UNCLE JOHN'S NOTES

Ain´t no time to hate

Barely time to wait

Vision of the dance to make it rain - Part 1

 
Born in the hills of America
Raised in a desert cave
It wasn't until he was twenty-one years old
He met Jesus and was saved
He can move like a mountain lion
Smells like a bear for snakes
Sundance is so bold and strange
 As he is strong and brave
 
He has half a diamond per eye
And an eagle to guide his way
And he lived ten years inside the city
And he learned the roads of the city
He had a love for the game
A taste for whiskey
A weakness for pretty women
But he couldn't understand the cruelty
To lock up so many people inside prisons
He is a man who loves his freedom
 
He picked up a simple stone
And at night his would shine
Reflected on the city
Illuminated the road in the sky
They say he has ten thousand brothers
And all of them believing men
And ten thousand sisters
And many children
 
He has vision for a river of time
Who can stop the rain at will?
When you find him, he can make it rhyme
And get even better still
He walks inside the cities teaching ecology
He painted a rose for a masterpiece
And help the blind to see
 
He had a love for the game
A taste for whiskey
A weakness for pretty women
But he couldn't understand the cruelty
To lock up so many people inside prisons
He is a man who loves his freedom
 
Sundance is smart
And a man with many faces

But he´s the only one I know

Holding all four aces
Now some say he is a prophet
And some just one man
But I know him as a friend of Jesus
And a child of the desert sand
Asking
How can the most advanced
Civilization of all time
be so far behind
be so far behind?
 
Now Sundance is among you
Who helps the four-winged beast to fly?
Those who live to see
Half diamond for one eye
will have seen golden rain fall from the sky
Golden rain of the sky people
Sky roses
Golden rain from the sky
Roses from the sky!

When the moment comes

Who has seen days as dark as these?
Darkness is like a deafening silence
Living in maladaptive times When the time comes, please wake me up

The tension was deeper than could be written
I don't know how horrible it has been for some
Tonight there is assistance from a distance
Light that shines for our existence
No matter where we go, there will always be
Eternity
Death is an aberration
Enoch tells Elijah in translation
For some it is a journey

When the moment comes
Close to your heart
There is a spirit in us, an inspiration
You can go there and tune in
To the grace of being human
Look around the world now
That appears after a reasonable wait
You can love the light wow
Experience the great
When the moment comes

Do you know the difference
Between freedom for the pursuit of happiness & liberty
There's a place
Where there is no
Disappointment or stress
Only irony
And only success
Does not ask for anything
The world is fragile, you can't deny it
It is a child with a mother
And your sister is like an olive tree that won't fall tonight
The wind will call at night
Pay attention and do the right thing
It is a special moment taking care of your body
Seek the kingdom of God
Coming up
Understand the eyes of love
Produce the fruit of light and freedom
It's not him or her or they or me
Only Jesus can set you free

WAKING THE DEAD

It is just after noon on a sunny Saturday when I call Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead at his home.

¨Hi¨, I hear a voice through a fog.

¨Oh, I´m sorry, did I wake you up?¨ as I introduce myself.

¨That´s OK,¨ answers Bob Weir. ¨Where are you?¨

¨I´m in downtown San Francisco.¨

¨Where can I come and pick you up?¨ Bob asks

¨Project One, I´ll be outside, Grace Alley, Tenth Street.¨

He sets the approximate time.

Bob Weir´s songwriting partner, John Barlow, tells me about Bob. ¨It takes dynamite to get me up. That line really does describe him¨ John Barlow says to me at Bar Cross Ranch in Wyoming, reflecting on the line from their song ¨I Need A Miracle Everyday¨.

In the Bible, in Acts 8, there is a story about Philip, commanded by the angel of the Lord, to go south to the road - the desert road,  where he meets an Ethiopian who was in charge of the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man was coming from Jerusalem where he had gone to worship, and on his way home sitting in his chariot, he was reading from the Testament, the prophet Isaiah, Chapter 53, but he did not understand it. The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” The African had an eagerness for truth and invites Philip to come up and sit with him. “The Ethiopian asks, “tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” Philip tells him the good news about Jesus, saying he fulfills the prophecy of this Scripture on the cross, to see our salvation. No greater grace there is than his love. The African is spiritually receptive, with a hunger in his heart to be baptized. They come upon water, and acknowledging the Divinity of God, with his whole heart believing, Philip baptizes him as they are both dunked into the water. The African comes up alone and goes down the road rejoicing. Philip comes up caught in the Spirit of the Lord, and finds himself in Azotus, about 25 miles away. He's here then suddenly there. Rapture speed, faster than motion in love.

 Watching him with his hands on the wheel as we ride through San Francisco, we are stirred up and amazed by what we see as Bob brings God into our conversation. Bob Weir is driving and I'm riding, and Bob asks if we can stop for tea and points out a bakery on Jackson Street.

Bob uses his fingers as he talks with his hands. Whenever Bob Weir paints an oral picture of the desert I am mesmerized. He is telling me a desert story in the bakery this afternoon, about driving in the desert flats where there’s no speed limit. Like the speedway on an open road. Then he says you should consider the flip side of Paradise, and talks about the reality of the Devil. The waitress brings our drinks and I offer him a packet of sugar for his tea. He takes the packet like he’s going to pitch a baseball card, or throw down his poker hand, rising out of his seat and throwing the sugar on the counter. “I hate sugar”, he says loudly. My face turns red and I can’t get out the words “Bob, we’re in a bakery!”. He continues his story and I’m transported in my mind back to the desert, on planet Earth. “The faster I go, the rounder it gets” Weir says to me.

UNCLE JOHN reads poetry

Epilogue: ¨THE JOURNEY¨

@ Sweetwater Music Hall, Mill Valley, California, October 21, 2019

"they Love Each Other

Lord, You can see it's true"

Bob Weir & Phil Lesh 

UNCLE JOHN'S BAND

EXCERPTS from

LAST FLASH OF THE GRATEFUL DEAD

FIVE DAYS & A FEW FLASHBACKS

"What I want to know

 Where does the time go?"

(Robert Hunter/Jerry Garcia)

"Lord, the band kept us so busy, we forgot about the time."

(John Perry Barlow/ Bob Weir)

This work is a contemporary narrative with a musical motif, narrated by the author with personal testimony, and dialogue with  artists, authors, musicians, dancers, singers, poets, songwriters, and stars. This journalistic  odyssey observes the world's most interesting band, whose brilliant creative performances, and individual intellectual insight, provide us with this ostentatious modern day literary account. On the road & at home with the Grateful Dead and their family of bands and musical company, this book records a distinctive recital of spiritual events, revealing a new orchestrated portrait, a sculptured arrangement of golden memories. There is nothing like a Grateful Dead concert! It is a unique and unconventional experience.