Playing in the band (Bob Weir) (LP 4827 - 4828)

Bob Weir  Ace (Vinyl, Grateful Dead Records, 1972) ****  

Bob Weir  Heaven Help the Fool (Vinyl, Arista Records, 1978) *** 

Genre: Country rock, rock

Places I remember: Marbecks Records, Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Playing in the Band (Ace)

Gear costume: Bombs Away (Heaven Help the Fool)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7; Part 8

Active compensatory factors:  Playing in the Band sums up Bob Weir and this album because all of the 1972 members of The Grateful Dead (without Pigpen) appear on Ace. So, it's a Grateful Dead album in all but name. All but one of the songs would become part of the band's setlist.

Playing in the Band is also my favourite from Ace. There weren't any classic songs on his follow up from 1978 - Heaven Help the Fool. It tends to get a bad press because it tries a different, slicker, approach and it doesn't include any of his Dead buddies this time. It does have some good tunes and Bob's vocals are strong throughout. It's a bit under-appreciated I think, but then I love Terrapin Station!

Where do they all belong? I need to get a copy of his third and final solo album - Blue Mountain from 2016.