Obit: Vince Welnick 1951-2006(Grateful Dead, Tubes

Subject: OBIT: Vince Welnick 1951-2006
From: pdq
Date: 03 Jun 06 - 06:23 PM

The Grateful Dead's last keyboard player is gone. No details yet as to cause of death, but Vince Welnick was not as prone to the abuses that took Brent Mydland and Pigpen. Actually, Tom Constanten and Bruce Hornsby are still around, although some people claim they were 'temporary' members. Guess it depends on the definition of 'temporary'.

Subject: RE: OBIT: Vince Welnick 1951-2006 (Grateful Dead)
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Jun 06 - 08:52 PM

"Self-inflicted" is what I heard. Could mean a lot of things.

Subject: RE: Obit:Vince Welnick 1951-2006(Grateful Dead, Tu
From: pdq
Date: 03 Jun 06 - 10:19 PM

Here is one of the greatest moments (actually, it is 2 minutes and 59 seconds) of Vince Welnick and Grateful Dead mates Bob Weir and Jerry Garcia. It is 7.0 megabytes so dial-up folks may find downloading painful, but worth the wait...

                April 12, 1993...opening day for Giants...

Subject: RE: Obit:Vince Welnick 1951-2006(Grateful Dead, Tubes)
From: woodsie
Date: 04 Jun 06 - 04:00 AM

Saw Vince playing with The Dead at Wembley 1990, along with Bruce Hornsby (who also played accordian)

seems that keyboard seat was definitely jinxed!

Subject: RE: Obit:Vince Welnick 1951-2006(Grateful Dead, Tubes)
From: Willie-O
Date: 04 Jun 06 - 09:40 PM

The most dangerous job in rock and roll. It's odd when you think of it, none of their guest keyboardists that I know of have died.

I thought Hornsby had officially joined the band at one point, but ???

For those not clear on what we're talking about, Vince Welnick is the fourth former or current Grateful Dead keyboard player to die prematurely. The others were

Ron "Pigpen" McKernan (d 1972?)
Keith Godchaux (d 1974 very shortly after leaving the band)
Brent Mydland (d 1990)

And of course Jerry Garcia died in 1995.

All hellacious good players. The Dead have taken a lot of heat for this and that but they sure attracted fine musicians.

Bill

Subject: RE: Obit:Vince Welnick 1951-2006(Grateful Dead, Tu
From: GUEST,celticbro
Date: 05 Jun 06 - 11:06 PM

Actually, I have to kindly correct you on the dates of the other fallen Dead comrades:

Pigpen (d 3/8/73) - gastrointestinal hemorrage from excessive alcoholism
Keith Godcheaux (d 7/23/80) - car accident
Brent Mydland (d 7/26/90) - O.D. from speedball

I only saw the Dead in '95 (I know, sortuva late bloomer with them). But they left a profound impact on my life from that point til the present. I could've seen the Dead as early as '87 (when I was 17), but I was so much into Pink Floyd and heavy metal then. I could've seen Brent, but hey, guess it wasn't meant to be.

Anyhow, I thought Vince added a unique element to the Dead, though he would never be Brent. He had to beat and prove himself to many, many fans. Some fans thought perhaps he was a bit cheesy, with his Samba In The Rain or LWTGH contributions. He had big shoes to fill for sure. But I've heard from quite a few friends who saw them back in '92 when Vince performed on the Baba O'Reilly -> TNK encores. And they said it was just ELECTRIC !!!!! So reminiscent of Roger Daltry, is was scary!

I think the band members (post Jerry) could've treated him a little better, even welcoming him to come along on the Furthur tour. I think especially Bobby had a little animosity towards Vince. For whatever reason, I don't know why. But I've heard in the post that Bobby can be sortuv an asshole! Polar opposite of Phil, for whom I was very honored to meet last year during his book signing for Searching For The Sound.

Anyhow, the last time I saw Vince was when he played in '02 with Beatlejam, touring with the Floyd cover band The Machine. He was walking around between sets and, from what I could sense, practically looking for attention. I talked to him very briefly and he was very nice and soft-spoken. He must've walked back and forth and grabbed at least 3 beers within a 20 minute period. (Maybe he was a "runner" for his fellow bandmates, I dunno). Yet there did seem to be this melancholy, even aloofness about him. After the Dead, he seemed like a lost sheep, striving to find his herd.

Nobody, however, should be to blame for Vince's demise. Sadly and ultimately, it was Vince's decision to leave this world. Too bad he decided not to get any help. He must have been so isolated, even within the presence of his wife, to get out of his blue haze.

God rest your soul, Brother Vince.

"Any which way you are tempted to roam,
It's a long, long, long, long way... way to go home..."

Subject: RE: Obit:Vince Welnick 1951-2006(Grateful Dead, Tubes)
From: WFDU - Ron Olesko
Date: 06 Jun 06 - 09:30 AM

Welnick was the fifth keyboardist for the Dead. You forgot Tom Constanten who played keyboards with the band from 1969 to 1971, alongside Pigpen.

Subject: RE: Obit:Vince Welnick 1951-2006(Grateful Dead, Tubes)
From: GUEST,Rev
Date: 06 Jun 06 - 10:15 PM

Part time Grateful Dead keyboardists (all of whom are still alive):

Tom Constanten, aka T.C.(1969-71)
Ned Lagin (off and on 1970-75, mostly during '74)
Merle Saunders (also off and on '69-'95, mostly '75)
Bob Bralove, (1987-95)not an onstage player, but was the Dead's midi technician, who controlled the player's midi sounds from backstage and played from backstage during the band's infamous "Space" jams.
Bruce Hornsby (1990-92) mostly played grand piano, and a little accordion

Subject: RE: Obit:Vince Welnick 1951-2006(Grateful Dead, Tu
From: pdq
Date: 07 Jun 06 - 12:12 PM

Also Howard Wales, a common jam partner of Jerry Garcia in local night clubs. Both Howard Wales and Ned Lagin contribute to the classic semi-acoustic album 'American Beauty".

Subject: RE: Obit: Vince Welnick 1951-2006(Grateful Dead, Tubes
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Jan 11 - 08:49 PM

i thought constanten was 66-68 with such as mountains of the moon beneath his wings, still, who wrote long long long long way to go home?

Subject: RE: Obit: Vince Welnick 1951-2006(Grateful Dead, Tubes
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 14 Jan 11 - 02:22 AM

AOXOMOXOA was the album w Mountains of the Moon and Constanten, 1969.

Subject: RE: Obit: Vince Welnick 1951-2006(Grateful Dead, Tubes
From: pdq
Date: 14 Jan 11 - 12:03 PM

The Grateful Dead added "percussionist" Mikey Hart at augment "drummer" Bill Kreutzmann in late 1967.

The next year, they added Tom Constanten for their first truly psychedelic project, Anthem of the Sun. That seven-man lineup also did their second psychedelic project, AOXOMOXOA released about a year after Anthem.

Subject: RE: Obit: Vince Welnick 1951-2006(Grateful Dead, Tubes
From: GUEST,Doug Saum
Date: 14 Jan 11 - 01:41 PM

Having seen dozens of shows with Vince at the keys I can attest that the "Baba" and "Tomorrow Never Knows" were certainly helped by his playing. When Hornsby was with them the shows were even more fun. "Furthur" is playing at a very high level now. The SF shows in Dec (2010)were inspirational and I have tix for Broomfield next month. The music is alive, vibrant, and still transformative. Keep on truckin', Doug Saum

Subject: RE: Obit: Vince Welnick 1951-2006(Grateful Dead, Tubes
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 14 Jan 11 - 01:58 PM

Doug,

I live in Broomfield. Contact me via pm regarding jams in the area if you are interested.

EJ