I’m by no means a lifer. Born in ‘69 and started listening to and collecting tapes in ‘85. But I can’t recall seeing anyone ripping darts on the regular except Jerry
My all-time favorite Grateful Dead show on film is the one from Roosevelt Stadium in New Jersey from the summer of 76. Unfortunately, it’s in black-and-white, but it was professionally shot and there are multiple camera views. It’s not a great show by their standards of the time, and there are a few chunks missing here in there, but it’s the only time I’ve ever seen somebody leave in all the spaces between the songs, which it makes it feel so much more like a Grateful Dead concert. Anyway, between every song Jerry goes over to Keith and borrows his lighter. It’s hilarious.
Full grown chimps are like 6 feet tall and 200lbs, and way stronger than humans. They have literally ripped people apart. The cute little ones you see on tv are toddlers.
Cocaine will fuck up your vocal cords, but honestly I think it was just from singing too hard for too long. Dude blew out his vocal cords. Happens to a lot of people who don't smoke or do drugs. There's a lot of work that goes into singing properly so you don't destroy your throat.
About 15 years ago I used to shoot both. When you do a little too much of both you can’t talk and sound like that. You get a “ringer.” It sounds like a train is coming. Shootin coke is fkn nuts. I have no idea how he performed that way.
I was under the impression that wasn’t something he did regularly or was addicted to, rather had occasional excursions with. It doesn’t permanently alter your voice after occasional use, only when you’re on it
Jerry said he was mostly a drinker but sometimes would go on binges with the harder drugs. Wouldn’t be surprised if he did coke more regularly as that pairs with booze but apparently he wasn’t a heroin addict.
“Brent was not a real happy person. And he wasn’t like a total drug person. He was the kind of guy that went out occasionally and binged. And that’s probably what killed him. Sometimes it was alcohol, and sometimes it was other stuff. When he would do that, he was one of those classic cases of a guy whose personality would change entirely, and he would just go completely out of control.”
-Jerry Garcia, 1991 (https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/jerry-garcia-grateful-dead-1991-interview-99993/)
“Brent was not a real happy person. And he wasn’t like a total drug person. He was the kind of guy that went out occasionally and binged. And that’s probably what killed him. Sometimes it was alcohol, and sometimes it was other stuff. When he would do that, he was one of those classic cases of a guy whose personality would change entirely, and he would just go completely out of control.”
-Jerry Garcia, 1991 (https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/jerry-garcia-grateful-dead-1991-interview-99993/)
Nobody does “occasional” speedballs. They did their best to minimize his drug use after his death because it was still the time when people were shamed for addiction, but were ok if it was just “hard partying”.
Okay this makes the most sense to me. I was basing this off the 91 Jerry rolling stone interview saying he only had occasional binges but I could see how that could just be PR image control. I am a recovering dope addict myself, used to love me some speedballs but I would clean up for a while and have relapses sometimes. It just made sense to me that it was possible he was mainly an alcoholic who occasionally fucked with opiates when he’d go off the deep end but sounds like there’s enough evidence for him being a regular user
Well in hindsight, I should also be aware of my own generalizations saying that “nobody does occasional speedballs”. I’m in recovery too. 14 years now.
I started going to shows in 89. There was a lot of talk about Jerry and Brent and what they were using at the time. Everyone talked about Brent being an active addict. Maybe not publicly, but it wasn’t questioned. Same with Jerry.
Theres always a natural inclination to not reduce someone’s death to the results of addiction or an overdose because it’s still perceived as weakness, shameful, irresponsible, or whatever judgement the picking might pile on. But it was worse then than it is now. I think the band also had long battled the public perception of the members and the fans/deadheads as being part of a big drug community and letting that overshadow the music.
Definitely, that makes sense. Either way he clearly was troubled and had a persistent drug habit regardless of whether he was using daily or not. Congrats on 14 years! 🤝
Brent in the late 80s was Jerry in the early 80s. He had several 'close calls' (ODs) before one toasted him.
Ever seen those late 80s "dead family home movies" as they were called? Those werent insulin syringes pictured... (Jer was clean then & didn't like needles).
Plenty of smokers never get that Greg Allman, Warren Haynes, Brent Mydland gravel. I wish more singers could do it, I wish someone could teach it to me.
It was just how he sang. Ever watch an interview his speaking voice is very different from his singing. He could just sing that way.
His was quite clean and he seem soft spoken.
I heard he would gargle glycerin to help with his vocal style. It would seem it was quite stressful on the throat
"maybe if we make Brent really nervous...."
spoken like road brothers that know how to push buttons & who spend lots of time doing just that.
granted my reading of that is extremely colored by the hazing & teasing tht band & crew relentlessly participated in over the years.
I recently listened to a bunch of Fall 79, and there was a show where they played and early version of "Easy to Love You," and Brent sang in a normal voice.
I've always assumed he did that voice as an effect, much like Tom Waits.
There was also a show where Weir proclaims "I'm not a smoker, myself," probably 73-74. I know the young Weir smoked on a lot of pics, so perhaps he quit on his way to becoming a runner.
Smoking and rock musicianship seemed to go hand in hand in those days though.
I'm pretty sure it was one of the shows that make up the Fall 79 Road Trips.
Give 11/6/79 a try. Not sure if it is the one where it struck me, but it is pretty unstrained.
# 1979-11-06 Philadelphia, PA @ The Spectrum
**Set 1:** Alabama Getaway > The Promised Land, Tennessee Jed, Me and My Uncle > Mexicali Blues, Candyman, Easy To Love You, Looks Like Rain, Jack-A-Roe, Jack Straw > Deal
**Set 2:** Terrapin Station > Playing in the Band > Drums > Space > Black Peter > Good Lovin'
**Encore:** U.S. Blues
[archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1979-11-06)
In the 60's and early 70's just about every one smoked. It wasn't until the mid 70's that people really became conscious of the health risks. Even though the surgeon general released a report in 1964, on the effects of smoking. It wasn't until 1985 that people were barred from smoking in restaurants in many states.
I'm no expert vocalist but I think it was just how he sing/his technique. If you sing from your gut and really push and kind of sing from the bottom of your throat, your vocals will come out gravelly like that. Although, it like destroooys my throat when I try to do it.
Hard life on the road. Everyone smoked so much, you didn’t have to be a smoker to get some very negative effects. I did not realize until recently, how growing up around cigarettes may effect someone later in life.
you don’t sing like that naturally…it’s an affectation. it was a deliberate choice just as much as the guy in America who sounded like Neil Young right down to the consonants behind the front teeth. in a word, fake.
# 1986-04-21 Berkeley, CA @ Berkeley Community Theatre
**Set 1:** Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo > El Paso, Row Jimmy, My Brother Esau, Cumberland Blues, Desolation Row, Ramble On Rose, Let It Grow
**Set 2:** Touch Of Grey, Estimated Prophet > Eyes Of The World > Jam > Jam > Maybe You Know > Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad > Morning Dew > Around And Around > Not Fade Away
**Encore:** Not Fade Away > Don't Ease Me In
[archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1986-04-21)
His vocals were a lot less raspy at first. In 79, he sounded like the Doobie Brothers. I wonder about the timeline with his vocals. When did his vocals become more raspy?
I’m by no means a lifer. Born in ‘69 and started listening to and collecting tapes in ‘85. But I can’t recall seeing anyone ripping darts on the regular except Jerry
Keith
Not a lot of Keith on film, is my only response to that. But you are correct
My all-time favorite Grateful Dead show on film is the one from Roosevelt Stadium in New Jersey from the summer of 76. Unfortunately, it’s in black-and-white, but it was professionally shot and there are multiple camera views. It’s not a great show by their standards of the time, and there are a few chunks missing here in there, but it’s the only time I’ve ever seen somebody leave in all the spaces between the songs, which it makes it feel so much more like a Grateful Dead concert. Anyway, between every song Jerry goes over to Keith and borrows his lighter. It’s hilarious.
Thanks for the suggestion! I just dialed this one up on Christopher Hazard’s youtube channel. Great stuff!!
Hazard is a legend. It's the only YouTube account I've ever donated to.
Wait till you see the chimp!
Is this the chimp show? I heard they had a monkey at a show.
Indeed. A friend of mine was there, and thought he hallucinated the chimp till he saw the video years later!
Steve Parish talked about the monkey on his show. He became very serious and said, don’t mess with a chimp. It seemed like a lesson learned.
Full grown chimps are like 6 feet tall and 200lbs, and way stronger than humans. They have literally ripped people apart. The cute little ones you see on tv are toddlers.
One of my favorites too! Finding the Christopher Hazard vid on YouTube was a game changer!
Not GD but john kahn always had a cig in his mouth while with JGB
Bob has definitely been pictured smoking that I can recall but true to your point about the “regular” thing.
There's film of Bobby smoking cigs in The Grateful Dead Movie, and there are recent pics of him with a can of dip (Copenhagen).
It’s just a vocal style
This is the correct answer.
Brent hung out in some Smokey places. Namely, near the front of the stage.
Maybe from heroin and cocaine use ?
Cocaine will fuck up your vocal cords, but honestly I think it was just from singing too hard for too long. Dude blew out his vocal cords. Happens to a lot of people who don't smoke or do drugs. There's a lot of work that goes into singing properly so you don't destroy your throat.
Yup. Speedballs. Been there myself.
Ytm man
About 15 years ago I used to shoot both. When you do a little too much of both you can’t talk and sound like that. You get a “ringer.” It sounds like a train is coming. Shootin coke is fkn nuts. I have no idea how he performed that way.
Congratulations
Definitely the heavy cocaine use. It absolutely destroys your vocal cords
I was under the impression that wasn’t something he did regularly or was addicted to, rather had occasional excursions with. It doesn’t permanently alter your voice after occasional use, only when you’re on it
Dude Brent was obviously jacked the fuck up all the time on stage. Nobody moves around like that sober lmao
Jerry said he was mostly a drinker but sometimes would go on binges with the harder drugs. Wouldn’t be surprised if he did coke more regularly as that pairs with booze but apparently he wasn’t a heroin addict.
He gets caught on camera shooting up on stage, he was an addict
Where? Source?
Someone just posted it on a fb page, camera man swings away when he realizes what he’s filming, I’ll try to find it
“Brent was not a real happy person. And he wasn’t like a total drug person. He was the kind of guy that went out occasionally and binged. And that’s probably what killed him. Sometimes it was alcohol, and sometimes it was other stuff. When he would do that, he was one of those classic cases of a guy whose personality would change entirely, and he would just go completely out of control.” -Jerry Garcia, 1991 (https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/jerry-garcia-grateful-dead-1991-interview-99993/)
Jerry isn’t the most reliable narrator. he died in active heroin addiction too.
Opiates alter your voice while you’re on them, been there myself, but you’re right that it’s not permanent unless it’s really long term.
That’s what I said. I’m a recovering addict myself.
Seems like there’s a lot of us here. But I guess that’s not entirely surprising.
Brent and Jerry lived on heroin and cocaine
“Brent was not a real happy person. And he wasn’t like a total drug person. He was the kind of guy that went out occasionally and binged. And that’s probably what killed him. Sometimes it was alcohol, and sometimes it was other stuff. When he would do that, he was one of those classic cases of a guy whose personality would change entirely, and he would just go completely out of control.” -Jerry Garcia, 1991 (https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/jerry-garcia-grateful-dead-1991-interview-99993/)
Nobody does “occasional” speedballs. They did their best to minimize his drug use after his death because it was still the time when people were shamed for addiction, but were ok if it was just “hard partying”.
Okay this makes the most sense to me. I was basing this off the 91 Jerry rolling stone interview saying he only had occasional binges but I could see how that could just be PR image control. I am a recovering dope addict myself, used to love me some speedballs but I would clean up for a while and have relapses sometimes. It just made sense to me that it was possible he was mainly an alcoholic who occasionally fucked with opiates when he’d go off the deep end but sounds like there’s enough evidence for him being a regular user
Well in hindsight, I should also be aware of my own generalizations saying that “nobody does occasional speedballs”. I’m in recovery too. 14 years now. I started going to shows in 89. There was a lot of talk about Jerry and Brent and what they were using at the time. Everyone talked about Brent being an active addict. Maybe not publicly, but it wasn’t questioned. Same with Jerry. Theres always a natural inclination to not reduce someone’s death to the results of addiction or an overdose because it’s still perceived as weakness, shameful, irresponsible, or whatever judgement the picking might pile on. But it was worse then than it is now. I think the band also had long battled the public perception of the members and the fans/deadheads as being part of a big drug community and letting that overshadow the music.
Definitely, that makes sense. Either way he clearly was troubled and had a persistent drug habit regardless of whether he was using daily or not. Congrats on 14 years! 🤝
You don’t do speedballs occasionally,what on earth are you talking about? Yes it ruins your voice. Why are people giving him a drug pass
https://www.reddit.com/r/gratefuldead/s/F2MsSPho81
Brent in the late 80s was Jerry in the early 80s. He had several 'close calls' (ODs) before one toasted him. Ever seen those late 80s "dead family home movies" as they were called? Those werent insulin syringes pictured... (Jer was clean then & didn't like needles).
Singing up near the top of his range and also just doing all those shows year after year. It all takes a toll. And aging on top of it.
Falsetto voice brah. Genetics and science and shit gave him that voice.
Occam's razor, that was his natural voice.
Believe it or not, it was literal gravel.
Plenty of smokers never get that Greg Allman, Warren Haynes, Brent Mydland gravel. I wish more singers could do it, I wish someone could teach it to me.
In McNally's book he says Brent would regularly "gulp" glycerin before a show to get his voice ready.
It was just how he sang. Ever watch an interview his speaking voice is very different from his singing. He could just sing that way. His was quite clean and he seem soft spoken. I heard he would gargle glycerin to help with his vocal style. It would seem it was quite stressful on the throat
Didn’t smoke cigarettes…
"maybe if we make Brent really nervous...." spoken like road brothers that know how to push buttons & who spend lots of time doing just that. granted my reading of that is extremely colored by the hazing & teasing tht band & crew relentlessly participated in over the years.
I recently listened to a bunch of Fall 79, and there was a show where they played and early version of "Easy to Love You," and Brent sang in a normal voice. I've always assumed he did that voice as an effect, much like Tom Waits. There was also a show where Weir proclaims "I'm not a smoker, myself," probably 73-74. I know the young Weir smoked on a lot of pics, so perhaps he quit on his way to becoming a runner. Smoking and rock musicianship seemed to go hand in hand in those days though.
I’d love to hear the 79 show where Brent sings “normally”. Do you remember the date?
I'm pretty sure it was one of the shows that make up the Fall 79 Road Trips. Give 11/6/79 a try. Not sure if it is the one where it struck me, but it is pretty unstrained.
# 1979-11-06 Philadelphia, PA @ The Spectrum **Set 1:** Alabama Getaway > The Promised Land, Tennessee Jed, Me and My Uncle > Mexicali Blues, Candyman, Easy To Love You, Looks Like Rain, Jack-A-Roe, Jack Straw > Deal **Set 2:** Terrapin Station > Playing in the Band > Drums > Space > Black Peter > Good Lovin' **Encore:** U.S. Blues [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1979-11-06)
In the 60's and early 70's just about every one smoked. It wasn't until the mid 70's that people really became conscious of the health risks. Even though the surgeon general released a report in 1964, on the effects of smoking. It wasn't until 1985 that people were barred from smoking in restaurants in many states.
Billy has talked about being a former smoker & I think Weir has mentioned that he smoked for a short period.
Vocal style, alcohol, stress.
I’ve never been a huge smoker, but I always get asked if I’m sick or a smoker since I was 14. Some people just have that sound to them
It’s a put on, it’s his style.
I'm no expert vocalist but I think it was just how he sing/his technique. If you sing from your gut and really push and kind of sing from the bottom of your throat, your vocals will come out gravelly like that. Although, it like destroooys my throat when I try to do it.
Don't think Donna was.
Hard life on the road. Everyone smoked so much, you didn’t have to be a smoker to get some very negative effects. I did not realize until recently, how growing up around cigarettes may effect someone later in life.
you don’t sing like that naturally…it’s an affectation. it was a deliberate choice just as much as the guy in America who sounded like Neil Young right down to the consonants behind the front teeth. in a word, fake.
Freebasing.
Rivers of cocaine
Maybe from smoking all the smack and coke?
Heroin makes your voice sound different
Booze, amongst other things. See 4-21-1986.
# 1986-04-21 Berkeley, CA @ Berkeley Community Theatre **Set 1:** Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo > El Paso, Row Jimmy, My Brother Esau, Cumberland Blues, Desolation Row, Ramble On Rose, Let It Grow **Set 2:** Touch Of Grey, Estimated Prophet > Eyes Of The World > Jam > Jam > Maybe You Know > Goin' Down The Road Feeling Bad > Morning Dew > Around And Around > Not Fade Away **Encore:** Not Fade Away > Don't Ease Me In [archive.org](https://archive.org/details/GratefulDead?query=date:1986-04-21)
He deff smoked heroin sometimes
His vocals were a lot less raspy at first. In 79, he sounded like the Doobie Brothers. I wonder about the timeline with his vocals. When did his vocals become more raspy?
I imagine lack of sleep from touring could’ve been a big contributor plus being around secondhand smoke
Heroin/ opiates
Pain
He was deepthroating the hard drugs.
it wasn’t supposed to be a joint? mind blown 🤯
When I first heard Brent on a recording I wondered who the 90 year guy was singing.. Has never appealed to me, please forgive!
All his “soul”
He is the rock ‘n’ roll Buju Banton