[AugustWest]

Another side note: Bob is kicking ass right now! Ratdog's last two tours have been IMHO far and away the best they've had to offer. It's sad to say but Ratdog and Phil and friends seperatly sound sooooo much better than the latest "The Dead" tour. Glad Bobby took that break to get well cause he's been cookin' lately.

Oh and I agree desolation row is a difficult song to keep intresting and Bob is perfect for it. LOVE ALPINE 89 desolation row! Ahh what a run that was!

[in_the_dark]

I like Bob's version of standing on the moon in his latest stuff with THE DEAD, getting older but sounding awsome, they really need to tour again.....I just love it!

[sarraqum]

There is no doubt that Bobby is a great guitarist and a song writer. Sure he isn't the best in the world at what he does but whatever it is he does contributed to Dead's overall sound and style of music. One thing that always get me with Bobby is sometimes, especially during the spacey tunes he comes up with a brilliant riffs, one of those spur of the moment things and I really wish he'd play the same riff few more times or at least once more but he doesn't. Does that make sense? Who cares, but thats what I am talking about its the Dead's sound, even the rhythm guitar is not really a rhythm as such as it doesn't loop. But regardless, Bob is cheesy.
And 8/6/71 kicks ass. I can talk about Hard To Handle all day

[eyeprod]

yeah, i saw herring play with jazz is dead and this is how i formed my opinion of his playing. face it, anyone playing gd songs with gd members is going to be something of a jerry impersonator. the crowd generally expects to hear that sound and some parts just have to be played jerrys way because thats how the song goes. if a replacement guitarist is supposed to take that sound and do something with it, to me, herrings licks were/are subpar attemtps. henry kaiser however kicks ass. i never attended a post gd, gd show, nor would i really. i think their stuff is the suck now, and i was always a big phil and bobby fan, always will be. maybe it's just because i am something of an exceptional musician myself, i really appreciate good, interesting playing. in the end, its just an opinion.

[jahozer]

maybe it's just because i am something of an exceptional musician myself, i really appreciate good, interesting playing. in the end, its just an opinion.

Well, since you put it that way... I now see where you are coming from...

[strumminsix]

[quote="sarraqum"]Sure he isn't the best in the world at what he does but whatever it is he does contributed to Dead's overall sound and style of music.
[/quote]

Bobby is the only one that does what he does. Just reading Phil's book talking about the changes they made to the system around 1970 and Phil stated how impressed with Bobby's playing, how much much he improved and it really allowed the band to do what they do.

[caspersvapors]

does anybody know the chords to Bobby's version of When I Paint my Masterpiece? He does it in a different key than Dylan did

[strumminsix]

In G for the first 2 verses, Bobby usually skips the bridge, and the song modulates to A for the last verse.

[shakedown_04092]

I have to agree with the very first post. Bobby does recieve more shit than he deserves. He was an exceptional rhythm player, if you can even call him that. I think someone already has touched on this, but because of the amount of music being made, he wasn't needed to "hold down the rhythm" by strumming away on chords. Instead, he could add flavor to the music, and you better believe if you take Bob out of the GD sound, there'd be a VERY noticable difference in the sound, and all of us would be surprised by the void. That being said, here are my favs:

LL Rain - my fav Bob song
Sugar Mags
Jack Straw
Victim
Corrina (HA! j/k, but i don't "hate it", as many do)
WRS > Let It Grow
Lazy Lightning > Supplication
Playin
and few dozen more I can't think of right now

I love Bob!


ps - if there's anyone out there who hasn't seen Ratdog in the last year, IN ALL SERIOUSNESS, go check them out. The progress they've made in that band is unbelievable. GOtta hand it to Bob, he kept that thing pluggin' away, and I think they've FINALLY found the sound he/they were looking for the whole time. Adding Kenny has made a big improvement as well. He doesn't overpower the sound like the other guy used to (is it Jay?? his name escapes me right now...)

Anyways - go see them. Trust me, its worth the $30 bucks or so oyu have to spend, and you WILL enjoy yourself. If nothing else, you'll be surrounded by good people and good music.

[strumminsix]

+1 on the Ratdog suggestion. I caught them in the late 90s and they were good. Then a few times in 2003/4/5 and didn't get a great vibe. However, in late 2005 their shows were rockin and had such a great time!

Back to Bob & rhythm... Think about the rhythm section of the band. It was the 2 drummers. Phil being on the 1 was not something that was constant. The many keyboardists often played with a very percussive nature. Bobby accented most of his way along.

[tigerstrat]

I think one of the major appeals of the GD is that everybody played lots of accents, and nobody was relegated to simple, slavish timekeeping.

[strumminsix]

I think one of the major appeals of the GD is that everybody played lots of accents, and nobody was relegated to simple, slavish timekeeping.

What a great way to put it! Right on!!!

[LazyLightnin]

'sides touch of grey on vh1, Cassidy was the first Dead song i actually "listened" to. not sure which show ,but somethin bout that song when Bobby and donna were right on. i especially like hearing his evolution thru the 80's. he played some great "lead-Rythm"

[tigerstrat]

There are definitely WAY more incidences of Bob freely riffing leads over Jerry's straight rhythm than most people realize.

Plus, does anyone here NOT love his intro licks for Scarlet, or China Cat? Nevermind that Garcia showed him exactly what lick to play for CCat(the only time JG dictated to him, according to Bob)... it lights up the crowd's collective dance bone.

[Shaggy]

Somone mentioned Looks Like Rain. I thought there were quite a few bland versions of that song, but I've always thought it was a very strong song.

The version at the Wembley Empire Pool in London on either the 7th or 8th of April 72 is one of my all time favorite GD moments - Garcia playing pedal steel on stage for that song. It has all the qualities of the Ace version but the rawness of being live as well.