Bob Weir - "Heaven Help The Fool" (1978) and "Bobby & The Midnites" (1981)
Bob Weir, the guitarist and vocalist who co-founded the Grateful Dead in 1965, has died at age 78. Weir reportedly overcame cancer, but then died from underlying lung issues. Weir had certainly kept himself busy for 60 years, doing plenty of touring from the time he was a teenager until his final years. Even after the demise of the Dead in 1995, Weir had toured and recorded with numerous bands, some of whom featured other former members of the Dead.
And when the Grateful Dead went on hiatus during their existence, Weir would then also find time to work with other bands, or record solo albums. Weir's second solo recording, Heaven Help The Fool from 1978, is currently unavailable.
Heaven Help The Fool was produced by Keith Olsen, who had recently worked with the Dead on their 1977 Terrapin Station album. Six of the eight songs on Heaven Help The Fool were co-written by Weir and sometime Dead lyricist John Perry Barlow. Weir was supported by such musicians as Waddy Wachtel, Tom Scott, Nigel Olsson, and two members of Toto (keyboardist David Paich and bassist Mike Porcaro).
As the involvement of some of those players might suggest, the music on Heaven Help The Fool is the type of late-'70's soft rock that we now refer to as "yacht rock". Olsen's production is ultra-smooth, and mellow electric keyboards tend to be the dominant instrument. As a result, the album overdoses on middle-of-the-road blandness, as if Weir the jam band stalwart was aiming for an adult-contemporary radio hit. (The opening track, "Bombs Away", did achieve minor success as a single). A cover of Marvin Gaye's "I'll Be Doggone" works okay as a smooth r&b number, but the female backing vocals and saxophone used on the title track seem like particularly odd touches for a Grateful Dead member's side project. The closing song "Wrong Way" does end the album in the right way, with a discernable Dead-like vibe. But the album's best track is "Salt Lake City", which is lyrically a lame Mormon joke, but is musically a fairly energetic jazz fusion arrangement.
A few years later, Weir recorded a better album with a side band called Bobby & The Midnites. This band consisted of Weir, ex-Steppenwolf guitarist Bobby Cochran (the nephew of Eddie), keyboardist Brent Mydland (then a member of the Dead), jazzmen Billy Cobham (drums) and Alphonso Johnson (bass), and harmonica player Matthew Kelly (who previously played with Weir in Kingfish, and later in RatDog). Their self-titled 1981 debut album Bobby & The Midnites is currently unavailable. On this recording, Weir and his collaborators ventured further into jazz fusion territory, coming across with more Dead-like spontaneity. It has the kind of casual air that you would expect from such a side project. Songwriting does not seem to have been a priority, but there is good musicianship on display. Cobham's drumming particularly stands out, and the late Mr. Mydland makes a good impression on keyboards. The best tracks, "Haze" and "Josephine", have a Southern r&b feel that recalls Little Feat. The second side is the better half, even though Weir takes another misstep into soft rock with "Carry Me". Still, Bobby & The Midnites is a Grateful Dead side project that doesn't stray as far from Weir's usual stomping ground as Heaven Help The Fool did.
(Note: There was a second Bobby & The Midnites album, recorded by a semi-different lineup, released in 1984. That album, titled Where The Beat Meets The Street, is currently available, but is not recommended. Slickly produced by Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, it's a rather shameless yacht rock production that doesn't wear its years well).
Bob Weir "Heaven Help The Fool" (Arista AB 4155) 1978
Track Listing:
1. Bombs Away
2. Easy To Slip
3. Salt Lake City
4. Shade of Grey
5. Heaven Help The Fool
6. This Time Forever
7. I'll Be Doggone
8. Wrong Way
Bobby & The Midnites "Bobby & The Midnites" (Arista AL 9568) 1981
Track Listing:
1. Haze
2. Too Many Losers
3. Far Away
4. Book of Rules
5. Me, Without You
6. Josephine
7. (I Want To) Fly Away
8. Carry Me
9. Festival
And when the Grateful Dead went on hiatus during their existence, Weir would then also find time to work with other bands, or record solo albums. Weir's second solo recording, Heaven Help The Fool from 1978, is currently unavailable.
Heaven Help The Fool was produced by Keith Olsen, who had recently worked with the Dead on their 1977 Terrapin Station album. Six of the eight songs on Heaven Help The Fool were co-written by Weir and sometime Dead lyricist John Perry Barlow. Weir was supported by such musicians as Waddy Wachtel, Tom Scott, Nigel Olsson, and two members of Toto (keyboardist David Paich and bassist Mike Porcaro).
As the involvement of some of those players might suggest, the music on Heaven Help The Fool is the type of late-'70's soft rock that we now refer to as "yacht rock". Olsen's production is ultra-smooth, and mellow electric keyboards tend to be the dominant instrument. As a result, the album overdoses on middle-of-the-road blandness, as if Weir the jam band stalwart was aiming for an adult-contemporary radio hit. (The opening track, "Bombs Away", did achieve minor success as a single). A cover of Marvin Gaye's "I'll Be Doggone" works okay as a smooth r&b number, but the female backing vocals and saxophone used on the title track seem like particularly odd touches for a Grateful Dead member's side project. The closing song "Wrong Way" does end the album in the right way, with a discernable Dead-like vibe. But the album's best track is "Salt Lake City", which is lyrically a lame Mormon joke, but is musically a fairly energetic jazz fusion arrangement.
A few years later, Weir recorded a better album with a side band called Bobby & The Midnites. This band consisted of Weir, ex-Steppenwolf guitarist Bobby Cochran (the nephew of Eddie), keyboardist Brent Mydland (then a member of the Dead), jazzmen Billy Cobham (drums) and Alphonso Johnson (bass), and harmonica player Matthew Kelly (who previously played with Weir in Kingfish, and later in RatDog). Their self-titled 1981 debut album Bobby & The Midnites is currently unavailable. On this recording, Weir and his collaborators ventured further into jazz fusion territory, coming across with more Dead-like spontaneity. It has the kind of casual air that you would expect from such a side project. Songwriting does not seem to have been a priority, but there is good musicianship on display. Cobham's drumming particularly stands out, and the late Mr. Mydland makes a good impression on keyboards. The best tracks, "Haze" and "Josephine", have a Southern r&b feel that recalls Little Feat. The second side is the better half, even though Weir takes another misstep into soft rock with "Carry Me". Still, Bobby & The Midnites is a Grateful Dead side project that doesn't stray as far from Weir's usual stomping ground as Heaven Help The Fool did.
(Note: There was a second Bobby & The Midnites album, recorded by a semi-different lineup, released in 1984. That album, titled Where The Beat Meets The Street, is currently available, but is not recommended. Slickly produced by Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, it's a rather shameless yacht rock production that doesn't wear its years well).
Bob Weir "Heaven Help The Fool" (Arista AB 4155) 1978
Track Listing:
1. Bombs Away
2. Easy To Slip
3. Salt Lake City
4. Shade of Grey
5. Heaven Help The Fool
6. This Time Forever
7. I'll Be Doggone
8. Wrong Way
Bobby & The Midnites "Bobby & The Midnites" (Arista AL 9568) 1981
Track Listing:
1. Haze
2. Too Many Losers
3. Far Away
4. Book of Rules
5. Me, Without You
6. Josephine
7. (I Want To) Fly Away
8. Carry Me
9. Festival
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