course, more often than not, it was Jerry and Bob doing interviews with the press and appearing on late night TV. They were also the most publicly active outside of the band with side projects. For many years Phil did few gigs outside of the Grateful Dead, but when he did, some of you may recall, it was a big exciting deal.

The CBS bit was Bob's interview. Those type interviews are always superficial to the knowledgeable and dedicated audience, often causing a combination of pride and annoyance.

How wonderful for us to have Bob and Phil still bringing us our music way out here in 2022.

Jerry and Bob might have been the "front men" but when Phil was "on", the band was "on". 

I liked Bob's "I'll be fried rice" quip. 

Ramble on psychonaut, ramble on. 

I always enjoy the historical context of a subject -- in this case how the GD can be successfully integrated into a symphonic presentation. it would have been interesting to hear Bob throw a shout out to his buddy / buddies who were thinking about this decades ago. Bob might be carrying the torch (thankfully), but he didn't invent fire. 

Actually, when I read the thread title my first thought was:

Survivors gonna revise.

I thought he said "I'll be stirfried" lol 

With regards to talent the top three in order are Jerry, Phil and Bill. They would have been special regardless of who else Jerry picked. If you don't think Jerry picked Bobby for his looks you're a little naive.  Probably also picked him because he was pliable musically. 
Bobby's contributions are notable and if you listen to the 10-18-72 recent release you can hear that he developed into a fine musician 

If the symphony comes to my area and it's not too expensive I'm in.

"when if ever I you going to get Truckin' right?!"  Jerry, "it's always right."  LOL

LING LIVE THE GRATEFUL DEAD 

Lol, I think you all missed some context. Bobby said, "When I was singing Jerry lead the band, and Jerry was singing I led the band." I didn't take it as him saying he was a "band leader," in any way, just that one or the other took the role of figuring out when to do shit, for that song.

I don't know what to think about those lines Jerry sings in Ramble on Rose now: I'm gonna march you up and down the local county line / Take you to the leader of the band.

I'm still trying to figure out who jimmy is

and why he must row so

I always thought Jimmy was the sole source of propulsion for the Ship of Fools.

not only Jimmy but Julie. Who's Julie?

Don't get me started on Shannon..... 

Another Grateful Dead symphony-related tidbit. I hadn't heard of this, circa 2007:

Russian National Orchestra Records Grateful Dead

SymphonyAmerican composer Lee Johnson aims to convey the spirit of the Grateful Dead in his Dead Symphony (Symphony No. 6), which he recorded recently with the Russian National Orchestra.

Johnson weaves themes from some of the band's familiar songs, such as "St. Stephen," as well as less frequently performed songs like "Blues for Allah," into his 12-movement orchestral work. There is also an improvised section. The symphony's overture and finale include echoes of "Funiculi Funicula," the old Italian song that the Dead sometimes used as a tune-up riff.

The work was the brainchild of Atlanta producer (and Deadhead) Mike Adams. "He thought that what he was hearing was way beyond what a band should be able to do. It could have symphonic possibilities," said Johnson, who was recruited by Adams. An Emmy-winner composer who has written symphonies, operas, chamber works, stage musicals and film scores, Johnson was unfamiliar with the Grateful Dead's music when Adams approached him.

"I grew up studying 'dead' composers, but the other kinds — the Stravinskys, the Beethovens and all those," he told Reuters, adding that the Russian players liked the symphony. When asked to improvise for the movement "Stella Blue," they were reportedly eager to jam.

samples:

https://leejohnsonmusic.com/dead-symphony-no-6

I saw Bob here from 6 feet away on the rail at the Gill theater in Menlo Park last week a true treasure

and yes, it did bother me that he never mentioned Phil by name and yes, I admit I got to cry little bit being nostalgic

The Guild Theatre was less than a mile away from where I first saw the Grateful Dead for free

He may have mentioned Phil and it was edited out. Who knows? The clip was definitely edited.