It's no secret that I'm a big fan of the 70's, and I think Keith was the best keyboardist the Dead had. But I'm also a fan of certain aspects of the 80's, chief among those being Brent's stage presence. It wasn't just his singing and it wasn't just his playing, it was a combination of those with his energy and charisma. Sometimes that energy could be dark and brooding, which could produce great moments in different ways, but he was at his best when he was a wave of good energy, keeping Jerry afloat and involved in the music.
Before we get any further, just a disclaimer: this is 21st Century Dead, meaning I never even saw Jerry, let alone Brent. This is all based on listening to tapes, memories of various Dead books and other sources that I may have been stoned when I read, and tales from friends IRL and online. If I seem to be making too much up, let me know where I went wrong.
There has always been a lot of criticism of Brent's songs, sometimes for good reason. While I've come around on Far From Me and Tons of Steel, I still can't get down with Easy to Love You, We Can Run, or Don't Need Love. They're just too glitzy for me in a very 80's way. He came from a more poppy background than Heads were used to, and also had the disadvantage of really coming into his own in the band while Jerry was in the process of checking out. So some of his mid-80's songs were really brought down by the fact that Jerry was already heading off-stage before Drums, leaving the fans a bit restless. Phil was also coming out of his stint as an alcoholic at the time, so the two of them seemed to take a little longer to take click.
That being said, he still sang these cheesy songs very well. And when he applied that great voice of his to some good songs, the results were incredible! I'm a big fan of Just a Little Light, and he crushed Hey Pocky Way every time they played it. And going back to him and Phil, once they did get on the same page they had some of the most fun vocal duos of the 80's. Gimme Some Lovin' became a total show-stopper for them by the late 80's, and they even had some short lived raunchiness in the mid 80's with the Beatles' Why Don't We Do It in the Road, not to mention their once-performed...sci-fi rocker(?) Revolutionary Hamstrung Blues.
Brent's signature song by the end of his time with the band was Blow Away. This song was tied directly to Brent's emotional power and sincerity. Sometimes that means his darker emotions would be laid bare before the crowd, but that was just part of the magic of his performances. The song has a relentless beat to it with a catchy riff, and while it does get a little poppy in places, it's an undeniable rocker. Just when you think the song had faded out, Brent would build it back up from a simmer to a raging boil, with Jerry grinning and the drummers overflowing.
Obviously the first big loss the Dead had was Pigpen, and while no one could ever replace him, Brent was in a lot of ways the spiritual heir of Pig's stage presence as the Showman. Both of them really knew how to work a crowd, and how to get a good call and response going on or off the stage. Then when they lost Brent, no one was there to pick up the mantle, and it was just a matter of time until they lost Jerry too and the band broke up. Since then the only Brent songs that I know versions of the Dead have done are Tons of Steel and Just a Little Light, and while they can still play them well, no one has really been able to harness Brent's energy. John Kadlecik would sing Just a Little Light with Furthur, and while he gave it a good shot, he just doesn't have than raw animal power that Brent always sang with.
I would love to see Dead & Company do some of Brent's classics, but I just don't know if anyone in the band could do it. Oteil's voice is too angelic, and Bobby doesn't have the power anymore to sing like that without tearing his throat out. While John shares some of that pop background with Brent, his voice is just too sugary. The only close one is Jeff because he has that rasp, but while I would love to hear him sing more I just don't think he has the pipes to do the songs justice. I could see maybe a Joan Osborne or Teresa Williams belting out some of his songs, I just don't know how it would work.
Do you guys have any suggestions for who could bring these songs back to life? Or do you think we should leave his songs lie, because they are so very much his own?
