RIP Phil Lesh

It's been about over a week since Phil Lesh passed away. I was at the local beer bar I hang out at and a co-worker told me of his passing.  It was complete shock, and I was so sad. Everyone had a favorite Dead member. I mean some people love Jerry and some people love Bob. To me it was the outlier of the band who listened to Classical and Jazz and learned what he learned in his brief tenure at Mills College in San Francisco. It was his love of music that did not fit the mold of Country, Folk, Bluegrass R&B, Soul, Blues and everything that the Grateful Dead were known for.  It was the music that Phil Lesh loved that made the Dead a unique mold of its own.

When my first show was in 1989 I knew I was never going to look back. I was also very confused on what this band did.  They play long songs, but everyone knows the words. They go through journeys that are indescribable. They cheer when two songs segue each other.  They go nuts when Jerry makes a crisp guitar solo or when they come out of something called "Drums" where Bill Kreutzmann and Micky Hart awe us with some unique and very creative drum exploration. This is usually preceded by something called "Space" where the who band explores the cosmos and your mind is blown again.  This will happen moire then a few time over the course of the three plus hours of the show. 

I remember wondering if the bass player will get a solo too. Once in a while they would let him do one, and once a while they even let him sing.  There was something unique about Phil. He was not flashy in the times I saw him, but I've seen photos of him wearing a clown outfit. He was if I recall the only member who out of the core group, Mickey, Bob, Jerry, Bill who never put out a solo album. His writing credits include "Box of Rain" and even sung by him. But my personal favorite and one that was barely played and only came out of the repertoire and on to a live performance to be played on their last tour was "Unbroken Chain." Looking up he wrote many oddball tunes, but these are the two and "New Potato Caboose." that stand out the most for me. 

I love "Unbroken Chain" in all it's complex ideas and arrangement. It was the one song that challenged my ears. Jerry once said that the song was so hard, he was surprised that they could do it in the studio; and forget doing it live because it's next to impossible. It was never played on the radio, but it would have been interesting to hear the listeners reactions. 

Blue light rain, whoa, unbroken chain
Looking for familiar faces in an empty window pane
Listening for the secret, searching for the sound
But I could only hear the preacher and the baying of his hounds

Willow sky, whoa, I walk and wonder why
They say love your brother but you will catch it when you try
Roll you down the line boy, drop you for a loss
Ride out on a cold railroad and nail you to a cross

November and more as I wait for the score
They're telling me forgiveness is the key to every door
A slow winter day, a night like forever
Sink like a stone, float like a feather

Lilac rain, unbroken chain
Song of the Saw-Whet owl
Out on the mountain it'll drive you insane
Listening to the winds howl

Unbroken chain of sorrow and pearls
Unbroken chain of sky and sea
Unbroken chain of the western wind
Unbroken chain of you and me

Phil taught me about music that I would have never in a million years listened to.  It was Charles Ives, Ornette Coleman, John Cage, Stockhausen and many others that made my head spin. It was these artist that changed the musical landscape on creative music. I met him for his book signing Searching For the Sound. I said to him thanks for the music and thanks for the Charles Ives and Ornette that you mentioned in the quarterly Dead magazine I subscribed to for over five years. He kinda of joked that he thought nobody read those recommendations. We did it to see if someone was paying attention with a laugh. 

Phil was my Grateful Dead musician.  Like George Harrison in the Beatles, Bill Bruford in Yes and King Crimson, Nick Mason in Pink Floyd, Neil Peart in RUSH and other greats in other great bands. Phil's playing on the dead tunes just made me shake my head. Hearing the story Jerry said once on how Bob and him taught him how to play the bass still makes me laugh.  They taught him well. Thanks for the music Phil and the memories that will last a lifetime.  Time to dig in my Grateful Dead material which is a ton since I own all the official music and about 500Gig of bootlegs and such.  I'm sure I'll find some gem that I will fall in love with. Memories are forever and Phil will live on for eternity. Rest in Power PHIL LESH.