1 00:00:01,160 --> 00:00:09,360 Speaker 1: Okay, Double Elvis. This episode contains content that may be 2 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:12,400 Speaker 1: disturbing to some listeners. Please check the show notes for 3 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:17,480 Speaker 1: more information. Club is the production of I Heart Radio 4 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:24,200 Speaker 1: and Double Elvis. Ron Pigpen mcernan died at the age 5 00:00:24,239 --> 00:00:28,200 Speaker 1: of and he lived a life that was as uncertain 6 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:31,320 Speaker 1: as a straight bullet. I can give you twenty seven 7 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:34,600 Speaker 1: reasons why that statement is true. Four would be the 8 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:38,400 Speaker 1: number of English rockers he scared off with his caliber 9 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:42,000 Speaker 1: pistol while casually taking target practice during a photo shoot. 10 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:44,879 Speaker 1: Another eight would be the number of tracks on The 11 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:48,440 Speaker 1: Dead's third album he would have absolutely no input on. 12 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:52,040 Speaker 1: His only appearance on the record came from live performances 13 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:55,080 Speaker 1: that were added to the mix. Eight more would be 14 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:57,720 Speaker 1: the number of the Dead's ranks would swell to, leaving 15 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:00,560 Speaker 1: pig Pen even more lost in the shuffle of influence. 16 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:03,920 Speaker 1: Another three would be the number of rock stars who 17 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:06,480 Speaker 1: would be assaulted before The Dead were scheduled to take 18 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:10,720 Speaker 1: the stage at a free concert in shaking the nerves 19 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:13,480 Speaker 1: of the group who were now terrified as to what 20 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:17,039 Speaker 1: awaited them. And four would be the number of years 21 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:19,560 Speaker 1: pig Pen had left to live when the concert came 22 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:26,040 Speaker 1: to its sinister and infamous conclusion. All totally on this 23 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:31,320 Speaker 1: our sixth episode of season five, twenty two caliber photo shoots, assault, 24 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:37,000 Speaker 1: shaken nerves, sinister conclusions, and Ron Pigpen mccernin. I'm Jake 25 00:01:37,040 --> 00:02:25,560 Speaker 1: Brennan in this is the twenty seven Club. M you 26 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:29,480 Speaker 1: gotta squeeze us in. Herb The Grateful Dead's manager, Rock Scully, 27 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:32,240 Speaker 1: was glued to a pay phone. He looked back at 28 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:35,440 Speaker 1: the entirety of the band standing behind him. He rubbed 29 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:38,680 Speaker 1: his eyes and pleaded into the receiver. Look, we have 30 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:42,239 Speaker 1: shows to promote. Man, it's it's gonna look strange. It 31 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:44,640 Speaker 1: was going to look strange because the Dead were no 32 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:48,680 Speaker 1: longer a band of six. Tom Constant, the keyboard player 33 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:52,359 Speaker 1: who filled in during round Pigpen mccurtin's absence, was staying 34 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:55,240 Speaker 1: on as a full time member. Even though Pigpen was 35 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:58,720 Speaker 1: back in the fold, the band needed new promotional shots 36 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:01,720 Speaker 1: as soon as possible. To like the change, The old 37 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:05,400 Speaker 1: photos weren't going to cut it. Photographer Herb Green had 38 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:08,040 Speaker 1: shot every iteration of the band to that point. Her 39 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 1: was the guy to see in San Francisco when your 40 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:14,799 Speaker 1: band needed some killer shots. That's why the four English 41 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:17,959 Speaker 1: Chaps were currently standing in her studio. It was their 42 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:20,360 Speaker 1: first tour of the States and her was their first 43 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:23,679 Speaker 1: stop in the city by the Bay. Her told Rock 44 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:26,480 Speaker 1: to come by. He'd tried to fit them in. Maybe 45 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:28,639 Speaker 1: he would introduce the dead to this new group from 46 00:03:28,639 --> 00:03:32,400 Speaker 1: across the pond bridge the Continental Gap. Have a bit 47 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:35,160 Speaker 1: of a party, make a day of it. Herb then 48 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 1: hung up the phone and returned to his subjects. Robert Plant, 49 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 1: Jimmy Page, John Bonham and John Paul Jones led Zeppelin. 50 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:48,040 Speaker 1: The dress of England's newest hit makers was pristine. Robert 51 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:50,960 Speaker 1: Plants golden locks bounced over a button down shirt and 52 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:55,320 Speaker 1: delicate floral under shirt. Jimmy Page was classically cool and 53 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:59,080 Speaker 1: a tan Pco bontomore black oather jacket over a snug 54 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: patterned sweater. And John Paul Jones dressed in a plane 55 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:07,160 Speaker 1: but elegant crew neck and tight slacks. All clean shaven 56 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:11,960 Speaker 1: save for a tidy mustache on Bonzo's upper lip. The 57 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:14,520 Speaker 1: four not only looked a part, they played the part, 58 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:16,560 Speaker 1: and they were months away from becoming one of the 59 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:19,440 Speaker 1: biggest bands in the world and international sex symbolis to 60 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: boot that was an interdimensional parallel to the Grateful Dead 61 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: who just moments later we're falling into the door of 62 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:32,599 Speaker 1: Herbs Studio. They were led by a frantic rock Scully. 63 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:37,560 Speaker 1: Tagging closely behind was Jerry Garcia, wearing a poncho and 64 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:41,640 Speaker 1: sporting a magnificently large bushy beer, Mickey hard in the 65 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:46,120 Speaker 1: first Game Cab, an enormous mustache, Phil Lash with raging sideburns, 66 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:49,440 Speaker 1: and a denim jacket. Bill Kurtzman wearing a plane jacket 67 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:51,560 Speaker 1: and striped shirt, looking like he had just finished a 68 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:55,280 Speaker 1: shift driving a cab, but perpetually days Bob were his 69 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:59,239 Speaker 1: wild ponytail threatening to unleash itself on the room. Tom 70 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:03,680 Speaker 1: Constantin with carefully parted hair, handlebar mustache and a cane, 71 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:08,840 Speaker 1: and of course, pig Pan. In this crew of mismatched parts, 72 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:12,200 Speaker 1: pig Pen was perhaps the most outlantish of them all. 73 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:15,560 Speaker 1: He wore a dark jacket bearing an enormous pattern of 74 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:19,200 Speaker 1: flowers and ornate vines on its back panel. Thick black 75 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:22,560 Speaker 1: goatee is beaten in leather. Cowboy hat was marked with 76 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:25,000 Speaker 1: sweat stains and looked like it had been run over 77 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:28,880 Speaker 1: by several eighteen wheelers. He also carried something on his 78 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:33,640 Speaker 1: waist a twenty two caliber pistol. As Rock made a 79 00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:36,800 Speaker 1: beeline for her, the Dead stood impatiently waiting to get 80 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:39,600 Speaker 1: the session started. Zeppelin didn't even know what to make 81 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 1: the guy standing next to them bloody Americans. Honestly, it 82 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:44,840 Speaker 1: was hard to focus on anything else in the room 83 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:47,720 Speaker 1: besides this cowboy who was currently slinging his twenty two 84 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:51,040 Speaker 1: around and pointing at the ceiling. Pig Pen leaned back 85 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 1: toward Jerry Garcia, and then he pointed to a couple 86 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:56,200 Speaker 1: of objects at the far end of the studio and 87 00:05:56,360 --> 00:05:59,320 Speaker 1: stared down the barrel, squinted one eye, and then with 88 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:02,039 Speaker 1: at least a few rounds of ammunition into the ceiling, 89 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:06,760 Speaker 1: saying to Jerry, fuck missed it. Pig Pen laughed, as 90 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:10,279 Speaker 1: the rest of the Dead led Zeppelin, We're not laughing. 91 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:14,159 Speaker 1: These Yanks seemed downright in maniac. Was this what the 92 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:17,320 Speaker 1: West was really like? Did cowboys roamed the streets and 93 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:21,039 Speaker 1: shoot its ceilings? Did everyone have a gun? Herb Green's 94 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:23,640 Speaker 1: newest clients couldn't get out the door fast enough, which 95 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:25,880 Speaker 1: meant that the Dead were ready for their close up. 96 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:30,440 Speaker 1: The band positioned themselves in front of the camera all 97 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:33,680 Speaker 1: seven of them all seven that was still taking a 98 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:36,320 Speaker 1: little of getting used to. They seem to be acquiring 99 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:40,000 Speaker 1: new members at a steady rate, first Mickey, now Tom, 100 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:42,600 Speaker 1: and if they kept expanding, they need a caravan to 101 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:46,760 Speaker 1: transport them two shows. Pigpens grasp on the whole situation 102 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:48,640 Speaker 1: was about as loose as he had been with his 103 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:51,960 Speaker 1: twenty two. The photo session was smack dab in the 104 00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:54,599 Speaker 1: middle of the des recording sessions for what would become 105 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:59,520 Speaker 1: their third studio album, Oxo Oxoa. Pig who had been 106 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 1: kicked back to Congos during livets, wasn't even involved in 107 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:06,120 Speaker 1: the recording process yet. In fact, by the time The 108 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 1: Dead completed the studio sessions, Tom's takes on keyboard had 109 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:14,080 Speaker 1: become the definitive ones. On the album's back cover, Pigpen 110 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:17,560 Speaker 1: was listed last in the musician credits, and his credit 111 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:20,720 Speaker 1: didn't even indicate he was a musician. It's simply read 112 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:24,840 Speaker 1: Ron McKernan pig Pen. He wouldn't have even been on 113 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:27,320 Speaker 1: the album at all if Jerry and Phil hadn't decided 114 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:31,400 Speaker 1: to mix in live tracks with the studio tracks. This 115 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:34,440 Speaker 1: strange evolution of The Grateful Dead's music walked hand in 116 00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:38,480 Speaker 1: hand with the group shifting dynamics. They were just experimenting 117 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: with sounds and psychedelics anymore. The music had become beyond 118 00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:47,160 Speaker 1: complex and difficult. The pressure is to continually transform, the 119 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:49,800 Speaker 1: pressure to chase a sound, the pressure to push into 120 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:52,880 Speaker 1: the outer reaches of an auditory solar system. We're all 121 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:55,960 Speaker 1: beginning to take a toll on the Grateful Dead. They 122 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:58,679 Speaker 1: half nitrous oxide when they sat over the mixing board, 123 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:02,320 Speaker 1: a steady supply, have momentary lapses of concentration to get 124 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:05,000 Speaker 1: through the album. The music they heard coming from the 125 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:08,840 Speaker 1: monitors was intricate and impossibly elaborate, and it was starting 126 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:10,760 Speaker 1: to draw a hard line in the way the Dead 127 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:16,680 Speaker 1: performed live. The Grateful Dead had survived to split as 128 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:19,760 Speaker 1: a band, but their live act had not. The beginning 129 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:22,080 Speaker 1: of their shows were now a deep exploration of the 130 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:25,680 Speaker 1: outer rim of the universe, jazzy acid soaked fits of 131 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:29,840 Speaker 1: improv over a complex structures, and they would then downshift 132 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:33,280 Speaker 1: into the folk influenced ballads and old weird Americana that 133 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:37,120 Speaker 1: Jerry and Robert Hunter were obsessed with. At this point, 134 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:40,680 Speaker 1: Pigpen would finally emerge from where he'd been tucked away 135 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:43,520 Speaker 1: off to the side of the stage, leaving the congoes 136 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 1: behind to take center stage and deliver a hard driving 137 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:50,120 Speaker 1: set of R and B. This was where a Pigpen shine. 138 00:08:50,760 --> 00:08:53,840 Speaker 1: He was in his element, dancing, hollering and enticing the 139 00:08:53,880 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 1: audience to find someone to take home with him. And 140 00:08:56,559 --> 00:08:59,280 Speaker 1: it worked. The audience would give the energy back to 141 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:02,360 Speaker 1: pig Pen, feeding into his act, creating a call and 142 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:05,959 Speaker 1: response of pure ecstasy that pig Pen would digest and return. 143 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:10,199 Speaker 1: It was a perfect cyclical movement of experience and understanding 144 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:12,760 Speaker 1: that this was a really good time and there was 145 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:15,000 Speaker 1: no other place you needed to be but right here, 146 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:20,120 Speaker 1: right now. Big Pen stage presence was magnifying, It was electrifying, 147 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:23,160 Speaker 1: It was carnal. But that wasn't where the Dead were headed. 148 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:26,800 Speaker 1: They all knew it. Jerry had insisted for a while 149 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:30,600 Speaker 1: the Pigpen needed his time center stage. Hell, just look 150 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:33,480 Speaker 1: at the back cover of ox and Oxoa. Ron McKernan 151 00:09:33,559 --> 00:09:36,080 Speaker 1: may not be listed as a musician, but he's pictured 152 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:38,760 Speaker 1: at the very center of the Grateful Dead family, lounging 153 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:41,840 Speaker 1: on the lawn, surrounded by other band members, good friends 154 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:44,720 Speaker 1: of the band, and children, including a five year old 155 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:47,640 Speaker 1: girl that for a time was alleged to be Courtney Love, 156 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 1: despite Love herself claiming it was her and the photo 157 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:53,439 Speaker 1: it was later proven to be Bill's daughter, who was 158 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:56,720 Speaker 1: the same age. Regardless, it would make sense that Courtney 159 00:09:56,720 --> 00:09:59,240 Speaker 1: Love would be there in the picture inheriting the don't 160 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:01,959 Speaker 1: give a fu atitude that is steaming off pig Pen 161 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:05,800 Speaker 1: in that classic photograph. Pig Pen was the best showman 162 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:07,960 Speaker 1: of the lot. And when he was singing Midnight Hour, 163 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:11,840 Speaker 1: Turn on your Lovelight, something happened in the audience, something 164 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:14,640 Speaker 1: happened to the audience, something that nobody else in the 165 00:10:14,679 --> 00:10:17,760 Speaker 1: band could elictit. Just look at how everything revolves around 166 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:19,920 Speaker 1: him in that portrait. He didn't need to have an 167 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:23,280 Speaker 1: instrument beside his name. He was Pigpen at the center 168 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:25,800 Speaker 1: of the Grateful Dead, and he held it all together. 169 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:30,559 Speaker 1: And besides, pig Pen could close a show like a motherfucker. 170 00:10:31,480 --> 00:10:34,640 Speaker 1: The cracks were starting to show, even on songs Pigpen 171 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:38,760 Speaker 1: like to perform. Extended jams on lovel would inevitably cause 172 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:43,080 Speaker 1: Pigpen to become detached, disassociated, disinterested. He would sing his 173 00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:45,880 Speaker 1: verses and then vamp on something basic while the rest 174 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:48,520 Speaker 1: of the Grateful Dead took off in their spaceship, and 175 00:10:48,679 --> 00:10:51,440 Speaker 1: that's when it was time to sip Thunderbird by the 176 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:54,320 Speaker 1: time until the song came to a close, and only 177 00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:56,679 Speaker 1: then would pig Pen finally hop back in and give 178 00:10:56,679 --> 00:10:59,240 Speaker 1: it on a st effort. And that ship wasn't working 179 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:01,920 Speaker 1: for Jerry. That ship wasn't working for the debt because 180 00:11:01,920 --> 00:11:04,280 Speaker 1: where they were going wasn't anywhere remotely close to where 181 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:08,080 Speaker 1: they had been, and for Pigman that meant trouble ahead. 182 00:11:36,800 --> 00:11:40,439 Speaker 1: The sun spilled on the pig Pen's face. He looked 183 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:43,800 Speaker 1: over at his girl, V, who was still asleep, and smiled. 184 00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:47,000 Speaker 1: He wasn't like the girls on the road or the 185 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:51,480 Speaker 1: girls who came before. V was special. What they had 186 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:56,040 Speaker 1: together was special. Where they were was special. It was 187 00:11:56,160 --> 00:12:00,679 Speaker 1: nine and they were at Mickey Hart's ranch in Nevada, California, 188 00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:03,640 Speaker 1: some thirty miles away from the madness of the Hay 189 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:08,400 Speaker 1: and pig Pen Well, pig Pen was happy. Pig pulled 190 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:10,600 Speaker 1: himself out of bed and fetched a bottle and went 191 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:13,920 Speaker 1: for a smoke on the porch. The mid morning sun 192 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:17,840 Speaker 1: filled the entire scene with a warm yellow glow. Large 193 00:12:17,880 --> 00:12:21,439 Speaker 1: ancient trees, dogs running, the sound of hands clucking in 194 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:26,560 Speaker 1: the extended grateful Dead family's children playing nearby. It was serene, 195 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:30,440 Speaker 1: and Pigpens strapped on his pistol, wasn't playing at being 196 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:34,280 Speaker 1: a cowboy anymore. Hell he was a cowboy, and so 197 00:12:34,400 --> 00:12:36,840 Speaker 1: were the rest of the Dead. The band wasn't just 198 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:40,560 Speaker 1: dabbling in country western music. They were riding horses, taking 199 00:12:40,679 --> 00:12:44,880 Speaker 1: target practice on the range, and raising chickens. Mickey leased 200 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:47,320 Speaker 1: the firm just a few months before as an attempt 201 00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:50,559 Speaker 1: to escape the insanity that was San Francisco, and an 202 00:12:50,679 --> 00:12:54,319 Speaker 1: escape was what they all needed. Pig and v joined 203 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:56,599 Speaker 1: Mickey first, and then one by one, the rest of 204 00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:59,480 Speaker 1: the band made their way out. The friends, family and 205 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:03,200 Speaker 1: other music were rotated on and off the property. Of course, 206 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:06,840 Speaker 1: there were also various dealers providing any chemical the group desired, 207 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:08,920 Speaker 1: and even some Hell's Angels made the journey have to 208 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:11,880 Speaker 1: check out Mickey's firm, and the angels may have dressed 209 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:14,600 Speaker 1: the same as Pick, but they weren't necessarily as five. 210 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:19,079 Speaker 1: Regardless of the constant guests and hangers on, the fourteen 211 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:22,280 Speaker 1: acre piece of land became a respite, a chance for 212 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:25,800 Speaker 1: the dead to slow down. They hadn't been watching their 213 00:13:25,840 --> 00:13:29,160 Speaker 1: speed at all, and the experimentation in all aspects of 214 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:31,200 Speaker 1: the group's life was putting them on a fast track 215 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:34,760 Speaker 1: to a burnout. The drugs, the music, the living arrangements, 216 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:38,840 Speaker 1: it was all starting to catch up on Mickey's firm. 217 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:42,439 Speaker 1: After long days of firing rifles and riding horses, the 218 00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:46,040 Speaker 1: Grateful Dead would play music once again. The sound was 219 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:49,520 Speaker 1: taking a new direction. In This new direction was, in 220 00:13:49,559 --> 00:13:52,280 Speaker 1: no small part another reaction to what was going on 221 00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:56,800 Speaker 1: at the time. The complexities of psychedelia had worn out 222 00:13:56,800 --> 00:14:00,440 Speaker 1: their welcome, walking hand in hand with the downwards biral 223 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:04,000 Speaker 1: of the end of the nineteen sixties. The decade began 224 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:08,520 Speaker 1: with such hopefulness, and it was punctuated by tragedy. Martin 225 00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:12,920 Speaker 1: Luther King shot dead, Bobby Kennedy gunned down just months later, 226 00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:18,360 Speaker 1: everyone feeling like they're fixing a die Hannoi Watts, Chicago, Detroit, 227 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:22,360 Speaker 1: and the malaise of the sixties left the country feeling hungover, 228 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:25,760 Speaker 1: just like the Dead felt with their music. That's what 229 00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:28,640 Speaker 1: the new direction was all about. Bob Dylan, the Band, 230 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:31,720 Speaker 1: the Birds, Buffalo, Springfield, they were all doing it, reaching 231 00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:35,960 Speaker 1: back that old weird America, the roots, the folk ways, 232 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:42,200 Speaker 1: the stuff the Dead had vibed on in their earliest days. Jerry, 233 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:44,720 Speaker 1: Bob and Phil began to write new tunes with Robert 234 00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:48,560 Speaker 1: Hunter's lyrics. Robert was quickly becoming the eighth member of 235 00:14:48,600 --> 00:14:51,560 Speaker 1: the group. They did the old style their peers were 236 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:54,840 Speaker 1: championing in a new way, though, putting the grateful Dead 237 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:58,360 Speaker 1: stamp on it. Something close to what country rock singer 238 00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:04,480 Speaker 1: Graham Parsons would describe best cosmic American music. Another cosmic Cowboys, 239 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:07,920 Speaker 1: Steven Stills, had become a frequent visitor to Mickey's farm. 240 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:10,680 Speaker 1: The Dead thought Crosby Stills in nash had some far 241 00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:14,920 Speaker 1: out vibrations. Influenced by their friends group, Jerry, Bob and 242 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:18,040 Speaker 1: Phil began to experiment with vocal harmonies, a style that 243 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:20,640 Speaker 1: would become a new hallmark of the Dead sound. But 244 00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:24,360 Speaker 1: once again, this new way left little room for Pigpen. 245 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:28,280 Speaker 1: Pig was still invisible for a majority of the Dead shows. 246 00:15:28,800 --> 00:15:31,320 Speaker 1: Night after night, he'd hang back, beating his congas and 247 00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:34,360 Speaker 1: pounding beers during the jazz up songs of Osa Maksoa. 248 00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:37,160 Speaker 1: And when he did finally step to the keys and 249 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:40,680 Speaker 1: mike to take lead vocals on his signature tunes, he'd 250 00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:44,720 Speaker 1: turned his organ down during the extended jams. Night after night, 251 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:47,520 Speaker 1: Pigpen refused to take the musical trip with the rest 252 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:50,440 Speaker 1: of the Grateful Dead, just to see had refused those 253 00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:54,320 Speaker 1: other mind altering trips. The night after night, Jerry Garcia 254 00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:58,880 Speaker 1: shot Pigpen looks on stage, the ones that simultaneously tried 255 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:02,840 Speaker 1: to keep him honest also urge him on. The rest 256 00:16:02,880 --> 00:16:05,040 Speaker 1: of the members of the Dead knew something was amiss, 257 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:09,360 Speaker 1: but Pigpen was hard to read, always positive, always open. 258 00:16:10,240 --> 00:16:12,640 Speaker 1: It's not like his drinking habits or some great insight 259 00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:15,880 Speaker 1: into his inner emotional state. Drinking was what it had 260 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:21,600 Speaker 1: always been and every day, all day occupation. Pigpen didn't 261 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:24,040 Speaker 1: complain about his place in the band, on stage or 262 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:26,640 Speaker 1: on an album. He simply showed up and did what 263 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:29,160 Speaker 1: was asked of him, no matter how minimal the contribution. 264 00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:33,080 Speaker 1: The band had nothing but love for their brother. They 265 00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:35,720 Speaker 1: stuffed pig Pen songs at every set and found new 266 00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:39,240 Speaker 1: songs that could become future Pigpen standards like Otis Reddings 267 00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:43,000 Speaker 1: hard to handle in the Rascals Good Loving. The band 268 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:45,680 Speaker 1: didn't necessarily want to move in an R and B direction. 269 00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:48,600 Speaker 1: It was all done and more of an effort to 270 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:53,360 Speaker 1: keep Pigpen motivated and engaged. When Pigpen was engaged, he 271 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:56,360 Speaker 1: was a force of nature. So was his half bike 272 00:16:56,440 --> 00:17:00,520 Speaker 1: or half cowboy image. Pigpen's face graced the first piece 273 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:03,320 Speaker 1: of merchandise to Dead ever made a T shirt with 274 00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:08,440 Speaker 1: text Pigpen under his silhouetted likeness. The Pigpen lookalike contest 275 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:11,160 Speaker 1: was currently being used to promote their new album, an 276 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:15,240 Speaker 1: album Pigpen hadn't even worked on. Pigpen didn't want the fame, 277 00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:17,640 Speaker 1: he didn't want the notoriety. He didn't even really care 278 00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:20,240 Speaker 1: about success. He just wanted to play the blues with 279 00:17:20,320 --> 00:17:23,879 Speaker 1: his friends. And those thoughts ran through Pigpen's head as 280 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:26,560 Speaker 1: he listened to Jerry ram Belong to Rolling Stone writer 281 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:29,960 Speaker 1: Michael Lydon about acid Rock, the Pranksters, and Ken Kiss. 282 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:33,840 Speaker 1: Rolling Stone labeled Jerry the source of the Dead's magic, 283 00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:37,119 Speaker 1: fill his other half, and said that pig was not 284 00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:40,359 Speaker 1: primarily a musician, as if he was being given a 285 00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:45,359 Speaker 1: chance to be. But still, despite that backhanded compliment or 286 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:48,680 Speaker 1: whatever it was, there was Pig's face, the non musician, 287 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:51,200 Speaker 1: the odd man out on the fucking cover of Rolling 288 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:57,879 Speaker 1: Stone magazine with his brothers, the grateful Dead weren't reaching 289 00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:00,719 Speaker 1: a peak, and they weren't being eclipsed by other groups, 290 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:04,080 Speaker 1: and they weren't fading into obscurity. The Grateful Dead had 291 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:08,000 Speaker 1: staying power, hence the rolling Stone cover, and their popularity 292 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:11,639 Speaker 1: was only growing. That popularity landed them a spot in 293 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:14,400 Speaker 1: the Woodstock lineup in the summer of nineteen sixty nine. 294 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:17,440 Speaker 1: It was a clear indicator that the movement they had 295 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:19,960 Speaker 1: helped spark on the West Coast was a national, if 296 00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:23,600 Speaker 1: not global, phenomenon. But just because the Dead were on 297 00:18:23,640 --> 00:18:26,800 Speaker 1: the fast track to enduring fame didn't mean that cracks 298 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:30,439 Speaker 1: weren't starting to appear, not just in the band's organization, 299 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:34,960 Speaker 1: the whole damn movement. Woodstock may have projected the ideals 300 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:38,840 Speaker 1: of peace, love and understanding, but they were momentary, if 301 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:41,520 Speaker 1: they were real at all, And as the decade drew 302 00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:44,359 Speaker 1: to a close, something dark waited in the wings for 303 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:48,840 Speaker 1: that wide eyed hopefulness. Another concert was waiting, one that 304 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:52,200 Speaker 1: would expose the supposed bliss of Woodstock as nothing more 305 00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:56,120 Speaker 1: than a fantasy, a dream. I would say, total bunk. 306 00:18:56,720 --> 00:18:59,960 Speaker 1: There was no peace, no love. There was just the sea, 307 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:03,159 Speaker 1: the underbelly, the thing that had always been there, and 308 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:06,800 Speaker 1: the thing that always would. The devil would have his due. 309 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:20,520 Speaker 1: We'll be right back after this word we were. Pig 310 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:22,760 Speaker 1: Pen sat in the back of the park bus, white 311 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:26,200 Speaker 1: knuckling a bottle of Southern Comfort. He slowly brought the 312 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:29,639 Speaker 1: bottle to his mouth with a shaky hand. Things hadn't 313 00:19:29,640 --> 00:19:33,360 Speaker 1: gone his planning. Quite the opposite, really. The Free Concert 314 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:36,320 Speaker 1: was supposed to be a companion piece to Woodstock, but 315 00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:39,960 Speaker 1: things went wrong from the jump. The concert was originally 316 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:43,200 Speaker 1: slated for the picturesque Golden Gate Park, with the San 317 00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:47,199 Speaker 1: Francisco City Council had enough of the whole hippie experience 318 00:19:47,240 --> 00:19:50,399 Speaker 1: and the venue changed last minute to this dusty spit 319 00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:53,760 Speaker 1: of land. Mickey Heart's Farm had been considered as an 320 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:57,600 Speaker 1: option at one point. Pig Pen would have preferred Nicky's firm. 321 00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:01,679 Speaker 1: But here they were at Altamont Speedway. Pig took another 322 00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:04,760 Speaker 1: poll of soco. It wasn't taking the edge off as 323 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:07,200 Speaker 1: he had hoped. He should have known that the edge 324 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:09,359 Speaker 1: would be there for a damn long time. The minut 325 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:13,160 Speaker 1: he saw the Hell's angels, and the librations were negative 326 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:15,800 Speaker 1: from the second. The grateful that arrived forced to wait 327 00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:18,480 Speaker 1: around for hours while a helicopter ferry musicians over to 328 00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:22,640 Speaker 1: the venue. Just like Woodstock, the concert site was woefully 329 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:25,560 Speaker 1: underprepared for the amount of people who would arrive, and 330 00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:29,199 Speaker 1: the place became nearly inaccessible by car. The place was 331 00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:33,760 Speaker 1: also slowly becoming a war zone. Jefferson airplane set went 332 00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:37,000 Speaker 1: sideways when guitarists already bowing, got himself knocked out by 333 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:40,200 Speaker 1: a Hell's angel. Stephen Stills was stabbed in the leg 334 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:42,400 Speaker 1: by another house angel who was off his rock around 335 00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:45,480 Speaker 1: amphetamins and beer. Mick Jagger had been punched in the 336 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:48,359 Speaker 1: face by a fan when the Rolling Stones arrived via helicopter, 337 00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:51,720 Speaker 1: and now the Grateful Dead were being told to stay 338 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:54,600 Speaker 1: in their truck until they took the stage. I'm not 339 00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:58,000 Speaker 1: fucking going out there, man Jerry, repeated his new mantra 340 00:20:58,080 --> 00:20:59,480 Speaker 1: at the front of the truck they had been told 341 00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:03,200 Speaker 1: to waiting. His wife, Mountain Girl, tried to settle him 342 00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:06,440 Speaker 1: down and hope some grass would do the trick. It didn't. 343 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:09,280 Speaker 1: Pigpen peered out of the truck window at the chaos 344 00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:12,240 Speaker 1: it was taking place. He watched as a few angels 345 00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:14,920 Speaker 1: roughed up and making man just a few dozen yards away. 346 00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:18,040 Speaker 1: Pig Pen shook his head and rock Scully had been 347 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:21,200 Speaker 1: obsessed with the idea of Dead sharing a stage with Stones. 348 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:24,399 Speaker 1: The concept of the free show to give back to 349 00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:27,159 Speaker 1: the fans was tried and true in the Dead's world, 350 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:30,480 Speaker 1: but watching the chaos and fold, Pigpen had to ask 351 00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:34,720 Speaker 1: himself was it all worth it? Which one of the 352 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:37,040 Speaker 1: Dead would be the next victim of the concert's madness. 353 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:41,000 Speaker 1: That was the question on everyone's mind was on Pigpen's 354 00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:43,760 Speaker 1: mind too, but he also wondered how the funck he 355 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:47,560 Speaker 1: even got there in the first place. Just a few 356 00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:50,240 Speaker 1: months ago, things have been looking up. The Grateful Dead 357 00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:52,720 Speaker 1: had wrapped up their contract with Warner Brothers. Their three 358 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:54,520 Speaker 1: album deal had come to an end, and so of 359 00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:57,840 Speaker 1: the Dead's run with Psychedelia. That was a net positive 360 00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:00,200 Speaker 1: for pig who didn't fit in with the music any out. 361 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:03,040 Speaker 1: The tunes they have been crafting up at Mickey's firm 362 00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:05,760 Speaker 1: were a start, but they needed to take them on 363 00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:08,440 Speaker 1: the road and test them out. That's just what they did. 364 00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:12,679 Speaker 1: Robert hunter Pen lyrics like Uncle John's Band, Dire Wolf 365 00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:15,480 Speaker 1: and Cumberland Blues, and the group had brought the songs 366 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:18,480 Speaker 1: to life and sets throughout the year. The new songs 367 00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:22,240 Speaker 1: described lost souls in old American towns, cold winters, way 368 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:27,080 Speaker 1: up nors, and Appalachian traditions. They also contained open commentary 369 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:29,199 Speaker 1: on the summer of love and it's fallout and what 370 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:32,520 Speaker 1: maybe it had all really meant. It wasn't just a 371 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:37,520 Speaker 1: new direction, it was a hard reset. Another unrecorded song 372 00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:42,000 Speaker 1: debut in nine nine was easy Wind, a song influenced 373 00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:44,400 Speaker 1: chiefly by the music and legend of Delta blues man 374 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:48,600 Speaker 1: Robert Johnson. A song about a hard drinking highwayman who 375 00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:51,600 Speaker 1: just keeps showing up to work day after day, chipping 376 00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:54,520 Speaker 1: away at the road, knowing it'll someday bring someone in 377 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:58,360 Speaker 1: the right direction. A song about desperation and about knowing 378 00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:02,600 Speaker 1: that the end is near, of pushing forward. Nonetheless, words 379 00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:05,280 Speaker 1: that Robert Hunter had written with pig Pen in mind, 380 00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:10,399 Speaker 1: and though Robert may have only associated the song with 381 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:13,760 Speaker 1: pig Pen because of its style and performance, the lyrics 382 00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:17,240 Speaker 1: were starting to fit in a most appropriate way. Pig 383 00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:19,440 Speaker 1: Pen had been hammering away at the blues his whole 384 00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:22,240 Speaker 1: life and his whole career with a grateful dead He 385 00:23:22,359 --> 00:23:24,760 Speaker 1: kept his head down, did what was asked of him, 386 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:28,600 Speaker 1: and always kept the bottle handy during downtime. That fact 387 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:31,240 Speaker 1: wasn't lost on the rest of the band. That's why 388 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:33,520 Speaker 1: it made sense to kick around the idea of pig 389 00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:37,240 Speaker 1: Pen cutting a solo album. Pig hit the studio as 390 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:40,960 Speaker 1: Jerry Bob. In some session positions. They recorded some old 391 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:44,520 Speaker 1: country songs, but the full project never came to fruition. 392 00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:49,119 Speaker 1: The Dead's first ever recording contract with Warner Brothers and 393 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:52,359 Speaker 1: pig Pen solo album recording session served as a glorified 394 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:56,400 Speaker 1: scouting session to check out other companies facilities. The pig 395 00:23:56,440 --> 00:23:59,480 Speaker 1: Pen solo album faded into obscurity and legend as of 396 00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:02,320 Speaker 1: what could ben moment in rock and roll, and while 397 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:04,639 Speaker 1: pig Pen settled into his new role at the bottom 398 00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:07,400 Speaker 1: of The Dead's hierarchy, he began to spend more time 399 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:10,680 Speaker 1: on his own. It was already like point teeth to 400 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:12,960 Speaker 1: get Pigpen out of his hotel room on a typical day, 401 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:15,840 Speaker 1: but now he wouldn't even enjoy off days with the band. 402 00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:19,159 Speaker 1: He often chose to stay in his room, drink and 403 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:22,520 Speaker 1: maybe play a little acoustic guitar. The rest of the group, 404 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:25,679 Speaker 1: the managers and the roadies, had to try desperately to 405 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:30,240 Speaker 1: convince pig Pen to emerge from his cave, and that's 406 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:32,960 Speaker 1: exactly where he was now, seated in the back of 407 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:36,960 Speaker 1: the bus by himself. As the alarming anarchy of Altamont 408 00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:40,280 Speaker 1: was unfolding around their little bubble, it was time to 409 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:42,320 Speaker 1: make a decision on whether they would play or not. 410 00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:44,919 Speaker 1: It was an easy one. Every single member of the 411 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:48,480 Speaker 1: Dead was fucking out. They booked it for the chopper. 412 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:52,520 Speaker 1: Bad crammed into the cabin and took off. While the 413 00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:55,600 Speaker 1: Dead were airborne, the Rolling Stones took the stage, and 414 00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:59,320 Speaker 1: the night descended further and further into chaos. The Hell's 415 00:24:59,359 --> 00:25:02,200 Speaker 1: Angels that beca infuriated with a long day of smashing, 416 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:06,080 Speaker 1: saucerrided concert goers, and the saucerided concert goers were sick 417 00:25:06,119 --> 00:25:09,240 Speaker 1: of the Hell's Angels. One fan rushed the stage with 418 00:25:09,320 --> 00:25:11,399 Speaker 1: a pistol in the middle of the Rolling Stone set 419 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:15,280 Speaker 1: the Hell's Angels stabbing to death on the spot. Another 420 00:25:15,320 --> 00:25:19,080 Speaker 1: man drowned in nearby irrigation ditch. Two more were run 421 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:21,600 Speaker 1: over at their campsite. Someone tried to jump off a 422 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:24,320 Speaker 1: fort overpass after taking too much of whatever he was 423 00:25:24,359 --> 00:25:27,879 Speaker 1: taking and shattered his pelvis, And there were fights everywhere. 424 00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:30,800 Speaker 1: Traffic to. The venue was backed up for twenty miles. 425 00:25:31,119 --> 00:25:34,080 Speaker 1: There were a hundred bathrooms for three hundred thousand people, 426 00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:38,480 Speaker 1: and there was speed, cocaine, LSD and rivers of alcohol 427 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:43,399 Speaker 1: everywhere you looked. The Grateful Dead had evacuated just in 428 00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:45,760 Speaker 1: time to miss the worst of it, But they were 429 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:48,359 Speaker 1: scheduled to play another show that evening, and they backed 430 00:25:48,400 --> 00:25:51,440 Speaker 1: out of that one too. The scene at Alton had 431 00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:56,160 Speaker 1: shaken them, and it would soon shape The world had 432 00:25:56,200 --> 00:25:59,159 Speaker 1: become the end of something hopeful in the beginning of 433 00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:27,040 Speaker 1: something sinis Here. Rosemary LaBianca sat on a sofa in 434 00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:30,159 Speaker 1: the living room of her Los Angeles home. She couldn't 435 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:32,480 Speaker 1: stop reading the newspaper article that was laid out on 436 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:35,000 Speaker 1: the coffee table in front of her. It hurt to 437 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:37,840 Speaker 1: read it and reread it, but she couldn't look away. 438 00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:40,960 Speaker 1: Things have been escalating the last few years in her city, 439 00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:45,119 Speaker 1: but this a five person massacre at the home of 440 00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:49,320 Speaker 1: the Hollywood elite. What the hell? Was nobody safe anymore? 441 00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:52,280 Speaker 1: For the rest of the day, she couldn't shake the 442 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:55,520 Speaker 1: anxiety the article had made her feel. But she slept 443 00:26:55,600 --> 00:26:58,959 Speaker 1: hard that night, so hard that she didn't wake up 444 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:01,520 Speaker 1: to the sound of an alarm m or the sound 445 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:05,680 Speaker 1: of birds chirping outside her bedroom window. Instead, she was 446 00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:07,960 Speaker 1: awoken when she was violently dragged out of bed at 447 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:10,919 Speaker 1: gunpoint by a man with shaggy hair and a bushy beard, 448 00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:14,800 Speaker 1: who then tossed her onto her living room floor. Her husband, 449 00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:17,560 Speaker 1: we know, who had fallen asleep on the sofa, had 450 00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:20,200 Speaker 1: his hands tied and was also being held at gunpoint 451 00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:22,280 Speaker 1: by another man with a bushy beard and long hair, 452 00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:26,440 Speaker 1: only this one was slightly shorter. What are you doing, 453 00:27:26,600 --> 00:27:29,880 Speaker 1: Rosemary pleaded, Take whatever you want, please, just just don't 454 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:33,320 Speaker 1: hurt us. The two men looked at each other and grinned. 455 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:36,439 Speaker 1: They covered the couple's heads with pillowcases and tied them 456 00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:39,600 Speaker 1: off of the power chords from some nearby lamps. They 457 00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:43,040 Speaker 1: then bound Rosemary's hands like her husband's. She heard the 458 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:46,520 Speaker 1: men whisper to each other. Footsteps, the back door opened 459 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:50,800 Speaker 1: and closed silence. Rosemary could tell there was one man 460 00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:53,760 Speaker 1: left in the room, and he began to pace, and 461 00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:56,760 Speaker 1: she began to hyper ventily, what do you want from us? 462 00:27:57,480 --> 00:28:01,199 Speaker 1: But before anyone could answer, the door opened again, and 463 00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:04,960 Speaker 1: Rosemary heard a half dozen footsteps, then a barked order 464 00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:07,879 Speaker 1: to throw Rosemary back into the bedroom. As she was 465 00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:10,119 Speaker 1: dragged down the hall, she heard the sound of a 466 00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:13,320 Speaker 1: blade unsheathed, and then the sound of metal through flesh. 467 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:16,440 Speaker 1: She imagined the worst, the thought of her husband lying 468 00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:19,439 Speaker 1: in a pool of his own blood. Her escorts tossed 469 00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:21,840 Speaker 1: her onto the floor of her bedroom. She wouldn't let 470 00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:25,720 Speaker 1: Leno die, not without a fight. Rosemary stood up, pushed 471 00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:27,639 Speaker 1: her a sound with as much violent force as she 472 00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:30,200 Speaker 1: could muster, and then began to swing the lantern around 473 00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:33,720 Speaker 1: her neck. They were stunned and backed away. Then another 474 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:38,320 Speaker 1: terrible silence and more terrible footsteps, a sudden piercing pain, 475 00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:44,840 Speaker 1: then darkness. When the police arrived the next day, they 476 00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:48,000 Speaker 1: found the bodies of Rosemary and Lena la Bianca mutilated 477 00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:50,960 Speaker 1: in their house. The words of rise and desk to 478 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:54,440 Speaker 1: pigs have been painted on the wall, and blood helter 479 00:28:54,560 --> 00:28:58,080 Speaker 1: Skelter was smeared in the same red stain across the fridge. 480 00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:03,160 Speaker 1: Months later, Charles Manson and members of his so called 481 00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:07,320 Speaker 1: family were arrested. They were charged not only with the 482 00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:10,720 Speaker 1: murder of the La Bancas, but with the infamous massacre 483 00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:14,040 Speaker 1: at the home of Roman Polanski and Sharon Tape. The 484 00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:17,560 Speaker 1: one Rosemary had read about in the paper. Much like 485 00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:20,400 Speaker 1: the Grateful Dead, and like many social groups during that time, 486 00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:24,120 Speaker 1: Charles Manson had organized communital Living to pursue a new 487 00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:29,760 Speaker 1: means of life outside of society, free, liberated. But unlike 488 00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:34,120 Speaker 1: Grateful Dead, Charles Manson's motives were not pure. He had 489 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:38,000 Speaker 1: studied theology, psychology, and culture and took advantage of the 490 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:41,040 Speaker 1: idealism about the sixties to manipulate wide eyed youth into 491 00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:45,320 Speaker 1: joining his fucked up family. He indoctrinated them, fed them lies, 492 00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:49,240 Speaker 1: and brainwashed them. Manson twisted the counterculture values of the 493 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:52,120 Speaker 1: time to suit his own needs. It was an extreme 494 00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:55,120 Speaker 1: manifestation of the hates flood of young kids looking to 495 00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:58,320 Speaker 1: be absorbed into the scene of the mess at Altamont, 496 00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:01,280 Speaker 1: of the continued commodification and marketing of the hippies and 497 00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:05,320 Speaker 1: rock and roll. It was horrifying and something had to give, 498 00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:10,440 Speaker 1: and as the nineteen sixties gave way to the nineteen seventies, 499 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:14,440 Speaker 1: the country was in need of a hard reset, and 500 00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:17,680 Speaker 1: so were the Grateful Dead. The Dead needed to get 501 00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:20,600 Speaker 1: off the merry go round, strip away all the unnecessary 502 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:23,600 Speaker 1: elements of their sound and style. Pig Pen was on 503 00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:26,600 Speaker 1: board for all that he was hopeful that they returned 504 00:30:26,600 --> 00:30:29,480 Speaker 1: from their intergalactic elisd trip and come back to Earth, 505 00:30:29,920 --> 00:30:32,080 Speaker 1: allowing him to catch up, or they caught their breath. 506 00:30:33,960 --> 00:30:37,640 Speaker 1: The grateful Dead weren't slowing down, they were simply changing 507 00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:43,960 Speaker 1: their perspective. Pig Pen, unfortunately, would never catch up. Altimont 508 00:30:44,080 --> 00:30:47,240 Speaker 1: ended in chaos, and the calendar flipped from December nineteen 509 00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:51,160 Speaker 1: sixty nine to January seventy and it was all there 510 00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:53,480 Speaker 1: on the final track of the record released in December 511 00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:55,840 Speaker 1: by the band, the headline that faithful day at Altimont, 512 00:30:56,520 --> 00:30:59,640 Speaker 1: the feeling in the air, the rejection of nostalgia, the 513 00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:04,000 Speaker 1: new cynicism. It all stared the world directly in the face. 514 00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:08,800 Speaker 1: The sixties. Like pig Her, other vigor and misplaced effort 515 00:31:09,080 --> 00:31:13,960 Speaker 1: were ultimately unsuccessful. Everything would become abundantly clear and just 516 00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:17,760 Speaker 1: like the man said, you can't always get what you want. 517 00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:24,560 Speaker 1: Um Jake Brennan and This is the Tony seven Club 518 00:31:36,960 --> 00:31:40,040 Speaker 1: Club is hosted and produced by me Jake Brennan for 519 00:31:40,120 --> 00:31:44,320 Speaker 1: Double Elvis in partnership with I Heart Radio. Zeth Lundie 520 00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:47,320 Speaker 1: is the lead writer and co producer. This episode was 521 00:31:47,400 --> 00:31:51,360 Speaker 1: mixed by Joel Edinburgh. Additional music and score elements by 522 00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:54,840 Speaker 1: Ryan Spraaker and Henry Luneta. This episode was written by 523 00:31:54,880 --> 00:31:59,160 Speaker 1: ted Omo, story and copy ending by Pata Healey. Sources 524 00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:01,960 Speaker 1: for this episode and are available at Double Elvis dot 525 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:05,239 Speaker 1: com on the twenty seven Club series page, talk to 526 00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:07,720 Speaker 1: me on Social act, Disgrace lad pod, and hang out 527 00:32:07,760 --> 00:32:10,800 Speaker 1: with me live on a Twitch channel Disgrace lad Talks. 528 00:32:10,840 --> 00:32:13,600 Speaker 1: For more news on your favorite podcast, follow at Double 529 00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:21,800 Speaker 1: Elvis on Instagram. Rocar ROLLA what's up for your is