Bobby Weir, Part 2

Rich Mahan (0:01)

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The Good Ol Grateful Deadcast, the official podcast of the Grateful Dead. I'm Rich Mahan with Jesse Jarnow, exploring the music and legacy of the Grateful Dead for the Committed And The Curious.

Ladies and gentlemen, fellow Deadheads, welcome to season 13 of the Good Ol Grateful Deadcast. I'm your co-host Rich Mahan. Thank you very much for tuning in. In this episode of the Good Ol Grateful Deadcast, we have the second part of our two-part tribute to the one and only Bobby Weir.

There are some recent releases worth noting. First and foremost, check out the recently released Hi-Fi vinyl pressing of Working Man's Dead, as well as a very cool reel-to-reel version. That's right, actual reel-to-reel tape. Both of these high-fidelity versions of Working Man's Dead are available exclusively at rhino.com, so hurry over there before they disappear. Also new on the release front and just announced is the 50th anniversary edition of Steal Your Face, The Dead's 1976 live album. It's been remastered and is available for pre-order now at dead.net as a 2 LP set with beautiful red, blue and black splatter vinyl. This anniversary edition was newly remastered by Grammy award-winning engineer David Glasser at Air Show Mastering, sourced from the Plangent Processes Restored and Speed Corrected tapes. So you know it's going to sound better than ever. Lackers were cut by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grunman Mastering. The Steal Your Face 50th anniversary edition is available for pre-order now at dead.net and it hits the streets on June 5th.

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Well, today we have the second part of our two-part series about Bobby Weir, the singularly unique guitarist and vocalist who is every bit as important to the Grateful Dead sound and legacy as his best buddy Jerry Garcia was. He's always been here playing music for us and thankfully so very much of what he did was recorded for us to relish for generations to come. It's hard to encapsulate everything Bobby did in his musical life into two episodes, but that doesn't mean we can't celebrate him in our own special way. Let's get to it. Here's Jesse Jarnow.

Jesse Jarnow (3:57)

In the first part of our extended tribute to the great Bobby Weir, we traced how he went from a fresh-faced Atherton folky My name is Bob Weir.

Bob Weir (4:05)

I play a whole mess of instruments, guitar, wash tub bass, jug, kazoo.

Jesse Jarnow (4:11)

to genuine rock star.

And that's where we begin today's episode, with Bobby Weir suspended in the timeless space of stage being. But we also begin at the Grateful Dead's Arena Peak. Grateful Dead archivist and legacy manager, David Lemieux.

David Lemieux (4:57)

April Fools, 88, Brendan Byrne Arena, and I was probably eight or 10th row, right in front of Phil, so right between Phil and Bobby, like just, I mean, I'm 17 years old, and these guys, my heroes are like right there. And Bobby was such a rock star that night in a great way.

Well, Barney's clothing store from New York, and so he was wearing a long sleeve. They looked like silk shirts, button down, really nice shirts. And he wore those most nights on the spring tour of 88 And I remember, and his hair was getting a lot longer too, but his hair looked great.

Brett Pauley (6:02)

His hair was perfect.

David Lemieux (6:06)

And he did Ballad of a Thin Man, and he was inside that song. And I remember I was, and I loved Ballad of a Thin Man. I was at the time I was 17, I was a Dylan fan. I love that song, but to hear Bobby sing it and own it, and sing it, growling it, that is a memory I'll never forget.