Keith Richard Godchaux (July 19, 1948-July 23, 1980)
Although he grew up in the suburban town of Concord, California, Keith Richard Godchaux was born in Seattle, Washington on July 19, 1948. Gentle with a bit of a depressing attitude, Keith had a generally quiet personality. His father was a talented musician and Keith seemed to inherit his musical gene at a young age, showing an early interest in music and playing at various venues throughout his teens. During the year 1970, when Keith was 22, he connected over the music of the Grateful Dead one night with a beautiful woman named Donna Jean. Keith was part of her social circle, and although the two felt an attraction, rarely had they ever spoke up until that one night. Striking an immediate connection, Donna Jean and Keith would soon be married, and soon thereafter, would become new additions to the Grateful Dead.
Keith's desire to play for the Dead was obvious. One day a friend suggested to Keith that he should put on a Grateful Dead record, he responded, "I don't want to listen to it. I want to play it." With Donna Jean pushing him and leading the charge after spotting an ad in the paper for a local Jerry Garcia gig, she took the bull by the horns and Garcia by the arm. Due to Pigpen's failing health, the Dead needed a new keyboardist, and they liked what they heard of Keith when he rehearsed with them for the first time. Subsequently, Keith played his first show with the Dead on October 19, 1971, filling in for a hospitalized Pigpen, and a new era of Grateful Dead sound was about to form.
Initially, Keith's richly melodic and fluid style meshed well with the band's improvisational approach to music and he figured to be another piece to the puzzle. Since his earlier music attempts were far more jazz influenced than rock influenced, he brought a new element to the Dead's sound, one that was no doubt different from the heavily blues influenced sound of Ron McKernan's organ. During his time with the Grateful Dead, Keith's only written and lead vocal contribution was the song "Let Me Sing Your Blues Away," performed only six times, all during the year 1973. He would contribute to more than the sound of the Grateful Dead, appearing on David Bromberg's 1972 release Devil in Disguise. That same year, he played piano on Bob Weir's solo effort, Ace and took on a few other low-level side projects. When the Dead went on hiatus in 1975, Keith and Donna formed a self-titled band and produced their first solo album together, titled Keith and Donna, featuring back-up help from Garcia as a member of their band. To help return the favor, Keith and Donna also played with the Jerry Garcia Band during the 1975 hiatus where Keith was lucky enough to co-write a few songs with lyricist Robert Hunter.
When the Grateful Dead returned to the scene in 1976, Keith, often impaired from drug abuse and strung out on heroin, relented to a much simpler playing style that essentially did nothing more than emulate the melodies from Garcia's guitar. No doubt, the Grateful Dead weren't used to a word like simple being used in their collective vocabulary and were disappointed in the keyboardist. Phil Lesh has openly stated that by the year 1978, "Keith's playing had degenerated to the point that most of us were trying to lose him onstage... never a paragon of self-esteem, Keith's increasing drug and alcohol use had put him in an almost vegetative state." Unfortunately for Keith, his nasty heroin addiction and increasingly violent marital scuffles with Donna expedited his exit from the band. The end of his career with the Grateful Dead was far from successful, as he began to annoy Garcia with what Phil Lesh called, "a notably slavish imitation of [his] lead lines, a tic that began to irritate Jerry to no end." Keith played his last show with the Dead on February 17, 1979. After a band meeting in which the Godchaux's future with the Dead was put into question, the pair decided themselves, with encouragement from the band, that it was time to put the Grateful Dead life behind them and they left the band permanently. Keith was replaced by Brent Mydland on the keyboards.
After his departure from the Grateful Dead, Keith surprisingly cleaned up his act and formed The Heart of Gold Band with Donna, featuring a young Steve Kimock, future guitarist of the Grateful Dead reincarnation, The Other One's. Sadly, after only one show with his new band, Keith was killed in a car accident in Marin County, California on July 23, 1980. A bitter ending to a life that looked like it was just about to turn around, Keith Godchaux will never be forgotten in the hearts and minds of Deadheads, whether they liked him or not.
Keith's desire to play for the Dead was obvious. One day a friend suggested to Keith that he should put on a Grateful Dead record, he responded, "I don't want to listen to it. I want to play it." With Donna Jean pushing him and leading the charge after spotting an ad in the paper for a local Jerry Garcia gig, she took the bull by the horns and Garcia by the arm. Due to Pigpen's failing health, the Dead needed a new keyboardist, and they liked what they heard of Keith when he rehearsed with them for the first time. Subsequently, Keith played his first show with the Dead on October 19, 1971, filling in for a hospitalized Pigpen, and a new era of Grateful Dead sound was about to form.
Initially, Keith's richly melodic and fluid style meshed well with the band's improvisational approach to music and he figured to be another piece to the puzzle. Since his earlier music attempts were far more jazz influenced than rock influenced, he brought a new element to the Dead's sound, one that was no doubt different from the heavily blues influenced sound of Ron McKernan's organ. During his time with the Grateful Dead, Keith's only written and lead vocal contribution was the song "Let Me Sing Your Blues Away," performed only six times, all during the year 1973. He would contribute to more than the sound of the Grateful Dead, appearing on David Bromberg's 1972 release Devil in Disguise. That same year, he played piano on Bob Weir's solo effort, Ace and took on a few other low-level side projects. When the Dead went on hiatus in 1975, Keith and Donna formed a self-titled band and produced their first solo album together, titled Keith and Donna, featuring back-up help from Garcia as a member of their band. To help return the favor, Keith and Donna also played with the Jerry Garcia Band during the 1975 hiatus where Keith was lucky enough to co-write a few songs with lyricist Robert Hunter.
When the Grateful Dead returned to the scene in 1976, Keith, often impaired from drug abuse and strung out on heroin, relented to a much simpler playing style that essentially did nothing more than emulate the melodies from Garcia's guitar. No doubt, the Grateful Dead weren't used to a word like simple being used in their collective vocabulary and were disappointed in the keyboardist. Phil Lesh has openly stated that by the year 1978, "Keith's playing had degenerated to the point that most of us were trying to lose him onstage... never a paragon of self-esteem, Keith's increasing drug and alcohol use had put him in an almost vegetative state." Unfortunately for Keith, his nasty heroin addiction and increasingly violent marital scuffles with Donna expedited his exit from the band. The end of his career with the Grateful Dead was far from successful, as he began to annoy Garcia with what Phil Lesh called, "a notably slavish imitation of [his] lead lines, a tic that began to irritate Jerry to no end." Keith played his last show with the Dead on February 17, 1979. After a band meeting in which the Godchaux's future with the Dead was put into question, the pair decided themselves, with encouragement from the band, that it was time to put the Grateful Dead life behind them and they left the band permanently. Keith was replaced by Brent Mydland on the keyboards.
After his departure from the Grateful Dead, Keith surprisingly cleaned up his act and formed The Heart of Gold Band with Donna, featuring a young Steve Kimock, future guitarist of the Grateful Dead reincarnation, The Other One's. Sadly, after only one show with his new band, Keith was killed in a car accident in Marin County, California on July 23, 1980. A bitter ending to a life that looked like it was just about to turn around, Keith Godchaux will never be forgotten in the hearts and minds of Deadheads, whether they liked him or not.