1 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:10,400 Speaker 1: Double Elvis Club is a production of I Heart Radio 2 00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: and Double Elvis Ron. Pigpen mccernan died at the age 3 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 1: of and he lived a life so loose that it 4 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:22,920 Speaker 1: was always bound to unravel. I can give you twenty 5 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:27,000 Speaker 1: seven reasons why that statement is true. Eighteen would be 6 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:28,960 Speaker 1: the number of minutes he would get lost in the 7 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:32,559 Speaker 1: booze soaked ecstasy of an epic love life performance with 8 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:37,040 Speaker 1: his musical soulmate, just months before she'd be six ft under. 9 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:40,680 Speaker 1: Another three would be the number of additional deaths that 10 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:43,279 Speaker 1: would hang over the group like a dark cloud as 11 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:46,160 Speaker 1: they entered the studio to record a new album, lending 12 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:50,440 Speaker 1: a very palpable and grim feeling of mortality. Three more 13 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: would be the number of weeks it would take the 14 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:56,480 Speaker 1: Grateful Dead to record that album, arguably their finest album ever, 15 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:00,400 Speaker 1: an album pig Pen would make very real contribution too. 16 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:03,440 Speaker 1: It would help him evolve his own sounds and taste. 17 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:06,880 Speaker 1: It was also the last studio album he would ever 18 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:10,280 Speaker 1: appear on. Another one would be the number of hospital 19 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:12,080 Speaker 1: visits it would take for him to learn that his 20 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:14,800 Speaker 1: years of hard living had finally caught up to him, 21 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:19,679 Speaker 1: forcing him to make monumental lifestyle changes, and two would 22 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:21,399 Speaker 1: be the number of years he had left on this 23 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:28,120 Speaker 1: earth when the Dead finally hit superstardom. All totally on 24 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:32,880 Speaker 1: This our eighth episode of season five. Booze Soaked Ecstasy, 25 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:38,559 Speaker 1: Dark Clouds, Hard Living, and Ron Pigpen mccernin. I'm Jake 26 00:01:38,640 --> 00:02:24,560 Speaker 1: Brennan and this is the seven Cloth YEA m M. 27 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:31,120 Speaker 1: The Euphoria Ballroom in San Rafael, California was filled with smoke. 28 00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:34,679 Speaker 1: The Grateful Dead had just wrapped up Candy Man, a 29 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:38,079 Speaker 1: song they were close to perfecting and hadn't yet been released, 30 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 1: but it was sounding damn good. They were sounding damn good. 31 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:46,639 Speaker 1: Working Man's Dead had rekindled an elusive spark for the band. 32 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:50,240 Speaker 1: There was some sort of musical and spiritual revival going on. 33 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:54,360 Speaker 1: They could feel it. Crowd and Euphoria could definitely feel it. 34 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:58,519 Speaker 1: A Roady ran out implanted an additional microphone stand in 35 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:00,600 Speaker 1: the middle of the stage, just at had pointed to 36 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:03,359 Speaker 1: the front row of the audience, trying to coax someone 37 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:07,360 Speaker 1: to the stage. Not just any audience member, A good 38 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:10,720 Speaker 1: old friend of the good old Grateful Dead, a friend 39 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:13,400 Speaker 1: who could let up a stage like no other, A 40 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:15,799 Speaker 1: friend who by that point in the summer of nine 41 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:21,960 Speaker 1: seventy was a certified superstar. Janis Joplin ashtra cigarette down, 42 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:24,280 Speaker 1: the contents of the paper cup in her head and 43 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:29,240 Speaker 1: climbed on stage. She was smiling. Ron Pigpen mccernin, standing 44 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:32,000 Speaker 1: center stage, wearing the cowboy hat that now seemed to 45 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:35,119 Speaker 1: go wherever he went, was waiting for her, he granted. 46 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:38,080 Speaker 1: When Janison pig get together, it was as if no 47 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:40,680 Speaker 1: time at all had passed, and they were transported back 48 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:43,720 Speaker 1: to the outdoor jams of olden Polly back to playing 49 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:47,040 Speaker 1: blues tunes all night long and Pigpen shack La Nina's 50 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:50,240 Speaker 1: back to spinning records while sipping soco in the back 51 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:54,000 Speaker 1: room of seven ten Ashbury. The energy between the two 52 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: was undeniable. Two old flames, two children of the blues 53 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:02,000 Speaker 1: to show stoppers together. The Dead began to groove in 54 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:05,400 Speaker 1: the background as Janison Pigpen looked into each other's eyes. 55 00:04:05,880 --> 00:04:09,720 Speaker 1: The crowd began to clap along. The energy was in intoxicating. 56 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:12,600 Speaker 1: The Dead pumped out the first bars off Turn On 57 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:15,200 Speaker 1: Your Love Life, and Janice grabbed the mic and addressed 58 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:17,880 Speaker 1: the crowd, you know what this is about. Don't you. 59 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:22,560 Speaker 1: It's about getting it on man, And she looked over 60 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: to the side and pig who was standing ready at 61 00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:28,440 Speaker 1: his mic. Then she let it rip in her gravelly, 62 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:32,239 Speaker 1: bourbon silk voice implored Pigpen to turn it on over 63 00:04:32,360 --> 00:04:36,560 Speaker 1: and over. Then pig did just that, a raucous call 64 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:39,880 Speaker 1: and response at the crowd of hollering. With each passing moment, 65 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 1: the euphoria was turning into a hockey talk. Janice once 66 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:45,920 Speaker 1: again asked Pigpen if you knew what the song was about, 67 00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:48,920 Speaker 1: pounding him for the answer, telling him it was easy. 68 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:51,880 Speaker 1: It was the easiest dancer ever. She wanted to hear 69 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:55,040 Speaker 1: him saying, the pig Pen played it cool, you know 70 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:58,560 Speaker 1: what it's about. I think you made it look so good. 71 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:03,560 Speaker 1: Janice laughed that laugh, the one that could make the 72 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:07,320 Speaker 1: world stop from spinning. She was driving pig crazy and 73 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:10,440 Speaker 1: she liked it. They turned it on for six minutes straight, 74 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:14,600 Speaker 1: each other the audience that love light, and then Pigpen 75 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:17,400 Speaker 1: brought the energy down real smooth and started to wrap. 76 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:21,479 Speaker 1: What they all needed was to stand beside someone like Janice, 77 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:25,080 Speaker 1: or has someone like Janis stand next to them, and 78 00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:28,080 Speaker 1: Janice felt loose and free. She walked in the front 79 00:05:28,120 --> 00:05:31,479 Speaker 1: of the stage. Pigpen followed. The entire band dropped out 80 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:35,320 Speaker 1: except Bill Kritzman. He kept the rhythm steady on the drums. 81 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:39,120 Speaker 1: Billy thundered on the beat, still gaining steam, not letting up. 82 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:42,719 Speaker 1: Janison pig implored the crowd and raised their hands to 83 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:45,480 Speaker 1: get out of their seats to join the ancient dances. 84 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:49,159 Speaker 1: Billy's backbeat echoed through the room, and then the Dead 85 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:52,160 Speaker 1: all kicked back in again, louder, and then louder again, 86 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:56,320 Speaker 1: and louder still. Janison Pigpen whipped the place into a frenzy, 87 00:05:56,440 --> 00:06:01,080 Speaker 1: empowered through another twelve intoxicating minutes of love light. It 88 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:05,600 Speaker 1: was everything music could be, everything it was supposed to be, cathartic, inspiring, 89 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:08,119 Speaker 1: a moment that takes over your brain and your body, 90 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:10,520 Speaker 1: a moment that you experience along with a room full 91 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:13,960 Speaker 1: of strangers who were all on the same trip. And 92 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:18,799 Speaker 1: now it's pig Pen. That moment was just a memory. 93 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:24,240 Speaker 1: It was three months later, and instead of turning on 94 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:27,680 Speaker 1: a love light, he was turning on his keyboard, once again. 95 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:31,760 Speaker 1: Relegated to the side of the stage. The Dead were 96 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:35,200 Speaker 1: on stage at winter Land in San Francisco, grinding through 97 00:06:35,279 --> 00:06:38,960 Speaker 1: Uncle John's band, half in frustration and half an anger, 98 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:43,880 Speaker 1: not inspired in the least. Rendition was passible, but the 99 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:46,880 Speaker 1: mind of each band member was somewhere else Entirely this time. 100 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:48,320 Speaker 1: It wasn't because they were in the midst of some 101 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:51,839 Speaker 1: sort of psychedelic journey. The vocal mix was off, the 102 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 1: energy in the room was off. It was all just off. 103 00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:58,840 Speaker 1: Pigpen studied the eyes and the crowd throughout that night. 104 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 1: Set of people look shaken up, others seem more oblivious. 105 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:05,600 Speaker 1: He kept turning over the words he heard just before 106 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:08,200 Speaker 1: the Dead walked on stage, turning them over like an 107 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:11,160 Speaker 1: engine that wouldn't start. He couldn't pour himself into the music. 108 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:13,920 Speaker 1: He couldn't think of anything else besides that one dark thought. 109 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:18,800 Speaker 1: Was it true? That was the question, not the pig 110 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:21,679 Speaker 1: Pen couldn't believe it was. Of course it could be true. 111 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:23,960 Speaker 1: It would be foolish not to assume that that one 112 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 1: could maintain a reckless cruising speed without a crash. So yeah, 113 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:31,080 Speaker 1: it could be true. Pig Pen just didn't want it 114 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:34,840 Speaker 1: to be true. The Dead slogged through the final few 115 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:37,480 Speaker 1: chords of the song and thanked the audience, and there 116 00:07:37,480 --> 00:07:40,200 Speaker 1: wouldn't be an encore, not on an off night like this. 117 00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 1: They didn't have the heart for it, because once they 118 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:46,280 Speaker 1: stepped off the stage, there stood their manager, Rock Scully, 119 00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:49,200 Speaker 1: with a sullen look on his face, and they wouldn't 120 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:51,280 Speaker 1: have the heart for it. Once Rock uttered those two 121 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:57,720 Speaker 1: words nearly under his breath, She's gone. The unconfirmed news 122 00:07:57,760 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 1: that was floating around before the grateful Dead to the 123 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:04,200 Speaker 1: stage was now confirmed. Janice Joplin had been found on 124 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:06,920 Speaker 1: the floor of a room at the Landmark Hotel in Hollywood. 125 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:12,440 Speaker 1: It was October four. The band fell into the furniture 126 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:16,640 Speaker 1: backstage and sat in a meditative silence. Pigpenk cracked the 127 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:20,040 Speaker 1: bottle of bourbon and drank to his fallen comrade. But 128 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:24,000 Speaker 1: this wasn't just about Janice. It was all becoming too much. 129 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:28,000 Speaker 1: The programs for the Winter Land Show featured a backpage 130 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 1: tribute to the recently deceased Jimmie Hendricks. Jimmy turned up 131 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:34,840 Speaker 1: dead in London just weeks earlier, and the dead only 132 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:37,280 Speaker 1: had passing interactions with the man, but it was a 133 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:41,079 Speaker 1: blow nonetheless, just like the news of Brian Jones's passing 134 00:08:41,160 --> 00:08:45,760 Speaker 1: have been the year prior, Janice Jimmy, Brian, They're all 135 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:51,199 Speaker 1: just twenty seven years old. The cold hand of the 136 00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:53,720 Speaker 1: grim Reaper and made its way into the dead's inner 137 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:57,560 Speaker 1: circle as well. Jerry Garcia's mother passed away just weeks 138 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:01,440 Speaker 1: before Janice, the victim of a car crash. Jerry left 139 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:03,520 Speaker 1: the studio to be with her as she left the world, 140 00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:06,560 Speaker 1: and in turn left Jerry without closure. It would have 141 00:09:06,559 --> 00:09:10,840 Speaker 1: been a lifelong, complicated relationship. A few months before that, 142 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:13,880 Speaker 1: Phil Lesh spent many days driving back and forth to 143 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:17,319 Speaker 1: a hospital near his home, comforting his own father as 144 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:21,840 Speaker 1: he slowly lost about with cancer. It was during these 145 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:24,559 Speaker 1: trips that he started working out the beautiful and weighty 146 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:28,520 Speaker 1: Box of Rain. A heavy, dark cloud hung over the group. 147 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:32,640 Speaker 1: As always, the good times were imbued with very heavy vibes. 148 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:37,280 Speaker 1: Time didn't stop. Many of the band members were approaching 149 00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:41,160 Speaker 1: thirty years old. Those cold hands of death could close 150 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:44,040 Speaker 1: in on any of them at any time. Any of 151 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:47,080 Speaker 1: them could be next. But who, when would they go 152 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:50,240 Speaker 1: and how would they go? Thoughts like those were dark, 153 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:54,600 Speaker 1: no doubt, but they were also inescapable. Pig Pen took 154 00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:57,800 Speaker 1: another long pull from his bottle, knowing he never share 155 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:02,280 Speaker 1: another one with his friend, but at the train keep rolling. 156 00:10:31,840 --> 00:10:35,480 Speaker 1: The assistant engineer quickly got the studio in order, three 157 00:10:35,559 --> 00:10:38,880 Speaker 1: microphones in the center of the room, mic stands, flanked 158 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:42,520 Speaker 1: by two sets of drums a box keyboard. He moved 159 00:10:42,559 --> 00:10:46,160 Speaker 1: back into the booth, where he stretched his arms and yawned. Coffee. 160 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:51,120 Speaker 1: He needed coffee, the biggest, most bottomless cup fucking coffee. 161 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:55,760 Speaker 1: Stephen Barncard was burning the candle at both ends. David 162 00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:58,000 Speaker 1: Crosby showed up at the studio at seven pm the 163 00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:00,080 Speaker 1: night before, and now the Grateful Dead would do to 164 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:03,800 Speaker 1: roll in any minute. He'd heard all about the let's 165 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:07,200 Speaker 1: say complexity of the band's relationship with studio engineers and 166 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:11,280 Speaker 1: producers and label executives. That whole thick air request where 167 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:14,360 Speaker 1: the band insisted on using separate tracks on the tape 168 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:17,400 Speaker 1: to record ambient noises from the desert in the city 169 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:20,080 Speaker 1: and drove a producer to quit. It was one of 170 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:23,000 Speaker 1: those crazy recording stories that was passed on from studio 171 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:27,200 Speaker 1: the studio. Stephen, who had worked not just with Crosby, 172 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:30,559 Speaker 1: Stills and Nash, but also with Steve Miller and Jefferson Airplane, 173 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:33,400 Speaker 1: had also heard the stories about the Dead jamming pennies 174 00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:36,520 Speaker 1: and the pianos and destroying a dozen microphones for a 175 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:40,240 Speaker 1: few seconds of audio. But when they showed up, they 176 00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:42,840 Speaker 1: brought none of that crazy baggage with her, and they 177 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:46,800 Speaker 1: were ready to work. And it was just the band. 178 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:49,720 Speaker 1: No hangers on, no managers with their own creative input, 179 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:53,040 Speaker 1: no really enthusiastic sound man looking to crowd the kitchen 180 00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:55,640 Speaker 1: with too many cooks. It was just the band and 181 00:11:55,800 --> 00:12:01,280 Speaker 1: Steve and Barncard and the studio. In the summer nineteen 182 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:04,760 Speaker 1: seventies sessions were a revelation for Steven. The Dead were 183 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:07,800 Speaker 1: continuing the thread they'd begun to weave with working man Stead. 184 00:12:08,559 --> 00:12:11,800 Speaker 1: The new songs were simple and straightforward, and he had 185 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:15,920 Speaker 1: to admit they sounded like instant classics. The Grateful Dead 186 00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:19,040 Speaker 1: weren't interested in crafting a musical essay of an album. 187 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:21,760 Speaker 1: The Dead weren't looking to funk around with studio trickery, 188 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:24,920 Speaker 1: and they weren't hammering sections over and over again until 189 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:29,880 Speaker 1: something felt right. Everything already felt right, and the Grateful 190 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:32,240 Speaker 1: Dead were still after that holy grail of all holy 191 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:35,840 Speaker 1: grills to translate their live sound onto wax, and they 192 00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:39,079 Speaker 1: were getting real close. The vibes were loose and Feeling 193 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:41,440 Speaker 1: Light and It's the Dead were under any pressure to 194 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:45,960 Speaker 1: push out an album, it didn't show. Shortly after they 195 00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:48,280 Speaker 1: arrived at the studio, they were already cooking up another 196 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:51,360 Speaker 1: take off Operator, a song that marked pig pens first 197 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:55,040 Speaker 1: writing contribution in nearly three years, and it was more 198 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:58,880 Speaker 1: than just a writing credit. Operator was a country blues 199 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:02,000 Speaker 1: throw down, in a clear indication that Pigpen was not 200 00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:04,640 Speaker 1: only interested in the direction the band was headed, but 201 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:07,839 Speaker 1: that he could actively contribute to the new sound, something 202 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:10,800 Speaker 1: that seemed impossible during The Dead Psychedelic Turn just a 203 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:14,040 Speaker 1: couple of years before. As the Dead banged out the 204 00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:17,000 Speaker 1: first few bars of their fourth take, pig Pen had 205 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:20,240 Speaker 1: a momentary lapse and stepped away from the mic. He 206 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:22,880 Speaker 1: rolled his shoulders around his neck, and then he rolled 207 00:13:22,920 --> 00:13:25,720 Speaker 1: him around again, and he asked the band to start 208 00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:29,960 Speaker 1: it up once again. This wasn't a new pig Pen 209 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:32,320 Speaker 1: had been randomly slipping up like this more and more. 210 00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:36,120 Speaker 1: But whereas in the past, Jerry might breake Pick forrehating 211 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:39,480 Speaker 1: the bottle too hard, this time the band just barked 212 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:41,560 Speaker 1: out the name of the song to him, and pig 213 00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:46,319 Speaker 1: Pen played right along Operator. Yeah, that was it. The 214 00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:49,480 Speaker 1: Dead didn't question of Pig's abilities, his choices, or his commitment, 215 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:52,080 Speaker 1: and it has called him a piece of ship out 216 00:13:52,080 --> 00:13:54,720 Speaker 1: of love, of course, and Pigman laughed it off and 217 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:58,240 Speaker 1: faked a fart into the microphone. The Dead were having 218 00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:02,360 Speaker 1: fun in the studio and included pig Pan. The funing, 219 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:05,840 Speaker 1: the fussing, the frustration, and the past recording experiences went 220 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:10,560 Speaker 1: completely out. The Window Operator was the perfect song for 221 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:14,240 Speaker 1: the recalibrated mood. It incorporated pig Pen and the Dead's 222 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:18,240 Speaker 1: original influences, taking lyrical and musical nods from old time 223 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:20,960 Speaker 1: Appalachian music, blues and R and B, and rock and 224 00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:24,080 Speaker 1: roll from the nineteen fifties. It was the story of 225 00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:26,680 Speaker 1: a man looking for a phone number, trying to find 226 00:14:26,720 --> 00:14:28,960 Speaker 1: some old love that he had lost. It could have 227 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:32,360 Speaker 1: been about pig Pen himself searching for that place to belong, 228 00:14:32,720 --> 00:14:36,480 Speaker 1: searching for the center of his original musical inspirations, searching 229 00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:39,920 Speaker 1: for his niche, his place in the dead. Pig had 230 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:42,880 Speaker 1: taken the writing pages and pages of music. He had 231 00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:46,359 Speaker 1: big ideas about how his personal sound and style was developing. 232 00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:49,560 Speaker 1: He was recording his own reels of music. He wasn't 233 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:54,240 Speaker 1: just singing heartbreaking blues anymore, but insightful, uplifting tunes and 234 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:57,560 Speaker 1: pig Pens optimism mirrored that kind, good natured soul of his. 235 00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:02,440 Speaker 1: He was looking forward to the future. Operator also could 236 00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:04,920 Speaker 1: have been about the grateful Dead as a whole. They've 237 00:15:04,920 --> 00:15:07,240 Speaker 1: been through the fire and the flames, the turbulence of 238 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:10,640 Speaker 1: the nineteen sixties, the head first dive into the counterculture. 239 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:14,680 Speaker 1: Whereas once they were jamming themselves into boxes to satisfy 240 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:17,920 Speaker 1: the search for a specific sound, now they were cutting 241 00:15:17,960 --> 00:15:21,160 Speaker 1: their second consecutive album that defied any mood or vibration 242 00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:24,960 Speaker 1: that wasn't completely natural. Pigpin didn't know where they were going. 243 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:27,000 Speaker 1: He didn't care where they had been long as they've 244 00:15:27,040 --> 00:15:30,640 Speaker 1: been doing it right American beauty. He wasn't turning out 245 00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:33,200 Speaker 1: to be just a set of quality tunes or meditation 246 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:36,240 Speaker 1: on a specific type of sound. It was turning out 247 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:42,080 Speaker 1: to be an experience. But this wasn't the manufactured experience 248 00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:45,680 Speaker 1: the Dead had sought out before. This was just them, 249 00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:47,800 Speaker 1: the closest they had ever come to capturing their live 250 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:51,160 Speaker 1: sound in the studio, months on the road, perfecting the 251 00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:54,040 Speaker 1: tunes in front of audiences and communicating with each other 252 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:57,920 Speaker 1: within those performances allowed for a breezy, freewheeling ten track 253 00:15:58,040 --> 00:16:01,200 Speaker 1: album containing the best music the Grateful Dead had ever 254 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:05,040 Speaker 1: pressed onto vinyl, and it took just three weeks to complete. 255 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:10,320 Speaker 1: The album is a masterpiece Box of Rain, Friend of 256 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:13,680 Speaker 1: the Devil, Sugar Magnolia, and that's just the first three tracks. 257 00:16:14,280 --> 00:16:16,360 Speaker 1: This is the one with Ripple In, Candy Man and 258 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:18,920 Speaker 1: of course Trucking, a song that not only coined the 259 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:22,200 Speaker 1: long Strange trip line, but at number sixty four, was 260 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:26,080 Speaker 1: the highest charting Grateful Dead single for seventeen years until 261 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:28,280 Speaker 1: Touch of Gray put The Grateful Dead and the long 262 00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:33,040 Speaker 1: elusive top ten American Beauty perfectly represented the Grateful Dead's 263 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:37,240 Speaker 1: diverse style, attitude, and personality. The album didn't only sound 264 00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:41,120 Speaker 1: good and achieved overwhelming critical success and peaked at number 265 00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:43,720 Speaker 1: thirty on the nineteen weeks day on the Billboard two 266 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:48,520 Speaker 1: D chart. Against all odds, the Grateful Dead found themselves 267 00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:52,520 Speaker 1: a household name, a designation that came with money and fame, 268 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:56,040 Speaker 1: and naturally, the Grateful Dead's delightful Devil May Care Pleasure 269 00:16:56,080 --> 00:17:00,240 Speaker 1: Crews would not be without its downside, There were the 270 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:03,920 Speaker 1: more disturbing quote unquote fans the ones that Jerry Garcia 271 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:08,200 Speaker 1: referred to as vampires. He'd long noticed them hanging around 272 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:11,200 Speaker 1: bigger acts, always looking for a handout, looking to ride 273 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:14,200 Speaker 1: the coattails of the artists, taking to success like sharks 274 00:17:14,200 --> 00:17:18,359 Speaker 1: to fresh blood. The Dead had minimal exposure to such trappings, 275 00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:22,560 Speaker 1: but they would soon become unavoidable. Drugs had always been around, 276 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:25,040 Speaker 1: but now at every backstage of every show there would 277 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:28,359 Speaker 1: be at least one dealer present. The candy man wasn't 278 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:32,359 Speaker 1: just moving acid and grass either. More unsavory characters would 279 00:17:32,359 --> 00:17:37,240 Speaker 1: make their presence felt as well, businessmen, con artists, and groupies, 280 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:39,840 Speaker 1: hoping that members of the Dead's entourage should be fixing 281 00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:43,119 Speaker 1: to solicit their services for the evening. Gone were the 282 00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:47,040 Speaker 1: days of free shows of goodwill and casual engagements. The 283 00:17:47,119 --> 00:17:51,040 Speaker 1: record industry was changing, rock and roll was becoming industrialized 284 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:54,280 Speaker 1: and commercialized, and the grateful Dead were directly in the 285 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:57,240 Speaker 1: center of it. And word was getting out. And while 286 00:17:57,280 --> 00:17:58,960 Speaker 1: the rest of the Dead may have had their own 287 00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:02,160 Speaker 1: views on their new on fame and fortune, neither were 288 00:18:02,160 --> 00:18:05,359 Speaker 1: ever pig pens Bag. He didn't care about success in 289 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:08,679 Speaker 1: the least. All he cared about was playing in the 290 00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:16,240 Speaker 1: band We'll be right back after this word word word. 291 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:25,320 Speaker 1: Jerry Garcia sat on the floor of pig Pens room, 292 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:28,439 Speaker 1: quietly plucking out some basic twelve bar blues on a guitar. 293 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:33,080 Speaker 1: Place was a mess, random pieces of clothing and empty 294 00:18:33,119 --> 00:18:37,240 Speaker 1: cigarette boxes scattered haphazardly around, but there was one thing 295 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:39,840 Speaker 1: that was in some kind of order though. Pig was 296 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:43,000 Speaker 1: thumbing through his impressive collection of LPs and forty five 297 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:45,520 Speaker 1: looking for the right record to set the mood. It's 298 00:18:45,560 --> 00:18:47,359 Speaker 1: all about the mood, all about the vibe, and the 299 00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:50,640 Speaker 1: right record was paramount to the mood. Something he picked 300 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:53,159 Speaker 1: up from Phil mccurrnin a K A Cool Breeze, his 301 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:57,840 Speaker 1: disc jockey father. Pig pulled an album and flashed to Jerry, 302 00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:02,520 Speaker 1: cover red, here's the man Dynamic Bobby Land. Someone had 303 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:05,720 Speaker 1: scribbled meticulous notes all over it. He placed the record 304 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:08,679 Speaker 1: on the turntable and dropped The needle, crackled like it 305 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:10,600 Speaker 1: was coming to life, and then a wall of horns 306 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:15,120 Speaker 1: hit Jerry's ears. Jerry grinned this was where a pig 307 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:18,960 Speaker 1: got it. Flipping through his father's record collection, analyzing the 308 00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:22,000 Speaker 1: music in real time, not in a technical sense, but 309 00:19:22,359 --> 00:19:26,920 Speaker 1: in an emotional sense feeling everything, every sound, every tone, 310 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:30,119 Speaker 1: every mood. This wasn't the rigid structure Jerry had been 311 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:34,359 Speaker 1: used to. This was a whole other vibration entirely. This 312 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:40,040 Speaker 1: was pig and Jerry dug it. Pig reached under his 313 00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:42,840 Speaker 1: bed and pulled out a bottle of wine, twisted off 314 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:45,480 Speaker 1: the cab, and took a long sip. He held the 315 00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:48,800 Speaker 1: bottle out to Jerry, and Jerry grabbed it, studying the contents. 316 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:52,679 Speaker 1: The wine was a clear, pale yellow. The label on 317 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:57,920 Speaker 1: the bottle red Thunderbird, the American classic. Jerry tilted the 318 00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:01,160 Speaker 1: bottle back, the citrus flavor ring he hit the backside 319 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:03,560 Speaker 1: of his throat and he felt the alcohol burn and 320 00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:06,960 Speaker 1: race up his sinuses. He shuddered as the liquid made 321 00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:10,000 Speaker 1: his way into his stomach and into his bloodstream, and 322 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:13,600 Speaker 1: then Jerry's body began to feel warm. He wasn't much 323 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:17,119 Speaker 1: of a drinker, and this wasn't just ordinary wine. Thunderbird 324 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:20,719 Speaker 1: was what you called fortified. It was cheap, was strong, 325 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:23,760 Speaker 1: It was made for one reason only, to getting funked 326 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:27,920 Speaker 1: up real fast. Jerry passed the bottle back to pig 327 00:20:27,920 --> 00:20:30,560 Speaker 1: Pen and they both leaned their heads back in tandem. 328 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:33,080 Speaker 1: Observing the buzzes of both the booze and the blues, 329 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:37,439 Speaker 1: and the combination was transportive. They could feel the music, 330 00:20:38,119 --> 00:20:40,440 Speaker 1: Jerry said, the performer's name allowed, almost as if you 331 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:42,760 Speaker 1: were trying to make sure he wouldn't forget it. Bobby 332 00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:47,240 Speaker 1: Blue Bland. Pig Pen grinned Jerry was a good teacher 333 00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:50,960 Speaker 1: and a good Steve pig Pen wasn't even sixteen yet, 334 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:54,240 Speaker 1: and here he was giving eighteen year old Jerry Garcia 335 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:57,320 Speaker 1: a lesson on blues music, how it was supposed to sound, 336 00:20:57,600 --> 00:21:00,119 Speaker 1: how it is supposed to feel. And even though he 337 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:02,720 Speaker 1: was two years younger, he knew he could most certainly 338 00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:06,960 Speaker 1: drink Jerry Garcia under the table, Pigpen took two more 339 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:10,359 Speaker 1: swigs in quick succession. He wasn't phazed in the least 340 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:13,840 Speaker 1: the Thunderbird went down like water. He had already been 341 00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:16,960 Speaker 1: drinking regularly for a few years well, seeing clubs around 342 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:20,240 Speaker 1: Paul Alto. Now the days without Thunderbird were a few 343 00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:24,719 Speaker 1: and far between. Jerry knew that besides proclivity for underage drinking, 344 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:28,520 Speaker 1: kid had something he was wise beyond his years. When 345 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:31,440 Speaker 1: he came to music. Jerry had heard him play. He 346 00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:33,160 Speaker 1: would take a little work to get him really good, 347 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:37,359 Speaker 1: but what he already had was undeniable. Pig Pen had soul, 348 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:40,879 Speaker 1: and that was the part you couldn't teach you. A 349 00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:43,720 Speaker 1: knock came on the door. Pigpen quickly hit the bottle 350 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:46,359 Speaker 1: under the bed, cracked the door, and whispered something to 351 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:48,920 Speaker 1: his mother. Then he closed it again and pulled the 352 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:52,520 Speaker 1: bottle back out into the open. Jerry laughed. What a scene. 353 00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:57,280 Speaker 1: The next track was starting, funcky horns driving drums. What 354 00:21:57,320 --> 00:22:00,399 Speaker 1: was this one called? Jerry wanted to know, Turn on Lovely. 355 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:05,800 Speaker 1: This was in the early nineteen sixties and the friendship 356 00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:09,760 Speaker 1: between Jerry Garcia and Ron McKernan had just begun. Almost 357 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:13,560 Speaker 1: a decade later, in November, the two had gone through 358 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:17,080 Speaker 1: the Ringer together and we're still friends, but also bandmates 359 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:19,119 Speaker 1: and one of the most important groups in the world. 360 00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:21,840 Speaker 1: The Grateful Dead were well on their way to matching 361 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:24,080 Speaker 1: their previous record for number of shows played in a 362 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:27,840 Speaker 1: calendar year, if not surpassing it. They weren't just playing 363 00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:31,880 Speaker 1: more at this point, they were playing differently. Things changed, 364 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:36,439 Speaker 1: but there was one thing that did not change. In 365 00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:39,240 Speaker 1: the St. Louis Hotel room, pig Pen sat in front 366 00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:41,480 Speaker 1: of a television set with an open bottle of bourbon 367 00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:44,440 Speaker 1: in his hand. He drank while some old movie played 368 00:22:44,480 --> 00:22:47,200 Speaker 1: on TV. He didn't even know what he was watching anymore. 369 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:51,439 Speaker 1: The whole scenario had just become routine. The cities, the 370 00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:54,760 Speaker 1: hotel rooms, the highways, the old movies on TV. That 371 00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:58,320 Speaker 1: all started to run together. The days went on following 372 00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:00,879 Speaker 1: the same pattern for Pig, wake up with a fresh 373 00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:03,720 Speaker 1: bottle and drink, play a show or go to rehearsal, 374 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:06,479 Speaker 1: then returned back to the hotel room for a nightcap. 375 00:23:07,359 --> 00:23:09,760 Speaker 1: Sometimes musicians who supported the Dead on the road would 376 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:12,840 Speaker 1: shoin Pig would stay up half the night, cracking jokes, 377 00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:16,080 Speaker 1: singing old blue standards, and polishing off bottles. But by 378 00:23:16,119 --> 00:23:18,560 Speaker 1: the time Pig was twenty five, he had already been 379 00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:21,640 Speaker 1: a regular boozer for nearly a dozen years. He never 380 00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:26,679 Speaker 1: got drunk, he just got slower. Pigs tolerance for alcohol 381 00:23:26,920 --> 00:23:29,879 Speaker 1: was legendary, and by the time the Dead got together, 382 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:33,040 Speaker 1: he was polishing off a bottle a day. And it continued, 383 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:35,840 Speaker 1: and it was constant. It was unlikely that it would 384 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:38,600 Speaker 1: ever not be a constant. There was also a bit 385 00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:40,920 Speaker 1: unnerving to think about what would happen if it suddenly 386 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:44,560 Speaker 1: wasn't part of his daily routine. Pig Pennett heard the stories, 387 00:23:45,119 --> 00:23:47,760 Speaker 1: stories about people who tried to stop, the ones who 388 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:51,119 Speaker 1: truly relied on it. They get the shakes, they saw things, 389 00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:53,359 Speaker 1: They crawled up into a ball and wanted to die. 390 00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:55,600 Speaker 1: And the other members of the Dead never said anything. 391 00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:58,560 Speaker 1: How could that, amongst other things, have a use of 392 00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:01,919 Speaker 1: LSD and marijuana. The growing prominence of cocaine in the 393 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:04,280 Speaker 1: appearance of speed left the other members of the Grateful 394 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:06,440 Speaker 1: Day without a like to stand on regarding pigs and 395 00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:10,000 Speaker 1: toxicin or choice, which happened to be the only legal 396 00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:15,240 Speaker 1: substance being abused by a band member. Besides, Pigpen wasn't 397 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:18,800 Speaker 1: a stumbling, fall down drunk. He wasn't getting violently sick 398 00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:23,400 Speaker 1: or picking fights. He just enjoyed a drink. Ship businessmen 399 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:25,520 Speaker 1: in America came home and drank half a bottle of 400 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:28,800 Speaker 1: Scotch every night. Pig Pens habits didn't seem much different 401 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:32,360 Speaker 1: than that. Pig mostly with drew to his hotel room, 402 00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:36,119 Speaker 1: not showing much interest in anything other than alcohol, music, cigarettes, 403 00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:39,240 Speaker 1: and television. When he did leave to explore whatever city 404 00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:41,920 Speaker 1: the traveling circus had stopped in that night. It was 405 00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:43,840 Speaker 1: only because he had been coaxed out of his room 406 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:47,040 Speaker 1: by the crew or a band member. But there wasn't 407 00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:49,359 Speaker 1: much time to consider who was getting into which drug, 408 00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:52,119 Speaker 1: how much they were doing, and how often. It's a 409 00:24:52,119 --> 00:24:55,240 Speaker 1: grateful Dead's machine was taking on an inordinate amount of steam, 410 00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:58,000 Speaker 1: and there was no real way to stop it. Lenny 411 00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:01,360 Speaker 1: Hart Mickey Dad, who had been the band's manager, had 412 00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:04,600 Speaker 1: left the group completely fucked financially, and even two hit 413 00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:06,919 Speaker 1: records didn't diminish the need to keep on truck and 414 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:09,480 Speaker 1: just to feed all the miles of the Dead's extended family. 415 00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:13,520 Speaker 1: Pigpen never much loved being on the road, but here 416 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:16,880 Speaker 1: he was sitting in a hotel room alone. His girl 417 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:20,000 Speaker 1: v was back in San Francisco, and no other woman 418 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:22,440 Speaker 1: could ever fill the void she had left, and these 419 00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:26,600 Speaker 1: facts only increased pigs reliance on the bottle. Alcohol had 420 00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:28,639 Speaker 1: once been the liquid courage Pig needed to get in 421 00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:30,640 Speaker 1: front of the crowd, and then it became his tool 422 00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:34,119 Speaker 1: for getting looser on stage, allowing his performance to become 423 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:37,439 Speaker 1: wildly entertaining for the audience. But now things were beginning 424 00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:41,040 Speaker 1: to change. Night after night, Pigpen would go take his 425 00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:44,359 Speaker 1: place behind the organ. He cracked a beer, and then another, 426 00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:48,480 Speaker 1: and then another. His playing, which had always been serviceable 427 00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:52,199 Speaker 1: at worst and energetically inspiring at best, was starting to 428 00:25:52,200 --> 00:25:55,639 Speaker 1: sound blander than Bobby Blue's last name. And although the 429 00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:58,440 Speaker 1: Dead were no longer noodling their way through complex jazz 430 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:02,600 Speaker 1: time signatures and psychedelic gragas, they never stopped communicating with 431 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:05,600 Speaker 1: each other through the music, the living organism that was 432 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:09,120 Speaker 1: the Dead, spoken vibrations and rhythm and more and more. 433 00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:12,040 Speaker 1: Pig Pen just couldn't find his way into the conversation. 434 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:15,360 Speaker 1: Maybe it was all that extracurricular time they had all 435 00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:18,560 Speaker 1: spent up in the stratosphere together on acid giving them 436 00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:21,639 Speaker 1: esp while Pigpen was down on the ground with a bottle. 437 00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:25,040 Speaker 1: His dream of making music for a living had become 438 00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:29,160 Speaker 1: a reality, and the booze never left the equation. But slowly, 439 00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:34,399 Speaker 1: surely and steadily Pigpen's oldest friends started to take its toll, 440 00:26:35,000 --> 00:27:04,600 Speaker 1: and then it betrayed him entirely. The lights of the 441 00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:09,720 Speaker 1: hospital room burned so brightly overhead they were practically blinding. 442 00:27:10,640 --> 00:27:13,560 Speaker 1: Pig Pens struggled to get comfortable on the exam table. 443 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:17,560 Speaker 1: He scanned the sterile instruments on the walls. Walls, It 444 00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:20,000 Speaker 1: felt like they were about to close in on them. 445 00:27:20,119 --> 00:27:23,960 Speaker 1: Everything was heightened, every sound, every reflection. The ticking of 446 00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:25,920 Speaker 1: the clock on the wall sounded like a freight train 447 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:29,280 Speaker 1: bearing down on Pig's head. His anxiety was growing with 448 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:31,960 Speaker 1: each passing moment. He tried to remember the words the 449 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:34,119 Speaker 1: doctor had said on the phone, but he couldn't. He 450 00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:38,280 Speaker 1: blocked it out. Whatever it was, it sounded bad. In 451 00:27:38,359 --> 00:27:40,720 Speaker 1: any minute now, the doc would be walking into the 452 00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:44,119 Speaker 1: room to confirm it. Either that where there be a 453 00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:47,280 Speaker 1: simple fix, some band aid the good old duck could 454 00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:49,520 Speaker 1: slap on and send Pig on his merry way back 455 00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:52,160 Speaker 1: to the stage. Pig Pens stared at the closed door 456 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:55,000 Speaker 1: of the exam room. How could they keep someone waiting 457 00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:58,240 Speaker 1: like this? What had started as a simple stomach ache 458 00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:01,840 Speaker 1: had turned into so much are and now here he 459 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:05,000 Speaker 1: sat waiting for his sentence with a lump in his 460 00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:09,119 Speaker 1: throat the size of a goddamn Cadillac. When the doctor 461 00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:11,520 Speaker 1: finally opened the door, he held a clipboard in his 462 00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:14,720 Speaker 1: hand and wore a somber expression on his face. The 463 00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:18,000 Speaker 1: doctor mentioned that what the previously conducted tests, had found 464 00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:21,320 Speaker 1: where pigs levels were out of normal range and what 465 00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:25,520 Speaker 1: they had ruled out. Unfortunately, though, there was one thing 466 00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:33,480 Speaker 1: they couldn't rule out, congenital biliary cirrosis CONTENTA what Pigpen 467 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:35,359 Speaker 1: didn't know if he could spell it, let alone repeat 468 00:28:35,359 --> 00:28:40,280 Speaker 1: it back, it was incurable. Shockingly, this form of cirrosis 469 00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:42,600 Speaker 1: wasn't a result of pig pens one to day prescription 470 00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:46,840 Speaker 1: of jug wine and bourbon. Pigs diagnosis was all genetics 471 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:51,560 Speaker 1: and autoimmune disease that targeted pigpens liver. However, explained the doctor, 472 00:28:51,960 --> 00:28:55,600 Speaker 1: the disease could be exacerbated by heavy drinking, and when 473 00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:58,040 Speaker 1: symptoms started to show up, that was a sign that 474 00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:00,600 Speaker 1: a good deal of damage had almost certainly taken place. 475 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:04,560 Speaker 1: The doctor recommended very limited in take of alcohol, or 476 00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:11,040 Speaker 1: even none at all. Pig pens sank back shit diagnosis 477 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:15,959 Speaker 1: explained pigs at times sluggish behavior and at times absent mindedness. 478 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:18,440 Speaker 1: When Jerry get all bent out of shape, the pig 479 00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:21,040 Speaker 1: pen wasn't paying attention in the studio, was losing his 480 00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:23,800 Speaker 1: place in a jam. There was a reason it wasn't 481 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:26,760 Speaker 1: necessarily the alcohol his body even trying to speak to 482 00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:31,440 Speaker 1: him but Pigpen wasn't listening. The doctor also mentioned something else. 483 00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:35,400 Speaker 1: Travel would only delay the chances of a healthy recovery, 484 00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:40,120 Speaker 1: so pig Pen should stop touring alltogether. Immediately, pig Pen 485 00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:44,440 Speaker 1: was thunderstruck. First he had watched the sound of his 486 00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:47,239 Speaker 1: pants slipped through his fingers, and then it was the 487 00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:50,520 Speaker 1: band itself. He had just managed to find his way 488 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:53,320 Speaker 1: back to an integral role in the band, a band 489 00:29:53,320 --> 00:29:56,080 Speaker 1: that finally had a successful album in a fratuitous road 490 00:29:56,120 --> 00:29:59,520 Speaker 1: ahead of them, And here sat pig Pen, once again, 491 00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:04,560 Speaker 1: being hold that he was being sidelined. Fat fucking chance. 492 00:30:05,520 --> 00:30:08,240 Speaker 1: The Grateful Dead were just weeks away from their first 493 00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:11,360 Speaker 1: real break in months. They were planning to take most 494 00:30:11,360 --> 00:30:13,520 Speaker 1: of the summer off, save for a few dates in 495 00:30:13,560 --> 00:30:16,400 Speaker 1: San Francisco and a choice trip to France for a 496 00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:19,520 Speaker 1: three day festival. If the doctor thought Pigpen was going 497 00:30:19,560 --> 00:30:21,800 Speaker 1: to miss out on his chance to experience the sights, 498 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:24,600 Speaker 1: the sound ship the women of Paris, he had something 499 00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:29,280 Speaker 1: else coming. But the diagnosis was no joke. Pigpen had 500 00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:31,200 Speaker 1: to do something that he hadn't done in over a 501 00:30:31,200 --> 00:30:35,400 Speaker 1: dozen years. He had a dry up, with the vast 502 00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:38,760 Speaker 1: amount of damage already done pig really had no other choice, 503 00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:42,880 Speaker 1: so he began to wean himself off the sauce. Just 504 00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:46,040 Speaker 1: as the band was taking flight, just as everything they 505 00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:48,960 Speaker 1: could ever desire was placed within their reach, and just 506 00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:52,640 Speaker 1: as the harder drugs started to move in, Pigpen would 507 00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:55,040 Speaker 1: be forced to ride the straight and narrow while managing 508 00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:58,760 Speaker 1: a growing pain within him. And even then, even if 509 00:30:58,840 --> 00:31:02,080 Speaker 1: pigs stained, even if he was somehow able to maintain 510 00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:04,320 Speaker 1: a healthy routine, while the demands of the road took 511 00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:06,960 Speaker 1: their toll, there was no telling whether he'd be able 512 00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:10,440 Speaker 1: to manage the illness at all. The road, the music, 513 00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:13,240 Speaker 1: the life he knew was still beckoning to Ron pig 514 00:31:13,280 --> 00:31:17,600 Speaker 1: Pen mccernin The Wounded Gun Slinger, And as always, pig 515 00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:21,040 Speaker 1: Pen will put his best foot forward. This time there 516 00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:26,240 Speaker 1: was a chance what cost him his life. UM Jake 517 00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:42,360 Speaker 1: Brennan and This is the twenty seven Club Club is 518 00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:45,840 Speaker 1: hosted and produced by me Jake Brennan for Double Elvis 519 00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:49,520 Speaker 1: in partnership with I Heart Radio. Zeth Lundie is the 520 00:31:49,640 --> 00:31:52,840 Speaker 1: lead writer and co producer. This episode was mixed by 521 00:31:52,920 --> 00:31:57,200 Speaker 1: Joel Edinburgh. Additional music and score elements by Ryan Spraaker 522 00:31:57,240 --> 00:32:00,520 Speaker 1: and Henry Luneta. This episode was written by Ted at Oma, 523 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:04,480 Speaker 1: story and copy ding by Pat Healy. Sources for this 524 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:07,520 Speaker 1: episode are available at Double Elvis dot com on the 525 00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:11,040 Speaker 1: twenty seven Club series page, talk to me on Social Act, 526 00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:13,280 Speaker 1: disgrace Land Pod, and hang out with me live on 527 00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:16,640 Speaker 1: my Twitch channel disgrace Land Talks. For more news on 528 00:32:16,720 --> 00:32:22,080 Speaker 1: your favorite podcast, follow at Double Elvis on Instagram roccar Rolla, 529 00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:26,640 Speaker 1: What's up here is