4 Classic Songs Featuring the Brilliance of Bob Weir

The rock and roll world lost a giant when Bob Weir passed away on January 10, 2026. Weir stood tall as one of the stalwarts of The Grateful Dead for pretty much the entirety of their long, strange trip. His rhythm guitar work helped form the foundation from which they could spring into their improvisational journeys.

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Weir also proved to be quite an effective frontman as both writer and singer throughout the years. Here are four songs where he took the spotlight and shone.

“Sugar Magnolia”

The Dead’s American Beauty album built on the strengths of Workingman’s Dead. They released both albums in the band’s annus mirabilis of 1970. Whereas the previous album primarily consisted of Jerry Garcia’s songwriting (for the music anyway), American Beauty spread the wealth a little bit more. Weir received two songwriting credits on the record, and both of them turned out to be classics for the band. “Sugar Magnolia” displays some of Weir’s unique rhythmic sensibilities, as the song moves about in unexpected lurches yet still maintains its catchiness. Weir also handled the lead vocals in the verses. Robert Hunter aided on the lyrics allegedly inspired by Weir’s girlfriend at the time.

“Truckin’”

The closing track on American Beauty, “Truckin’” was based in part on an actual bust that the band endured while in New Orleans. From there, they extrapolated a little bit to comment on the somewhat harried life that they lived, bouncing from city to city. Garcia, Weir, and Phil Lesh all contributed to the writing, with Robert Hunter, as usual, helping out on the lyrics. The unified creation made sense, since the band was in it together, experiencing the various tumults of constant travel, which were exacerbated by their rebellious lifestyle. Weir made for an excellent choice to sing lead vocals on the track. His fast-talking rap comes with a heaping helping of frazzled nerves, which are then smoothed out when the vocal harmonies take center stage.

“Playing In The Band”

You can be forgiven for identifying this as a Grateful Dead classic. After all, the band long made it one of their staples in concert. But in actuality, it’s a Bob Weir solo track, albeit one with somewhat of an asterisk attached. Coming off their two successful albums in 1970, the band’s handlers decided that several members of Dead should split off and try solo albums. Weir dutifully obliged with Ace in 1972. But Weir’s album, in particular, featured most of the Dead on all the tracks. What separated it from the typical band release was that Weir was involved in writing every one of the album’s songs. “Playing In The Band” not only captures a singalong vibe, it also goes off into a heady instrumental excursion down the stretch.

“Throwing Stones”

The Dead found themselves pop chart superstars late in the game on their 1987 album In The Dark. “Touch Of Grey”, the first single from the album, served as the catalyst. With that song doing well, it opened the door for other songs from the record to get some solid radio play. As a result, “Throwing Stones”, which Weir sang and co-wrote, received its time in the sun. In this case, John Perry Barlow, a longtime friend of Weir, wrote the lyrics. Barlow supposedly started writing often with Weir in large part because Weir challenged Robert Hunter on his lyrics in the early days. The nursery-rhyme chorus provides the hook here. But once again, Weir’s unique rhythmic sensibilities make the song such a keeper.

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