Sage and spirit: Former Grateful Dead singer proves she is built to last

By JENNIFER BILL Herald Staff

Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay sang on hits by Percy Sledge, Cher and even Elvis Presley.

But it’s her years with iconic band The Grateful Dead that were her most formative.

For those who followed the Grateful Dead back in the ’70s, Donna Jean’s contrasting feminine nuances suddenly appeared in the early part of the decade, giving the music a different vibe, the lyrics a different pull. Some protective of their beloved Dead anthems were somewhat unwelcoming to Donna Jean’s vocals; others enjoyed the tender florals, the effeminate hue and high harmonies that blossomed through her back-up singing. She also occasionally sang lead, as her husband, piano player Keith Godchaux - who jumped into the band around the same time - looked on.

In any event, the Donna Jean period of 1972-79 was among the Dead’s most fruitful - some would call it their peak years. The story of how Donna Jean and her husband, Keith Godchaux, became members of the band is one of inspiration, and a sheer demonstration of Donna Jean’s remarkable character and fiery spirit.
The Sheffield, Ala.,-born singer, who is turning 63 in a few weeks, recently gave an interview in advance of her upcoming performance with Donna Jean and The Tricksters, taking the stage Thursday at the 13th-annual Dead-themed music festival Gathering of the Vibes in Bridgeport, Conn. The band, born out of The Zen Tricksters in 2005, is touring their self-titled debut, a collaborative effort with original music that captures a rootsy blues feel, with a hint of country and a taste of the adventure and improvisational jams reminiscent of the Dead.

Donna Jean told the story of how she became involved with the band. She decided one day to go to California. It seemed everyone was going to see the Grateful Dead one night, and so she went along. She had never heard their music before. She described the show as life-changing, where she felt a spiritual connection, one that went way beyond the music. She said to herself: ‘This is what I want to do.’

Donna Jean and Keith resolved to track down Garcia one day after simply deciding they wanted to be in the band. They pulled Garcia aside at his show in San Francisco and asked if they could talk to him. He invited them backstage, but they were too nervous to go.

A few minutes later, Garcia came out in the audience and sat down next to them. She said to him, ‘Keith is your new piano player.’ She said she didn’t know that the current organ player, “Pigpen”, whom Keith played alongside, was sick (he died in 1973). So she asked Garcia for his phone number and he gave it to them.

The next week, they were in the band. Her first round of shows was the noted 1972 European tour.
It was not too long after the couple, who had one son, left the band that Keith died in a car accident, July 23, 1980, at age 32.

She later married Dave MacKay, a Bay Area bassist, they had a son, and they moved back to Alabama in the 1990s. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 as a member of the Grateful Dead.

In the following interview, on the phone recently from her home in Alabama, Donna Jean waxes lyrical on developing her vocal abilities, Jerry Garcia’s passing, and her increased inspiration with Donna Jean and The Tricksters, where all seven of them sing on stage and as Donna Jean puts it, “there is no end to the notes that can be played.”

RH: How did you meet the Zen Tricksters?

DJ: “We first got together in 2005 at Gathering of the Vibes. That’s when I first met them. I had heard of the Zen Tricksters but never heard any of their music. I was scheduled to sing with a couple of bands and they asked me to sit in with them.

“I was really amazed at what a great band they were, and hanging out with them backstage I got to see what great people they were. So we really connected at that time.”

RH: What did you think about their music?

DJ: “I thought, ‘Wow these guys really write well too. They moved beyond being a Grateful Dead cover band, taking the musical influence and philosophies of the Grateful Dead but yet interpreting that through their own creative impetus.

“I really got a chance to experiment with them together musically and really came to the conclusion that a combination of me and them would be really cool! So we decided to do a show or two, and the more we got into it.

“Of course as a singer, I always hit a high harmony, and I always miss that when I’m in bands, so I asked for Wendy Lanter to be (in the band) so she could sing harmony on my songs. She had sung with the Zen Tricksters but I really wanted her to be a part of this band so my unique musical expression could come forth with that girl high harmony.

“And then of course we needed a keyboard player so we added Mookie (Siegel, who has played with Ratdog and Phil Lesh & Friends).”

RH: And what has come as a result of you all being together?

DJ: “We decided we wanted to make an album and we are very, very proud of it. All new original songs. There are several songwriters so it is really a mix and blend of all of our musical perceptions and expressions. It’s a well-rounded CD that gives you an idea of the range of what this band is.

“And as well there are seven vocalists and everybody sings - what we are able to do vocally is off the charts, and I believe we have only scratched the surface of what we can do vocally. It is a dream come true for me vocally, I’m in hog heaven being with all of these vocalists.”

RH: How has your vocal performance changed since when you sang with the Dead in the ’70s?

DJ: “For the better. I’m a much better singer than I was at that time. I think the reason being I was trying to find myself as a vocalist. I was very young, I had never been on stage before. So I was trying to grasp how to manage my voice up there in this uncontrolled environment, as opposed to the studio, which is completely controlled. I was singing with the loudest sound system in the world with a little tiny vocal monitor up front. The competition, with the little vocal monitor and that sound system!” (The Dead’s signature “Wall of Sound” was literal - an enormous wall of speakers designed specifically for the Dead and said to be the largest portable sound system ever built, with acceptable sound projected for a quarter of a mile)

RH: Who and/or what has influenced you most in your career?

DJ: “Well obviously I would have to say that Jerry was at the top of my list of musical influences. I came from a background of R&B.

“When I went to my first Grateful Dead show, it just blew my mind. It opened my whole being up to any musical expression that was outside of any box that I had ever heard. Of course Jerry Garcia was the chief instrumentalist both musically and philosophically of anyone. I would say he was the biggest influence in my life in every way. I was devastated when he passed. I guess the inspiration to keep going was even furthered by his death. That was the most important thing to him and he would want all of us to keep going on, and expanding. And I think we have.”

RH: Do you feel like the music scene is still hungry for the Dead’s music?

DJ: “This will be our third year together at the Vibes. It’s wonderful, all the people out there are wanting this music. All the younger bands that have been spawned from the Grateful Dead. It’s amazing how there is no generation gap. We have the old and young all boogieing together. That has not happened with all musical situations (other bands’ shows, music festivals). I think it’s amazing that the Grateful Dead has made such a profound impact musically on this planet. The younger generation are quite rabid (for music), just as we were back then. Their energy … The energy of the crowd is duly noted on stage. They really feed us, they really feed us.”
RH: How are music festivals different today?

DJ: “Back in the day, back in the ’70s for instance, big music festivals were just getting a toehold. They were just really starting to become a part of the American musical culture. So it was very exciting. It was really instituting a new expression - outdoor events, huge outdoor events - so there was an energy in the air that was tremendous. Today … all in all it’s the same in a way because you have a large amount of people gather together for the same purpose and that’s to hear great music and the bands they love. It was very intense back in those days, it was a new adventure people hadn’t had before. Still today the energy level is so high and so great. As the decades change things going on in the world change. It’s all about change.

RH: When performing Grateful Dead music, do you get feelings of sadness, nostalgia, comfort, or is it just plain fun?”

DJ: “I think all of the above. Sometimes I’m nostalgic about it. It all depends on what mood I am in, what’s going on with me at the time. Sometimes I end up saddened missing those people I was so close with, my (late) husband included. At the end of the day it’s always fun. The Grateful Dead songs are some of my favorite songs on the planet. So instead of singing the backing vocals in the song, I am now singing lead on the song, and Wendy takes my (old) part. I’ve always wanted to sing some of those songs (such as “Ship of Fools”, “Playing In The Band” and “Franklin’s Tower”), so I am getting the best of both worlds.”

RH: Donna Jean and The Tricksters recently recorded “Till The Morning Comes” - a song I read you quote as your favorite. That must have been exciting for you.

DJ: “‘Till The Morning Comes’ was my favorite Grateful Dead song of all time. I just loved that guitar riff, it just made me happy every time I heard it. The song always made me happy. I think maybe we did it one time the whole 8½ years I was in the band. And I didn’t even remember that, someone told me.”

RH: The Tricksters released a debut album earlier this year. Tell me about it.

DJ: “It is very eclectic. And that’s because No. 1 there are so many songwriters in the band, No. 2 this band can play anything … from a jazzy song to a bluegrass song to a rock ‘n’ roll song to a heavy jam song, to a world beat - you’ve got the gamut of every music. I’m just shocked at what they can do. This CD represents so many styles of music.

RH: In the wake of this new album born out of a band’s inspiration, what inspires you personally?

DJ: “It’s inspiring and amazing how the Grateful Dead has spawned a new generation of artists. And yet they’re not copying the Grateful Dead, they are just incorporating the musical philosophy and adventure and improvisation in their music, and their own spirituality and their own musicality is coming through. And I admire that.

“I have to say another thing I am really inspired by, is my household consists of four bands - my husband’s band Fiddle Worms, my son Zion (Godchaux) has a band Boombox who are just ripping it up across the country, and Kinsmen (MacKay) has (reggae hip-hop outfit) Grown Folk, so our whole house is one of music. Our relationship is so solid.

“For instance I will be in the kitchen, we have our house and then we have a studio separately on the grounds, and my son will call me (to come in to the studio), ‘Mom can you come and lay down a track, or spin on this track?’ We have so much fun in this family, both of my children have their own music so I get to hear their expressions which obviously have a Grateful Dead philosophy. So I get a good cross-section on what’s happening with the younger generation.

“(Further) right now, in between this telephone call, I’m writing a song for our new CD. So I’m just inspired. There’s so much to write about - look what’s going on in the world, it’s endless. Music is infinite so there is no end to the notes that can be played.”

RH: After such a rich and seemingly satisfying musical career, an adventure that very well could have peaked in the mid-’70s, how do you feel in today’s world?

DJ: “I am so comfortable in my own skin. I know who I am as a person and a vocalist, who I am today. I am in the most liberty, and confident state. I’m a happy camper these days. I’m doing so much right now that I want to do, I’m finding such expression musically and every other way.

“I have had a real rich and musical life. I started out singing professionally when I was 15 years old. I’ve had the privilege of singing with Elvis Presley and Cher, Percy Sledge (on “When a Man Loves a Woman”). I was on two of Elvis Presley’s biggest hits, “Suspicious Minds” and “In the Ghetto.”

“I consider myself one of the most fortunate people in the world. The only thing I’m not satisfied with is I know there’s more out there for our band to do.

“I think (today) I’m hungrier than ever.”

Contact Jennifer Bill at jennifer.bill@rutlandherald.com.