Bob Weir Passed

Vintage 700b

Chief Journeyman
Joined
Mar 13, 2019
Messages
1,109
Location
Wisconsin
Tagline
Fabricator
Bob Weir passed:
I know the Grateful Dead are not for everyone, but I have always liked their music.
I can’t imagine my own musical evolution without them, and Bob Weir was a major part of the band since day one.
RIP Bob
 
Last edited:
I set the Model One to 1978 to find Bob Weirs' first solo album Ace and the 1978 LP, Heaven Help The Fool.
This LP came out in 1978 and I remember buying it the week that it came out at the Record Shop / Head Shop in Cedar Falls, Ia that I frequented in 1978. I believe it came out in January, and I saw the Grateful Dead live at the coldest concert I have ever been to in Cedar Falls, Ia. On February 5, 1978, The concert was in the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls ( University of Northern Iowa) , which had a cloth soft top cover and the wind that night was wicked. The heat in the Uni Dome was marginal at best but with the wind on an early February night in Iowa, it was really cold for the concert. Despite the cold, it was one of the best concerts I have ever seen. Truckin’ was amazing when the band went into that song, sung of course by Bob Weir. The band had two of their semi’s on either side of the enormous wall of speakers and their stage. The dome went completely black, quiet, and then the semi’s parking lights came on and they fired the engines, smoke and flames coming from the stacks as the band went into the song and the lights came up. I remember it like it was yesterday.
Anyway, RIP Bob Weir, and thank you for decades of wonderful memories!
The ACE LP came out in 1972, and is a stand alone compilation featuring Bob “Ace” Weir and the band.
This one here is a 1988 repress from England. I was really into R2R in the 70’s and had the original 1972 LP recorded in that format.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bob Weir – Heaven Help The Fool
Arista – AB 4155
Released January 13, 1978
Stereo – Terre Haute Pressing – First Pressing

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Bob Weir – Ace
Grateful Dead Records – GDV 4004
UK Pressing – Stereo
Released 1988, First Pressing was in 1972
 

Attachments

  • Bob Weir Heaven Help The Fool II.jpg
    Bob Weir Heaven Help The Fool II.jpg
    808.9 KB · Views: 1
  • Bob Weir Heaven Help The Fool.jpg
    Bob Weir Heaven Help The Fool.jpg
    1.2 MB · Views: 1
  • Bob Weir Ace II.jpg
    Bob Weir Ace II.jpg
    701.6 KB · Views: 1
  • Bob Weir Ace.jpg
    Bob Weir Ace.jpg
    1.2 MB · Views: 1
The Dead was one concert that got away from me - should have made an effort to travel somewhere, somehow, to see them. Great band, not everything they did was a favorite but I'd say a concert or two would have helped me appreciate them more. Still, great songwriter, great musician and from all accounts, an amazing collaborator. RIP, Bob. We'll always have Sugar Magnolia.
 
I never got on with them. Phish either. The whole "jam band" thing... I went to plenty of open jams over the decades and played. Didn't feel the need to pay to watch others jam for me.

I did go to several Phish shows, as my parter at the guitar shop was their guitar and finally drum tech. Backstage wasn't horrible, and the guys were cool. I also delivered a prototype Joe Montineri snare to John Fishman to try out. I was giving it a whirl on stage as the guys were above me flying the lights. They complained I needed to turn it down... (no power to the stage yet- it was "that loud" without the FOH PA active.) It was made of 1/4" hot-rolled steel plate. And, yeah, it was loud.
 
The Dead is at least partially responsible for any hearing loss I may have suffered over the years...my late wife and I attended a Dead concert (our one and only Dead concert) in Syracuse NY at the Syracuse University field house back in college days. The sound level was beyond deafening, bordering on making us nauseous. One was enough...
 
They did play loud. I always stayed off the floor area away from the stage. I've seen them several times, and yes, it was many dbl above comfortable at times. Their wall of sound was legendary.
I had a similar experience watching the James Gang, my ears took a beating, and I believe that was 1971 as well, Joe Walsh was still with them.
Here is an advertisement for that GD Syracuse concert, and I know there are bootlegs of it out there, as it was broadcast on a Syracuse campus radio station (WAER 88.3 FM) then. Ad and a backstage pass:




Dead Concert In Syracuse 1971.webp Stage Pass for GD Show 1971 In Syracuse.jpg
 
Last edited:
Back
Top