My favorite of the Grateful Dead keyboardists, Brent Mydland, died 18 years ago today.
After summer tour ended, Brent had to pay the piper for some of his addiction-fueled misdeeds and wanted to go out with one last bang, instead. He overdosed and died.
(While the fate of the dead Dead keyboardists is tragic, it is almost humorous how much their stories resemble those of the drummers in Spinal Tap.)
In my mind, this really was the end of the Grateful Dead. While the Vince years had a few highlights, the band just never seemed to get its footing after Brent checked out.
His case is a sad one because he was so damned gifted, but always seemed plagued by personal problems and feelings of inferiority...the latter of which were completely unfounded. He had more talent and soul in his pinkie than the rhythm guitarist will ever have.
I'm posting two versions of one of his more popular songs, Far From Me.
The first is from the second of two shows they played in Alaska in June, 1980. The next one is from Brent's second-from-last show, at the World Music Theatre in Tinley Park, IL, on July 22, 1990.
You can hear the degradation in his voice and spirits over the years, with the latter version being downright spooky. His voice is filled with pain and the insertion of profanity into the song speaks to something one just doesn't want to know about...
(As a little side note, this last show is interesting because I'm pretty sure my family was stuck in a traffic jam from this same show. We were on the way back from a vacation up around the Great Lakes and the World was very close to where I grew up.)
So long.
Far From Me, 1980-6-21, West High Auditorium, Anchorage, Alaska
Far From Me, 1990-7-22, World Music Theatre, Tinley Park, Illinois
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5 comments:
Dan,
Yes, a great talent. I still miss him. Unnecessary shot against Bob there however. Really, it's disrespectful to the memory of Brent. May he rest in Peace!
Thanks. We just disagree. When browsing around, I revisited the story about Bobby basically dumping Vince at the ER before heading off to play a show as if nothing happened.
I won't act as an apologist for Vince's antics by a longshot, but Bobby has always rubbed me the wrong way, so the shot (while insignificant in a cosmic sense) was intentional and I stand by it.
As always there are many opinions out there in "Dead Land".
Brent for me was a major part of the band. I did not see any of his predecessors but certainly have listened quite a bit. I think the band at least for my money had the biggest sound in the late 80's when Brent was also peakin' - just my opinion.
For me the real "Vista Cruiser" died with Brent and it was not seen again with Vince or Hornsby or even worse - both. They would manage a few really great tunes here and there but no real solid hot shows across the board. I still get to a Phil and Ratdog show every now and then and usually end up with a tear in my eye missing the old band and wanting to see everyone left - back onstage together. I did enjoy the incarnation with Joan Osborne and there were some nice shows there - but still not what the Grateful Dead used to be. Let me also say that I am thrilled that the show goes on and I hear kids say "freakin" awesome show! Even though I may not agree - they are still having the time of their lives like I did. I would never try to bring them down!
Bottom line I guess is Brent was a master at what he did and it is very sad that for some reason his life did not last a lot longer and I guess - be happier. I would like to think he enjoyed jamming for us. I more than once stood in front of him amazed and lovin' every second.
I miss him and Jerry dearly - luckily I get to still sing with them once and awhile when nobody is around - I hope they can hear me sometimes.
Long live the GRATEFUL DEAD - Regardless of the shape it takes.
PEACE.
As always there are many opinions out there in "Dead Land".
Brent for me was a major part of the band. I did not see any of his predecessors but certainly have listened quite a bit. I think the band at least for my money had the biggest sound in the late 80's when Brent was also peakin' - just my opinion.
For me the real "Vista Cruiser" died with Brent and it was not seen again with Vince or Hornsby or even worse - both. They would manage a few really great tunes here and there but no real solid hot shows across the board. I still get to a Phil and Ratdog show every now and then and usually end up with a tear in my eye missing the old band and wanting to see everyone left - back onstage together. I did enjoy the incarnation with Joan Osborne and there were some nice shows there - but still not what the Grateful Dead used to be. Let me also say that I am thrilled that the show goes on and I hear kids say "freakin" awesome show! Even though I may not agree - they are still having the time of their lives like I did. I would never try to bring them down!
Bottom line I guess is Brent was a master at what he did and it is very sad that for some reason his life did not last a lot longer and I guess - be happier. I would like to think he enjoyed jamming for us. I more than once stood in front of him amazed and lovin' every second.
I miss him and Jerry dearly - luckily I get to still sing with them once and awhile when nobody is around - I hope they can hear me sometimes.
Long live the GRATEFUL DEAD - Regardless of the shape it takes.
PEACE.
Brent was my inspiration to learn keyboards/piano.. As a Philly resident, I used to see all the Spectrum shows in the 80's. I thought the dude was so surreal, moving like a skeleton behind the boards and the Hammond B-3, complementing Garcia to a T. His voice was bluesy and gruff, filled with soul. I'm also a huge Ray Charles fan, and Brent is reminiscent of Ray in the way he plays and sings, filled with passion ans soul... The Dead was never the same after his demise ... RIP
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