Vince Welnick died on June 2, an apparent suicide. From the
Vince’s webmaster, Mike Lawson, posted a tirade on Vince’s site.
We can’t know all that went down between Vince and the band. He arrived on the scene very late in the story, and at a time when his own professional life wasn’t going all that well. So it’s no surprise that he spoke of “believ[ing] in Santa Claus” at Jerry’s memorial.
I played with Vince in a variety of settings, and one thing I can tell you for certain is that Vince Welnick was a skillful, talented and inspired musician. I learned a lot from him, and we had some really good times together. One of my favorite touring experiences of all time was in 2003 when Vince and I played some gigs in Arizona with XTraTicket, and we were joined by Jerry Lawson of the Persuasions. Singing with those two was a huge thrill.
I have to head out for a gig. I’ll add more thoughts to this post in the next day or so.
John Rottet posted a couple of nice shots of Vince: #1, #2
November 2003 interview @ jambands.com
From Don McAllister, posted here with permission:
As someone who was busting Vince’s chops only just last week, I feel acutely
ill right now. The post from his webmaster is shattering–even though there’s nothing in it I didn’t sort-of already know.Vince, if you can hear me, I never meant anything personally–I just felt you weren’t the right guy for the band. At the same time, I can imagine how magical it must have been for you. I looked at you on 9-7-90, the first show back after Brent, and I said, well son, you’ve stepped right smack into the pot o’ gold with this gig. The energy in the room was amazing. A rainbow had appeared over the arena that afternoon, a strange, circular rainbow almost directly overhead (others saw this too–not an
hallucination.) I said, well that’s the Big Guy (in whom I do not actually believe) letting us know that he approves of the Grateful Dead carrying on in this stalwart fashion, spitting in the eye of tragedy, and declaring that We Will Survive.Vince is to be thanked for helping to make this possible rather than derided, but I’ve spent the last eleven years sort-of blaming him for Jerry’s decline. I’ve been looking for anyone and anything to blame–I’m even writing a novel about it–and it was easy to say, oh, part of the problem was this guy they hired on keys, Jerry’s got no rapport with him, he can’t hang with the big dogs, he doesn’t have the chops.
I was so down on his playing that at the Family Reunion, I acknowledged that it was shitty to exclude him, but because my friend Rob Barraco was playing instead, that’s all that mattered to me. Once I picked up my VIP passes and excellent tix I didn’t give Vince another thought…
LUntil walking around at Alpine I saw someone with a homemade t-shirt: Where The Fuck Is Vince?? And then I said, jesus, how true, how shitty. But still–I got to go backstage! Cool! Look there’s Barlow! Look there’s Mountain Girl? Who gives a shit where Vince is? Playing in a campground outside the gates of the show? Weird, pathetic, a little sad–but oh wait there’s Kreutzman standing there! And Mickey! And Phil! Vince who?
There may have been no Vince there that day, but now he’s everywhere, including back in my heart. You did us all a favor, Vinnie. You got us the HC Sunshine, you almost got us the Stephen and Cream Puff and who knows what else if only JG hadn’t been so tired, so bored with it all. And to think I wanted to foist some misbegotten responsibility upon you for that which was so far from your control! Shame on me. Shame on me.
-dmac
Update: And another great photo of Vince, with the Tubes.
Hi, David, Readers and Deadheads…Well, this is sad news, indeed. My heart goes out to his family. At the point in my observations of the Grateful Dead, which have spanned the band’s entire career, beginning at a picnic in Palo Alto Park in 1967, (I am living proof that those who experieced the 60’s can remember them!) ending never, because of the tapes…The Vince period, to me, in hindsight seems almost too perfect. Shows I went to that Vince was on just had a unique combination of dynamics. Pig was a leader. W/O him, Jerry never had one. For along time the role of the keys guy seemed to be most suited to take the band a little further out in the wide open spaces and explore the interiors of the songs. Keith could do that so well…when Brent took over we had an up to the minute technician, capable of solo greatness, still requiring much more support than Pig ever needed, but much more confident than Keith, a bit brasher and louder…I loved hearing the Hammond on Don’t Ease Me In. I felt a fullness – even in the album/single version…I was gratified. I knew they cared about the past when I saw that developing…I was at Keith’s last show as well as Brent’s first. The decade that followed contained some of the most incredible highs and lows of the The Grateful Dead. Vince’s arrival after Brent’s dying (the lowest of lows) settled the chair and revived the original goals of the band – smooth perfection had long been a standard, but until the Vince Welnick years, IMHO, that approach to creating the ultimate expression of group mind was never as fully a realized working model. During those years, 1991 to 1995, I had discussions regarding Jerry’s decline, which I, as an outsider could claim little real knowlege: To my eye, Jerry appeared fitter than I’d seen him in years, he exuded joy and passion when singing and the band with Vince had certainly risen to the occasion, Jer’s rehabs having taken their toll, the band playing an integral role while the sound underwent adjustments. Phil, who had a “pop” approach to (even though he would never admit it) was contributing much more. His new 6 string basses weren’t new any longer – he can do more with them…Vince got tight with new arrangements of songs allowing that leading line bass sound to weave more effectivly than ever.
Vince will forever be under appreciated. I agree with you, David, that we will possibly never know the relationship between Vince and the Grateful Dead organization. What is known was that Vince was a great musician who pumped life into a whithering band.
What a lot of people don’t realize is that Vince had had a musical career which surpassed his five years in the Grateful Dead. His first meeting with Jerry Garcia, albeit an opening act (The Beans), came long before he became the hired hand with the Grateful Dead organization. The man could play. His position as a founding member of the Tubes, further entrenched himself in the music community.
I live in Sweden, and I learned of Vince’s death from my brother who lives in Peru. That goes to show you how important the music, the life, and the laughter which Vince carried really is.
Sam Glen
Växjö, Sweden
One of the (too many) things you get looking at my post above (I wrote all of that before delving past the SJ Merc story) – or that I meant you to get – is that, to me, Vince was a fully functioning GD keyboard wizard. I also wanted to make clear that I have always wanted to hear more of the stuff they recorded together – it is too bad the Vince years were never marked with a studio album released while Jerry was still alive. I have read into the matter more and look forward to hearing the musical tribute in a week and a half on kpfa and a measure of closure…