Phil Lesh, Bassist Who Anchored the Grateful Dead, Dies at 84

Re:Phil Lesh, Bassist Who Anchored the Grateful Dead, Dies a... by threecheese on Friday October 25, 2024 @05:49PM (#41950148)

I’ve had the opening bass slide down that kicks off Scarlet Begonias/Cornell 1977 (I was a child lol) stuck in my head for days, my god what that must have felt like to see live. Rattled the bones, like a crack of thunder. I am sad.

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Re:Phil Lesh, Bassist Who Anchored the Grateful Dead, Dies a... by tkgally on Friday October 25, 2024 @06:16PM (#41950377)

The Lesh bass line that sticks in my head is in "Me and Bobby McGee" from a show in Fresno in the summer of 1974 [1]. It's a simple three-chord country song, and the usual bass backing would be a straight oom-pah on the beat. But Phil was all over the place with syncopated counterpoint. I've listened to that recording dozens of times.

[1] https://archive.org/details/gd74-07-19.sbd.symons.12381.sbeo...

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Re:Phil Lesh, Bassist Who Anchored the Grateful Dead, Dies a... by threecheese on Friday October 25, 2024 @07:11PM (#41950840)

Love it, listening now. Here’s a great comment for that show (archive.org taper comments for one of the sources):

  > Phil's bass tone is just how I like it, nice and thick.

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Re:Phil Lesh, Bassist Who Anchored the Grateful Dead, Dies a... by ompogUe on Friday October 25, 2024 @07:10PM (#41950836)

My #1 favorite Jerry solo is during Brown Eyed Women at that same concert (Barton Hall).

What a show!

Requiescat in Pace, Mr. Lesh

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