James Beaty: OPINION: RAMBLIN; Donna Jean Godchaux with the Grateful Dead: Singing in the band

Aug. 20—The first time I ever saw the Grateful Dead in concert I had a big surprise coming — an entirely different lineup of the band than I expected.

Like for many others, their country-tinged landmark recording "American Beauty" stands among my list of all-time greatest albums.

But by the time I saw them, it had been years since that's album's release.

I probably had been aware that the band's early frontman, occasional keyboardist and superb harmonica player Ron "Pigpen" McKernan had passed in 1973.

I know it's hard to think of anyone other than Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir fronting the band, but in their early days, McKernan handled many of the spotlight numbers, including an elongated version of "Turn on Your Love Light."

Even by the time of "American Beauty" though, Garcia and Weir had started to take on more of a role, fueled by their collaborations with lyricist Robert Hunter.

Two of the outstanding tracks on "American Beauty" were the Garcia-Hunter song "Ripple" and the Weir-Hunter collaboration "Sugar Magnolia."

Although I didn't know it at the time prior to the Oklahoma City concert, I was about to see a brand new configuration of the Grateful Dead.

The concert featured festival seating — which meant those up front would sit, or stand on a concrete floor. My friends and I arrived at the Fairgrounds Arena in time to be standing in line when the gates opened.

We ended up with a pretty good space, close to the stage.

At that time, the Grateful Dead had not reached the legendary status the band would later achieve. I thought of them as a great California band who'd made a couple of outstanding albums, with "American Beauty" and its predecessor, "Workingman's Dead."

I had never heard any of their earlier more psychedelic-themed albums at that time. Suffice to say, I would be happy to hear a set filled with "American Beauty" And "Workingman's Dead" chestnuts.

I recognized Weir and Garcia when they stepped onstage.

Phill Lesh, who did the lead vocals and co-wrote "American Beauty's" opening track "Box of Rain" with Robert Hunter, strapped on the bass.

Bill Kreutzmann stepped behind the drums. Second drummer Mickey Hart, who'd joined the band in 1967, was on a hiatus from the group at the time, so this performance would be the single-drummer version of the Dead.

A guy I didn't know — but would later learn was pianist Keith Godchaux — took a seat behind the 88s.

But my big surprise came when another vocalist took a spot in the front lineup between Weir and Garcia.

What? The Grateful Dead had a female vocalist in the group? Who knew? Certainly not me, since I had not heard any Grateful Dead recordings at that time with a female singer in the grooves.

OK! I was ready to listen with an open mind — and I'm glad I did, since the singer I would later learn was named Donna Godchaux added a lot to the Grateful Dead's sound and performance that night.

I could tell both Garcia and Weir liked singing with her. She didn't take any lead vocals herself, but harmonized with Garcia and Weir on many — but not all — of their songs.

She also threw herself into the vocal stack on occasion, joining with Weir, Garcia and sometimes Lesh for multi-layered harmonies.

At some points, she would break into a sort of scat singing — singing without words — adding yet another dimension to the Grateful Dead's sound.

Keith Godchaux's — Donna Godchaux's husband — also added another facet to the multifaceted Grateful Dead.

I left that concert mightily impressed, not only by the Grateful Dead as a band, but by the Godchaux team as well — especially Donna.

That's why in later years I felt puzzled when some Grateful Dead fans criticized her. Don't believe it!

I'm so glad that I got to see the Grateful Dead in a live performance with Donna Godchaux adding her superb vocals to the mix.

An indication of the esteem in which she was held by both Weir and Garcia is evident by the work she did with them not only as a part of the Grateful Dead, but in their solo endeavors as well.

Although I didn't know it at the time, Donna Jean, as the band come to call her, had already been invited to sing with Weir on several tracks of his solo album, "Ace" — which has just been rereleased in an expanded and remastered 2023 edition by the way.

Something about the vocal blend of Weir and Donna Jean is highly appealing.

She doesn't just sing harmony. Although she indeed harmonizes, it's more like a harmonized co-lead, something the Everly Brothers used to do a lot.

They use it to great effect on Weir's song "Cassidy," which he co-wrote with lyricist John David Barlow after Hunter began working exclusively with Garcia.

I've heard live recordings from later in the Grateful Dead's career, after Donna Jean no longer sang with the group. Although Weir does a fine job doing the song as a solo, it seems to me there's something missing without Donna Jean singing alongside him.

Anyone who thinks of the Grateful Dead as a jam band only should give a listen to a live performance from 1978 when the band performed in front of the pyramids in Giza, Egypt.

Donna Jean joins Weir for a duet performance of his song, "Looks Like Rain." They, and the rest of the band, deliver a subtle performance filled with beauty.

Weir isn't the only band member who asked Donna Jean to sing alongside him.

Garcia invited her to sing on several of his solo albums, including fan favorite "Cats Under the Stars" as a member of the Jerry Garcia Band — the group he performed with during the Grateful Dead's downtime off the road.

She and Keith also became members of the Jerry Garcia Band.

I would later learn there was good reason to be impressed by Donna Jean's vocal prowess. Singing with the Grateful Dead was not her first rodeo, so to speak.

As I discovered, I'd already heard her many times — not as a member of the Grateful Dead, but as a backup singer on a number of hit recordings from the era that are still played today.

Unlike the other members of the Grateful Dead, Donna Jean had not been born and raised in California.

Instead, she grew up and began her career in small-town Alabama.

To her good fortune, she lived near the well-known FAME studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. A natural singer, she sang on demos and added background vocals during studio sessions while still in high school.

During one session, a local hospital orderly cut a record, and she and her friend Jeanie Greene added the background vocals.

The song, "When a Man Loves a Woman," shot to #1 on the Billboard charts and singer Percy Sledge moved on from his hospital orderly job.

Donna Jean, Jeanie Greene and a couple of other singers formed a singing group they called Southern Comfort.

Their vocal blend caught the attention of a Memphis singer making a big comeback at the time — which is how Donna Jean and the others came to sing backup vocals on some of Elvis Presley's biggest hits.

That's Donna Jean singing backup on Presley's well-received late 1960s run of hits, including "Suspicious Minds," "In the Ghetto" and "Kentucky Rain" to name a few.

The Godchaux's left the Grateful Dead in 1979 and Keith Godchaux unfortunately died in a 1980 automobile accident.

Since then, Donna has formed several other bands and released solo recordings.

She most recently joined some of her former Grateful Dead bandmates on stage in 2016, when she did five shows with Dead & Company, the iteration of the Grateful Dead that included Weir, Krueutzmann, Hart and John Mayer onstage.

In an interview on the Grateful Dead's website, Donna Jean said she thinks the Grateful Dead's music will go on and on, with no end.

I think she's right — and Donna Jean can consider herself a big part of that equation.