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Iconic band the Grateful Dead, is remembering one of its original members, Phil Lesh, who died in October at the age of 84.
Bobby Weir, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart spoke with CBS News’ Anthony Mason just five days after his death and said they had plans to play together the very next day.
“I was hoping that we could play with him again one more time. So that was my sadness,” said Kreutzmann, a drummer for the Grateful Dead. “‘Cause I know he wanted to play with us again, too.”
A charter member of the group, Lesh had studied classical violin and jazz trumpet when Jerry Garcia brought him into the band in 1965. He had never picked up a bass.
“We gave him a Gibson four-string. A little hardbody Gibson four-string. He mastered that thing in a day,” Kreutzmann said.
The Grateful Dead’s lasting memories of Lesh
Following Lesh’s death, Kreutzmann, along with Weir and Hart, released statements about their beloved former bandmate and how he changed their lives. They all agreed he impacted their musical taste and style significantly.
“Phil turned me on to North Indian classical music. That was a major thing in my life,” Hart said.
“You know, I owe so much to the stuff that Phil taught me or turned me on to,” Weir said.
They called Lesh a classical musician who taught them how to be free.
“How to play free and not have to play in any set, fixed way … He was a very unique bass player. It would help us be more improvisational,” Kreutzmann said.
That improvisation was a staple of Grateful Dead shows up until the band broke up in 1995 after Garcia died.
In 2015, Lesh joined Kreutzmann, Weir and Hart at Fare Thee Well, a series of concerts celebrating the band’s 50th anniversary. There were hopes all four members of the band might reunite again on the 60th anniversary next year.
“We were gonna see where it goes, but we were just gonna play the four of us. Now there’s only three of us … and that’s different,” Weir said.
The Grateful Dead will become Kennedy Center honorees in December.
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