Everyday Creation
The truth about us — that's what Everyday Creation is about. As humans, we're amazingly creative. Consider what we do: We make music and design buildings; we cook, we dance, we invent things. The list goes on. There's another part of our creativity, and that's divine Creation. It doesn't have to be religious. Just consider the awe we feel when we contemplate birth, death, our life purpose. That's when we know that there's something bigger afoot, and it's more profound than we imagined. Lastly, there's another type of creation worthy of attention, and that is our ability to direct our words, thoughts and actions toward creating a better life for ourselves and others and, along the way, making the world a little better. You'll find at least one of these types of creation in every episode.
Everyday Creation
Phil Lesh Learned the Bass as a Member of the Grateful Dead and Mastered It In No Time
Phil Lesh originally played the trumpet and the violin. He learned to play the bass when he joined the Grateful Dead (then the Warlocks) in 1964. Jerry Garcia taught him how to play the instrument during one long lesson.
Lesh's musical background in jazz and classical music influenced his bass playing. He also co-wrote several Grateful Dead songs, including "Truckin'," "Unbroken Chain" and "Box of Rain."
He wrote "Box of Rain" for his dying father. You can watch Lesh and the Grateful Dead perform "Box of Rain" on July 7, 1989, in Philadelphia, by going here.
The photo in this episode's thumbnail shows Lesh performing in 2008. It's attributed to Tony, CC BY 2.0 and is available on Wikimedia Commons.
This tribute is one of 41 stories that Sheldon Zoldan, a longtime journalist, has written and recorded in honor of the music notables who passed away in 2024. He's written tributes for other years as well. You can listen to the ones from 2023 on Everyday Creation. We'll have the 2022 tributes available later this year.
Sheldon also is the creator of Song of the Day, a story that he sends by email to a list of subscribers. To get on his subscriber list, email shzoldan@comcast.net with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.
This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Audible, iHeart and Spotify.
Sheldon:
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Phil Lesh never played the bass until he
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joined the Grateful Dead.
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He grew up playing first the violin
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and then the trumpet.
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He fell in love with music by listening
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to the New York Philharmonic
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Orchestra
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on the radio and watching his dad play
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the piano.
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When Jerry Garcia asked him to join their
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new band, then called the Warlocks,
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in 1964,
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he was glad to learn the bass. He
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said it didn't matter the instrument. He just
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wanted to make music.
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Lesh died October 25 at his home in
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the San Francisco Bay Area.
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No cause was given, but he had survived
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prostate cancer, bladder cancer and a liver transplant.
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The Song of the Day is paying tribute
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to the singers, musicians and songwriters
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who died in 2024.
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Garcia taught him how to play the bass
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during a seven-hour-long lesson.
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Lesh's background in jazz and classical music influenced
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how he played as much as any rock
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artist.
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Lesh often took the lead, something few bass
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players did at the time.
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Many obits repeated bassist Ron Wasserman's
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assessment of Lesh:
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"While most others were content to keep time
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and take the occasional
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solo,
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Lesh was both good enough and confident enough
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to lead his fellow musicians
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through a song's melody."
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Lesh co-wrote several Grateful Dead songs,
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including "Truckin'," "Unbroken
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Chain"
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and "Box of Rain."
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He wrote the music for his dying dad,
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and Robert Hunter wrote the lyrics in 1970.
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Lesh had stopped singing the song in 1974
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because he'd injured his vocal cords.
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However, on March 20, 1986,
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he decided to sing it during a concert.
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On July 9, 1995,
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the song was the last the band would
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play.
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Garcia would die a month later.
Kate:
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That was Song of the Day creator Sheldon
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Zoldan.
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And I'm Kate Jones, host of Everyday Creation.
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Thank you for joining us today.
