A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
We're remembering the founding member of the Grateful Dead this morning. Bob Weir died Saturday at the age of 78. Weir kept the legacy of the Dead alive long after Jerry Garcia died and the group disbanded. NPR's Felix Contreras has been listening all that time. So, Felix, let's start with the Grateful Dead doing what they do best, which is jamming live. Here's one of the many takes on the old Buddy Holly tune "Not Fade Away" performed live at Manhattan Center in April of 1971. Let's take a listen.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MARTÍNEZ: So that's Bob Weir playing guitar there. OK, Tio Felix, tell me what made him so special as a musician.
FELIX CONTRERAS, BYLINE: You know, the famous rock promoter Bill Graham once said of the Grateful Dead, they're not the best at what they do - they're the only ones who do what they do.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter) Absolutely. Yeah.
CONTRERAS: The band was this giant organism that changed every night, and that was possible because they really listened to what each other was playing. As you heard there and in other live stuff, Jerry Garcia was a singular guitarist. His knowledge of music was vast, and it came out in his playing. And Bob Weir, as a rhythm guitarist, had to support that. And he developed the unique style of playing chords and strumming the guitar that really matched that. And I spoke to Bobby's bandmate in the Wolf Brothers trio, Don - bassist Don Was, who was also president of Blue Note Records, and he shared a perspective from the bandstand of what it was like to play with Bob Weir.
DON WAS: Bobby certainly blurred the lines between lead guitar and rhythm guitar, but also blurred any preconception about what a rock and roll guitar player is supposed to play because he could alternate within the course of, you know, four bars from something John Lee Hooker raw to Segovia sophisticated. And I found his improvisations every night to be incredibly colorful and vivid and unlike anybody who ever picked up a guitar before.
CONTRERAS: He also said something I've always believed, that at its core, the Grateful Dead were just as skilled at improvisation as any jazz band out there.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. And they were a band, a movement, a subculture. I mean, there are legions of fans that call themselves Deadhead, and you are one of those Deadheads. So tell us about the Dead beyond the music. I mean, why are people like you so devoted to them?
CONTRERAS: Guilty as charged, bro.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
CONTRERAS: I think that changed over time because initially, the fans were the true believers of the hippie ethos of the anti-authority communal life. Remember, this is back in 1965, '66, San Francisco, when they started to attract a following. And over the years, as more people are attracted to the idea, who actually lived it, it continued to grow. But ultimately, it's really about the music. These great stories set to singable melodies. Dead shows were famous for the band reacting to the emotions of the audience as if the audience was another member of the band.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, it's been more than - what? - 30 years since the Grateful Dead's lead guitarist and vocalist, Jerry Garcia, died. Back in 2004, Bob Weir actually spoke about Garcia on NPR's Weekend Edition. Let's listen to a little bit of that.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)
BOB WEIR: For me, it's kind of like he never left. I can hear him. I can feel him. You know, if I'm headed in some direction he likes, I can feel that. If I'm being headstrong and going someplace where he doesn't like, I can feel that. You know, I don't think this is what they call abnormal psychology. I just - I think when somebody lives in your head and in your heart for a long time, you carry them around when their body is gone.
MARTÍNEZ: Wow. That's deep, man. So, I mean, how did Bob Weir carry on the legacy of the Grateful Dead even after Jerry Garcia was gone?
CONTRERAS: You know, Bobby and all the surviving members did that, but in very different ways and with different bands. And I think Bobby was the most visible because ultimately, his band, Dead & Company, was the most popular. They played a lot of large outdoor venues, amazing performances. And as you said, it was all in the service of the songs of expanding that musical legacy.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. And they were, like, a live band. I mean, first and foremost - right? - a live band. I mean, endless bootlegs of their performances. I mean, how did that become part of the Deadhead culture?
CONTRERAS: You know, it was just one of those hippy moments, man. I talked to their publicist. Years ago, I did a story on this about the business aspect of it, and it was just a fluke idea. Who knows if substances were involved that night? It's like, hey, why don't we let our fans tape the show? And that was like this really pre, like, very, very early organic marketing scheme 'cause people traded tapes. They were never sold.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
CONTRERAS: People traded tapes, and it was a way to attract and build the audience. It was really a stroke of genius that they didn't even plan on.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR's Felix Contreras, remembering Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead. Tio Felix, gracias.
CONTRERAS: (Speaking Spanish), man. Thanks. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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