Oct. 16: Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir is 63 today.

Born Robert Hall Weir in San Francisco, California, Bob is best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead playing mostly rhythm guitar during his career with the Dead. After the Grateful Dead disbanded, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead.

Bob also founded and played in several other bands during and after his career with the Grateful Dead, including Kingfish, the Bob Weir Band, Bobby and the Midnites, RatDog, and his newest band Furthur.

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He began playing guitar at age thirteen after trying the piano and trumpet. He met a young Jerry Garcia at Dana Morgan's Music Store. Weir and Garcia spent the night playing music together and then decided to form a band. The Beatles significantly influenced their musical direction. Weir has said The Beatles were why they became a rock 'n' roll band instead of a jug band.

Weir's first solo album, Ace, was released in 1972, with the members of the Grateful Dead performing as the band on the album, though credited individually. While continuing to perform as a member of the Grateful Dead, in 1975 and 1976 Weir played in the Bay Area band Kingfish.

In 1978 he fronted the Bob Weir Band, with future Grateful Dead member Brent Mydland on keyboards. In the late 1970s, he began to experiment with slide guitar techniques and perform certain songs during Dead shows using the slide. In 1980 he formed another side band, Bobby and the Midnites.

Shortly before Garcia's death in 1995, Weir formed another band, RatDog Revue, later shortened to RatDog.

Known for his raspy, deep tone, in RatDog Weir sings covers by The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry, and Willie Dixon while also performing many Grateful Dead classics. In addition, Ratdog performs many of their own originals, most of which were released on the album Evening Moods.

Weir has also participated in the various reformations of the Grateful Dead's members- including Phil Lesh- in 1998, 2000, and 2002 stints as The Other Ones and in 2003, 2004 and 2009 as The Dead.

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