Grateful Dead Music Forum

personally i think brent was the best, then pigpen/tc, then vince, then keith

They were all the perfect guys to have as keyboardists in their respective eras.

Brent was the fucking man! I don't know how many times I've said it. Pig was great, but technically he was not a strong keyboard player. My favorite eras are the 80's and the 60's. I say Brent, then Pig/T.C., then Kieth, then Vince

I really like Keith's playing, but I love Pig's singing.

Brent....but seriously Paige puts all of them to shame

I have to disagree, Pigpen was fucking awsome. Yeah he lacked a bit on keys, but come on, he was the founder of the dead and always will be.

I've said it once and I'll say it again, man I love pigpen, those notes that he hit, his singing just cant say enough about him.

I love the pigpen erra.

I vote for Brent, his voice is awsome. I love 80's and 90's dead, and he is awsome at organ

keith...his style allowed for the most and best full band interplay....

bob phil and keith...man, not taking anything anyway from jerry, but who couldnt rip sick leads with them on the rythm

Tough vote...

Kieth was the man during my favorite era.
However as an individual Brent was my fav.

Best player technically was probably brent. However Pig was the man and he was electric. He had an ora like Jerry and imho was (especially in the beginning) just about as important as jerry.

I never saw pig and prefered the style of keith to brent. All that being said, the question was simply "favorite" so Pig got my vote.

He wasn't listed as an option, but he played as much with the boys as TC did... and I go off the board for Hornsby.

But, given the choices and since the question was about keys, Brent, then Kieth, then Pig/TC. Vince doesn't even get consideration.

Brent had all the textures while keeping the B3. Kieth just got too flakey towards the end of his tenure.

Yeah without Pigpen there would not have been the Grateful Dead as we know it...however,Keith ended up getting my vote...His playing during those jazzy,trippy Dark Stars of the 70's are unmatched imo

strumminsix wrote:Tough vote...

Keith was the man during my favorite era.
However as an individual Brent was my fav.

exactly what i was gonna say

I actually got into the dead through jazz and fusion, not the other way around, as many do through rock, so I think that bias in itself in my musical taste definitely has me leaning towards Keith. The style, the flavor, the sound of the 70's in my mind was unmatched during the dead's tenure. However, I love Brent, a lot. It's so hard to choose because each brought their own unique style to different era's. I will however give a special shout out to Bruce Hornsby, who during a special show on 9/10/91, along with bramferd marsalis, absolutely blew my mind.

Erictw83 wrote:Brent....but seriously Paige puts all of them to shame

hehehe gonna have to agree