Grateful Dead Music Forum

Here are some videos of Kenny Withrow, from Forgotten Space, playing the Cripe Tribute at Ashkenaz in Berkeley this past Friday. Kenny is also the lead guitarist from Edie Brickell & New Bohemians. Many will recall he co-wote the wonderful hit song, "What I Am," and played the very Jerryesque jam in it that had many thinking, including me, that it was Jerry Garcia doing a cameo. Jerry Saracini, the drummer of Forgotten Space, asked if they could play the Cripe for this show back on Jerry Day, when Jerry was playing for Stu Allen & Mars Hotel. Jerry, Kenny, Will, Hunter, Bob and Neil played a great show and they are all really great people, too. I so enjoyed chatting about the Dead with them during soundcheck. They opened the show with a Help-Slip-Stranger-Franklins' and they were off! Kenny played his trusted Alembic for much of the show, though said he greatly enjoyed playing the Cripe for first set tunes, Black-Throated Wind and Midnight Moonlight and the encore, US Blues. Kenny was the first pro player to play the Tribute after Gary Brawer put it on his PLEK machine to improve some frets, which also seemed to breathe new life into the guitar. For those in Texas, go check out Forgotten Space and you will be glad for it. They are currently in Washington and will play Denver later this week.

Cheers,
Andy

So... not to nitpick, and I do love Edie and the NB, but...

Some dude playing a lead through an envelope filter doesn't make it Jerry-esque in my humble opinion. Anyone with half an ear could discern that was not Garcia.

flyingheelhook wrote:So... not to nitpick, and I do love Edie and the NB, but...

Some dude playing a lead through an envelope filter doesn't make it Jerry-esque in my humble opinion. Anyone with half an ear could discern that was not Garcia.

Well, I guess I had less than half an ear when I was 18. At 44, it must be down to a 1/4, but I'm still enjoying what I hear.

Forgotten Space is good stuff. I last saw them at Club Dada in Deep Ellum. Plus, as was noted, they are nice people too!

My apologies if that came off the wrong way.

flyingheelhook wrote:My apologies if that came off the wrong way.

Thanks!! I'm sorry, too, for being reactive. It's always difficult to read a critique when your intentions behind posting are entirely positive. For what it's worth, many lay people, which includes me, share the misconception I posted. The connection is referenced in the wikipedia of the song, "What I am."

"The song is highlighted by a guitar solo that emulates the approach of Jerry Garcia including the use of an envelope filter."

Last Friday at the Forgotten Space show, a great friend and Dead Head since '82, though not a musician, said he thought when the track came out that it was Jerry, too. I recall there were rumors of an affair between Jerry and Edie Brickell around that time as well, though have read since that it was denied vehemently. Back in 1988, there was no internet to clarify things.

It's no big deal and I certainly did not mean to offend anyone. I just wanted to share my excitement of seeing the Cripe in the hands of a master like Kenny.

I understand what you mean - I guess I just consider myself more of a layman as well - maybe I shouldn't... The point being, I was in college when that album/CD came out. While at the time I considered myself 'deadicated', by far I was nowhere even anywhere near an 'expert' on the subject as it were. However, since many folks knew my interest and that I went to any East Coast show I could manage, and there weren't that many other heads around at the time, I became a 'de facto' expert. I just remember TONS of people coming up to me at parties or class or wherever saying 'Hey, have you heard this new band, the lead guitarist sounds just like Garcia!' and thinking to myself, well, he's playing an envelope filter and maybe paying homage, but (to me) that's where the similarity ends.

Still, I dug them that didn't stop me from going to see them for free at the old Hammerjacks in Baltimore and when they opened for the Dead at RFK.

And none of that should take away anything from Forgotten Space!