Bob Weir
Encyclopedia
Bob Weir is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, most recognized as a founding member of the Grateful Dead
. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones
, later known as The Dead
, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead. Weir also founded and played in several other bands during and after his career with the Grateful Dead, including Kingfish
, the Bob Weir Band, Bobby and the Midnites
, RatDog
, and his newest band Furthur
, co-led by former Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh
.
During his career with the Grateful Dead, Weir played mostly rhythm guitar
and sang most of the band's rock-n-roll tunes (Jerry Garcia
sang The Dead's more melodic tunes). He is known for his unique style of complex voiceleading
, bringing unusual depth and a new approach to the role of rhythm guitar expression.
, California
and raised by his adoptive parents in the suburb of Atherton
. He began playing guitar
at age thirteen after less successful experimentation with the piano
and the trumpet
. He had trouble in school because of undiagnosed dyslexia
and he was expelled from nearly every school he attended, including Menlo Atherton High School in Atherton
and Fountain Valley School
in Colorado. At Fountain Valley he met John Perry Barlow
, who later wrote the lyrics to a number of Grateful Dead songs.
On New Year's Eve, 1963, 16-year-old Weir and another underage friend were wandering the back alleys of Palo Alto, looking for a club that would admit them, when they heard banjo music. They followed the music to its source, Dana Morgan's Music Store. Here, a young Jerry Garcia
, oblivious to the date, was waiting for his students to arrive. Weir and Garcia spent the night playing music together and then decided to form a band. The Beatles
significantly influenced their musical direction. "The Beatles were why we turned from a jug band
into a rock 'n' roll band," said Bob Weir. "What we saw them doing was impossibly attractive. I couldn't think of anything else more worth doing." Originally called Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions, the band was later renamed The Warlocks and eventually the Grateful Dead
.
Weir played rhythm guitar
and sang a portion of the lead vocals through all of the Dead's 30-year career. (In the fall of 1968, the Dead played some concerts without Weir and Ron "Pigpen" McKernan. These shows, with the band billed as "Mickey and the Hartbeats", were intermixed with full-lineup Grateful Dead concerts. Late in the year, the band relented and took Weir and Pigpen back in full time.) In the late 1970s, he began to experiment with slide guitar
techniques and perform certain songs during Dead shows using the slide. His unique guitar style is strongly influenced by the hard bop pianist McCoy Tyner
and he has cited artists as diverse as John Coltrane
, the Rev. Gary Davis
, and Igor Stravinsky
as influences. Weir was known for using periodic guitar moves
during various times at Grateful Dead concerts to invigorate the crowd and to create musical momentum.
Weir's first solo album Ace
appeared in 1972, with the Grateful Dead performing as the band on the album, though credited individually. Included in this line-up were Keith Godchaux
and his wife Donna
, both of whom would be in the band by the time of the album's release. A live version of the album's best-known song, "Playing in the Band," had been issued on the Skull & Roses album
of the previous year. While continuing to perform as a member of the Grateful Dead, in 1975 and 1976 Weir played in the Bay Area band Kingfish
with friends Matt Kelly
and Dave Torbert
. He later contributed to Kelly's 1987 album A Wing and a Prayer, on Relix Records. In 1978 he fronted the Bob Weir Band with Brent Mydland
, who joined the Grateful Dead the following year. In 1980 he formed another side band, Bobby and the Midnites
.
Shortly before Garcia's death in 1995, Weir formed another band, RatDog Revue, later shortened to RatDog
. As of April 9, 2008, Weir has performed approximately 800 shows with RatDog. Known for his raspy, deep tone, in RatDog Weir sings covers by The Beatles
, Bob Dylan
, Chuck Berry
, and Willie Dixon
while also performing many Grateful Dead classics. In addition, Ratdog performs many of their own originals, most of which were released on the album Evening Moods
.
Weir has participated in the various reformations of the Grateful Dead's members
, including 1998, 2000, and 2002 stints as The Other Ones
and in 2003, 2004 and 2009 as The Dead
. In 2008 he performed in the two Deadheads for Obama
concerts. In 2009 Bob Weir and Phil Lesh
formed a new band called Furthur
-- so-named in honor of Ken Kesey
's famous psychedelically-painted bus. As of 2011 Weir is working on a new album with upcoming musician Josh Giglio.
Weir remained single throughout his years with the Grateful Dead, although he lived for several years (1969–1975) with a woman named Frankie Hart, who was a former go-go dancer at the Peppermint Lounge in New York, and later, on the TV shows Hullaballoo and Shindig. Frankie was the inspiration for Weir's well-known song "Sugar Magnolia
". Frankie met Bob through Mickey Hart, who dated her briefly after they met following her first Grateful Dead show in New York in 1968. Her real name was Frankie Azzara (actually born Judy Azzara), but used the stage name Frankie Hart ( she apparently "borrowed" Mickey's last name). Although she and Bobby never married, she adopted his last name after moving in with him and was subsequently known as Frankie Weir. For a short time, she was a secretary for the Beatles' publicist, Derek Taylor
, and subsequently an assistant to George Harrison
. She also sang vocals in the mid-1970s for a Bay Area band, James and the Mercedes (which occasionally opened for Kingfish
), starring James Ackroyd, from James and the Good Brothers
. On July 15, 1999, Weir married Natascha Münter. They have two daughters, Monet Weir and Chloe Kaelia Weir. Natascha's younger sister Leilani Munter
is a race car driver in the NASCAR circuit.
Weir is on the board of directors of the Rex Foundation
, the Furthur Foundation, and HeadCount
. He is an honorary member of the board of directors of the environmental organization Rainforest Action Network
, along with Woody Harrelson
, Bonnie Raitt
, and John Densmore
. He is also on the honorary board of directors of Little Kids Rock
, a non-profit organization that provides free musical instruments and instruction to children in under-served public schools throughout the U.S.
Weir is reported to be a member of the Bohemian Club
and has attended and performed at the secretive club's annual bacchanal at the Bohemian Grove
.
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Early pictures of The Warlocks in concert show him playing a Gretsch
Duo-Jet, and after the Warlocks became the Grateful Dead, Weir briefly played a Rickenbacker 365
, a Guild Starfire IV acoustic-electric (with Garcia playing an identical Cherry Red Starfire IV, which appear very similar to the Gibson ES-335) as well as a Fender Telecaster before settling on for the following decade, the Gibson
ES-335
. Weir usually played a cherry red 1965 ES-335 until the band's hiatus in 1974, although he did occasionally use a Gibson ES-345. Weir played a black Gibson Les Paul
in 1971. Weir can also be seen playing a sunburst ES-335 in The Grateful Dead Movie
, filmed in October 1974. During the early 1970s, Weir also used a 1961 or 1962 Gibson SG
.
In 1974, Weir began working with Jeff Hasselberger at Ibanez to develop a custom instrument. Weir began playing the Ibanez 2681 during the recording of Blues for Allah
; this was a testbed instrument with sliding pickups that Hasselberger used to develop several additional 2681s for use onstage, as well as Weir's custom "Cowboy Fancy" guitar, which he played from 1976 until the mid-1980s. Weir began using a Modulus
Blackknife at that point, and continued to play the Blackknife, along with a hybrid Modulus/Casio guitar for the "Space" segment of Grateful Dead concerts for the rest of that band's history. Weir's acoustic guitars include several Martins, a Guild
, an Ovation, and a line of Alvarez-Yairi
signature models.
Of late, photos on Rat-Dog.com show Weir playing most often a Modulus G3FH custom and has returned to using a Gibson ES-335. He has seemingly retired a 1956 Fender Telecaster previously owned by his late half-brother, James Parber.
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones
The Other Ones
The Other Ones was an American rock band formed in 1998 by former Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, and Mickey Hart, along with part-time Grateful Dead collaborator Bruce Hornsby. In 2000, Bill Kreutzmann, another Grateful Dead alumnus, joined the group, while Phil Lesh dropped out. In...
, later known as The Dead
The Dead (band)
The Dead is an American rock band composed of some of the former members of the Grateful Dead.After the death of Jerry Garcia in 1995, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann formed a band called The Other Ones. They performed concert tours in 1998 , 2000 , and 2002, and released one...
, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead. Weir also founded and played in several other bands during and after his career with the Grateful Dead, including Kingfish
Kingfish (band)
Kingfish is an American rock band led by Matthew Kelly, a musician, singer, and songwriter who plays guitar and harmonica. Kelly co-founded Kingfish in 1973 with New Riders of the Purple Sage bass player Dave Torbert and fellow San Francisco Bay Area musicians Robbie Hoddinott, Chris Herold, and...
, the Bob Weir Band, Bobby and the Midnites
Bobby and the Midnites
Bobby and the Midnites was a rock group led by Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead. The band was Weir's main side project during the first half of the 1980s. They released two albums, but were better known for their live concerts than for their work in the recording studio...
, RatDog
Ratdog
RatDog , is an American rock band. The group began as a side project for Grateful Dead rhythm guitarist Bob Weir and bassist Rob Wasserman. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in December 1995, following the death of Jerry Garcia on August 9, 1995, RatDog became Bob Weir's primary band...
, and his newest band Furthur
Furthur (band)
Furthur is a rock band founded in 2009 by former Grateful Dead members Bob Weir and Phil Lesh. The original lineup also included John Kadlecik of the Dark Star Orchestra on lead guitar, Jeff Chimenti of RatDog on keyboards, Jay Lane of RatDog on percussion, and Joe Russo of the Benevento/Russo Duo...
, co-led by former Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh
Phil Lesh
Phillip Chapman Lesh is a musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career....
.
During his career with the Grateful Dead, Weir played mostly rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
and sang most of the band's rock-n-roll tunes (Jerry Garcia
Jerry Garcia
Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
sang The Dead's more melodic tunes). He is known for his unique style of complex voiceleading
Voice leading
In musical composition, voice leading is the term used to refer to a decision-making consideration when arranging voices , namely, how each voice should move in advancing from each chord to the next.- Details :...
, bringing unusual depth and a new approach to the role of rhythm guitar expression.
Career
Weir was born in San FranciscoSan Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and raised by his adoptive parents in the suburb of Atherton
Atherton, California
Atherton is an incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States. Its population was 6,914 at the 2010 census. In September 2010, Forbes magazine placed Atherton's zip code of 94027 at #2 on its annual list of America's most expensive zip codes, with a median home price of $4,010,200...
. He began playing guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
at age thirteen after less successful experimentation with the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and the trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
. He had trouble in school because of undiagnosed dyslexia
Dyslexia
Dyslexia is a very broad term defining a learning disability that impairs a person's fluency or comprehension accuracy in being able to read, and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, or rapid...
and he was expelled from nearly every school he attended, including Menlo Atherton High School in Atherton
Atherton, California
Atherton is an incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States. Its population was 6,914 at the 2010 census. In September 2010, Forbes magazine placed Atherton's zip code of 94027 at #2 on its annual list of America's most expensive zip codes, with a median home price of $4,010,200...
and Fountain Valley School
Fountain Valley School
Fountain Valley School of Colorado is a private, co-educational independent college preparatory school for students in the 9th through 12th grades. The School's primary campus is located on of rolling prairie at the base of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado Springs, Colorado...
in Colorado. At Fountain Valley he met John Perry Barlow
John Perry Barlow
John Perry Barlow is an American poet and essayist, a retired Wyoming cattle rancher, and a cyberlibertarian political activist who has been associated with both the Democratic and Republican parties. He is also a former lyricist for the Grateful Dead and a founding member of the Electronic...
, who later wrote the lyrics to a number of Grateful Dead songs.
On New Year's Eve, 1963, 16-year-old Weir and another underage friend were wandering the back alleys of Palo Alto, looking for a club that would admit them, when they heard banjo music. They followed the music to its source, Dana Morgan's Music Store. Here, a young Jerry Garcia
Jerry Garcia
Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
, oblivious to the date, was waiting for his students to arrive. Weir and Garcia spent the night playing music together and then decided to form a band. The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
significantly influenced their musical direction. "The Beatles were why we turned from a jug band
Jug band
A Jug band is a band employing a jug player and a mix of traditional and home-made instruments. These home-made instruments are ordinary objects adapted to or modified for making of sound, like the washtub bass, washboard, spoons, stovepipe and comb & tissue paper...
into a rock 'n' roll band," said Bob Weir. "What we saw them doing was impossibly attractive. I couldn't think of anything else more worth doing." Originally called Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions, the band was later renamed The Warlocks and eventually the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
.
Weir played rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
and sang a portion of the lead vocals through all of the Dead's 30-year career. (In the fall of 1968, the Dead played some concerts without Weir and Ron "Pigpen" McKernan. These shows, with the band billed as "Mickey and the Hartbeats", were intermixed with full-lineup Grateful Dead concerts. Late in the year, the band relented and took Weir and Pigpen back in full time.) In the late 1970s, he began to experiment with slide guitar
Slide guitar
Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
techniques and perform certain songs during Dead shows using the slide. His unique guitar style is strongly influenced by the hard bop pianist McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner is a jazz pianist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and a long solo career.-Early life:...
and he has cited artists as diverse as John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
, the Rev. Gary Davis
Reverend Gary Davis
Reverend Gary Davis, also Blind Gary Davis, was an American blues and gospel singer and guitarist, who was also proficient on the banjo and harmonica...
, and Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
as influences. Weir was known for using periodic guitar moves
Guitar moves
Guitar showmanship involves gimmicks, jumps, or other stunts with a guitar. Some examples of guitar showmanship would become trademarks of musicians such as Jimi Hendrix, Chuck Berry, Pete Townshend, Jimmy Page, Eddie Van Halen, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ace Frehley, and Angus Young.-History:Blues...
during various times at Grateful Dead concerts to invigorate the crowd and to create musical momentum.
Weir's first solo album Ace
Ace (Bob Weir album)
Ace was the first solo album by Grateful Dead rhythm guitarist Bob Weir, released in 1972.Its origins come from an offer by the Dead's Warner Bros. Records label to have band members cut their own solo records, and came out at the same time as Jerry Garcia's Garcia and Mickey Hart's Rolling Thunder...
appeared in 1972, with the Grateful Dead performing as the band on the album, though credited individually. Included in this line-up were Keith Godchaux
Keith Godchaux
Keith Richard Godchaux was a musician best known for his tenure in the rock group the Grateful Dead.-Biography:Keith Godchaux was born in Seattle, Washington and grew up in Concord, California...
and his wife Donna
Donna Godchaux
Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay is an American singer best known for having been a member of the Grateful Dead rock group.-Biography:...
, both of whom would be in the band by the time of the album's release. A live version of the album's best-known song, "Playing in the Band," had been issued on the Skull & Roses album
Grateful Dead (album)
Grateful Dead is the seventh album by the Grateful Dead, released in October 1971 on Warner Bros. Records, catalogue 2WS-1935. It is their second live double album, and also known generally by the names Skull and Roses and Skull Fuck Grateful Dead is the seventh album by the Grateful Dead,...
of the previous year. While continuing to perform as a member of the Grateful Dead, in 1975 and 1976 Weir played in the Bay Area band Kingfish
Kingfish (band)
Kingfish is an American rock band led by Matthew Kelly, a musician, singer, and songwriter who plays guitar and harmonica. Kelly co-founded Kingfish in 1973 with New Riders of the Purple Sage bass player Dave Torbert and fellow San Francisco Bay Area musicians Robbie Hoddinott, Chris Herold, and...
with friends Matt Kelly
Matthew Kelly (musician)
Matthew Kelly, also known as Matt Kelly, is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He plays guitar and harmonica. Kelly is best known for being the leader of the rock band Kingfish, and for his association with Bob Weir and the Grateful Dead....
and Dave Torbert
Dave Torbert
Dave Torbert was a Bay Area musician, best known for his associations with the Grateful Dead and the New Riders of the Purple Sage. He played bass for the latter group, replacing Phil Lesh during the sessions for their first album...
. He later contributed to Kelly's 1987 album A Wing and a Prayer, on Relix Records. In 1978 he fronted the Bob Weir Band with Brent Mydland
Brent Mydland
Brent Mydland was the fourth keyboardist to play for the American rock band the Grateful Dead. He was with the band for eleven years, longer than any other keyboardist.- Early life :...
, who joined the Grateful Dead the following year. In 1980 he formed another side band, Bobby and the Midnites
Bobby and the Midnites
Bobby and the Midnites was a rock group led by Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead. The band was Weir's main side project during the first half of the 1980s. They released two albums, but were better known for their live concerts than for their work in the recording studio...
.
Shortly before Garcia's death in 1995, Weir formed another band, RatDog Revue, later shortened to RatDog
Ratdog
RatDog , is an American rock band. The group began as a side project for Grateful Dead rhythm guitarist Bob Weir and bassist Rob Wasserman. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in December 1995, following the death of Jerry Garcia on August 9, 1995, RatDog became Bob Weir's primary band...
. As of April 9, 2008, Weir has performed approximately 800 shows with RatDog. Known for his raspy, deep tone, in RatDog Weir sings covers by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...
, and Willie Dixon
Willie Dixon
William James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
while also performing many Grateful Dead classics. In addition, Ratdog performs many of their own originals, most of which were released on the album Evening Moods
Evening Moods
Evening Moods is a 2000 studio album by the band Ratdog, featuring former Grateful Dead rhythm guitarist Bob Weir. It consists of a number of new songs introduced by Ratdog during the previous year and a Grateful Dead song, "Corrina"...
.
Weir has participated in the various reformations of the Grateful Dead's members
Reunions of the Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead were an American rock band known for their lengthy, improvised, performances as well as a loyal fan base that often followed the band for several shows or entire tours. Following the 1995 death of bandleader Jerry Garcia the remaining members have reunited for several one-off...
, including 1998, 2000, and 2002 stints as The Other Ones
The Other Ones
The Other Ones was an American rock band formed in 1998 by former Grateful Dead members Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, and Mickey Hart, along with part-time Grateful Dead collaborator Bruce Hornsby. In 2000, Bill Kreutzmann, another Grateful Dead alumnus, joined the group, while Phil Lesh dropped out. In...
and in 2003, 2004 and 2009 as The Dead
The Dead (band)
The Dead is an American rock band composed of some of the former members of the Grateful Dead.After the death of Jerry Garcia in 1995, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann formed a band called The Other Ones. They performed concert tours in 1998 , 2000 , and 2002, and released one...
. In 2008 he performed in the two Deadheads for Obama
Deadheads for Obama
Deadheads for Obama is the name given to the February 4, 2008 reunion concert of three former members of the Grateful Dead at the Warfield in San Francisco...
concerts. In 2009 Bob Weir and Phil Lesh
Phil Lesh
Phillip Chapman Lesh is a musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career....
formed a new band called Furthur
Furthur (band)
Furthur is a rock band founded in 2009 by former Grateful Dead members Bob Weir and Phil Lesh. The original lineup also included John Kadlecik of the Dark Star Orchestra on lead guitar, Jeff Chimenti of RatDog on keyboards, Jay Lane of RatDog on percussion, and Joe Russo of the Benevento/Russo Duo...
-- so-named in honor of Ken Kesey
Ken Kesey
Kenneth Elton "Ken" Kesey was an American author, best known for his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , and as a counter-cultural figure who considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. "I was too young to be a beatnik, and too old to be a...
's famous psychedelically-painted bus. As of 2011 Weir is working on a new album with upcoming musician Josh Giglio.
Personal life
Sugar Magnolia
"Sugar Magnolia" is a song by the Grateful Dead. Written by Robert Hunter and Bob Weir, it is one of the most well-known songs by the band, alongside such hits as "Truckin'," "Casey Jones," "Uncle John's Band," and "Touch of Grey."...
". Frankie met Bob through Mickey Hart, who dated her briefly after they met following her first Grateful Dead show in New York in 1968. Her real name was Frankie Azzara (actually born Judy Azzara), but used the stage name Frankie Hart ( she apparently "borrowed" Mickey's last name). Although she and Bobby never married, she adopted his last name after moving in with him and was subsequently known as Frankie Weir. For a short time, she was a secretary for the Beatles' publicist, Derek Taylor
Derek Taylor
Derek Taylor was an English journalist, writer and publicist, best known for his work as press officer for The Beatles...
, and subsequently an assistant to George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
. She also sang vocals in the mid-1970s for a Bay Area band, James and the Mercedes (which occasionally opened for Kingfish
Kingfish (band)
Kingfish is an American rock band led by Matthew Kelly, a musician, singer, and songwriter who plays guitar and harmonica. Kelly co-founded Kingfish in 1973 with New Riders of the Purple Sage bass player Dave Torbert and fellow San Francisco Bay Area musicians Robbie Hoddinott, Chris Herold, and...
), starring James Ackroyd, from James and the Good Brothers
The Good Brothers
The Good Brothers are a Canadian country, bluegrass and folk music group originating from Richmond Hill, Ontario. The band's core members are Brian Good , his twin brother Bruce Good and younger brother Larry Good ....
. On July 15, 1999, Weir married Natascha Münter. They have two daughters, Monet Weir and Chloe Kaelia Weir. Natascha's younger sister Leilani Munter
Leilani Munter
Leilani Münter is an American race car driver and environmental activist. She drives in the ARCA Racing Series, and previously drove in the Firestone Indy Lights, the development league of IndyCar. Prior to her debut in open wheel racing, she was a stock car driver in the NASCAR Elite division...
is a race car driver in the NASCAR circuit.
Weir is on the board of directors of the Rex Foundation
Rex Foundation
The Rex Foundation was created by "members of the Grateful Dead and Friends" in 1983 as a charitable non-profit organization to "proactively provide extensive community support to creative endeavors in the arts, sciences, and education." The organization is named after Rex Jackson, a Grateful Dead...
, the Furthur Foundation, and HeadCount
HeadCount
HeadCount is a nonpartisan organization that works with musicians to promote participation in democracy in the US. It is best known for registering voters at concerts – having signed up 175,000 voters since its launch in 2004. It also encourages voter turnout and general civic participation...
. He is an honorary member of the board of directors of the environmental organization Rainforest Action Network
Rainforest Action Network
Rainforest Action Network is an environmental organization based in San Francisco, California, USA. The organization was founded by Randy "Hurricane" Hayes and Mike Roselle in 1985, with the financial help of Fund for Wild Nature....
, along with Woody Harrelson
Woody Harrelson
Woodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson is an American actor.Harrelson's breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd...
, Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
, and John Densmore
John Densmore
John Paul Densmore is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the drummer of the rock group The Doors.-Early life and The Doors:Born in Los Angeles, Densmore attended Santa Monica City College and Cal...
. He is also on the honorary board of directors of Little Kids Rock
Little Kids Rock
Little Kids Rock is a nonprofit organization that provides free instruments and lessons to children in under-served public schools. The organization is supported by a number of music industry luminaries including Bonnie Raitt, Slash, Joe Satriani, BB King, Jason Newsted, Linkin Park's Brad Delson,...
, a non-profit organization that provides free musical instruments and instruction to children in under-served public schools throughout the U.S.
Weir is reported to be a member of the Bohemian Club
Bohemian Club
The Bohemian Club is a private men's club in San Francisco, California, United States.Its clubhouse is located at 624 Taylor Street in San Francisco...
and has attended and performed at the secretive club's annual bacchanal at the Bohemian Grove
Bohemian Grove
Bohemian Grove is a campground located at 20601 Bohemian Avenue, in Monte Rio, California, belonging to a private San Francisco-based men's art club known as the Bohemian Club...
.
Guitars
Gretsch
The Gretsch Company was founded in 1883 by Friedrich Gretsch, a twenty-seven year old German immigrant recently arrived in the US. Friedrich Gretsch manufactured banjos, tambourines, and drums, until his death in 1895. His son, Fred, moved operations to Brooklyn, New York in 1916...
Duo-Jet, and after the Warlocks became the Grateful Dead, Weir briefly played a Rickenbacker 365
Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker International Corporation, also known as Rickenbacker, is an electric and bass guitar manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California...
, a Guild Starfire IV acoustic-electric (with Garcia playing an identical Cherry Red Starfire IV, which appear very similar to the Gibson ES-335) as well as a Fender Telecaster before settling on for the following decade, the Gibson
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
ES-335
Gibson ES-335
The Gibson ES-335 is the world's first commercial thinline arched-top semi-acoustic electric guitar. Released by the Gibson Guitar Corporation as part of its ES series in 1958, it is neither hollow nor solid; instead, a solid wood block runs through the center of its body...
. Weir usually played a cherry red 1965 ES-335 until the band's hiatus in 1974, although he did occasionally use a Gibson ES-345. Weir played a black Gibson Les Paul
Gibson Les Paul
The Gibson Les Paul was the result of a design collaboration between Gibson Guitar Corporation and the late jazz guitarist and electronics inventor Les Paul. In 1950, with the introduction of the Fender Telecaster to the musical market, electric guitars became a public craze. In reaction, Gibson...
in 1971. Weir can also be seen playing a sunburst ES-335 in The Grateful Dead Movie
The Grateful Dead Movie
The Grateful Dead Movie, released in 1977 and directed by Jerry Garcia, is a film that captures performances from the Grateful Dead's October 1974 five-night stand at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. This end-of-tour run marked the beginning of an extended hiatus for the band, with no...
, filmed in October 1974. During the early 1970s, Weir also used a 1961 or 1962 Gibson SG
Gibson SG
At the launch of the SG in 1961, Gibson offered four variants of the SG; the SG Junior , the SG Special, the SG Standard, and the top-of-the-line SG Custom. However, Gibson's current core variants as of 2010 are the SG Standard and the SG Special...
.
In 1974, Weir began working with Jeff Hasselberger at Ibanez to develop a custom instrument. Weir began playing the Ibanez 2681 during the recording of Blues for Allah
Blues for Allah
Blues for Allah is the eighth studio album by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded between February 27 and May 7, 1975 and originally released on September 1, 1975. It was the third release under the band's own label, Grateful Dead Records, after fulfilling their contract with Warner Bros...
; this was a testbed instrument with sliding pickups that Hasselberger used to develop several additional 2681s for use onstage, as well as Weir's custom "Cowboy Fancy" guitar, which he played from 1976 until the mid-1980s. Weir began using a Modulus
Modulus Guitars
Modulus Guitars is an American manufacturer of musical instruments, most notably bass guitars built with carbon fiber necks. The company, originally called Modulus Graphite, was founded in part by Geoff Gould, a bassist who also worked for an aerospace company in Palo Alto, California.The name may...
Blackknife at that point, and continued to play the Blackknife, along with a hybrid Modulus/Casio guitar for the "Space" segment of Grateful Dead concerts for the rest of that band's history. Weir's acoustic guitars include several Martins, a Guild
Guild Guitar Company
The Guild Guitar Company is a USA-based guitar manufacturer founded in 1952 by Alfred Dronge, a guitarist and music-store owner, and George Mann, a former executive with the Epiphone Guitar Company...
, an Ovation, and a line of Alvarez-Yairi
Alvarez Guitars
Alvarez is a guitar manufacturer based in St. Louis, Missouri and founded in 1965. Along with manufacturing acoustic and acoustic-electric guitars, Alvarez also manufactures classical guitars. Alvarez replaced Westone in 1991. Today, the brand is owned by LOUD Technologies, which also owns Mackie,...
signature models.
Of late, photos on Rat-Dog.com show Weir playing most often a Modulus G3FH custom and has returned to using a Gibson ES-335. He has seemingly retired a 1956 Fender Telecaster previously owned by his late half-brother, James Parber.
As bandleader and compilations
- AceAce (Bob Weir album)Ace was the first solo album by Grateful Dead rhythm guitarist Bob Weir, released in 1972.Its origins come from an offer by the Dead's Warner Bros. Records label to have band members cut their own solo records, and came out at the same time as Jerry Garcia's Garcia and Mickey Hart's Rolling Thunder...
- Bob Weir (1972) - Kingfish - KingfishKingfish (band)Kingfish is an American rock band led by Matthew Kelly, a musician, singer, and songwriter who plays guitar and harmonica. Kelly co-founded Kingfish in 1973 with New Riders of the Purple Sage bass player Dave Torbert and fellow San Francisco Bay Area musicians Robbie Hoddinott, Chris Herold, and...
(1976) - Live 'n' Kickin'Live 'N' Kickin' (Kingfish album)Live 'n' Kickin' is the second album by the rock group Kingfish. It was recorded live at the Roxy in West Hollywood, California. Released as an LP in 1977, it has not been issued on CD.-Track listing:# "Goodbye Your Honor"...
- Kingfish (1977) - Heaven Help The FoolHeaven Help The FoolHeaven Help The Fool was the second solo album by Grateful Dead rhythm guitarist Bob Weir, released in 1978. It was recorded during an enforced vacation in the summer of 1977, when Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart was injured in a car crash...
- Bob Weir (1978) - Bobby and the Midnites - Bobby and the MidnitesBobby and the MidnitesBobby and the Midnites was a rock group led by Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead. The band was Weir's main side project during the first half of the 1980s. They released two albums, but were better known for their live concerts than for their work in the recording studio...
(1981) - Where the Beat Meets the StreetWhere the Beat Meets the StreetWhere the Beat Meets the Street is the second studio album by Grateful Dead rhythm guitarist Bob Weir and his side-project, Bobby and the Midnites...
- Bobby and the Midnights (1984) - Kingfish in Concert: King Biscuit Flower HourKingfish in Concert: King Biscuit Flower HourKingfish in Concert: King Biscuit Flower Hour is a live album by the rock group Kingfish. It was recorded at the Beacon Theatre in New York City on April 3, 1976, and released in 1996...
- Kingfish (1996) - LiveLive (Weir/Wasserman album)Live is an album by Bob Weir and Rob Wasserman. It was recorded in the fall of 1988, except for one track, "Eternity", which was recorded in the summer of 1992. The album was released in 1998.-Track listing:# "Festival"...
- Bob Weir and Rob Wasserman (1998) - Mother McCree's Uptown Jug ChampionsMother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions (album)Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions is an American folk music album. It was recorded live by the band of the same name at the Top of the Tangent coffee house in Palo Alto, California in July, 1964, and released in 1999....
- Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions (1999) - Evening MoodsEvening MoodsEvening Moods is a 2000 studio album by the band Ratdog, featuring former Grateful Dead rhythm guitarist Bob Weir. It consists of a number of new songs introduced by Ratdog during the previous year and a Grateful Dead song, "Corrina"...
- RatDogRatdogRatDog , is an American rock band. The group began as a side project for Grateful Dead rhythm guitarist Bob Weir and bassist Rob Wasserman. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in December 1995, following the death of Jerry Garcia on August 9, 1995, RatDog became Bob Weir's primary band...
(2000) - Live at RoselandLive at RoselandLive at Roseland is a 2001 live album by the band RatDog, featuring former Grateful Dead rhythm guitarist Bob Weir. In contrast to studio album Evening Moods, this release contains mostly songs from the Grateful Dead song book...
- RatDog (2001) - Weir Here – The Best of Bob Weir - compilation (2004)