Jerry Garcia Bio with Trey commenting...sad sad sad...

[The Chameleon]

So last night I was lucky enough to catch the Jerry Garcia Biography.

Well done! With great interviews from Steve Parish, John Perry Barlow and others...

...then theres Trey. Trey was in the Bio glowing about how important and influential Garcia was and then goes on to talk about the dangers of Heroin and how sad it was to see the Dead in their final years when Garcia had withered away and was dying.

He then goes on to talk about how Heroin puts you in a comfortable bubble, but it is a selfish and destructive thing.

What a hypocrite! Why can't this guy learn from Jerry's faults. I hope Trey wises up before he follows the same road Jerry did right to the grave..

All in all everyone said more than the heroin it was the lack of excersize, smoking and eating nothing but junk food for his whole life that killed him....

The whole thing made me sad..sad that Jerry is gone and sad that Trey has fallen so hard...

Edited July 31, 2007 by Guest

[Baj]

was this on tv or did you rent it?

[The Chameleon]

I have the Biography channel and it was on TV last night at around 10pm.

[Northern Wish]

ALERT:

This week is the free preview of this channel on Channel 1 of your Rogers Digital Cable Guide.

Zeppelin runs tonight at 8pm and David Bowie tomorrow at 8pm.

[Hartamophone]

What a hypocrite! Why can't this guy learn from Jerry's faults. I hope Trey wises up before he follows the same road Jerry did right to the grave..

I think he has learned from Jerry's mistakes. He did, after all, choose to break the band up before it got so big that he couldn't (which was one of Jerry's big problems) and he thanked his arresting officer and readily sought treatment when he got busted.

[paisley]

Jerry always cleaned up when tour was over and he got home... everyone misses seeing him play, but they don't picture him still living by having shut down tour in 1990

in the Johnny Cash Biography, Merle Haggard defended Johnny's abuses saying people don't realize what its like playing 6 shows a week with an eight hour drive between shows, week after week, year after year... and that when you get to each show there's a lot of people who've paid good money to see you perform your "A" game... you see people leave a few shows unfulfilled, feeling let down when you were feeling tired and run down and suddenly it gets really easy to turn to chemical assistance... can be a tough thing to have millions of people totally in love with your live performance

as Hartamophone mentioned above, is likely the best thing Trey could've done for his health to get out of Phish

[MarcO]

as Hartamophone mention above, is likely the best thing Trey could've done for his health to get out of Phish

I'm not necessarily disagreeing here, but the events of last December suggest that dissolving Phish didn't really take care of his problems.

I sincerely hope Trey is doing well in the Summer of 2007 and I think it's a good sign we have barely heard a peep from or about him lately.

Jerry should be seen as both an inspiration and a cautionary tale.

[paisley]

Trey's partying kept up as did his touring... but shutting down a Trey summer tour sounds a lot easier (and less emotional) than shutting down a full Phish summer run... a positive thing when having to deal with a difficult situation

agree its a great thing not to hear anything for the time being

[Hux]

Saw the Garcia Bio awhile back, also thought Trey's comments on the H were a little too apocalyptic in hindsight...

He seemed to be able to describe it in a way that only a person who had "been there" could.

[paisley]

seemed like Trey was hinting "I think I MIGHT HAVE A LITTLE PROBLEM HERE!" for years

lots of heroin talk in interviews

[The Chameleon]

What a hypocrite! Why can't this guy learn from Jerry's faults. I hope Trey wises up before he follows the same road Jerry did right to the grave..

I think he has learned from Jerry's mistakes. He did' date=' after all, choose to break the band up before it got so big that he couldn't (which was one of Jerry's big problems) and he thanked his arresting officer and readily sought treatment when he got busted.[/quote']

The jury is still out on that one.

[edger]

I've seen all of these biographies (jerry, zeppelin, bowie, cash) multiple times thanks to our satellite tv...

I never get sick of watching them, and I'm usually not one for viewing things more than once. Strikes a chord that's for sure.

[paisley]

The jury is still out on that one.

really not any of my business as I don't know the guy personally... out of respect for his music I wish him the best

good to hear you've stopped getting high

[The Chameleon]

The jury is still out on that one.

really not any of my business as I don't know the guy personally... out of respect for his music I wish him the best

good to hear you've stopped getting high

I'm confused by your comment?

I love Trey and his music too and I wish him the best.

But, unlike Trey I have never done heroin and I never went on TV denoucing it only to get busted later for possessing heroin and driving while high.

What I am saying is that the jury is out on weather or not he will take the hint and clean up. We simply do not know yet. Only time will tell either way...

...and as such the jury is still out on how Trey will proceed with his rehab and the rest of his life...

[paisley]

was a quick emotional response

you called Trey a hypocrite for talking about junk, then still doing it... you went on to say that heroin didn't kill Jerry, poor lifestyle did... then said you don't want Trey to meet the same fate as Jerry... Trey isn't obese, doesn't have diabetes to the best of my knowledge and seems to stay fairly active (never saw Jer on a trampoline, which is indeed kind of sad)

think its hypocritical for anyone who parties to slag someone else for partying... yes, different drugs but still escapisms, taking liberties with ones consciousness... if you're not in Trey's shoes, or don't know the guy personally, its too easy to blame the heroin for all his problems whereas I believe there's likely something in his life that makes it easy for him to turn to such drugs

when someone says they think he's taking the right steps to clean himself up and you say the jury's still out on that it strikes a nerve... he's been out of the public eye which is the most positive thing I've seen him do in the last two decades for himself, as it seems like he was running himself ragged... predicting his inability to succeed doesn't help anything (how it seemed when I first read that "jury is still out" comment)

from all accounts he's spending some seriously overdue time with his family and laying low, submitting a clean blood sample every week... both Jerry and Trey have lived more interesting and inspiring lives than most, rubs me the wrong way when people oversimplify their problems... Trey was living in a bubble of fame long before the bubble of junk... its his path, I've loved his music and hope there's more, but I'm definitely not close enough to the situation to pass any sort of judgment... all I can do is wish him the best, I'm sure he knows the price of his drug use better than any outsider ever could and doesn't need any hints besides whether he's healthy or not... heroin doesn't damage the body or mind, physically speaking [comment under scrutiny]... but it does take up most of your time and a whack of money, not a good thing for a family man... the guy needs to stay home for a while with the people who love him, which is what he's doing

[Jaimoe]

I love ya Paisley and agree with a lot of your post, but to say heroin "doesn't damage the body or mind" is foolish. I did a quick medical search and found this (which doesn't even mention fatal overdosing)

Chronic users may develop collapsed veins, infection of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, and liver disease. Additionally, pulmonary complications, including various types of pneumonia, may also result in the user.

Edited August 1, 2007 by Guest

[paisley]

yeah, haven't looked that up myself but got it in my head from a radio report by the Canadian Institute of Health Research... were recommending giving the stuff away to chronic users saying that health problems arose from people's income and lifestyle (bunk drugs and improper equipment), that properly administered it was less harmful than other drugs (besides the wanting to lay on the couch all day every day)... William Burroughs lived to push 90, junk'n it up til the end, while his son Billy needed a liver transplant by 50 because of alcoholism

not touting heroin use, just saying don't think it'd kill a smart rich guy like Trey

Edited August 1, 2007 by Guest
added william s

[Jaimoe]

Although it's killed a lot of rich people in the past. Once something starts messing with your heart, your length of time on earth is pretty much sealed.

[paisley]

most of those rich folk were impulsive young-uns (oh yeah, then again guess we are talking about Trey )

from the sounds of it most of those health concerns wouldn't affect Jerry or Trey as it sounds like Trey was smoking it, not bangin it (Jerry's choice as well... no collapsed veins, no infections)

never tried the stuff personally but find the topic interesting

inanycase, in all honesty I think Trey's had his fun and'll lay off the hard stuff, least for the most part

[The Chameleon]

was a quick emotional response

you called Trey a hypocrite for talking about junk, then still doing it... you went on to say that heroin didn't kill Jerry, poor lifestyle did... then said you don't want Trey to meet the same fate as Jerry... Trey isn't obese, doesn't have diabetes to the best of my knowledge and seems to stay fairly active (never saw Jer on a trampoline, which is indeed kind of sad)

think its hypocritical for anyone who parties to slag someone else for partying... yes, different drugs but still escapisms, taking liberties with ones consciousness... if you're not in Trey's shoes, or don't know the guy personally, its too easy to blame the heroin for all his problems whereas I believe there's likely something in his life that makes it easy for him to turn to such drugs

when someone says they think he's taking the right steps to clean himself up and you say the jury's still out on that it strikes a nerve... he's been out of the public eye which is the most positive thing I've seen him do in the last two decades for himself, as it seems like he was running himself ragged... predicting his inability to succeed doesn't help anything (how it seemed when I first read that "jury is still out" comment)

from all accounts he's spending some seriously overdue time with his family and laying low, submitting a clean blood sample every week... both Jerry and Trey have lived more interesting and inspiring lives than most, rubs me the wrong way when people oversimplify their problems... Trey was living in a bubble of fame long before the bubble of junk... its his path, I've loved his music and hope there's more, but I'm definitely not close enough to the situation to pass any sort of judgment... all I can do is wish him the best, I'm sure he knows the price of his drug use better than any outsider ever could and doesn't need any hints besides whether he's healthy or not... heroin doesn't damage the body or mind, physically speaking [comment under scrutiny]... but it does take up most of your time and a whack of money, not a good thing for a family man... the guy needs to stay home for a while with the people who love him, which is what he's doing

As I said I was confused by your post. I now understand that you were also confused by my response.

I understand how you may have thought I was being critical of Trey, in comparing him to Jerry's bad diet, lack of excersize etc...

That is not what I meant. Sorry if that was badly worded, my fault.

I was being critical of Trey's (and really anyone's) self destructive heroin use.

I will also submit there is a huge difference between physically addictive drugs and ones that are not. I think a massive line in the sand can be made there, regardless of if you "party" (whatever that exactly means?) or not.

As for blaming heroin for all Trey's problems, I don't. Frankly I don't care about his other problems, they are his, just like I have mine and you yours. They are for us to deal with individually. The difference my problems, and I assume yours, is that they won't kill us if we take too much. The heroin is the only thing I care about in this scenario, as it is the only lethal factor.

I agree that Trey seems to be doing the right, thing, as you say, but only time will tell. We have no clue what he is doing in private, all we know is that he is not touring. The bottom line is it is too early to tell. It hasn't even been a year yet.

Jerry seemed to be doing the right thing too after his coma in 1986, but we know how that turned out. Only time can be the judge.

Either way I wish Trey well, great musician.

Edited August 1, 2007 by Guest

[paisley]

sure but heroin didn't directly kill Jerry... diabetes, a love of cigarettes, weed, fried chicken, chocolate cake and a self proclaimed lazy nature, the coma, along with heroin use made his heart weak... losing Brent really took a visible toll on him as well... the crowd turned into a different beast in those last years, gate crashing, littering, still good amongst the bad but... being the legend he was pushed him back out on the road beyond the point where it couldn't possibly be healthy for him (is also where he'd go back to getting high), but I'm sure given the choice he'd do it the same again

heroin didn't help matters any but it wasn't the only nail in his coffin

anyways we agree in principle... I just see Trey's heroin use as a symptom, not the disease

[paisley]

well, good timing on getting my mind on this anyways chameleon

happy birthday Jerome John Garcia in 2 hours

some related reading:

The Burden of Being Jerry - Grateful Dead insiders David Gans and Robert Greenfield discuss the late Jerry Garcia