HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BOB!

Bust out your khaki shorts and Birkenstocks and do a happy shuffle for Bob Weir, who turns 63 today. As a member of the Grateful Dead, leader of RatDog and all the other variations like Furthur, Weir has helped navigate one of the great songbooks in American music as well as pioneering a live music style that will continue to inspire forever. Here’s a few tidbits from Bobby’s vast repertoire in celebration of his natal day.

We begin with a sing-along crowd pleaser.



Here’s Bob talking about the dynamics of RatDog before playing a great version of one of the band’s best numbers.



Weir has been an on-again, off-again participant in the band Kingfish since the early 1970s. Here’s the band in Half Moon Bay, CA in the late 80s.



Taken from the “Stealth Rehearsals” at the Mill Valley Masonic, here’s Furthur with one of Bob’s signature tunes.



Despite a reputation outside the flock as a bunch of hippies, the Grateful Dead was one of THE most musically robust acts ever. Here’s the evidence.



After Jerry Garcia’s sudden passing the future of Dead music seemed in question. Without much pause, The Other Ones came roaring out to keep things rolling. This clip comes from the first show played at Alpine Valley after Garcia’s death.



Bob has always had a way with covers, and this is one of his early best.