Favorite Grateful Dead Keyboard/Pianist

[SkiDog]

With all the apparent Dead Heads on this board I though this might be an appropriate thread and since lately there has been a LOT of music talk in the MISC section, I figured i'd add to the fun..

So whos everyones favortie...theyve had quite a few..?

Ron "Pigpen" McKernan
Tom Constantine (edit)
Keith Godchaux
Brett Mydland
Bruce Hornsby
Vince Welnick

Dont think I missed any...unless you count Jerry Garcia band and Melvin Seals (who RULED)..

I think my favorite was probably Brett, but man the sound they had with a Grand piano....?? Such a tough choice...

I'll stick with Brett...at least TODAY....

M

 

[BeanoNYC]

It's Brent Midland; I like Bruce and Pigpen the best.

 

[Vortex]

I was not there for Pigpen, TC or Keith. I like/liked Bruce the best.
I never had a bad thing to say about Brent. I just like Hornsby's piano sound. I met Vince. From tapes Keith would be my next Favorite.
We have a thread on the Dead, but let this ride. This is a bit more specific than the general thread.

 

[SkiDog]

It's Brent Midland; I like Bruce and Pigpen the best.

Sorry but we're both wrong...

Brent Mydland

M

 

[SkiDog]

We have a thread on the Dead, but let this ride. This is a bit more specific than the general thread.

Gracias for letting it "ride" so to speak...thought it was more specific myselft thats why I started it...

anyway I wasnt there for the pigpen years or the KG days either, but I have tapes..and man could Keith play...thats why I lean towards Bruce some days..I loved the sound of a true piano instead of a keyboard...

M

 

[Vortex]

My post was more for others than us. Heads know the difference and the passion. Chilemass the golf freak might have deleted it.:wink:

 

[ChileMass]

IMHO each had strengths and weaknesses -

Pigpen could sing the blues like Janis and could play the harp like crazy, but he was actually a pretty lousy organ player. But his fire outweighed his limitations, and the band in some ways never got over his loss.

TC was a formally-educated classical piano and organ player and his fills on Dark Star, St. Stephen, Mountains of the Moon in 69-70 are simply amazing. I'm guessing there must have been some competition between him and Pig and TC lost the battle.

Keith was great from 1971-74, but after they came back from the 75-76 vacation he was hooked on junk and never the same. I LOVED the grand piano sound from the 72-74 days, which is my favorite Dead period. From 77-79, he didn't do much. It always seemed to me that when it was Keith's (rare) turn for a solo, his piano would be turned way down, Garcia would stomp all over the end of his "solos" and they seemed to try to keep it to one solo per show. By then Keith didn't seem to have much energy or creativity left.

Brent's squeaky voice always made me crazy, but you could never argue with his playing or his energy. Too bad he was yet another junkie.

Hornsby was wonderful, both playing and singing. It was a bummer they couldn't talk him into becoming a full-time member of the band.

Vince tried to fill up a lot of space in the last days when Garcia could barely play the guitar, and it made some songs (IMHO) sound like Dead-lite with all the big organ washes.

If I had to choose - I'd go with Hornsby. He could do it all. A really talented musician.

 

[SkiDog]

I Totally apologize for failing to include Tom Constantine in the list...I for some reason forget he was there...wasn't very long thats probably why....I did see him open for Rob Hunter once, he jammed and AWESOME Dark Star all by himself on a Grand Piano. It was jsut him and a piano for the opening act, and Hunter was just him a his guitar...I will go edit the above list..

M

 

[Vortex]

BeanoNYC and I and A DNC buddy caught TC for a few minutes after the Friday night Hammertein Phil show. Looks like ChileMass would not take the bait I threw at him.:wink:

 

[ChileMass]

BeanoNYC and I and A DNC buddy caught TC for a few minutes after the Friday night Hammertein Phil show. Looks like ChileMass would not take the bait I threw at him.:wink:

Just letting it ride........

 

[Vortex]

Nice bust Chile.:razz:

 

[marcski]

Another good thread.

For me, depends on the mood. They each had their strengths and weaknesses. These are my fav's.

Pigpen was just great. Classic blues man. GD's original front man, a lot of their early format based around him.

Brent. If you listen, I just love his high harmonies. His playing was super and hey he played that B3 which just rocked.

Bruce: Yes, loved the look and sound of the Grand on stage...but i don't think he was really ever officially a "member of the band". He filled in at the tough time after Brent passed. Plus I don't think Bruce ever played alone... didn't vince always play with them also on that cheesy little keyboard he had.

Finally, Keith. While he too was a great player....nothing really stands out about him to me...However, I must admit that one of my favorite dead "periods" is during his tenure..go figure.

 

[dmc]

The styles of the band are so much different during keyboard eras...

I do like Brent - I love his style and his singing... BUT - some of those shows with Bruce at MSG were absolutey amazing..

 

[Vortex]

I caught the 1st Bruce show in NY.Vince was kind of there with Bralove as I remember. He was a band member for 1.5 year aprox. At his shows he talks sometimes about his days with his old band mates. I was front Row at Meadowbrook last fall when he and bobby played a tour together. Not to bad. There was some interaction/interplay. The best I saw of the run was in Wallingford ct.

 

[2knees]

while he was certainly before my time, i gotta go with pigpen.

 

[marcski]

Interesting to note. If you goto Dead.net (the official page) and then goto band. They do not list Bruce as being an official member.

But, I do agree, the MSG shows with Bruce were superb.

 

[Vortex]

I just buzzed the keyboardist page. He is not mentioned as one, but its debated by the members as to why . I post over there a little.

 

[marcski]

His absence on the list could be due to Bruce himself. He has well a large ego and likes his own name on the bill. Never really wanted to let go of his main gig.

 

[ckofer]

Brent was a tremendous force & gets my vote. IMHO, the band stopped growing musically after he passed. I thought his voice filled in nicely when Jerry's would fall apart. Hornsby is good at what he does but was a sideshow musically. I saw him open for Ratdog last summer; the Deadhead in me just can't connect with his writing. It's kinda like going on sleigh ride on a powder day. Nice in its own way but I'd rather be at Cannon.

I saw Vince at some small venues with a band from NYC called Gent Treadly last fall. I'm not sure what went wrong with The GD arrangement, but I got an appreciation for his talent. Great vocals and cool energy. Without really knowing, we can only guess what the last years with Jerry at the helm may have been like. I remember coming back from the second, and last, Highgate show with a sinking feeling that it was over; the vibe was wrong. That was 1995.

Others reading this read me bash Haynes on another thread (sorry). A couple years ago, I caught The Dead at Tweeter on a Friday evening. When we walked in Warren was singing a Brent tune. Sounded like southern rock and not The Dead. The second set was redeeming and life was better:

7/30/2004 (Fri.) Tweeter Center, Mansfield, MA
I: Help on the Way > Slipknot! > Franklin's Tower > Truckin > Me and Bobby McGee, Strange World > The Wheel > Candyman@, Just a Little Light, U.S. Blues
II: Lady with a Fan > Terrapin > St. Stephen > William Tell Bridge > The Eleven > Scarlet Begonias > Fire on the Mountain > Drums > Space > Mountains of the Moon, China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider
E: Ripple@

 

[Vortex]

I could get into the PLQ/Dead and other combonations of the post Jerry era. I'll save that for another time. No enough energy today for me. Maybe another thread. I like the Q better than anything post era including the Dead. The scofield Phil shows and the Spring tour were fantastic. I would not put them at the q yet, but might be better in a different way. Joan over Chris on vocals big time. I posted more than I thought I would. Barry's guitar does it for me.