Bobby Weir, Part 2
The Deadcast concludes its extended 2-part tribute to Bobby Weir, ranging into the evolution of his songwriting, stage persona, guitar playing, and unexpected career beyond the Grateful Dead.
Bobby Weir, Part 2 supplementary notes
by Jesse Jarnow
Bobby Weir had many musical lives inside and outside the Grateful Dead, with a tangled family tree of collaborators onstage and in the studio. While JerryBase has charted the Dead’s music (and, with it, Weir’s work with them), documentation of Weir’s career beyond the Dead is scattered across several other chronologies.
These episodes wouldn’t be possible without the GDSets list (capturing Weir’s time in Kingfish, the Bob Weir Band, Bobby and the Midnites, Weir and Wasserman, and other projects), as well as Ratdog.org, and OtherOnes.net (charting Weir’s gigs with the Other Ones, The Dead, and Dead & Co.). More granular history can be parsed with Corry Arnold’s extensive Kingfish chronology (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4).
For these Weir tribute episodes, we are even more indebted than usual to David Gans, who interviewed Weir numerous times starting in the late 1970s, and has graciously shared audio with us. The original interviews can be read in Conversations With the Dead, This Is All A Dream We Dreamed, and other works, as well as across many episodes of the Grateful Dead Hour. The original demo for “Eternity,” featuring Willie Dixon on vocals, can be found in Grateful Dead Hour #284.
Bobby Weir’s entire life was colorful, but a number of articles highlighted some extra-musical developments in his world, including meeting his birth father; his exercise regimen; his adventures with his flag football team, the Tamalpais Chiefs; and even his effort to save a stranded sailboat. We’ll be learning even more in years to come, surely.
You can isolate several iterations of Bobby Weir’s solo guitar with the Playing in the Band applet, using recordings from Veneta ‘72, Wake of the Flood, and elsewhere.
Comment
i owe a lot to Bob Weir.
i'd been playing guitar semi-seriously for a couple of years when the Grateful Dead came into my life in 1971, and unlike most people, it wasn't Garcia who spoke to me, it was Weir. in fact, i don't think i'd ever have gotten into the Dead if not for Bobby. he was the rocker. he sang Chuck Berry songs. he gave my 16-year old brain a foothold, a place to stand while i caught up with what the Grateful Dead was up to. even that early on, we knew guys who were copping Jerry's style. i was the only one i knew who was trying to learn Bobby's stuff. it grabbed me; it made sense to me. so i was a rhythm guitarist, and that's stuck with me all the years. my role in bands has evolved over the years--but i still think of myself primarily as part of the rhythm section, holding down the groove and driving the band forward. and so much of that is thanks to Bob.
thanks, Bob.
Deadcast App
Every time I listen to a broadcast on this app it stops halfway through. And also if I pause it for too long then I have to start it over again.
Great episode and tribute
Thanks and great work to Jesse and Rich. I really enjoyed this episode and learned some new things about Bob. My appreciation for Bob really grew through the years and I'm grateful for the times that I got to see him perform in recent years. Truly one of a kind. We miss you already Bob!
Weir
Thanks for two great podcasts about Weir. I particularly enjoyed the second one, you got the mood just right. In the U.K. we can’t get things like the Sirius Dead channel so the Deadcast is a real lifeline.