He was 84 and somehow it’s still hitting me hard.
“Unbroken Chain” changed my life. And the sound of his bass during the Wall of Sound years was unrivaled.
Saw dead & co at the sphere this past july. Phil doesn’t play with them anymore, but still an incredible show—still jamming as good as ever with unbelievable visual production.
RIP Phil, true legend in the industry that changed music for the better.
You listen to any modern jam bands? Been on a huge goose wave lately
A few years ago there was an auction for one of his wristwatches—a gift from Bill Graham shortly before he died (Graham, that is). They ended up pulling that lot for some reason. I was prepared to go in very big for that watch. It was some kind of digital piece that had a radio signal or something. I honestly didn’t care—just wanted the Phil provenance and the engraving from Graham.
I became a bass player because of Phil. I spent the majority of the late 80s and early 90s seeing the Dead, especially in the Bay Area and Northern California. I would always sit/stand in front of Phil's area. Some shows he would spend almost the entire show facing his amps and amp heads fiddling with knobs trying to dial in his sound. Other times it was "set it and forget it." Phil's bass lines were every bit as creative and complex as Jerry's guitar playing. Rest in peace, Phil. You had quite a life!
Glad to see a few other heads pokin up. When I was 18 my best friend and lead guitarist died in a car accident. Actually I was 17 he was 18. Anyway this was the song we sent him off with. I been listening to it since I heard Phil passed
I'm so glad they were shooting video back in the late 80s and 90s. I remember at some of the east coast shows you could see the cameras, the were definitely pros. But never any footage released. It was like HEY!
I think a few nights later, if I recall, 7/7/89, they played JFK in Philadelphia. I was at that show. There were 120K inside, past capacity, and another 30K in the parking lot. As the 2nd set kicked off, they opened the gates and let everyone who wanted, come in. What a night.
That was the closing show for JFK. It was torn down as part of a revamp project.
