Comments on: Alan Feldstein (1953-2009) http://cloudsurfing.gdhour.com/archives/2056 Grateful Dead Hour, Dead to the World (KPFA), the music of David Gans, and more. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:17:06 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Wendy Brickman http://cloudsurfing.gdhour.com/archives/2056/comment-page-2#comment-35357 Wendy Brickman Sun, 21 Feb 2010 06:41:48 +0000 http://cloudsurfing.gdhour.com/?p=2056#comment-35357 Wow! Just heard on the KPFA show tonight that David Gans dedicated a song to Alan. I knew Alan at Emerson and Uni, and when I remember that I thought someone looked like a wee bit like him at many of the shows I enjoyed, I realize now that it WAS him. We were at Cal together, too, and most likely many Keystone and Winterland shows. Doesn't seem fair he won't be at Phil's b-day show with us in a couple of weeks ... but maybe somehow, there's a Winterland up there and the music goes on with Jerry and Bill and many other fine players! Let's certainly hope so! Wow! Just heard on the KPFA show tonight that David Gans dedicated a song to Alan. I knew Alan at Emerson and Uni, and when I remember that I thought someone looked like a wee bit like him at many of the shows I enjoyed, I realize now that it WAS him. We were at Cal together, too, and most likely many Keystone and Winterland shows. Doesn’t seem fair he won’t be at Phil’s b-day show with us in a couple of weeks … but maybe somehow, there’s a Winterland up there and the music goes on with Jerry and Bill and many other fine players! Let’s certainly hope so!

]]> By: Jonathan Klempner http://cloudsurfing.gdhour.com/archives/2056/comment-page-2#comment-34702 Jonathan Klempner Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:37:56 +0000 http://cloudsurfing.gdhour.com/?p=2056#comment-34702 I'm obviously a late comer here, but I just experienced a huge wave of sadness as I read about Al's passing. I was good friends with Alan BEFORE he left NY and moved to LA. We used to play at each other's houses - tossing a football in his yard or playing games. I hung out with him a lot when his dad died - another sad time. We must have been about 9 when he left. My mom knew his mom from high school, and stayed friends with her after the move and during her long, long decline (and more sadness, but she was such a fun, warm, wonderful women before her senses started to fail her). The only other person here I here I know is his brother, Richard. If you happen to see this, I hope you and yours are well, Rich. And Caryn, I never met you but please accept my condolences and Waves of Love for your loss (or perhaps someone here can pass them on).The last time I saw Alan in person was at his place in Oakland in the early 70's. We hadn't seen each other since he'd left but we were delighted to discover that we both loved & followed the Dead (we saw many of the same shows, but never imagined the other was in the audience). My mouth dropped open in his place looking at shelves and shelves of bootlegs of the Dead, NRPS, & others. Then it wasn't until the late 90's that I heard from him again - must have been Classmates.com or something, and since then we would write each other once every couple of years, and then we friended on Facebook a year or two ago. So, over the last almost 50 years, I barely had any contact with him at all and yet I feel like I lost my brother. He was just that kind of guy, as others here have said. With all the sadness that I've mentioned, though, I never felt any of it from Alan, and I think he'd say something sarcastic to me about my mentioning it here. I wish I had seen him play and sing, though I'm very grateful to find links here to listen to this fine musician - pun intended. Say Hi to Jerry for me brother... I’m obviously a late comer here, but I just experienced a huge wave of sadness as I read about Al’s passing. I was good friends with Alan BEFORE he left NY and moved to LA. We used to play at each other’s houses – tossing a football in his yard or playing games. I hung out with him a lot when his dad died – another sad time. We must have been about 9 when he left. My mom knew his mom from high school, and stayed friends with her after the move and during her long, long decline (and more sadness, but she was such a fun, warm, wonderful women before her senses started to fail her). The only other person here I here I know is his brother, Richard. If you happen to see this, I hope you and yours are well, Rich. And Caryn, I never met you but please accept my condolences and Waves of Love for your loss (or perhaps someone here can pass them on).The last time I saw Alan in person was at his place in Oakland in the early 70’s. We hadn’t seen each other since he’d left but we were delighted to discover that we both loved & followed the Dead (we saw many of the same shows, but never imagined the other was in the audience). My mouth dropped open in his place looking at shelves and shelves of bootlegs of the Dead, NRPS, & others. Then it wasn’t until the late 90’s that I heard from him again – must have been Classmates.com or something, and since then we would write each other once every couple of years, and then we friended on Facebook a year or two ago. So, over the last almost 50 years, I barely had any contact with him at all and yet I feel like I lost my brother. He was just that kind of guy, as others here have said. With all the sadness that I’ve mentioned, though, I never felt any of it from Alan, and I think he’d say something sarcastic to me about my mentioning it here. I wish I had seen him play and sing, though I’m very grateful to find links here to listen to this fine musician – pun intended.
Say Hi to Jerry for me brother…

]]> By: Laurie Irish-Duncan http://cloudsurfing.gdhour.com/archives/2056/comment-page-2#comment-32480 Laurie Irish-Duncan Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:19:23 +0000 http://cloudsurfing.gdhour.com/?p=2056#comment-32480 Thank you all for sharing so much about Alan here. I knew him in his Southland days - we worked together there. He always made me laugh. He found me on LinkedIn last year and we've been emailing off and on since. Still made me laugh - like no time had passed at all. Also, one of the nicest guys I've ever known. I have to agree - this was just wrong. My condolences to all - such a loss. Thank you all for sharing so much about Alan here. I knew him in his Southland days – we worked together there. He always made me laugh. He found me on LinkedIn last year and we’ve been emailing off and on since. Still made me laugh – like no time had passed at all. Also, one of the nicest guys I’ve ever known. I have to agree – this was just wrong. My condolences to all – such a loss.

]]> By: Michael Lipuma http://cloudsurfing.gdhour.com/archives/2056/comment-page-2#comment-32479 Michael Lipuma Thu, 27 Aug 2009 15:59:35 +0000 http://cloudsurfing.gdhour.com/?p=2056#comment-32479 Back in the day it was really hard to find musicians who liked to play GD. You'd go to jams and find the 'Jerry' guys, 'Phil' guys, etc. Alan was one of the first really good 'Bobby' guys. He could play every plinkity Bobby chop and inversion from Europe 72. He also knew the words and arrangements. This was a pretty disciplined approach compared to the(bong hits and headphones) way most eveyone else had. Alans' one and only drawback was his stubborn insistance on playing only acoustic guitar. We'd get back from a life changing Greek run, crank our amps, and continue shedding brain cells as poor Alan would try to weave something cohisive into our slush. At one jam I'd had too much nitrous and couldn't even pick up my bass. Alan asked me if he could play it. "Finally he'll play something electric" I said to my self as I headed back to the tank. Well let me tell you he just ruled that jam from the bottom up. Alan may you have the peace we never gave you. In Loving Rememberance, Mike Lipuma Back in the day it was really hard to find musicians who liked to play GD. You’d go to jams and find the ‘Jerry’ guys, ‘Phil’ guys, etc. Alan was one of the first really good ‘Bobby’ guys. He could play every plinkity Bobby chop and inversion from Europe 72. He also knew the words and arrangements. This was a pretty disciplined approach compared to the(bong hits and headphones) way most eveyone else had.
Alans’ one and only drawback was his stubborn insistance on playing only acoustic guitar. We’d get back from a life changing Greek run, crank our amps, and continue shedding brain cells as poor Alan would try to weave something cohisive into our slush.
At one jam I’d had too much nitrous and couldn’t even pick up my bass. Alan asked me if he could play it. “Finally he’ll play something electric” I said to my self as I headed back to the tank. Well let me tell you he just ruled that jam from the bottom up.
Alan may you have the peace we never gave you.
In Loving Rememberance,
Mike Lipuma

]]> By: Cloud Surfing » Blog Archive » Gans gig update – plus http://cloudsurfing.gdhour.com/archives/2056/comment-page-2#comment-32457 Cloud Surfing » Blog Archive » Gans gig update – plus Tue, 25 Aug 2009 07:05:15 +0000 http://cloudsurfing.gdhour.com/?p=2056#comment-32457 [...] – and I would especially like to direct your attention to the comments section of this post, where several dozen others who loved Al Feldstein have shared their thoughts and [...] [...] – and I would especially like to direct your attention to the comments section of this post, where several dozen others who loved Al Feldstein have shared their thoughts and [...]

]]> By: Jeff Smith http://cloudsurfing.gdhour.com/archives/2056/comment-page-2#comment-32439 Jeff Smith Sat, 22 Aug 2009 23:34:52 +0000 http://cloudsurfing.gdhour.com/?p=2056#comment-32439 Just this week I was contacted by a guy that I wrote and played with in the mid-seventies--it was great! What a connection! A connection that somehow survived 26 years of silence. Well, this got me thinking of some of the other people that I had a musical connection with and Alan popped! What a shock to find he had passed on. When we met, sometime in the early, early 80's Alan had just left a job with Southland Corp.--not really sure what he did, but he came to work at the same company that I was working for. Alan Feldstein was my trainee. Now Alan was pretty smart and a good talker so I didn't do much training; instead, we would drift down to a storage container that I had in Pacifica and we would sit in the sun and play songs--sometimes or was it most of the times we forgot to go back to work. Just this week I was contacted by a guy that I wrote and played with in the mid-seventies–it was great! What a connection! A connection that somehow survived 26 years of silence. Well, this got me thinking of some of the other people that I had a musical connection with and Alan popped! What a shock to find he had passed on.

When we met, sometime in the early, early 80’s Alan had just left a job with Southland Corp.–not really sure what he did, but he came to work at the same company that I was working for. Alan Feldstein was my trainee. Now Alan was pretty smart and a good talker so I didn’t do much training; instead, we would drift down to a storage container that I had in Pacifica and we would sit in the sun and play songs–sometimes or was it most of the times we forgot to go back to work.

]]> By: Bruce Harvie http://cloudsurfing.gdhour.com/archives/2056/comment-page-2#comment-32339 Bruce Harvie Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:55:35 +0000 http://cloudsurfing.gdhour.com/?p=2056#comment-32339 Wow... I just found out about this today, via an email from David Gans... This is just wrong... I haven't seen Al since '78 or so, when I left the Bay Area to move to Orcas Island, Washington, but we've emailed a bit over the years... Sure wish I would have made one of those Reptiles gigs now... Al and I were pickin' buddies at Etna St. (back when I knew how to play Dead tunes), and went to a gob of concerts together back in the early 70's... One I remember vividly was Focus, Poco, and Yes at Winterland. I got free tickets (gee, saved 7 bucks!!), so we headed across the bay for this crazy show. What a weird bill! All three bands were *very* entertaining, and we were in a state of mind to be *very* entertained... What a night... Went to a lot of Dead shows together, from Reno to Stanford, but I remember that Winterland run in '73 like it was yesterday... Good clean fun... Well, I'm very sorry that I didn't make the effort to get together with Al down in SoCal, as I've been down there a lot to take care of my folks... We made plans, but never really got it together... Oh hell... RIP, friend... BH ("OB") PS... Here's a pic that David forwarded... http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee22/e_stamp/bob-marcie_wedding.jpg I'm upper-left, David on the right, Al in front... Those were the days... Wow…

I just found out about this today, via an email from David Gans…
This is just wrong…

I haven’t seen Al since ‘78 or so, when I left the Bay Area to move to Orcas Island, Washington, but we’ve emailed a bit over the years…
Sure wish I would have made one of those Reptiles gigs now…

Al and I were pickin’ buddies at Etna St. (back when I knew how to play Dead tunes), and went to a gob of concerts together back in the early 70’s…

One I remember vividly was Focus, Poco, and Yes at Winterland. I got free tickets (gee, saved 7 bucks!!), so we headed across the bay for this crazy show.
What a weird bill!
All three bands were *very* entertaining, and we were in a state of mind to be *very* entertained…
What a night…

Went to a lot of Dead shows together, from Reno to Stanford, but I remember that Winterland run in ‘73 like it was yesterday…
Good clean fun…

Well, I’m very sorry that I didn’t make the effort to get together with Al down in SoCal, as I’ve been down there a lot to take care of my folks…
We made plans, but never really got it together…
Oh hell…

RIP, friend…
BH (“OB”)

PS…
Here’s a pic that David forwarded…

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee22/e_stamp/bob-marcie_wedding.jpg

I’m upper-left, David on the right, Al in front…
Those were the days…

]]> By: Andy Roth http://cloudsurfing.gdhour.com/archives/2056/comment-page-2#comment-32271 Andy Roth Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:24:25 +0000 http://cloudsurfing.gdhour.com/?p=2056#comment-32271 If anyone has an email or snail mail address for Caryn, I would like to send her my condolences - please email me privately at rocqmusic@gmail.com, or pass my condolences and/or email on to her. Thank you! Andy Roth If anyone has an email or snail mail address for Caryn, I would like to send her my condolences – please email me privately at rocqmusic@gmail.com, or pass my condolences and/or email on to her.

Thank you!

Andy Roth

]]> By: Andy Roth http://cloudsurfing.gdhour.com/archives/2056/comment-page-2#comment-31729 Andy Roth Fri, 24 Jul 2009 21:08:52 +0000 http://cloudsurfing.gdhour.com/?p=2056#comment-31729 A couple of years ago, I ran an ad in Relix magazine for musicians interested in playing in a jam band. That began my friendship with Alan Feldstein, and we followed up with a jam in my living room. We had many discussions of launching a Grateful Dead Tribute, but my own musical obligations were responsible for it not materializing. Alan played solid rhythm guitar (while insisting he was rusty), and sang well. Alan and his wife joined me a few months back at Cozy's in Sherman Oaks for a Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs concert, the first and only time I met her. Alan and I had been planning a jam, to be scheduled after his return from Bonnaroo, which, he told me he would normally not go to, but he was stoked with the lineup. Today, after my email to him bounced, and I received no return phone calls (very suspicious, as Alan usually replied to emails within a few minutes), I e-mailed Barry Smolin, whom I knew was his buddy, to ask Barry if he had an updated e-mail and/or phone number. Barry replied almost immediately with the sad news. Alan Feldstein R.I.P. A couple of years ago, I ran an ad in Relix magazine for musicians interested in playing in a jam band. That began my friendship with Alan Feldstein, and we followed up with a jam in my living room. We had many discussions of launching a Grateful Dead Tribute, but my own musical obligations were responsible for it not materializing. Alan played solid rhythm guitar (while insisting he was rusty), and sang well.

Alan and his wife joined me a few months back at Cozy’s in Sherman Oaks for a Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs concert, the first and only time I met her. Alan and I had been planning a jam, to be scheduled after his return from Bonnaroo, which, he told me he would normally not go to, but he was stoked with the lineup.

Today, after my email to him bounced, and I received no return phone calls (very suspicious, as Alan usually replied to emails within a few minutes), I e-mailed Barry Smolin, whom I knew was his buddy, to ask Barry if he had an updated e-mail and/or phone number. Barry replied almost immediately with the sad news.

Alan Feldstein R.I.P.

]]> By: Richard Egan http://cloudsurfing.gdhour.com/archives/2056/comment-page-2#comment-31695 Richard Egan Mon, 20 Jul 2009 20:06:45 +0000 http://cloudsurfing.gdhour.com/?p=2056#comment-31695 I met Al through a mutual friend in the fall of 71 when he was a freshman at Cal. I told him I had a few tapes, which I was pretty proud of, and then he whipped out 8-6-71 and we spent the afternoon doing what 18-year-olds did best in those days. We never lost contact, because he was one of those guys you could not talk to for a few months and just pick it up with whatever excrutiating Cal defeat I wanted to ride him about. He was a true friend and generous to a fault. It's all still too sad to absorb. So I dug out my old Reptiles t-shirt and wore it. It's really heartwarming to read about the memories other have of their friendships with Al ... the kind of friendships that will never die, no matter where he is. I met Al through a mutual friend in the fall of 71 when he was a freshman at Cal. I told him I had a few tapes, which I was pretty proud of, and then he whipped out 8-6-71 and we spent the afternoon doing what 18-year-olds did best in those days. We never lost contact, because he was one of those guys you could not talk to for a few months and just pick it up with whatever excrutiating Cal defeat I wanted to ride him about. He was a true friend and generous to a fault. It’s all still too sad to absorb. So I dug out my old Reptiles t-shirt and wore it. It’s really heartwarming to read about the memories other have of their friendships with Al … the kind of friendships that will never die, no matter where he is.

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