Althouse: "In an event that became part of Grateful Dead lore, a 16-year-old Mr. Weir was wandering with a friend in Palo Alto, Calif., on New Year’s Eve 1963 when they heard a banjo playing..."

January 11, 2026

"In an event that became part of Grateful Dead lore, a 16-year-old Mr. Weir was wandering with a friend in Palo Alto, Calif., on New Year’s Eve 1963 when they heard a banjo playing..."

"... and followed the sound to a music store where Mr. Garcia, five years his elder, was preparing to give lessons. 'We sat down and started jamming and had a great old rave,' Mr. Weir later recalled. 'I had my guitar with me and we played a little and decided to start a jug band.' Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions was the earliest iteration of what would eventually become the Grateful Dead...."

From "Bob Weir, Guitarist and Founding Member of the Grateful Dead, Dies at 78/His songwriting and rhythm guitar playing helped shape the San Francisco band’s sound as it became an American institution" (NYT).

He said this last March: "I look forward to dying. I tend to think of death as the last and best reward for a life well-lived. That’s it."

28 comments:

Shouting Thomas said...: I arrived a little late for the Summer of Love in SF, 1971, long after the legendary LSD concerts in Golden Gate Park. But, I still got there in time to see the Dead at Winterland, just a few blocks from my apartment in the Western Addition. The Purple Owsley was still far out and the hippie chicks were still into getting down in all possible formulations, God bless them. Every day was a new R. Crumb comic in real life.; 1/11/26, 5:52 AM
rehajm said...: ….twas was way long in the tooth by the time I experienced. Lots of Mercedes and BMW 5 series in the parking lot at SPAC next to the psychedelic school busses. I could get to some restricted spaces and helped a friend taping the show with dat, the wave of the future it was. Weir was fun to listen to in interviews…; 1/11/26, 6:03 AM
mccullough said...: What a life. RIP; 1/11/26, 6:15 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: Jan. 10, 2026, 7:28 p.m. ET: A full obituary will follow.; 1/11/26, 6:16 AM
john mosby said...: Rehajm, yes: Tapers Tickets. The Dead were ahead of their time in selling the live experience and encouraging bootlegs as free advertising for the shows. Progenitor of everyone filming and posting a concert from their phones. CC, JSM; 1/11/26, 6:47 AM
Hassayamper said...: Progenitor of everyone filming and posting a concert from their phones.

Which is far more annoying than a handful of nerds with tape recorders.; 1/11/26, 6:50 AM
Peachy said...: "Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions"
Love that!; 1/11/26, 7:33 AM
Temujin said...: That was a full life. RIP to the unmistakable voice that still plays on my inner music loop.; 1/11/26, 8:08 AM
Beasts of England said...: ’The Dead were ahead of their time in selling the live experience and encouraging bootlegs as free advertising for the shows.’

An important contribution, to be sure. My favorite band (Widespread Panic) continues the tradition and has areas set up for tapers. I believe Phish does, as well. And in the age of social media, Panic livestreams the audio of every show for free on several platforms. Props to the Dead for starting the trend.; 1/11/26, 8:10 AM
Wince said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/11/26, 8:13 AM
Wince said...: Flashback, I was with Bob Weir the day Jerry Garcia died. We literally got him to bed that night. He blew off a Nightline satellite interview set up in his dressing room after chugging a couple bottles of wine. ABC had extended Nightline to an hour for that purpose, probably at the urging of Peter Jennings who was a big fan of the Dead. Bob just couldn't do it.

Although Bob waxed philosophical on the bus about a dream he had of Jerry the night before, about Jerry standing on the end of a pier, you could tell underneath Bob recognized that a huge part of his own life now was over as well. Maybe that's why he sounded so prepared and reconciled to the fate that awaits us all? I do think the departure of his mentor, Jerry, profoundly changed Bob's outlook.

That was 30 years ago. Complete closure on the memories of 40 years working with Bob, Jerry and the Dead. RIP
(Bumped, added); 1/11/26, 8:23 AM
AMDG said...: I was never a huge fan of the Dead but I tended to prefer the songs he sang. His solo work was more mainstream rock than the Dead. I particularly like “Too Many Losers” and “I Want to Live in America.

I watched the documentary (on Netflix, I believe) he came across as a good guy and a good family man.

RIP; 1/11/26, 8:50 AM
Beasts of England said...: Thanks again for sharing that, Wince. We’re you around far enough back to have met Owsley?; 1/11/26, 8:53 AM
Beasts of England said...: Going through Facebook this morning and I’m impressed that so many of my younger friends (thirties) are posting tributes to Bob. And the Empire State Building was lit up in tie-dye last night. :); 1/11/26, 8:56 AM
Wince said...: Beasts of England said...
Thanks again for sharing that, Wince. We’re you around far enough back to have met Owsley?

Not that I know of. Not being a Deadhead myself, I had to look him up. I first worked the Dead in 1987, and my experience was entirely regional. By then, Dan Healy was ensconced as main sound engineer. Healy "took over the reins following the band's 1974-75 hiatus and continued shaping their live sound for years. Healy collaborated with [Owsley] and the Alembic team on the Wall of Sound's design before becoming the primary soundman for the band's next era, synonymous with the Dead's live sound through the '80s and beyond."; 1/11/26, 9:19 AM
JAORE said...: "I look forward to dying. I tend to think of death as the last and best reward for a life well-lived."
Put me down as a proponent of deferring that reward as long as I'm able (both definitions of able)...; 1/11/26, 9:48 AM
Limited blogger said...: Saw Bob playing with Dead and Company at Bethel Woods in 2021. I thought it was wonderful they kept the music alive. Rest in Peace .; 1/11/26, 10:11 AM
Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...: Wince, did you by chance know Dick Latvala?; 1/11/26, 10:28 AM
Sweetie said...: I saw Bob at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass some years ago. He wasn't on the bill but he showed up on a few stages. On the bill was Don Was (Was Not Was from the 80s, walk the dinosaur a hit of some sort) and Friends. After the first song Don introduced Bob and another guitarist (Buddy Miller) who played on the next song after which Buddy departed. Bob Weir stayed for the rest of the entire nearly one hour set. He was standing about 15 feet away from the 'band' guitarist so it was easy to see that Bob and the 'band' guitarist were playing the same chords/notes for the whole set (after the first song). I add this to note that Bob was somewhat of a musical historian across many genres. And clearly a fan of the funk.; 1/11/26, 11:13 AM
Smilin' Jack said...: "I look forward to dying. I tend to think of death as the last and best reward for a life well-lived. That’s it."

The long, strange trip is its own reward. RIP Bob, and thanks for the soundtrack of my youth.; 1/11/26, 12:08 PM
Political Junkie said...: Too young here (55) and never heard one of their songs. I think as a youngster I was conservative, even though I was D at the time, as I would hear "dead heads" and had only negative thoughts.; 1/11/26, 12:31 PM
Wince said...: Kakistocracy said...
Wince, did you by chance know Dick Latvala?

No, he might have been at some of the shows I was at, but I did not know him by sight.

Below is a campy QVC video (from 1998?) selling GD merch that has Dick Latvala with Steve Parish, lead roadie for the Dead who was a true force of nature. Notice the product line "Dick's Picks" in 1998 did not even elicit a snicker.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_9ZNsbJedk; 1/11/26, 12:36 PM
victoria said...: a genius.; 1/11/26, 2:17 PM
Beasts of England said...: Thanks, Wince!; 1/11/26, 2:33 PM
Clyde said...: Yesterday, there was a post about rock music and its cultural influence. I didn't comment, but I would have noted that classic rock is OLD. While there are still some younger people making rock music, most of the remaining icons from the '60s and '70s are in their 70s and 80s. And sadly, it's become far more common to read about the passing of people whose music we loved. Yesterday, it was Terry Sullivan, 87, the drummer for the English prog rock band Renaissance (who got a mention from me during my end of year music countdown last month). Today, it's Bob Weir. This is, of course, the nature of things:

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

William Shakespeare, Macbeth; 1/11/26, 5:23 PM
Clyde said...: Political Junkie, you can always listen to them now. Might not be your cup of tea, but you never know. If you like, here's my favorite video of theirs, "Touch of Grey":

https://youtu.be/mzvk0fWtCs0?si=dcutJiQ7-eXflBGs; 1/11/26, 5:34 PM
Will Cate said...: First time seeing the band was Sept. 12, 1982, Lakeland FL Civic Arena. General Admission; standing right in front of the band for 3+ hours. I was immediately hooked & saw most all of their Southeastern shows for the next 7-8 years.

When they became famous all over again in 1987 the band was great, but the overall experience became somewhat less pleasant, and by the early 90s it became quite a hassle to make it to a football-stadium sized Dead show.; 1/12/26, 6:21 AM
PM said...: A neighbor. Good guy. Great life. Made a dent in the world.; 1/12/26, 1:17 PM