Bob Weir Talks Sex, Drugs And Rock & Roll In New Interview

Grateful Dead co-founding guitarist Bob Weir gave one of the more candid interviews of his career to Common Ground (PDF link) for a fascinating feature found in the magazine’s 40th anniversary issue. Weir discusses a number of topics over the course of the lengthy interview with a focus on sex, drugs and rock and roll and spills the beans on a handful of controversial topics.

Weir canceled all of his upcoming tour dates back in August and has yet to return to the road. While Common Ground didn’t ask him directly about the cause of the cancellations, Bobby did admit, “I had to take painkillers for a shoulder issue for a number of years, and that’s something I’m still dealing with.” Weir also discussed his role as Jerry Garcia’s heroin bag man, “I used to carry Jerry’s dope around on tour; I used to be his bagman. At the beginning of the tour, he would tell me, ‘Okay, no matter what I say, no matter what I do, just give me this amount.’ That was a tough job. I gave him a daily allotment. He’d trust me.” At times Bobby even partook with Jerry, “Every now and again he would invite me to join him, and I would. But I never got into it. It was fun to go into his world on a given evening after a show, but it’s not a place I found I wanted to stay—or at least that part of his world. It was fun going into that little corner of his world where he didn’t let other folks in. A place to visit but you wouldn’t want to live there. He did. I’m not sure.”

What’s Weir advice to the youth? “Bottom line: you’re better off straight. Stay the hell away from heroin; it’ll take you out. It’ll ruin your life. Meth, the same thing. Cocaine—stay away from cocaine and any of the addictive drugs. Try not to take sleeping pills in your life. If you have a chronic pain issue, better to figure out how to deal with it other than with pain medication.”

Weir also reiterated his assertion that the late ’80s was among The Grateful Dead’s creative zenith, “I loved what we were up to in the late ’80s. Jerry was in great shape, having slipped the bonds of his drug existence for a few years. We had come together and become strong singers. We had a good sense of dynamics and were a good band. If we had been able to maintain that plateau as a band, some monumental music might have resulted. We lost Brent [Mydland], then Jerry also receded back into the drugs.”

Bobby also discusses how the band came up with the name “Grateful Dead,” his first meeting with Garcia, the role of psychedelics in GD history, how he’s handled fame, his love of the 49ers, his thoughts on Bob Dylan and Mick Jagger, his sexual escapades and much more. We highly recommend reading the entire interview.

[Hat Tip –@TheDeadBlog]