Ron “Pigpen” McKernan Episode 8: Turning off the Love Light, Long-Awaited Redemption, and a Deadly Diagnosis

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Ron “Pigpen” McKernan’s lifelong devotion to drinking wasn’t the cause of his medical issues – chalk those up to a genetic disease. But no matter how he tried, Pig couldn’t kick the illness, he couldn’t repair the damage that had been done. He played music, followed his diet, and hoped against all hope that something would turn around. But nothing ever really did. He could never quite get up that hill. And just as Pig had slowly departed from the Dead, he was now slowly departing from the world. Sources: A Long Strange Trip: The Inside Story of the Grateful Dead, by Dennis McNally Living with The Dead: Twenty Years on the Bus with Garcia and the Grateful Dead, by Rock Scully with David Dalton Searching for the Sound, by Phil Lesh The Grateful Dead FAQ: All That’s Left to Know About the Greatest Jam Band in History, by Tony Sclafani This Is All a Dream We Dreamed: An Oral History of the Grateful Dead, by Blair Jackson and David Gans Death Don't Have No Mercy: Pigpen, Ten Years Gone (Relix) Pigpen Forever: The Life and Times of Ron McKernan, by Blair Jackson Grateful Dead's Bob Weir and Phil Lesh reflect on bandmate Pigpen (Marin Independent Journal) Grateful Dead Guide: Pigpen Solo (Dead Essays) Greatest Stories Ever Told - "Stella Blue" (Dead.net) Unsolicited Endorsement: Wake of the Flood by the Grateful Dead (Triad City Beat) Jerry Garcia’s final show (YouTube) So Many Roads: Remembering Jerry Garcia's Last Grateful Dead Show (Classic Rockers) Listen to Grateful Dead perform 'Box of Rain' as their final encore before Jerry Garcia's death (Far Out) "It was the tour from hell": Inside the Grateful Dead's last shows, and Jerry Garcia's final days (Salon) Bruce Hornsby Looks Back on Jerry Garcia's Last Days: 'I Miss Him So Much' (Rolling Stone) A Grateful Dead Analysis: The relationship between concert and listening behavior (First Monday) Grateful Dead Guide: Pigpen Solo (Dead Essays) For behind the scenes info and news on this episode, follow: Instagram: @DoubleElvis @Disgracelandpod  Twitter: @DoubleElvisFm @Disgracelandpod Tik Tok: @Disgracelandpod Pinterest: @doubleelvisfm  Facebook: Double Elvis Productions Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse and many more musical icons all died at the age of 27. Scandalous, tortured, dramatic, and incredibly talented, these artists torched a wild path to their early graves and shifted and shaped our culture along the way. 27 Club tells their stories. 27 Club is hosted and created by Jake Brennan, host and creator of the award-winning music and true crime podcast DISGRACELAND. 27 Club is not a journalistic podcast. It is an entertainment podcast inspired by true events. For more shows like 27 Club, check out www.doubleelvis.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Against doctor’s orders, Ron “Pigpen” McKernan hit the road one more time with the Grateful Dead. The band’s 1972 tour of Europe is legendary. But at the time, Pigpen was just trying to stay above ground. You could hear it in his voice when he took the mic onstage. Close your eyes and his voice was a window into the past. But listen closer, and you’d hear something else. Something you couldn’t quite put your finger on. A distance. Some pain. Truth was, Pigpen was on borrowed time. Sources: A Long Strange Trip: The Inside Story of the Grateful Dead, by Dennis McNally Living with The Dead: Twenty Years on the Bus with Garcia and the Grateful Dead, by Rock Scully with David Dalton Searching for the Sound, by Phil Lesh The Grateful Dead FAQ: All That’s Left to Know About the Greatest Jam Band in History, by Tony Sclafani This Is All a Dream We Dreamed: An Oral History of the Grateful Dead, by Blair Jackson and David Gans Grateful Dead live at Chateau D’Herouville, France, 6/6/1971 (YouTube) Château d'Hérouville: The Castle Studio Where Bowie, Elton, and Pink Floyd Recorded (Reverb) June 21, 1971: Herouville, France (Dead Sources) Grateful Dead at the The Honky Chateau (06-21-71) (Holiday at the Sea) Grateful Dead live at the Fillmore East, 4/28/1971 April 1972: Weir & Pigpen Interview (Dead Sources) Donna Jean Godchaux interview (YouTube) The Lasting Impact, and Sudden Death, of the Grateful Dead's Keith Godchaux (Ultimate Classic Rock) Enter Keith Godchaux (Dead.net) Donna Jean MacKay 3/28/98 (Levity) Grateful Dead live at the Boston Music Hall, 12/2/1971 April 1972: Weir & Pigpen Interview (Dead Sources) Grateful Dead live at the Hollywood Bowl, 6/17/1972 Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions - Top of the Tangent (1964) (The Savage Saints) For behind the scenes info and news on this episode, follow: Instagram: @DoubleElvis @Disgracelandpod  Twitter: @DoubleElvisFm @Disgracelandpod Tik Tok: @Disgracelandpod Pinterest: @doubleelvisfm  Facebook: Double Elvis Productions Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse and many more musical icons all died at the age of 27. Scandalous, tortured, dramatic, and incredibly talented, these artists torched a wild path to their early graves and shifted and shaped our culture along the way. 27 Club tells their stories. 27 Club is hosted and created by Jake Brennan, host and creator of the award-winning music and true crime podcast DISGRACELAND. 27 Club is not a journalistic podcast. It is an entertainment podcast inspired by true events. For more shows like 27 Club, check out www.doubleelvis.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A dark cloud of death hung over the Grateful Dead as they went into the studio to make what is arguably their masterpiece, American Beauty. Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones…they were all gone. All dead at the age of 27. But time didn’t stop. Time marched on. The cold hands of death could close in on any of them. But who? When would they go? And how would they go? Sources: A Long Strange Trip: The Inside Story of the Grateful Dead, by Dennis McNally Living with The Dead: Twenty Years on the Bus with Garcia and the Grateful Dead, by Rock Scully with David Dalton Searching for the Sound, by Phil Lesh The Grateful Dead FAQ: All That’s Left to Know About the Greatest Jam Band in History, by Tony Sclafani This Is All a Dream We Dreamed: An Oral History of the Grateful Dead, by Blair Jackson and David Gans Euphoria Ballroom - July 16, 1970 (Dead.net) The Story Behind the Song: The burden lifted by Grateful Dead's 'Box of Rain' (Far Out) Grateful Dead live at Winterland, 10/4/1970 The Story of the Grateful Dead 'American Beauty'  (Classic Album Sundays) 50 Years Later; Grateful Dead's American Beauty (Open Chord Music) How Grateful Dead Rose Above Hard Times on 'American Beauty' (Ultimate Classic Rock) October 1970: Jerry Garcia Interview (Dead Sources) Pigpen Solo Projects 1969, 1971, 1973 (Why?) (Lost Live Dead) “Operator” take 5 Greatest Stories Ever Told - "Operator" (Dead.net) Janis Joplin Remembered After Her Death (Rolling Stone) The Day Grateful Dead's Ron 'Pigpen' McKernan Died (Ultimate Classic Rock) Ron "Pigpen" McKernan Dies | World History Project (World History Project) For behind the scenes info and news on this episode, follow: Instagram: @DoubleElvis @Disgracelandpod  Twitter: @DoubleElvisFm @Disgracelandpod Tik Tok: @Disgracelandpod Pinterest: @doubleelvisfm  Facebook: Double Elvis Productions Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse and many more musical icons all died at the age of 27. Scandalous, tortured, dramatic, and incredibly talented, these artists torched a wild path to their early graves and shifted and shaped our culture along the way. 27 Club tells their stories. 27 Club is hosted and created by Jake Brennan, host and creator of the award-winning music and true crime podcast DISGRACELAND. 27 Club is not a journalistic podcast. It is an entertainment podcast inspired by true events. For more shows like 27 Club, check out www.doubleelvis.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Busted down on Bourbon Street. Fleeced by a member of the family. Plastered on a runaway train barreling through the Canadian countryside. As the Grateful Dead faced a number of new challenges and detours, their music moved steadily ahead on solid footing – evidenced by the back-to-basics songs that made up Workingman’s Dead, their best album in years. Sources: A Long Strange Trip: The Inside Story of the Grateful Dead, by Dennis McNally Living with The Dead: Twenty Years on the Bus with Garcia and the Grateful Dead, by Rock Scully with David Dalton Searching for the Sound, by Phil Lesh The Grateful Dead FAQ: All That’s Left to Know About the Greatest Jam Band in History, by Tony Sclafani This Is All a Dream We Dreamed: An Oral History of the Grateful Dead, by Blair Jackson and David Gans The Grateful Dead Were "Busted Down On Bourbon Street," On This Day In 1970 (Live for Live Music) Jerry Garcia on the NOLA bust (YouTube) Pigpen Forever: The Life and Times of Ron McKernan, by Blair Jackson January 30, 1970: New Orleans Bust & Benefit (Dead Sources) Grateful Dead live at the Fillmore East, 5/15/1970 How 1970's 'Workingman's Dead' Changed the Grateful Dead Forever (Guitar World) 50 Years Ago: Grateful Dead Kick Up Dust on 'Workingman's Dead' (Ultimate Classic Rock) Workingman's Dead (The Grateful Dead Wiki) Lenny Hart Arrested (Dead.net) How 'Workingman's Dead' And 'American Beauty' Marked A Turning Point For The Grateful Dead 50 Years Ago (Forbes) Train kept a rollin': a brief history of the (in)famous 1970 Festival Express (RETROactive) 1970: The Saga of the Festival Express (Mind Smoke Records) June/July 1970: The Festival Express (Dead Sources) Brian Jones: Sympathy for the Devil (Rolling Stone) FLASHBACK: BRIAN JONES LEAVES THE ROLLING STONES (Nights with Alice Cooper) Life, by Keith Richards For behind the scenes info and news on this episode, follow: Instagram: @DoubleElvis @Disgracelandpod  Twitter: @DoubleElvisFm @Disgracelandpod Tik Tok: @Disgracelandpod Pinterest: @doubleelvisfm  Facebook: Double Elvis Productions Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse and many more musical icons all died at the age of 27. Scandalous, tortured, dramatic, and incredibly talented, these artists torched a wild path to their early graves and shifted and shaped our culture along the way. 27 Club tells their stories. 27 Club is hosted and created by Jake Brennan, host and creator of the award-winning music and true crime podcast DISGRACELAND. 27 Club is not a journalistic podcast. It is an entertainment podcast inspired by true events. For more shows like 27 Club, check out www.doubleelvis.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Though Ron “Pigpen” McKernan continued to feel like he was being pushed out of the Grateful Dead’s creative circle, he could still make an impression. Just ask Led Zeppelin, who got an up-close and personal look at Pig’s .22-caliber pistol. The fear that they felt standing next to what seemed like, to them, to be an American cowboy in the flesh was dwarfed months later…by the fear and violence that ran rampant at the Altamont Speedway. This episode contains content that may be disturbing to some listeners and includes graphic depictions of violence. Sources: A Long Strange Trip: The Inside Story of the Grateful Dead, by Dennis McNally Living with The Dead: Twenty Years on the Bus with Garcia and the Grateful Dead, by Rock Scully with David Dalton Searching for the Sound, by Phil Lesh The Grateful Dead FAQ: All That’s Left to Know About the Greatest Jam Band in History, by Tony Sclafani This Is All a Dream We Dreamed: An Oral History of the Grateful Dead, by Blair Jackson and David Gans Inside Herb Greene’s Led Zeppelin Photos (YouTube) The Dead vs. Led Zeppelin (Dead Essays) Pigpen Look Alike Contest (Part Two) (Dead.net) No Woodstock: Grateful Dead's role in infamous Altamont concert (East Bay Times) Good Old Grateful Dead (Rolling Stone) Pigpen Solo Projects 1969, 1971, 1973 (Why?) (Live Lost Dead) December 21, 1967: Owsley Bust (Dead Sources) Grateful Dead – 1969 Sealed 1st Pressing AOXOMOXOA, With Original Mix (Record Mecca) Death, debris in Altamont concert wake (UPI Archives) Altamont At 50: The Disastrous Concert That Brought The '60s To A Crashing Halt (Forbes) The Manson Family murders and Helter Skelter, explained (Vox) Manson Family Murders Fast Facts (CNN) Leno And Rosemary LaBianca: The Couple Brutally Murdered By The Manson Family (All That’s Interesting) Who Were Manson Family Victims Leno And Rosemary LaBianca? (Oxygen) For behind the scenes info and news on this episode, follow: Instagram: @DoubleElvis @Disgracelandpod  Twitter: @DoubleElvisFm @Disgracelandpod Tik Tok: @Disgracelandpod Pinterest: @doubleelvisfm  Facebook: Double Elvis Productions Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse and many more musical icons all died at the age of 27. Scandalous, tortured, dramatic, and incredibly talented, these artists torched a wild path to their early graves and shifted and shaped our culture along the way. 27 Club tells their stories. 27 Club is hosted and created by Jake Brennan, host and creator of the award-winning music and true crime podcast DISGRACELAND. 27 Club is not a journalistic podcast. It is an entertainment podcast inspired by true events. For more shows like 27 Club, check out www.doubleelvis.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Haight-Ashbury devolved from a counterculture mecca to a commodified tourist haven, and the Grateful Dead searched for the perfect sound to complement their continued evolution, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan found that his musical contributions were becoming obsolete. It wasn't long before he had to face the fact that the he was finally losing control of the group he had created. Sources: A Long Strange Trip: The Inside Story of the Grateful Dead, by Dennis McNally Living with The Dead: Twenty Years on the Bus with Garcia and the Grateful Dead, by Rock Scully with David Dalton Searching for the Sound, by Phil Lesh The Grateful Dead FAQ: All That’s Left to Know About the Greatest Jam Band in History, by Tony Sclafani This Is All a Dream We Dreamed: An Oral History of the Grateful Dead, by Blair Jackson and David Gans Grateful Dead Close Down Haight Street For Free Concert, On This Day In 1968 (Live for Live Music) Jerry Garcia 1967 interview Haight-Ashbury “Hippie Hop” bus Grateful Dead: Anthem of the Sun and American Beauty (Classic Albums) 1967: Grateful Dead visit the Warnecke Ranch (Chalkhill Residency) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0iULSnZUkg Grateful Dead's 'Anthem of the Sun': 10 Things You Didn't Know (Rolling Stone) The 1967 letter from a record executive that said The Grateful Dead had "many problems" (Far Out) Internet Archive Forums: 1968 - The Firing (part I) Grateful Dead Guide: 1968 - The Firing (Dead Essays) The moment when The Grateful Dead dosed the 'Playboy After Dark' crew (Far Out) For behind the scenes info and news on this episode, follow: Instagram: @DoubleElvis @Disgracelandpod  Twitter: @DoubleElvisFm @Disgracelandpod Tik Tok: @Disgracelandpod Pinterest: @doubleelvisfm  Facebook: Double Elvis Productions Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse and many more musical icons all died at the age of 27. Scandalous, tortured, dramatic, and incredibly talented, these artists torched a wild path to their early graves and shifted and shaped our culture along the way. 27 Club tells their stories. 27 Club is hosted and created by Jake Brennan, host and creator of the award-winning music and true crime podcast DISGRACELAND. 27 Club is not a journalistic podcast. It is an entertainment podcast inspired by true events. For more shows like 27 Club, check out www.doubleelvis.com.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the Grateful Dead’s star continued to rise, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan felt he would rather be a dark star, invisible to the world. But he couldn’t hide. Not from the throngs of fans. And not from the San Francisco Police Department. Maybe they saw Pig’s leather vest and cowboy hat and figured he was an outlaw. Or maybe they just wanted to outlaw his type and the whole freaky scene along with him. And they tried to do just that in the fall of 1967, as the sun set on the Summer of Love and the Dead waited like sitting ducks at their house at 710 Ashbury Street. Sources: A Long Strange Trip: The Inside Story of the Grateful Dead, by Dennis McNally Living with The Dead: Twenty Years on the Bus with Garcia and the Grateful Dead, by Rock Scully with David Dalton Searching for the Sound, by Phil Lesh The Grateful Dead FAQ: All That’s Left to Know About the Greatest Jam Band in History, by Tony Sclafani This Is All a Dream We Dreamed: An Oral History of the Grateful Dead, by Blair Jackson and David Gans Why the Grateful Dead's Debut Was So Hastily Recorded (Ultimate Classic Rock) Joe Smith Digital Collection (Library of Congress) RCA's Studio B, 6363 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, CA (Jerry’s Brokedown Palaces) Joe Smith Ran Record Labels and Signed the Grateful Dead (Wall Street Journal) Grateful Dead first record contract (Julien’s) The Grateful Dead: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition Album Review (Pitchfork) That Time Joe Smith Sent the Grateful Dead a Letter Complaining About Their Work Ethic (Rolling Stone) Grateful Dead Guide: The Very Short Tale of Golden Road (Dead Essays) Joe Smith obituary (The Guardian) Brian Jones at Monterey Pop (YouTube) Monterey Pop Festival – 40 Years Ago (YouTube) Opinion | The Greatest Music Festival in History (NY Times) Anatomy of a Love Festival - Part Two (Criterion) Today in 1967: Otis Redding at the Monterey Pop Festival (Rhino) The Grateful Dead Did Get It: Reporters and Cops (Rolling Stone) Big Event: Grateful Dead and '67 Ashbury drug bust (SF Gate) Grateful Dead 1967 Ashbury Street bust (YouTube) Grateful Dead Pot Bust 1967 (SF Chronicle) 50 years later, Grateful Dead’s drug bust looks much different (SF Chronicle) Grateful Dead press conference, October 1967 (KPIX) For behind the scenes info and news on this episode, follow: Instagram: @DoubleElvis @Disgracelandpod  Twitter: @DoubleElvisFm @Disgracelandpod Tik Tok: @Disgracelandpod Pinterest: @doubleelvisfm  Facebook: Double Elvis Productions Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse and many more musical icons all died at the age of 27. Scandalous, tortured, dramatic, and incredibly talented, these artists torched a wild path to their early graves and shifted and shaped our culture along the way. 27 Club tells their stories. 27 Club is hosted and created by Jake Brennan, host and creator of the award-winning music and true crime podcast DISGRACELAND. 27 Club is not a journalistic podcast. It is an entertainment podcast inspired by true events. For more shows like 27 Club, check out www.doubleelvis.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ron "Pigpen" McKernan wonders if he's the only person not tripping inside a warehouse in the burned-out Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, where the Grateful Dead are soundtracking yet another acid test. He further wonders if he's the only one who recognizes the gravity of the situation when the LAPD burst in. Later, he falls hard for a likeminded blues lover who turns on her lovelight. But not before he falls into a pit of despair when he is unknowingly dosed and embarks on a trip from which he may never return. Sources: A Long Strange Trip: The Inside Story of the Grateful Dead, by Dennis McNally Living with The Dead: Twenty Years on the Bus with Garcia and the Grateful Dead, by Rock Scully with David Dalton Searching for the Sound, by Phil Lesh This Is All a Dream We Dreamed: An Oral History of the Grateful Dead, by Blair Jackson and David Gans Grateful Dead 1966 “Viola Lee Blues” rehearsals Owsley Stanley: The King of LSD (Rolling Stone) Watts Rebellion (History.com) Grateful Dead Guide: Viola Lee Blues (Dead Essays) Fleeing marijuana possession charges, Ken Kesey successfully hid from the FBI … in Marijuana City, Mexico (Muckrock) Wavy Gravy interview 1 Wavy Gravy interview 2 Watts Acid Test - 2/12/66 (Truckin’ with the Dead) The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” & “The Fugitive” Summary and Analysis (GradeSaver) Grateful Dead Guide: Pigpen Solo (Dead Essays) Grateful Dead live at Youth Opportunities Center 1966 Unearthed Grateful Dead pool party photos debut at North Bay museum exhibition (SF Chronicle) For behind the scenes info and news on this episode, follow: Instagram: @DoubleElvis @Disgracelandpod  Twitter: @DoubleElvisFm @Disgracelandpod Tik Tok: @Disgracelandpod Pinterest: @doubleelvisfm  Facebook: Double Elvis Productions Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse and many more musical icons all died at the age of 27. Scandalous, tortured, dramatic, and incredibly talented, these artists torched a wild path to their early graves and shifted and shaped our culture along the way. 27 Club tells their stories. 27 Club is hosted and created by Jake Brennan, host and creator of the award-winning music and true crime podcast DISGRACELAND. 27 Club is not a journalistic podcast. It is an entertainment podcast inspired by true events. For more shows like 27 Club, check out www.doubleelvis.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.