Grateful Dead keyboarder Welnick, 55, commits suicide

PamJun 5th, 2006 - 14:37:14

I agree with you Jimmy Oh. Wish these people with their tortured minds could have just held on for a little while longer and see their world get better. I do believe tho that there is peace after death and no suffering. After all, this earth that we live is true hell at times.

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Texas GrandmaJun 5th, 2006 - 16:28:25

Give the guy some respect. Linkin Park, HA HA HA They are just okay, so please have some respect for the great keyboard player for Grateful Dead. What in the hell is the matter with you stone heads anyhow. Give the guy some respect of some kind. Go stick your head in a bucket!!!!! GRATEFUL DEAD WILL ALWAYS RULE!!!!!!!!!

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texasgrandmaJun 5th, 2006 - 16:32:45

If you want to call Linkin Park a band, then go ahead. They really are not that good. Do not even compare them with the Grateful Dead. Grateful Dead is one of the greatest bands that ever existed and their music made some sense. Get a grip people!!!!

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Hi-C (C.B.-K.)Jun 5th, 2006 - 21:24:46

I have known the Welnicks for about 30 years and Vince was ALWAYS humble, gentle
and empathetic (a word I wouldn't use to describe many people). Vince was the most
sensitive person I have ever spent time with. He was so sweet and genuine, I am
greiving, it is all so sad.

So much went so right for Vince, that the positives way out weighed the rest. With
the music, his family and fans, and the therapuetic utilization of our beloved panacea,
Vince got by at worst, and thrived mightily, quite a lot of the time. Like everyone
does, Vince had ups and downs, personally and professionally. The downs were so
difficult, devastating and depressing for Vince, down to his core.

Vince required support, appreciated comaraderie, and loved everyone. Tragically,
through the years, he was sorely disappointed, surely much more than he ever deserved.

Vince craved opportunities to perform and jam, it was just not in his nature to
ever be aggresive, or even to ask around much. He would ask me. He would often ask
me if anyone was needing a keyboard player for any sessions at my recording studios.
He asked me again on Wednesday. I would invite him to stop by (about 20 minutes
away) and ask Mooka, my partner, and schmooze a bit with the engineers and producers
that are in and out daily. He usually said that he would be coming by soon, but
it rarely happened.

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The Tubes Home PageJun 6th, 2006 - 00:56:03

You will be missed Vince. Your spirit will live on in everything you've done.

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St.StephenJun 6th, 2006 - 17:04:02

4 words for you losers - Samba in the Rain

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majortomJun 6th, 2006 - 18:46:21

vince was great not only with the tubes (maybe only with the tubes!) but his run with todd was super... Im not a dead fan so i won't comment on these years...i smoked a coupla doobs with vince so i can tell you he was a genuinly rightgious man i can't believe he did what he did... RIP

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xchefsjlJun 6th, 2006 - 21:12:52

I saw the dead at the Terripin station and they are the BEST....LONG LIVE THE GRATEFUL DEAD!!!!!!

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xchefJun 6th, 2006 - 21:15:48

im lookn for a nice G.D. backdrop for my screen saver,,,Can someone hook me up and email me 1....gratefully yours!!!xchefsjl53@hotmail.com

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buddhaJun 7th, 2006 - 20:20:22

what a bunch of drivle most of you have written,

all Dead keyboardists were underappreciated by most fans, and yet, an irreplaceable part of each and every lineup

I know all the words to Wild Women of Wongo long before I knew the words to Terrapin, I am glad for the music that they have all made, Jimi, Jim, Janis, Jerry and everyone else!

Our lives are enriched by the music we love, those that make it often suffer a lot more than we ever know..........ps Linkin Park does kinda suck

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Vince rocksJun 9th, 2006 - 20:18:52

Earth - dancing 'round the fire
Come - meet the western sky
Life - walking on a wire
Reach - to know the reason why

At the end of the day
You'll be lying in a suit of Grey
At the end of the day
You'll be fine

They - won't do you any favors
('Till the slate is clean)
You - you walk a lonely line
Slide - with punks and drunks and saviors
(In the big machine)
Down - you meet the rest of life

At the end of the day
It's what you do not what you say
At the end of the day
You'll be fine
At the end of the day
It doesn't matter anyway
At the end of the day
You'll be fine
You'll be fine

Great wheel is broken - you've got no fortune left
Out of the sunlight - out of the great undead
And you can't even sleep at night
And you literally curse each day
You could give or give back your life anyway

Concrete and jungle
They've stretched and hung you out
You can't turn the clock back
It's too late to turn back now
And you can't even hold your own
And you feel like you're all alone
And you never feel like you're home anywhere

At the end of the day
There won't be anymore
(So turn the world around)
At the end of the day
We'll know what this was for
(As the sun keeps comin' down)
At the end of the day
You won't feel any pain
(As the sky begins to fall)
At the end of the day
You'll be feeling right as rain
(As the veil reveals it all)

Lightning calls you
It's time to go
Something keeps telling you
But you don't want to know

Feel your heart like a window open slow
Say goodbye to the world that you know
At the end of the road

It begins, it believes and it sees for all time
She's coming down my way
It is here, as it breathes and it sees for the blind
She's holding me finally

You've been schooled
Had aggression in large amounts
Just be truthful
It's everything that counts

There is no hand waiting that must be paid
We will leave our encores all unplayed
At the end of the day

It begins, it believes and it sees for all time
She's coming down my way
It is here, as it breathes and it sees for the blind
She's holding me finally

It begins, it believes and it blows me away
It is here, as it breathes at the end of the day
She's coming down my way

It begins, as it ends and it won't be unkind
She's coming down my way
It is here, as it breathes and it eases my mind
Here it is finally
It begins, as it ends and it blows me away
It is here, as it lives at the end of the day
Here it is finally

Earth - dancing 'round the fire
Come - breathe the breath of life
Life - walking on a wire
Just - let it all in tonight

At the end of the day
It's what you do not what you say
At the end of the day
You've got time
At the end of the day
You'll be dreaming as you fly away
At the end of the day
You'll be fine, you'll be fine

s.b.

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Eric StanleyJun 12th, 2006 - 19:17:43

I love Vince, got to meet him a couple of times, even got to give him a big hug,and won one of his very nice shirts in a charity auction which he later graciously autographed for me. I felt frustrated at his marginalization after the Dead ended (even if some of it might have been his own doing), especially since he was the first of them to really make sure the music never stopped.
He always struck me as kind and giving, and in the spirit of what this scene was supposed to be about. To see people use this site as a means to demean or insult others really seems like a gigantic (and ironic) missing of the point. Damn, I'd give just about anything to dance to a juicy live Samba in the Rain with all the boys on stage playing their hearts out right about now.Oh well, the Wheel keeps turnin, nowhere to go but furthur...

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marcie mcmasterJun 18th, 2006 - 23:08:53

what saddens me the most is the suffering and agony that mr. welnick must have endured in order to find some relief while his life. my heart fely empathy not sympathy goes out to his widow, family, and dear friends. Yes i am an old hippy and a fan of the grateful dead but this is not about the band. Its about the man!!! please try to remember that a soul has been lost but not fogotten.
I lost my husband when he was only 42 years old and i was 36. so... compassion for those suffering with any illness whether it is mental health or otherwise can be greatly aided by contributions(monetarily or voluntarily) to local and/or national organizations to those in most need.

Organizations such as the hepatitis foundation, NORML, and hightimes, were very helpful to me.

My heartful thoughts and prayers to his widow and family. May G-d see them through this terrible loss!!!

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marcie mcmasterJun 18th, 2006 - 23:19:02

what saddens me the most is the suffering and agony that mr. welnick must have endured in order to find some relief while living his life. my heart felt empathy not sympathy goes out to his widow, family, and dear friends. Yes i am an old hippy and a fan of the grateful dead but this is not about the band. Its about the man!!! please try to remember that a soul has been lost but not fogotten.

I lost my husband when he was only 42 years old and i was 36. so... compassion for those suffering with any illness whether it is mental health or otherwise can be greatly aided by contributions(monetarily or voluntarily) to local and/or national organizations to those in most need.

Organizations such as the hepatitis foundation, NORML, and hightimes, were very helpful to me.

My heartful thoughts and prayers to his widow and family. May G-d see them through this terrible loss!!!

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