The biggest concert of the year, by this reporter's reckoning, has to be the "Fare Thee Well" concert series announced by the Grateful Dead to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the band's legendary shows at Soldier Field in Chicago. Although it will be the band's first official in decades (not counting The Dead gigs), none of the original members have been far from music, including bassist Phil Lesh, who has toured with Phil Lesh & Friends and the Other Ones. Music Times wants to celebrate Lesh's contributions to the Grateful Dead to honor his 75th birthday.
Here are five of the moments in the band's discography where Lesh plays a stronger role than usual, listed chronologically.
"New Potato Caboose" (1968)
Younger listeners might get the wrong impression of the Grateful Dead if they merely listen to the band's studio LPs. "How did this group serve as the foundation for the jam scene as we know it?," they might ask. Indeed, regular ol' recordings of the Dead tend to be much shorter and, although still quality, not up to legendary improvisations that the band showcases on live albums and unofficial bootlegs. "New Potato Caboose" was one of three lengthier tracks featured on the 1968 album Anthem of The Sun, and one that leaned primarily on Lesh for its inspiration. The bassist took care of the instrumentals, while beat poet Robert Peterson added lyrics, making this one of three songs for which he contributed to the Dead's discography. Together, with "That's It for The Other One" and "Alligator," makes Anthem one of the most trippy albums in the band's catalogue.
"St. Stephen / The Eleven" (1969)
As we mentioned, the true joy of the Grateful Dead is in the band's live performances and few capture that experience on recording as well as the classic 1969 set Live/Dead. Iconic music writer Robert Christgau was over the moon about the recording at the time, giving it a rare "A+" rating and deeming the second side of the double album to be "the finest rock improvisation ever recorded." Although that side featured two tracks—"St. Stephen" and "The Eleven"—the band had traditionally transitioned from one to the other during concert performances, making this into essentially one glorious 16-minute track. Although both songs feature songwriting contributions from Lesh, "The Eleven" was more solely his, featuring lyrics from frequent collaborator Robert Hunter. This would be the first time that song appeared on recording, previously only played live. Obviously the whole band gets credit for the music therein, but Lesh deserves kudos for being the man behind the song.
"Box of Rain" (1970)
This is probably the most well-known song from Lesh's contributions to the Grateful Dead. Although Hunter once again provides lyrics for Lesh's instrumentals, this song was more than just another rumination on psychedelia: The bassist composed it in the midst of his father's death from cancer. He reportedly practiced the song while traveling to the nursing home to visit his father for the last time (who was driving, we don't know). There aren't any obvious connections to the events of Lesh's life at the time of the song's release in the lyrics but it's come to have a strange connection with death among the Dead as a whole: It was the last encore played by the band during its final show with Jerry Garcia before the legendary guitarist's death during 1995. The country influences in "Box of Rain" would reappear on multiple Lesh compositions.
"Pride of Cucamonga" (1974)
This is another example of a country-esque song written by Lesh for the Grateful Dead, featuring a pedal-steel guitar and piano prominently. The album that featured "Pride of Cucamonga," From The Mars Hotel, was interesting in that it featured two separate tracks that featured Lesh as the lead vocalist (this and his other songwriting credit on the album, "Unbroken Chain." Those two make up the other Peterson contributions to the Dead's discography). Perhaps the reason why Lesh rarely provided vocals in the studio was because he was nervous singing for a crowd. "Pride of Cucamonga" is one of the rare Grateful Dead tracks that has never been performed live. Maybe we can hope for the "Fare Thee Well" shows?
"Shakedown Street" (1978)
You probably don't need us to tell you that although the Grateful Dead incorporated multiple genres perhaps better than any other band in history, disco was not one of the music forms that was going to result in anything good. Indeed, Shakedown Street—which was released right in the midst of disco fever—is perhaps the most loathed album in the band's history. If anyone was going to come out of that situation looking good however, it had to be the bassist. Lesh wasn't the writer of the title track (that goes to Garcia and Hunter) but the bass-friendly form gave Lesh a chance to show off his skills better than more guitar-dominated rock 'n' roll (even that of the Dead). As usual, Lesh does more than just show up as a necessary rhythm instrument, providing both harmonies and counterpoints. If you struggle to grasp his influence on the Dead's earlier work, try listening for him on this album instead.
