Grateful Lifeless sound tech, producer and archivist John Cutler died on Dec. 24 on the age of 73 after a protracted sickness, his brother confirmed.
Cutler’s first position with the Jerry Garcia-fronted band was to supervise preparations for its journey to Egypt in 1978. Afterwards he performed a key position in recording their reveals and producing a number of studio albums together with the final two – In The Darkish (1987) and Constructed To Final (1989). He additionally labored with the Jerry Garcia Band, grew to become the Lifeless’s chief sound tech and continued to work on archive releases by the ‘90s and past.
“My brother John died on Christmas Eve after a protracted sickness,” Invoice Cutler – who additionally labored with the Grateful Lifeless – stated by way of social media. “I do know he was beloved by a lot of you, and within the coming days I’ll share some tales about his life, however proper now our household wants time to course of this and grieve.”
In a private tribute, band archivist David Lemieux known as Cutler – who employed him – a “buddy and mentor,” and hailed him for having “extra integrity than anybody I’ve ever identified” and being “a really sort particular person, among the best.”
Jambase reported on a 2015 interview by which Invoice Cutler spoke of his brother’s Egypt expertise, which secured him a full-time position with the Lifeless after a number of years of affiliation in momentary positions. “That was an unbelievable enterprise as a result of Israel and Egypt had been nonetheless at conflict,” he stated, “so there was all of that rigidity within the Center East to start with.
READ MORE: Jerry Garcia’s Closing Grateful Lifeless Live performance
“When John went with all of the gear… the Egyptian authorities had been very suspicious. They didn’t need any medicine within the nation, so John needed to disassemble all the amps proper there on the airport… He needed to put all of them again collectively and get all these permits carried out.
“Then he wanted permission to get them to the Nice Pyramid as a result of they needed to make use of it as an echo chamber. Are you able to think about going over to Egypt, in that setting, and say, ‘We wish to use the Pyramids as an echo chamber’? You’re speaking a couple of society that’s by no means even had a rock ’n’ roll band.”
Why Grateful Lifeless Deserted Plan to Use Egypt Pyramid as Echo Chamber
Invoice recounted his brother’s problem to find sufficient audio cables to wire the present. “On the time Egypt was a lot extra primitive,” he stated. “Once they appeared for cable they actually couldn’t discover any… till they opened up an previous shed they usually discovered cable that was left behind by the Nazis after they had been fleeing the British. They gave John that cable.
“It’s 1978 and the cable is so previous that when he unspooled it most of it wouldn’t even maintain collectively. That they had to surrender on the thought of utilizing the Pyramids as an echo chamber.”
He added: “The expertise of him truly going to do all these issues sealed it. After the Lifeless bought again from Egypt, John grew to become a full time worker of the band.”
In Memoriam: 2023 Deaths
A take a look at these we have misplaced.
Gallery Credit score: Allison Rapp
