Weir edited out?

[theryugobuddy]

I was listening to the Deads Europe 72 today and grooving to the guitar interplay of Weir and Garcia, and wondered if any of you guys knew why you don't hear Weir barely at all on their later live recordings. You can hear him sing but little if any guitar. Jerry is way out front and Bob disappeared. On Without a Net and Reckoning you can't quite pick ole Bob out--why? Were chemicals involved? And, for all the aficianados--what of Dick's Pick's are the best for both of them jamming on guitar?

[Duke Spinner]

pushed to the back, i guess ...

[Audible Nectar]

On some of those later shows, Weir didn't exist in the mix. This was for several reasons:

1. He wasn't playing much anyway. I saw shows in the late 80's/early 90's where Weir did nothing for a half hour at a time but fiddle with his amp. I remember a show at Alpine where he did this for about three songs, so folks in the crowd started yelling "play something"! Three minutes later his amp blows, Bobby kicks it over, and the roadies rush out to replace it. We used to joke that since it was Bob's turn to sing now, he might step away from the amp and actually play something.

2. Bob was rhythm guitar, and rarely was the center of attention MUSICALLY (other than vocals), despite him being the official Grateful Dead "rockstar" (we surmised that while other members of the GD could have been good at other professions, Bobby could only have been one thing in his life - a rockstar). We surmised also that Bobby was "down in the mix" on later recordings, especially when having one of those "off nights", because the REAL action was between Phil and Jerry. Often, Bobby just "got in the way" of those two. Best way to deal with this from a soundman's perspective? Turn Bobby off!

.....which would start the cycle of Bobby fiddling with, and blowing amps again

If you get the impression that Deadheads and Bobby have a relationship like New Yorkers have with NYC, you're right. New Yorkers always bitc# about NYC, but they rarely leave. They love it more than they are willing to admit, sometimes. And in the end, we really are laughing ALONG with Bobby.....cause it goes without saying that he can play better than I can.

As for better Bobby mixes, the older (pre 1980) is better in that regard. In the Healy era, he's off the radar most of the time.

[theryugobuddy]

Funny, I was channel-surfing last night and caught Wier guesting on a Bruce Hornsby live show doing "Jack Straw" and even then his guitar was very low in the mix--the two of them were in good voice. though---