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.
After performing for three decades with the Grateful Dead, Lesh continued onward with other related projects including The Other Ones with most of the members of the Grateful Dead who continued on after the passing of Jerry Garcia and included John Molo, Mark Karan and David Murray. From there he formed the band Further which included Grateful Dead bandmate Bobby Weir plus Jeff Chimenti,John Kadlecik, Joe Russo and others.
All the while Lesh played with a variety of bands that he fronted most notably Phil Lesh and Friends which during its time as the Phil Lesh Quintet included John Molo, Warren Haynes, Rob Barraco and Jimmy Herring. Aside from the version that was dubbed the Phil Lesh Quintet, this Phil and Friends lineup varied from run to run and included a diverse array of musicians including Stanley Jordan, Marcus King, Steve Kimock, Chris Robinson, James Cassey, Larry Campbell, Mike Gordon, Trey Anastasio,Barry Sless, Joe Russo, John Kadlecik and a seemingly endless list of musicians.
Lesh brought a compositional quality to the Grateful Dead, providing both a foundation for the band’s sonic journeys, and inspiring his own sojourns only to land the band back to earth with sonic bass lines that fans lovingly compared to the dropping of bombs. His hit song with the Dead was most notably the early 1970s classic Box of Rain, but of note were more compositions including the exploratory Unbroken Chain and the playful and amusing Pride of Cucamonga. He is credited with pushing the band toward longer forms of jazz improvisations and explorations yet still had a sense of rhythm and song structure that was rooted in classic American rock and roll, jazz, bluegrass and folk music.
Lesh’s influence can be felt by everyone from his son Grahame Lesh who performs nationally with his own band, Midnight North, to unlikely bassists including Geddy Lee of Rush and Reed Mathis of Jacob Fred’s Jazz Odyssey and other projects, Mike Gordon and many others. Lesh was 84 years old. No cause of death has been released.
Lesh continued to play including this year with shows at the famed Capitol Theatre in Port Chester NY which became an East coast home for Lesh, a venue he performed at countless times in the last ten years. It was his annual birthday trip to the East.
The Grateful Dead have lost so many including Jerry Garcia, Ron Pigpen McKernan, Vince Welnick, Brent Midland and Keith Godchaux. Surviving members include Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Bobby Weir, Tom Constanten, and occasional members like Bruce Hornsby. After nearly six decades the band’s musical and cultural influence continues on in countless bands who either directly pay tribute to the band or bands who owe a great deal of influence from the band who defined the Haight Ashbury music scene and American counter culture itself.
On the long strange trip of the Grateful Dead, it is easy to argue that the secret sauce was Lesh’s playing, and fans embraced him. For years fans chanted “Let Phil Sing” and some fans had a preferred spot in the venue dubbed Phil side. Others spoke of “The Phil Zone” and there were t-shirts that used the outer space and font of the Twilight Zone. The elder statesman of the Grateful Dead was certainly Phil Lesh and his contributions to their sound can not be over stated.
The Grateful Dead sold tens of millions of albums. They hold the record for the most number of albums on the Billboard top 200 charts, with fifty nine albums charting. This is more than either Elvis Presley or Frank Sinatra, and double the number of Beatles albums that hit that mark, making his work among the most influential and long lasting books of music in modern history.
May his memory be a blessing to his family and friends, and to the extended network of Deadheads worldwide who revered his incredible body of work.
Look out of any window
Any morning, any evening, any day
Maybe the sun is shining
Birds are winging or rain is falling from a heavy sky
What do you want me to do
To do for you to see you through?
For this is all a dream we dreamed
One afternoon long ago
Walk out of any doorway
Feel your way, feel your way like the day before
Maybe you’ll find direction
Around some corner where it’s been waiting to meet you
What do you want me to do
To watch for you while you’re sleeping?
Then please don’t be surprised
When you find me dreaming too
Look into any eyes you find by you
You can see clear through to another day
Maybe it’s been seen before through other eyes
On other days while going home
What do you want me to do
To do for you to see you through?
It’s all a dream we dreamed
One afternoon long ago
Walk into splintered sunlight
Inch your way through dead dreams to another land
Maybe you’re tired and broken
Your tongue is twisted with words half spoken
And thoughts unclear
What do you want me to do
To do for you to see you through?
A box of rain will ease the pain
And love will see you through
Just a box of rain, wind and water
Believe it if you need it
If you don’t, just pass it on
Sun and shower, wind and rain
In and out the window
Like a moth before a flame
And it’s just a box of rain
I don’t know who put it there
Believe it if you need it
Or leave it if you dare
And it’s just a box of rain
Or a ribbon for your hair
Such a long, long time to be gone
And a short time to be there
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Robert Hunter / Philip Lesh
Box of Rain lyrics © Ice Nine Publishing Co Inc.
Title photo by Steve Kennedy
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