Grateful Dead keyboardists: Vote

With the death of yet another GD keyboardist, I thought it would be interesting to see if anyone has an opinion on these guys (other than I hate this band, they all suck- but that's OK too).

Technically I shouldn't have included Bruce Hornsby as he always stated it was a temporary gig, but he played with them long enough in my mind to be included here.

For me....Pigpen, then Keith G., Brent, TC, Bruce and last Welnick.

Sorry Vince, should have stayed with The Tubes!

I'm sorry, was Pigpen a pianist? I thought not?....

enlighten me!

Originally posted by Analog Kid I'm sorry, was Pigpen a pianist? I thought not?.... enlighten me!

organ....first Farfisa, then a B3 (but mostly vocals and misc. percussion;) ).

ah... cool, i always thought he was a vocalist/harmonica player. I always remember him that way with someone else playing the keys.

Whatever he was, he certainly gave a lot of personality to the band.

I think Brent was the best overall keyboardist they had.

+1

I saw the dead dozens of times between 87 and 95 and brent by far was the most energetic key player they ever had....the guy was a show by himself and indeed a true talent.

Gotta say,

Pigpen really set the tone of the Dead, for the long haul.

Tom added abstract composition skills

Keith really brought what pigpen couldn't play in the same 'american roots' piano tradition.

Brent brought back the Hammond (yay!!!) and probably was the most versatile given the context of the rest of the band at the time.

Vince, well, he stepped up and was a solid hitter, I really dug the Baba Oreilly's, but the overall impact as anything but life support i fail to really see in any scale approaching the other folks above. .

How bout that JGB/LoM tho?

Melvin, Merle, and Keith all complimented the smaller ensembles and overall simplicity of Garcia's projects beautifully imho. Keys were much more centrally represented in both the jamming and the quartet (mostly) format of JGB.

I loved how the Church, 60s Soul strings, and the well rounded (Dylan's, The) Band sound was present without clutter.

Quality at every turn.

also don't forget: http://www.furthernet.com

The Dead for me were always better on paper than in reality. Drawing from multiple genres of music, freely improvising, making their own way in the music biz, etc. is all good stuff but when it comes down to the actual music so much of it is a snoozefest for me although here and there they did some stuff I think is incredible.

As far as the keyboards, Garcia's guitar playing was so dominant I can't say I really know what any of those guys sounded like!

Actually my favorite Dead album is the one that was put together from audio and MIDI data recorded during the "space" segment of their gigs..."Infrared Roses".

they were just a live band plain and simple ....if you didnt see them live then you didnt hear what they were really about...and even the live tapes doenst bring through the energy. certainly there are many other bands that fall into this catagory as well.

Indeed, it's still quite difficult to record on audio the process by which 60k ppl took a venue that on a normal Tues evening is a hockey rink, or sports arena and transform it into a people powered Pan Galactic Space Ship, tool it around like a rental car for 3 hours and bring it back in one piece.

then, 48 hrs later, try to do it with some other place. .

ain't never gonna be nothing like it again. .

You're damn right and that's too bad to think that our current environment/economy is not at all conducive to spawning a band like them, and in no way am I talking just musically.

If you want a great read, even if you never liked the Dead (especially even), I suggest Searching for the Sound by Phil Lesh- pretty sure it just came out in paperback.

Extremely well written to the point of being scholarly on most subjects (especially music), as well as insightful with some wild stories.

After reading it I couldn't agree more...

I played a lot of dead tunes in bands but could never get into them. I respect them a lot but they sounded a little all over the place and not locked in. I know that is how jam bands work but they sounded very "white" to me. I get a lot of them that auditioned for certain positions in the band at one time or another. They could not shake that "Dead" influence at all. It is just something I really notice with jam band musicians. They all have the Garcia thing working.

Originally posted by Analog Kid I'm sorry, was Pigpen a pianist? I thought not?.... enlighten me!

christ....

Pigpen was an organist, so was Tom Constantine....

As a musician- Bruce was the best (jerry even said so himself)

FOR The Dead- Keith- no questions asked

Eyes of the world.. help>slipknot>franklins.. BROWN EYED WOMEN.... those performances speak for themselves- Keith was the {censored}ing man.

I could argue this point with anyone... i know my dead better than anyone in HC hands down (I am on a first name basis with mickey and phil-daddy) ive listened to thousands of shows... its KEITH.

maybe keith was your favorite....but I think most deadheads would vote for brent as i did...he was simply the most versatile and a hell of alot more energetic than keith or any other player they had. Brent held his own on those tunes as well.

To me Brent was the man bottom line.

personally I never really considered TC or BH actual members of the dead...bruce just toured with them after brents death while they were looking for someone else...but he as already established as a solo artist...at the time I never saw him as much more than a fill in....and TC....an avant garde experient that didnt really work....his presence is really very insignificant IMHO. to me the lineup of keys players were pigpen, keith, brent and then vince. my vote continues to go to brent.

Penhood....hmmm.

I think Anthem of the Sun might disagree...

ok ya got me....defineetly one of my favorites...but would he have worked in the more countryish dead that came soon after....would TC have adjusted....guess none of them thought so.

he was good for the stuff he did with them but with where thier direction went I think the dead made appropriate decisions.

Thanks for the kind reply, but you might notice that lyricpoet already informed me.

For me it's Keith all the way too; a great rock piano player. his wife Donna was a Buzzkill though. I never liked Brent really; he could jam the B3 but those trills he always played on piano.... ecchh! I saw the Dead ten times and my favorites players, the core of the band, are Jerry and Bill Kreutzman on drums. Billy is one of the all time great rock drummers to me. I love the Grateful Dead.

Nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile....