Apparently Waless free-flowing weirdness, which Garcia enjoyed fitting into, was a bit too strong for a band that was now more focused on shorter normal songs. Despite their reversal of fortune, Keith tragically died in a car accident on July 23, 1980. Donna Jean Godchaux McKay Interview of Donna Jean Godchaux MacKay for the Roots of American Music Trail Donna has returned to live in the Shoals area and is active in the Christian ministry. Cheng was the bassist for the Grammy-winning Deftones. As for his nickname, which was inspired by the messyPeanuts character, it was due to his "funky approach to life and sanitation," according to Ultimate Classic Rock. Jan. 30: New Orleans bust: Police arrest 19 people and seize LSD, marijuana, barbiturates and dangerous narcotic and non-narcotic drugs in a raid of a French Quarter motel. Not that he did! That whole day, Keith never put a foot (or a finger) wrong. There had also been problems at several recent concerts. March 25: Donna Godchaux adds vocals: Donna Jean Godchaux, who was married to keyboardist Keith Godchaux, joins the band on vocals. Sept. 25: Dead for 15 years: To celebrate the bands 15th anniversary, the Dead open an 18-date run at the Warfield theater in San Francisco. During that time, he embezzled something like $150,000 and hid it in a series of bank accounts and shell companies scattered across California. He was in a coma until 2009, when it was reported that he was in a "semi-conscious state". May 19: Avalon Ballroom: The Dead play their first show at Avalon Ballroom, located at Sutter Street and Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco. The poorly organized event was meant to be the Woodstock of the West. Instead it turned into what some fans call the concert that ended the 60s. The Dead were supposed to play before the Rolling Stones, but never took the stage. He died two days later at the age of 32. Exactly 10 years after, on July 23, 1990, his replacement behind. Keith Godchaux, Self: Beat-Club. The Grateful Dead lost two keyboardists and one lead singer/guitarist to substance abuse, one keyboardist (Keith Godchaux, who Lesh once said reached "an almost vegetative state" due to drugs. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images), The Grateful Dead performing at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on June 19, 1995. He was steadying a piece of wood when the ax severed a large chunk of the middle finger on his right hand. They would never do anything which would affect me negatively They are righteous people., Now Available: 134 Rock-n-Roll Legends Crossed the Rainbow in 2017 - A Tribute to their Lives Dismiss. In 1970, Keith Godchauxmarried Donna Jean Thatcher,a session vocalist. He had a side gig as a preacher and often insisted that people call him "reverend." Guitarist Bob Weir landed in hot water with the police for tossing water balloons off the roof, but things took an uglier turn when the house was raided that October. The sports car he was riding in struck a parked car. Whats interesting here is that theyre playing Garcia THEIR music, in order to convince him of their rightness for the band. During his tenure with the Dead, his only lead vocal was Let Me Sing Your Blues Away, from Wake of the Flood (1973). But when they asked me to come in and do their thing to join them I didnt really want to join the band. May 5: Warlocks play Magoos: Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, Ron Pigpen McKernan, Dana Morgan Jr. and Bill Kreutzmann play at Magoos Pizza Parlor in Menlo Park as the Warlocks, an electric band that took shape at Dana Morgans Music Store in Palo Alto. In 1982, Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir appear on Late Night With David Letterman.. Oct. 20: Dead take a break: Fans line up to see the Dead play at Winterland before the band takes a 19-month hiatus from touring. We were exhausted. Thats when I knew hed be great for the band. He was replaced by Keith Godchaux from Dave Mason's band, who together with his wife Donna on vocals compensated for the tragic loss. Dec. 10: Fillmore first: The Grateful Dead, still known as the Warlocks, perform at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco for the first time, as part of Bill Grahams S.F. Manager Jon McIntire remembered when he first heard about Keith: I saw Garcia and asked him what it was about, and he shook his head, very amazed, and said, Well, this guy came along and said he was our piano player. But as far as we know, he wasnt considered, or turned them down. Eager to see the world, he decided to enlist in the Army at the age of 17 in April 1960. The following Sunday the Dead were having a rehearsal and Jerry told us to come on down, so we did. Godchaux was born in Seattle, Washington, and grew up in Concord, California, a regional suburban center within the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. He had checked in two days earlier. Beginning in 1992, his works make an unlikely appearance on a line of neckties. Finally she got him at home. So it may have been a more circuitous path between the first meeting and the rehearsal, but in Donnas memory it was about a week. In a backstage interview with Mickey Hart years ago, he smiled when I suggested that the core members of the Dead may have precipitated their passing with their hazing. If this is the best from their tour, what can the outtakes sound like?. What started as a sunny day in the Haight turned dark and somber as people learned of Garcias death. Then Jerry called Kreutzmann and got him to come down, and the three of them played some. (I think she has mentioned how she, Keith & Jerry would listen to lots of gospel music at home circa 76.) He was also a deft songwriter and wrote several tunes for the Dead throughout the decade that appeared on their studio albums. The sports car he was riding in struck. The couple's work helped to fundamentally shape the sound of the band during what. 91. Godchaux was sometimes chided for her off-key vocals during her shows with the Grateful Dead, which she blamed on inebriation and poor stage acoustics many years later in a 2014 interview with Rolling Stone. Garcia spotted the phrase grateful dead, which the band later discovered to be from an Egyptian prayer, in a dictionary, and it stuck. Donna has returned to live in the Shoals area and is active in the Christian ministry. He was so inventive he played some jazz stuff and free music that was just incredible. He died at the age of 32 on July 23, 1980, four days after his birthday. She graduated from the University of Minnesota with degrees in journalism and political science. I never had the pleasure of meeting him -although I came very close to it- met his wife, and had many occasions to be in close proximity during concerts by both the Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia Band. : Wikipedia, Bookogs. Keith died in July 1980. I would guess there must have been more rehearsals over the next couple weeks (they had to have tried out some of the deep jams), but no more tapes have come forth. 10 and No. Rock Musician. July 12: Together again: The Dead perform their first official Bay Area show following the hiatus at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. ), So while its possible that Keith only started playing with the Dead near the end of the month, I think its also possible that hed met Garcia on 8/31, and perhaps even jammed with him & Kreutzmann a time or two at Keystone Korner; and rehearsals may have started earlier than we think. More on Keith. While they did only five shows in Chicago and Santa Clara, the band made over $52 million in revenue and a few waves in the process. Keith Godchaux was killed in a car accident on July 23, 1980, just a few days after the . Like. http://www.levity.com/gans/Donna.980328.html ), In early 1972, the Dead had a little promotional flurry, releasing a few band biographies for the press & fans. It wouldve become obvious pretty soon, though, that Keith was born to play with the Dead. Blair Jackson observes that Keith had also played on a James & the Good Brothers record (a band the Dead were friends with) Kreutzmann played drums on one track, and the album was recorded by Betty Cantor, so Keith may not have been a complete unknown to Garcia. He died a year later in a car accident, at the age of 32. Dec. 6: Deadly Altamont: The Dead are scheduled to play the infamous Altamont Speedway Free Festival. Prior to that, he'd done time in Bob Weir's solo band and had recorded an album with Silver, a country-rock band based in Los Angeles. Pretty speedy, for the Dead! Donna Jean and Keith Godchaux were in the Dead until 1979, and Keith died in 1980 following a car accident. (Perhaps someone mixed up the Keystone and the rehearsal space either way, Jerry & Bill jammed with Keith before the rest of the band did.) We know Garcia gave Keith a batch of live tapes that had been recorded at the August shows, so Keith would also have been able to listen & practice the songs at home before his 10/19/71 live debut. Donna had gone to the 10/4/70 Winterland show (drug-free), taken by some deadhead friends, and had quite an experience. He sighed in 76, Im just now starting to learn about the type of music Im playing now I never played rock and roll before I started playing with the Grateful Dead. (Shades of Constanten!) Not that a lack of Grammy Awards hurt their sales. In 24 hours we created all the problems of our society in one place: congestion, violence, dehumanization, Gleason wrote. A few minutes later, Garcia came up and sat next to Keith, and I said, Honey, I think Garcias hinting that he wants to talk to you. http://archive.org/details/gd71-09-xx.sbd.unknown.16897.sbeok.shnf compilation; Keith mixed up on some tracks Its also a curious detail that Keith initially got with the Dead to work out some tunes. This is frustratingly vague it may mean nothing; or it may mean that the initial intention was not to actually join the Dead. A much more revealing story titled: He was in a car accident and received massive head injuries from which he didn't recover. The Deads song Alice D. Millionaire was inspired by newspaper accounts that described him as the LSD millionaire.. After the band splits up, the band members form several (sometimes overlapping) side projects, including RatDog, Bobby and the Midnites, the Other Ones, the Dead, Furthur, Dark Star Orchestra, Rhythm Devils, Missing Man Formation, Move Me Brightly and others. He was 77. Serendipity in action, A closer listen may reveal more, but for now it sounds to me like there is not one attempt to teach Keith a single new song in these rehearsal tapes, only practiced run-throughs of already-learned songs. Or, the traditional story could be true: the Dead suddenly discovered after the 17th that they needed a new player; Garcia met one that very week, and they snatched him up immediately; and he learned all their songs in a week or less. When he regained consciousness, he'd lost the ability to play the guitar. Did this affect the others? He was in a car being driven by renowned tie-dye artist Courtenay Pollock when a truck cut in front of their vehicle. Ron "Pigpen" McKernan was the first member of the Grateful Dead to pass away. A fan also tried to sell the alleged finger on Craigslist to attend a 2015 reunion show, but it was quickly ruled a hoax by Ultimate Classic Rock (and everyone else who came across it, no doubt). Godchaux sustained massive head injuries in an automobile accident while being driven home from his birthday party in Marin County, California, on July 21, 1980. The powers-that-be at the Grammy Awards were never big fans, either, but the Dead won an honorary Hall of Fame Award in 1999 and a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007. Tambourines, drums, flutes and chiming bells appeared and the air was filled with the buzz of voices and the sound of music, wrote Gleason, who affirmed that there were no drunks., March 1: First album release: Grateful Dead: The Grateful Dead release their self-titled debut album on Warner Bros. The Grateful Dead have recorded for Warner Bros. an album which has everyone excited, wrote Gleason. Although the band had employed several other keyboardists (including Howard Wales, Merl Saunders and Ned Lagin) as session musicians to augment McKernans limited instrumental contributions following the departure of Tom Constanten in January 1970, Godchaux was invited to join the group as a permanent member in September 1971. Keith and Donna Godchaux issued the mostly self-written Keith & Donna album in 1975 with Jerry Garcia as a member of their band. A Dead Musician Directory Celebrity Page. He would not be alone. Vince Welnick carried the band behind the keyboard until Jerry's death in 1995. Keith Godchaux was born on July 19, 1948 and died on July 22, 1980. After one wonderful night of rehearsal, Keith drove off to the car crashthat killed him. Sept. 7: Vince Welnick joins: Vince Welnick, formerly of the Tubes, joins the Grateful Dead on keyboards after Mydlands death. Very few songs even stumble or break down. According to Godchaux, I spent two years wearing dinner jackets and playing acoustic piano in country club bands and Dixieland groups I also did piano bar gigs and put trios together to back singers in various places around the Bay Areaplaying cocktail standards like Misty the way jazz musicians resentfully play a song thats popular that frustrated space I just wasnt into it I was looking for something real to get involved with which wouldnt necessarily be music. He met and married former FAME Studios session vocalist Donna Jean Thatcher in November 1970. July 23: Keith Godchaux dies in car crash: Keith Godchaux dies in a car accident in Marin County, at age 32, about a year after leaving the band. In 1994, he was inducted, posthumously, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Grateful Dead. And the hippies did what they do best; they transformed the street into a sunny arcade of pleasure, celebrating the now with unqualified exuberance, wrote Jerry Carroll in The Chronicle on March 4, 1968. Years later, though, the injury allegedly improved his ability to play the guitar and he often showed off the damaged digit to his fans as a sort of salute. I had not taken anything, and I was just blown away. She told Blair Jackson, I couldnt sleep that night because I was so excited. They managed to get back $63,000 of the lost cash, and Hart died of natural causes in 1975. "The Warlocks," who would later rename their band "The Grateful Dead," perform a show in 1965. To add to the strangeness of his demise, Brent's final performance on July 23rd, 1990 came 10 years to the day after the death of Keith Godchaux, the former Dead keyboardist who Mydland had. Keith Godchaux, pianist of the Grateful Dead from 1971 through early 1979, would have been 65 years old today. It was charged with a very high voltage, and thus was very cantankerous to set up and use. I didnt realize that everyone does that to him. July 23: Keith Godchaux dies in car crash: Keith Godchaux dies in a car accident in Marin County, at age 32, about a year after leaving the band. Although I did record with the Dead. The Dead were faced with a dilemma just a month later, a midwest tour was to start in Minneapolis. Keith Richard Godchaux. Considering what he would play later, its surprising that when his jazz trio went in the Chick Corea direction, Keith decided I didnt really have any feeling for that type of music, and instead listened to big-band jazz, Bill Evans, and bebop: the musicians the guys I was playing with were emulating After gigs wed go to somebodys house and listen to jazz until the sun came up. Other violence during the concert resulted in two deaths. Private Life. While he was largely uninterested in the popular music of the era and eschewed au courant jazz rock in favor of modal jazz, bebop, and swing, several sources claim that he collaborated with such rock acts as Dave Mason and James and the Good Brothers, a Canadian trio acquainted with the Grateful Dead. The Heart of Gold Band was formed in early 1980, shortly after Keith and Donna Godchaux had left the Grateful Dead in 1979. Before the couple could fully re-group, Keith died in a car accident in July 1980 at age 32. Marin County, CA; Recently Passed Away Celebrities and Famous People. I kept thinking, What did they do? Sept. 14: Alive in Egypt: The Grateful Dead begin three days of shows at the Egyptian pyramids. 1978 is different. Share tweet Related Articles Roy Evans 13 mins ago Gator Creek 33 mins ago Blvd 53 mins ago Check Also Everfound Sept. 26: Dead reach top 40: Touch of Grey enters the Top 40 charts. But it makes sense when you can rehearse with the band each day, theres little need to check out their tapes. Like [they] didnt quite have the strength to pull the load, As far as I know, all the accounts of Keiths joining the Dead come from Donnas story as told to Blair Jackson for the Golden Road magazine in 1985. http://www.digitalinterviews.com/digitalinterviews/views/saunders.shtml Keith was brilliant for the first three years or so he was in the band, but he was sensitive and prone to depression, and the road ate him alive. Enough to shut down every resort. But the band had forgotten to tell Jerry that the rehearsal had been called off, so Jerry was down there by himself. These offer a less detailed, but slightly different course of events. A year later, Keith died as the result of a car accident. It would go on to peak at No. I didnt even try to figure out what the flash wasI just followed it, not knowing what was going to happen. 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