Phil Lesh Learned the Bass as a Member of the Grateful Dead and Mastered It In No Time

Phil Lesh originally played the trumpet and the violin. He learned to play the bass when he joined the Grateful Dead (then the Warlocks) in 1964. Jerry Garcia taught him how to play the instrument during one long lesson.Lesh's musical background in jazz and classical music influenced his bass playing. He also co-wrote several Grateful Dead songs, including "Truckin'," "Unbroken Chain" and "Box of Rain." He wrote "Box of Rain" for his dying father. You can watch Lesh and the Grateful Dead perform "Box of Rain" on July 7, 1989, in Philadelphia, by going here.  The photo in this episode's thumbnail shows Lesh performing in 2008. It's attributed to Tony, CC BY 2.0 and is available on Wikimedia Commons.This tribute is one of 41 stories that Sheldon Zoldan, a longtime journalist, has written and recorded in honor of the music notables who passed away in 2024. He's written tributes for other years as well. You can listen to the ones from 2023 on Everyday Creation. Sheldon also created Song of the Day, which was a daily feature delivered to an email list of subscribers. He ended it in early 2026 which, I suppose, means that Song of the Day deserves a tribute of its own. The good thing is that the tributes to music makers live on. Each is a snapshot of the life of one music maker whose work made an impact on the lives of many.Send us Fan MailThis is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation®, available on YouTube and in major podcast directories including Apple, Spotify, iHeart and Audible.