NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – JUNE 02: Phil Lesh of the Grateful Useless performs with Midnight North at … [+]
Phil Lesh, the Grateful Useless’s singularly iconic and beloved bassist, died final week at age 84. He was a lovely musician, a beautiful man, a candy soul. He additionally – via his identifiably distinctive strategy to his instrument and the way it turns into so integral to the band’s inventive improvement – exemplified extra than simply music.
And the teachings we realized from him – and the boys – are extra relevant to enterprise than ever earlier than. The timeliest of all comes from Phil, expressed in is e book, Looking for the Sound (2005).
“Infinite mutability…”
The essence of the Grateful Useless, he defined, is “the infinite mutability of our music.”
If something personified the Useless – and defined their longevity, each as much as and since Jerry Garcia’s premature and stunning loss of life in 1995 – that was it: infinite mutability. My private library accommodates about 40 volumes on, about, or by the Useless, however I can neither level to something extra important nor can I specific it extra compellingly than that: infinite mutability. And if something indicators a enterprise survival mandate in right now’s dizzyingly altering world, that’s nonetheless it: infinite mutability.
A CEO’s main cost: Change.
Name it what Phil did or name or adaptability or holistically altering or progressive or versatile, Phil nailed it. Profitable CEOs would be the first to agree.
From the time I attended my first Grateful Useless present at New York’s legendary Fillmore East, someday in late 1968 or early 1969 (can’t bear in mind precisely, however that’s typical of outdated Deadheads like me, heh-heh, who went to one thing like 120 of their live shows – additionally an in depth sufficient estimate), I acknowledged that about them. Each time they stepped on stage, they have been a dwelling, respiratory experiment in creativity, fearless about treading new floor, simply drifting into their 20-minute jams (or extra) on “Darkish Star” or “Goin’ Down the Highway” or “Morning Dew” or absolutely anything else that floated via, something was attainable. So for the 30 years from their creation to Jerry’s loss of life – and within the 29 years since – they stayed contemporary, new, fearless, and consistently progressive.
And who pointed us to this lesson? Phil, that quiet, unassuming bassist who normally may very well be seen stage proper, away from the glare of the highlight, whereas Jerry and Bobby took vocal and instrumental leads and Mickey and Billy wove collectively an built-in drum partnership you’d discover nowhere else. All of the whereas. There was Phil – essentially the most progressive bassist I ever noticed – laying down a basis to help the Useless’s infinite mutability, at occasions pulsating and forceful, at others as lyrical as a Jerry Garcia lead. For mere mortal bassists, that was not even a distant chance, not to mention a sensible thought.
For Phil, it was a method of being.
Make no mistake about this, every of the boys – and later, Donna Jean – have been integral in creating essentially the most distinctive band in historical past. So, it’s straightforward to know this: with out Phil, the Grateful Useless, gifted as they have been, wouldn’t have been the band we all know.
In that gentle, I can see Phil approaching the Pearly Gates, Saint Peter recognizing his particular new arrival and turning round to others already there, and declaring, OK, boys. You may tune up now. Phil’s right here.”
Infinitely mutable as ever. Perpetually.
