Searching for the Sound by Phillip C. Lesh

[JRL]

//http://www.powells.com/biblio/0316009989

This is the one I've been hoping for. Order now you can get a signed copy and a 4 song cd.

Phil Lesh is a great musician and a great man and HE WAS THERE!
The Grateful Dead was as much his creation as it was the the fat guy that stood stage left. He is one of the few in my opinion qualified to talk about Mr. Garcia.

I can't wait!

[jikuhchagi]

yeah, but I wish they posted that promo FIRST. I already ordered the earilier promo via amazon, which isn't quite as tasty. damn, maybe I should order a second copy?

j :lol:

[JRL]

Got the book today in the mail. Right from page one it is obvious that Mr. Lesh is first and formost a MUSICIAN. As he says, and I so relate to this, music has "defined" his life.

This is gonna be good!

[judih]

i'm convinced.
hope to get mine soon.

judih

[JRL]

I am up to the Acid Test days. I caught the very tail end of the era, a lot through my older brothers tales of beatnick glory.

What  glorious days!  Let us keep that spirit of freedom, love and joy alive in everything we do! As Phil and Hunter say "it means more now than you'll ever know"

Thank you and leave it on!

[JRL]

Finished the book. Good stuff folks. It really does give you an idea of wehat it was like from the inside, from one of the 4 people on the planet that were there for the whole ride.

Deadhead to Kruetzman: Bill, you went to every single Grateful Dead show!!

[judih]

My book came in the mail today - not bad - from April 20 - May 11th
+ a CD with comments including my all-time upper favourite Box of Rain.

Great timing. Can't wait to clear my mind with Lesh speak.

letcha know

judih

[JRL]

LONG LIVE PHILLIP CHAPMAN LESH!!!!!!!

[TroutMask]

I'm about 1/2-way through. It's really great to hear about the beginnings of the Dead from one of them.

-TM

[JRL]

Through Phil's compassionate eye and broken heart the same old stories take on a new glow. So human a man!

[laughingwillow]

The wife picked up a copy of Phil's book the other day for me. It is nice to read Phil's perspective on things.

JRL: I just read Phil's take on the valentines day show in 1968 when they opened the Carousel Ballroom. The second set was dedicated to Neil Cassiday, who had died some days earlier. Phil said the show was sort of a proto-type of things to come and remembers it as being a monster to boot.

Anyway, I'm listening to that set as we speak and just want to remind you that you, too, have a copy.

Alligator..........

lw

[JRL]

I will check it out. I was listening to the 1980 Fox Theater  show. I am still not sold on that era but because of your regarded opinion I am digging deeper.  Garcia does seem to be singing pretty good and got a wicked tone with those false harmonics.

Good book though, isn't it. Dr, Lesh is a great soul. Listening to some of the later shows, when Garcia sounds totally nodded out, I hear Phil take the whole band on his back and carry them through.

[laughingwillow]

I just finished the book. Couldn't hardly put it down.

A few details have become lodged in me craw...

Phil has an entheogenic world view consistent with the general population of this site.
 
However, he claims that most doses he consumed consisted of less than 100 ug. I could see that being a wish for most instances of dosing before going on stage. But those guys were drinking out of dosed beverages communal fashion and there ain't no guarantees on dosage management at that point, as described vividly in the one instance he copped to getting way high before a show.

I can't help but wonder if some of this has been a little watered-down in a desire to keep his own children from doing some of the things he did. (I read no mention of his experiences smoking dmt, although others close to him have publically discussed his usage of the chem in question. I'd really like ot hear Phil's take on dmt.

When all is said and done, Dan Healey appears to be the only person in the scene Phil chose to villify to any extent. The two managers embezzling band funds seemed to cause Phil less consternation than Healey's antics at the sound board, in the end.

The funny thing is, we caught a couple shows of that dead tour with sting mentioned. And I distinctly remember thinking that it was a little dissapointing to hear the meager little sound sting was able to muster in Soldier Field. It was a joke, really. And now it turns out healey was sending only 75% of available power through the pa for their set.

And the bidness of healey regularly messing with Boby in the mix appears to have been substantiated as well. In the end, Phil calls healey an amateur guitarist with sites on Bobby's place in the band....

I had wondered for a long time if'n healey lowering bobby in the mix wasn't approved by the band after they tried to fire him and pig. But the book makes it pretty clear that wasn't the case.

lw

[JRL]

The thing with Pig and Weir happened years before the Healy stuff Phil talks about. Phil appearently respects Weir's musicianship.

I didn't remember the 100 mic citation. Hard to believe though. Given that Owsleys standard was 200+ and that Phil was in the middle of the most hooked up psychedelic scene on the planet. I would think he got a bit more than that from time to time.

An other thing too. Phil had a pretty big rep for meth use in the day and look at how skinny he was in the Live Dead pictures. Injected meth was a huge part of the scene back then, and not just in the declineing Haight St years. Phil claims that it was a pre Dead short term thing. Who knows?

All in all Phil seems to have stood his ground. He seems to have weathered the storm with his soul intact. I am sure there is much darkness that he attenuatted for the sake of decorum, I mean I am sure he must have some anger issues with the way Garcia folded his winning hand. A band that intense and long lived has the same kind of dynamics as a family. Is there a support group for bandmates of drug addicts? Guess I should ask the guys I play with.

[laughingwillow]

Right on.

The 100ug quote is found on page 147.

And there ain't nothing subliminal about the glow of a well-dosed jug of juice, nor the tingle one gets from handling a freshly dipped sheet.

lw