Near Dead Experience

Looks Like Rain has been hitting hard since we got the news of Bob’s passing. It’s a song that could be played many easier ways on the guitar, but only sounds like Weir when played with his acrobatic chord inversions. His chords build these precise, internal moving harmonies beneath the vocal line. They rewire your brain as a player. It’s one of many songs that are a real workout for the left hand.

Musically he knew everywhere not to be and, by knowing that, could have plenty of fun in all the other places. Bob wove supporting harmonies and supporting counter rhythms. He held notes across chords, hovered around notes, pulled and pushed them, played pieces instead of the full shapes, left space, emphasized the ‘other’ note.

I don’t think of Garcia as a soloist in the Dead. It was like the band was exploring dark caves together. Spelunking. Jerry’s guitar was the flashlight. The drummers were the wheels, Phil was the engine propelling him. But Bob would be right there waving a different kind of flashlight, angled just off to the side of Jerry’s playing - finding other possibilities, pointing out new paths, creating movement, color, contextualizing. He could see where Jerry’s light would land, before it did.

Bob once said “Emotionally, the guitar is telling me stuff that I didn’t know about the notes that I play. If you play it right, it’s going to take you somewhere else. It’s going to lead you somewhere else. It’s going to lead to this figure or this color, but I know that if I stick with it for a while I’m going to grow on my own — knowing that if I just sit with the instrument for a while, I’m going to grow. It is going to stretch my soul. That’s what it’s about.”

Miss you Bobby.