3. Summer of Trey and Joan (summer lineups 2006): Difficult to peg, and hardly reliable – Osby, a galvanizing saxman, felt necessary only about half the time — but during the summer tour with G.R.A.B., plenty of intensity, especially in the mesmerizing Set 2s with Trey aboard. That Joan, she had her moments, and more frequently here than in her stints with the Dead.
Phil Lesh, John Molo, Rob Barraco, Joan Osborne, Larry Campbell, Barry Sless, Greg Osby
4. The Comeback Lineup (April 1999): Hello Old Friends and then a 39-minute Viola Lee to make the opening statement, and the worlds of the Dead and Phish don’t so much combine as squish together, with tasty results. Perhaps remembered more fondly because it felt so ephemeral; who knows whether this lineup would have gotten better or tiresome
Phil Lesh, John Molo, Steve Kimock, Page McConnell, Trey Anastasio
5. Furthur (2009-present): You know what? I’m buying. So quickly has this group gotten really interesting and adventurous that it’s earning converts left and right. Kadlecik, we miss you in DSO, but it’s not hard to see why you did it.
Phil Lesh, Bob Weir, Jeff Chimenti, Joe Russo, John Kadlecik
5 That Deserve Another Look
Whether they were one-offs, variations on better-known Phil ensembles or just plain weird, good anomalies, here were five short-lived Phil & Friends lineups that if given a chance, might have blossomed into uniquely exciting groups.
1. Peev! (April 2000): Jeff Pevar brought a lot of himself to this short-lived lineup, essentially the Q without Warren but with a pretty unique personality.
Phil Lesh, John Molo, Jeff Pevar, Jimmy Herring, Rob Barraco
2. The Al Run (May 2005): Consistently underrated, this Al Schnier-anchored lineup lasted three shows and felt a little undernourished. But listen to the set two opening run from the 5/13 show – Across the Universe, then a lilting Eyes and a really fun Love The One You’re With – and consider what might have been.
Phil Lesh, Al Schnier, Mookie Siegel, Barry Sless, John Molo, Gloria Jones, Jackie LaBranch
3. Sco Mule PLF (June 2007): Sco put a unique spin on the Phil & Friends sound: sometimes he had a lot to say and led some knotty jams, sometimes his idiosyncratic style seemed ill-fitting, even grafted-on. This one-off at Mountain Jam, however, with Sco and Warren in it together (!) was more streamlined than other PLF lineups of the era, and was locked in from the get go, with a surprising amount of chemistry revealed in what might have been just a fun hodgepodge.
Phil Lesh, John Molo, John Scofield, Steve Molitz, Warren Haynes
4. Phil and the Tricksters (October 1999): Barraco and Mattson played like devoted students of the Dead and things felt full and even-handed, with saxman Bobby Strickland along for some extra oomph.
Phil Lesh, Jeff Mattson, John Molo, Bobby Strickland, Rob Barraco, Steve Kimock
5. Was That Really Medeski? (October 2006): Assembled for Vegoose, this lineup, on paper at least, was a jam fiend’s dream. Medeski didn’t stretch out as often as some would have liked, but imagine what a full tour’s worth of Medeski behind the keys in a Phil band could yield?
Phil Lesh, Trey Anastasio, John Molo, John Medeski, Larry Campbell, Christina Durfee
5 Phil Can Have Back
1. Absolutely SOBs (April 2007): This Larry McCray lineup has been so consistently shit on that it’s not worth rehashing. Two of Phil’s most intimate New York City shows in ages, but even Phil’s ability to bring out the best in his cohorts can’t take the place of rehearsal. I still feel bad for McCray, who made the best of an otherwise rough pair of nights.
Phil Lesh, Larry McCray, Larry Campbell, Christina Dufree, John Molo, Steve Molitz
2. The Ryan Shows (2007 etc.): Ryan Adams, a brilliant country-rock songwriter when he’s feeling like it, is a great fit for Dead songs, and he had as much right to be in a Phil & Friends band as anyone else. None of these shows, however, was nearly as good as either Phil or Ryan imagined they were.
3. Phil-ittle Feat (1999 and 2000): I liked the various combinations with Paul Barrere and Bill Payne fine – Little Feat and the Dead are in many ways cut from the same cloth. But the unfamiliarity with the Dead material left many of these shows feeling like even-jammier-than-usual Little Feat shows with Dead side trips, not the other way around.
Phil Lesh, Paul Barrere, Bill Payne, Robben Ford, John Molo
4. Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood (2004 and 2005): The Chris Robinson lineups had their moments, and Chris singing Dead tunes and lending his soulful Chris Robinsonness to Phil bands did, and still does seem, like a fine idea. Why weren’t these shows better than they were?
Phil Lesh, Chris Robinson, Larry Campbell, Mookie Siegel, Barry Sless, John Molo
5. The Dead (2003, 2004, 2009): I’ve had really superb moments with the Dead. But I’ll defer to David Gans, who in 2005 interview for Glide told me, “I’m not one of those people who thinks the world is necessarily a better place if all those guys – Phil, Mickey, Bobby and Bill – are playing together.” The Dead simply wasn’t as interesting as other bands featuring one or more of the players. Can we admit that, please?
Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Bob Weir, Jeff Chimenti, Warren Haynes
Just for fun, here are 10 musicians I’d love to see in a Phil & Friends lineup.
1. Catherine Russell: And I’d say it even if her jazzy version of New Speedway wasn’t so mesmerizing.
2. Gary Louris: The Parsons-style twang from the Jayhawks applied to Workingman’s era tunes might would sound like where the Grateful Dead, the New Riders, CSNY and the Flying Burritos overlap, with a hint of a more modern strain of angsty alt-country.
3. Neal Casal: Got enough of a flavor from his 2008 Nokia Theater sit-in to know he’d be a good choice.
4. Bela Fleck: Does such a wonderful job injecting himself into bands, though it’d be hard to say whether he’d get spacey enough – or get lost in the shuffle — for the more psychedelic material.
5. Bill Evans: The protean saxman can fit himself into anything and make it his own. Listen to Soulgrass and tell me that wouldn’t click with a Phil lineup.
6. Scott Tournet: A psychedelic bluesman par excellence, especially when heard in the confines of Blues & Lasers. He’d fit.
7. Jose Neto: What a sonic stylist, with such a broad palette. If you’ve never heard Neto, start with his work with Steve Winwood and then find your way to the Netoband.
8. David Hidalgo: The consummate pro, and an avowed Dead enthusiast already.
9. Brad Barr: An artisan; goes from knotted to riff-heavy to dreamy to hard rocking with humbling ease, often in the space of a single composition. Would love to see him unleashed, anew, on a Viola. Or a Dark Star. Or an Other One.
10. Marco Benevento: I just can’t see why this wouldn’t be a good idea, or at least a really fun experiment.
What were your favorite Phil and Friends lineups? Who would you like to see play with Phil? Let us know by leaving a comment below…
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