Dead Parts Ways Over Concert Archive
Monday June 05 08:47 PM EDT
dailynews.yahoo.com
The good news for Deadheads is that in a few weeks, they're going to see a massive opening of the Grateful Dead's vault of
2,000 live shows recorded over three decades of touring. The bad news is, from the sound of things, that the release has created
a schism in the band that might be irreparable.
Last year, bassist Phil Lesh broke ranks with drummer Mickey Hart, guitarist Bob Weir, and others when he objected to the plan
they had for digitally preserving the band's massive archive. Word got out that the band was selling out to a large corporation.
"All those rumors are just hysterical. That's all they are; there is no fact in it," Hart says. But as a result of the split, Lesh won't
join the band on this year's Furthur Festival; instead, he's out on the road with Bob Dylan and then doing some solo shows.
Hart, currently touring with the Mickey Hart Band, has harsh words for his former bandmate. "Nobody's at war with Phil. He's
just out of the loop. He just hasn't paid attention for years. He's just in the Phil zone, God save him. Nobody pays much attention
to him. He's sort of on the outside. He's of no consequence really."
Over Lesh's objections, the band has transferred the catalog to a digital system. "We're going ahead, Bob and I and [drummer]
Billy [Kreutzmann], to preserve the catalog. This is the thing we've been doing all along," Hart says. "The thing about Phil is if
you don't go along with Phil, he gets hysterical. And he spreads these wild rumors, these massively incorrect tales about selling
out to Microsoft. That's ridiculous. We never ever were or will do that."
The rest of the band found the reaction of Lesh, who underwent a liver transplant last year, "bewildering,"
says Hart. "Who wouldn't want the vault [to be] digitized and allow for access to it? Every Deadhead would,
including myself." The band has already put out dozens of discs of concert material via live albums, a
massive box set, and 17 installments of the Dick's Picks series, but the pace is going to soar.
"If we kept going at the rate we're going, it would take 20 lifetimes" to get the material out, Hart says. "We
have almost 2,000 shows." Hart won't reveal exactly what the band's plans are, but he says they would
include traditional releases as well as music sales and downloading via the Internet, in much the same way
that The Who, Jimmy Page, and Brian Wilson have recently released live albums.
"Within a month or two we'll have some very surprising news for all," Hart hints. "It's going to be to everyone's delight, I assure
you."
With the possible exception of Lesh.
"The Grateful Dead has always worked as a democracy. Phil's the odd man out. So he took his marbles and split, like a little boy
would. That's his prerogative; God bless him, I wish him well. But believe me, we don't miss him. We're having a great time
without him. It couldn't be better," Hart says.
"If someone doesn't want to play with you, you don't play with them. We have no fight with him; he's sort of at odds with
himself. I think that liver transplant didn't go so well. He might have gotten the liver of a jerk."
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