Vince Welnick R.I. P.


Tubes and Grateful Dead keyboard player died . He was 55. An unnamed source said it looked like a suicide. He had said the dead gig was the best musical experience of his career. Hired in 1990 he was said to be depressed by Garcia's death in '95. He never participated in any of the Dead reunion projects.He joins Keith Godchaux , Brent Mydland and Pigpen on the list of deceased Grateful Dead keyboardists. May the four winds blow him safely home.
jsonic

Showing 1 response by ronreid

I can’t speak to the consistency of earlier GD eras as I wasn’t there, but from what I have heard, the music from the late 60’s to early 70’s seems to be my favorite. It seems groovy, inspired and still fun.

Brent was my era, and while I truly enjoyed his playing, I always felt that they were rarely able to cumulatively bring their A game to the live shows. In the 60-80 shows I saw from 85-90 there were brief moments of music nirvana, but I think it was harder for the collective group to maintain that peak experience for an entire show. I can think of maybe 5-6 shows that stand out as really good.

I only saw one Vince show and I wasn't into it at all. The GD in the 90's just didn't work for me.

I keep hoping that GD Productions will release more multi-channel music (DVDA/SACD). I think if every there was a band made for this format, the Grateful Dead were it.
More to discover