0:00

Okay.

0:04

Double Elvis

0:07

The Club is a production of I

0:09

Heart Radio and Double Elvis.

0:14

Ron Pigpen McKernan died at the

0:17

age of seven, and he

0:19

lived a life that was never intended

0:21

to last for long. I

0:23

can give you twenty seven reasons why that statement

0:26

is true. Seven would be

0:28

the number of minutes he would masterfully grawl

0:30

out Otis Redding's Hard to Handle on

0:32

his first trip to Europe, all

0:34

while feeling a nagging, profound

0:36

pain. Another three would

0:39

be the number of weeks he would spend in a hospital

0:41

bed upon returning from that trip. Seven

0:44

more for the number of weeks after that hospitalization

0:47

that he'd once again hit the road against

0:49

doctor's orders. Another two

0:51

would be the number of months he would travel the European

0:54

countryside while his body began to make

0:56

it clear to him that it wasn't built to last.

0:59

And eight would be the number of months he

1:01

had left to live after pig Pen played

1:03

his final show at the Hollywood Bowl

1:05

in June of ninety two. All

1:08

totally on

1:11

this our ninth episode of season

1:13

five, Profound Paint, ignoring

1:16

doctor's orders, traveling the European

1:18

countryside, and Ron Pigpen

1:21

mccernin 'm Jake Brennan

1:24

and this is the seven

1:26

Club Ron.

2:12

Pigpen mccernin hung on to the microphone

2:14

stand. His hat was pulled

2:16

low over his eyes, long go

2:18

tee, scruffier than normal. His

2:21

leather jacket was his worn and road tested

2:23

as its owner. His legs were

2:25

weak. It looked like the microphone

2:27

stand was necessary to combat gravity.

2:30

Gravity was winning. Pig

2:33

had spent most of this particular trip in his bedroom.

2:36

An overwhelming feeling of fatigue and plagued

2:38

him since the Grateful Dead landed in France

2:40

and the confines of Chateau de Ville,

2:42

the palatial estate where the band had taken

2:44

up presidence, suited him better than any

2:46

excursion into town. Not

2:49

that he wouldn't have liked to hit the local pub or taken

2:51

the forty minute drive down Old Paris,

2:53

but he felt like ship could barely drink

2:55

anymore anyways, the

2:58

eighteen century chateau, had they

3:00

been converted into a recording studio, it

3:02

would soon be the site where Elton John

3:05

made hockey Chateau, David Bowie

3:07

recorded Low and the Bgs conceived

3:09

Saturday Night Fever. But even

3:11

now, in June of Ninete It

3:14

already felt like the decadent playground that

3:16

catered to the whims of rock star seeking luxury.

3:19

But as the rest of the dead were enjoying games

3:22

of tennis, swims in the pool, and good

3:24

French wine on the grounds of the two thirty

3:26

year old property, pig Pen opted

3:28

for the comfort of patio furniture and French

3:31

cigarettes. His weight

3:33

loss started to become noticeable, and

3:35

while pig would never be accused of having a healthier,

3:37

well maintained complexion, his skin

3:40

was now a wider shade of pean. But

3:43

here he was back at the microphone,

3:46

a literal support system, the

3:48

only thing that made any sense to him anymore. The

3:50

grateful dead had made the trek across the Atlantic

3:53

for a three day festival in France, but

3:55

the weather conspired against them and

3:57

poured The festival was rained.

4:00

The dead didn't come all this way for nothing, though,

4:02

and so they decided to host a party at the Shots

4:05

Out. Pig Pen noticed

4:07

that the crowd had assembled inside

4:09

was different than most crowds. It

4:11

wasn't like the place was filled with French

4:14

speaking deadheads. The population

4:16

of the small village had gathered around the large

4:18

pool and foreigners to both the band

4:20

and the music they were playing. But

4:22

the vibes were right. The

4:25

all it took was a little booze, a little music,

4:27

and a few buckets of electric kool aid circulating

4:29

through the crowd. Things were starting

4:32

to heat up as the band kicked into a cover

4:34

of Otis Redding's Hard to Handle and

4:36

Pigs stood still as a statue at the mic

4:38

stand. The opening guitar lick

4:40

hit him right in the stomach, and Billy

4:43

snare and kick rattled the rest of them.

4:45

Just like that. Sickness, the weakness,

4:48

it all started to dissipate. The

4:51

tension was partially released as

4:53

Pigs started to float above the music. He

4:56

belt it out the first verse, his

4:58

voice noticeably weakened. Something

5:01

was building on the stage and inside Pig.

5:03

It's hard to feel weak and weary with the immac

5:05

of the Engine of the Dead running so powerfully

5:08

behind him. It bent through

5:10

up his hand as the chorus started and he

5:12

started to feel something he hadn't felt in a while.

5:15

He felt good. The

5:17

Pig closed his eyes and everything fell

5:20

away, if only for a few minutes.

5:22

He began to shake his head and roll his shoulders

5:24

around, and there'd be no outrageous

5:26

dance moves, and they're being no voluptuous summons

5:29

made to the audience. But Pig was

5:31

there as he had always been behind

5:33

the mic, growling out some down

5:35

in dirty tunes with an authenticity that was unmatched

5:38

by anyone else in the group. He

5:40

went inward as the music took him somewhere

5:42

else, and the scene felt like some

5:44

sort of fever dream. It was midsummer

5:47

in northern France, on a historical

5:49

state where it was rumored the composer Frederick

5:51

Chopin and once conducted a scandalous

5:53

love affair, playing to a crowd

5:55

with no other intention to feel and dig.

5:58

The music and the energy was

6:00

fresh. It almost felt like the early

6:02

days in San Francisco, six

6:04

years in the past and six miles

6:06

away. Whether it was the acid

6:08

of the wine, the warm summer breeze, there

6:11

was something special happening, something

6:13

magical, But it was not San Francisco.

6:16

The band had been battle tested by hard years

6:19

on the road, shady business dealings that had ultimately

6:21

caused the recent departure of Mickey Heart, a

6:23

shroud of death both family and close

6:26

friends, and though all original members were still

6:28

standing, they were not the same group,

6:30

and this was not the same pig Pen. As

6:34

the last chords of Hard to Handle'll rang

6:36

out, pig faded to the rear of the

6:38

deads and promptu stage and picked up the tambourine.

6:41

His energy was spent, and

6:43

that's where we stood for the rest of the set, serving

6:46

little real purpose, just keeping

6:48

time. It was pig keeping time

6:51

or timing out. The

6:53

Dead wrapped up the show and jetted back to the States.

6:55

Were The success of the previous year's reviouses

6:58

American Beauty and Working Man's Dead,

7:00

as well as their reputation as a live action

7:02

made the Mahawk commodity on the constant circuit.

7:05

On top of that, they finally began to

7:07

make some real money. So the engine and

7:09

touring kept on turning, and

7:11

pig Pen was leaning back into one of his original

7:14

roles, the Dead. Suddenly, a skeleton

7:16

crew of just five members relied on him to

7:18

play keys throughout the show every night,

7:21

and the Dead weren't just easing back into a full

7:23

slate. They were diving back into the typical

7:25

four or five gigs a week. But

7:27

after just a few weeks, pig Pen

7:30

began to run out of gas At

7:33

a show in New York, Pigpen felt

7:35

an intense pain shoot through his stomach,

7:37

a pain that was exponentially worse than anything

7:40

he had ever felt before. Sure, touring

7:42

and travel were intense, but Pigpen

7:44

had been careful earlier that year,

7:47

thanks to the concern of Jerry Garcia and the

7:49

rest of the Grateful Dead, Pigpen

7:51

hit a clinic and found a way, against

7:53

all odds, to kick his drinking habit almost

7:56

completely. The booze, which

7:58

have been a part of Pigpen's whole vibes since the

8:00

very beginning, was suddenly no longer

8:02

central to his life. He started

8:04

eating healthier, started taking care of himself,

8:06

and started to understand that limitations

8:09

existed, and the pain started

8:11

to become manageable until it wasn't.

8:14

It built up and built up over the following

8:16

weeks, and something felt terribly

8:19

wrong, and by mid September,

8:21

pig was in a hospital bed in Nevado, California,

8:24

just north of San Francisco, and

8:27

he checked himself in and after a few rounds

8:30

of tests, it was determined he had a bleeding ulcer,

8:33

a direct result of his congenital cirrosis,

8:36

and those issues weren't a result of his drinking. Drinking

8:39

wasn't helping his days knocking back

8:41

bottles of Thunderbird were over. That

8:43

he was lucky, as life wasn't as well. One

8:46

by one, the members of the Grateful Dead visited,

8:48

and those who could donate blood to their brother in arms

8:51

did. They didn't know how bad it

8:53

was. They didn't know how close they were to

8:55

losing their band made and their friend, and

8:57

they didn't know that this wasn't just another bottle

8:59

sickness. The

9:02

doctor made it clear to Pigpen that he was

9:04

in brutal shape and that his chances

9:07

of walking out of the hospital alive weren't

9:09

good. Twenty One excruciating

9:12

days passed within the sterile white hospital

9:14

walls. Pigpens slowly

9:16

transitioned from an all liquid diet. The solid

9:18

foods the doctor's nurses

9:21

and odories delivering curtains of milk were

9:23

a sad substitute for the life pig

9:25

had gotten used to on the road. The

9:27

medicine they gave him could only help so much.

9:30

Need have to make another serious change to his lifestyle,

9:33

and it wasn't the only one making changes. The

9:36

Grateful Dead were once again riding the carousel.

9:38

When it came to their lineup, pig Pen's

9:41

recent health scare didn't just convince them that

9:43

they may need to add another member to fill in, but

9:45

that they may need to add another member and definitely

9:48

what if next time was the last time

9:50

for pig Jerry, Bog

9:52

Phil Bill. They were all bound by

9:54

eternal love to their brother. The pig

9:57

Pen's health was one Gamble was suddenly

9:59

flush for dead, could not take

10:33

Bill Krutzman was hammering away at his

10:35

drums. He watched Jerry Garcia

10:37

carefully over his kid. Jerry's

10:39

brow was furrowed. He was deep

10:41

in thought, but he wasn't looking at Billy.

10:44

He was watching the man sitting at the keys in the

10:46

dead studio space, and the man

10:48

sitting at the keys was watching his own hands.

10:51

He'd heard these tunes before, but he

10:53

never sat down and tried to work them up. She

10:56

just knew they felt right. Jerry

10:58

pulled the classic Jerry moved and hid and unexpected

11:01

change, shifting songs on a dime.

11:03

Billy, who was used to just about anything at this

11:05

point, fell in right behind him,

11:08

and to the amazement, so did the man of the

11:10

keys. Jerry and Billy

11:12

continued their musical onslaught, unloading

11:15

their entire arsenal of improvisations

11:17

and styles, recreating the organic

11:19

energy of a jam with the Dead, and how the musical

11:21

communication worked on the back and the fourth

11:24

to give and the take, the setting of the

11:26

Dead spaceship on a course for some distant

11:28

constellation, and then taking a scenic

11:30

toll of every planet on the way back to Earth.

11:33

The man of the Keys didn't miss a beat or

11:35

change. He wasn't flashing, simply

11:38

fit. The man was Keith god

11:40

Show. Just months before, he

11:42

and his wife Donna had met Jerry after

11:45

a Dead show. Donna walked right

11:47

up to Jerry and pointed a key. She looked

11:49

Jerry square in the eye and told him who was next

11:51

piano player was going to be. Jerry

11:53

wasn't unfamiliar with this scenario since

11:55

Tom constantins departure of the Dead event

11:57

any day it was piano players looking to join grew.

12:00

Typically, the propositions went nowhere, but

12:03

now with Pig got a commission for the foreseeable

12:06

future, Jerry was starting to take the bay.

12:08

Keith had some real technical skills and training

12:11

on the keyboard, but he wasn't as experimental

12:13

as time, and though he had soul and

12:15

proclivity for rock and roll, he wasn't

12:17

as loose or raw as Pig Pam. He

12:19

didn't try to do too much, and he wasn't limited

12:21

in any capacity just fit.

12:25

Jerry and Billy knew it. As they wrapped up their

12:27

little jam session, they told Keith

12:29

to come back the next day. After

12:32

a few hours rehearsing with the full lineup minus

12:34

Pig, the decision was made. Keith

12:37

was in. He signed his contract that evening,

12:39

and by the time the band had rehearsed with Keith for

12:41

a month's time, it felt like he had been

12:43

there all along. One

12:45

October rolled around

12:48

the dead and Pig faced a hard reality.

12:51

The group was heading back out on tour, only

12:53

this time it would be without him,

12:56

their original source of inspiration, and

12:58

they visited Pig at home where he was resting.

13:01

They assured him that he wasn't out of the band, he

13:03

wasn't being replaced. When he was given

13:05

the green light by the doctors and felt up to it,

13:07

he would be gladly welcomed back into the fold, and

13:10

Pig took it to heart. For two months,

13:12

he sat at home while the Dead's tour dates through

13:14

October and November went off without a

13:16

hitch, and although they would put plans

13:19

for a new album on hold due to the shuffling of

13:21

their personnel, the band was once again

13:23

cooking, with new material beginning

13:25

to take shape. Keith's wife,

13:27

Donna, joined the band as a vocalist, further

13:30

injecting a new energy into the live sets

13:32

and giving the band an even larger, more well

13:34

rounded sound. Donna's

13:36

credentials for stellar the

13:38

female vocals on Percy Sledges nineteen

13:40

sixty six Classic When a Man Loves a Woman

13:43

That was Donna, and the backing

13:45

vocals on Elvis Is nineteen sixty nine,

13:47

Comeback, Smash, Suspicious Minds, and

13:50

that was Donna doing it. Back

13:54

at home, Pig was getting itchy feet. He

13:56

started taking care of himself in a way he'd never done

13:58

before, and the boot was completely

14:00

out of the picture, and he was following the doctor's

14:03

orders in regards to diet, specifically

14:05

a mix of health food and juice classes. But

14:08

though he was starting to feel back to normal, he

14:10

was alone. His relationship with

14:12

v was beyond the strain. His

14:15

band or out gigging around the continental

14:17

United States, without him, and here he was laid

14:19

up at home in San Francisco with just a

14:22

cart and the smokes to keep him company. Bullshit.

14:26

There was only one thing Pigpen ever wanted

14:28

to do, only one thing he had ever

14:30

done. Just weeks prior, he thought

14:32

his life might come to an end. Every

14:35

day, our minute second was precious

14:37

time to him now, So what the hell was

14:39

he doing wasting it at home? Pick

14:43

consulted his doctors. He wanted to

14:45

rejoin the dead on the road, and the

14:47

docks were leary. It's a dangerous

14:49

proposition. Just wasn't a conventional

14:51

choice for someone recovering from a medical ordeal

14:54

such as the one he had just experienced. The

14:56

word conventional and funk all the Pigpen.

14:59

He hopped on a flight and jetted across

15:01

the country, touching down in Boston on December

15:04

one. But for all his bravado

15:06

in the face of his physical state, the fact

15:08

remained that he was not the same Pigpen.

15:11

The new diet at the time in the hospital,

15:14

the treatments he'd undergone, but all

15:16

left him looking like an entirely new person.

15:18

Pig wasn't tall, but who was rovust,

15:21

looked healthy, was never someone you'd call thin.

15:25

Sickness that had ravaged in the past year

15:27

and also ravaged his weight, slowly

15:29

taking pieces of him away, And now

15:32

he was thinner than ever, with a gaunt look

15:34

about his face. He looked as

15:36

though he could be blown over by a strong breeze.

15:39

When the dead song, they were both delighted and

15:41

dismayed. It was Pig, the

15:44

man who would guzzle down more bottles than they could count,

15:46

who shot guns, who whipped crowds into

15:48

frenzies with his sensuous dance moves, who

15:51

embodied the very essence, soul, and attitude

15:53

of what the grateful dead were trying to do. The

15:55

guy who dressed like a biker sang the blues

15:57

like he lived them a hundred times, formed

16:00

like a man possessed the exuberant,

16:02

effervescent, energetic enigma

16:05

ship Man. There was nothing enigmatic about the way

16:07

he looked now, like a shell of his former

16:10

self. Like he walked right up to the doorstep

16:12

of death, knocked on the door, and then

16:14

turned around and walked back again. The

16:17

band hugged their friend, felt

16:19

how delicate he was, bones protruding

16:22

through his pale skin. They didn't

16:24

have time to be rattled by the situation. The

16:26

show, as they say, he must go on, and

16:28

though the Dead were subdued backstage, their

16:31

live performance showed no signs

16:33

of grief or worry. For

16:36

two nights at the Music Hall in Boston, the

16:38

Dead sounded tight, like they hadn't

16:40

missed a beat. Keith had dropped into

16:42

the group, and the machine was as well oiled and efficient

16:44

as ever. They just kept chugging along,

16:47

and Pigpen sat behind his organ, playing

16:49

sparingly, and he was, after all

16:51

rusty and out of practice. He

16:54

gazed out at the audience. Were

16:57

they really there? Was he really here?

17:00

Felt like some surreal dream times

17:02

seemed to fly by. Before pig

17:04

Pen knew it, it was his turn to step to

17:06

the microphone center stage. He

17:09

hadn't played in months, years

17:11

since pig experienced that type of gap in

17:13

performance. And not only that,

17:16

but he didn't have his usual liquid to grease

17:18

his wheels, and there was no vail between

17:20

him and the audience. No fermanted aid to

17:22

promote his confidence, no deterrence

17:24

from the stage fright that always seemed to linger.

17:28

That was until Billy stopped out

17:30

the opening snare lick to a tune Pig had

17:32

written with Robert Hunter earlier that year, his

17:35

Blues. He had a fund to it, and it grew

17:37

and it felt right. Pig grip the

17:39

microphonal confidence, belt it out the

17:41

first verse to Mr Charley, just

17:44

like in France, The Grateful Dead seemed

17:46

to hold the antidote for Pig For

17:48

three and a half minutes, it felt like Pig was back

17:51

in the fold. I closed your eyes and his

17:53

voice provided a window into the past. But this

17:55

seemed closer, and there was something else there,

17:58

something you couldn't quite put your finger on, distance,

18:01

some pain. His return was

18:03

undoubtedly triumphant, but was also

18:06

starting to be kind abundantly clear. Ron

18:08

Pigpen McCarney was on borrowed

18:11

time. We'll

18:14

be right back. After this word word

18:17

word, pig

18:26

pens body slammed to the floor. The

18:29

fall jarred him from his deep sleep, and

18:31

the bumpy movements of the bus he was in kept

18:33

him awake. His stomach, his

18:36

kidneys, his liver, everything hurt,

18:38

and the fall from his bench seat made it feel like

18:40

his body had been shattered to pieces. Going

18:43

down the road feeling bad, indeed,

18:46

Pigpen pulled himself off the floor with a grunt

18:49

and sank into the previous position. He

18:51

had almost gotten used to the process by this point.

18:54

It was an unusual for him to be thrown from his seat.

18:56

During the course of the last four weeks on this bus,

18:59

every time that I ever hit a large pothole or took

19:01

a wide turn, when the bus tipped just a

19:03

little to one side, Pig would just

19:05

slide off his seat down to the floor with a

19:08

pitiful thud. It

19:10

had the potential to get real old, real fast,

19:12

but it's hard to be ornerary with the view he had.

19:15

He gazed out the window at the French countryside,

19:18

England, Denmark and Germany had all passed

19:21

by like some sort of magical dream. And now

19:23

this, even after a month

19:25

of touring in Europe, pigs still had to

19:27

pinch himself from time to time and

19:30

then a dull ache shot through his stomach.

19:32

And the tour may have felt like a dream, but pig

19:35

Pen was facing some very serious realities.

19:38

He pulled his pack of smokes from his jacket pocket

19:41

and lit one up. The dead were traveling

19:43

through Europe on two buses. The other

19:45

bus, the fun one, roared past the one Pig

19:48

was riding in, someone in a clown mass

19:50

looked out the window pick grinned. The

19:53

Bozo Bus aka the Party Bus

19:55

was setting the tone for the entire tour. Riders

19:58

had taken a wearing clown mass had picked up in amster

20:00

to him, and had rearranged the interior, pushing

20:02

couches together, turning bench seats

20:04

around to make boots, keeping a fully

20:07

stocked refrigerator, staying up through the night,

20:09

all hours of the day, and consuming whatever

20:11

happened to find its way on board. It

20:14

was the spiritual spinoff of the Festival

20:16

Express train, and it was somewhere pig wish

20:18

he could have been, but he wasn't, and

20:21

that was by his own choice. It

20:23

would have suited a different Pigpen, a pig

20:25

Pen from what felt like a lifetime ago. He

20:28

took a long drag on his cigarette, and he

20:31

surveyed his own bus. This bus,

20:33

known as the Bolo Bus, was

20:35

far more subdued, mostly

20:37

a place to get some rest, and getting rest

20:40

was something pig Pen was doing plenty of

20:42

these days. He had spent most

20:44

of the tourist travel time perched on his bench

20:47

at the back, watching the wheels and chain

20:49

smoking. The tour had been a rollicking

20:52

john through the European countryside for the rest

20:54

of the band, but not for Pig. It

20:57

was some sort of meditation on life. He

21:00

adult to rejoin the band the December before.

21:02

Was working hard to maintain his health, but it

21:05

was equally hard not to get swept up the casual,

21:07

business like approach to it all. Whether

21:10

or not Pig would admit it, the popularity

21:12

the Grateful Dead had inflated them to certified

21:14

superstars. They were just as

21:16

revered as the bands they had once looked up to, the

21:19

bands holding down the top places in the charts.

21:22

Unlike those bands, however, Grateful

21:24

Dead weren't releasing massive singles. It

21:27

was their commitment to playing live and their recent run

21:29

of impeccable albums that made them a cultural touchstone

21:32

in a household name. Thousands

21:34

of kids began showing up the Dead shows, some of

21:36

them hoping to score tickets but unable to get in. So

21:39

the Dead started playing bigger venues to keep costs

21:41

down, and once they went big, they

21:44

never looked back. Something was

21:46

changing in the relation to the audience. This

21:48

wasn't the acid tests of old, and it wasn't

21:50

just five guys getting up on a stage at the club and

21:53

hammering out some blues covers. The Dead

21:55

were playing basketball and hockey arenas

21:57

massive venues, and if they wanted to keep

21:59

their ands, wallets and mind, there was nothing

22:01

they could do about it. The only way to make their show

22:04

affordable was to make their show bigger. That

22:06

had to become a machine that just kept turning. And

22:08

now they had returned to Europe, not just for

22:10

a long weekend and an impromptu show

22:13

at a chateau, but for an eight week

22:15

long conquest. The entourage

22:17

in Europe was well over fifty wives,

22:20

girlfriends, road these children, managers, all

22:22

stuffed on the two buses, and there

22:24

are also hundreds of pieces of sound equipment.

22:27

This is more like a military operation than

22:29

hauling year around in Bill critsmon station wagon.

22:32

Regardless of the newfound popularity,

22:34

regardless of the new host of hangers on and

22:36

shady visitors backstage pushing harder

22:39

drugs, and regardless of whether Pig had felt

22:41

up to it or not, there was no way

22:43

he was missing this. With the logistics

22:46

of the Dead's touring and finances weren't

22:48

the only thing that had changed. Try

22:51

as he might, Pig was forever changed

22:54

on this tour. He combed his hair back, button

22:56

his shirts neatly, and seemed to be more interested

22:58

in babysitting the kids that were present, then playing

23:01

cars with the crew in the band, and

23:03

no calling for his whiskey as much as calling

23:05

for his tea. Pig Pen

23:07

wasn't just separating from the lifestyle as a

23:09

group, he was separating from who he used

23:11

to be. As if you could feel the fuel

23:13

gauge getting well. Night after night,

23:16

show off the show, Pigpen would sit

23:18

behind the congos, shake a tambourine

23:21

replaced sporadic fills on his organ while

23:23

the Dead grooved, and they did

23:25

fucking groove. It

23:28

was the actualization of everything Jerry

23:30

and Phil had dreamed about to that point. The

23:32

lineup was just the right balance. Sure

23:34

they lost, making mc keith and Donna filled in

23:36

the sound like some sort of gift from the heavens, complimenting

23:39

the rest of the group perfectly, further transcending

23:42

the already transcended music. For

23:44

anyone else who wasn't a member of the band, it was

23:46

hard to even tell the pig Pen wasn't feeling percent

23:49

because when pig Pen was called upon he could still

23:51

deliver a convincing vocal performance, lovely,

23:54

hard to handle, easy win. Mr Charlie

23:57

Pigpens still brought them all the life with his

24:00

unmistakable fervor and passion, and

24:02

true he didn't throw out the same shoulder

24:04

shakes or gyrating hit movements, but his vocals

24:07

set fired every ancient, reverent

24:09

European concert hall. The dead played in

24:12

that intimacy they begun to lose playing giant

24:14

venues in the States, remained intact in

24:17

Europe, even if it was by a threat. These

24:19

hallowed halls were designed for classical music,

24:22

so the crowds were up close, and the acoustics were

24:24

just right, and the vibrations were warm and

24:27

happy. But still there

24:29

was something in his voice. You could hear it,

24:32

an urgency to sing every set like it was

24:34

his last. In due course,

24:36

pig Pen would finish his tune and return to his

24:38

congus, tambourine or organ until he was called

24:41

upon again. He can watch the rest

24:43

of the band work and lose himself in the music.

24:46

And the next day pick would return to

24:48

his bus, the bolo bus, the

24:50

quiet bus. He crawled

24:52

at the backseat and light himself a cigarette

24:55

preparing for the next hard turn, the next

24:57

slip, the next eventual will fall, and

25:00

that next hard turn, that next hard

25:02

fall, and had nothing to do at

25:04

the bus ride. The

25:31

pizza joint known as the Top of the Tangent

25:33

was packed full, as it was most nights

25:36

in four when there was live

25:38

music, The beer was flowing,

25:40

and the mood was mellow. The Tangent

25:42

was one of the places to go for music. Paol

25:45

alto up and coming acts. Well

25:47

known groups and singer songwriters gave

25:49

performances that were ordinarily worth

25:51

the price of admission. But there

25:53

was nothing ordinary about tonight's performance.

25:56

At least he knew that even if no one

25:58

else did. He was with his group

26:00

on stage, Mother mccree's Uptown

26:02

Jug Champions. They were attracting

26:04

attention around town, and not just for their

26:07

lively, eccentric performances. They

26:09

played old timey folk, bluegrass roots

26:11

music, stuff that had long become niche

26:14

but was beginning to come back into fashion. He

26:16

saw their influence everywhere. Jug

26:18

bands were popping up all over the Bay Area, but

26:21

Mother mccree's was the best around. He

26:23

was by as sure. Look around the room, the

26:25

place was jumping. The buzz around his

26:27

band was so strong that to Stanford University

26:30

students had made it a point to record them for a local

26:32

folk music radio show. He wailed

26:34

on his harmonica from the stage, and he thought

26:36

it worked perfectly with the washingtub bass and acoustic

26:39

guitar. And no one was calling him Ron

26:41

anymore. They all called him Pigpen

26:43

on account of his disheveled appearance, not

26:46

that it bothered him. Who was a nickname, his

26:48

blues name. He'd wear it proudly. He

26:51

ripped a few more notes from his heart, and

26:53

they sounded like down at home, familiar,

26:56

like the old warning jacket he was wearing, like

26:58

he'd known this feeling his whole life. It

27:01

was the only thing he wanted to feel it

27:03

as long as he would live. The

27:06

Grateful Dead's seventy two tour

27:08

of Europe was highly successful, improved

27:10

positive that they weren't just a national sensation,

27:13

they were a global phenomenon. After

27:16

a few weeks break, it was time for the Dead

27:18

to get back to it. Pigpen did his

27:20

best to drag himself along. The

27:23

June seventeen, seventy two

27:25

show at the Hollywood Bowl was for all intensive

27:27

purposes, a Welcome Home Gig for the Grateful

27:29

Dead, the conquering heroes returning

27:31

to their beloved states, bigger and better

27:34

than ever before. But a dark

27:36

cloud hung over the group. Pig

27:38

was frailer, thinner, more gaunt than he had

27:40

ever been before. He no longer looked like

27:42

a stray breeze woul blow him over. It looked

27:44

like it was shatter him to pieces. The

27:47

crowd, however, did seem to notice. As

27:49

the Dead reached the midpoint of their first set, the

27:51

audience called out for Pig. They

27:53

wanted a dose of his electric blues. They

27:55

wanted him center stage. There

27:57

would be no love light that night, no hard

28:00

to handle, no easy wind, no

28:03

Mr Charlie. Pig Pen spent that

28:05

evening laboring to keep himself upright.

28:08

He couldn't even manage to get himself to the microphone.

28:10

Each time he'd slump over begin to nod

28:13

awe, someone would slide over and give

28:15

his chair a gentle bump to keep him conscious,

28:17

And each time Pig would shake himself out of

28:19

his haze and get back to the show, perhaps

28:22

make it through a tune. One

28:24

of those tunes Pig did make it through was

28:26

a brand new one, the band's live debut

28:28

of Stella Blue. Pig played

28:31

organ elegantly behind Jerry's soft, subtle

28:33

lyrics and somber He had beautiful

28:36

words and music by a musician reaching the end of

28:38

the line, finally succumbing to the

28:40

physical and emotional trials of life

28:42

on the road. Behind Jerry's

28:44

volcan and Pig's organ. The Dead

28:46

gave him inspired, heart wrenching performance

28:49

of the new song, and it was fitting

28:52

because Pigpen was also succumbing to

28:54

the demands of the road and the lifestyle.

28:57

And for the man who was the original impetus

28:59

and engine behind Mother mccree's uptown

29:01

joke champions the Warlocks and

29:03

the Grateful Dead, the show at

29:06

the Hollywood Bowl would be his last.

29:11

Um Jake Brennan and This

29:14

is the twenty seven Club Club

29:28

is hosted and produced by me Jake Brennan

29:30

for Double Elvis in partnership with I

29:33

Heart Radio. Seth Lundie

29:35

is the lead writer and co producer. This

29:37

episode was mixed by Joel Edinburgh.

29:40

Additional music and score elements by

29:42

Ryan Spraaker and Henry Lunetta. This

29:44

episode was written by ted Oma, story

29:47

and copy ending by Pata Healy. Sources

29:50

for this episode are available at double

29:52

elvis dot com on the Seven Club

29:54

series page, talk to me on social

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Act, Disgrace LAM pod, and hang out with me

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live on a Twitch chat, and I'll disgrace Land Talks.

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