A weekly audio postcard from the wide musical world of America’s best-loved band!
David Gans “Aunt Fran” Bennett posted some MP3s and a concert poster from The Beans, Vince’s first (?) band and a precursor to The Tubes. Before going off to a successful 32 year career on LA & San Francisco radio I was a 17 year old beginner at the underground station in Phoenix, AZ, and it was … Read more
I’ve spent much of this week listening to Vince Welnick’s music, in a variety of contexts. I’ve got some fine moments from his time with the Grateful Dead, of course, and also The Tubes, Missing Man Formation, the Affordables, Mood Food, etc. Stephen Barncard, who recorded The Tubes in 1973, directed me to Tom Lattanand, … Read more
I’m trying to raise money to finish a CD project, and so I’d like to sell some items from my closet. I have these Grateful Dead Hour t-shirts (designed and printed by Norm Ruth and The Deluxe Team) in limited sizes and colors… The first Grateful Dead Hour t-shirt. White only; Small and Medium only. … Read more
My dear friend, fellow Pacifica-radio music programmer, and occasional musical collaborator Barry Smolin is featured on the front page of the Los Angeles Times today! It’s about his work as a teacher in the Los Angeles schools: This Teacher Digresses, and Well If that link expires, Barry has it archived on his site. Barry hosts … Read more
From the GD Hour mailing list, posted with permission: I’m not here to comment on any aspect of Vince’s treatment by the organization. I just recall my own initial education in the subject of the ethos of, for want of a less threadbare appellation, the psychedelic warrior: Tom Wolfe’s “Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test”. By the … Read more
My best friend died this morning. Tina Loney was the “best man” at my wedding. When I got together with Rita, it was Tina’s approval I sweated out, not my parents’. Fortunately, Tina approved. Tina and her partner of 15 years, Eric Rawlins, have been our companions through countless adventures, tribulations and mundane pleasures since … Read more
In this letter, a public response to an email from someone named Sean, Hunter says explicitly something I have believed/known for years: “Play the recordings. I put as many clues there as I could. In a way, they are one long letter to the Grateful Dead.” More excerpts: In the aftershock of the tragic death … Read more
Reminder: the Vince Welnick tribute will be broadcast next Wednesday, June 14. Golden Days – Vince Welnick & Missing Man Formation Sugaree Passenger Ramble on Rose Looks Like Rain Stagger Lee I Need a Miracle – Grateful Dead 10/21/78 Winterland, San Francisco Hot Buttered Rum live in the KPFA performance studio: Jack Mormon Mother Guns … Read more
Santa Rosa Press-Democrat reports that Vince’s death has officially ruled a suicide – specifically, “self-inflicted cuts.” Sonoma County sheriff’s detectives went to Welnick’s Forestville home Friday to investigate, trying to determine whether his death might have been a homicide.
Relix.com posts a Feb/Mar 2003 interview with Vince by Richard Thomas.