Filming Grateful Dead’s MTV-era music video for “Hell in a Bucket” was a long, weird trip.
Ren Delamiko, the band’s “The Man of Film and Video,” writes a new memoir. “The Devil’s Friend: My Wild Ride with Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead.” He detailed what would be like witnessing “love, happy confusion, pots – lots of pots” from 1980 until the death of frontman Garcia in 1995.
The filmmaker directed the 1987 music video. He claimed to Fox News Digital that the duck featured in the video wearing a leather collar was drunk on champagne during filming.
Bobby Weir, a 77-year-old founding member of Grateful Dead, appears to be “dying.”
Len Dell’amico (right) was friends with Jerry Garcia from the 1980 to the death of the star in 1995. (Rendel Amiko)
“I think [founding member] Bob Weir took responsibility, “Del Amiko laughed.” He had just come out of the holidays. . . . He knew we were making videos. He knew how important it was. I remember Mountain Girl, Garcia’s Wife [at the time]looking at him, he said, “Bobby, he’s God now.” He looked very good, he was in such a great shape and played great. ”
“We all knew we were filming at the bar,” Del Amiko shared. “When you shoot at a bar, you hire someone who comes in and comes in a fake bottle. You don’t want free alcohol on the set. And I spread the word – there was no liquor. We had fake champagne.
Bob Weir (left) and Jerry Garcia in Grateful Dead performances at the Alpine Valley amphitheater in East Troy, Wisconsin on June 26, 1987. (Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)
“But then, I saw in real time the ducks were drinking,” he pointed out. “I said, ‘Oh, it’s amazing! It looks like there was a trained duck.’ And I saw him think he was tired, but it looked like he was painted.
Len Deluamiko directed the 1987 music video, “The Bucket of Hell.” (Anne Millman)
According to Dell’amico’s bookIt was Weir who came up with the idea of having a duck in the video. He also demanded a tiger. 9 feet long, 400 pounds. Bengal tigers were brought in.
Jerry Garcia can be seen here in an interview on MTV at the Teletronics Studio in New York City. (Gary Gershoff/Getty Images)
Del Amiko said during filming that the duck was interested in what happened to Weir’s glass. He said it kept going back and forth for a bite. In the end, it put the whole bill in and “a great pull on it.” At one point, the duck “falls outside.” For Dell’amico, getting a trusty performance was “incredibly lucky.”
But then the next day he received a “furious” call from Duck’s trainer.
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Bob Weir plays with the Grateful Dead on December 31, 1987 at the Oakland Coliseum in California. (Larry Hulst/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
“He was very upset,” Del Amiko recalled to Fox News Digital. “He kept saying, ‘He’s drunk!’ He was not very emotional.
“I called,” Del Amiko said. “I found out that Weir gave him $50 to someone to get him a real champagne. I remember thinking it was a prop. So I had to a big apology to the trainer. How can I get this right? I was hooked on champagne. ”
From left: Fille Lesh, Bobweir and Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead perform at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, California on July 15th, 1984. (Larry Hulst/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
“Well, the duck has recovered,” Del Amiko said. “And the trainer said he was going to train her with other things for a while, so it had a happy ending.”
Len Deluamiko’s book, “Friend of the Devil: My Wild Ride with Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead” is now available. (Weldon Owen)
According to Del Amiko’s book, the duck was repelled by white grapes.
“We found out there was a subplot of Bob and the car there. [a] Dominatrix drives the drive while sampling a glass of duck.
Len del Amiko was promoting the band’s hit album “In The Dark” behind the scenes of “The Bucket of Hell” and “The Slow Stones.” (Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images)
Fox News Digital contacted a spokesman for Weir, 77, for comment.
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Bob Weir will be attending the 67th Grammy Awards at the Crypto.com Arena on February 2, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (axelle/bauer-griffin/filmmagic/getty images)
Del Amiko admitted that she spent less stressful time as she became friends with Garcia. He described him as easy-to-talk and comical. His surprisingly modest home was “like a college dorm room” with a handful of flannel shirts and pants in his closet and an ashtray overflowing nearby. Garcia often says, “I want to do things rather than have things.”
“I was surprised by his deep humility and his assertion of being treated like an ordinary person,” Del Amiko said.
Grateful Dead (Clockwise: Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, Mickey Hart, Jerry Garcia) took a photo in 1970. (Chris Walter/WireImages/GettyImages)
“You might think it’s easy, but that’s not when you’re famous. This is someone who wasn’t hidden. Mick Jagger was able to move around the public with rims and not recognised much, but he was a performer.
Jerry Garcia was at the Mountain Air Music Festival, which will be held on August 23, 1987 in Carabaras, California. (Ed Perlstein/Redferns/Getty Images)
“We went out for dinner and the restaurant manager came over and said, ‘The food is on top of us,” he shared. “Garcia always says, ‘No, thank you. We can pay this. We have money. Would you like to try a free meal to someone who doesn’t have money?” Managers are surprised by this.
Del Amiko pointed out that “we cannot have a bad relationship with Garcia.”
Ren del Amiko said, “No one can have a bad relationship with Garcia.” (Photo: Malcolm Lubliner/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
“You were forced to love the man despite his flaws,” he explained. “And he had a lot of flaws. He was a travel musician trying to keep his family up. That’s not easy.”
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Grateful Dead singer Jerry Garcia and Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac Hugging. (via LGI Stock/Corbis/VCG Getty Images)
“I remember coming across the phrase “charm machine,” reflected Del Amiko. “It was Garcia. To meet him was to know him. And to know him was to love him. He was the most read, intelligent and empathetic person I’ve ever met. Many celebrities are self-involved and narcissistic. It wasn’t Garcia.”
Del Amiko said she spoke to Garcia at the end. A few weeks before his death. They recalled the past and the good times. Looking back, Del Amiko wondered if Garcia knew that she would not be there for so long.
Jerry Garcia played pedal steel guitar in 1987 with the Grateful Dead. Ren Delamico suspected Garcia knew that he had short time. (Photo by Larry Halst/Michael Ox Archives/Getty Images)
“He knew he had heart disease,” Del Amiko explained. “I don’t know how long he didn’t talk about it. Why? He hadn’t complained anything, so his philosophy was, “It’s jerk to complain. Whatever you have, what it is, how little or big, because you’re here.”
Jerry Garcia lived very modestly despite his fame and fortune, Len Deluamico said. (Clayton Call/Redferns/Getty Images)
“This is someone who used to live in a car. He hit a jackpot in his life. It was fame and attention that brought him potential misfortune. He just wanted to be himself.
Len Deluamico said he and Jerry Garcia talked about the past together at their final meeting. (Clayton Call/Redferns/Getty Images)
“We remember sitting there and reminding us of an hour and a half of his early days,” Del Amiko said quietly. “It was hysterical. We laughed until we cried. But later I thought, ‘Why was he talking about his early life on that particular day?’ I was denying that he wanted us to laugh with his good friends.
Singer Bob Dylan, wearing sunglasses, appears to be distraught on his way to Jerry Garcia’s funeral. (Kim Comenich/Getty Images)
Garcia passed away from sleeping at a residential drug treatment center in California. New York Times It has been reported. He was 53 years old. A spokesman for the band said the cause was a heart attack. According to the outlet, Garcia tried to stop smoking and lose weight.
Ren del Amiko said Jerry Garcia was not a tragic person. (Boston Globe via Barry Chin/Getty Images)
Del Amiko emphasized that despite Garcia’s short life, the artist is not a tragic figure.
“It would be weird to call him breaking,” he said. “He did more than most people in 53 years. Yes, he faced a certain amount of pressure. He had to make tough choices. He had substance problems.
Jerry Garcia of Las Vegas a year before his death. (Larry Hulst/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
“We shared the general belief that there is a life after life. Nature is forever,” he reflected. “Man is the only creature that worries him about dying. He wasn’t. Even on the last day, he was always the same old happy self, and I think that’s how we should remember him.”
