In the latest issue of Rolling Stone, Phil Lesh chats with David Fricke about a variety of topics including the height of the Grateful Dead, which reveals an interesting thought from the bassist. 

As Jambase reports, when asked what the best part of the Dead’s success was for him, Lesh responded, “It was wildly successful for me until we took the break from touring [in 1975]. When we came back, it was never quite the same. Even though it was great and we played fantastic music, something was missing.”

When pressed as to what exactly was missing in the years that followed the band’s lighter touring year, Lesh said, “It’s hard to pin down – a certain spirit. It would come back now and then, on some awesome evening, some particularly great performance. But that was even more frustrating, because it would disappear again for X number of shows, just disappear.”

The Dead played just four shows in 1975 following their five-night run at Winterland in San Francisco in October of 1974. The band would return to a more normal touring slate in 1976 and the years that followed.