Easy Answers: Chris Forsyth Talks Grateful Dead

Believe it or not, the Grateful Dead had a far-reaching influence that stretched way beyond their inner circle of improvisational minded bands.  Since playing their first shows 50 years ago the Dead have earned their place in the lexicon of culture as perhaps the quintessential American band. In light of their final shows, which take place June 27 and 28 in Santa Clara, CA and 4th of July weekend in Chicago, without lead guitarist Jerry Garcia of course, and to commemorate their legacy as a whole, we’ve decided to launch a special column that focuses specifically on the impact of the Dead within many different musical communities. In each installment of Easy Answers (get the reference?) we will question a different musician or band, ranging from the obvious to the not so obvious, about the importance of Grateful Dead on their own life and musical path. We could easily keep this column within the jam band community – and we will most certainly turn our focus to some of those acts – but the goal of Easy Answers is to get insight from musicians who most wouldn’t expect to be influenced by or fans of the Dead.

Philadelphia-based guitarist Chris Forsyth and his group the Solar Motel Band released their first album, Intensity Ghost, together last fall, and despite being a little below the radar they are already captivating fans with their dynamic live performances. Though the group blends psychedelia, art rock, the late-70’s New York scene, and the melting pot of early 90’s underground bands – none of which are immediately associated with the Grateful Dead – Forsyth’s guitar-centric ramblings make it immediately clear the spirit of Jerry Garcia has seeped into his playing. Simply put, he enjoys a loose, free form style of playing and taking the jams to far out places. This may explain why the band has caught the attention of the jam band community. Forsyth and his band recently wrapped up a tour in support of Intensity Ghost, so he took the time to offer his personal take on what makes the Grateful Dead so special.

How did you first get into the Grateful Dead?
I discovered the Dead in the late ’90s via Dick’s Picks. Vol. 3, 5/22/77 from Pembroke Pines, Florida, and that one that really turned my head. I’m one of those people who didn’t really get them when they actually existed, even though I had opportunities to go see them. I had been totally weened on classic rock, but by late ’90s, I was really into improvisation and avant-garde jazz and experimental music, and when I delved into the Dead live recordings, I found all those things co-mingled in a way that was almost beyond words.

[youtube id=”tdLOj_nGFhY” width=”630″ height=”350″]

What is your personal favorite Grateful Dead song and why?
This week, it’s “Black Peter”. I love Garcia’s mythical death blues ballads, like “Black Peter”, “Candyman”, “Wharf Rat”, the dirge version of “Friend of the Devil”, etc. It’s my favorite mode of the Dead. There’s just so much richness and detail in the lyrics, beauty in the compositions, and emotion in the performances of those songs.

Do you have any particular memories around these songs?
They just takes me to another place every single time I hear them.

[youtube id=”WCIZ-l8RPks” width=”630″ height=”350″]

What is your favorite era of the Grateful Dead and why?
I find something in all the eras, but I’m a real sucker for what I’ll call the middle period Dead, which I’d date as starting around 1972 and ending around 1984. I feel like they just had the most command of what they were doing in this era and the best balance between “in” and “out.” I also really like the guitar tones from these eras, which are so clean and bell-like.

Pipgen, Tom, Keith, Brent, Bruce or Vince on keys and why?
I like Keith up until the hiatus, because I love the emphasis on piano, but his contributions really waned after that. So, maybe if I had to pick only one, I’d go with Brent, because he had the widest range of any of the keyboardists and I think sunk into his role in the band most deeply.

What do you feel is the greatest misconception a lot of people outside the Dead’s circle have of the band?
That they don’t have songs. I think Garcia and Hunter, especially, are actually really underrated as songwriters, maybe because they weren’t as prolific as some other writers. But, their songs are so classic, with a grasp of the past without being retro or backwards-looking – they were able to fuse their roots with the time in which they lived in a really profound way. Their songs have so much richness and cover so much terrain in the lyrical content and are also musically so adventurous but without being showy about it. Garcia’s grasp of structure and harmony is really evident in a lot of the chord substitutions he used and the long form of a lot of the melodies. And he was really able to bring out the nuances in Hunter’s lyrics in the way he framed the words.

Do you remember where you were when you heard of Jerry’s passing?
I think I heard the news on the car radio.

What are your favorite Robert Hunter lyrics?
Oh, there’s so much to like. If I had to choose just one line that completely knocks me out that sums up so much about America, it’d be:

“People may know but / the people don’t care
that a man could be / as poor as me…”

(“Black Peter”)

It’s so sad and so real.

But also, his use of dry humor is great, like the first verse in “Valerie”:

“Hey, Valerie, baby, what’s the matter with you?
I did all of the things that you wanted me to
I went downtown with my pocketknife
Cut your other man but I spared his life
Valerie, won’t you be good to me?”

I also love the rhythmic cadence of his words in the boogie songs, like “Alabama Getaway”.
Lines like “Thirty two teeth in a jawbone / Alabama cryin for none” or “Majordomo Billy Bojangles / sit down and have a drink with me” are so great phonetically. The words themselves almost don’t matter because the rhythm is so strong, it’s like scatting.

For more tunes and info on Chris Forsyth and the Solar Motel Band check out thechrisforsyth.com.

 

Check out more Easy Answers:

Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth

Alex Bleeker of Real Estate

Aron Magner of the Disco Biscuits

Black Pistol Fire

Keller Williams

Matt Butler of Everyone Orchestra

Greensky Bluegrass

The Stone Foxes

Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes

Related Content

One Response

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

New to Glide

Keep up-to-date with Glide

Twitter