‘Hell in a Bucket’ Music Video Featured a Duck That Got Drunk on Champagne,New Memoir Reveals
NEW YORK — The Grateful DeadS 1987 music video for “hell in a Bucket” was more than just a visual accompaniment to the band’s hit song; it was a full-blown spectacle involving a tiger,a duck,and,according to a new memoir,a surprising amount of champagne.
Len Dell’Amico,the band’s longtime “film and video guy,” recounts the wild and unpredictable experience of filming the video in his new book,”Freind of the Devil: My Wild Ride with Jerry Garcia and Grateful Dead,” released this week. Dell’Amico,who worked closely with the Grateful Dead from 1980 until Garcia’s death in 1995,witnessed firsthand the “love,happy chaos and pot – lots of pot that defined the band’s ethos.
One of the most memorable anecdotes from the video shoot involves the duck, which Dell’Amico says became inebriated after repeatedly drinking champagne from a glass.”I think [founding member] Bob Weir was responsible,” Dell’Amico told Archyde.com. “He had just come out of vacation. . . .He knew we where making a video. He knew how vital it was.I remember Mountain Girl, Garcia’s wife [at the time], saw him and said, ‘Bobby, he’s a god now.’ He was so good-looking, in such great shape and playing great.”
Dell’Amico explained that he had initially instructed the crew to use fake alcohol on set to avoid any issues.
“We all knew that we were shooting in a bar,” Dell’Amico shared. “When you do a shoot in a bar, you hire somebody who comes in and puts in fake bottles. You don’t want free alcohol on a set. and I had spread the word – no booze. We were going to have fake champagne. It never came up.”
However, the duck, adorned with a leather collar for the music video, had other plans. Dell’Amico noticed the bird repeatedly dipping its bill into a glass of champagne.
“But then I saw in real time that the duck was drinking,” he noted. “I said,‘Oh,that is fantastic! It looks like we had a trained duck.’ And then I saw how he progressively became out of it. I just thought he got tired, but it looked like he got plastered.And that’s funny.”
The duck’s progressively intoxicated state, according to Dell’Amico, resulted in a believable performance. But the story didn’t end ther. The following day, Dell’Amico received “an irate” phone call from the duck’s trainer, presumably not pleased with the on-set libations.
Beyond the boozy duck, the “Hell in a Bucket” video shoot also featured a nine-foot-long, 400-pound Bengal tiger, an idea that Dell’Amico credits to Weir. The inclusion of the tiger and the duck added to the surreal and chaotic atmosphere that characterized the Grateful Dead’s world.
“Friend of the Devil” offers a behind-the-scenes look at Dell’Amico’s experiences with Garcia and the Grateful Dead. The book promises to delve into the band’s creative process, its unique dynamic, and the challenges and triumphs of working with one of the most iconic and beloved groups in music history.
