Bob Weir had been a musician for decades. In 1994, a musician finally taught him “how to play rock ‘n’ roll”
Bob Weir said pianist Johnnie Johnson taught him and RatDog how to play “real rock and roll”. The comment highlights Johnson’s influence on the music’s rhythmic foundations, even for a guitarist who had spent decades performing songs shaped by rock and roll.
Weir recalled Johnson creating a shuffle rhythm against a straight beat, a feel he described as mathematically impossible, which Little Richard later adopted. Johnson was Chuck Berry’s pianist; Weir said he played with him through RatDog, his side project with members beyond the Grateful Dead. The Dead blended blues, folk, jazz and progressive rock, but Weir said rock and roll remained central to their sound.
In short
- Johnnie Johnson taught Bob Weir about rock and roll’s feel.
- Weir credited Johnson with pioneering a shuffle against a straight beat.
- The Grateful Dead’s varied sound still drew on rock and roll.
Explained simply
Bob Weir is a guitarist and singer best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead, an American band formed in the 1960s. Its long, varied performances drew on blues, folk, jazz and other styles, while retaining a foundation in rock and roll.
Johnnie Johnson was a pianist who played with Chuck Berry, one of the early stars of rock and roll. Bob Weir later performed with Johnson in RatDog, a side project involving Weir and other musicians.
A shuffle is a loping rhythm often heard in blues and rock music. Weir’s account points to how musicians can shape that feel by setting rhythms against each other, and how experience does not prevent one musician from learning a new approach from another.