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Pigpen was the soul of the band early on, but as far as his skills on the keyboard went, I think it left quite a bit to be desired. My vote goes to Brent, without any sort of hesitation, but a big honorable mention to Keith Godchaux!
I'd have to go with Pigpen. IMO he was the keyboardest on the two best albums they put out "American Beauty" and "Working Man's Dead". Not that I don't like all of their other albums, but those two are the most widely known in the mainstream world. He also is the reason why "Turn on your Lovelight" is one of my favorite songs of all time.
Close your eyes. Picture a convict. What's he wearing? Nothing special, baseball cap on backwards, baggy pants... he says something ordinary like... 'yo, thats shizzle.' Okay. Now slowly open your eyes again. Who are you picturing? A black man? Wrong. That was a white woman. Surprised? Well, shame on you.
I really think that technically speaking, Brent was the best. I also think he had the advantage of having a little more technology/sounds to work with than Pigpen.
OK, yeah, no one could make the argument that Pigpen was the "greatest keyboardist" if you are looking solely at technical acumen. But man, it's Pigpen! What would the early Dead have been without Pigpen? I know by the time they started recording and became famous he wasn't as important, but he was HUGE in the early stages.
Hey, Jude, don't be afraid. You were made to go out and get her. The minute you let her under your skin, Then you begin to make it better.
And any time you feel the pain, Hey Jude, refrain. Don't carry the world upon your shoulders. Well don't you know that it's a fool who plays it cool By making his world a little colder.
OK, yeah, no one could make the argument that Pigpen was the "greatest keyboardist" if you are looking solely at technical acumen. But man, it's Pigpen! What would the early Dead have been without Pigpen? I know by the time they started recording and became famous he wasn't as important, but he was HUGE in the early stages.
This is 100% on the mark, but the thread asks for the Dead's "best keyboardist," not necessarily the most important or proficient. From the couple thousand pages or so I've read on the band, the guy was a character like no other and completely invaluable for what he was, but Pig just didn't have the skill, let alone the interest, to keep up with the band when things went cosmic.
Post by mulcherry0420 on Feb 2, 2008 20:23:01 GMT -5
Basically comes down to the Live shows for me. Never getting to see any of the originals..and being there in person..my vote doesnt count quite as much. But, to me, brent shines through in the 80's shows through to the early 90s. even when he was "too messed up" Listen to Nassau from 1990. It really is a culmination of Brent and the boys working together. Absolutly magical. I believe brent/jerry worked off each other so well..and yeah this has turned into a ramble
I would have to vote for brent I dig that gravelly voice, and even his occasional solo song, I like pigpen a lot too, but only for a couple of his signiature songs, and I echo what others have said about his early influences with the band being quite important.
And I can't vote for keith, that is way too close to voting for donna.
