I spent my NYE with a bottle of bourbon, a fine cigar, and the Grateful Dead Movie. It had been a while since I watched it. Man, it still holds up. Start-to-finish itβs a masterpiece.
As you may know, Iβm a Bob Weir fan. That he has a hot daughter is just a nice distraction. She seems pretty cool and well balanced and apparently has a seat on the bus.
Sheβs posted other pics from school and on vacation. And from being on tour. Check out her dad in this one.
Bobby rules. And so does Monet. Apparently one of her efforts on tour is giving miracles, and about this one she wrote: βFeaturing the moment of the very last Miracle given out for the @deadandcompany Final Tour, to a very nice man named Photon.β
Anyway, and please excuse my lengthy preamble before finally getting to the point of my post, I was reminded last night of a moment you might have missed in the GD movie. Itβs where theyβre setting up the stage and the Wall of Sound and planning/tuning. You get some spacey tune-up licks from Jerry, some Phil messing with his amps, then Bobby, then Betty Cantor-Jackson (of Betty-boards fame) nursing her baby during the interview, and then the unforgettable moment of Phil (who appears to me to be high as hell but what do I know?) improvising with the camera feedback. That part with Phil is the anchor. Thatβs the memorable takeaway. But did you notice the part where Bobby was playing Sage & Spirit and how he was picking it with both his pick and his middle finger?
For reference, from 1975βs Blues for Allah:
So much of what Bobby does can go unnoticed if youβre not paying attention. Another example that Iβve been meaning to mention but havenβt gotten around to it is this from Providence 6/28/74 (keeping with the β74 motif). Did you ever notice Bobby playing the theme of Heaven Help the Fool near the end of a very fine Spanish Jam?
Again for reference (if you donβt own this album, you should):
Heaven Help the Fool is such a great song. Itβs a shame the Dead only played it as an instrumental. I mean, I get it, theyβre not Dead-ish lyrics, but itβs an awesome song.
Iβm sure Iβve posted this before but, again, just for reference.