The band was a simple combo. Similar to other rock ‘n’ roll or rhythm & blues bands, it consisted of two guitars, piano, bass, two drummers (I always loved that!) and lots of singing. But the music came across like a Cubist painting – the picture broken up into pieces, parts here, other elements over there, counter melodies. Everyone not playing the same way at the same time, and going in different directions. The underpinning percolating and chaotic at times, relaxed at other times – but still holding together somehow, in some way, and sounding like a song. And all with this happy, feel-good groove and spirit that I could feel was similar to the records and artists I knew – Chuck Berry, Elvis, the Rolling Stones, The Jackson Five, Stevie Wonder, the Beatles.
As I worked on playing the music on my guitar, to see how they created this magic, I realized it was actually simple – and then again, not so simple. Mostly, they were playing chords and progressions I knew, but they were doing it in such a different kind of way: not playing the whole chords, or plucking notes or little melodies in between strums, changing their parts – leaving space, playing alternative notes, but mostly what I heard was a monster of a band playing together – this organic growing, moving thing – alive in the moment. That was thrilling.
I fell in love with a few things.
- Jerry Garcia. His voice and guitar playing was so beautiful. So soulful, laid back at times, on fire at times. I could hear rock ‘n’ roll, rhythm & blues and gospel all rolled into one.
- Bob Weir's rhythm guitar playing. I am a rhythm guitar player; back then I was just learning about rhythm guitar’s role in a band. Bob played such cool variations and voicings of the chords, adding in little counter-melodies to his rhythm, adding spaces to let the other instruments peek through; all the while acting as the bonding glue between the lead guitar, bass and drums. His rhythm guitar lived right in the middle of the overall sound, adding very colorful parts but still holding it all together, creative and integral.
- The songs. Their originals were a combination of rock ‘n’ roll, country, gospel, rhythm & blues, jugband. I didn’t really know all of these strains of music when I first listened to Steal Your Face, but the Dead led me back to all of those treasures: Hank Williams, Chuck Berry, Howlin’ Wolf, Elizabeth Cotton, gospel music; really, all American roots music. And their lyrics were poetic, impressionistic; filled with images and cool scenes, rich language and mysterious characters. The words worked perfectly with the music. What I didn’t realize until now is how many cover songs are on the album: songs by Johnny Cash, Jesse Fuller, Chuck Berry, traditional American songs. Wonderful musical markers of our past which are hard to come by as a kid, and markers which inevitably lead further down the trail of wonderful musical discoveries.
After that album, my bandmates and I started playing more Dead and trying to improvise, as they did. This led us to writing our own songs and developing a sound of our own; something that felt good, natural and honest. The sound was laid back but still rockin'. We began listening to each other and playing off each other instead of just churning through learned parts. We learned how to trust the song, trust each other and let the song go, grow and move where it wanted to take us. As we learned the music never played out the same way twice, it became very exciting, and addicting, to revisit the material night after night.