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 24 - June 9, 1977
If you plant ice
Franklin’s Tower was first performed at Winterland on June 17, 1975. As was most often the case – inclusive of the studio version on the 1975 release, Blues for Allah – the tune was the exclamation point on the seminal Help on the Way/Slipknot/Franklin’s Tower medley that leads off and occupies most of Side 1 of that album. Franklin’s Tower was found in the Dead’s setlist six times during the Spring ’77 tour, culminating in arguably their best performance to date, as part of this week’s pick for T.W.I.G.D.H., June 9, 1977, also at Winterland.
This Week in Grateful Dead History: Week 14 - March 28, 1981
Left-hand monkey wrench
For musicologist Michael Steven Hartman, music is a direct reflection of the rhythms of the universe and the lifeforms that inhabit it. While his interests in polyrhythmic and exotic percussion are plainly evident during the Drums and Space portion of any Dead concert, many Deadheads are unaware of the lifelong dedication Hartman, A.K.A. Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart, has shown in exploring the cosmic common thread that music, and particularly drumming, represents in human consciousness.
This Week in Grateful Dead History: Week 49 – December 5, 1981
I know this song, it ain’t never gonna end.
The Grateful Dead took perhaps their biggest step towards immortality when they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, in 1994. But if there was a distinction for Most Unlikely Success Stories among the now-338 groups and performers that have been similarly recognized as of 2020, our beloved band of misfits would easily win, place or show. From their humble origins as a jug band (Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions), to their pivot to a rock band, called The Warlocks, to their first show as the Grateful Dead on 12/4/65 in San Jose, CA at one of Ken Kesey’s “Acid Tests,” this was a band whose initial aspirations were more oriented towards survival than fame and fortune.
All Material Copyright 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 by Stewart Sallo