Tom Constanten
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Tom Constanten (born March 19, 1944 in Long Branch, New Jersey) is an American keyboardist, best known for playing with the Grateful Dead from 1968-1970.
Known as "T.C.", he studied music at University of California, Berkeley, where he met Phil Lesh. At this age, T.C. was known to toss around phrases such as, "Music stopped being created in 1750 but it started again in 1950." He and Lesh studied with Luciano Berio, the Italian modernist composer, and both were influenced by Mahler. Though not yet a member of the Grateful Dead, T.C. played prepared piano on the group's second album, Anthem of the Sun, and formally joined them in November 1968, to supplement Ron "Pigpen" McKernan's organ playing. He also played keyboards on 1969's Aoxomoxoa release, as well as on the Live/Dead live album, then left the band in January 1970. Dennis McNally (later the band's publicist) argues that he did not fit in with the Dead ethos; for example, he followed Scientology and refused to take LSD.
With the death of Vince Welnick in 2006, Constanten became the only one of five Grateful Dead keyboardists (in addition to unofficial member Bruce Hornsby) who was still alive.
In terms of recorded output, Constanten became more active in the early 1990s, releasing an album of classical sonatas, as well as two albums mixing original material with a few Dead songs, and one album (Dead Ringers) entirely composed of Dead and Bob Dylan songs. T.C. has toured several times over the last ten years.
As of 2006, Constanten plays keyboards in the current line-up of Jefferson Starship.
He currently resides in Charlotte, North Carolina.
[edit] References
- McNally, Dennis. A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead. New York: Broadway Books, 2002. ISBN 0-7679-1186-5
