By outdoor-nature-child.com Phil Lesh, the legendary bassist, songwriter, and founding member of the Grateful Dead, passed away at the age of 84. It’s noteworthy that one of his earliest memories was being mesmerized by Brahms’s Symphony No. 1. While Lesh is widely celebrated for his role with the Grateful Dead, his classical training and diverse musical influences allowed his bass playing to transcend the traditional boundaries often associated with rock music.
Formed in San Francisco in 1965, the Grateful Dead carved out a unique niche in the realm of improvisational music, with Lesh’s innovative bass lines enabling the band to explore a rich tapestry of rock, blues, and country through their extensive jams. Although their concerts could sometimes be unpredictable and even lackluster, dedicated fans knew that when inspiration struck, the results were nothing short of magical.
The band’s live performances have been immortalized in many official recordings and a myriad of bootleg tapes. Among these, “Live/Dead” (1969) and the box set “So Many Roads” (1965-1995) showcase Lesh’s deep contributions, particularly his extended introduction to “Dark Star,” which has become a hallmark of the band’s sound. His intricate, contrapuntal bass lines were as integral to their music as Jerry Garcia’s iconic guitar riffs.
Lesh was also a key songwriter for the band, penning some of their most enduring tracks. His most poignant song, “Box of Rain” from the 1970 album “American Beauty,” serves as a heartfelt tribute to his dying father, featuring lyrics by Robert Hunter. Additionally, he contributed to classics such as “Truckin’” and “Cumberland Blues.” His creativity shone through in “Unbroken Chain” and “Pride of Cucamonga” from the 1974 album “From the Mars Hotel,” as well as the funky “Passenger” from “Terrapin Station” (1977), and the beloved concert favorite “St. Stephen.”
Born in Berkeley, California, Phil was the son of Frank, an amateur musician, and Barbara Lesh (née Chapman). He was raised under the influence of his grandmother, Jewel “Bobbie” Chapman, a classical music enthusiast who kept their home filled with symphonic sounds. In his autobiography, “Searching for the Sound: My Life With the Grateful Dead,” Lesh recalled, “I was awakened to the power of music early in life through the magic of radio broadcasts and by listening to my father play, from memory, his favorite tunes on the piano.” He began his musical journey on the violin and performed with the Young People’s Symphony Orchestra in Berkeley.
At 14, Lesh transitioned to the trumpet and eventually moved to Berkeley High School to focus on harmony studies. He dabbled in free jazz and avant-garde classical music before briefly attending San Francisco State College and the College of San Mateo. Ultimately, he dropped out to study with Italian composer Luciano Berio at Mills College in Oakland, where he collaborated with future minimalist Steve Reich.
In 1965, Lesh met Jerry Garcia, who was then more recognized as a bluegrass banjo player and performing with his band the Warlocks. Lesh was captivated by the idea that “music with that kind of directness and simplicity could deliver an aesthetic and emotional payoff comparable to that of the greatest operatic or symphonic works.” Garcia promptly named Lesh the band’s new bassist, to which Lesh replied, “Why not?” Soon, the group became known as the Grateful Dead. Unswayed by traditional bass techniques, Lesh approached the instrument with a mindset akin to other 1960s trailblazers like Jack Bruce of Cream and John Entwistle of The Who.
The Grateful Dead’s illustrious journey concluded with Garcia’s passing in 1995, just a year after their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. However, the band members consistently pursued various projects outside of the group. In 1975, Lesh collaborated with electronics expert Ned Lagin and other Californian musicians on the experimental album “Seastones.” In 1998, he joined fellow Dead members Bob Weir and Mickey Hart, along with former Dead keyboardist Bruce Hornsby, to form a new group called the Other Ones, which later rebranded as the Dead.
After undergoing a liver transplant in 2006 due to chronic hepatitis C, Lesh bounced back and launched his ensemble, Phil Lesh and Friends. This project had its first iteration in 1994 with Garcia, but from 1999 onward, it evolved into a rotating cast of musicians, featuring talents from bands like Phish and the Allman Brothers Band. The Phil Lesh Quintet, a more stable formation of the group, released several live albums and the studio album “There and Back Again” in 2002. An appearance with Weir and Hart in 2008 supported Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.
Lesh opened Terrapin Crossroads, a restaurant and music venue in San Rafael, California, in 2012, where his sons Grahame and Brian often performed with the house band. In 2009, he and Weir rejoined to form Furthur, a sextet that played music inspired by the Grateful Dead. In 2015, Lesh reunited with Weir, Hart, and drummer Bill Kreutzmann for a series of farewell concerts celebrating 50 years of the Grateful Dead.
Despite battling prostate cancer in 2006 and bladder cancer in 2015—the latter being the same disease that took his father—Lesh’s unwavering passion for music persisted. He is survived by his wife, Jill, with whom he established the Unbroken Chain Foundation, dedicated to supporting music, education, and environmental charities, as well as his sons Grahame and Brian, and a grandson. Phil Lesh, a true musical pioneer, will be remembered for his indelible contributions to the world of music.