GRATEFUL DEAD BASSIST PHIL LESH UNDERGOES LIVER TRANSPLANT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh was recovering Friday
after receiving a transplant in what may be another case of a '60s survivor
paying for his rock 'n' roll excesses
with his liver.

Lesh, 58, was hospitalized for several days in September near his
Marin County, Calif., home with internal bleeding stemming from
hepatitis C, which he learned he had in 1992. He was in stable
condition Friday at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., where the
surgery was performed the day before.

``He's in great shape, considering,'' Grateful Dead publicist Dennis
McNally said Friday afternoon. ``His spirits are very high. He's still
groggy and all that but he's very pleased, as are his doctors.''

The Grateful Dead and their legions of followers were known for using
drugs during the band's heyday. But there is no way of knowing what
caused Lesh's hepatitis infection, McNally said.

``Our generation has lived to learn that not all drugs are equal,''
said Joel Selvin, author of the best-selling book ``Summer of Love,''
about the San Francisco music scene in the '60s.

``The Grateful Dead were always fairly outrageous in their approach to
life. There were some appetites in that band,'' Selvin said. ``The
band has had to deal with these problems one way or another all
through its life.''

Lead singer Jerry Garcia died of a heart attack Aug. 9, 1995, at a
drug rehabilitation clinic in Marin County at age 53. Three other
members also have died: Brent Mydland in 1990 of a drug overdose, Ron
``Pigpen'' McKernan of liver disease in 1973 and Keith Godchaux in a
1980 highway crash after he left the group.

Other noted musicians who came to prominence in the hippie era,
including David Crosby of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, also required
liver transplants. Crosby, who had hepatitis C, acknowledged decades
of drug and alcohol abuse. John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas,
who has admitted to heavy experimentation with drugs and alcohol, also
required a liver transplant several years ago, although he did not
have hepatitis C, said his manager, Bob Tucker.

``There have been a number of other musicians I've interacted with
that have hepatitis C,'' said Dr. David Smith, who founded San
Francisco's Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic in 1967 and has worked closely
with the Grateful Dead.

``A large number of people who were alcoholics and addicts were
hepatitis C-positive,'' Smith said. In addition to intravenous drug
use and alcoholism, unsafe sex and blood transfusions can cause
hepatitis C infection.

Lesh kept up a healthy lifestyle for years after that early
hard-living time, but those infected with hepatitis C a generation ago
often don't realize they have the virus, since a test was only
recently developed. The degenerative disease, which can take decades
to produce noticeable symptoms, causes fatigue and can eventually
bring liver failure.

``I wouldn't judge anyone for experimenting at that time. It was like
exploring space,'' said Chet Helms, who ran San Francisco's premier
hippie rock 'n roll venue, the Avalon Ballroom and has hepatitis C.
``It was there to be done and to be tried and some people came through
it all right and other people did not.''

Lesh's wife, Jill, and sons, Brian and Grahame, were with him in
Florida. He was awake after the operation and was moved out of the
intensive care unit Friday, McNally said.

Lesh is best known for the Dead's ``Unbroken Chain,'' his signature
song about the counterculture band's connection with its audience.
Lesh also sang the wistful ``Box of Rain,'' which he wrote while his
father was dying.

As bassist for The Other Ones, named after a Grateful Dead song, Lesh

recently toured the country with Dead members Mickey Hart and Bob
Weir. Drummer Bill Kreutzmann did not join the tour because he didn't
want to travel.

Lesh also has been composing a symphony, ``Keys to the Rain,''
incorporating parts of Grateful Dead songs.

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady