|
Learyfan
It's the psychedelic movement!



Registered: 04/20/01
Posts: 34,086
Loc: High pride!
Last seen: 11 hours, 19 minutes
|
The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir 3
#21707279 - 05/21/15 05:55 PM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
You guys excited for the Bob Weir documentary coming out tomorrow, May 22nd, on Netflix called The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir? I am. Very strange that it's only about Bobby and not the entire Grateful Dead, but still. Rolling Stone did an interview with him about it and I'm sold!
Quote:
Bob Weir on Dead Reunion, His Doc and Being Jerry's 'Bag Man' "I'll never step out of Jerry's shadow, nor he out of mine," says the guitarist By David Browne May 20, 2015
During Jerry Garcia's lifetime, the Grateful Dead had a special bond with New York City — so much so that, last week, Bob Weir, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart (along with Garcia's daughter, Trixie) attended a ceremony that inducted the Dead into Madison Square Garden's Walk of Fame to commemorate the band's 52 shows between 1979 and 1994. But Weir had other reasons for being in town. He was up for talking about The Other One: The Long Strange Trip of Bob Weir, the first doc to focus exclusively on the Dead's longtime singer, guitarist and occasional heartthrob. (It debuts on Netflix this Friday, May 22nd.) And he was also in the city to rehearse Dead songs with Phish's Trey Anastasio, who will be joining the "core four" surviving members for the upcoming "Fare Thee Well" shows in Santa Clara, California, and Chicago.
Weir took a break to talk to Rolling Stone about the movie, the state of the tour rehearsals and why the Dead chose Anastasio for the daunting task of stepping into Jerry's shoes.
What was your first reaction when you were approached about a movie devoted to you and not the Dead? You know — "a movie about me?" [Laughs] With an asterisk on either side and three big question marks after that. That's all that came to mind. But then it occurred to me, well, I'm awful busy these days and the director, Mike Fleiss, convinced me there was a story there. I've felt for the longest time that I've got to write a book. I'm going to have to do it, I realize, but this gives me another year or two to gin up the resolve to do. This buys me some time. So I jumped at the chance.
Starting with the title, did you think, "Here's a way for me to finally step out of Jerry's shadow"? You know, no — absolutely not. I'll never step out of Jerry's shadow nor he out of mine. People don't really understand the dynamic we worked in, and perhaps when I get a chance to write a book, I can elucidate on that a bit. We worked together. We worked at mending our efforts.
What did you bring out in Jerry? One of the things I did was I kept time for him. Some people were born with perfect pitch. I was born with perfect time. It's kind of equally rare. He also had close to perfect time, but he needed someone else to rely on and I did that to the best of my ability. He also liked the way I colored the music from our first night together in Palo Alto on New Year's Eve, 1964. He laced his lines through that coloration. That's how we worked together. And we were drawing from the same idioms.
In the movie we see you return to 710 Ashbury, the building where the Dead lived for a short period in the mid to late Sixties. When was the last time you were there? Well, I'll tell you what — the last time was, I guess, the day I moved out in 1968. The neighborhood is a lot nicer than it was at that point. One of the reasons we left Haight-Ashbury was because the drug dealers had moved in and staked their turf, and the people that the attention brought into the neighborhood weren't the people who made the real Summer of Love, which was 1966. That all went to hell quickly when the media caught wind of it and started trumpeting it.
What memories did that house bring back? When I went inside, it was partly recognizable to me; a lot of [the place] still seemed homey. It was more nicely turned out than it was in our day. The good folks who live there now refined the place. It's real nice digs. Back in our day — I won't say it was a hippie flophouse. We did our best. But we didn't have the benefit of too much income or the years on the place to polish it up.
What did you learn about yourself watching the movie? It drove home the point that I'm a guy who loves adventure. I need adventure in the music I'm going to be involved in or else it's not going to hold my interest. After the movie came together and I saw it, it's become real clear that I absolutely have to write this book. There was no way a two-hour movie could tell all the stories. I've seen stuff not a lot of people have seen.
At one point in the movie, you talk about being Jerry's "bag man" — carrying his drugs around for him and making sure he didn't take too much. How difficult was it to talk about that on camera? Nothing is particularly more difficult than anything else for me to talk about. I'm pretty open. If there was a point in telling that story, I'll tell it. I don't remember exactly what the point of that story was — it's been a year since I've seen the movie and I can't bring it fully to mind right now.
The context was Jerry's struggles, how tough those problems were on you and how you were trying to help him in whatever way you could. Right. I don't know how tough that was. It was life as it presented itself to us. We were close, and whatever he had to go through, he had to go through. I was on his side, and he was on my side, same deal, with whatever I was going through — like getting my heart broken again or whatever. He was there to hear about it when things came crashing down.
What was Trixie referring to when she said you were able to get away with things in the Dead because you were the good-looking guy in the band? I'm headstrong. Always have been. I was born that way. And [Jerry] expected me to be that way from time to time. This happened nightly on stage. Jerry would make a suggestion musically and I was headed somewhere else, and he oftentimes had to go with that. I was intent on following the thread I had. It didn't happen all the time by any means. But there were times when there were different opinions of where to take something. And for what it's worth, if I hadn't been that way, he would have found me less interesting to work with. It may not have lasted that long.
What's the status of the Fare Thee Well shows right now? I'm here in New York working with Trey on songs. Getting arrangements down. We're lining up who gets what vocal parts, where to take the guitar work and how to work off each other, that kind of thing. Having good fun doing it.
In terms of this reunion, some think you got the ball rolling early last year when you told Rolling Stone that the band should "man up," bury any hatchets and reunite for their 50th anniversary. I don't know if the credit's to me or if it just occurred to everybody else at the same time. But things got rolling, I guess, eight months ago or so. I'm real happy to see it happening now.
Given the ups and downs you've all had together since Jerry's death, how surprised are you that it's come together? Well, I'm a little surprised. But I'm happy to see the guys have gotten over their disagreements and differences and whatever, and risen to the occasion. We really owe it to ourselves every bit as much as we owe it to the fans, who've kept us off the streets for 50 years. But we owe each other a debt of gratitude as well, for investing in our lives together.
How would you describe the last 20 years? It's been a period for me of cranking up the exploration as best I can, now that I don't have my old pal and sidekick to play off of.
Why did you all choose Trey? I think, really, he's the guy. There are a couple of other guitarists who might be able to handle that load. One of the guitarists — and I'll leave names out of this conversation — is real good but he doesn't sing. And Trey does the whole thing, and he also gets what we're up to. He was profoundly influenced by us early on, and he knows what we're drawing from. He's the right guy.
How are you preparing for the show? You had a shoulder operation not too long ago. I did all that kind of stuff and the operation was a semi-success. It didn't help my shoulder, but it helped my neck, which was also a situation. Going into six decades now, I've been hanging my head to the left to watch my chording hand, and it's caused stress over decades. So I have to realign myself to play the instrument. What I have to do now is play without looking at my hands, so I'm doing lots of practice blind-folded. I'm forced to listen more intently to what I'm doing, and it takes me out of certain patterns I might fall into. I think it'll have some pretty big payoff if I can do it.
Have you read Bill Kreutzmann's new book? No. I'm not reading anybody's book until I've written mine. Then I'll have a stack of reading to do.
You, Phil and Trey rehearsed on May 1st at Lesh's club, Terrapin Crossroads. What did you accomplish? That was the first time we've convened for this project and that was just fine. We put in a fair amount of work. It was one day, but a long day. Phil had it set up for us to play [that night], but I didn't stick around. I was spent by the time we were done. I think Trey did stick around, but I don't think he played much [laughs]. I can't bring to mind what songs we were working on, but there were a couple dozen. It's safe to say a lot of your favorite chestnuts will be played. The point we're making to the guys in general is: It's not the playing that made us famous. It was the songs. I want to make sure we have the right songs trotted out.
And speaking of live shows, in the movie Bill Kreutzmann makes fun of your fondness for skimpy shorts onstage. [Laughs] Well, I have something of an aversion to heat and I saw no point in suffering needlessly. The shorts were an attempt at self-preservation. It's always July under the lights. I don't know why it took so long to dawn on me, but I thought, all I have to do is get rid of the long pants and that'll alleviate some of the problem. In the years since, before I go onstage I soak my shirt in ice water in the beer cooler, wring it out and put it back on. Now I'm happy as a clam. It took me a long time to figure that thing out, for some reason.
(http://www.rollingstone.com)
-------------------- -------------------------------- Mp3 of the month: The Apple-Glass Cyndrome - Someday
|
memes
Blessed



Registered: 01/11/05
Posts: 27,785
Loc: In a Tree
|
Re: The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir [Re: Learyfan] 3
#21707358 - 05/21/15 06:20 PM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
yeah i heard about this gettin ready for the Dear Jerry show; i'm pretty psyched - needless to say. I'm not goin to work tomorrow; so i'll probably wake up, wake and bake, watch this movie, then hit the road and head on in to the Dark Star Jubilee 
~let there be songs to fill the air~
|
Shortknight



Registered: 02/25/13
Posts: 2,164
Last seen: 6 years, 5 months
|
Re: The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir [Re: Learyfan] 2
#21707382 - 05/21/15 06:25 PM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
Thanks for sharing! This is going to be great! I love hearing more stories from them guys. They're always from an awesome angle.
Keen for July...
Shorty
-------------------- Did I say it too loud? Big heart? Or a little misleading!
|
akira_akuma
Φύσις κρύπτεσθαι ὕψιστος φιλεῖ

Registered: 08/28/09
Posts: 82,455
Loc: Onypeirophóros
Last seen: 4 years, 1 month
|
Re: The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir [Re: Shortknight]
#21707391 - 05/21/15 06:27 PM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
The Bees are good too. they remind me of the Grateful Dead in places.
|
Learyfan
It's the psychedelic movement!



Registered: 04/20/01
Posts: 34,086
Loc: High pride!
Last seen: 11 hours, 19 minutes
|
Re: The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir [Re: memes]
#21707419 - 05/21/15 06:35 PM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
Sweet Meems. Sounds like a good time. You smokin' again?
-------------------- -------------------------------- Mp3 of the month: The Apple-Glass Cyndrome - Someday
|
Mental Taco



Registered: 07/02/14
Posts: 2,290
Loc: Hell
Last seen: 6 years, 8 months
|
Re: The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir [Re: akira_akuma] 1
#21707420 - 05/21/15 06:35 PM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
I will be anxiously awaiting it to be posted up tonight hopefully its on there when the clock strikes midnight. Either way ill be tripping so watchen it on the come up or come down (or atleast try too!).
-------------------- Did you not know that the royal hunting grounds are always forbidden?
|
Connoisseur

Registered: 05/13/11
Posts: 34,686
Last seen: 5 years, 2 months
|
Re: The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir [Re: Learyfan] 1
#21707431 - 05/21/15 06:38 PM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
A fellow shroomerite sent me a link to the trailer, looks like a great film would love to see it
|
Sheekle
FREE BURKE



Registered: 01/11/10
Posts: 53,153
|
Re: The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir [Re: Learyfan] 1
#21707462 - 05/21/15 06:48 PM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
This is awesome! I definitely gotta check this out when I get back in town on Monday. Great interview.
-------------------- "Ur cat died because he hated u" - Koods "I hope JSB kicks your ass one day." - Vandago "you are the biggest 'internet guy' I have ever come across"- Jokeshopbeard "The more I see you post the more I realize you're just this fuckin tie dye loser who trolls the Shroomery 24/7." - Herbologist "Sheekle you cannot vile the dice of bullshit you have posted on this forum over the years, I like databases" - thelastoneleft "or maybe i just come from a blood line of superior intelligence" - trees R.I.P Kelsy, ?/?/?? - 6/11/16
|
memes
Blessed



Registered: 01/11/05
Posts: 27,785
Loc: In a Tree
|
Re: The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir [Re: Learyfan] 1
#21707465 - 05/21/15 06:48 PM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
more or less; but i'm about to turn the lights back out. my desire comes in ebbs and flows. i'm finding myself increasingly bipolar recently, think its time to nix it again and let my body harmonize
|
Lucis
Nutritional Yeast

Registered: 03/28/15
Posts: 15,622
Last seen: 1 month, 29 days
|
Re: The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir [Re: Learyfan] 1
#21707653 - 05/21/15 07:43 PM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
Learyfan said: Sweet Meems. Sounds like a good time. You smokin' again?

Rita looks really high...
I am greatly anticipating this, I will have to whip out my Bobby shorts for the occasion.
-------------------- ©️
|
zappaisgod
horrid asshole


Registered: 02/11/04
Posts: 81,741
Loc: Fractallife's gym
Last seen: 7 years, 7 months
|
Re: The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir [Re: Learyfan] 1
#21711838 - 05/22/15 07:33 PM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
What a smart, thoughtful man he is. It surprises me not one bit.
--------------------
|
SunnyD
WiZarD oF LoVe



Registered: 04/29/13
Posts: 25,236
Loc: Planet earth
Last seen: 1 month, 22 days
|
Re: The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir [Re: memes] 1
#21711926 - 05/22/15 08:02 PM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
Gonna watch it tonight smoking hella weed im gonna love it looks dope
--------------------
        And to everyone who thinks life is just a game, Do you like the part you are playing? This is the time in life I am living! And I face each day with a smile My music Library of Synthesizer goodness
|
zZZz
jesus


Registered: 12/28/07
Posts: 33,478
|
Re: The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir [Re: SunnyD] 1
#21712362 - 05/22/15 10:21 PM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
i am more than half way through it, its been a good watch, thanks op. 
i knew they played in egypt but i didnt know they played like right next to the pyramids in the ancient arena, i thought that was pretty neat.
|
extreme


Registered: 04/05/11
Posts: 9,340
|
Re: The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir [Re: zZZz] 1
#21712770 - 05/23/15 01:06 AM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
Just watched this on a whim, that makes two great docs I've watched in the last month or so due to your recommendation Learyfan!
Whole song is great as well as the album but I always really loved that little bit at 6:35!
Sometimes I get The Other One mixed up with this one. They flow together though as many songs do, as like one gigantic song, so don't hate I've never claimed to be a "deadhead" by any means, but for years I've liked me some GD 
I've always tended towards their earlier works, but I'm like that with most artists, maybe that's like "extra hipster" LOL before they get all "famous" and all but it's not even really a conscious decision on my part; even after acing two music classes this semester I can honestly say I haven't learned much as usual from school and that I just learned what was needed for the grades. Then again I did learn a FEW things, but my tastes haven't changed a ton, just opened a bit.
Something just feels raw and genuine about the earlier works of some artists, and professional musicians generally like to "grow" from that point but as simply a listener, I can always appreciate that sound created before fame and development that just seemed "pure." I dunno. This is getting slightly off topic from the documentary now... I just felt like saying that cuz Anthem of the Sun and Aoxomoxoa (pretty sure it's a palindrome, I'm not looking any of this stuff up lol) and Live/Dead have always been some favorites of mine. Their first record was even dirtier than these I think - self titled wasn't it? - I can't recall too much from that album, but I really like Morning Dew and Beat It On Down The Line (and all of the Minglewood Blues songs ha).
That Minglewood Blues... woo......... first heavy acid trip when I heard that song I thought I was god and just really drunk the Grateful Dead carried me through that whole trip, what an amazing experience I will never forget 
Anyway, I can't think of a ton to say about the doc since again I'm not a diehard deadhead nor a "music connoisseur" but I still enjoyed the doc a lot. I don't think you have to be a diehard deadhead to enjoy watching it, though if you are a diehard deadhead, I think this has got to be on your bucket list lol, if you live for everything dead essentially. I connected with the bit about Bob being adopted, since I am too, and even before knowing that I always liked him a lot in the band 
Yea nothing more to say really, just that I enjoyed the documentary, and thanks again Learyfan for hooking up another great watch on Netflix! Keep posting cool docs and I'll comment on them  
|
gulper2323
Unknown Landscape Climber



Registered: 06/17/12
Posts: 1,282
Loc:
Last seen: 1 year, 11 days
|
Re: The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir [Re: Learyfan] 1
#21712798 - 05/23/15 01:25 AM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
I've waited a very long time for a Bobby only document. I find him the most interesting musician out of the band. Excluding anything to do with the drums; he's the only one in the band who I just don't understand what they are doing musically. I.e. I know the theory on how Jerry plays guitar, I even know the theory on how Phil plays bass (and I'm certainly no bassist), but when Bobby plays he's doing something under appreciatedly complex (particularly during any early recordings). How people seem to take his talent in the band for granted is fucked up
|
ChiefGreenLeaf

Registered: 01/11/07
Posts: 1,596
|
Re: The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir [Re: Learyfan] 1
#21712836 - 05/23/15 01:53 AM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
I just watched this today. It was a great documentary. Netflix is always on point.
Made me think about the underbelly of the counter culture movement.
|
Shroomopotamus
Happy Mushrooming



Registered: 09/27/09
Posts: 18,757
Loc: Funkotron
|
Re: The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir [Re: ChiefGreenLeaf] 1
#21713962 - 05/23/15 12:07 PM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
I'm pretty surprised at how well made this is. Lots of great old footage, it's nice seeing the whole band together with everyone smiling and laughing with one another. Lots of touching moments in this, I teared up for a good bit of the 2nd half of it.
-------------------- * Live by the mushroom, die by the mushroom
    This is a trap! A trap! You are all busted! Busted! You fools!
If a time comes where I fail to appear I've been abducted and I will miss you all Please smile and pet puppies as often as possible Be happy Be nice (<3);}
|
CHeifM4sterDiezL
Chief Globerts


Registered: 07/28/10
Posts: 22,541
Loc: United States
Last seen: 1 minute, 30 seconds
|
Re: The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir [Re: Shroomopotamus] 1
#21713972 - 05/23/15 12:11 PM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
watchin it now bout halfway thru it is really well made i love the graphics n stuff
|
Learyfan
It's the psychedelic movement!



Registered: 04/20/01
Posts: 34,086
Loc: High pride!
Last seen: 11 hours, 19 minutes
|
Re: The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir [Re: extreme]
#21713995 - 05/23/15 12:19 PM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
Glad you guys liked it as much as I did. Yeah Extreme, it was pretty cool to see Bob's biological father. Wasn't it the guy's other son (Bob's step-brother) who said "The only Bob Weir I know is in the Grateful Dead" lol. Good line. Pretty wild to find out that you have a long-lost, famous and filthy rich son. And I loved the parts about the Acid Tests, of course. The parts about the groupies was interesting. And of course the parts where Bobby talks about Jerry were great. He nearly broke down a few times. I loved the part where they go into the 710 Ashbury St. house. I would have loved to have seen 30 minutes of just that house, but I'm surprised the current tenants allowed even that short clip to be shown.
Also, here's one interesting thing I noticed. Bob says he first took LSD on August 1st, 1965. They didn't mention, or apparently notice it, but August 1st is Jerry's birthday.

-------------------- -------------------------------- Mp3 of the month: The Apple-Glass Cyndrome - Someday
|
Coincidentiaoppositorum
deep psychedelic


Registered: 10/27/14
Posts: 1,965
Last seen: 8 years, 4 months
|
Re: The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir [Re: CHeifM4sterDiezL] 1
#21714004 - 05/23/15 12:21 PM (8 years, 8 months ago) |
|
|
Amazing film.....
Escaping through the lily fields, I came across an empty space It trembled and exploded, left a bus stop in its place The bus came by and I got on, that's when it all began There was Cowboy Neal at the wheel of the bus to never ever land
(Neal cassady died walking down the railroad tracks in Mexico while Bob was writing that song....that song and Neal cassady ive always had a high affinity for, though I never knew that Neal died when Bob was writing that song until he said it in this film...)
-E. Borodin
|
|