06-11-2006, 09:17 PM
It's strange to think of Vince for me now. Of all the Dead members, I probably got the closest to him on a regular basis. He would eat with the rest of the crew, usually seated alone, unlike the rest of the band who were tucked away in their private backstage lodgings. That spoke volumes about Vince and his standing with the band. The Dead fed their crew very well, gourmet-quality banquets, and Vince was alwways there. I saw him at many a meal, even sat at a table with him a few times, but never engaged him in a serious or extended conversation.
It's even stranger for me to think that he was with the Dead for the last five years, basically when I was on the payroll on the West Coast tours. I was technically a Touchhead - one of the Deadheads that came in after In the Dark, the bands' only top 40. I experienced three years of Brent Mydland, and then five of Vince, and then Jerry was gone. Only eight years, but eight consciousness-expanding years that left an indelible mark upon my psyche. The bulk of that was with Vince in the hotseat (the Dead was hard on keyboardists just like Spinal Tap was on drummers) although I'd say I was more attached to Brent's sound, since that's when I used to buy tickets and listen to the shows more attentively. It was harder to listen to Vince while sitting on top of a raving, screaming tripper.
I searched my embarrasingly large collection of Dead cds and tapes and have only found one Vince show: Chinese New Years '91. I collected the CNY shows because they were very important to me as the designated Dead lion dancer. Generally, they are weak in drumz ironically, because the Rhythm Devils never got that great a handle on CNY drumming ("our interpretation" as Mickey would quip to me when I interviewed him for the magazine in 2000). CNY 91 were significant shows, dubbed the Gulf War run, because we had just bombed Iraq and Hornsby, who had backed Vince on the hotseat, didn't play. I can hear Vince well on Little Red Rooster, but the tape itself is muddy and faded from sitting in a box for a decade or so. But I've been playing it a lot since Vince's passing, looking for clues perhaps, or at least savoring some memories.
There were two songs I remember Vince for: Long Way to go Home and Samba in the Rain. LWtoH showcased Vince's singing, his ability to sustain long soulful notes. It was a great road song and often encapsulated my feelings on tour in Vegas, or Seattle, or Eugene, or whereever I was at the time. SitR only got me once, I can't remember where, but it was a rain show, and it captured the moment in that surreal way that the Dead could be a perfect soundtrack to the psychedelic carnival that surrounded it. I can think back and remember the feelings, the associations, with that moment eveything I hear that song again, which is quite rare now. I don't have any recordings of either song, or at least I haven't found them yet.
It was an amazing time, being on tour with the Dead, glorious, just glorious. I can't imagine a window like that openning up for me again, and can barely comprehend how it openned for me in the first place. I had stopped listening to the Dead a while back, not because it was painful or anything, I just stopped. Vince's passing has my back there again, exploring those glory days, and wondering what tomorrow may bring.
It's a lot less than prison
but it's more than a jail
I'd tell you all about it
But that's another tale
It's a long, long, long, long way to go home . . .
It's even stranger for me to think that he was with the Dead for the last five years, basically when I was on the payroll on the West Coast tours. I was technically a Touchhead - one of the Deadheads that came in after In the Dark, the bands' only top 40. I experienced three years of Brent Mydland, and then five of Vince, and then Jerry was gone. Only eight years, but eight consciousness-expanding years that left an indelible mark upon my psyche. The bulk of that was with Vince in the hotseat (the Dead was hard on keyboardists just like Spinal Tap was on drummers) although I'd say I was more attached to Brent's sound, since that's when I used to buy tickets and listen to the shows more attentively. It was harder to listen to Vince while sitting on top of a raving, screaming tripper.
I searched my embarrasingly large collection of Dead cds and tapes and have only found one Vince show: Chinese New Years '91. I collected the CNY shows because they were very important to me as the designated Dead lion dancer. Generally, they are weak in drumz ironically, because the Rhythm Devils never got that great a handle on CNY drumming ("our interpretation" as Mickey would quip to me when I interviewed him for the magazine in 2000). CNY 91 were significant shows, dubbed the Gulf War run, because we had just bombed Iraq and Hornsby, who had backed Vince on the hotseat, didn't play. I can hear Vince well on Little Red Rooster, but the tape itself is muddy and faded from sitting in a box for a decade or so. But I've been playing it a lot since Vince's passing, looking for clues perhaps, or at least savoring some memories.
There were two songs I remember Vince for: Long Way to go Home and Samba in the Rain. LWtoH showcased Vince's singing, his ability to sustain long soulful notes. It was a great road song and often encapsulated my feelings on tour in Vegas, or Seattle, or Eugene, or whereever I was at the time. SitR only got me once, I can't remember where, but it was a rain show, and it captured the moment in that surreal way that the Dead could be a perfect soundtrack to the psychedelic carnival that surrounded it. I can think back and remember the feelings, the associations, with that moment eveything I hear that song again, which is quite rare now. I don't have any recordings of either song, or at least I haven't found them yet.
It was an amazing time, being on tour with the Dead, glorious, just glorious. I can't imagine a window like that openning up for me again, and can barely comprehend how it openned for me in the first place. I had stopped listening to the Dead a while back, not because it was painful or anything, I just stopped. Vince's passing has my back there again, exploring those glory days, and wondering what tomorrow may bring.
It's a lot less than prison
but it's more than a jail
I'd tell you all about it
But that's another tale
It's a long, long, long, long way to go home . . .
Shadow boxing the apocalypse