This is an old article, but it came up on a European Deadheads’ mailing list and I thought it worth pointing to again. Warren Haynes talks about the Grateful Dead in Rolling Stone in April 2005. A couple of excerpts:
Obviously, most of today’s jam bands are influenced by the Dead. But what disappoints me about a lot of current music is that you don’t hear any history in it. The Dead were aficionados of folk, acoustic blues and bluegrass — particularly Garcia. In the songs he wrote with Robert Hunter, and in Bob Weir’s stuff too, you’re also hearing music from forty, fifty years ago. Everyone focuses on the magic of Jerry’s guitar playing and the vulnerability of his voice, but his sense of melody and chord changes was unbelievable. The ballads especially connected with me: “Loser,” “Wharf Rat,” “Stella Blue.”
Jerry is still one of the few guitarists where as soon as you hear him, you know instantly who it is. As a guitar player, that is the thing I strive for: the distinct, recognizable personality that comes out in every note. There was a humanity in Jerry’s guitar work as well as his singing that drew you in. He was a very personal guitarist; he played with more heart and soul than technique. And to me, that’s what the best music is made of.