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Vince Welnick
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Vince Welnick | ||
|---|---|---|
| Background information | ||
| Born | February 21, 1951 Phoenix, Arizona, USA |
|
| Died | June 2, 2006 (aged 55) Sanoma County, California, USA |
|
| Occupation(s) | Keyboardist | |
| Instrument(s) | Keyboards | |
| Years active | 1973-2006 | |
| Associated acts |
The Tubes, Greatful Dead, Missing Man Formation, Mickey Hart Band | |
| Website | http://www.vincewelnick.com/ | |
Vince Welnick (February 21, 1951 – June 2, 2006) was an American keyboardist, best known for playing for the Grateful Dead from 1990 until their end in 1995.
Contents |
Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Welnick started playing keyboards as a teenager; he joined a band — The Beans — which eventually morphed into The Tubes, a San Francisco-based theater rock band, popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s, legendary for early live performances that combined lewd quasi-pornography with wild satires of media, consumerism and politics.
The Tubes in the 1980s were a major commercial rock act with substantial MTV success. Videos for rock classics "Talk To Ya Later" and "She's A Beauty" played in heavy rotation on the MTV network for years in the mid-1980s. While playing in the Tubes, he also played with Todd Rundgren.
When Brent Mydland, keyboardist of the Grateful Dead, died of a drug overdose on 26 July 1990, and after auditioning several players, including Pete Sears and T Lavitz, Welnick was selected, not least for his high vocal range for backup harmonies. His AP obituary mentioned he was so nervous at his first gig with the band in 1990 in Cleveland that he could barely play, until the fans put him at ease. He remained as the legendary band's keyboard player until Jerry Garcia's death in August 1995, when the group disbanded. During a stint with Ratdog, Vince became very depressed with the loss of Jerry Garcia and he attempted suicide about six months after Garcia's death, effectively ending any future creative interaction between him and what was left of the Grateful Dead. In 2002 Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann and Phil Lesh regrouped under the name The Dead. Welnick was not asked to participate, a fact that troubled him, according to musician Mike Lawson, who oversees Welnick's website. His contributions to Grateful Dead music are not appreciated by some, due in no small part to some of the keyboard tones he employed which were "in vogue" among professional keyboardists during the 1990s. Few fans understood that Vince really wanted to play piano and organ, the same one played by Brent, but that the band members insisted that he not. Vince was not in charge of what sounds were played during shows, it was MIDI-wizard Bob Bralove, behind the curtain, deciding which tones to use for Vince, as well as Jerry's MIDI guitar. Some fans took it out on Vince, saying he played cheesey synth sounds, when he may have just been hearing piano in his monitors. His rocking song, "Long Way to Go Home" was a later fan-favorite at Grateful Dead shows.
Subsequently, he became involved in solo efforts, formed and played in the band Missing Man Formation, and had a brief stint with the Mickey Hart Band.
Welnick is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Welnick played a small part in the 1982 Canadian film Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains. Fee Waybill of the Tubes played Lou Corpse, the washed-up front man of a band called "The Metal Corpses." Welnick played Jerry Jervey, the keyboard player with the Corpses, who dies of an overdose in a bathtub.
Vince Welnick died on June 2, 2006. "Sonoma County sheriffs said he was taken, injured, from his home in rural Forestville near Santa Rosa, to a local hospital. He died there, police said. An unofficial spokesman at the Welnick home said, 'It looks like he took his own life.' But that is not known for sure, he said." [1]
On June 7, 2006 the Sonoma County coroner confirmed his death as suicide. [2] Songwriter John Perry Barlow, on his website, spoke of the 'appalling' manner in which it was carried out.
An article in the June 30, 2006 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle states that Welnick died when he "drew a knife across his throat." [3]
On June 9, 2006 Ratdog played "Way To Go Home" for the first time as a tribute to Welnick at the Sonoma County fairgrounds, something that troubled his widow, Lorie.
Former Grateful Dead keyboardist Tom Constanten took up the keys for the "Vince Welnick and Friends Tour" that was scheduled before his death. They played many Vince Welnick staples including "Samba in the Rain". A very touching "He Was a Friend of Mine" was also played in honor of Welnick. On the second night of the tour they stopped in St. Louis and the opener The Schwag, who Welnick had played with before, did "Turn on Your Love Light" and dedicated it to Welnick with some improvised lyrics about Welnick and his life, which was said to have touched the crowd.
- Grateful Dead musician dies at 55 BBC News - Grateful Dead musician dies at 55
- Vince Welnick website
- Vince Welnick 1995 Interview with the Memphis Flyer
- "Welnick dies", Grateful Dead Website, 2006-06-02. Retrieved on 2006-06-03.
- Allmusic.com Vince Welnick article
- San Francisco Chronicle "Grateful Dead's last keyboardist, Vince Welnick, dies at 55" June 3 2006
- Urban Tulsa "Healing begins as “Friends” pay tribute to their musical companion and mentor" June 16 2006
- San Francisco Chronicle "Vince Welnick lived the dream, playing music with the Grateful Dead, but depression dogged him to his final days" June 30 2006
- Vince Welnick collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive