Phil Lesh
2021After the band's disbanding in 1995, Lesh continued the tradition of Grateful Dead family music with side project Phil Lesh and Friends, which paid homage to the Dead's music by playing their originals, common covers, and the songs of the members of his band. Lesh operated a music venue called Terrapin Crossroads. He scaled back his touring regimen in 2014 but continues to perform with Phil Lesh & Friends at select venues. From 2009 to 2014, he performed in Furthur alongside former Grateful Dead bandmate Bob Weir.
Lesh was born in Berkeley, California, United States, and started out as a violin player. While enrolled at Berkeley High School he switched to trumpet and participated in all of the school's music-related extracurricular activities. Studying the instrument under Bob Hansen, conductor of the symphonic Golden Gate Park Band, he developed a keen interest in avant-garde classical music and free jazz. After attending San Francisco State University for a semester, Lesh was unable to secure a favorable position in the school's band or orchestra and determined that he was not ready to pursue a higher education. Upon dropping out, he successfully auditioned for the renowned Sixth Army Band (then stationed at the Presidio of San Francisco) with the assistance of Hansen, but was ultimately determined to be unfit for military service.
Shortly thereafter, he enrolled at the College of San Mateo, where he wrote charts for the community college's well-regarded big band and ascended to the first trumpet chair. (A snippet of tape of Lesh on trumpet at CSM can be heard on "Born Cross-Eyed" from the Grateful Dead's 1968 release Anthem of the Sun.) After transferring with sophomore standing to the University of California, Berkeley in 1961, he befriended future Grateful Dead keyboardist Tom Constanten before dropping out again after less than a semester. At the behest of Constanten, he studied under the Italian modernist Luciano Berio in a graduate-level course at Mills College in the spring of 1962; their classmates included Steve Reich and Stanford University cross-registrant John Chowning.
While volunteering for KPFA as a recording engineer during this period, he met bluegrass banjo player Jerry Garcia. Despite seemingly opposite musical interests, they soon formed a friendship. Following a brief period as a Post Office Department employee and keno marker in Las Vegas (initially rooming with Constanten, who soon departed to study under Berio and other members of the Darmstadt School in Europe); a second stint with the Post Office in San Francisco; and a collaboration with the likes of Reich, Jon Gibson and Constanten upon the latter's return from Europe under the auspices of the San Francisco Mime Troupe, Lesh was talked into becoming the bassist for Garcia's new rock band (then known as The Warlocks) in the fall of 1964. This was a peculiar turn of events, as Lesh had never before played bass. According to Lesh, the first song he rehearsed with the band was "I Know You Rider". He joined them for their third or fourth gig (memories vary) and stayed until the end. ...
Source: Article "Phil Lesh" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Grateful Dead: Fare Thee Well - 50 Years of Grateful Dead (Chicago)
Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Grateful Dead, the "core four" original members - Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh, and Bob Weir - reunited at Chicago's Soldier Field on July 3rd, 4th and 5th for the most anticipated concerts in recent history. Joined by Trey Anastasio, Jeff Chimenti, and Bruce Hornsby. Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years Of Grateful Dead is the original members' last-ever performance together nearly 20 years to the day of the last ever Grateful Dead concert with Jerry Garcia, which took place at the same historic venue.
Grateful Dead: Fare Thee Well - 50 Years of Grateful Dead (Chicago)
Grateful Dead: Anthem to Beauty
Jeremy Marre
Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir
This installment of the Classic Albums series follows the making of two Grateful Dead albums, the fiercely experimental Anthem of the Sun and the understated masterwork American Beauty, which spawned melodic gems like "Sugar Magnolia" and "Ripple." Between the archival scenes and contemporary interviews with band members, the DVD shows a band making seismic inroads in pop music--and five young guys coming to terms with artistry, mortality, and, yes, the pursuit of happiness. There is priceless footage of Neal Cassady driving Ken Kesey's bus and of the Dead, surrounded by martini-sipping hipsters, on Playboy After Dark. The best scenes involve band members talking about specific songs (you will never hear Phil Lesh's "Box of Rain" again without thinking of it as a gift to his dying father) or deconstructing a tune by playing each track separately. Intimate and surprisingly cohesive, Anthem to Beauty is a rare glimpse into how the Dead's magic was made.
Grateful Dead: Anthem to Beauty
Rising Low
Mike Gordon
Matt Abts, Jack Bruce
Based on the life and death of Gov't Mule bassist Allen Woody, and the making of a double-disc tribute album (Gov't Mule's The Deep End , Volumes 1 & 2) featuring a host of legendary bass players. Throughout the film, director Mike Gordon (of Phish, who also plays on the album) interviews Woody's family and bandmates and also discusses the philosophy and technique of bass playing with a number of the instrument's legends, including Chris Squire, Les Claypool, John Entwistle, Flea, Bootsy Collins, Mike Watt, Roger Glover and others.
Rising Low
Grateful Dead: Fare Thee Well - 50 Years of Grateful Dead (Santa Clara)
Bob Weir, Phil Lesh
Ending months of speculation and anticipation surrounding the first Fare Thee Well -Celebrating 50 Years of the Grateful Dead concert, the “core four” remaining Grateful Dead members -drummers Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart, bassist Phil Lesh and guitarist Bob Weir -along with Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio and keyboardists Bruce Hornsby and Jeff Chimenti slowly eased into “Truckin’” to begin the show. The biographical lyrics to the song proved to be a fitting choice to start the anniversary celebration, with the famed “What a long strange trip it’s been” verse capturing the moment perfectly. Recorded at Levi's Stadium on June 27th and 28th, 2015.
Grateful Dead: Fare Thee Well - 50 Years of Grateful Dead (Santa Clara)
Grateful Dead: All The Years Combine, Bonus Disc
Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir
Bonus Disc Performances Shoreline Ampitheatre • Mountain View, CA • October 2, 1987 14-1 China Cat Sunflower 14-2 I Know You Rider 14-3 Man Smart, Woman Smarter Sullivan Stadium • Foxboro, MA • July 2, 1989 14-4 Friend Of The Devil The World Ampitheatre • Tinley Park, IL • July 22, 1990 14-5 Hey Pockey Way Soldier Field • Chicago, IL • June 22, 1991 14-6 Shakedown Street 1992 Documentary Backstage Pass, Directed By Justin Kreutzmann 14-7 Backstage Pass New Interview With Grateful Dead Archivist David Lemieux 14-8 New Interview With Archivist David Lemieux
Grateful Dead: All The Years Combine - The DVD Collection
Grateful Dead: Live on Rockpalast
Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir
The Grateful Dead performs two sets at Essen's Grugahalle in March of 1981. WDR's Rockpalast captures the magic for German televison -- including a special guest: Pete Townsend of The Who.
Grateful Dead: Live on Rockpalast
