© Copyright Harutyunyan 2024

sunfilm-logo
Home/Phil Lesh
Phil Lesh‌

Gender

Male

Birthday

calendar1940-03-15

Popularity

star7.8

Phil Lesh

Berkeley, California, USA

Phil Lesh

Berkeley, California, USA

Gender

Male

Birthday

calendar1940-03-15

Popularity

star7.8

Biography

Philip Chapman Lesh (born March 15, 1940) is an American musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career. After the band's disbanding in 1995, Lesh continued the tradition of Grateful Dead family music with side project Phil Lesh and Friends, which paid homage to the Dead's music by playing their originals, common covers, and the songs of the members of his band. Lesh operated a music venue called Terrapin Crossroads. He scaled back his touring regimen in 2014 but continues to perform with Phil Lesh & Friends at select venues. From 2009 to 2014, he performed in Furthur alongside former Grateful Dead bandmate Bob Weir. Lesh was born in Berkeley, California, United States, and started out as a violin player. While enrolled at Berkeley High School he switched to trumpet and participated in all of the school's music-related extracurricular activities. Studying the instrument under Bob Hansen, conductor of the symphonic Golden Gate Park Band, he developed a keen interest in avant-garde classical music and free jazz. After attending San Francisco State University for a semester, Lesh was unable to secure a favorable position in the school's band or orchestra and determined that he was not ready to pursue a higher education. Upon dropping out, he successfully auditioned for the renowned Sixth Army Band (then stationed at the Presidio of San Francisco) with the assistance of Hansen, but was ultimately determined to be unfit for military service. Shortly thereafter, he enrolled at the College of San Mateo, where he wrote charts for the community college's well-regarded big band and ascended to the first trumpet chair. (A snippet of tape of Lesh on trumpet at CSM can be heard on "Born Cross-Eyed" from the Grateful Dead's 1968 release Anthem of the Sun.) After transferring with sophomore standing to the University of California, Berkeley in 1961, he befriended future Grateful Dead keyboardist Tom Constanten before dropping out again after less than a semester. At the behest of Constanten, he studied under the Italian modernist Luciano Berio in a graduate-level course at Mills College in the spring of 1962; their classmates included Steve Reich and Stanford University cross-registrant John Chowning. While volunteering for KPFA as a recording engineer during this period, he met bluegrass banjo player Jerry Garcia. Despite seemingly opposite musical interests, they soon formed a friendship. Following a brief period as a Post Office Department employee and keno marker in Las Vegas (initially rooming with Constanten, who soon departed to study under Berio and other members of the Darmstadt School in Europe); a second stint with the Post Office in San Francisco; and a collaboration with the likes of Reich, Jon Gibson and Constanten upon the latter's return from Europe under the auspices of the San Francisco Mime Troupe, Lesh was talked into becoming the bassist for Garcia's new rock band (then known as The Warlocks) in the fall of 1964. This was a peculiar turn of events, as Lesh had never before played bass. According to Lesh, the first song he rehearsed with the band was "I Know You Rider". He joined them for their third or fourth gig (memories vary) and stayed until the end. ... Source: Article "Phil Lesh" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Movie Credits

Gimme Shelter

Gimme Shelter‌
star7.4
calendar 1970

The End of the Road

The End of the Road‌
star4.0
calendar 2001

The Grateful Dead

The Grateful Dead‌
star7.5
calendar 1977

Grateful Dead: View from the Vault

Grateful Dead: View from the Vault‌
star5.2
calendar 2000

Grateful Dead: View from the Vault II

Grateful Dead: View from the Vault II‌
star0.0
calendar 2001

Grateful Dead: Ticket to New Year's Eve Concert

Grateful Dead: Ticket to New Year's Eve Concert‌
star6.0
calendar 1987

Grateful Dead: So Far

Grateful Dead: So Far‌
star0.0
calendar 1987

Magic Trip

Magic Trip‌
star6.9
calendar 2011

Grateful Dead: Bits And Pieces About...

Grateful Dead: Bits And Pieces About...‌
star0.0
calendar

Grateful Dead: View from the Vault III

Grateful Dead: View from the Vault III‌
star0.0
calendar 2002

Grateful Dead: The Closing of Winterland

Grateful Dead: The Closing of Winterland‌
star0.0
calendar 1978

Grateful Dead: Truckin Up to Buffalo

Grateful Dead: Truckin Up to Buffalo‌
star4.5
calendar 1989

San Francisco Rock: A Night at the Family Dog

San Francisco Rock: A Night at the Family Dog‌
star0.0
calendar 1970

Move Me Brightly - Celebrating Jerry Garcia's 70th Birthday

Move Me Brightly - Celebrating Jerry Garcia's 70th Birthday‌
star8.0
calendar 2013

Grateful Dead: View from the Vault IV

Grateful Dead: View from the Vault IV‌
star0.0
calendar 2003

Grateful Dead Meet-Up 2022

Grateful Dead Meet-Up 2022‌
star0.0
calendar 2022

Grateful Dead: 2015.06.27 - Santa Clara, CA

Grateful Dead: 2015.06.27 - Santa Clara, CA‌
star0.0
calendar 2015

Grateful Dead: 2015.07.03 - Chicago, IL

Grateful Dead: 2015.07.03 - Chicago, IL‌
star0.0
calendar 2015

Grateful Dead: 2015.07.05 - Chicago, IL

Grateful Dead: 2015.07.05 - Chicago, IL‌
star7.5
calendar 2015

Grateful Dead: 2015.07.04 - Chicago, IL

Grateful Dead: 2015.07.04 - Chicago, IL‌
star0.0
calendar 2015

Grateful Dead: 2015.06.28 - Santa Clara, CA

Grateful Dead: 2015.06.28 - Santa Clara, CA‌
star0.0
calendar 2015

Inside Scofield

Inside Scofield‌
star0.0
calendar 2022

Grateful Dead: Fare Thee Well - Rainbows Are Real, Chicago, IL

Grateful Dead: Fare Thee Well - Rainbows Are Real, Chicago, IL‌
star0.0
calendar 2015

Grateful Dead: View from the Vault

Grateful Dead: View from the Vault‌
star0.0
calendar 2000

Dear Jerry - Celebrating The Music of Jerry Garcia

Dear Jerry - Celebrating The Music of Jerry Garcia‌
star10.0
calendar 2016

Long Strange Trip

Long Strange Trip‌
star8.2
calendar 2017

Rising Low

Rising Low‌
star6.5
calendar 2002

Grateful Dead: Downhill from Here

Grateful Dead: Downhill from Here‌
star6.0
calendar 1989

Grateful Dead: Sunshine Daydream

Grateful Dead: Sunshine Daydream‌
star4.0
calendar 2013

Grateful Dead: Fare Thee Well - 50 Years of Grateful Dead (Chicago)

Grateful Dead: Fare Thee Well - 50 Years of Grateful Dead (Chicago)‌
star9.8
calendar 2015

Grateful Dead: Fare Thee Well - 50 Years of Grateful Dead (Santa Clara)

Grateful Dead: Fare Thee Well - 50 Years of Grateful Dead (Santa Clara)‌
star0.0
calendar 2015

Grateful Dead: Live on Rockpalast

Grateful Dead: Live on Rockpalast‌
star0.0
calendar 1981

Grateful Dead: New Jersey Half-Step Uptown Toodleloo - Live at The Capitol Theater

Grateful Dead: New Jersey Half-Step Uptown Toodleloo - Live at The Capitol Theater‌
star0.0
calendar 1977

Tom Snyder's Electric Kool-Aid Talk Show

Tom Snyder's Electric Kool-Aid Talk Show‌
star10.0
calendar 2006

Grateful Dead: Anthem to Beauty

Grateful Dead: Anthem to Beauty‌
star8.2
calendar 1997

Grateful Dead: Rocking The Cradle

Grateful Dead: Rocking The Cradle‌
star0.0
calendar 2008

Festival Express

Festival Express‌
star7.1
calendar 2003

The Acid Test

The Acid Test‌
star9.0
calendar 1966

Grateful Dead: Dead Ahead

Grateful Dead: Dead Ahead‌
star0.0
calendar 1981

Grateful Dead - Giants Stadium 1991

Grateful Dead - Giants Stadium 1991‌
star0.0
calendar 2019

Grateful Dead: Crimson, White & Indigo

Grateful Dead: Crimson, White & Indigo‌
star0.0
calendar 2011

Truckin' With The Dead

Truckin' With The Dead‌
star0.0
calendar 1993

Bob Dylan & Phil Lesh & Friends – Baltimore Arena 1999

Bob Dylan & Phil Lesh & Friends – Baltimore Arena 1999‌
star0.0
calendar 2020

Grateful Dead: Live at Foxboro

Grateful Dead: Live at Foxboro‌
star0.0
calendar 1989

Phil Lesh and Friends: Live at the Warfield

Phil Lesh and Friends: Live at the Warfield‌
star0.0
calendar 2006

Grateful Dead: The Making of "Built to Last"

Grateful Dead: The Making of "Built to Last"‌
star0.0
calendar 1989

Grateful Dead: Bird Song

Grateful Dead: Bird Song‌
star0.0
calendar 2005

Grateful Dead: All The Years Combine - The DVD Collection

Grateful Dead: All The Years Combine - The DVD Collection‌
star0.0
calendar 2012

Tv Credits

Basketball: A Love Story

Basketball: A Love Story‌
star6.0
calendar 2018

Long Strange Trip

Long Strange Trip‌
star4.3
calendar 2017

Apostrophes

Apostrophes‌
star8.5
calendar 1975

Classic Albums

Classic Albums‌
star7.8
calendar 1997