Phil Lesh at 80: Celebrating The Iconic Bassist With Ten Memorable Live Moments

Phillip Chapman Lesh’s indirect path to the Grateful Dead essentially started at the very beginning. After being introduced to the powerful voice of Brahms First Symphony by his grandmother at the age of four, Phil began taking violin lessons shortly thereafter. By the time he transferred to Berkeley High School – primarily due to their advanced course offerings in musical harmony – Lesh had become a serious jazz devotee, studying the likes of John Coltrane & Charles Ives and ultimately composing three big-band style jazz arrangements that were loosely based around the James Joyce classic novel “Finnegan’s Wake.”  

It was at nearby Mills College where Phil first met Italian modernist composer Luciano Berio, who would end up being credited as one of Phil’s earliest and strongest musical influences.  According to Lesh: “You learn more in one semester hanging around someone like Berio than you would if you were to study and listen to lectures for five years under someone else.”

After a growing frustration with unsuccessful attempts at composing his own material, Phil considered abandoning a career in music, and began driving a U.S. Postal truck in order to make ends meet. Soon after, Lesh encountered a young wild-haired banjo player named Jerry Garcia at Kepler’s Bookstore in Palo Alto who’s playing chops were so impressive that he was invited to perform on the KPFA raio show The Midnight Special, where Phil had been moonlighting as an engineer.

The stars finally aligned in early 1965 when Lesh was invited to check out Garcia’s new electrified blues band “The Warlocks” at Magoo’s Pizza Parlor in Menlo Park. The lineup, consisting of Garcia (lead guitar), Bob Weir (rhythm guitar), Ron “Pigpen” McKernan (organ, harmonica), Bill Kreutzmann (drums) and Dana Morgan Jr. (bass), had an immediate and significant impact on Lesh as he realized that he had finally found his calling. Phil later described this moment to Guitar Player magazine in a 1977 interview: “At the time, they weren’t quite to the point of playing out. They were just rehearsing at Dana Morgan’s, the local music store. Anyway, I mentioned to Jerry Garcia that I would like to learn the electric bass and maybe join a band. From there, we immediately moved on to a totally different subject. Three weeks later, I came down to hear a gig they were doing. Jerry sat me down in a corner and said, ‘Now you are going to play bass for the band,’ I said okay. He really didn’t know what he was in for.”

After the official formation of The Grateful Dead later that year, it was not long before Phil’s musical sense & vision became a primary influence on the band’s embryonic stages as he helped lead the charge on the experimental albums Anthem of the Sun and Aoxomoxoa. Later on, as the band gradually adopted a more traditional sound that was evident on American Beauty and Workingman’s Dead, Phil showed his chameleon-like ability to adapt as he penned the beloved “Box of Rain” with lyricist Robert Hunter as a touching ode to his dying father.

During this time, Phil also had the task of handling the group’s high vocal harmonies, at which he excelled with his near-perfect pitch. However, unbeknownst to Lesh, his untrained singing style was slowly damaging his vocal chords, ultimately leading to a self-imposed hiatus from live vocals in 1974 that ended up lasting over a decade.

While Phil often seemingly tried to avoid the spotlight, both on and off the stage, he was nevertheless universally adored by Deadheads, as was often evidenced by their stadium-wide “We want Phil!” chants throughout the 80’s & 90’s. In 1994, he performed under the moniker “Phil Lesh & Friends” for the first time, offering a surprise acoustic set at a fundraiser with Grateful Dead band-mates Garcia, Weir and keyboardist Vince Welnick. 

After Garcia’s death in 1995, the bassist kept public performances to a minimum, opting out of the 1996 and 1997 iterations of the “Furthur Festivals” and only making a handful of brief cameos at some local shows. The itch to finally return to the road became too much to ignore in 1998 as Phil revived his “Phil & Friends” format, which continues to be among the top live music draws in 2020. Featuring an ever-revolving cast of all-star musicians, Phil’s innovative groups have produced some of the finest post-Grateful Dead music from any of the original members, most notably with Steve Kimock and Trey Anastasio (guitar) & Page McConnell (piano) of Phish in 1999 as well as the infamous “Phil Lesh Quintet” of the early 2000’s which featured Jimmy Herring (guitar), Warren Haynes (guitar), Rob Barraco (piano) and John Molo (drums). 

While Phil has understandably all but retired from regular touring, he continues to perform sporadic headlining sets at places like New York City’s Capitol Theatre, the Lockn’ festival in central Virginia, and the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado.  However, more often than not, you can now find him playing sets of Grateful Dead classics with his two sons, Brian & Grahame, or sitting in with a wide array of talented musicians at his restaurant/venue Terrapin Crossroads, located in Phil’s home base area of San Rafael, CA. 

To help celebrate Mr. Lesh’s 80th birthday (March 15th), Glide takes a look back at 10 memorable moments from the bassist’s legendary career:

“Finnegan’s Awake” – April 5, 1959 – The earliest known musical recording featuring any member of the Grateful Dead, this James Joyce-influenced big-band chart was composed & arranged by Lesh and performed by the three-piece San Mateo College Jazz Band, featuring Lesh on trumpet.

“Unbroken Chain” – March 19, 1995 – For a majority of the Dead’s thirty year run, the Lesh/Bobby Petersen composition “Unbroken Chain”, recorded on the 1974 album From the Mars Hotel, was arguably their most significant unplayed selection. Then, during their penultimate 1995 Spring tour, the band unexpectedly debuted this long-forgotten track to a raucous Philly crowd in what is considered by many to be the single biggest “bust-out” moment in the band’s history.

“The Raven” – April 19, 1982 – During a 1982 tour stop in Baltimore, Lesh read excerpts from Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” during the second-set “Space” segment in honor of the group’s visit to the macabre poet’s final resting place.

“Box Of Rain” – March 20, 1986 – Another monumental bust-out, this beloved Lesh/Hunter masterpiece was performed regularly in 1972-73 before it was shelved due to damage to Phil’s vocal chords caused by singing at too high a range. This version, from Virgina’s infamous Hampton Coliseum, marks the first live performance in over twelve years.

“Phil & ‘Phriends'” – April 15-17, 1999 – While the Grateful Dead & Phish worlds seemed to constantly orbit each other as the 90’s progressed, it wasn’t until 1999 when they truly collided. For one blissful April weekend at San Francisco’s Warfield Theater, music history was made when Phil’s band was augmented by Trey Anastasio & Page McConnell of Phish, marking the first formal public collaboration between members of the two iconic bands. 

“Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” – March 27, 1985 – Phil’s triumphant return as a lead vocalist after a prolonged absence due to his aforementioned vocal chord injuries came via the live debut of this Bob Dylan track at a 1985 Nassau Coliseum concert.

“Wolfman’s Brother” – September 17, 1999 – Months after the historic Phil & Friends collaboration, Phish returned the favor by inviting Phil to sit in towards the end of their set at his hometown venue, Shoreline Amphitheatre.

“Crusader Rabbit Stealth Band” – June 10, 2001 – The late 90’s were a tumultuous time for band members, and a toll was particularly taken on Phil & Bobby’s personal & professional relationships. Arguments over licensing & distribution of archived material began to go public, and it seemed as if the two former band-mates might never share the stage again. That all changed in 2001 when they reunited under the moniker “Crusader Rabbit Stealth Band” at The Sweetwater in Mill Valley, CA to a crowd of just over 100 incredibly fortunate – and shocked – fans.

“Terrapin Family Band” – When Phil’s sons began sharing the stage with him in the early 2000’s, it was immediately obvious how proud and elated he was to be performing the Grateful Dead’s music with his children in a public forum. This special relationship has helped foster the “Terrapin Family Band”, which features the father/son combo of Phil & Grahame along with a host of other young talented local musicians.

“Iko Iko” (with Barney the Purple Dinosaur) – April 1, 1993 – During the 1993 April Fool’s Day concert at Nassau Coliseum, the Dead fell back into their old prankster habits when they replaced the bassist with a full-sized version of the beloved children’s cartoon prehistoric mascot, leading to a double-take from Garcia and a cease & desist letter from Barney’s lawyers.