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Posts Tagged ‘Vince Welnick’

Died On This Date (August 9, 1995) Jerry Garcia / Grateful Dead

Posted by themusicsover on August 9, 2010

Jerry Garcia
August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995

Jerry Garcia is best remembered as a co-founder of influential jam band, the Grateful Dead who will forever be linked to the San Francisco rock and hippie scenes of the late ’60s and early ’70s.  Although a democratic band with multiple “lead” singers, Garcia was considered the leader of the group by most outside the band.  Garcia was extremely busy outside the Dead as well, recording and playing with New Riders Of The Purple Sage (with John Dawson), Old and in the Way, Legion Of Mary, as well as his own Jerry Garcia Band. He also had numerous collaborations with David Grisman.  His unique guitar playing found its way on to numerous albums as a guest artist also, likely leading to Rolling Stone magazine placing him at #13 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Players Of All Time.  During the summer of 1995, Garcia checked into a rehabilitation center; he had struggled with drug addiction.  On August 9, his lifeless body was discovered at the facility, dead of a heart attack.  It was likely the result of his addictions as well as his heavy weight sleep apnea.    Four days later, a public memorial was held in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.  Over 25,000 people attended.

Other members of the Grateful Dead who died too soon were Brent Mydland, Keith Godchaux, Vince Welnick, and Ron “Pigpen” McKernan.

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American Beauty (Bonus Track Version) [Remastered] - Grateful Dead

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Died On This Date (July 26, 1990) Brent Mydland / Grateful Dead

Posted by themusicsover on July 26, 2010

Brent Mydland
October 21, 1952 – July 26, 1990

Brent Mydland was the keyboardist for the Grateful Dead for an eleven year period that would see the band’s highest charting successes.  Born a military child in Munich, Germany, Mydland moved with his family to San Francisco as an infant.  As a child, Mydland learned to play the flute, accordion and piano.  After graduating from high school in 1971, played in bands in and around the Bay area, ultimately landing in the Bob Weir Band in 1978.  A year later he replaced Keith Godchaux in the Grateful Dead.  He also played in Weir’s other side project, Bobby and the Midnites.  Mydland wrote several of the Dead’s 80s period songs including such fan favorites as “Tons Of Steel,” “I Will Take You Home,” and “Hell In A Bucket.”  Mydland significantly contributed to the band vocally as well, both as lead in some songs, and as a prominent harmony vocalist, adding a new flair to many of the bands older songs in concert.  Brent Mydland died of a drug overdose at the age of 37 on July 26, 1990.  He was replaced by Vince Welnick who committed suicide in 2006.

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In the Dark (Expanded) [Remastered] - Grateful Dead

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Died On This Date (June 2, 2006) Vince Welnick / The Tubes, Grateful Dead

Posted by themusicsover on June 2, 2010

Vince Welnick
February 21, 1951 – June 2, 2006

Vince Welnick first rose to fame as the keyboard player for the cult fave rock band, the Tubes during the ’70s and ’80s. With the Tubes he played on such FM staples as “Don’t Touch Me There,” “White Punks On Dope,” and the more commercially successful, “Talk To Ya Later” and “She’s A Beauty.” In the early ’90s, Welnick successfully auditioned to replace Brent Mydland in the Grateful Dead. Mydland had just died from a drug overdose, following a tragic path of Grateful Dead keyboardists who preceded him. Original player Ron McKernan and then Keith Godchaux died unexpectedly at young ages while playing for the band. Welnick remained as the group’s keyboard player until Jerry Garcia’s death in 1995, which is when the group disbanded. Welnick participated in a couple of the splinter groups that formed in the ashes of the Grateful Dead, but apparently nothing felt right. He attempted suicide six months after Garcia’s death, reportedly in part due to the depression he was suffering from the loss. He went on to form his own group called Missing Man Formation, but sadly committed suicide on June 2, 2006 at the age of 55.

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The Tubes - The Tubes



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