1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:09,959 Speaker 1: Okay, Double Elvis Club is the production of I Heart 2 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:17,159 Speaker 1: Radio and Double Elvis. Ron Pigpen mccernan died at the 3 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:20,919 Speaker 1: age of and he lived a life that often changed 4 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:23,400 Speaker 1: too quickly for him to ever grab hold of it. 5 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:26,800 Speaker 1: I can give you twenty seven reasons why that statement 6 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:29,880 Speaker 1: is true. Eight would be the number of songs on 7 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:33,200 Speaker 1: The Grateful Dead's first album that he didn't sing lead on, 8 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:36,080 Speaker 1: only a year after he had been the group's focal point. 9 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:39,280 Speaker 1: Another five will be the number of days the Grateful 10 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:43,720 Speaker 1: Dead recorded that album, expediting their typically slower process and 11 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:47,400 Speaker 1: leaving them disappointed with the outcome. Three more would be 12 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:49,640 Speaker 1: the number of days the group spent at the Monterey 13 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:52,440 Speaker 1: Pop Festival, where they worked on a scheme to subvert 14 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:55,639 Speaker 1: the greedy promoters and movie producers looking to cash in 15 00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:59,000 Speaker 1: on their homegrown scene. Another two would be the number 16 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:01,440 Speaker 1: of hundreds of thousands who would watch The Dead at 17 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:04,720 Speaker 1: that festival. Three more will be the number of decades 18 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:07,680 Speaker 1: of jail time Pigpen faced when police found a pound 19 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:10,360 Speaker 1: of hash in the Dead's communal house and the hate 20 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:13,360 Speaker 1: in Six would be the number of hours he'd sweat 21 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:16,479 Speaker 1: it out into San Francisco courthouse, waiting to make bail 22 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:22,920 Speaker 1: all totally on this our fourth episode of season five, 23 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:26,479 Speaker 1: sidelined in the studio, cashing in on a home grown 24 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:30,119 Speaker 1: scene thirty years for a Pound of Grass, and Ron 25 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:36,319 Speaker 1: Pigpen mccarnin I'm Jake Brennan in This is the Club. 26 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:24,040 Speaker 1: H Warner Brothers record executive Joe Smith didn't know what 27 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:27,280 Speaker 1: the funk was going on at the Avalon Ballroom. Just 28 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:30,040 Speaker 1: an hour before, he was having a quiet dinner with 29 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:34,080 Speaker 1: his wife in a respectable San Francisco restaurant. Now he 30 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:38,920 Speaker 1: was subjected to, well, whatever the hell this was? The Avalon, 31 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:41,919 Speaker 1: not a large venue by any stretch of the imagination, 32 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:45,399 Speaker 1: was walled wall with kids wearing outlandish clothes, and some 33 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 1: without many clothes at all, somewhere on the floor, laying 34 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:52,399 Speaker 1: on their backs, their bodies painted, smoking cigarettes. And there 35 00:02:52,440 --> 00:02:55,200 Speaker 1: was Joe, buttoned up in a navy blue suit and 36 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:58,280 Speaker 1: slicked back hair. And the kids in the ballroom may 37 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 1: have been on another planet, but O was the one 38 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:04,560 Speaker 1: who looked like an alien. The crowd around him danced, sang, 39 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:08,560 Speaker 1: It seemed to be having near religious experiences. Joe was 40 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 1: desperately trying to steer clear of the spinning teenagers next 41 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:14,440 Speaker 1: to him, desperately trying to see the stage through the 42 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:16,720 Speaker 1: smoke that was filling the room and the light show 43 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:21,560 Speaker 1: that flashed through the haze. When the smoke momentarily cleared, 44 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:25,160 Speaker 1: he caught a good look at the guys on that stage. Really, 45 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:28,839 Speaker 1: this is what the kids were into. The drummer looked 46 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:31,680 Speaker 1: like a mechanic, but Joe had to admit he thought 47 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:34,960 Speaker 1: it out a perfect rock and roll rhythm. The basis 48 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:37,680 Speaker 1: with the golden flowing hair was straight out of a 49 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 1: Lloyd Alexander novel, but he was laying down a foundation 50 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:44,600 Speaker 1: with an expert precision. The pretty boyd guitarists looked all 51 00:03:44,640 --> 00:03:46,600 Speaker 1: of seventeen years old, but he had the voice of 52 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:50,160 Speaker 1: a seasoned folk singer. Then there was the wavy haired 53 00:03:50,160 --> 00:03:54,000 Speaker 1: warlock with only nine fingers who spawned transcendence from his 54 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 1: guitar neeling. And lastly was the keyboardist Leather shoulder Land, 55 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:02,480 Speaker 1: the mob of black hair held in place by a 56 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:06,720 Speaker 1: tribal headpand jet black mustache. He looked like he belonged 57 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:10,120 Speaker 1: in some biker bar out in palm desert, or better yet, 58 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 1: a prison, but he's sang like a blues man of 59 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:15,760 Speaker 1: the highest order, and Joe figured he had to be 60 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:20,240 Speaker 1: the one they called pig Pen. Pig Pen emptied the 61 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:22,680 Speaker 1: canop beer that was sitting on his vox organ. He 62 00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:25,520 Speaker 1: wiped his mouth and grabbed the microphone and stepped to 63 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:27,599 Speaker 1: the front of the stage. As the band wrapped up 64 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:31,919 Speaker 1: the song, he was slow meandering. Was he drunk or 65 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:35,279 Speaker 1: was this part of the performance? Joe couldn't tell. It 66 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:38,680 Speaker 1: didn't seem to matter. Pigpen leaned out over the crowd, 67 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:41,320 Speaker 1: enticing them to give away free love, enticing them to 68 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:43,599 Speaker 1: stop fooling around with themselves and fool around with the 69 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:49,600 Speaker 1: person next to them, enticing them to dance. The band 70 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:52,600 Speaker 1: took flight with Wilson Pickets in the midnight hour, a 71 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:55,679 Speaker 1: top forty hit from the previous year that didn't exactly 72 00:04:55,720 --> 00:04:58,520 Speaker 1: seem like an obvious choice for a cover from this crew, 73 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:01,919 Speaker 1: the pig Pen made it his own. He crooned and 74 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:04,560 Speaker 1: crowed and shouted out lyrics, and the kids dug it. 75 00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:07,760 Speaker 1: They moved their bodies, shaking along to the music, which 76 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:11,719 Speaker 1: didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon. Pig Pan kept rolling, 77 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:13,840 Speaker 1: he kept rapping, he kept rocking, and the music to 78 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:16,279 Speaker 1: come over. It took the band over, and they took 79 00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:19,159 Speaker 1: the room over. A two minute and forty second song 80 00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:23,120 Speaker 1: stretched to nearly twenty minutes. This was what the Grateful 81 00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:27,200 Speaker 1: Dead were all about. Joe couldn't deny the energy. It 82 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:29,479 Speaker 1: was a feeling of cohesion in the room, as if 83 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:32,080 Speaker 1: someone had bottled what was happening in San Francisco had 84 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:35,400 Speaker 1: dumped it into a contained setting. It reminded Joe of 85 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:37,520 Speaker 1: the music he spawned as a DJ ten years ago 86 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:42,159 Speaker 1: back in Boston. But that was the past. This, whatever 87 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:45,520 Speaker 1: it was, it was the new youth movement, the future. 88 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:50,360 Speaker 1: And what was Warner Brothers doing peddling albums by Bob Newhart, 89 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:53,279 Speaker 1: the Everly Brothers, Dean Martin. They were peddling the past. 90 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:56,320 Speaker 1: They needed a new flux of the future in a 91 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:59,600 Speaker 1: bad way. Signing pig Pen and the Dead was a 92 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:06,040 Speaker 1: no rainer. Joe approached the band backstage after the show, 93 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 1: and after refusing several doses of LSD, he gave them 94 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 1: the pitch that the Dead representative major change in music, 95 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:14,960 Speaker 1: and Warner Brothers needed to change in a major way 96 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:19,000 Speaker 1: as well. Two weeks later, they made it official a 97 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:22,640 Speaker 1: record deal, their own slab of wax. It was what 98 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:24,919 Speaker 1: pig had fantasized about since he sat on his parents 99 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:27,919 Speaker 1: living room floor handling his father's records, getting to know 100 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:31,479 Speaker 1: the field of the jackets, studying their sound. Now he 101 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:35,520 Speaker 1: joined his heroes and the grooves. There was one caveat 102 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:38,720 Speaker 1: There were no recording studios in the Bay Area that 103 00:06:38,760 --> 00:06:41,599 Speaker 1: could get the crisp, clean sound that Warner Brothers wanted. 104 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:45,080 Speaker 1: Warners wasn't sucking around. Yes, the Dead could have control 105 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:46,919 Speaker 1: of their music, but they were going to have to 106 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:51,840 Speaker 1: record it professionally. That was non negotiable. Pig pank and 107 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:54,240 Speaker 1: hoot and holler all He wanted to live audiences, but 108 00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:56,480 Speaker 1: this wasn't a live audience of kids with heads full 109 00:06:56,520 --> 00:07:00,400 Speaker 1: of dope. This was the big leagues. So the Dead 110 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:05,919 Speaker 1: jetted down to l A. As the plane dropped an altitude, 111 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:09,320 Speaker 1: Pigpens studied the gridded streets of the city. He thought 112 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:12,960 Speaker 1: of their experience and watts during the previous year. It 113 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:16,640 Speaker 1: weighed heavy on his mind, but not the experience of 114 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:20,040 Speaker 1: bears all meat diet or the war zone asset tests. 115 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:24,960 Speaker 1: What ran through Pigpen's mind was the music. A year ago. 116 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:27,960 Speaker 1: The Dead were continuing their sonic explorations when they got 117 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:30,480 Speaker 1: caught in the whirlwind of Ken Keisi and his pranksters. 118 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:34,280 Speaker 1: Now there were times Pigpen hardly recognized the band at all. 119 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:37,880 Speaker 1: The days of playing blues covers at Magoose Pizza and 120 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:41,000 Speaker 1: those were gone, and the Dead had become some strange, 121 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:45,600 Speaker 1: hybrid and unclassifiable some of its parts, and Pig knew 122 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:49,400 Speaker 1: that his part was getting smaller every day. Pig wondered 123 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:51,240 Speaker 1: what role he'd play on the album. As the band 124 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:53,440 Speaker 1: sat in the waiting room of our Cier studio a 125 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:57,160 Speaker 1: on Sunset Boulevard. The place was an accurate reflection of 126 00:07:57,160 --> 00:08:01,960 Speaker 1: what Warner Brothers was in n Stuck in the nineteen fifties, 127 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:06,840 Speaker 1: oppressively ordinary. The dad looked his out of place at 128 00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:10,760 Speaker 1: the studio as Joe Smith looked at the Avalon ballroom. 129 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:14,320 Speaker 1: Pig smiled at the receptionist. To a surprise, she wasn't 130 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:17,320 Speaker 1: too thrown off. Jefferson Airplane had been there a few 131 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:20,320 Speaker 1: months prior the Rolling Stones the year before, and much 132 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:22,960 Speaker 1: to the receptionist chagrin, she was getting used to these 133 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:27,560 Speaker 1: long hairs. The band was waiting for their producer, David Hassinger, 134 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:30,680 Speaker 1: who had engineered the Stones album after Math the year before, 135 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:33,920 Speaker 1: and it felt fortunate to have landed him. But when 136 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:36,560 Speaker 1: he finally arrived with his slick back hair, white collared 137 00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:39,679 Speaker 1: shirt and gold chain bracelet, the Dead knew they were 138 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 1: in for it. David was a no nonsense old school 139 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:47,440 Speaker 1: record producer brought in by Warners to keep the Dead 140 00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:50,360 Speaker 1: under control. The label was convinced that the band would 141 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:52,520 Speaker 1: take way too long to make a record, so David 142 00:08:52,559 --> 00:08:55,480 Speaker 1: pushed the band. He made them grind the sessions out. 143 00:08:56,320 --> 00:08:59,920 Speaker 1: Pig and Bob Weir, who was currently abstaining from pharmaceuticals, 144 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:02,600 Speaker 1: watched from the sidelines as the rest of the group 145 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:04,679 Speaker 1: gobbled down riddle and to keep up with the pace. 146 00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:09,560 Speaker 1: What resulted was sometimes mannic, sometimes burnt out vibe. It 147 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:11,959 Speaker 1: was almost worse than the Acid. But even worse than 148 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:14,520 Speaker 1: that was how Pig couldn't help but notice the way 149 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:18,320 Speaker 1: the sessions were progressing, song after song after song, and 150 00:09:18,720 --> 00:09:22,120 Speaker 1: still no lead vocal for him. He was the energy 151 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:24,880 Speaker 1: of the band, and now he was truly being sidelined. 152 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:28,720 Speaker 1: Jerry took the lion's share of the tracks, with Bob 153 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:32,400 Speaker 1: cutting in for two, including Viola lee Blues. The only 154 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:35,600 Speaker 1: fucking long form jam on the entire album. The jam 155 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:37,960 Speaker 1: was Pigpen specialty, and the song had been a pig 156 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:41,120 Speaker 1: tune once upon a time, but no more. Hell if 157 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:43,360 Speaker 1: it weren't for Pig with that suit from warners even 158 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:46,440 Speaker 1: have signed the debt. It wasn't until Pigpen opened his 159 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:48,719 Speaker 1: mouth that Joe Smith even got what was going on 160 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:52,000 Speaker 1: with the band's vibe. When it was finally Pigs turned 161 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:55,200 Speaker 1: to step to the plate, things got real, real fast. 162 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:58,000 Speaker 1: And this wasn't rehearsal. Pig knew that if you bitched 163 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:00,360 Speaker 1: too much about how Good Morning the Schoolgirl was supposed 164 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:02,760 Speaker 1: to sound, it wouldn't result in him simply getting sent 165 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:04,920 Speaker 1: home from rehearsal. It would result with him getting cut 166 00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:08,960 Speaker 1: from the record. Pig bit his lip. This was nothing 167 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:11,680 Speaker 1: like he'd imagined it would be. Passing or kept pushing 168 00:10:11,679 --> 00:10:14,920 Speaker 1: the tempo, So did the riddling. Pig couldn't relax, couldn't 169 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:17,720 Speaker 1: get loose like he was used to. Everything was uptight. 170 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:20,440 Speaker 1: This wasn't it, man, This wasn't the dead, This wasn't 171 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:23,320 Speaker 1: playing music because you love music. This felt like a machine. 172 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:27,240 Speaker 1: Pig got it out. His vocal sounded nothing like the 173 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:30,720 Speaker 1: live performances, nothing like it was supposed to sound. The 174 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:35,400 Speaker 1: studio was sterile, claustrophobic. Something was lost here. Pig was 175 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:39,640 Speaker 1: unsatisfied with his track. It didn't matter. The Dead laid 176 00:10:39,679 --> 00:10:42,720 Speaker 1: down some overdubs and that was that. Passing Or rushed 177 00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:44,959 Speaker 1: them out of our cia in just five days, out 178 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:49,880 Speaker 1: of l A and back to the Bay. Joe Smith 179 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:52,080 Speaker 1: and the executives at Warner Brothers didn't hear a single 180 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:55,360 Speaker 1: from the sessions, not one single on the entire album. 181 00:10:55,400 --> 00:10:58,000 Speaker 1: How are they supposed to sell this? Warners demanded another 182 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:01,840 Speaker 1: song be recorded. The Dead hit the San Francisco studio, 183 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:05,000 Speaker 1: one of the ones Warner Brothers had initially deemed unfit, 184 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:07,440 Speaker 1: and laid down a pedal to the metal rave up 185 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:10,680 Speaker 1: that clocked in and just over two minutes it was 186 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:14,640 Speaker 1: called the Golden Road to Unlimited Devotion. The song was 187 00:11:14,679 --> 00:11:17,480 Speaker 1: a distillation of the San Francisco that the Dead new 188 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:21,640 Speaker 1: barefoot girls, neon light diamonds, take off his shoes and 189 00:11:21,679 --> 00:11:24,240 Speaker 1: try on some wings. The parties, the people, the drugs, 190 00:11:24,440 --> 00:11:27,319 Speaker 1: the goodwill, the love, the mood, shaking loose of the 191 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:30,240 Speaker 1: stuff in nineteen fifties and rolling down the winding hills 192 00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:33,240 Speaker 1: of this great city, gathering every free spirited member of 193 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:37,040 Speaker 1: society who dared to open their mind that vibe was 194 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:41,560 Speaker 1: about to become a summer that nobody would ever forget. 195 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:13,480 Speaker 1: Big Brother in the Holding Company were ripping their way 196 00:12:13,559 --> 00:12:16,920 Speaker 1: through Big Mama Thornton's ball and chain. The crowd had 197 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:19,640 Speaker 1: swelled to nearly two hundred thousand, and they were in 198 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:24,559 Speaker 1: awe of Janis Joplin's primordial screen. Pig Pen Jerry Garcia, 199 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:29,440 Speaker 1: ungrateful dead manager Rock Scully watched from the wings. Goddamn 200 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:33,080 Speaker 1: pigs Hot. She was so good. She had the audience 201 00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:35,320 Speaker 1: in the palm of her hand, hanging on every note. 202 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:38,400 Speaker 1: It was hard for Pig to think of Janis is 203 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:41,200 Speaker 1: anything other than the counterpoints who is boosts so blues 204 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:43,720 Speaker 1: in that cabin back in log Anita's. But her star 205 00:12:43,880 --> 00:12:46,720 Speaker 1: had rocketed in the past year. She was no longer 206 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:49,800 Speaker 1: some unknown blues singer in the woods. She was becoming 207 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:53,439 Speaker 1: a household name. And with acts like Janis and Big Brother, 208 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:56,560 Speaker 1: Jimi Hendrix, The Who, and Simon and Garlf Uncle, the 209 00:12:56,600 --> 00:13:00,160 Speaker 1: Monterey Pop Festival was turning into more than an incredible success. 210 00:13:00,559 --> 00:13:03,040 Speaker 1: It was on its way to becoming a defining moment 211 00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:08,520 Speaker 1: tense line of football field of nearby Monterey Peninsula. College 212 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:12,840 Speaker 1: kids and dogs ran free, people bashed out chords and guitars, 213 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:17,400 Speaker 1: right poetry, painted their bodies, meditated and makeshift circles, trip balls, 214 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:20,280 Speaker 1: and the free living, free loving aesthetic. The dead it 215 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:23,280 Speaker 1: conceived of the summer before, had been injected directly into 216 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:28,439 Speaker 1: the mainstream. As Big Brother wrapped up their set, Pig 217 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:31,440 Speaker 1: Jerry and Rock overheard a group of suits arguing about 218 00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:36,000 Speaker 1: getting Janice in the movie and about distribution deals. Thousands 219 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:37,920 Speaker 1: of fans stretched out in front of them. Some of 220 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:40,600 Speaker 1: the most unbelievable music in existence being played in these 221 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:43,960 Speaker 1: heels were talking about money. The movie in question was 222 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:47,160 Speaker 1: a comprehensive document of the Monterey Pop Festival, seemed like 223 00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:49,320 Speaker 1: less of a document and more of a ploy to 224 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:52,440 Speaker 1: capitalize on the counterculture, to make a buck on what, 225 00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:56,520 Speaker 1: to the outside world was the latest trend. These suits 226 00:13:56,600 --> 00:13:58,719 Speaker 1: kept on with their wheeling and dealing, and like the 227 00:13:58,800 --> 00:14:01,080 Speaker 1: music and the people, which is docks to invest in. 228 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:05,240 Speaker 1: The conversation about the commodification of the burgeoning San Francisco 229 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:08,840 Speaker 1: scene all but confirmed the dead suspicions. When the show 230 00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:12,240 Speaker 1: is being planned, festival producers flew out from Sunny l 231 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:15,440 Speaker 1: A to invade the Bay. Record producer Lou Adler and 232 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:17,880 Speaker 1: John Phillips and the Mamas and the Papas worked over 233 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:22,480 Speaker 1: the local bands the dead news something was up, but 234 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:25,880 Speaker 1: they helped anyway. Ship. If Rock Scully hadn't secured the 235 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:29,360 Speaker 1: nearby Monterey Peninsula College football field as a free campground 236 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:31,800 Speaker 1: for the fans, most of the local bands would have 237 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:34,840 Speaker 1: told John Phillips and Lou Adler to go funk themselves. 238 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:40,520 Speaker 1: Pig Pen and Jerry hatched an idea they do something 239 00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:44,040 Speaker 1: these suits couldn't capture on film, some impromptu jams over 240 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 1: on the football field for the community and by the community. 241 00:14:48,240 --> 00:14:51,320 Speaker 1: It need to be easy. Pig and Jerry scrambled around 242 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:54,800 Speaker 1: and following the musicians backstage of their covert plan they'd 243 00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:57,240 Speaker 1: set up in the dark long after the night show 244 00:14:57,280 --> 00:15:00,480 Speaker 1: was over. The campground would get the surprise of life 245 00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:03,440 Speaker 1: because it wasn't supposed to be just a show. It 246 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:08,040 Speaker 1: was supposed to be an experience and experienced Pigpen thought. 247 00:15:08,520 --> 00:15:13,200 Speaker 1: Of course, earlier in the day, Pigpen had struck up 248 00:15:13,200 --> 00:15:15,440 Speaker 1: a conversation with No Reading and Mitch Mitchell as a 249 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:19,640 Speaker 1: Jimmy Hendrix experience. Being two lads from England, they were 250 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:22,120 Speaker 1: pretty much awe struck by every part of the American 251 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:27,280 Speaker 1: blues experience, and they love Pigpens authenticity. They introduced Pigpen 252 00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:31,200 Speaker 1: to Jimmy shortly after, and a friendship was born. Pig 253 00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:35,000 Speaker 1: approached Jimmy about there after hours Clandestine experienced concept and 254 00:15:35,080 --> 00:15:38,280 Speaker 1: jim was in same for David Crosby, Pete Townsend, and 255 00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:43,320 Speaker 1: Eric Burton. But first that evening slate of sets went 256 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:46,600 Speaker 1: ahead as scheduled. There was no way pig Pen was 257 00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:50,760 Speaker 1: missing OTIS reading. Pig Pen was obsessed with OTIS. He 258 00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:53,920 Speaker 1: spawn Otis's records daily. The only person who may have 259 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:58,080 Speaker 1: been more obsessed with OTIS reading was Janice Choplin. Pig 260 00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:02,280 Speaker 1: Pen and Janice watched Otis from stage. Pig's eyes drifted 261 00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:06,240 Speaker 1: to Janice. She was beautiful, but nothing more than a friend. 262 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:09,920 Speaker 1: They shared a bottle. If Pig had any illusions about 263 00:16:09,960 --> 00:16:12,880 Speaker 1: the relationship from the summer before, he no longer did. 264 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:16,000 Speaker 1: Inside of driving each other wild, and they both let 265 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:18,920 Speaker 1: orders reading set do the work, sweating it out like 266 00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:23,280 Speaker 1: a man possessed. After the show, pig and Janice rubbed 267 00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:26,920 Speaker 1: elbows with Otis's entourage backstage. They were headed back to 268 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:30,480 Speaker 1: a nearby motel one, right near where both Big Brother 269 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:34,200 Speaker 1: and the Dead were staying. Janice took the bait, and 270 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:37,240 Speaker 1: then she took things into her own hands. She wasn't 271 00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:43,480 Speaker 1: waiting around. She was going to find artiss room. After midnight, 272 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:46,120 Speaker 1: long after Janice had gone on her search for the 273 00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:48,560 Speaker 1: Big Oh, pig Pen made his way to the football 274 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:51,040 Speaker 1: field on the opposite end of the fair grounds. The 275 00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:53,800 Speaker 1: plan he hatched earlier in the day with Jerry Garcia 276 00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:56,800 Speaker 1: was about to be put into motion. He saw the 277 00:16:56,880 --> 00:17:00,240 Speaker 1: small raised platform where crew members and musicians were setting 278 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:04,000 Speaker 1: up in the dark. They wielded flashlights, carefully assembling an 279 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:06,920 Speaker 1: open form jam space that would provide a more intimate 280 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:10,440 Speaker 1: experience for the fans camping that evening. Many of the 281 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:12,959 Speaker 1: campers couldn't even afford tickets to get into the actual 282 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:17,399 Speaker 1: music festival itself. Just after two in the morning, harmonica 283 00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:21,159 Speaker 1: rang out a makeshift light show illuminated a makeshift band. 284 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:23,679 Speaker 1: Campers who have been put to bed by the sounds 285 00:17:23,680 --> 00:17:26,320 Speaker 1: of Otis writing were shaken out of their slumber by 286 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:30,000 Speaker 1: pig Pen, Jimmie Hendrix, Jerry Garcia in a rotating mix 287 00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:34,720 Speaker 1: of musicians playing just for them, the greatest supergroup that 288 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:38,520 Speaker 1: never was. This was the essence of moderate pop, and 289 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:41,119 Speaker 1: the suits from l A would never capture it on camera. 290 00:17:42,320 --> 00:17:45,080 Speaker 1: Pig Pen returned to the Grateful Dead's motel early the 291 00:17:45,119 --> 00:17:48,120 Speaker 1: next morning. The sun was beginning to rise. He could 292 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:51,360 Speaker 1: barely keep his eyes open. He navigated his way back 293 00:17:51,359 --> 00:17:53,680 Speaker 1: to his room, and just as he inserted the key 294 00:17:53,720 --> 00:17:57,720 Speaker 1: into the door, he heard someone else center the quiet hallway. 295 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:01,800 Speaker 1: It was Janice returning to a room. She smiled as 296 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:05,720 Speaker 1: she passed pig Pen. He smiled back. The following night, 297 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:08,879 Speaker 1: the Dead played their set at Monterey Sandwich. Between the 298 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:11,720 Speaker 1: demolition derby wrought by the Who and the earth shattering 299 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:15,280 Speaker 1: display of raw power by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the 300 00:18:15,359 --> 00:18:18,480 Speaker 1: Dead were stuck in limbo and overlooked. Between those two 301 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:22,800 Speaker 1: performances that night, they realized the music scene was evolving 302 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:26,760 Speaker 1: at an exponential rate in that summer. It seems San 303 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:32,640 Speaker 1: Francisco was as well. We'll be right back after this 304 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:42,000 Speaker 1: word we were. It was nearly noon when pig Pen 305 00:18:42,119 --> 00:18:45,480 Speaker 1: finally pulled himself out of bed. He threw on his bathroom, 306 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:48,919 Speaker 1: opened his bedroom door and walked into the kitchen. He 307 00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:52,520 Speaker 1: tossed an old Chess label LP on the turntable cranked 308 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:54,800 Speaker 1: the volume on the receiver as high as it could go. 309 00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:58,480 Speaker 1: A few minutes later, bacon was frying on the stove top. 310 00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:01,520 Speaker 1: Pig was half way through his first beer of the day, 311 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:04,199 Speaker 1: and he gazed up at the ceiling. It's like I 312 00:19:04,320 --> 00:19:08,879 Speaker 1: even here anymore. Pig listened closely for any sign of life. 313 00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:11,320 Speaker 1: He couldn't even remember the last time he saw his 314 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:16,199 Speaker 1: only remaining roommate. In nineteen sixty six, shortly after the 315 00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:19,240 Speaker 1: Dead returned from their foray into Watts and before they 316 00:19:19,320 --> 00:19:23,080 Speaker 1: checked up to Olam Polly, manager Rock Scully became obsessed 317 00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:25,240 Speaker 1: with the idea of the band taking up residence in 318 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:29,240 Speaker 1: the grand old Victorian boarding house at seven ten Ashbury Street, 319 00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:33,720 Speaker 1: San Francisco. Was happening, and the Dead needed to be there. 320 00:19:34,640 --> 00:19:36,840 Speaker 1: The only issue was at the boarding house was full. 321 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:40,119 Speaker 1: Rock convinced the house manager, Danny Rifkin, to give the 322 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:43,000 Speaker 1: Dead the home. Rock promised him a role as co 323 00:19:43,119 --> 00:19:46,160 Speaker 1: manager of the group. Hasn't sentive. It was an offer 324 00:19:46,240 --> 00:19:49,840 Speaker 1: Danny couldn't refuse. He gave the tenants thirty days to disperse, 325 00:19:54,119 --> 00:19:56,040 Speaker 1: and the order didn't seem to have any impact, and 326 00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:58,720 Speaker 1: so pig Pen was called upon to speed up the process. 327 00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:02,600 Speaker 1: Pig station in a downstairs bedroom for only a few weeks. 328 00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:05,560 Speaker 1: By the time he convinced four tenants to abandon their rooms, 329 00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:10,359 Speaker 1: not only one tenant remained. Morning after morning, pig dragged 330 00:20:10,359 --> 00:20:12,960 Speaker 1: his speakers into the kitchen, throw on every down and 331 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:16,720 Speaker 1: Dirty Blues record he had, and started drinking. At first, 332 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:19,240 Speaker 1: the tenant didn't budge, but after a couple of weeks 333 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:22,440 Speaker 1: went by, convinced the music would never end, he finally 334 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:27,240 Speaker 1: waved the white flag the house at seven ten Ashbury. 335 00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:29,480 Speaker 1: It was cleared once and for all, and the Dead 336 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:32,520 Speaker 1: set up shop immediately upon their return from Lognitas in 337 00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:35,800 Speaker 1: the fall of nineteen sixty six. In the short time 338 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:38,800 Speaker 1: the Dead had been gone, San Francisco had changed. The 339 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:42,280 Speaker 1: smell of grass was everywhere, packs of kids running with 340 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:46,400 Speaker 1: packs of dogs, group meditations, drum circles. Every corner store 341 00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:49,160 Speaker 1: seemed to be hawking trinkets and incense. There were people 342 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:50,880 Speaker 1: who looked like they had stumbled I don't want of keys. 343 00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:54,800 Speaker 1: The's acid tests roaming every street. That vibe had extended 344 00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:58,040 Speaker 1: beyond the street to the establishments in the area, including 345 00:20:58,080 --> 00:21:00,919 Speaker 1: the Blue Unicorn Coffee Shop, which was right around the 346 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:05,639 Speaker 1: corner from seven ten Ashbury. As fate would have it, 347 00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:09,320 Speaker 1: one morning, as Pigpen student line, nursing a hangover and 348 00:21:09,359 --> 00:21:11,800 Speaker 1: trying to read the menu, he heard the voice of 349 00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:15,720 Speaker 1: an angel. The angel was sporting an afro and was 350 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:20,560 Speaker 1: dressed in a turtleneck, hoop, earrings in bell bottoms. Veronica Barnard, 351 00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:23,919 Speaker 1: whom pig would later lovingly refer to as V, was 352 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:26,159 Speaker 1: in San Francisco for the same reason a lot of 353 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:29,560 Speaker 1: kids were, because why the hell not. She had left 354 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:31,920 Speaker 1: her highly religious home and planted her flag and the 355 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:36,640 Speaker 1: hate because that's where it was all going down. Pig Pen, ever, 356 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:40,199 Speaker 1: the romantic and the gentleman, approached politely and invited her 357 00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:43,480 Speaker 1: to a party. Over the next few months, they would 358 00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:46,920 Speaker 1: spend more and more time together. V made Pigpen quickly 359 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:49,320 Speaker 1: realize he liked his relationships the way he liked his 360 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:54,000 Speaker 1: blues traditional pig Pen, before we even asking, V announced 361 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:57,080 Speaker 1: that his lady was moving into seven ten Ashbury. The 362 00:21:57,280 --> 00:22:00,679 Speaker 1: entire band, apart from Phil Lash and Bill Kritzman, also 363 00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:04,479 Speaker 1: moved into the home. This included several roadies, Rock Scully, 364 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:08,000 Speaker 1: Danny Rifkin, current girlfriends, along with Jerry's wife, Mountain Girl, 365 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:14,600 Speaker 1: and their daughter Sunshine. The house at seven ten Ashbury 366 00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:17,880 Speaker 1: was ancient in the amenities left much to be desired. 367 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:20,800 Speaker 1: The dead's day to day methods of living did not 368 00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:25,239 Speaker 1: help whatsoever. Old food, dirty clothes. Took a scare from 369 00:22:25,240 --> 00:22:28,280 Speaker 1: the sanitation department for things to turn around, and even 370 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:31,240 Speaker 1: then it was mostly the girlfriends and Mountain Girl holding 371 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:35,400 Speaker 1: down domestic duties. Again traditional, and by that I mean 372 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:37,119 Speaker 1: that the grateful dead seemed to have a tradition of 373 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:40,520 Speaker 1: not quite treating women as equals. The dead did little 374 00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:43,920 Speaker 1: else but rehearse played gigs around San Francisco and opened 375 00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:47,040 Speaker 1: the house up to a steady stream of visitors. The 376 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:49,280 Speaker 1: House of the Good old Grateful Dead became the mecca 377 00:22:49,359 --> 00:22:53,000 Speaker 1: of hate, Ashbury the center of the bohemian world. It 378 00:22:53,119 --> 00:22:56,520 Speaker 1: was walled of ceiling with all trappings of the hippie world, artwork, 379 00:22:56,640 --> 00:23:01,360 Speaker 1: half burnt candles, Kristen's flowers, records, instruments, pig pens room 380 00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:04,240 Speaker 1: was a musical heart at the home. The converted living 381 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:07,480 Speaker 1: rooms sported a fireplace, several windows that were usually covered 382 00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:10,800 Speaker 1: with shades, a wall of pig Pen's rifle collection and 383 00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:16,480 Speaker 1: upright piano. He frequently entertained guests for jam sessions Janis Joplin, 384 00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:19,320 Speaker 1: Vince Giraldi, John Lee Hooker. How's that for a trio? 385 00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:22,760 Speaker 1: If nobody was around the play, pig Pen spun records. 386 00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:25,720 Speaker 1: A constant soundtrack of blues and R and B wafted 387 00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:31,320 Speaker 1: through the home. As nineteen sixty six melted into nineteen 388 00:23:31,400 --> 00:23:34,960 Speaker 1: sixty seven. Pigpen could almost always be found either playing 389 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:37,359 Speaker 1: the blues, knocking back a bottle of whiskey on the porch, 390 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:41,080 Speaker 1: or hanging with v. V brought a sense of stability 391 00:23:41,119 --> 00:23:43,919 Speaker 1: to pick still reeling from the warp speed spin that 392 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:46,480 Speaker 1: had been the last year, and the hate was a 393 00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:49,760 Speaker 1: beautiful place to be in love. Tens of thousands of 394 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:52,639 Speaker 1: like minded individuals descended on the area. If you were 395 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:54,520 Speaker 1: in the middle of it, you couldn't help but feel 396 00:23:54,520 --> 00:23:57,360 Speaker 1: the same thing the masses were feeling, that life could 397 00:23:57,359 --> 00:24:01,159 Speaker 1: be lived in a different way, society could be reorganized. 398 00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:05,560 Speaker 1: Never one for the mind expanding drugs, Pigpen nevertheless was 399 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:08,320 Speaker 1: opening himself up to the mind expanding possibilities that the 400 00:24:08,359 --> 00:24:12,639 Speaker 1: scene was offering. Like the opportunity to be authentic. Pigpen 401 00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:14,760 Speaker 1: dressed like a biker, he wore a cowboy hat and 402 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:18,240 Speaker 1: sang the blues. He rarely focused on his outward appearance. 403 00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:21,600 Speaker 1: He felt uncomfortable in his skin for years. Hell, he 404 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:25,800 Speaker 1: still needed liquid courage during concerts. So if this was 405 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:28,320 Speaker 1: the hippie ideal, that it could be who you wanted 406 00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:30,000 Speaker 1: to be and do what you wanted to do, no 407 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:32,080 Speaker 1: matter what it looked like or sounded like, or felt 408 00:24:32,119 --> 00:24:34,720 Speaker 1: like or smelled like to anyone else. While it all 409 00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:37,520 Speaker 1: sounded a little goofy, admittedly, but it was easy to 410 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:41,560 Speaker 1: embrace in the scene embraced pig Pen in the Dead 411 00:24:42,160 --> 00:24:45,240 Speaker 1: They played the Human Being Festival in January of nineteen 412 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:49,240 Speaker 1: sixty seven, Monterey Pop in June, and dozens upon dozens 413 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:51,360 Speaker 1: of gigs at the Avalanche Ballroom in the film War, 414 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:54,359 Speaker 1: as well as a smattering of free shows. They were 415 00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:57,639 Speaker 1: quickly becoming local celebrities and a massive driving influence of 416 00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:00,920 Speaker 1: the scene. Pig wasn't one to see gout the spotlight, 417 00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:04,440 Speaker 1: and that's the Dead stars continued to rise. Pig felt 418 00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:07,240 Speaker 1: he would rather be a dark star, invisible to the world, 419 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:10,840 Speaker 1: but he couldn't hide not from the throngs of fans, 420 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:14,359 Speaker 1: and not from the San Francisco Police Department. Maybe they 421 00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:16,840 Speaker 1: saw pigs, leather vest and cowboy ad and figured to 422 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:19,560 Speaker 1: use an outlaw. Or maybe they just wanted to outlaw 423 00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:23,560 Speaker 1: as tight and the whole freaky scene along with him. 424 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:26,160 Speaker 1: Either way, the long arm of the law was about 425 00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:29,040 Speaker 1: to ensure that the so called Summer of Love wouldn't 426 00:25:29,080 --> 00:26:02,119 Speaker 1: carry into another season. Pig Pen was watching TV and 427 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:04,600 Speaker 1: nursing a bottle of Thunderbird in his room at seven 428 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:08,119 Speaker 1: ten Ashbury when he heard the knocking, not on his 429 00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:12,439 Speaker 1: bedroom door, the front door. Pigpen barely registered it. It 430 00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:15,000 Speaker 1: was just after three pm and the mid afternoon sun 431 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:18,040 Speaker 1: was peeking through the window, spilled on the Pig's face. 432 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:21,040 Speaker 1: He moved across the room and pulled the curtain shut 433 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:24,520 Speaker 1: with a grunt and returned to his seat. His hangover 434 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:27,840 Speaker 1: was hanging around, which was a commonplace. So were the 435 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:30,159 Speaker 1: four or five shows a week that the dead were playing. 436 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:32,720 Speaker 1: Ditto for the hair of the dog that was routinely 437 00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:35,639 Speaker 1: required to keep it all balanced. He'd be fine in 438 00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:38,359 Speaker 1: an hour or two, tops, but right now there was 439 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:42,560 Speaker 1: a freight train rolling through his head. Another heavy knocking 440 00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:47,600 Speaker 1: on the front door. Pig Pens sat up, annoyed, knocking, Really, 441 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:51,000 Speaker 1: who the fun knocks around here? The knocking came again. 442 00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:56,320 Speaker 1: Somebody held out something about visitors not coming inside. The 443 00:26:56,320 --> 00:27:00,920 Speaker 1: hell was going on? Pig Pens strapped on his thirty 444 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:04,200 Speaker 1: two buretta. He labored out of his seat, his head swimming. 445 00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:07,040 Speaker 1: He paused for a moment, gathered himself, and then took 446 00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:09,840 Speaker 1: another swig from the bottle. He exited his room and 447 00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:12,760 Speaker 1: moved into the kitchen. He was greeted by a powerful 448 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:16,639 Speaker 1: fog of marijuana, not uncommon. Laid out on the kitchen 449 00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:19,840 Speaker 1: table was a minimum a pound of grass, also not 450 00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:23,520 Speaker 1: an uncommon sight. At seven ten Ashberry two friends at 451 00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:26,720 Speaker 1: the table were now anxiously looking out towards the front door. 452 00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:30,639 Speaker 1: Pig finally looked at the front door, and what he saw, well, 453 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:34,919 Speaker 1: that was uncommon. The front door busted open and on 454 00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:36,800 Speaker 1: the front steps of the dead's home. They stood at 455 00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:39,359 Speaker 1: least half a dozen cops, along with reporters from local 456 00:27:39,359 --> 00:27:43,600 Speaker 1: news stations, and the funk was going on. Minutes later, 457 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:46,119 Speaker 1: all eleven people present in the house were gathered in 458 00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:49,239 Speaker 1: the kitchen, including Pig Pan and Bob weir, and there 459 00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:50,760 Speaker 1: was enough dope at the table to put them all 460 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:53,360 Speaker 1: away for thirty years, and the cops were all too 461 00:27:53,359 --> 00:27:56,520 Speaker 1: happy to remind them of that fact. While San Francisco 462 00:27:56,640 --> 00:27:59,520 Speaker 1: p D continued to search, the news crews outside were 463 00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:02,240 Speaker 1: already He's seen together their stories for the next day, 464 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:05,880 Speaker 1: Big Pen, grittish tea, giving him his smoke grass. Now 465 00:28:05,920 --> 00:28:07,600 Speaker 1: he was looking down the barrel of three decades and 466 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:11,119 Speaker 1: Sam Quinn, and they even took his fucking baretta. For 467 00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:14,480 Speaker 1: six long hours, the dead sat at the local courthouse, 468 00:28:15,119 --> 00:28:18,359 Speaker 1: six hours to ruminate on their future with heavy vibes 469 00:28:18,400 --> 00:28:22,439 Speaker 1: and heightened nerves. They were eventually released on bail the 470 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:24,679 Speaker 1: next morning. Right there in the front page of the 471 00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:28,280 Speaker 1: San Francisco Chronicle, next to stories about Vietnam was pig 472 00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:34,000 Speaker 1: Pen's face and the words busted on marijuana churches, utter horseshit. 473 00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:38,200 Speaker 1: Pig Pen was beyond frustrated. Even though his role in 474 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:41,200 Speaker 1: the band was becoming increasingly marginalized, and even though he 475 00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:43,640 Speaker 1: didn't smoke that ship, he remained the chows in figurehead 476 00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:46,680 Speaker 1: for all the wrong reasons. Not because he was the 477 00:28:46,720 --> 00:28:49,000 Speaker 1: soul of the band or because he had like burst 478 00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:51,280 Speaker 1: the band. He looked like an outlaw, so he got 479 00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:53,800 Speaker 1: the outlaw treatment. The hippie is a hippie as a 480 00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:57,200 Speaker 1: hippie in America's size. They were all just lazy burnouts, 481 00:28:57,200 --> 00:29:01,440 Speaker 1: dope feeds, acid heads, contributing nothing to society, Pigpen included. 482 00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:05,000 Speaker 1: A few days after the arrest, the Grateful Dead held 483 00:29:05,040 --> 00:29:07,800 Speaker 1: a press conference at seven ten Ashbury, right in the 484 00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:12,360 Speaker 1: living room. Pigpen said nothing. His eyes just scanned around 485 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:16,560 Speaker 1: his home. Two dozen reporters cameras flashes. One of the 486 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:21,120 Speaker 1: Dead's two managers, Danny Rifkin, offered the group's views on politics, marijuana, 487 00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:25,720 Speaker 1: the law, and the hippie stereotype. Danny's words would simultaneously 488 00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:28,960 Speaker 1: rufflesome feathers while making the band of idols to even 489 00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:33,560 Speaker 1: more people. The press conference dragged on, Pigpen just wanted 490 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:38,280 Speaker 1: to get out of there. In the aftermath, the Dead 491 00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:42,360 Speaker 1: eluded any official charges, but all that dope and Pig's 492 00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:47,120 Speaker 1: pistol were gone forever. Pigpen walked the two dozen steps 493 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:49,720 Speaker 1: back to his room, picked up his guitar, and opened 494 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:52,959 Speaker 1: a bottle. He needed to escape the madness for a moment. 495 00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:56,240 Speaker 1: Things were happening outside the walls of seven ten Ashbury 496 00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:58,640 Speaker 1: that we're out of his control, out of anyone's control. 497 00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:02,040 Speaker 1: One hun R. S. Thompson, once referred to as the 498 00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:05,920 Speaker 1: high water mark in San Francisco, had come and gone. 499 00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:09,960 Speaker 1: The scene was getting rubber necked, commodified, and the hate 500 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:12,960 Speaker 1: was devolving into a strange parody of itself. It was 501 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:17,480 Speaker 1: growing increasingly dangerous, and the vibes swung from good to bad. 502 00:30:18,480 --> 00:30:20,520 Speaker 1: At either Pig and the Grateful Dead would learned to 503 00:30:20,600 --> 00:30:24,000 Speaker 1: navigate it where they'd have to plan their great escape. 504 00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:42,600 Speaker 1: I'm Jake Brennan, and this is the Club. Club is 505 00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:46,080 Speaker 1: hosted and produced by me Jake Brennan for Double Elvis 506 00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:49,800 Speaker 1: in partnership with I Heart Radio. Zeth Lundie is the 507 00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:53,080 Speaker 1: lead writer and co producer. This episode was mixed by 508 00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:57,480 Speaker 1: Joel Edinburgh. Additional music and score elements by Ryan Spraaker 509 00:30:57,480 --> 00:31:00,760 Speaker 1: and Henry Luneta. This episode was written by ted Omo, 510 00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:04,520 Speaker 1: story and copy and being by Pata Heally. Sources for 511 00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:07,680 Speaker 1: this episode are available at Double Elvis dot com on 512 00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:10,760 Speaker 1: the twenty seven Club series page, talk to me on 513 00:31:10,760 --> 00:31:13,160 Speaker 1: Social Act, disgrace Land pod, and hang out with me 514 00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:16,120 Speaker 1: live on' a Twitch channel of disgrace Land talks for 515 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:19,280 Speaker 1: more news on your favorite podcast, Follow at Double Elvis 516 00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:27,000 Speaker 1: on Instagram. Rocar ROLLA what's up for your is