Latest news with #BobbyWeir
The Guardian
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘LSD? Been there, done that': the Grateful Dead's 60 years of drugs, epic noodling and obsessive fans
'We didn't want to be the cops,' says Bobby Weir, guitarist and founder member of the Grateful Dead, laughing as he describes his band's legendarily lax attitude to people taping their concerts. Bootleggers were given their own area at gigs on the proviso their tapes were traded, not sold – an illustration of the band's generosity of spirit. 'It was an easy decision to make,' Weir says. Decisions like those have ensured that, decades before today's obsessional Swifties and K-pop stans, the Dead have cultivated one of music's most passionate fandoms. They are surely the world's best-documented band. This year, they're marking their 60th anniversary with a 60-CD box set, just one of many gargantuan packages over the years. Their 2024 Friend of the Devils box set only covered a single month of live music (April 1978) yet it stretched to 19 CDs. 'When we first got started,' says Weir, 'it quickly became apparent that the business of music was pretty much populated by people who were only a notch above – or maybe not even a notch above – the level of professional wrestling. The business was really tawdry. And so we went about things in our own way.' The Dead have duly operated largely outside the mainstream: not so much a band as a fiercely independent travelling circus that could comfortably sell out 100,000-capacity stadiums, while only ever having had one single grace the US Top 40 (Touch of Grey in 1987). While the original lineup ended in 1995, with the death of bandleader Jerry Garcia, a plethora of Dead-related projects have spiralled out ever since. In June, Weir's band Wolf Bros will play the Royal Albert Hall in London, alongside a full orchestra. Meanwhile, the wildly successful spin-off band Dead & Company has just finished a residency at the Las Vegas Sphere, the immense dome that dominates the strip skyline. Formed in 2015, the lineup includes 77-year-old Weir on guitar and vocals, with original drummer Mickey Hart and various guests. Dead & Company are big business: their 2023 tour grossed $115m, not far behind Metallica, Depeche Mode and Coldplay. The Vegas show featured a mind-bending AV element. 'For us,' says Weir, 'it's a matter of what are the storytelling possibilities on stage?' He adds that in the 1960s, 'we'd do liquid light shows. It's a part of what we do, always has been.' Emerging from the San Francisco Bay Area's countercultural maelstrom in 1965, the Dead gained a reputation for hypnotic, freewheeling, improvised jam sessions. No two gigs were ever the same. Psychedelic in their sheer unrelenting scope, yet grounded in a rootsy, bluesy Americana, theirs was music you could move to. It was the time of Ken Kesey's Acid Tests – LSD advocacy parties with a rotating lineup of acts at the author's farm at La Honda, California. These provided a natural setting, though today Weir is surprisingly loth to attribute too much importance to chemical influence. 'I don't think drugs had all that much to do with our development, actually,' he says. 'I was in and out of that scene. But after a year or so of taking LSD, I felt it just wasn't bringing me much in the way of clarity or new direction. So I stepped out of it. Some of the guys smoked pot for decades but I don't think you'd find – certainly with what's going on in Dead & Company – that there's much in the way of drug use. We've really been there and done that.' As the Dead's popularity grew, a significant number of their fans – known as the Deadheads – began dedicating their entire existence to the band, planning their lives around tours, where they would set up food stalls or sell clothes to support a full-time nomadic lifestyle. John Kilbride, author of The Golden Road: The Recorded History of the Grateful Dead, recalls 'going down the Barras market in Glasgow in the early 80s and getting a load of live cassettes, and just being completely spun around by the sound. Even some of the more underground bands in the UK were nowhere near as radical from a business perspective, encouraging fans to tape shows and so on. Not even Hawkwind did that!' It didn't stop at taping: the Dead set up publishing companies and record labels, booked their own gigs and tried to keep everything DIY. The back cover of 1971's Skull and Roses live album bore the promise: 'Tell us who you are … we'll keep you informed.' By the 1980s, the Dead boasted a mailing list of over half a million fans, and were also frequently handling their own ticket distribution – no mean feat when it came to stadium shows. The full Dead experience was, to many fans' ears, never captured on a studio recording. 'I mean, we got some of it down,' says Weir. 'American Beauty and Workingman's Dead fell together pretty well. But I won't say they reached some of the loftier moments that we got to on stage. In order to really get what we're doing, and what we're up to, you've got to be there.' Weir uses the extremely Dead-coded phrase 'gestalt linkage' to describe the quasi-telepathic feeling that has resulted from more than half a century of playing. 'That's what we bring to the table,' he says, 'although it's not all that unusual: a good jazz band will have that going. We've learned to trust each other. That makes a big difference.' The linkage wasn't even broken by Garcia's death, aged 53. 'The feeling that we had to carry it on was immediate,' says Weir. 'Jerry wouldn't have had it any other way. It was a major blow to us for sure, but there was no fighting it, so on we went.' But how have they kept such passionate fans onside for six decades? Sam Bedford, co-founder of Brighton record label None More Records, is one, and he emphasises a lack of polish and predictability. 'They were different to everyone else,' he says, 'and yet they couldn't find stadiums that were big enough.' He marvels at how they'd play '10 minutes of feedback during the 60s, or in the 80s, doing 20-minute ambient interludes. It's incredible that they were playing to 90,000 people and there's an ambient interlude in the middle. I love all that stuff!' I wonder if there are tensions between the countercultural, DIY, rootsy aspects of the band, and a project such as the Las Vegas Sphere residency. 'The Dead have always been a broad church,' Kilbride argues. 'There's people who want to go to a big slick show and spend hundreds of dollars on merchandise, but they had that element in the 70s, too. The well-heeled fans who would jump on a plane to shows and stay in the same hotels as the band – that's always been there. So have the people who've spent hundreds of miles on the road and make a living selling T-shirts. It works on every level and there's space for both.' Part of the ongoing attraction is that, even today, the band don't just trot out a steady setlist of classics. Kilbride has just bought a ticket to see Weir and Wolf Bros at the Royal Albert Hall in June. Even as a diehard fan, he says: 'I have no idea what to expect.' The London gig will feature two sets: Dead classics and music from Weir's solo repertoire, all with the orchestra. 'We've been hearing enormous philharmonic renditions of what we do all along,' says Weir. 'That's what's been going on in our heads – it's been great to be able to flesh that out.' Bassist Phil Lesh died in 2024 and it's not clear how long the Grateful Dead's legacy can last after they stop playing shows, without a definitive run of studio albums. But Weir says that isn't really the point of the band: 'We initially learned to play from a place of profound disorientation and fun – where we didn't have much legacy to draw from, when we were playing at the Acid Tests and that stuff. Every time we pick up our instruments, it's a new situation.' Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros play the Royal Albert Hall, London, on 21 June
Scottish Sun
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
‘Jerry Garcia was my soulmate… we relied on each other,' says Grateful Dead founding member Bobby Weir
Find out why Bob Weir says he needs 100 iPads to bring the Dead back to life STILL TRUCKIN' 'Jerry Garcia was my soulmate… we relied on each other,' says Grateful Dead founding member Bobby Weir 'What a long, strange trip it's been' for the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir – or Bobby Weir, as he goes by these days. As Deadheads among you will know, that immortal line comes from one of their best loved songs, Truckin'. 6 Legendary Grateful Dead co-founder Bobby Weir, 77, brings a symphonic spin to his music – and he's finally back on a London stage Credit: Todd Michalek 6 Weir with Grateful Dead, including his late soulmate, guitarist Jerry Garcia Credit: Redferns A Weir co-write with Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh and lyricist Robert Hunter, the bluesy, steady-rolling shuffle has been recognised by the United States Library Of Congress as 'a national treasure'. The same accolade applies to Weir himself. It was he who took lead vocals on the song which references a drugs raid at the band's hotel on Bourbon Street, New Orleans, in 1970. At 77, he is chief keeper of the Dead's flame, performing their music as leader of two bands, Dead & Company and Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros. It is the second of these offshoots that us British Deadheads (yes, I count myself among them) are getting excited about. On June 21, Weir is heading to the UK for the first time in 22 years, the last time being with another of his post-Dead bands, RatDog. He and Wolf Bros — Don Was (bass), Jeff Chimenti (piano) and Jay Lane (drums) — are taking to the Royal Albert Hall's hallowed stage with the 68-piece Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. They will present reimagined songs from what Weir describes as 'the Dead songbook' and a sprinkling of compositions from his solo career. And that's the reason why I'm on a video call to one of America's most intriguing and long-serving musicians. It's a fine spring evening in London and an equally balmy lunchtime on the West Coast, where a clear blue sky frames Weir's distinctive, distinguished features. 'A sense of being' His swept-back grey/white hair with matching walrus moustache and beard, as well as his piercing brown eyes, give him the air of one of rock's elder statesman. But, before we get stuck into his symphonic London show, it's time for a Grateful Dead recap. It's important to note that they were not just a band but also a way of life. They fostered unrivalled community spirit, putting themselves and the original Deadheads at the forefront of the counterculture movement in the late Sixties. They were a rallying point for all those pot-smoking folks with tie-dyed clothes, beaded necklaces, sandals and long hair. They were — to borrow hippie parlance — far out, man! When I first heard rock and roll, I realised I had something of a calling. I was seven, eight, nine years old when Elvis Presley was a big star. He had an energy about him that I related to. Being part of a giant family gave the Dead 'a sense of being and a sense of purpose', decides Weir. At just 16, he had hooked up with Jerry Garcia, five years his senior, in the Californian city of Palo Alto to become the Dead's youngest founder member, beginning his 'long strange trip' playing the band's music. 'Number one, it's the only thing I'm equipped to do,' he tells me, choosing his words carefully. 'I'm dyslexic in the extreme, so an academic career was never a move on the board for me. 'When I first heard rock and roll, I realised I had something of a calling. 'I was seven, eight, nine years old when Elvis Presley was a big star. He had an energy about him that I related to. 'Soon, there was only one thing I was really interested in — making that kind of music.' Weir says the arrival in the US of The Beatles, as leaders of the 'British Invasion', also had a profound effect. 'The Beatles looked like they were having a lot of fun — they were bright, they worked well together and their music reflected that. 'It's pretty apparent that in three or four hundred years, people will still be talking about them. Maybe if we [the Grateful Dead] are lucky, we'll also make that cut!' Weir's imposing rock vocals and richly textured rhythm guitar provided the perfect foil to Garcia's ethereal delivery and intricate lead guitar. They conjured up a transcendent fusion of rock, country, jazz, gospel, ragtime, you name it, and were masters of improvisation on extended jams involving tracks such as the epic Dark Star. Today, Weir admits that never a day goes by when he doesn't think about Garcia, who died in 1995 aged 53, effectively ending the Grateful Dead (if not live performance of their music). 'Jerry and I were soulmates,' he says. 'I did stuff that he didn't do and he did stuff that I didn't do. We relied on each other. 'The whole deal was that we would keep doing it for as long as we were having fun — and we did.' Weir also has bassist Phil Lesh on his mind, a fellow founder member who died last October aged 84. Back in the day, when we were playing these songs, this [orchestrated sound] is basically what was going on in our heads. 'I've thought about him a lot lately and I haven't come up with any greater clarity other than he was a friend of mine — he taught me a lot and I like to think I taught him a lot. 'He was a musical mentor but, at the same time, my way was not his way. I had to sort the catfish from the trout, as they say, when ideas came up. 'Now, I'm just going to let that all pass.' It's a full 60 years since The Grateful Dead formed and 30 since Garcia's death but Weir is still pushing on by bringing his special concert to the Albert Hall, a venue he's never played before. 'I've only heard about it in songs but I'm looking forward to it for sure,' he says, surely in reference to The Beatles' A Day In Life with its line, 'now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall'. 6 Jerry Garcia was a founding member of the band Grateful Dead and died in 1995 6 Weir pictured with Wolf Bros The event follows similar outings by Weir in the States and he believes the addition of a full orchestra is not as strange as it seems. 'Back in the day, when we were playing these songs, this [orchestrated sound] is basically what was going on in our heads,' he says. 'We were hearing a much fuller representation than our instruments allowed us to play. 'So, we imagined how songs could sound and we reached for those timbres. This is an opportunity to actually do it.' For an artist so defined by improvisation, I'm intrigued by the prospect of him playing with an orchestra and all the attendant constraints. When I mention this, Weir latches on to the theme and says: 'This is the point I wanted you to remind me of. 'Right now, we have to stick to a given arrangement. What's on the paper is what's going to get played BUT that's not where we're taking this. 'What's afoot is trying to get it so the orchestra can improvise relatively freely.' 'I'll need 100 iPads' Weir explains his plans for a team of 'improv leaders' sorted into 'various sections of the orchestra with a multiple choice of riffs'. 'I'm probably going to need Apple to give me a hundred iPads to make it work,' he adds with a wry smile. 'But if it works for us, it will work for any of the composers. I'm thinking of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony — the start of the second movement. You could employ this kind of thing until hell won't have it no more!' Weir returns to matters in hand, namely the Albert Hall show and what the audience can expect — ie the unexpected as is the Grateful Dead way. He says: 'We've got a couple of dozen songs orchestrated. Right now, it comes out at roughly five and a half hours of music. We're already at the point where you don't know what you're going to hear. 'That's how we've done things all along and that's how I intend to go on. That said, there will be new additions for the London performance because they're up and ready.' Weir senses that his audience will be open-minded about orchestral arrangements and prepared to 'get with it' on this latest sonic adventure. 'This is for the folks who want to hear something that's a step beyond where it's been — and this is surely that!' he exclaims. So, are we likely to see the cosmic Dark Star, which once ran to 43 minutes but usually clocks in at about 20. 'Dark Star is orchestrated,' replies Weir. 'I won't say I'm taking requests but I'll take it into consideration. We haven't got there with the setlist yet.' When I was 15, I decided on a terribly romantic thing to do — run off and be a cowboy. I guess we'll have to wait and see if he'll play his most cherished Dead co-writes — Sugar Magnolia, Playing In The Band, Estimated Prophet, Hell In A Bucket, Throwing Stones or, of course, Truckin'. While Garcia forged an intuitive songwriting partnership with Robert Hunter, yielding Uncle John's Band, Ripple, Stella Blue and other classics, Weir fell out with Hunter when creating crowd pleaser One More Saturday Night. He confesses: 'There was a lot of tension because I write lyrics too and Hunter was not real good with that. He liked to play it closer to the vest.' So Weir turned to his pal, the late John Barlow, for collaborations. 'Barlow and I went to school together,' he says. 'We grew up together. 'When I was 15, I decided on a terribly romantic thing to do — run off and be a cowboy. 'I worked on Barlow's parents' ranch in Wyoming. Over the years, we would live out there in a little log cabin and write. 'And I'll tell you this — we're just starting to crack the nut on some of our compositions with the orchestral work.' In this free-ranging interview, full of unexpected twists and turns, a bit like a Grateful Dead live set, I ask Weir about his early visits to England. He recalls the 1972 Bickershaw Festival, near Wigan, a doomed venture partly organised by late TV host Jeremy Beadle. The Dead played a five-hour set to the mud-covered crowd and Weir says: 'I remember it well. It was a rainy occasion!' During that tour of Europe, they also did two nights at Wembley Arena (then called Empire Pool) and a four-night stand at London's Lyceum. Weir says they were a band at the peak of its powers, celebrated by the live triple album, Europe '72. 'We were young and strong but jet lag was a serious business,' he adds. 'We took it into consideration in '72 and held off for a few days. 'But we were in a phase when the band was high and we delivered the goods.' This year, Weir has also been delivering for Dead & Company (with John Mayer on lead guitar) at the state-of-the-art Sphere in Las Vegas. The venue projects moving images on to the inside of the huge spherical auditorium but, says Weir, it's still not fully prepared for the Dead's freewheeling attitude. 'Mind-blowing as it is, it's still a work in progress because a great deal of technological development needs to be done before content people can be faster on their feet. 'When that work is done, it's going to surpass opera in terms of what you can deliver from one stage.' As for this restless soul Weir, he believes that his musical journey is only just 'coming to fruition'. 'It's been complicated so it was always going to take a while,' he admits. 'I'm not sure I totally understand what it is that I'm up to but I have a handle on it now to take the next steps forward.' It seems that this line from Truckin' could have been written for Bobby Weir. 'Sometimes the light's all shinin' on me.' 6 Weir says 'Jerry (right) and I were soulmates, I did stuff that he didn't do, and he did stuff that I didn't do. We relied on each other. Credit: Redferns
The Sun
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
‘Jerry Garcia was my soulmate… we relied on each other,' says Grateful Dead founding member Bobby Weir
'What a long, strange trip it's been' for the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir – or Bobby Weir, as he goes by these days. As Deadheads among you will know, that immortal line comes from one of their best loved songs, Truckin'. 6 6 A Weir co-write with Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh and lyricist Robert Hunter, the bluesy, steady-rolling shuffle has been recognised by the United States Library Of Congress as 'a national treasure'. The same accolade applies to Weir himself. It was he who took lead vocals on the song which references a drugs raid at the band's hotel on Bourbon Street, New Orleans, in 1970. At 77, he is chief keeper of the Dead's flame, performing their music as leader of two bands, Dead & Company and Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros. It is the second of these offshoots that us British Deadheads (yes, I count myself among them) are getting excited about. On June 21, Weir is heading to the UK for the first time in 22 years, the last time being with another of his post-Dead bands, RatDog. He and Wolf Bros — Don Was (bass), Jeff Chimenti (piano) and Jay Lane (drums) — are taking to the Royal Albert Hall's hallowed stage with the 68-piece Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. They will present reimagined songs from what Weir describes as 'the Dead songbook' and a sprinkling of compositions from his solo career. And that's the reason why I'm on a video call to one of America's most intriguing and long-serving musicians. It's a fine spring evening in London and an equally balmy lunchtime on the West Coast, where a clear blue sky frames Weir's distinctive, distinguished features. 'A sense of being' His swept-back grey/white hair with matching walrus moustache and beard, as well as his piercing brown eyes, give him the air of one of rock's elder statesman. But, before we get stuck into his symphonic London show, it's time for a Grateful Dead recap. It's important to note that they were not just a band but also a way of life. They fostered unrivalled community spirit, putting themselves and the original Deadheads at the forefront of the counterculture movement in the late Sixties. They were a rallying point for all those pot-smoking folks with tie-dyed clothes, beaded necklaces, sandals and long hair. They were — to borrow hippie parlance — far out, man! When I first heard rock and roll, I realised I had something of a calling. I was seven, eight, nine years old when Elvis Presley was a big star. He had an energy about him that I related to. Being part of a giant family gave the Dead 'a sense of being and a sense of purpose', decides Weir. At just 16, he had hooked up with Jerry Garcia, five years his senior, in the Californian city of Palo Alto to become the Dead's youngest founder member, beginning his 'long strange trip' playing the band's music. 'Number one, it's the only thing I'm equipped to do,' he tells me, choosing his words carefully. 'I'm dyslexic in the extreme, so an academic career was never a move on the board for me. 'When I first heard rock and roll, I realised I had something of a calling. 'I was seven, eight, nine years old when Elvis Presley was a big star. He had an energy about him that I related to. 'Soon, there was only one thing I was really interested in — making that kind of music.' Weir says the arrival in the US of The Beatles, as leaders of the 'British Invasion', also had a profound effect. 'The Beatles looked like they were having a lot of fun — they were bright, they worked well together and their music reflected that. 'It's pretty apparent that in three or four hundred years, people will still be talking about them. Maybe if we [the Grateful Dead] are lucky, we'll also make that cut!' Weir's imposing rock vocals and richly textured rhythm guitar provided the perfect foil to Garcia's ethereal delivery and intricate lead guitar. They conjured up a transcendent fusion of rock, country, jazz, gospel, ragtime, you name it, and were masters of improvisation on extended jams involving tracks such as the epic Dark Star. Today, Weir admits that never a day goes by when he doesn't think about Garcia, who died in 1995 aged 53, effectively ending the Grateful Dead (if not live performance of their music). 'Jerry and I were soulmates,' he says. 'I did stuff that he didn't do and he did stuff that I didn't do. We relied on each other. 'The whole deal was that we would keep doing it for as long as we were having fun — and we did.' Weir also has bassist Phil Lesh on his mind, a fellow founder member who died last October aged 84. Back in the day, when we were playing these songs, this [orchestrated sound] is basically what was going on in our heads. 'I've thought about him a lot lately and I haven't come up with any greater clarity other than he was a friend of mine — he taught me a lot and I like to think I taught him a lot. 'He was a musical mentor but, at the same time, my way was not his way. I had to sort the catfish from the trout, as they say, when ideas came up. 'Now, I'm just going to let that all pass.' It's a full 60 years since The Grateful Dead formed and 30 since Garcia's death but Weir is still pushing on by bringing his special concert to the Albert Hall, a venue he's never played before. 'I've only heard about it in songs but I'm looking forward to it for sure,' he says, surely in reference to The Beatles' A Day In Life with its line, 'now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall'. 6 6 The event follows similar outings by Weir in the States and he believes the addition of a full orchestra is not as strange as it seems. 'Back in the day, when we were playing these songs, this [orchestrated sound] is basically what was going on in our heads,' he says. 'We were hearing a much fuller representation than our instruments allowed us to play. 'So, we imagined how songs could sound and we reached for those timbres. This is an opportunity to actually do it.' For an artist so defined by improvisation, I'm intrigued by the prospect of him playing with an orchestra and all the attendant constraints. When I mention this, Weir latches on to the theme and says: 'This is the point I wanted you to remind me of. 'Right now, we have to stick to a given arrangement. What's on the paper is what's going to get played BUT that's not where we're taking this. 'What's afoot is trying to get it so the orchestra can improvise relatively freely.' 'I'll need 100 iPads' Weir explains his plans for a team of 'improv leaders' sorted into 'various sections of the orchestra with a multiple choice of riffs'. 'I'm probably going to need Apple to give me a hundred iPads to make it work,' he adds with a wry smile. 'But if it works for us, it will work for any of the composers. I'm thinking of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony — the start of the second movement. You could employ this kind of thing until hell won't have it no more!' Weir returns to matters in hand, namely the Albert Hall show and what the audience can expect — ie the unexpected as is the Grateful Dead way. He says: 'We've got a couple of dozen songs orchestrated. Right now, it comes out at roughly five and a half hours of music. We're already at the point where you don't know what you're going to hear. 'That's how we've done things all along and that's how I intend to go on. That said, there will be new additions for the London performance because they're up and ready.' Weir senses that his audience will be open-minded about orchestral arrangements and prepared to 'get with it' on this latest sonic adventure. 'This is for the folks who want to hear something that's a step beyond where it's been — and this is surely that!' he exclaims. So, are we likely to see the cosmic Dark Star, which once ran to 43 minutes but usually clocks in at about 20. 'Dark Star is orchestrated,' replies Weir. 'I won't say I'm taking requests but I'll take it into consideration. We haven't got there with the setlist yet.' When I was 15, I decided on a terribly romantic thing to do — run off and be a cowboy. I guess we'll have to wait and see if he'll play his most cherished Dead co-writes — Sugar Magnolia, Playing In The Band, Estimated Prophet, Hell In A Bucket, Throwing Stones or, of course, Truckin'. While Garcia forged an intuitive songwriting partnership with Robert Hunter, yielding Uncle John's Band, Ripple, Stella Blue and other classics, Weir fell out with Hunter when creating crowd pleaser One More Saturday Night. He confesses: 'There was a lot of tension because I write lyrics too and Hunter was not real good with that. He liked to play it closer to the vest.' So Weir turned to his pal, the late John Barlow, for collaborations. 'Barlow and I went to school together,' he says. 'We grew up together. 'When I was 15, I decided on a terribly romantic thing to do — run off and be a cowboy. 'I worked on Barlow's parents' ranch in Wyoming. Over the years, we would live out there in a little log cabin and write. 'And I'll tell you this — we're just starting to crack the nut on some of our compositions with the orchestral work.' In this free-ranging interview, full of unexpected twists and turns, a bit like a Grateful Dead live set, I ask Weir about his early visits to England. He recalls the 1972 Bickershaw Festival, near Wigan, a doomed venture partly organised by late TV host Jeremy Beadle. The Dead played a five-hour set to the mud-covered crowd and Weir says: 'I remember it well. It was a rainy occasion!' During that tour of Europe, they also did two nights at Wembley Arena (then called Empire Pool) and a four-night stand at London's Lyceum. Weir says they were a band at the peak of its powers, celebrated by the live triple album, Europe '72. 'We were young and strong but jet lag was a serious business,' he adds. 'We took it into consideration in '72 and held off for a few days. 'But we were in a phase when the band was high and we delivered the goods.' This year, Weir has also been delivering for Dead & Company (with John Mayer on lead guitar) at the state-of-the-art Sphere in Las Vegas. The venue projects moving images on to the inside of the huge spherical auditorium but, says Weir, it's still not fully prepared for the Dead's freewheeling attitude. 'Mind-blowing as it is, it's still a work in progress because a great deal of technological development needs to be done before content people can be faster on their feet. 'When that work is done, it's going to surpass opera in terms of what you can deliver from one stage.' As for this restless soul Weir, he believes that his musical journey is only just 'coming to fruition'. 'It's been complicated so it was always going to take a while,' he admits. 'I'm not sure I totally understand what it is that I'm up to but I have a handle on it now to take the next steps forward.' It seems that this line from Truckin' could have been written for Bobby Weir. 'Sometimes the light's all shinin' on me.' 6
The Irish Sun
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
‘Jerry Garcia was my soulmate… we relied on each other,' says Grateful Dead founding member Bobby Weir
'What a long, strange trip it's been' for the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir – or Bobby Weir, as he goes by these days. As Deadheads among you will know, that immortal line comes from one of their best loved songs, Truckin'. 6 Legendary Grateful Dead co-founder Bobby Weir, 77, brings a symphonic spin to his music – and he's finally back on a London stage Credit: Todd Michalek 6 Weir with Grateful Dead, including his late soulmate, guitarist Jerry Garcia Credit: Redferns A Weir co-write with Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh and lyricist Robert Hunter, the bluesy, steady-rolling shuffle has been recognised by the United States Library Of Congress as 'a national treasure'. The same accolade applies to Weir himself. It was he who took lead vocals on the song which references a drugs raid at the band's hotel on Bourbon Street, New Orleans, in 1970. At 77, he is chief keeper of the Dead's flame, performing their music as leader of two bands, Dead & Company and Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros. It is the second of these offshoots that us British Deadheads (yes, I count myself among them) are getting excited about. READ MORE MUSIC NEWS On June 21, Weir is heading to the UK for the first time in 22 years, the last time being with another of his post-Dead bands, RatDog. He and Wolf Bros — Don Was (bass), Jeff Chimenti (piano) and Jay Lane (drums) — are taking to the Royal Albert Hall's hallowed stage with the 68-piece Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. They will present reimagined songs from what Weir describes as 'the Dead songbook' and a sprinkling of compositions from his solo career. And that's the reason why I'm on a video call to one of America's most intriguing and long-serving musicians. Most read in Music It's a fine spring evening in London and an equally balmy lunchtime on the West Coast, where a clear blue sky frames Weir's distinctive, distinguished features . 'A sense of being' His swept-back grey/white hair with matching walrus moustache and beard, as well as his piercing brown eyes, give him the air of one of rock's elder statesman. But, before we get stuck into his symphonic London show, it's time for a Grateful Dead recap. It's important to note that they were not just a band but also a way of life. They fostered unrivalled community spirit, putting themselves and the original Deadheads at the forefront of the counterculture movement in the late Sixties. They were a rallying point for all those pot-smoking folks with tie-dyed clothes, beaded necklaces, sandals and long hair. They were — to borrow hippie parlance — far out, man! When I first heard rock and roll, I realised I had something of a calling. I was seven, eight, nine years old when Elvis Presley was a big star. He had an energy about him that I related to. Being part of a giant family gave the Dead 'a sense of being and a sense of purpose', decides Weir. At just 16, he had hooked up with Jerry Garcia, five years his senior, in the Californian city of Palo Alto to become the Dead's youngest founder member, beginning his 'long strange trip' playing the band's music. 'Number one, it's the only thing I'm equipped to do,' he tells me, choosing his words carefully. 'I'm dyslexic in the extreme, so an academic career was never a move on the board for me. 'When I first heard rock and roll, I realised I had something of a calling. 'I was seven, eight, nine years old when Elvis Presley was a big star. He had an energy about him that I related to. 'Soon, there was only one thing I was really interested in — making that kind of music.' Weir says the arrival in the US of The Beatles, as leaders of the 'British Invasion', also had a profound effect. 'The Beatles looked like they were having a lot of fun — they were bright, they worked well together and their music reflected that. 'It's pretty apparent that in three or four hundred years, people will still be talking about them. Maybe if we [the Grateful Dead] are lucky, we'll also make that cut!' Weir's imposing rock vocals and richly textured rhythm guitar provided the perfect foil to Garcia's ethereal delivery and intricate lead guitar. They conjured up a transcendent fusion of rock, country, jazz, gospel, ragtime, you name it, and were masters of improvisation on extended jams involving tracks such as the epic Dark Star. Today, Weir admits that never a day goes by when he doesn't think about Garcia, who died in 1995 aged 53, effectively ending the Grateful Dead (if not live performance of their music). 'Jerry and I were soulmates,' he says. 'I did stuff that he didn't do and he did stuff that I didn't do. We relied on each other. 'The whole deal was that we would keep doing it for as long as we were having fun — and we did.' Weir also has bassist Phil Lesh on his mind, a fellow founder member who died last October aged 84. Back in the day, when we were playing these songs, this [orchestrated sound] is basically what was going on in our heads. 'I've thought about him a lot lately and I haven't come up with any greater clarity other than he was a friend of mine — he taught me a lot and I like to think I taught him a lot. 'He was a musical mentor but, at the same time, my way was not his way. I had to sort the catfish from the trout, as they say, when ideas came up. 'Now, I'm just going to let that all pass.' It's a full 60 years since The Grateful Dead formed and 30 since Garcia's death but Weir is still pushing on by bringing his special concert to the 'I've only heard about it in songs but I'm looking forward to it for sure,' he says, surely in reference to The Beatles' A Day In Life with its line, 'now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall'. 6 Jerry Garcia was a founding member of the band Grateful Dead and died in 1995 6 Weir pictured with Wolf Bros The event follows similar outings by Weir in the States and he believes the addition of a full orchestra is not as strange as it seems. 'Back in the day, when we were playing these songs, this [orchestrated sound] is basically what was going on in our heads,' he says. 'We were hearing a much fuller representation than our instruments allowed us to play. 'So, we imagined how songs could sound and we reached for those timbres. This is an opportunity to actually do it.' For an artist so defined by improvisation, I'm intrigued by the prospect of him playing with an orchestra and all the attendant constraints. When I mention this, Weir latches on to the theme and says: 'This is the point I wanted you to remind me of. 'Right now, we have to stick to a given arrangement. What's on the paper is what's going to get played BUT that's not where we're taking this. 'What's afoot is trying to get it so the orchestra can improvise relatively freely .' 'I'll need 100 iPads' Weir explains his plans for a team of 'improv leaders' sorted into 'various sections of the orchestra with a multiple choice of riffs'. 'I'm probably going to need Apple to give me a hundred iPads to make it work,' he adds with a wry smile. 'But if it works for us, it will work for any of the composers. I'm thinking of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony — the start of the second movement. You could employ this kind of thing until hell won't have it no more!' Weir returns to matters in hand, namely the Albert Hall show and what the audience can expect — ie the unexpected as is the Grateful Dead way. He says: 'We've got a couple of dozen songs orchestrated. Right now, it comes out at roughly five and a half hours of music. We're already at the point where you don't know what you're going to hear. 'That's how we've done things all along and that's how I intend to go on. That said, there will be new additions for the London performance because they're up and ready.' Weir senses that his audience will be open-minded about orchestral arrangements and prepared to 'get with it' on this latest sonic adventure. 'This is for the folks who want to hear something that's a step beyond where it's been — and this is surely that!' he exclaims. So, are we likely to see the cosmic Dark Star, which once ran to 43 minutes but usually clocks in at about 20. 'Dark Star is orchestrated,' replies Weir. 'I won't say I'm taking requests but I'll take it into consideration. We haven't got there with the setlist yet.' When I was 15, I decided on a terribly romantic thing to do — run off and be a cowboy. I guess we'll have to wait and see if he'll play his most cherished Dead co-writes — Sugar Magnolia, Playing In The Band, Estimated Prophet, Hell In A Bucket, Throwing Stones or, of course, Truckin'. While Garcia forged an intuitive songwriting partnership with Robert Hunter, yielding Uncle John's Band, Ripple, Stella Blue and other classics, Weir fell out with Hunter when creating crowd pleaser One More Saturday Night. He confesses: 'There was a lot of tension because I write lyrics too and Hunter was not real good with that. He liked to play it closer to the vest.' So Weir turned to his pal, the late John Barlow, for collaborations. 'Barlow and I went to school together,' he says. 'We grew up together. 'When I was 15, I decided on a terribly romantic thing to do — run off and be a cowboy. 'I worked on Barlow's parents' ranch in Wyoming. Over the years, we would live out there in a little log cabin and write. 'And I'll tell you this — we're just starting to crack the nut on some of our compositions with the orchestral work.' In this free-ranging interview, full of unexpected twists and turns, a bit like a Grateful Dead live set, I ask Weir about his early visits to England. He recalls the 1972 Bickershaw Festival, near Wigan, a doomed venture partly organised by late TV host Jeremy Beadle. The Dead played a five-hour set to the mud-covered crowd and Weir says: 'I remember it well. It was a rainy occasion!' During that tour of Europe, they also did two nights at Wembley Arena (then called Empire Pool) and a four-night stand at London's Lyceum. Weir says they were a band at the peak of its powers, celebrated by the live triple album, Europe '72. 'We were young and strong but jet lag was a serious business,' he adds. 'We took it into consideration in '72 and held off for a few days. 'But we were in a phase when the band was high and we delivered the goods.' This year, Weir has also been delivering for Dead & Company (with John Mayer on lead guitar) at the state-of-the-art The venue projects moving images on to the inside of the huge spherical auditorium but, says Weir, it's still not fully prepared for the Dead's freewheeling attitude. 'Mind-blowing as it is, it's still a work in progress because a great deal of technological development needs to be done before content people can be faster on their feet. 'When that work is done, it's going to surpass opera in terms of what you can deliver from one stage.' As for this restless soul Weir, he believes that his musical journey is only just 'coming to fruition'. 'It's been complicated so it was always going to take a while,' he admits. 'I'm not sure I totally understand what it is that I'm up to but I have a handle on it now to take the next steps forward.' It seems that this line from Truckin' could have been written for Bobby Weir. 'Sometimes the light's all shinin' on me.' 6 Weir says 'Jerry (right) and I were soulmates, I did stuff that he didn't do, and he did stuff that I didn't do. We relied on each other. Credit: Redferns 6 On June 21, Weir is heading to the UK for the first time in 22 years
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23-03-2025
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Bobby Weir Is Open to a 60th Anniversary Grateful Dead Reunion
Today Rolling Stone published a lengthy interview with Bobby Weir, the first all-out Rolling Stone Interview that Weir has ever done. Meeting up with him in Los Angeles, where the Grateful Dead were being honored at the annual MusiCares event, senior writer Angie Martoccio spoke with Weir about a wide variety of topics. Here are a few takeaways. Asked about the idea of a possible reunion to mark the Dead's 60th anniversary this year, Weir said, 'When Phil [Lesh] checked out, so did that notion, because we don't have a bass player who's been playing with us for 60 years now.' But as for future projects with drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, Weir added, tantalizingly, 'I suppose I could go back out. I wouldn't put anybody in [Lesh's] place, so it would be a trio at this point. It'd be me and two drummers. … I haven't thought about it — it's just now occurring to me that it's a possibility that we could do that, since you asked.… I guess we'll just see what the three of us can pull together.' More from Rolling Stone Bobby Weir: 'I've Never Made Plans. I'm Too Busy' We Found a Hidden Selection of Grateful Dead T-Shirts at Walmart - Almost Everything Is Under $35 How Do You Celebrate the Grateful Dead's 60th Anniversary? With 60 Discs, Of Course Lesh, of course, did not join up with Dead & Co., and Weir acknowledged that, over the decades, the two had 'our differences.' But, he added, 'The last phone call I had from him was when the news came out that we were being honored at the Kennedy Center. He called me just simply to congratulate me and us, and that was his entire reason for calling. And when we were done talking about that, I was spun out, he was spun out. We tried to make sense of it for a little bit. And then said, 'Well, OK, see you there,' basically.' (The honors ended up taking place weeks after his death.) According to Weir, the book will likely be called It's Always July Under the Lights, a reference to his penchant for shorts and sandals onstage, and he's written the 'first few chapters' of the book. 'I got a fair bit done,' he added about his morning writing routines. 'I've just got to get back to that. That's going to be excellent news for my publisher.' But we might have to expect a title change at some point. As Weir said, 'Except that's not true anymore. The new lights that they have, it's not always July under the lights.' (Note to Dead & Co. crew: Revert to old-school lighting rigs to inspire him?) Over the last few years, Deadheads have reveled in videos of Weir working out in gyms and in the great outdoors with various weights and hammers. He admitted to RS that he's fallen out of his routines, but not for long: 'I'm about to get back into it because I miss it. I had to take a little break. I got swamped with other stuff. I've gotten awfully busy in the last little while.' Weir added that he's taken to 'running barefoot in the morning on rocky roads. Because I think that's a great way to get grounded. I don't run very fast, because I want to breathe through my nose. And I try to incorporate meditation into that. … You're the first person I've talked to about it. I've been doing it about a year, a year and a half.' 'Oh, absolutely,' Weir said. 'I have no doubt about that. What I'm trying to do is get my concerto project to the point where that is self-sustaining, and then I would probably want other folks to step in when I'm no longer here … That whole thing is constructed so that anyone can step in and do it.' Maybe because he's had a few health scares over the years, including collapsing onstage in 2013, Weir appears sanguine about whatever comes next. 'Every day, things change,' he says. 'I'll say this: I look forward to dying. I tend to think of death as the last and best reward for a life well-lived. That's it. I've still got a lot on my plate, and I won't be ready to go for a while.' Good news for those who've bought tickets to the next round of Dead & Co. shows at the Sphere in Vegas. Best of Rolling Stone The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
