Reserve your copy of the latest addition to the library of baseball literature.
by Stew Sallo, author of “The Deadhead Cyclist.”
Life lessons on two wheels to the tunes of the
Grateful Dead
Robert Hall Weir, né Parber,
October 16, 1947 – January 10, 2026
Let the words be yours, I’m done with mine.
I first saw Bob Weir on October 19, 1974 with the Grateful Dead at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. I last saw Bob Weir on June 14, 2024 as a member of Dead & Company at The Sphere in Las Vegas. Over the course of almost 50 years, it was my privilege to see Bobby perform countless times as a member of the Grateful Dead, Kingfish, Ratdog, the Other Ones, The Dead, Furthur, Dead & Company, the Weir Robinson & Greene Acoustic Trio, and probably others that I have failed to remember.
Other Posts
This Week in Grateful Dead History: Week 6 - February 5, 1989
I will take you home
I became a Deadhead in 1973, during the Keith and Donna era, and was deeply saddened when they left the band in 1979. Keith Godchaux was a phenomenally talented pianist, and to this day I love listening to his mostly understated playing on so many wonderful ’70s recordings. My first show with “the new guy” on keyboards was 10/19/80 at San Francisco’s Warfield Theater, and I was immediately impressed with the skill Brent Mydland displayed on keyboards, but even more so with his vocal contributions. While I understand, but never shared, the widespread antipathy felt by many Deadheads toward Donna Jean Godchaux, Brent’s arrival served to transform the Grateful Dead from a band that was often barely tolerable vocally to one that could really sing.
The Thin Line Beyond
Some Grateful Dead lyrics are easy to interpret. Perhaps the most classic example is from the song, Truckin’: “Sometimes the light’s all shining on me. Other times I can barely see.” It’s easy to identify with the universal human experience of going through times in our lives when everything is working, the path ahead clearly lit, followed by periods of confusion or frustration, the future dark and obscured. Simple. Straightforward.
This Week in Grateful Dead History: Week 47 – November 22, 1985
Going to leave this brokedown palace
The motifs of life and death are omnipresent in the poetry, the experience, and even the name of the Grateful Dead. It could easily be argued that the singularly honest way these themes are addressed across the Dead’s repertoire is the straw that stirs the multifaceted cocktail of Deadheads’ often enigmatic passion for their favorite band. Invariably presented in perfect yin/yang-like balance, the comedic and tragic duality of the human experience is at the forefront of tunes like Black Peter, Sugaree, To Lay Me Down, Brown Eyed Women, China Doll, and so many others. But perhaps the best example – and one that illustrates so well the troubled times we live in at the historic moment these words are being written – is the mixed metaphor of Brokedown Palace. T.W.I.G.D.H. features the 11/22/85 show from Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center, which opens with the equally life-death balanced Hell in a Bucket, and closes with Brokedown Palace, in its traditional spot at the end of the lineup.
All Material Copyright 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 by Stewart Sallo