Grateful Dead Bassist Phil Lesh Dead at 84

[huntertrw]

Philip Chapman Lesh, the bassist for the Grateful Dead died today at the age of 84. Mr. Lesh was born on March 15, 1940 in Berkeley, California, and originally played violin from the age of eight through the Berkeley High School. At the College of San Mateo he played trumpet. While working at Berkeley Public Radio station KPFA as a recording engineer he met Jerry Garcia, then a bluegrass banjo player, and the rest is history.

It's interesting to note that when he joined the Grateful Dead he had never before played bass, and literally learned on the job, That proved to be a blessing for he had no preconceived notions regarding "traditional" bass rhythms and roles, allowing the development of his unique style.

Here's a link to one of my favorite Lesh compositions which appeared on the Grateful Dead's From The Mars Hotel album.

Rest in peace, Sir!

 

[renfield]

He wrote and sang one of my favorite Dead tunes, Box of Rain.

R.I.P. Phil.

Another one gone.

 

[mngslvs]

Lives in my mind alongside Jack Bruce and Jaco Pastorius. Loved his bass bombs.
formidable musician.

 

[BingBong]

Lives in my mind alongside Jack Bruce and Jaco Pastorius. Loved his bass bombs.
formidable musician.

10 years to the day that Jack died, 25th October 2014. RIP all.

 

[bullet08]

"Truckin', got my chips cashed in
Keep truckin', like the doo-dah man.."

RIP

 

[JimInks]

He used to visit my comic book shop with Jerry Garcia, although Jerry was the comics fan, and not Phil Lesh. He was a nice fella. We didn't have any long chats, but the ones we had were extremely friendly and pleasant.

 

[anotherbob]

got to see him and Robbie Krieger (sorry if spelled wrong) do an interesting free show once. Pretty low key awesome thing.

 

[trudger]

The Phil Zone was a fun place to be.

 

[UB 40]

My brother introduced me to the Dead when I was eleven in the early 1970 with American Beauty. Had my first record player. Then I read Phil Lesh on the cover the first time. Ah yes, also for me Box of Rain was one of the songs spinning in my mind since then.

 

[huntertrw]

Here's a link to an on-line article from faroutmagazine.co.uk about the backstory for Mr. Lesh's song Box of Rain.

Enjoy!

 

[Merton]

The Thundering Bass riff which begins " (That's It for) The other One" is really great! RIP

 

[Bright Orange Red]

Sad day yesterday. It hit my wife and I very hard. We've seen the Grateful Dead and their different iterations hundreds of times. Absolutely heartbroken, but Forever Grateful.