ZUM TOD DES US-AMERIKANISCHEN E-BASSISTEN PHIL LESH (GRATEFUL DEAD)

Der am 15. März 1940 in Berkley (Kalifornien) geborene US-amerikanische Musiker, der vor allem als Bassist der Rockband Grateful Dead bekannt wurde, ist am 25. Oktober 2024 gestorben. 1965 waren Phil Lesh, JerryGarcia und Bob Weir Gäste einer Party in Palo Alto. In Garcias Auto rauchten sie Marihuana, und Lesh erwähnte, dass er daran interessiert sei, ein elektrisches Instrument zu lernen, vielleicht E-Bass. Lesh besuchte den nächsten Auftritt der Warlocks und wurde eingeladen, mit der Band Bass zu spielen. Die Band änderte ihren Namen bald in Grateful Dead, und Phil Lesh blieb bis zum Ende Mitglied der Gruppe.

Phil Lesh, 2008 - Foto: Tony, https://www.flickr.com/photos/54397758@N00/2465702579 - Lizenz: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en - Datei: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phil_Lesh_at_Yuri%27s_NIGHT_OUT_2008.jpg

Bild: Phil Lesh, 2008 – Foto: Tony, https://www.flickr.com/photos/54397758@N00/2465702579 – Lizenz: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en – Datei: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phil_Lesh_at_Yuri%27s_NIGHT_OUT_2008.jpg

Der Einfluss von Phil Lesh auf die Gruppe Grateful Dead bestand weniger in Songwriting und Gesang als vielmehr in seiner einzigartigen Weise, Bass zu spielen. Im Gegensatz zu vielen «traditionellen» Rockbassisten verstand er sich nicht als Teil der Rhythmusgruppe, sondern spielte sein Instrument mehr wie ein Melodieinstrument. Als seinen grössten Einfluss nannte er Johann Sebastian Bach, wobei man auch Anleihen bei Charles Mingus und Jimmy Garrison bei ihm hören kann. (*)

Phil Lesh, Bassist Who Anchored the Grateful Dead, Dies at 84

One of the first rock bassists whose instrument regularly took a lead role, he also had a hand in writing some of the band’s best-known songs.
In addition to providing explorative bass work, Mr. Lesh sang high harmonies for the band and provided the occasional lead vocal. He also co-wrote some of the band’s most noteworthy songs, including ones that inspired adventurous jams, like «St. Stephen» and «Dark Star,» as well as more conventional pieces, like «Cumberland Blues,» «Truckin» and «Box of Rain.»

Jim Faber

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/25/arts/music/phil-lesh-dead.html

The musician pushed the band toward long-form improvisation, electronic experiments, and nightly free-form «space» interludes

The Grateful Dead’s surviving members – Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann – wrote in a statement following Lesh’s death, «Today we lost a brother… Phil Lesh was irreplaceable. In one note from the Phil Zone, you could hear and feel the world being born. His bass flowed like a river would flow. It went where the muse took it. He was an explorer of inner and outer space who just happened to play bass. He was a circumnavigator of formerly unknown musical worlds. And more.»

Richard Gehr

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/phil-lesh-grateful-dead-dead-1234809976

The Dead became key players in San Francisco’s massively influential psychedelic rock scene, using drugs to fuel extended improvisational performances. Expanding their musical vocabulary to include elements of jazz, country, and classical and attracting throngs of fans who followed them around on tour, they developed the template for the modern jam band in real time.

Lesh contributed highly melodic bass parts to the Grateful Dead’s music and wrote some of the band’s most enduring songs, including “Box Of Rain,” “Truckin’,” and “Unbroken Chain.” His interest in the avant-garde was a crucial influence on the Dead throughout their run. He also contributed high harmonies until the mid-1970s, when his vocal cords were damaged due to improper singing technique, but began singing lead vocals as a baritone a decade later. He continued with the band through various lineup changes, all the way through their breakup in 1995 following Garcia’s death.

Chris DeVille

https://www.stereogum.com/2285473/phil-lesh-dead-at-84/news/

A classically trained musician who harbored an affection for jazz and the avant-garde, Lesh was something of an outlier within the Grateful Dead, a group whose two lead vocalists, Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir, were grounded in folk, bluegrass and blues.

Just this week, Lesh and the Dead’s other founders were announced as the 2025 recipients of the Recording Academy’s prestigious MusiCares Persons of the Year award in recognition of the band’s philanthropy and cultural impact. An all-star tribute concert is planned for Jan. 31 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2024-10-25/phil-lesh-grateful-dead-bassist-dies-at-84

Phil Lesh death: Grateful Dead founding member dies at 84

While studying at the University of California, Berkeley in 1961, Lesh became friends with future Grateful Dead keyboardist Tom Constanten. A couple of years later, while volunteering at local radio station KPFA, Lesh met and sparked a friendship with bluegrass banjo player Jerry Garcia. In 1964, Garcia convinced Lesh to become the bassist in his new rock band, then called The Warlocks, despite the fact Lesh had never played bass before.

Lesh’s unconventional approach to his instrument became a key element in defining the Grateful Dead’s influential sound. He is credited as a co-writer on some of their best-known songs, including “Truckin’,” “Box of Rain” and “Unbroken Chain.”

Kevin E G Perry

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/phil-lesh-grateful-dead-age-death-b2635863.html

Lesh’s imprint was crucial on the early sound of the Grateful Dead, often credited alongside Garcia.

He co-authored a number of compositions, including «St Stephen», «The Eleven» and «Dark Star,» that became staples of the jam band’s repertoire. Between 1967 and 1990, Lesh appeared on all 13 of the Grateful Dead’s studio releases and 10 official live albums. Along with Garcia, guitarist Bob Weir and drummer Bill Kreutzmann, Lesh remained a vital part of the improvisational band’s touring lineup for 30 years.

Adrian Horton

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/oct/25/phil-lesh-grateful-dead-dies

Muere el músico Phil Lesh, cofundador de Grateful Dead, a los 84 años

Se unió a Grateful Dead en 1964, junto a Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir o Ron ‚Pigpen‘ McKernan, donde permaneció tres décadas.

https://www.elmundo.es/cultura/musica/2024/10/25/671c0ecefdddff0f5f8b458b.html

Morto Phil Lesh, fondatore e bassista dei leggendari Grateful Dead

Addio a Phil Lesh, l’innovativo membro fondatore dei Grateful Dead, bassista della band per un trentennio, dal 1965 al 1995. Lesh è morto a 84 anni «serenamente» e «circondato dalla famiglia e da molto amore», ha annunciato il suo account su Instagram.

https://www.repubblica.it/spettacoli/musica/2024/10/26/news/morto_phil_lesh_fondatore_e_bassista_dei_leggendari_grateful_dead-423579021

Phil Lesh, bassiste fondateur des Grateful Dead, mythique groupe de rock, est mort

Né en 1940 en Californie, le musicien s’était illustré au sein du groupe pychédélique avec ses solos de basse, portant sur le devant de la scène l’instrument souvent relégué à un rôle d’accompagnement.

https://www.lemonde.fr/disparitions/article/2024/10/26/phil-lesh-bassiste-fondateur-des-grateful-dead-mythique-groupe-de-rock-est-mort_6360082_3382.html

Am Tor zur Parallelwelt

Der Bassist, Psychedelic-Pionier, Grateful Dead-Mitgründer Phil Lesh ist tot. Er lieferte das musikalische Fundament der Hippie-Bewegung. Das hält bis heute.

Andrian Kreye

https://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/phil-lesh-grateful-dead-nachruf-lux.AiyzpyzdCcVw7pR8AnYHLV?reduced=true

Als Gründungsmitglied zählte Phil Lesh zu den prägenden Persönlichkeiten der Band um Frontman Jerry Garcia

Das Musikmagazin «Rolling Stone» zählte die Band erst kürzlich zu den «besten Songwritern aller Zeiten». Ihren Psychedelic-Rock spielten sie in über 3’000 Konzerten vor ihren Fans, den «Deadheads». Lesh beeinflusste nicht nur Hits wie «Box of Rain», sondern auch die berühmten «Space»-Interludes der Band, die zu den Markenzeichen ihrer oft stundenlangen Livekonzerte gehörten.

Ihi / dpa

https://www.spiegel.de/kultur/musik/grateful-dead-bassist-und-mitbegruender-phil-lesh-gestorben-a-d41a5b69-19c4-446a-8f68-e825f0319171

Er revolutionierte den E-Bass-Sound

Phil Lesh war ein prägendes Mitglied von Grateful Dead, die in den 1960er-Jahren den Acid-Rock-Sound aus San Francisco mitgestaltete. Lesh war bekannt für seine innovativen Basslinien, die den Sound der Band massgeblich beeinflussten. Lesh begann seine musikalische Laufbahn als klassisch ausgebildeter Geiger und Jazztrompeter, bevor er sich der Rockmusik zuwandte.

DPA / wy

https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/legendaere-rockgruppe-grateful-dead-bassist-phil-lesh-ist-tot-948568926803

Audios / Videos:

Box of Rain (2013 Remaster)