Warren Haynes is one of many people in the music world mourning the death of Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh on Friday at the age of 84. The Guv’t Mule guitarist had a special creative bond with Lesh, and Phil Lesh and Friends, who had played together for years on stage in Lesh’s projects, and the Grateful Dead were offshoots of The Dead. It’s a thing.
Hours after news of Lesh’s death broke, Haynes gave an interview to Rolling Stone, reminiscing about Lesch’s artistry, unique sound, and ability to carry music on stage.
I received a text message from the tour manager. She contacted[the band]and let us know, so we didn’t hear it in the press. My heart stopped. He had a lot of health issues, and I think in some ways we knew about them, but they weren’t as pressing as they turned out to be.
The last time we actually talked was a few months ago. But we really enjoyed playing together earlier this year. Just being able to play as a quintet again was something we all had to do. It was truly a heartwarming and beautiful experience.
Phil called me in the late ’90s and told me he had made a list of musicians he wanted to play with – a pretty extensive list – and that I was one of them. He asked me if I would be interested in coming to the Bay Area, rehearsing for a few days and playing a few shows. I said absolutely. That was the beginning of our relationship that lasted for decades. It was truly a life-changing experience.
He was always positive, always willing to push himself, never resting on his laurels or dwelling on the past.
That was when Phil was telling the people he worked with that he didn't want anyone to play or sing Jerry Garcia’s signature songs. He wanted everyone to bring their own personality and take a fresh approach to all music. He had this idea that it would be really cool to interpret a Grateful Dead song in a completely new way. That was his mission at the time. It was really fun.
The first show I did with him was me, Steve Kimock, Merle Sanders, Donna Godchaux, and John Moro. I knew Kimock a little bit at the time, but only him. But it was a great experience, and it’s interesting to look back on it now. He and I played together a lot, especially with our quintet, which we played a lot of shows together.
It felt very natural and comfortable, and I was inspired from the beginning, but the world was a little new to me. Every time we met, I felt more and more comfortable. I didn’t know much about the songs at first, but I really liked the idea that he wanted to reinvent everything. And then, when the quintet started playing together, we had the opportunity to spend a lot of time together as the incarnation of Phil Lesh and Friends. Because of that, the band really blossomed and the chemistry expanded and got even better with each night’s performance. Basics.
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He was always positive, always willing to push himself, never resting on his laurels or dwelling on the past. Even though we were playing that music, he was trying to take it in a whole new direction. He was fully open to any suggestions from anyone. His whole thing was always about letting the music be what it is. For him, it has always been about leaving everything to chance, throwing cautiously to the wind and letting the music take its course. The only rule was that no one could play or sing like Jerry at that moment.
I quickly realized that his tolerance for music was greater than anyone I had ever met. He had less pressure on music than anyone I’ve ever worked with. Sometimes the jams would get really loud and he loved it. It was just as fun for him when he was in danger of collapsing, or even when he was collapsing. There were times when I thought something wasn’t clicking, something wasn’t working. And I looked at Phil and he just had this big smile on his face. I just followed it.
His approach and worldview are completely unique. I’ve been very fortunate to experience magical improvisation in a variety of ensembles. But his approach is unlike anyone I’ve ever seen. When we did the Rothbury Festival, I remember playing that festival with the Dead, there was a section in this version of “Viola Lee Blues” that was about eight minutes long, which I It was more avant-garde open improvisation than anything I’ve ever heard. was a member of In a way, it sounded like Miles Davis’ “Bitch’s Brew.” We all found the same parts equally mesmerizing because we were just immersed in the music, riding the wave, not thinking, just letting the music push us.
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The Dead – “Viola Lee Blues”
Phil had a very big heart. He has come to many of my Christmas Jam charity shows in Asheville, North Carolina. I never expected anyone to come back and continue to contribute to the cause as much as he did. It was very kind and I ended up having so many great experiences, musically speaking. But I was so touched by his generosity that he made the not-so-easy journey from California to Asheville over and over again.
He not only had a distinct and unique sound, but also an approach. It was as if he were part of an orchestra, playing in addition to the bass part that wasn’t there. He was so experimental and unconventional that nine times out of 10 other great bass players would have played something completely different, and that’s what made him who he was.
he said: “There’s no mistake, just a missed opportunity.” What he meant was that if you play the wrong note, it affects what happens next, and in many cases, you’re in trouble. It means that it will lead to a better result than what you were trying to achieve. And performing with Phil was always about that. It was about taking something that might not work immediately and using it as a new path to explore. There was no right or wrong in his view of music. And while I consider myself to be open-minded, I’ve never looked at things that far before. So experimentation was a big part of the whole picture, and it was a lot of fun to play music with it.
There was no right or wrong in his view of music.
From Phil, I learned about letting it go and relaxing and letting the magic happen. I was used to pushing to make the magic happen. I remember one conversation I had with Dickey Betts. He said the difference between the Allman Brothers’ approach to jamming and the Grateful Dead’s approach to jamming is that the Allman Brothers forced the magic to happen, whereas the Grateful Dead just relaxed and let it happen. Please let me wake up. And he was saying that both are equally beautiful in their own right.
I was used to the Allman Brothers way of making it happen, and I had to slowly baptize the whole concept of making it happen. Some of the Grateful Dead’s early live shows took a long time to find their magic, but when it did, it was well worth the wait. And it was something I had never experienced before.
Phil’s mission has always been to make the best music he can from his own perspective, and not worry about what other people think about it. It’s strictly for that moment, that moment, and we’re here to create magic, and we don’t care how it’s perceived.
I will miss him very much when he is gone. I am grateful for the time we spent together.
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