Remembering our last visit with Bob Weir, who shared his humble wisdom a year before his death
I thought. But he didn’t pay attention to the sandals, which had become his signature look in his later years. He was busy playing ball with my questions the best he could, stroking his beard and sipping on a glass of Coke.
He gently opened up to me, the ice clinking around as he dug into his box of memories. I had no idea he’d be gone in less than a year. At 77 — huddled inside A&R Studios, part of the historic Jim Henson studio lot that his bandmate John Mayer had— those memories were still fresh. Sure, he needed that glass of Coke during a break in the interview, a sugar boost after he admitted he was “starting to fade a little bit.” But he was as sharp as ever, talking about stories that stretched back to the Sixties as if they’d all happened last week. At the same time, he was juggling several events in the present to honor his band of 60 years, from the. But he was nonchalant about it all. “I’m the same guy,” he said. “I still have to get out of bed in the morning, and my back’s cranky. Nothing much has changed.”when he was 16, so he was the baby of the family, a little brother figure to Jerry Garcia . And even decades later, after several of his bandmates were gone , he still had a youthful, impish charm about him. If he felt any pressure about carrying on the band’s legacy, he never let any of us see it. That’s why our hearts are aching overof David Bowie’s death . Many of us were busy remembering Bowie, but I’ll admit that I woke up thinking about Weir. I was oiling some cutting boards in my kitchen and listening to “Jack Straw,” as one does on a Saturday, thinking about how quiet he’d been lately. He didn’t perform his annual New Year’s Eve shows with his band the Wolf Bros in Florida, hadn’t posted any recent. And he had no tour dates on the books. I hoped he was doing OK. Hours later, when I received the news, I realized it was Saturday night. Of course it was. I had been chasing Weir down for an interview for years. I envisioned us working out, doing deadlifts together in the gym, or meditating on some distant mountaintop. But our time together at the Henson lot was better than that. I had recently befriended his daughter Chloe, a talentedwho spent countless nights documenting her father onstage. She was eager to introduce me to her dad and his lovely wife Natascha, who hung out in the studio with us during our interview. It gave me a sense of who Weir actually was. To him, the music always came second to family. Though Weir had indulged in plenty of substances in his past — he once took LSD every Saturday for an entire year — he was healthier than most rock stars, and had overcome, Weir was on a macrobiotic diet back in the Haight-Ashbury days. He could be seen eating seaweed in the kitchen of the Dead’s famous house in the neighborhood, chewing incredibly slowly. And when the band’s home wasDon Was, Andy Cohen, and More Remember 'Impossibly Beautiful and Wildly Fiery' Bob Weirlike “He’s more fun than a frog in a glass of milk” and once drove around with a duck in his arms and a glass of champagne, as seen in the wacky video for 1987’s “.” He was also excellent at one-liners. During that ’67 drug raid, when he was escorted out of the house in handcuffs, he yelled, “As they say, just spell the name right!” , grounding the melody while allowing for cosmic exploration. “He’s an extraordinary original player,” Garcia once said. “In a world full of people who sound like each other, he’s really got a style that’s totally unique. I don’t know anybody else that plays the guitar the way he does.” To Bob Dylan, whom the Dead toured with in 1987, Weir was “a very unorthodox rhythm player. Has his own style, not unlike Joni Mitchell but from a different place. Plays strange, augmented chords and half chords at unpredictable intervals that somehow match up with Jerry Garcia — who plays like Charlie Christian and Doc Watson at the same time.” Or, as Weir simplyIt was no secret that Weir was also the most handsome member of the Grateful Dead, responsible for bringing women around. “There’s beautiful Bobby, surrounded by the ugly brothers,” Dead songwriter John Perry Barlow joked in the excellent 2015 documentaryfrom the band, is it gonna be Pigpen?!” Garcia used to joke that this is why they put up with all of Weir’s shenanigans, and that probably includes his often-discussed denim shorts phase of the Eighties. Describing Weir as “The Other One” stopped making sense after Garcia’s death in 1995. Whether in the Wolf Bros., RatDog, or any Dead offshoots like the Other Ones, the Dead, Furthur, and Dead & Company, he became the keeper of the flame for the 30 years that followed . Weir practically lived on the road, touring nonstop since 1965, ensuring the Dead’s music lived on. “One of the things that I hope that I’m remembered for is bringing our culture and other cultures together — by virtue or by example of,” he told me. “I’m hoping that people of varying persuasions will find something they can agree on in the music that I’ve offered, and find each other through it.”Piper Rockelle on Joining OnlyFans: ‘I’ve Never Had a Good Reputation’Robby Krieger and John Densmore Play ‘Riders on the Storm’ With Artists From Around the Globe During our time together, Weir told me he was finally making headway on the memoir he’d been working on for years, fittingly titledI wonder how much he completed, and if we’ll ever get to read it — a look inside his weird and wonderful brain, one last time. “I look forward to dying,” he said proudly. “I tend to think of death as the last and best reward for a life well-lived. That’s it. I’ve still got a lot on my plate, and I won’t be ready to go for a while.” It’s the kind of quote that startles you when you re-read it, almost like he knew he was nearing the end. But that’s not really what stays with me when I revisit our chat, hours after he’s checked out. What I come back to are those Birkenstocks, and how he told me he’d recently abandoned them to run barefoot on rocky roads outside his home. In touch with the earth, in motion, forever. “I think that’s a great way to get grounded,” he said. “It’s a practice that’s amounting to something for me.” Oscar Predictions: ‘Sinners’ Could Shatter the All-Time Nomination Record as International Films Hope for RecognitionKate Reportedly 'Left Absolutely Devastated' by William's 'Brutal' Decision—She Was 'Distraught'Jane Seymour’s Regal Throwback Photo Shows Her & Daughter Katie’s Bond: ‘I Still See This Little Girl Right HereWatch Sara Bareilles Discuss Her Oscar Shortlisted Original Song for Ryan White’s Doc ‘Come See Me in the Good Light’
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Bob Weir, Grateful Dead Co-Founder, Dead at 78Bob Weir, the singer-guitarist who co-founded the Grateful Dead and later found success with Dead & Company, has died at age 78.
Read more »
Bob Weir, Grateful Dead Co-Founder, Dies at 78The singer, songwriter and rhythm guitarist was known for his work on such songs as 'Sugar Magnolia' and 'Playing in the Band.'
Read more »
Grateful Dead Founding Member Bob Weir Dead at 78Bob Weir -- the guitarist and founding member of the Grateful Dead -- has died ... TMZ has learned.
Read more »
Bob Weir Dead at 78: Grateful Dead Founder Succumbed to 'Lung Issues'Grateful Dead founding member Bob Weird has died at 78 after a July cancer diagnosis, succumbing to 'underlying lung issues'
Read more »
Bob Weir, Grateful Dead founding member and a jam band icon, dies at 78Jason Abbruzzese is the assistant managing editor of tech and science for NBC News Digital.
Read more »
Grateful Dead's Bob Weir Dies at 78Bob Weir, a founding member of the Grateful Dead, has passed away at the age of 78 after battling cancer and underlying lung issues, his family announced. Weir, a guitarist, vocalist, and storyteller, was instrumental in shaping American music for over sixty years.
Read more »