Maine ‘Deadheads,’ who played host to many of the band’s legendary Pine Tree State concerts, are joining millions of their fellow groupies worldwide mourning Bob Weir.
(And yes, even enjoying the reprised Weir story about his stealing a famous fellow Grammy-winning singer‘s guitar.)
The Dead played several iconic shows in Maine, notably memorable concerts at the Maine State Fairgrounds in Lewiston (1980), the Augusta Civic Center (1984), and Oxford Plains Speedway (1988).
The 1984 Augusta show, which drew huge crowds of Deadheads to the state, was even released on the 30 Trips Around the Sun box set due to its legendary status.
Maine Deadheads are so devout they have at least two Facebook pages devoted to the band.
Weir, who died last week at age 78, told Guitar Player magazine in 1998 that he had two favorite guitars in his collection: a Gibson ES-335 from the early ’70s (“an old sweetheart”) and an Ibanez George Benson model with an interesting back story.
GuitarPlayer.com republished a version of the story Sunday, a day after Weir died.
“I was working with Ibanez on some designs in the mid ’70s,” Weir confessed in the 1998 interview, “and they showed me a new guitar that had just come in from Japan. I played it a bit, and they told me they had made it for George Benson. I told them, ‘No, you didn’t. You can call the police or do whatever you’re going to do to me, but I’m taking it.’”
Deadheads are so religiously devoted to the band they even love a guy who self-confessed to stealing guitars.
Benson, 82, a music legend in his own right, is good-naturedly reacting to once having had his guitar stolen by the legendary Bob Weir, a founding member of the Dead.
“We know what Bob meant by saying he ‘stole’ it,” Stephanie Gonzalez, who manages Benson, told The Maine Wire. “He was in the right place at the right time and had a chance to witness the incredible design of Mr. Benson’s signature models.
“Mr. Benson is glad Bob loved his guitar enough to ‘steal’ it from the Ibanez shop and he is proud to know this great musician, Bob Weir, was impressed by the GB series.
“So, in closing, he LOVES this story. It’s funny and very rock n’ roll!!”
Benson, who became a platinum artist, may best be known for his 1980 breakout smash hit “Give Me The Night.”
Even Deadheads can groove on that tune.
