Bob Weir

  • San Francisco, CA
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  • 1963
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About Bob Weir


A founding member of the Grateful Dead, Bob Weir's musical legacy (separate from its cultural implications) will be of an utterly strange rhythm guitar player and songwriter who grew up in one of the most lasting outside bands of the 1960s. Playing with the Dead until their dissolution following the death of Jerry Garcia in 1995, Weir has since made his musical homes in Ratdog and the Other Ones.

Born in 1947 and adopted by a rich California engineer, Weir's intense, undiagnosed dyslexia gave him trouble at school. He was labeled a troublemaker and shipped off to boarding school, where he met future songwriting partner John Perry Barlow. After being kicked out of the school, Weir returned to the Bay Area, where he bummed around the burgeoning folk scene and came into contact with musicians like Jerry Garcia, New Riders of the Purple Sage founder David Nelson, and Jefferson Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen. A series of jug bands eventually morphed into the electrified Warlocks who, in turn, became the Grateful Dead following a series of gigs at Ken Kesey's Acid Tests.

Weir developed his odd rhythm style playing between the sweet, articulated lead guitar of Jerry Garcia and the avant-garde bass lines of Phil Lesh, who joined the Dead as a newcomer to his instrument after studying trumpet and serial music with composer Luciano Berio at Mills College in the early '60s. The Dead's sound, a psychedelic hybrid of genres, was developed through endless improvisation. Weir's role as a rhythm player was to give force and color to the developing music. Like a jazz guitarist, Weir was often not evident in the mix, but still a profound shape on the sound.

Weir's earliest songwriting efforts mirrored those of Garcia and Lesh, though less successfully. By the early '70s, he had crossed paths with Barlow again and the two began their creative relationship in earnest. Soon, Weir was producing songs in his own distinct style -- a blend of Americana and the odd voicings he specialized in. As the health of Dead frontman Ron "Pigpen" McKernan waned, Weir found his rich baritone increasingly at the center of attention and developed a stage personality to match it. His first solo album, Ace, released in 1972, featured Weir backed by the rest of the Dead.

Through the late '70s, and especially during the Dead's year off in 1975, Weir toured and recorded with a number of groups, including Kingfish and Bobby and the Midnites. Kingfish was by far the most successful of these efforts. Listened to in retrospect, Bobby and the Midnites sounds grounded in the period. More importantly, though, Weir's guitar style was developed in specific response to the situation of the Grateful Dead and rarely works successfully without his counterparts in Garcia and Lesh.

The Dead remained Weir's primary gig through the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s, touring incessantly and finally scoring success with their 1987 album In the Dark. As Garcia's dependence on drugs increased, Weir found himself increasingly in the position of de facto bandleader. When Garcia died in 1995, Weir had recently formed the Ratdog Revue (soon shortened to Ratdog), with bassist Rob Wasserman (with whom he had been playing duo shows since the late '80s) and former Primus drummer Jay Lane.

Through a revolving lineup, the band -- like the Dead -- toured incessantly, working their way through clubs and theaters, building both a repertoire of new Weir compositions and reworked Dead songs as well as an original sound. In 2000, Ratdog released their first album, Evening Moods to mixed reviews. In the summers of 1998 and 2000, Weir reunited with several former Dead bandmates to tour as the Other Ones, releasing a live album in 1999. Weir continues to develop as a bandleader and an elder for new generations of jam bands. ~ Jesse Jarnow, Rovi

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  • Bob Weir
    Bob Weir Dosed At Furthur Gig?
    American Songwriter
    Did someone slip something into Bob Weir's drink at Furthur's gig at New York's Nokia Theater July 28? The veteran Grateful Dead guitarist and vocalis...
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  • Bob Weir
    Bob Weir Dosed At Furthur Gig?
    American Songwriter
    Did someone slip something into Bob Weir's drink at Furthur's gig at New York's Nokia Theater July 28? The veteran Grateful Dead guitarist and vocalis...
    Read More
  • Bob Weir
    Bob Weir Dosed At Furthur Gig?
    American Songwriter
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  • Bob Weir
    Watch The Bridge Session, National Members Playing With Bob Weir
    stereogum.com
    7 Photos » On Saturday night, Bob Weir, the Grateful Dead legend, played a show at his own TRI Studios in San Rafael, California. At the show, he was ...
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    www.pitchfork.com
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  • Bob Weir
    Jackson Browne, Bob Weir Top All-Star 'Jam-a-Thon' Benefit in L.A.
    www.rollingstone.com
    Jackson Browne called Jonathan Wilson "the jam king," and last night Browne was one of several major artists to join the Los Angeles folk-rocker at th...
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  • Bob Weir
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    www.rollingstone.com
    Sammy Hagar, Bob Weir and Jerry Harrison perform at Patron Project. Michael O'Donnell Last year, the Grateful Dead's (and Furthur's) Bob Weir opened T...
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  • Bob Weir
    Bob Weir Falls Onstage During Concert
    www.billboard.com
    Former Grateful Dead member Bob Weir (pictured left, alongside bandmate Phil Lesh) fell onstage last night during a set with his current band Furthur....
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  • Bob Weir
    Furthur cancels show after Bob Weir fall
    music.yahoo.com
    Related ContentView Photo FILE - This Feb. 24, 2010 file photo shows musician Bob Weir at SIRIUS XM Radio in ... NEW YORK (AP) -- Furthur is cancellin...
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  • Bob Weir
    Mickey Hart Says Bob Weir is Fine
    www.jambands.com
    Mickey Hart had some positive things to say about Bob Weir during a recent interview with Jambands.com. Hart spoke about a number of things during the...
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Tour Dates

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  • Jun 26 Wednesday
    West Palm Beach, FL, US Cruzan Amphitheatre
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  • Jun 27 Thursday
    Tampa, FL, US Midflorida Credit Union Amphitheatre at the Florida State Fairgrounds
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  • Jun 29 Saturday
    Atlanta, GA, US Aaron's Amphitheatre at Lakewood
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  • Jun 30 Sunday
    Nashville, TN, US The Lawn at Riverfront Park
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  • Jul 11 Thursday
    Brooklyn, NY, US Barclays Center
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  • Jul 12 Friday
    Holmdel, NJ, US PNC Bank Arts Center
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  • Jul 13 Saturday
    Philadelphia, PA, US The Mann Center for the Performing Arts
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  • Jul 14 Sunday
    Cooperstown, NY, US Doubleday Field
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  • Jul 16 Tuesday
    Gilford, NH, US Meadowbrook
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  • Jul 17 Wednesday
    Boston, MA, US Bank of America Pavilion
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  • Jul 18 Thursday
    Boston, MA, US Bank of America Pavilion
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  • Jul 19 Friday
    Canandaigua, NY, US Constellation Brands Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center
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  • Aug 4 Sunday
    Charlottesville, VA, US Jefferson Theater
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  • Aug 15 Thursday
    Scranton, PA, US Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain
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  • Sep 19 Thursday
    Morrison, CO, US Red Rocks Amphitheatre
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  • Sep 20 Friday
    Morrison, CO, US Red Rocks Amphitheatre
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  • Sep 21 Saturday
    Morrison, CO, US Red Rocks Amphitheatre
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  • Sep 22 Sunday
    Morrison, CO, US Red Rocks Amphitheatre
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  • Sep 24 Tuesday
    Redmond, WA, US Marymoor Park Concerts
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  • Sep 25 Wednesday
    Eugene, OR, US Cuthbert Amphitheater
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  • Sep 27 Friday
    Berkeley, CA, US Greek Theatre
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  • Sep 28 Saturday
    Berkeley, CA, US Greek Theatre
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  • Sep 29 Sunday
    Berkeley, CA, US Greek Theatre
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  • Oct 1 Tuesday
    Las Vegas, NV, US Pearl Concert Theater
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  • Oct 2 Wednesday
    Las Vegas, NV, US Pearl Concert Theater
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  • Oct 4 Friday
    Los Angeles, CA, US Greek Theatre
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  • Oct 5 Saturday
    Los Angeles, CA, US Greek Theatre
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  • Oct 6 Sunday
    Los Angeles, CA, US Greek Theatre
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  • Oct 19 Saturday
    Mill Valley, CA, US Sweetwater Music Hall
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Discography

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  • Evening Moods (2000)
    Bob Weir
    Evening Moods (2000)
    Arista Records
  • Weir/Wasserman Live (1998)
    Bob Weir
    Weir/Wasserman Live (1998)
    Grateful Dead/Arista
  • Bobby & the Midnites (1981)
    Bob Weir
    Bobby & the Midnites (1981)
    Arista Records
  • Heaven Help the Fool (1978)
    Bob Weir
    Heaven Help the Fool (1978)
    Arista Records
  • Kingfish (1976)
    Bob Weir
    Kingfish (1976)
    Grateful Dead/Arista
  • Ace (1972)
    Bob Weir
    Ace (1972)
    Grateful Dead/Arista
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