Forum 2/11/89

The next nite is one of my all time fav shows,  w/ Spencer Davis + Dylan

I believe bob asked to join the dead after these shows. they had a band meeting and all said yes, except Phil who vetoed it.

I think this tidbit is attributed to weir in the bob dylan biography down the highway.

Those were near the end of Dan Healy's years at the board.  His peak years, according to some:

from Wikipedia:

He was a pioneer in rock sound system innovation, and helped Bear along with Ron Wickersham of Alembic design the Dead's "Wall of Sound" concert sound system.[2] He also helped perfect the ultra-matrix soundboard setup which was used by the Dead from 1986 through 1990. Some fans and collectors of the band's live recordings deem this setup to be the band's best-sounding, and most practical.

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The Grateful Dead sound was like the Sirens call to Dylan in '89.  Dylan was just finding his muse again, after his difficult mid-80s era.  The work with Daniel Lanois for Oh Mercy had rekindled a spark in 87-88, and while '89s Under The Red Sky  was a step back, Dylan's foray into the GD got him interested in live music again, and his Neverending Tour kicked off.  He also benefited with a return to the roots with his two excellent albums of traditional Americana, Good As I Been To You and World Gone Wrong.  These events helped set him on the path towards 1996's Time Out Of Mind and his late career renaissance.

I'll always been somewhat dubious that Dylan asked to the join the band in the traditional manner. Perhaps he wanted to collaborate on more projects or something but the notion of Bob Dylan being a full-time member of the Grateful Dead just seems nonsensical from every angle. 

great shows. i think i did 2 or 3. was hard to get away and afford it as a kid.

>>>I'll always been somewhat dubious that Dylan asked to the join the band in the traditional manner. Perhaps he wanted to collaborate on more projects or something but the notion of Bob Dylan being a full-time member of the Grateful Dead just seems nonsensical from every angle. <<<

me too,  but weir clearly states he asked to join the band as a member and was serious. they had a band meeting about. vetoed by one guy-it doesnt say it was phil but...

of course it woulda been nonsensical, as howard sounes says in the book "this strange episode revealed bob to be an artist who had lost his way and wasnt thinking clearly"

apparently on the 12th as the dead came off stage one band member asked angrily "what the fuck is he doing here?"-same guy who vetoed?

Phil and Bob did do that tour in '99. Not that you need to be best buddies to do a co-tour but still.

I could also see one member just being the designated fall guy by the group. "I mean Bob we'd love to have you but it just wasn't unanimous". 

I have always had the impression that there were never serious, thoughtful, well-organized meetings or conversations in the GD organization.

I would bet a nickel that they were just sitting around after the show and Dylan joked, "Hey, I should just join your band". Phil laughed and said, "Yeah, that's all we need, another shitty singer. Now, where's that nitrous tank?"

Everyone laughs again, Jerry says, "Maybe just play a few shows together man, what the hell. Somebody should get on that."

 Weir isn't really paying attention as he's working with Parrish on getting those three 16-year-olds into his hotel room while Mickey fires up another joint and says, "Whatever. As long as that fuck Matthew Kelly isn't there."

weir claims he was dead serious and the band sat down and took a vote on it and goes on to say "I was in for that", says weir. "I think we would have taken him if it hadn't been for that one guy. we would have picked him up as sort of a temporary band member."

i doubt it was brent or the drummers who said no.

if it was jerry who didnt want him it wouldnt have even come to a vote and been shut down before discussion. and weir was a yes.

that leaves phil to care about the bands direction..probably checks out

they'd have ended up doing the oh mercy songs and 89 would have been a very strange year of shows.

phil was wise and clear headed about it. i dont think there were any hard feelings because yes phil and bob did those amazing shows in 99 and 2000(didnt phil and bob hash out the 99 tour plans face to face in a in/outburger parking lot) and then he played on stage with the leftover dead in 2006 or something a bunch of times. 

^My understanding is that this is what went down. They had a meeting with a vote.

Phil was not into it. (Phil also was the one member who didn't want John Belushi on stage in NJ in '80).

If it is correct that Phil was opposed to this, then it’s too bad he didn’t continue this line of thinking later in his career when he decided that allowing the kitchen help into the band was a good idea.  

^^^^This!

These were my last Calif shows. Being I worked at the Forum for the last 4 years for all the Laker and Kings hockey games and many concerts. John The Head Electricain went out of his way to make sure I was VIP and backstage for both nights with my wife. It was a true surprise , He told me weeks before don't worry about the shows I got ya covered. Well he sure did and what a blast we had, When i saw Dylan backstage I was like OH FUKIN YA!!!!   What a great send off from the Burning Shore back East!!! I would love to go back West for a Trip...

Coyotte~

^ nice