Vince Welnick, RIP

Vince Welnick is the Dead's fourth keyboard player and fifth member to have died. This sounds like a bad parody of a parody. Spinal Tap had a hard time keeping the drum riser filled; the Grateful Dead the keyboard bench. Tom Constanten is probably glad that he quit the band in 1970 and Bruce Hornsby is probably glad that he never officially appeared on the roster.

The Dead's long time roadie Lawrence "Ramrod" Shurtliff died last month.

Before joining the Dead, Welnick was a member of the Tubes which had an underground hit with White Punks on Dope. My friends and I used to sing it as White Dopes on Punk - and we were.