[Dozin]

I don't believe that at all about Weir. I hear he's the most laid back, cool cat, easiest going guy out there. That's from crew and members. McNally is on the Ratdog bus.

[strumminsix]

I don't believe that at all about Weir.

Nor do I.

Quick thoughts on stuff mentioned:

Bobby & Jerry - we all know when off the road many bandmates don't hang plus each had their side band

Bobby & Hunter - seems his writing style was as unique as his progressions and yes it did frustrate Hunter who liked the traditional style like Jerry but I never read any bad blood out of it! In fact Barlow says it's hard to write with Bobby. However, it seems to me that Bobby get phrases or concepts but needs lyrics to really put a song together while I think Jerry came with more complete musical compositions.

Bobby & Band - all sources indicate trouble when the band was moving from R&B especially with Pig & Bobby. Seems like a normal band situation when considering "is this the best fit for them/band"

Bobby & business - if you really followed the Rhino/archive carefully you'd see that the band was in violation of their contract. Action needed to be taken. Phil was touring and others were otherwise absent. The band individually and as a whole were business fuckups. This followed suit. They all entered into a contract with Rhino and even before the ink dried they were in violation of it. I wouldn't read into this situation.

I guess when taking it all in I don't see anything really that makes me think - what an ass!

[mttourpro]

FWIW, Bob, like evryone else, has his issues at times. For instance, he became visibly irate at Jay Lane during a RD show when Jay missed a beat in a pause and went over and kicked his drum in anger---that happened fairly recently and was discussed ad naseum on ratdog.org---I'm sure you could find the thread without too much trouble.

Also, Dennis McNally is no longer with Ratdog....he has recently moved on but still works for other bands in the Bay area.

[Rusty the Scoob]

I think it was an interview with Phil, maybe even on Dead.net, where I read that Phil and Bobby currently only get along because they don't attend the same business meetings anymore.

About Bobby and Hunter, I believe the end of their writing partnership came when Bobby added the line "Jump like a Willy's in 4-wheel Drive" to Sugar Mag and it led to a fistfight. It stuck with me because my other hobby is jeeps. Willy's-Overland was the original manufacturer of the M38/CJ2A flat-fender jeeps, and believe me, those light little 2500lb jeeps really do jump in four-wheel drive!

I think a huge part of Bobby's personality must have been shaped by the fact that he was a full-time member of the Dead before even graduating from high-school. Imagine that, seeing the world before you can legally drink and never having to live a single day of a regular adult 9-5-job kind of life.

[old man down]

Maybe I'm reading too much between the lines of the book. I've always thought Weir was right there, up front, as one of the irreplaceable group members and that everyone was extremely glad he was part of the band. That was what I thought until I started reading this book, however.

I wasn't going to make any mention of these things I've read since nothing in itself was that bad. But then I listened to the end of the Lay Me Down clip out of curiosity and it seemed like such a minor offence that he did, going into the extra Lay Me Down lyrics at the end of the song, realizing his mistake almost immediately and not continuing it, the song ends, and suddenly he gets pounced on, and not in very friendly terms. I think Garcia, after the blow up, feels compelled to come to the mike and ask the audience how they're doing, to help mitigate any overflow that they shouldn't have heard. After all, you don't want your fans thinking the band doesn't like one another.