Vince Welnick lived the dream, playing music with the Grateful Dead,

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Vince Welnick lived the dream, playing music with the Grateful Dead, but depression dogged him to his final days
Joel Selvin, Chronicle Senior Pop Music Critic
Friday, June 30, 2006
When Vince Welnick signed on to play keyboards for the Grateful Dead, some people said it probably saved his life. He had five good years with the band, five fat years. But then Jerry Garcia died and the Dead was no more. Welnick spent the next 11 years dreaming that the band would reunite, with him, once again, at the keyboards.
That dream died on the cloudless morning of June 2, when the 55-year-old musician stood on a hillside behind his Forestville home and drew a knife across his throat in front of his wife.
Welnick's suicide caught many of his more casual friends by surprise. A fixture in the Bay Area music scene for nearly 40 years and known to thousands of fans of the Dead -- and in the '70s, the Tubes -- Welnick was always an upbeat kind of guy, with twinkly eyes and a lopsided smile. But his cheery exterior was deceptive. Those who knew him better recognized that even during the last years of the Grateful Dead's long strange trip, Vince Welnick was veering along the edge and battling demons that would eventually alienate many musical colleagues.

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Topic - Vince Welnick lived the dream, playing music with the Grateful Dead, - LWR 06:41:38 06/30/06 (7)

i just don't get it? - vinyl*junkie 15:28:17 06/30/06 (1)

no one gets it... - dave c 17:37:22 06/30/06 (0)

sometimes... - dave c 15:04:35 06/30/06 (0)

Re: Vince Welnick lived the dream, playing music with the Grateful Dead, - Mulefan 10:10:45 06/30/06 (0)

Re: Vince Welnick lived the dream, playing music with the Grateful Dead, - hairydog 09:21:24 06/30/06 (0)

Re: Vince Welnick lived the dream, playing music with the Grateful Dead, - nyctc7@yahoo.com 08:11:37 06/30/06 (0)

Re: Vince Welnick lived the dream, playing music with the Grateful Dead, - PdL 07:36:26 06/30/06 (0)

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