lacy@allegra.UUCP (Jack Lacy) (08/01/85)
the grateful dead seem to be interested in multiple and varied textures...brent adds a different sort of texture from that of keith or tc...it's high energy, and rythmically very interesting...i for one think the guy's amazing! i think he's added a color to the band that has propelled them into completely new spaces...especially on songs such as "feel like a stranger", "man smart, woman smarter", "the other one", and on and on and on...the guy's different...but the dead never have stayed the same in the 15 years i've been listening to them. his personality also adds a new tension...in "playing in the band" there are all sorts of references to the fact that each member of the band is musically (and otherwise) very different from all the others....the tradition continues...brent is more than just competent...he's (in my humble opinion) extremely creative on the improvisational front....and to me, that's a very large part of the grateful dead...they don't need another garcia...or weir, or lesh or whatever...they needed different textures and subtleties. and they have that with brent...also, considering the fact that he's only been with the band little over 6 years...i think he's picked up the thread remarkably well!...i would like to see more solos from him...every one generally blows me away! none of this is to take away from keith...who also had his special sound which i loved...brent's not better or worse... just different...and for me, that's terrific.
glenn1@mtuxt.UUCP (G.SCHWARTZ) (08/01/85)
C'mon people, give the guy a chance. Granted, Brent has only been
with the band for a little while, but how do you expect him to
show the same intrinsic playing style so soon? He has to start
somewhere! I feel that he gives the dead a kick in the pants
every once in a while. Pig did the same thing! As far as
classical training, that's Phils background. Did it hurt him?
The fact that his background and style is different can only
help. After all, didn't jerry himself say the band was an
experiment. And every one has their own individual style
that melds miraculously into o! This is healthy.
Be patient. After all, when you first started to work
on a project with a new group, how would you feel if
management said: I just can't accept this new guy, the old
member was better and he just can't be replaced.
Tsk tsk.....But- you did get your chance, and now you are
doing well (I hope so anyway).
Every member of the dead , past and present, contributes in
their own way. Thats what makes the band so damn good.
Every time that wheel turns round...
We're bound to cover just a little more ground.
-Glenn