Grateful Dead Lyricist John Perry Barlow Dead at 70

[Esau.]

https://pitchfork.com/news/grateful-dead-lyricist-john-perry-barlow-dead-at-70/

 

Quote

Barrow was also a retired Wyoming cattle rancher and cyberlibertarian political activist

 

John Perry Barlow, the writer who penned lyrics to several Grateful Dead songs, has died. Barlow—who was also a retired Wyoming cattle ranger and a cyberlibertarian political activist—passed away quietly in his sleep, according to a statement from Electronic Frontier Foundation, the non-profit digital rights group he co-founded. He was 70 years old. Barrow’s death follows a near-fatal 2015 heart attack, in which he flatlined for eight minutes. Barrow was born in Sublette County, Wyoming, to his parents Norman Barlow, a Republican state legislator, and his wife, Miriam. He grew up on the 22,000-acre Bar Cross Ranch, founded by his great uncle.

At age 15, Barlow became a student at the Fountain Valley School in Colorado, where he met Grateful Dead founding member Bob Weir. He later graduated from Wesleyan University in 1969 with an honors degree in comparative religion. Barlow began co-wroting songs with Weir in 1971, following a feud between Weir and then-resident Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. Together, Barlow and Weir penned “Cassidy,” “Mexicali Blues,” “Black-Throated Wind,” and many more songs until the Dead’s dissolution in 1995. The same year Barlow became a Dead collaborator, he also began operating his family’s ranch, until he sold it in 1988.

In 1990, Barlow founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation along with fellow digital-rights activists John Gilmore and Mitch Kapor. In 1996, he published his well-known cyberlibertanian manifesto, “Declaration of Independence of Cyberspace,” advocating for an internet free of government rule. In 2012, Barlow helped co-found the Freedom of the Press Foundation, which funds and supports free speech in the press. His writing has been published in Wired, the New York Times, Nerve, and more.

 

[Davey Boy 2.0]

ah fack, this one hurts

rest in peace John...scatter like lost words

[Jay Funk Dawg]

 

 

I met John at the Relix offices in NYC, he was good pals with Pete Shapiro the editor / Brooklyn Bowl Owner / Fare Thee Well Promoter.

Super interesting life this guy lead... looking forward to reading is autobiography, it was co-written with Robert Greenfield who wrote one of my favorite books: Bill Graham Presents: My Life Inside Rock and Out.

RIP

 

 

[edger]

Nothing to tell now, let the words be yours, I'm done with mine 

[c-towns]

Sad indeed. Here is a list of the Dead song lyrics he penned;

 

    A Little Light
    Blown Away
    We Can Run But We Can't Hide
    Picasso Moon
    I Will Take You Home
    Gentlemen, Start Your Engines
    Hell in a Bucket
    Throwing Stones
    My Brother Esau
    Feel Like A Stranger
    Lost Sailor
    Saint of Circumstance
    Easy to Love You
    I Need a Miracle
    Heaven Help the Fool
    Estimated Prophet
    Lazy Lightnin'
    The Music Never Stopped
    Finance Blues
    Let It Grow (Weather Report II)
    Black-Throated Wind
    Walk in the Sunshine
    Looks Like Rain
    Cassidy
    Mexicali Blues 

[Jay Funk Dawg]

Here's a short true story written by John about how he and Weir came to write Cassidy/Cassady.

http://www.litkicks.com/BarlowOnNeal