Originally not a bass player when he was invited to join the Grateful Dead and thus developed a highly original approach. Often cited as Joe Smith’s nemesis at Warner Brothers, who thought him insane because he found him trying to record ‘thick’ air. That does sound like an apocryphal anecdote about those crazy hippies but is entirely believable.
He was actually born in Berkeley and started out playing violin and trumpet and studied the latter, developing a passion for free jazz which would find a home with The Dead. He went to university and had classes alongside Steve Reich. When Jerry Garcia invited him to join what was initially The Warlocks, he learned I Know You Rider and was good to go, joining the newly named Grateful Dead for their third or fourth gig.
His ‘wandering’ style of playing was innovative; a new thing. No more just keeping time on the root note for the bass player, Phil was all over the place, telling his own story.
It was this adventure that Joe Smith couldn’t understand singling him out as "the catalyst for chaos within the band", writing: "It's apparent that nobody in your organisation has enough influence over Phil Lesh to evoke anything resembling normal behaviour." Well who wants ‘normal’.
While he was a crucial part of the Dead’s 3-part harmony, he took the lead on Box Of Rain, on American Beauty, a very affecting song about Phil’s dying father and on which he plays acoustic guitar and Garcia, piano, while David Torbet plays bass and David Nelson, guitar. It has that deceptively complex American folk/country feel, with the piece composed of 8 chords. Robert Hunter, the co-writer recorded a version on his 1980 Jack O’ Roses album.
Apparently Phish opened their October, 25th 2024 concert in Albany, New York with the song in tribute to Phil.
He helped design their infamous mid-70s ‘Wall Of Sound’ alembic sound system which he said was like trying to pilot a flying saucer or riding your own sound wave. With nine independent channels, the powerful system contained 604 speakers using 26,400 watts of power.
Credited with leading the band into more jazzy directions on stuff like the brilliant track Help On The Way and , Wake Of The Flood, Blues For Allah and Mars Hotel more generally. I love that mid 70s period, best of all. It seems to offer the freedom and wildness of the acid rock days, but puts it into a more disciplined setting. You can hear John Coltrane’s vibe on all of those records and I suspect that was Phil’s influence. He later introduced the band to composer Charles Ives, which led to their ability to go spontaneously from a discordant jam into a blues or country song, which was very much their signature and it was brilliant how they did it.
On Without A Net the extended Branford Marslais-led Eyes Of The World showed the band in full jazzy mode, suggesting Phil’s flavours were dominating. Of course after the Dead he made nearly 30 years of music and opened venue called Terrapin Crossroads, in San Rafael, California and continued to be a guiding light.
Considering the consumption of mind-frying narcotics in those early years, he always sounded very articulate and thoughtful and the fact he lived to 84, hints at the power of psychedelics over your health. He’ll be greatly missed and there can be few of us who have not been led to the outer reaches of our minds by his bass playing and by a band like no other.
