CNN/AP: Grateful Dead keyboardist dead at 51

[DeepModem Mom]

Grateful Dead keyboardist dead at 51
Saturday, June 3, 2006


Vince Welnick (left) appears with Grateful Dead bandmates Bob Weir and Jerry Garcia in April 1993.

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Vince Welnick, the Grateful Dead's last keyboard player and a veteran of several other bands, including the Tubes and Missing Man Formation, has died at age 51, the Grateful Dead's longtime publicist confirmed Saturday.

Welnick died Friday, said Dennis McNally, who declined to release the cause.

Welnick lived in the northern California town of Forestville, but McNally did not know if he died at home or in a hospital.

"His service to and love for the Grateful Dead were heartfelt and essential. He had a loving soul and a joy in music that we were lucky to share," the group said in a statement on its Web site. "Our Grateful Dead prayer for the repose of his spirit: May the four winds blow him safely home."

Welnick was the last in a long line of Grateful Dead keyboardists, several of whom died prematurely, leading some of the group's fans to conclude that the position came with a curse....

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/06/03/welnick.obit.ap/index.html

[ClassWarrior]

1. More so, Tubes keyboardist...

Rest in peace, Vince.

NGU.

[LeftHander]

27. Just saw the Tubes a few wekks ago....

Small theatre gig at Potowatami Casio in Milwaukee...great venue for music....top notch sound....the Kings fronted.

The Tubes rocked...

I tslke to Fee Waybill after the show, they had a meet and greet....got his autograph...impressive vocal perfromer....great band.

[SquireJons]

28. The Tubes are touring?

And with Fee Waybill?!? Damn, I sure hope they drift toward me. I have been a fan since the seventies, and even got to see them once, but at the time, Fee was not touring with them. Unfortunately, I never got to see them in their prime, when they would change costumes after almost every song. They were as much theater as they were music... but great music.

I'm absolutely shocked to read of Vince's death. What's the deal with being the keyboardist for the Dead? I kind of figured that Welnick would be the last to go, being the youngest and probably the least into the drug scene of the band members. I'll be interested in hearing how he died. I wonder if Bruce Hornsby is worried? Maybe that's why he turned down the job of 'keyboardist' with the Dead and just played accordion occasionally with them... might have been a really smart move on his part.

[LeftHander]

47. Fee did the costumes changes between all the songs...

even the naked butt chaps....and thong

His old butt looked a bit like two plates of cottage cheese but that did not detract from the show...basically the crowd went crazy...and long time guitarist said "I just don't look anymore..." When Fee pointed his butt at the crowd after the song and commenting on his aging body....it was a riot everybody laughed and Fee was obviously haveing a great time on stage. They really appreciated the venue which is fabulous and filled to capacity with Tubes fans.

He really is a charismatic performer...and his voice was spot too.....

WHite Punks On Dope...

[DainBramaged]

42. What do you want from life????

What do you want from life
To kidnap an heiress
or threaten her with a knife
What do you want from life
To get cable TV
and watch it every night

There you sit
a lump in your chair
Where do you sleep
and what do you wear
when you're sleeping

What do you want from life
An Indian guru
to show you the inner light
What do you want from life
a meaningless love affair
with a girl that you met tonight

How can you tell when you're doin' alright
Does your bank account swell
While you're dreaming at night
How do know when you're really in love
Do violins play when you're touching the one
That you're loving

What do you want from life
Someone to love
and somebody that you can trust
What do you want from life
To try and be happy
while you do the nasty things you must

Well, you can't have that, but if you're an American citizen you are entitled to:
a heated kidney shaped pool,
a microwave oven--don't watch the food cook,
a Dyna-Gym--I'll personally demonstrate it in the privacy of your own home,
a king-size Titanic unsinkable Molly Brown waterbed with polybendum,
a foolproof plan and an airtight alibi,
real simulated Indian jewelry,
a Gucci shoetree,
a year's supply of antibiotics,
a personally autographed picture of Randy Mantooth
and Bob Dylan's new unlisted phone number,
a beautifully restored 3rd Reich swizzle stick,
Rosemary's baby,
a dream date in kneepads with Paul Williams,
a new Matador, a new mastodon,
a Maverick, a Mustang, a Montego,
a Merc Montclair, a Mark IV, a meteor,
a Mercedes, an MG, or a Malibu,
a Mort Moriarty, a Maserati, a Mac truck,
a Mazda, a new Monza, or a moped,
a Winnebago--Hell, a herd of Winnebago's we're giving 'em away,
or how about a McCulloch chainsaw,
a Las Vegas wedding,
a Mexican divorce,
a solid gold Kama Sutra coffee pot,
or a baby's arm holding an apple?

[auburngrad82]

44. They put on a great show.

I saw them in Atlanta in the 80s. I also remember them on Second City TV, doing a sketch with John Candy, where the whole band was in a boat fishing with Candy. He was the host of an outdoor show. The funny part was the band was all wearing suits in the boat.



Liberal bumper stickers

[maxsolomon]

48. did stuff blow up real good?

i hearted SCTV

[CountAllVotes]

2. sad

I liked Vince Welnick a lot more than I did Brent Mydland I must admit.

It seems like, as Jerry Garcia once said, that the job of keyboardist for the band is their "hot seat". Boy was he ever right.

RIP Vince! :loveya:

:kick:

[China_cat]

3. Most dangerous job in the world

keyboarder for the Dead.

[CdnObserver]

5. You beat me to it! n/t

[Fozzledick]

8. My theory on the real reason Jerry died

He was learning to play keyboards!:scared:

[SquireJons]

29. lol n/t

[DoYouEverWonder]

14. No kidding

I think I would dump the piano from the line up at this point. Maybe get an accordian player instead. Those guys are hard to kill.

[uppityperson]

4. Is position like Spinal Tap's drummer? RIP

[sofa king]

10. At this point, it might be worse.

Ron "Pigpen" McKernen, Keith Godchaux, and Brent Mydland preceded Vince. Godchaux was a pianist who got kicked out first, but he didn't last long thereafter, so if you're looking for a job I wouldn't try avoiding the curse by rocking a harpsichord.

But you might try standing in as a guest, as Bruce Hornsby seems to be doing okay.

[mike_c]

6. damn, RIP Vince Welnick....

Same age as me.

[Cha]

21. So young!

RIP, Vince Welnick! O8)

[Old and In the Way]

7. Another one...Ramrod just recently passed, too.

Sorry to hear this...

[Kingshakabobo]

36. I didn't know that about Ramrod. Sad. I'm out of touch these days.

It's weird how priority's change with the fascist wannabes are in charge. :(

[Ferret Annica]

40. From the K-sey.com Ken Kesey site, Bob Hunter's tribute to Ramrod

"http://www.key-z.com/

"RAMROD" passed away at 6:30 this wed.

Nobody writes a better Elegy than Robert Hunter,
this is what he wrote wrote:

Elegy for Ramrod

Most never knew his given name.
They called him Ramrod.
Lawrence didn't fit him.
He came down from Oregon,
Prankster sidekick of Cassady,
Kesey and the merry crew,
a silent stoic in a vocable milieu
his heart was stolen by the Grateful Dead.

A country boy, not given to complexity,
his crowning gift was loyalty
for which he was loved more than
the common run of men by friends.
This is not to say more than was so,
the common fault of eulogies
which shine the silver of modest virtue
into the gold of rareness.

Every soul owes life a death.
Between each heartbeat is a moment
within which the pulse is still.
In the longer beat between life and death
a man was here we called a friend,
a father, a husband and a son.
He is us and we are him,
his death is ours, our lives are his.

Some see Heaven as dying's recompense,
some acknowledge only nothingness
in a space we know not of,
in a place we know not where.
But this we know, as a poet said:
"To have been here but the once
Never can be undone."

Some will pray, some just remember.
Those who pray, having prayed,
will go on to pray for others.
Those who remember,
having remembered for awhile,
will in the course of time forget,
more so as the years dissolve.
This is as it should be
lest death overstep its bounds
and impinge too much on life.
Life, being what is, cannot
impinge too much on death.

The circumstance we most desire
in grief which shakes our branches
like some holy hurricane raging
through this barren world of little light,
is that our brother be gathered in glory.
If so, rejoice! If wishful thinking,
give thanks instead
that he was here among us.
Delivered from the testing fire of pain,
a truer heart was never broken.

-- rh

[stubtoe]

9. Adios too soon, Vince

He'll be jammin' on the Other Side

[Gormy Cuss]

11. Another link

Grateful Dead's last keyboardist, Vince Welnick, dies at 55
- Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, June 3, 2006

(06-03) 16:08 PDT FORESTVILLE, SONOMA COUNTY - Vince Welnick, a founding member of the Tubes who later played keyboards with Todd Rundgren and the Grateful Dead, died Friday at his home in Sonoma County. He was 55.

Mr. Welnick, who had long suffered from depression, committed suicide at his home in Forestville, authorities said.

"He was a good soul, a very sweet guy," said Grateful Dead spokesman Dennis McNally. "He was also an exceptionally competent keyboardist...."

"His service to and love for the Grateful Dead were heartfelt and essential. He had a loving soul and a joy in music that we were lucky to share," the group said in a statement on its Web site. "Our Grateful Dead prayer for the repose of his spirit: May the four winds blow him safely home."

Mr. Welnick's death is the latest tragedy to touch the band in recent weeks. Since May 17, three other members of the band's extended family have died -- crew member Lawrence "Ram Rod" Shurtliff, drummer Hamza El-Din and road manager Jonathan Riester. He also is the fourth of the band's five keyboardists to die. Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, Keith Godchaux and Brent Mydland -- whom Mr. Welnick succeeded in 1990 -- have died.

"It's not a happy history," said McNally. "Each one of these guys had a fragility, which isn't that uncommon for musicians."

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/06/03/MNG45J861V4.DTL
©2006 San Francisco Chronicle

[SquireJons]

32. Suicide!?!

This might be the saddest loss yet among the Dead band members. In a way, the others killed themselves too, with drugs and alcohol, but not from depression. How terribly sad, this news.

[tives12]

12. I was listening to "Blow Away" as I read that one.

With Brent Mydland on lead vocals. Rather ironic. I know it isn't Vince, but it's a keyboardist nevertheless.

[mcscajun]

13. RIP, Vince.

:cry:

[hollowdweller]

15. Tom Constanten is still kicking right??

It's still hard for me to listen to the Jerry songs. It's been over 10 years and I still miss him.

I'd have to say the two musicians I really loved and who seemed to have the ability to bring me to a higher plane thru their playing were Jerry Garcia and John Hartfored. I sweet sadness overtakes me when I hear them now.

[mcscajun]

18. Yup, Tom is still very much around.

He was last playing keyboards for Jefferson Starship.

I still miss Jerry, still listen to the Dead, but damn if I didn't get a THUNK when I read this thread's headline. :cry:

[Scout1071]

16. Not again!

Rest in Peace.

[the other one]

17. (((VINCE)))

Rest in Peace my brother

I remember when you sang Baba OReilly at RFK in 95. Thanks for the memories.

[Kingshakabobo]

39. God, I forgot about that.. 95 was a turning point in my life.......

I'll never forget that last show @ Soldier's Field.

[Earth_First]

19. We'll miss you, friend...

Please give Jerry a big welcome hug and handshake when you meet him in the afterworld.

Rat in a drain ditch
Caught on a limb
You know better but
I know him
Like I told you
What I said
Steal your face
right off you head

Now he's Gone
Lord he's gone
Like a steam locomotive
rolling down the track
He's gone
He's gone
and nothing's gonna bring him back
He's gone

Nine mile skid
on a ten mile ride
Hot as a pistol
but cool inside
Cat on a tin roof
Dogs in a pile
Nothing left to do but
smile, smile, smile

Now he's gone
Lord he's gone
Like a steam locomotive
rolling down the track
He's gone
He's gone
and nothing's gonna bring him back
He's gone

Going where the wind don't blow so strange
Maybe on some high cold mountain range
Lost one round but the price wasn't anything
Knife in a back and more of the same
Same old rat in a drain ditch
Out on a limb
You know better but I know him

Now he's gone
Lord he's gone
Like a steam locomotive
rolling down the track
He's gone
He's gone
and nothin's gonna bring him back
He's gone....

[aasleka]

22. aww dammit!

So many so young 8(

Such a long, long time to be gone and a short time to be here.

[FredScuttle]

20. Link to the National Anthem performance by Vince, Jerry and Bob

Here's the YouTube video of Vince performing a killer national anthem with Jerry and Bob at the '93 opener at Candlestick Park

RIP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn7UB2FtrIE

[ClassWarrior]

23. Beautiful.

NGU.

[DeepModem Mom]

24. Thank you, Fred! nt

[Kingshakabobo]

37. How did I EVER miss that..............

Thanks so much for that. These guys had/have more patriotism in their big-toenail than most freepers I've met.

[crickets]

41. WOW. That was amazing!

I got chills. Beautiful. Thank you for posting that link.

[wicket]

45. Awesome, thank-you

n/t

[KittyWampus]

25. Thanks for the memories. Happy Trails!

[grateful581]

26. thanks Vince!

Rest in peace buddy

[MirrorAshes]

30. lotta bad blood and dirty laundry... its a shame.

the webmaster of the www.vincewelnick.com, mikelawson, posted this:

Vince Welnick is gone. He was the sweetest human I have ever known. Kind, generous, funny and warm hearted. He was my friend. He was talented, so fucking talented. I was lucky to know him. So, damned lucky to know him and Lori. God bless you, Lori. I'm so, so sorry.

Vince never got over the cruel way that the Grateful Dead band members treated him after Jerry died. He never got over the sorrow of losing Jerry, facing his own demons without his friend and could not understand how the remaining fellow band-members treated him like shit the past several years.

I cannot possibly describe to you the hurt and anguish he felt when "The Dead" decided to have a "Family Reunion of the SURVIVING MEMBERS" of Grateful Dead, a band that he was no mere sideman for its last five years, but a full member of by order of Jerry Garcia. How damned insulting was it to have a "surviving members family reunion" and not invite your new brother? He was the proverbial red-headed step-child to them. Did it occur to you how that hurt him, Bill, Bob, Phil, Mickey? The truth is that you selfish bastards did not care if it hurt him. He's a big boy, he just had to get over it, right?

I remember seeing Todd Rundgen at the "Walk Down Abbey Road" show in Concord, CA around the same time when that "Family Reunion" was booked. He asked how Vince was, and I told him about this "family reunion" concert of SURVIVING MEMBERS and how Vince was specifically not invited, but in fact was playing a gig at a campground not far from the show. Todd said, "Uh, Vince isn't dead, isn't he a surviving member?" He got the irony. I got the irony, but I also saw the hurt like none of you can believe. Vince kept a brave face about it, trying to remain cheerful, hoping that somehow, someday the tide would turn, the phone would ring and it would be Bob Weir calling him. Calling just to say, "How are you, Vinny?" Something. Anything.

I am certain that Jerry would have been completely disgusted with the terrible, cruel and despicable way that Vince was treated by the band, the management, etc. following his death. The lack of compassion displayed toward him, the ostracizing he felt burned and hurt Vince very deeply. He was a sensitive, sweet soul. He just couldn't handle the rejection. He and I spent hours and hours talking about these things, trying to get the demons out, which led to him pouring out his heart when that show happened, right on this website.

I told Vince to get his story out, tell everybody what happened on that Ratdog bus, tell them everything. Tell them how Bob and Ratdog sent him, having overdosed on the tour bus, to a hospital alone in the back of a taxi cab, without a friend in site, and had him checked in as John Doe, while they played the show anyway. Tell them, Vince how you were despondent over facing life-threatening cancer, a simultaneous diagnosis of Emphysema, and instead of staying home to try to heal and get immediate surgery, how you chose to give the fans the ill-fated summer 95 Dead tour. Tell them how nobody in the band even acknowledged, though they damned well knew, that Vince was very sick.

Tell them Vince, I said, how you didn't want to let the fans and the band down, and how eery it was on the tour knowing all these people who were your "friends" never asked how you were while on the road or even stepped aside with you to acknowledge that struggle you were facing. Tell everyone, Vince, how when you returned from the road, and Jerry was dead, how you were flung into the hell of depression facing lung disease, cancer and now your friend dying, and how you saw your world crash around you ever more when months later the band unceremoniously announced it was over. Tell them Vince, tell everyone and get the demons out.

Even more amazing than the band being cold to him, I could never understand why so-called "dead heads" and "fans" spent hours coming into this site and fucking with Vince, taunting him, posting evil, nasty lies about him. I finally had to turn this into a registration-only website to help shield my friend from the cruelness that some people took sport in on the message boards. Vince could take a joke, he could take a lot, but he finally couldn't take any more.

I had long, heart to heart talks with him for months before he told some of that story to you here, though not even close to all that detail. Vince didn't want to hurt the other guys, he just fucking wanted to play with them.

Do you hear me, Phil? Do you hear me, Mickey? Do you hear me, Bobby? Do you hear me, Bill? That's all he fucking wanted, was to play music with you guys. He loved you and you fucking treated him like shit. To see your "heartfelt" message on Dead.net today sickens me to no end, you fucking bunch of lying hypocrites. There is nothing left to hold back on now. Is it so hard to return the man's phone calls? Is it so hard to understand what he went through back then and how far he had come since that dreadful night on that Ratdog bus? Where is the love? Where is the compassion? Hippy love? Bull-fucking-shit. You guys could have been nice to him, invited him along, not made him feel like an ass and like he was bugging you if he called. Are you happy, Cameron? Are you? Go fuck yourself.

[ALago1]

31. Damn!!!

That's some intense shit!!!

[SquireJons]

33. I think you're right

The remaining member have long since lost their way. Now all they do is bicker about royalties and how to market their legacy. I never understood the arms length distance which not just band members, but also Dead fans held Vince. it was almost as if he never was accepted. Most fans wanted Hornsby to be the new keyboardist, but that was not to be. Being both a Dead fan and a Tubes fan, I thought the move was a good one, but while attending shows in the early 90's I never got the feeling that Vince was accepted. I had no idea that it affected Vince so badly. What a terrible shame... and that shame lies as a stain on the Greatful Dead family, as they like to call themselves. Now, there's no way to fix this. What a terrible mess the Dead's legacy has become.

[MirrorAshes]

34. indeed

ive heard my share of stories about vince too, he wasn't exactly a saint, but he did deserve better, if for no other reason that he was jerry's friend. jerry stuck up for him and jerry wanted him to be a part of the grateful dead. ive heard talk that vince was a bad influence on him, and he probably made his share of mistakes, but the guy had a tough set of circumstances and just seemed to get shunned and ignored, and evidently was pushed past his breaking point.

just another indicator that jerry was the glue holding it all together... they couldnt wait to get the hell away from eachother after 95 :-(

[Kingshakabobo]

38. Geez. Now I feel bad for not caring for his vocals OR keyboard.

I guess I grew up on Brent. I always liked Brent's hammond-ish organ over Vince's shallow keyboards.

[Earth_First]

43. I agree, the 'Brent Years' accounts for some really amazing music...

[B3Nut]

46. Not just hammond-ish, but a Hammond

A stunningly-rebuilt B-3 that just screamed. And he was an organ player, not just a keyboardist who happened to have a Hammond. He made that thing roar like a deranged panther. His ride on "Don't Ease Me In" from Go To Heaven is one of the great Hammond solos in rock'n'roll...he gets a rollicking gospel feel going.

Todd in Beerbratistan <- Hammond head

[Kingshakabobo]

49. B3 nut huh? LOL. I guess you would know....I thought it was a Hammond...

....but I couldn't remember if it was an ACTUAL Hammond.

Then you must be a fan of that guy from JGB. I can't remember his name off-hand. I remember being in the front row watching this guy run his giant-sized hands across the keys.

[shadowknows69]

52. I think Brent was my favorite

Another tortured soul. Why do great artists have to be in such pain.

[Trajan]

35. Vince Welnick ....

Along with Michael Cotton, formed an AMAZING keyboard 'battery' which created the 'Tubes' unique sound live. Michael Cotton was a genius synthesist, while Welnick was strictly a pianist, grounding their sound in big meaty chordal piano structures, while Michael blasted at the edges ....

They had a very special sound, and Vince was a huge part of that ....

I lived behind Fee's sister, Sally, in Long Beach in the 70's. I met Fee, and saw the Tubes a number of times. Vince was truly a stupendous artist, with a great command of the piano, dishing out massive chords chunks, or the sweetest trills and finest arpeggios ....

Wow .... what a loss ..... I have been sad in my life, but never enough to consider suicide .... I consider myself lucky ....

RIP Vince ....

[clixtox]

50. Vinnie 88

I have known the Welnicks for about 30 years and Vince was ALWAYS humble, gentle
and empathetic (a word I wouldn't use to describe many people). Vince was the most
sensitive person I have ever spent time with. He was so sweet and genuine, I am
greiving, it is all so sad.

So much went so right for Vince, that the positives way out weighed the rest. With
the music, his family and fans, and the therapuetic utilization of our beloved panacea,
Vince got by at worst, and thrived mightily, quite a lot of the time. Like everyone
does, Vince had ups and downs, personally and professionally. The downs were so
difficult, devastating and depressing for Vince, down to his core.

Vince required support, appreciated comaraderie, and loved everyone. Tragically,
through the years, he was sorely disappointed, surely much more than he ever deserved.

Vince craved opportunities to perform and jam, it was just not in his nature to
ever be aggresive, or even to ask around much. He would ask me. He would often ask
me if anyone was needing a keyboard player for any sessions at my recording studios.
He asked me again on Wednesday. I would invite him to stop by (about 20 minutes
away) and ask Mooka, my partner, and schmooze a bit with the engineers and producers
that are in and out daily. He usually said that he would be coming by soon, but
it rarely happened.

Although Vince was a MJ enthusiast he was not ever an illegal "drug abuser". The "drug culture"
was not ever a focus for Vince, music, and everything that comes with that, was his life.

It should be so simple....

[shadowknows69]

51. Does make you wonder.

Got to see Vince with them a few times before Garcia died. I imagine Bruce Hornsby has to be slightly nervous.