REMEMBERING BOB WEIR listening to the San Francisco radio stations. He introduced us to Hendrix before anyone really knew who he was. He was our connection to the music of the Doors, Jefferson Airplane, and the Grateful Dead.
All four of us played guitar, too. But Jim, who always took the music a little more seriously, was the one who’ d stay up all night practicing.( Music seems to run in our family; my grandfather met his future wife when he gave her guitar lessons at fourteen!)
Jim went through a lot of guitars in those days, trading all the time, keeping them for a week or two, then moving on, looking for the
right one. There had been a Strat, a Gibson or two— just a string of guitars that passed through in quick succession. The’ 56 Tele, though, is the one that survived— the one that stuck. And it was a beautiful guitar; I loved the feel of the neck. But Jim had that delicate touch; he played it so well.
Later, when Jim got sick, he’ d sit in his bed and play that Tele. No matter how sick he was, he could still work his fingers and play some guitar. He had been in the hospital, where they did all
Grateful Dead, circa 1970. Weir, smiling. Photo by Herb Greene.
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