Phil Lesh, Bassist for Grateful Dead, Dies at 84 [View all]
Source: Variety
Bassist Phil Lesh, whose dense, inventive playing powered the Grateful Dead and, following the 1995 death of guitarist Jerry Garcia, many of the San Francisco band’s touring reincarnations, died Friday. He was 84.
The news was posted on his official Instagram page with the message “Phil Lesh, bassist and founding member of The Grateful Dead, passed peacefully this morning. He was surrounded by his family and full of love. Phil brought immense joy to everyone around him and leaves behind a legacy of music and love. We request that you respect the Lesh family’s privacy at this time.”
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It is difficult to envision the oft-sprawling, improvisational work of the Dead without the sophisticated contributions of Lesh, who — like his Bay Area colleague Jack Casady of Jefferson Airplane and his English contemporary Jack Bruce of Cream — essentially reinvented the role of the bassist in a rock band format, in a unit that began life playing covers of bluegrass, blues and country tunes.
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As a writer, he co-authored a number of compositions – “St. Stephen,” “The Eleven” and the epic “Dark Star” – which became long-form, jam-oriented fixtures of the Dead’s concert repertoire that were much beloved by legions of bootlegging fans. In 1968-70, he was aided and abetted in the band by keyboardist Tom Constanten, his like-minded former roommate at Oakland’s Mills College.
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Read more: https://variety.com/2024/music/news/phil-lesh-dies-grateful-dead-1236191200/
Another giant gone. RIP.
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