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 48 – November 24, 1979
The Wonders of Nature
There is one school of thought about the COVID-19 pandemic which suggests that we are all going to become infected with this virus at one point or another, and it seemed that my time had come. Ironically, it appeared that my buddy, Bill, and I had successfully dodged the Corona Bullet, as we were halfway through the final 800-mile drive back to Colorado, having played 34 games in six baseball tournaments in Arizona and Florida, spanning six weeks. Yes, we were about to slide into home plate, head first, with the winning run, our trusty mountain bikes safely secured behind my 4Runner, when my pick for T.W.I.G.D.H. (This Week in Grateful Dead History), the 11/24/79 Grateful Dead show from the Golden Hall Community Concourse in San Diego, was preempted with breaking news.
This Week in Grateful Dead History: Week 38 – September 20, 1982
If the spirit’s sleeping then the flesh is ink
Despite being a West Coast band, the Dead had a special relationship with New York City, and played Madison Square Garden a total of 52 times from ’79-’94. As drummer Bill Kreutzmann remarked in 2015 as the band was inducted into the Madison Square Garden Walk of Fame, “Out of about 2300 shows that the Grateful Dead played, the 52 we played here were nothing short of amazing.” T.W.I.G.D.H. features one of those amazing shows, 9/20/82, and a tune that was performed live on that date for only the third time, Throwing Stones.
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