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Speaker 1: Double Elvis Club is the production of I Heart Radio

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Speaker 1: and Double Elvis Ron. Pigpen mcernan died at the age

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Speaker 1: of seven, and he lived the life that was completely

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Speaker 1: out of his control. I can give you twenty seven

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Speaker 1: reasons why that statement is true. Three would be the

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Speaker 1: number of months he lived in a burned out section

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Speaker 1: of Los Angeles while his band The Grateful Dead continues

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Speaker 1: to soundtrack a scene that he loathed. Another two would

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Speaker 1: be the number of barrels of contraband that had to

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Speaker 1: be quickly hidden when l ap d made an unexpected

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Speaker 1: appearance at one of the band shows. Another two for

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Speaker 1: the number of months he would turn on his love

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Speaker 1: life for a certain raspy voiced blues singer, even though

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Speaker 1: it never illuminated a path the true love. Another fourteen

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Speaker 1: would be the number of asset tests The Dead would

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Speaker 1: play before pig Pen was unknowingly dosed and was forced

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Speaker 1: to live through a horrifyingly bad trip. In six would

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Speaker 1: be the number of years pig had left to live on.

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Speaker 1: The Grateful Dead returned to their hometown of San Francisco

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Speaker 1: and began their unlikely ascent to becoming counterculture icons. All

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Speaker 1: totally on this our third episode of season five, A

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Speaker 1: soundtrack to a scene A turned on love like horrifyingly

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Speaker 1: bad trip and Ron Pigpen mccernin, Um Jake Brennan and

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Speaker 1: this is y Ron Pig Penn McCurtain stood behind his

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Speaker 1: box continental. The open bottle of Thunderbirds sitting on top

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Speaker 1: of the organ vibrated with each note. The Grateful Dead

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Speaker 1: were deep into rehearsal. They were sharpening their set, preparing

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Speaker 1: for their trip to Los Angeles to play a series

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Speaker 1: of acid tests for Ken Kesey's Pranksters and hoping to

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Speaker 1: take a major step towards a record deal. And they

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Speaker 1: were also following Bear, the group's sound man and currently

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Speaker 1: their only form of cash flow. San Francisco is getting

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Speaker 1: too hot. Bears Berkeley home had just been rated and

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Speaker 1: the authorities said he was making speed and they confiscated

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Speaker 1: his equipment. He did fewer eyes on him to make

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Speaker 1: his patent and acid, especially in the amounts he intended to,

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Speaker 1: But first the Dead needed to get through this rehearsal.

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Speaker 1: The band kicked into viola lee blues Phil Lush's baseline,

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Speaker 1: chugging along while Pig interjected by stabbing chords on his vox.

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Speaker 1: Pigs started belting out the gritty vocal alongside Jerry Garcia,

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Speaker 1: and Pigpen felt at home in the pocket. To him,

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Speaker 1: the blues were comfortable, broken in, like the leather vest

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Speaker 1: and levies he'd been wearing for months. Pig was also

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Speaker 1: well on his way to a solid buzz, which made

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Speaker 1: him feel even more comfortable. Suddenly, the band halted to

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Speaker 1: a stop. Come on, Pigpen, it's a b man. You're

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Speaker 1: singing in d pig pleaded his case. Wasn't he singing

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Speaker 1: to be? He was sure he was in key? Jerry

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Speaker 1: assured him he was not. Pigpen wasn't about to challenge Jerry,

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Speaker 1: not regarding music plus the interpersonal dynamics of the band

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Speaker 1: where shift. Jerry was slowly becoming the dead sta facto leader.

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Speaker 1: He was the source, He had the range, the knowledge. Sure,

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Speaker 1: pig Pen knew the blues, and Phil new classical, and

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Speaker 1: Billy knew rock and roll and Bobby knew folk, but

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Speaker 1: Jerry knew a little bit of everything. So what pig

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Speaker 1: Pen thought they were a blues pan? Weren't they well

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Speaker 1: they was supposed to be. Pigpen was confused or frustrated,

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Speaker 1: and maybe a little both. Jerry, on the other hand,

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Speaker 1: he was visibly frustrated that way he got when things

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Speaker 1: didn't sound the way he wanted. Pigpen singing was definitely

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Speaker 1: not sounding the way he wanted. Pigpen, let the rest

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Speaker 1: of the dead hear what they wanted to hear. He

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Speaker 1: get it together, step out from behind the organ and

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Speaker 1: just focus on singing. All right, let's hit it again.

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Speaker 1: The band started grooving, only to halt moments later. Pig

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Speaker 1: held him up over and over and over again. He

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Speaker 1: couldn't get it right. He kept slurring his words and

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Speaker 1: dragging behind his vocal, always just too far off a

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Speaker 1: beat behind Jerry's. He felt everyone's eyes burn into him,

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Speaker 1: just like the thunderbird was burning up his throat. Jerry

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Speaker 1: was heated. He called for Bob to hop on the vocal.

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Speaker 1: Pigpen was done for now. The band kicked in again,

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Speaker 1: this time with Bob singing Pigpen's lines. Pigpen gritted his teeth.

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Speaker 1: Violi Blues was his song. It wasn't about to be

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Speaker 1: pushed out completely, so he joined in any way, deliberately

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Speaker 1: out of tune, and Jerry stopped the jam again. What

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Speaker 1: the fuck? He told Pigpen to pack up ship and

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Speaker 1: get out, and everyone could see pig was hammered. He

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Speaker 1: wasn't in the right state to get into a flow

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Speaker 1: state with the rest of the band. His focus was

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Speaker 1: non existent. Pigpens smiled. He hoped it would disarm Jerry

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Speaker 1: snap him out of his rage. He brought the bottle

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Speaker 1: of Thunderbird to his lips once more, and Jerry told

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Speaker 1: him to get the bottle out of his sight before

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Speaker 1: we broke it over Pigpen's head. So that's how it's

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Speaker 1: going to be. Pick shrank, drinking smoking, dog dropping acid.

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Speaker 1: It was all part of the scene, but once it

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Speaker 1: started altering the Dead's performance, that's when Lions got crossed.

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Speaker 1: The grateful Dead. We're not messing around. They were serious musicians,

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Speaker 1: but damn sometimes the Thunderbird just made the whole thing

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Speaker 1: cook a little bit more. The pig Pen left, his

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Speaker 1: rehearsal was over. Maybe Jerry was right. Who the funk knew?

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Speaker 1: He loved the guy. He was just a little bit

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Speaker 1: of a hardass sometimes, and we'll blow over. Two months later,

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Speaker 1: pig Fen sat on the floor flipping through channels on

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Speaker 1: a television set in front of him. Christ he had

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Speaker 1: never seen so many channels on one TV, the dull

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Speaker 1: glow of the box. It was a trip all on

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Speaker 1: its own. But this was some serious visual ala cart shape.

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Speaker 1: And then again the Dead had finally found themselves in

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Speaker 1: the center of it all, show business, the Dream Factory,

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Speaker 1: the Magic Store, Los Angeles. It finally made it so,

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Speaker 1: not as an found success, but as in physically arrived.

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Speaker 1: Their house sat and Watts, a neighborhood in South Los

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Speaker 1: Angeles where racially charged riots had recently destroyed entire city blocks.

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Speaker 1: The place was a smoldering shell of its former cell.

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Speaker 1: The aftermath was palpable. There was an uncertain, uneasy energy

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Speaker 1: in the city. Los Angeles was definitely not San Francisco.

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Speaker 1: There was something in the air in l a and

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Speaker 1: perched on the edge of revolution. The voice called out

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Speaker 1: from the other room, Lunch and the other members of

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Speaker 1: the Dead and their girlfriends were already assembled in the kitchen.

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Speaker 1: By the time Pig Pig got there, Bear stood in

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Speaker 1: front of the stove frying a steak. Bear paid the

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Speaker 1: rent on the house they are currently standing in. Bear

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Speaker 1: paid for the instruments, and Bear paid for the food,

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Speaker 1: So they were going to eat whatever it was that

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Speaker 1: he was serving, and true to his nickname, bear ate meat,

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Speaker 1: he was adamant about it. Believed humans were strictly carnivorous,

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Speaker 1: fruits and vegetables were unnecessary. Bear dropped the cook steak

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Speaker 1: onto the counter and began cutting it up, and then

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Speaker 1: he opened the fridge. Pigpen peered in and it was

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Speaker 1: lined with gallons of milk, cartains of eggs, and one

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Speaker 1: massive carcass on the main shelf. Bear had gone down

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Speaker 1: to the butcher a few days ago to procure the meat,

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Speaker 1: and at this point it looked like the remains of

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Speaker 1: an animal picked apart on the serengetti. Pigpen's stomach turned his.

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Speaker 1: Bear hacked a large piece of meat off the slab

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Speaker 1: and tossed it in the pan. Sure the food was free,

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Speaker 1: but even steak was to lure after a while. A

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Speaker 1: few minutes later, Bear dropped the rare cut of meat

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Speaker 1: in front of pig and Pig cut into it with

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Speaker 1: a sharp knife. Bear started listing off the benefits of

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Speaker 1: the meal, the entire diet. Pig It heard it all before,

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Speaker 1: but he let Bear ran as long as he didn't

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Speaker 1: try to push his acid on him. The house in

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Speaker 1: Los Angeles known as the Big Pink House, it was

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Speaker 1: already more than pagan bargain for. When Beart told him

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Speaker 1: he was heading south from San Francisco, the Dead thought

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Speaker 1: that it might be a perfect opportunity to rub shoulders

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Speaker 1: with some music executives and find a way into the business. Hell,

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Speaker 1: maybe even read a few songs while they were at it.

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Speaker 1: So far, it had been a bust when they arrived.

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Speaker 1: The house had no furniture, and they stepped on foam mattresses,

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Speaker 1: sat on the floor, and in addition to being subjected

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Speaker 1: to bears all meat diet, the Dead's reality was consistently altered.

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Speaker 1: Because Bear Osley didn't go to Los Angeles to cook

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Speaker 1: steaks all day. He went to l A to make

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Speaker 1: a ship ton of acid. Pig Pen did all he

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Speaker 1: could do to stay away from the stuff, but it

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Speaker 1: was becoming more difficult, and the house began to feel

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Speaker 1: more like an inescapable prison. Bare package. Jealous d from

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Speaker 1: his room in the attic. The powder fell through the

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Speaker 1: floorboards and spread throughout the house, formula layer on everything

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Speaker 1: and everyone. And this, combined with the members of the

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Speaker 1: Dead regularly volunteering to be tests objects for a Bear

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Speaker 1: meant nearly everyone was incredibly high at all times, the

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Speaker 1: mad scientists and his experimental subjects. But pig Pen was

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Speaker 1: no guinea. Pig just sat in the corner, sipped on

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Speaker 1: a beer and watched them tripped. L s D didn't

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Speaker 1: deter the dead from working, though Bear did care about

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Speaker 1: their career, and he knew what they were doing was important,

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Speaker 1: and pig Pen was grateful for that. Bear promised you

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Speaker 1: wouldn't make them help package the acid. So while Bear

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Speaker 1: divided the powder into reasonable portions, the dead rehearsed their

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Speaker 1: daytime rehearsals kept them sharp. But finding a gig in

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Speaker 1: l A there wasn't an asset test was proving difficult,

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Speaker 1: and since the dead weren't making any money, Bear had

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Speaker 1: them distribute. The band began pedaling acid on the street,

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Speaker 1: spreading the good stuff to a whole new area of

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Speaker 1: the Golden State. They sold to locals, which included famous

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Speaker 1: musicians in Hollywood a listeners. It was easy. Everyone wanted

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Speaker 1: the stuff. This was Owsley asset, the real deal, and

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Speaker 1: it's sold like hotcakes. Expanding Paris mythology, But mostly the

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Speaker 1: days ran together and the only thing that became consistent

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Speaker 1: apart from their LSD infested living space, and they all

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Speaker 1: meat diet where the acid tests. The dead were still

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Speaker 1: operating as a house band for Kesey and the Pranksters,

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Speaker 1: now the l A Edition, and the tests were growing

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Speaker 1: bigger and getting stranger. Then the strangest test of all

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Speaker 1: came on February twelfth, in a dirty warehouse in the

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Speaker 1: middle of Watts. The combination of strobe lights flickering on

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Speaker 1: pale yellow walls and the sound of freaks doing their

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Speaker 1: freak out thing made the warehouse feel like Dr Frankenstein's laboratory.

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Speaker 1: At least it did. The pig Pen Pigs stood on

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Speaker 1: the stage and felt the dilated pupils of every single

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Speaker 1: vampire in the entire room fall upon him. He was

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Speaker 1: used to it by this point, being the only straight

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Speaker 1: one in the room, but tonight felt unusual. All these heads,

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Speaker 1: explorers of the outer rim, poor souls who are in

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Speaker 1: way too deep without direction. It just stared at him.

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Speaker 1: Pig new to expect weirdness at an acid test, but

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Speaker 1: seeing his attendants had grown with each happening, they were

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Speaker 1: now not just weird, they were unwieldy. This assembled mass

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Speaker 1: more than a hundred and fifty veterans and newcomers. The

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Speaker 1: light had come to this warehouse and watts for an experience,

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Speaker 1: and there were problems from the moment Neil Cassidy stepped

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Speaker 1: to the microphone and announced that the test was going

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Speaker 1: to begin. Pigpens shook his head about to begin. These

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Speaker 1: people are already gone, man. The whole thing was out

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Speaker 1: of order, in large part due to the fact that

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Speaker 1: Ken Keisi, the ring Eat or the Lion Tamer, the

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Speaker 1: largest sphere of influence in the group, was in Mexico

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Speaker 1: on the run after two charges of marijuana possession. The

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Speaker 1: pranksters were doing their best to fill the void, but

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Speaker 1: without their leader, couldn't quite get the organization of the

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Speaker 1: event right. They had booked this warehouse because it was cheap.

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Speaker 1: Neighborhood windows that had been blown out by maltop cocktails

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Speaker 1: just six months earlier remained shattered, an eerie reminder of

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Speaker 1: the unrest that remained unresolved. Inside the warehouse, two trash

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Speaker 1: barrels trash barrels full of cooling were dragged to the

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Speaker 1: center of the floor, and this was all typical of

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Speaker 1: the tests. What wasn't typical was the dosage, which was

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Speaker 1: well passed typical. Everyone who took a sip was fried.

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Speaker 1: One barrel was spiked with acid and the other was

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Speaker 1: quote for the kids, but who could tell the difference.

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Speaker 1: The dancers came off the floor begging for something to

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Speaker 1: replenish the sweat dripping off of them. Cotton mouth stoners

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Speaker 1: needed to quench their thirst. Wires were crossed more than once.

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Speaker 1: His cups were filled, and it only took a quick

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Speaker 1: second for a quick drink to become an exponentially trippy experience.

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Speaker 1: While the projectors covered the walls with shapes and a

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Speaker 1: myriad of colors, outside, the night was turning a deep

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Speaker 1: shade of disenchanted blue lap d It caught wind of

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Speaker 1: the tests earlier in the day were circling the warehouse,

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Speaker 1: and now they made themselves known. The freaks panicked. They

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Speaker 1: hid the kool aids. Some of them split hopping fences

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Speaker 1: for greener pastures, but there was no escaping. The building

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Speaker 1: was surrounded by barricades courtesy of l A's finest. The

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Speaker 1: cops didn't know what nefarious intentions these people had, and

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Speaker 1: they were still on edge from last August, when protesters

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Speaker 1: and cops flash for six days. Watts burned. Thirty four

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Speaker 1: people died. L A was rife with anti police fervor

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00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:10,360
Speaker 1: in the wake of the riots, and lap D wasn't

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Speaker 1: taking any chances. Cops moved in and out of the

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Speaker 1: warehouse throughout the evening and monitor the situation, bringing in

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Speaker 1: an air of negative energy and bad vibes with them.

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Speaker 1: Pig watched the cops as they moved through the crowd.

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Speaker 1: He knew he looked like a doper, probably more than most,

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Speaker 1: his beating it goatee and long, bushy hair that his

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Speaker 1: Paisley headband could barely contain. He had nothing on him,

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Speaker 1: but still I could do without being harassed by a

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Speaker 1: boy in blue. Eventually, the cops had seen enough and

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Speaker 1: they left without making any trouble. As soon as they

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Speaker 1: were gone, the kool aid was brought back out. Pig

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00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:50,840
Speaker 1: scanned the room for other members of the dead, and

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Speaker 1: they were scattered amongst the attendees named blamed Bear. The

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00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:57,760
Speaker 1: Bear was busy getting the band's gear in place. His

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Speaker 1: obsession with how the group sounded had gone too far.

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00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:03,560
Speaker 1: He told the dead they sounded like ship live because

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Speaker 1: I couldn't hear each other properly, and his gear was

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00:16:06,120 --> 00:16:11,360
Speaker 1: necessary to avoid such issues. What resulted was multiple hours

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Speaker 1: of set up and break down before and after the shows,

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Speaker 1: endless amounts of cables to plug in and speakers to rearrange.

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Speaker 1: Just fucking get on with him. Man. Pig knew this

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Speaker 1: sound as good and Bear had it down right, but

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00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:28,840
Speaker 1: these delays were infuriating. Pig Pen just wanted to plug

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Speaker 1: in and play, and the rest of the Dead could

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Speaker 1: care less. Bear's delays meant more time to partake in

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Speaker 1: the libations, but even the grateful Dead, who were as

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00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:42,880
Speaker 1: herculean as anyone when it came to tripping, couldn't handle

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00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:46,680
Speaker 1: being on stage after this particular batch of prankster's kool aid.

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Speaker 1: It started with Jerry two songs into the set, and

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00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:55,680
Speaker 1: he called it quits. One by one, the other members

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00:16:55,720 --> 00:17:00,480
Speaker 1: abandoned ship, each one descending into the crowd below. Pig

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00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:03,760
Speaker 1: Pen stood on the stage alone. A woman in the crowd,

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Speaker 1: searching for her boyfriend, hysterically cried out, Ray, Ray, who cares?

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00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:11,240
Speaker 1: And that plea could have been a mantra for the evening.

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Speaker 1: It was bizarre enough, pointing enough, just out there enough

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Speaker 1: to fit right in with the absolute mess unfolding in

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00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:21,320
Speaker 1: the room. The pranks just took up the task, continuously

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00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:24,000
Speaker 1: repeating the plea on the p a over and over again.

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Speaker 1: Who cares? Who cares? Who cares? Pig finished the beer

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Speaker 1: in his hand, and the most level headed person in

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00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:36,960
Speaker 1: the room. These tests were supposed to be positive, enlightening, visceral, poetic,

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Speaker 1: but they're also supposed to feature live music. Things were

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Speaker 1: changing fast. The pig Pen feared they weren't changing for

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00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:46,959
Speaker 1: the better. Something had to be done. He was too

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00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:49,440
Speaker 1: good hearted to let these people forget why they were there.

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Speaker 1: Who cares? Ray? Who cares? Ray? I'll tell you who cares?

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00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:58,160
Speaker 1: Pig Pen grabbed the microphone and stepped to the front

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Speaker 1: of the stage. These cats needed to chill the funk out.

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00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:05,320
Speaker 1: He cleared his throat, and the muffled voices echoed off

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Speaker 1: the walls. And that woman who started it all, she

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00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:11,040
Speaker 1: was so far past hysterical that she was becoming manic.

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00:18:12,280 --> 00:18:16,760
Speaker 1: Ray Ray, Ray, Ray, I don't care, I don't care.

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00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:21,240
Speaker 1: Pig calmly spoke into the microphone and asked the people

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Speaker 1: in the room if they felt good, if they could

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00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:26,240
Speaker 1: locate their minds, And he spoke to the woman who

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00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:29,679
Speaker 1: had lost her mind and her boyfriend. He reassured her

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00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:32,399
Speaker 1: it was all good. He reassured all of them it

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00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:35,400
Speaker 1: was all good. Ray would come back, baby. They all

293
00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:38,359
Speaker 1: had love, love love. The voice on the p a

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00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:42,520
Speaker 1: rang out, who cares? Who cares? Pig chanted back in

295
00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:45,520
Speaker 1: a call and response pattern that he cared. It was

296
00:18:45,560 --> 00:18:49,439
Speaker 1: at first discorden and messy, but eventually became, against all

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00:18:49,520 --> 00:18:54,280
Speaker 1: odds beautiful. Bill Kreutzman was inspired. He hopped on the

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Speaker 1: drums and gave Pig a backdrop to his rat. Pigged

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00:18:58,480 --> 00:19:00,639
Speaker 1: through the attention in the room to him, and the

300
00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:03,760
Speaker 1: chaotic mass began to slowly flow into a calming wave

301
00:19:04,760 --> 00:19:08,280
Speaker 1: in a way that only he could. Pigs bluesy serenades

302
00:19:08,359 --> 00:19:11,560
Speaker 1: stripped back the layer of paranoia and anxiety and turned

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00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:14,960
Speaker 1: the vibe on its head. It brought everyone back to earth,

304
00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:18,800
Speaker 1: put them back in touch with the present. People joined hands,

305
00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:22,760
Speaker 1: Pigpen continued to wrap, and the woman's boyfriend eventually returned.

306
00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:27,520
Speaker 1: The night was salvaged. The power of the blues was

307
00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:31,840
Speaker 1: not to be taken lightly. As dawn broke, Neil Cassidy

308
00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:34,919
Speaker 1: dumped the remaining cool aid down the storm train outside

309
00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:38,320
Speaker 1: in clear view of the police. In just over two

310
00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:41,520
Speaker 1: and a half years possession of LST would be illegal

311
00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:45,840
Speaker 1: in the United States. For now, who cares, just get

312
00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:50,959
Speaker 1: rid of it. This near train wreck of an acid

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00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:54,080
Speaker 1: test was over. Pigpen couldn't help but feel that the

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00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:57,119
Speaker 1: whole scene was coming to an end and they needed

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00:19:57,119 --> 00:20:01,080
Speaker 1: to move on or they die. Grateful Dead played a

316
00:20:01,119 --> 00:20:04,080
Speaker 1: few more acid tests in LA but the shine was

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00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:07,840
Speaker 1: off off of the tests, off of the city, off

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00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:11,440
Speaker 1: the experience of living under Bear's roof. The last few

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00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:14,240
Speaker 1: shows the Grateful Dead did play left much to be desired.

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00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:17,560
Speaker 1: They couldn't seem to get a foothold in town no

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00:20:17,560 --> 00:20:21,840
Speaker 1: matter what they tried. Bear was running out of funds.

322
00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:25,520
Speaker 1: Heheumantically packaged his remaining acid, just trying to get it

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00:20:25,520 --> 00:20:27,800
Speaker 1: out of the house, and he was getting paranoid to

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00:20:28,359 --> 00:20:31,040
Speaker 1: convinced ord be a repeat at the Berkeley Bus, Convinced

325
00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:33,160
Speaker 1: the police would break in in any second and he'd

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00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:36,879
Speaker 1: be finished. The communal living and felt necessary to the

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00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:41,119
Speaker 1: deaths process. But everyone agree this experiment in l A

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00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:45,120
Speaker 1: had reached its logical conclusion. The dead needed to reset,

329
00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:49,080
Speaker 1: to go home and rest their bones. That suited Pigpen

330
00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:52,800
Speaker 1: just fine. The Grateful Dead found us sedate slice of

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Speaker 1: land just north of San Francisco, a fitting prototype for

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00:20:57,359 --> 00:21:04,200
Speaker 1: the summer of love. We'll be right back after this word,

333
00:21:04,359 --> 00:21:14,920
Speaker 1: word word, pig Pens stared deeply into his singing partner's eyes.

334
00:21:15,600 --> 00:21:19,520
Speaker 1: He was lost in them, a wild, vibrant shade of sapphire.

335
00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:22,480
Speaker 1: Pig Pen was in a rock and roll band, so

336
00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:25,320
Speaker 1: of course he'd been with girls before, but this one

337
00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:29,480
Speaker 1: she was a woman. The two took turns belting out

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00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:32,879
Speaker 1: blue standards, and although there were dozens of people around

339
00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:35,160
Speaker 1: them watching, it felt like they were the only two

340
00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:38,520
Speaker 1: people in the world. They continued to serenade each other

341
00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:43,080
Speaker 1: as they traded lines. They also traded swiggs of southern comfort.

342
00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:47,680
Speaker 1: Pig was transfixed. This woman wasn't just sharing the same

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00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:52,119
Speaker 1: bottle with him, They shared the same essence. Pig was

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00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:55,880
Speaker 1: losing his goddamn mind. The way her hair fell effortlessly

345
00:21:55,880 --> 00:21:59,959
Speaker 1: around her shoulders, her smile, and her voice. That voice,

346
00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:03,560
Speaker 1: the unmistakable voice that would go on to be one

347
00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:08,520
Speaker 1: of the most influential of all time. Rough Raspy Janis

348
00:22:08,600 --> 00:22:14,280
Speaker 1: Joplin was as real as they came. Janice had just

349
00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:17,119
Speaker 1: begun singing with big brother in the Holding Company and

350
00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:20,199
Speaker 1: in the summer of nineteen sixty six, the band and

351
00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:23,800
Speaker 1: seemingly the entire San Francisco music scene, had an open

352
00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:27,680
Speaker 1: invitation to the Grateful Dead's palatial estate just outside the city,

353
00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:33,200
Speaker 1: a compound of buildings surrounding a massive adobe mansion, Rancho Olmpoy,

354
00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:38,119
Speaker 1: discovered by the Dead's manager Rock Scully. Rancho alm Polly

355
00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:41,840
Speaker 1: was the timecastle up in the hills, lush green fields,

356
00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:46,040
Speaker 1: a swimming pool, a fountain that harkened back one hundred years,

357
00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:49,600
Speaker 1: detached from the modern world to allow the Dead to

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00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:52,800
Speaker 1: continue their communal approach to music making, and also provided

359
00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:55,760
Speaker 1: a secluded spot for the group to do well whatever

360
00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:59,280
Speaker 1: that else they wanted to do. During the weekends, the

361
00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:01,600
Speaker 1: Grateful Dead their way into the city to gig, but

362
00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:04,040
Speaker 1: during the week everyone else made their way out to

363
00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:06,800
Speaker 1: Olempoly for a more free form version of what the

364
00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:11,360
Speaker 1: asset test had offered. Franksters served kool aid and rolled joints.

365
00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:14,840
Speaker 1: Neil Cassidy roaming the lawn, tossing a hammer high in

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00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:18,600
Speaker 1: the air and catching it while simultaneously carrying on several

367
00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:24,280
Speaker 1: conversations absolute madness. More than half the participants traped around

368
00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:27,480
Speaker 1: nude music filled the air from both the musicians on

369
00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:30,840
Speaker 1: site and the FM radio, and the Dead set around

370
00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:34,440
Speaker 1: the radio late at night, listening to the future, their future,

371
00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:37,119
Speaker 1: devising a way to marry their approach to music with

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00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:41,320
Speaker 1: what was happening The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Buddy Guy,

373
00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:45,919
Speaker 1: Electric Blues, the Common Thread. Pig Pen was just happy

374
00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:48,639
Speaker 1: that the Blues were pumping through the FM signal. The

375
00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:53,800
Speaker 1: dream was alive and well. It was a full year

376
00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:57,040
Speaker 1: before what would be considered the Summer Love, but life

377
00:23:57,040 --> 00:24:00,440
Speaker 1: on allmpoly predicted what was to come. It was a

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00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:04,240
Speaker 1: commune outside of reality and alternate way of life. The

379
00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:07,000
Speaker 1: gathered residents at Alan Polly were forging a new path.

380
00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:10,840
Speaker 1: The BBC even such a team to investigate the undeniably

381
00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:16,159
Speaker 1: important cultural experience. They ate together, slept together, created art together,

382
00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:20,119
Speaker 1: and played music every day. A small stage and instruments

383
00:24:20,119 --> 00:24:22,080
Speaker 1: were set up just in front of the main house.

384
00:24:22,800 --> 00:24:26,080
Speaker 1: Different combinations of members from every band present floated on

385
00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:29,760
Speaker 1: and off the stage like Big Brothers. Janice Joplin and

386
00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:33,520
Speaker 1: the Deads were on pig Pen mccernan. In Pig's eyes,

387
00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:38,359
Speaker 1: Janice wasn't just radiant, she was a kindred spirit. Pig

388
00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:41,480
Speaker 1: and Janice were both from small towns, both knee deep

389
00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:44,600
Speaker 1: in the blues. They both felt every word they sang

390
00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:47,879
Speaker 1: in every part of their body. And as Pigpens sang

391
00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:51,960
Speaker 1: those words and stared into Janice's eyes, some chemical reaction

392
00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:57,760
Speaker 1: was taking place, something primal. The two left whatever was

393
00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:00,879
Speaker 1: happening between them on the Olm and Polly stage. That day,

394
00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:03,399
Speaker 1: Janis and Big Brother went back to their base camp

395
00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:07,280
Speaker 1: in nearby Lagnitis. As fate would have it, the Dead's

396
00:25:07,359 --> 00:25:10,320
Speaker 1: lease ended a few months later, and they decided to

397
00:25:10,359 --> 00:25:14,240
Speaker 1: set up shop at a day camp, also Lagnitis. The

398
00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:16,840
Speaker 1: camp was dotted with cabins and a main dining hall

399
00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:20,480
Speaker 1: where the band took meals. It was also just minutes

400
00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:24,600
Speaker 1: away from where Janis and Big Brother were staying. Janice

401
00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:27,840
Speaker 1: regularly traveled the dirt path between the band's two properties.

402
00:25:28,359 --> 00:25:31,600
Speaker 1: Emerging from the woods like a force of nature, she'd

403
00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:34,840
Speaker 1: head straight for the cabin Pig was bunking in. The

404
00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:37,800
Speaker 1: two would continue to trade blues on pigs Porch throughout

405
00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:40,320
Speaker 1: the day, and they could be found almost every evening

406
00:25:40,359 --> 00:25:43,439
Speaker 1: on the piano in the dining hall, entertaining to gather guests,

407
00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:47,000
Speaker 1: and they get cozy sip soco and saying for hours,

408
00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:49,920
Speaker 1: until they inevitably decided to head back to Pig's cabin

409
00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:52,399
Speaker 1: and entertain each other there for the rest of the evening.

410
00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:58,240
Speaker 1: Pig Pen didn't have the chance to fall him off.

411
00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:01,159
Speaker 1: He was a kind soul and romantic at hard, but

412
00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:04,440
Speaker 1: Janice wouldn't be tied down. They were ships in the

413
00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:08,960
Speaker 1: night many nights. Even without those long nights with Janice,

414
00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:13,199
Speaker 1: Lagnitis was a dream for pig The enchanted woodland setting

415
00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:15,679
Speaker 1: was the perfect backdrop for the dead to focus at

416
00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:19,200
Speaker 1: home their sound. The rehearsals were a shape shifting mix

417
00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:22,520
Speaker 1: of genres, as blurred as most people's minds were on

418
00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:26,400
Speaker 1: indefinite doses of bears acid. But the more Jerry took

419
00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:31,320
Speaker 1: the reins, the more pigs Rolls frontman diminished. Most days,

420
00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:35,200
Speaker 1: pig Pen was too drunk to notice. Increasingly. He spent

421
00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:38,560
Speaker 1: those days just soaking up sunshine, knocking back Southern comfort,

422
00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:41,959
Speaker 1: and smoking countless cigarettes while Jerry plotted the band's course.

423
00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:47,399
Speaker 1: Soon he charted the course right under the enchanted Lagnitis woods.

424
00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:50,200
Speaker 1: Because something was happening in the city. It was as

425
00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:53,320
Speaker 1: electrically charged as the looks Pig and Janice gave to

426
00:26:53,359 --> 00:26:58,920
Speaker 1: each other. San Francisco was quickly taking shape the Jefferson Airplane,

427
00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:02,560
Speaker 1: Quicksilver Messenger Service, Moby Grape sly in the family Stone.

428
00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:05,679
Speaker 1: Jerry was dead set on getting the Dead in the

429
00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:10,960
Speaker 1: Freaky Mix. First, the band let Bear go for now.

430
00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:14,120
Speaker 1: At least they were tired of sucumber some stage equipment,

431
00:27:14,280 --> 00:27:17,520
Speaker 1: and there were no hard feelings. It was just business. Besides,

432
00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:20,680
Speaker 1: Bear was focused on his own business, the LSD business.

433
00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:24,400
Speaker 1: As a parting gift, the band's dealer and cash flow

434
00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:27,800
Speaker 1: Sours bought them some new equipment, and then Bear packed

435
00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:31,240
Speaker 1: up to stuff and went back to Berkeley. Next, the

436
00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:34,720
Speaker 1: Dead almost completely dissolved their partnership with the Mary Praisters,

437
00:27:35,480 --> 00:28:04,680
Speaker 1: but not before one last show. The effects come on slowly.

438
00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:10,240
Speaker 1: At first, you feel nothing, maybe a placebo effect or

439
00:28:10,320 --> 00:28:13,720
Speaker 1: to it. It's all on your head. Ten minutes past,

440
00:28:13,840 --> 00:28:16,840
Speaker 1: and then fifteen you begin to think maybe you got

441
00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:21,840
Speaker 1: it dud, maybe it was a weak batch. Twenty minutes pass,

442
00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:26,600
Speaker 1: still nothing, and then wait, there there's something. It doesn't

443
00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:29,359
Speaker 1: happen all at once. It sounds like a light switch

444
00:28:29,440 --> 00:28:33,960
Speaker 1: just gets flicked on. It's a steady climb. It creeps

445
00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:37,040
Speaker 1: up your spine, and then it's not just in your head,

446
00:28:37,119 --> 00:28:41,680
Speaker 1: it's in your mind. Colors become more vivid. You wave

447
00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:45,120
Speaker 1: your hand in front of your face and watching disbelief

448
00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:49,280
Speaker 1: as a faint trail emanates from it. Your mind separates

449
00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:53,440
Speaker 1: itself from its bodily confines from your head. You begin

450
00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:56,440
Speaker 1: to question everything, and, depending on the amount and you've

451
00:28:56,560 --> 00:29:02,520
Speaker 1: ingested the horle and visual hallucinations, because incredibly vivid, they

452
00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:08,000
Speaker 1: feel real. You feel life as you've never felt it before. This,

453
00:29:08,320 --> 00:29:11,800
Speaker 1: of course, is the experience of a willing participant on LST,

454
00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:17,040
Speaker 1: a participant who, if properly briefed, understands that negative emotions

455
00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:20,320
Speaker 1: or thoughts can quickly undermine the entire experiment, and that

456
00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:22,640
Speaker 1: they should be prepared to roll with whatever waves come

457
00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:26,520
Speaker 1: their way. You know, try to stay positive, but it's

458
00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:31,920
Speaker 1: hard to stay positive when you've been unknowingly dosed. Dosing

459
00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:35,440
Speaker 1: was not an uncommon practice in the nineteen sixties, and

460
00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:38,240
Speaker 1: it was not uncommon amongst members of the asset tests scene.

461
00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:42,640
Speaker 1: They did call themselves pranksters, after all. So what happened

462
00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:44,920
Speaker 1: when the Grateful Dead stepped off the stage of the

463
00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:48,560
Speaker 1: San Francisco State asset tests came as no surprise. It

464
00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:52,040
Speaker 1: was inevitable. They needed a break before the second set

465
00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:55,800
Speaker 1: of the night. The first was successful, The band sounded good,

466
00:29:55,840 --> 00:29:58,000
Speaker 1: and they were being responsible with the acid they were

467
00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:01,240
Speaker 1: conscious of ingesting. It was happy returned to the test

468
00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:04,160
Speaker 1: scene and their first appearance at once since Los Angeles.

469
00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:06,920
Speaker 1: A six month hiatus in the woods had done the

470
00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:10,400
Speaker 1: Grateful Dead good. Things were at that point, going according

471
00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:13,560
Speaker 1: to Plant, the pig Pen was sipping on a beer

472
00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:17,120
Speaker 1: when he started to feel it, a slight tingle in

473
00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:21,800
Speaker 1: his legs. What's this now? The sensation grew soon it

474
00:30:21,840 --> 00:30:24,160
Speaker 1: wasn't just a tingle, and it wasn't just his legs.

475
00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:28,520
Speaker 1: Pig had him been drinking that much pattie. He sat

476
00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:32,280
Speaker 1: down and began to sweat. His heart was pounding. Pigpen

477
00:30:32,360 --> 00:30:34,880
Speaker 1: focused on his breathing, actively, working to slow it down.

478
00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:38,280
Speaker 1: After a few seconds, he started to even out. He

479
00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:42,760
Speaker 1: was okay. He tried to stand or was he already standing?

480
00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:46,120
Speaker 1: Did he ever sit down? The room stretched out in

481
00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:49,200
Speaker 1: front of him. The voices of everyone in the room echoed.

482
00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:54,520
Speaker 1: Everything seemed to be happening against slow motion. The Dead's manager,

483
00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:57,959
Speaker 1: Rock Scully, appeared. What was the matter. Pig Pen had

484
00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:00,720
Speaker 1: no legs, That's what was the matter. His pupils were

485
00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:03,920
Speaker 1: also dilated. Rock looked down to the open can of

486
00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:09,239
Speaker 1: beer and pig Pen's hands. Oh no, good God. The

487
00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:11,960
Speaker 1: next thing pig Pen knew he was being raised home.

488
00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:14,680
Speaker 1: He had been dosed, and it was anyone's guest to

489
00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:17,360
Speaker 1: who had done it. Pigpen had always had an open

490
00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:20,160
Speaker 1: bottle or can of something on stage, and the stage

491
00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:23,840
Speaker 1: was accessible to nearly anyone. Pig worried about what would

492
00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:27,120
Speaker 1: happen next. He didn't want the ship. He never wanted

493
00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:29,800
Speaker 1: the ship, and by the time Rock got him home,

494
00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:33,840
Speaker 1: pig was well into his trip. He began seeing shapes

495
00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:36,960
Speaker 1: in the ball, creatures moving about the house. He drove

496
00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:39,200
Speaker 1: into bed and under the covers, but kept murmuring about

497
00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:43,000
Speaker 1: what he was seeing. The anxiety shot through him. Second

498
00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:47,320
Speaker 1: stretched into days, Days became months, time became nothing. Who

499
00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:51,560
Speaker 1: was he? What was he? Why was he? Pig wrestled

500
00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:53,800
Speaker 1: with his own mind through the remaining hours of his trip.

501
00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:57,080
Speaker 1: While back at San Francisco State, the Asset Test was

502
00:31:57,120 --> 00:32:00,560
Speaker 1: falling into disarray. Without Pigpen to grow on the band

503
00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:04,320
Speaker 1: and remind them there around Planet Earth, things got weird,

504
00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:07,760
Speaker 1: Jerry kicked back to Pig's organ, and ken Kezi took

505
00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:12,600
Speaker 1: center stage. They plowed through a mad weird set, and

506
00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:14,960
Speaker 1: as Kesi stood in front of the Dead rapping to

507
00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:17,920
Speaker 1: the crowd, it slowly began to dawn on the band

508
00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:20,880
Speaker 1: members that there was a decision to make. They could

509
00:32:20,880 --> 00:32:23,400
Speaker 1: continue to be the Grateful Dead a k a. The

510
00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:27,360
Speaker 1: Acid Test House band continued to subject themselves to potential

511
00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:31,720
Speaker 1: misfires and misadventures with the Pranksters, or they could be

512
00:32:31,760 --> 00:32:37,200
Speaker 1: the Grateful Dead from San Francisco, their own thing. Another

513
00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:39,960
Speaker 1: test was scheduled for the end of October, on Halloween.

514
00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:44,480
Speaker 1: This would be the graduation, the culmination of the odyssey

515
00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:47,400
Speaker 1: the tests that embarked on and Kesey and the Pranksters

516
00:32:47,480 --> 00:32:50,520
Speaker 1: would go out with a bang. It was rumored they

517
00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:53,320
Speaker 1: intended to dose the entire water supply of the venue.

518
00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:56,600
Speaker 1: The levels of chaos had left the stratosphere. We're heading

519
00:32:56,600 --> 00:33:00,520
Speaker 1: into another universe, perhaps even a black hole. The Grateful

520
00:33:00,560 --> 00:33:03,680
Speaker 1: Dead and especially pig Pen where leary of the whole thing.

521
00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:07,880
Speaker 1: They would not play the asset Test graduation, and they

522
00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:11,840
Speaker 1: would never play another asset test at all. Four days later,

523
00:33:12,280 --> 00:33:15,840
Speaker 1: the State of California outlawed the possession of LSD as

524
00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:19,160
Speaker 1: if the Dead needed another sign, and they had made

525
00:33:19,200 --> 00:33:23,040
Speaker 1: their decision, all signs pointed towards being a good one

526
00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:26,160
Speaker 1: and they were no longer the house band her ken Kisi.

527
00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:29,680
Speaker 1: They were the Grateful Dead from San Francisco, and the

528
00:33:29,760 --> 00:33:36,960
Speaker 1: scene in San Francisco was about two roped. 'm Jake

529
00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:53,880
Speaker 1: Brennan and this is the Club. Club is hosted and

530
00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:57,680
Speaker 1: produced by me Jake Brennan for Double Elvis in partnership

531
00:33:57,720 --> 00:34:01,120
Speaker 1: with I Heart Radio. Seth d is the lead writer

532
00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:04,920
Speaker 1: and co producer. This episode was mixed by Joe Edinburgh.

533
00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:09,120
Speaker 1: Additional music and score elements by Ryan Spraaker and Henry Lunana.

534
00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:12,800
Speaker 1: This episode was written by Ted Omo, story and copy

535
00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:16,759
Speaker 1: ending by Pata Healy. Sources for this episode are available

536
00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:19,439
Speaker 1: at Double Elvis dot com on the twenty seven Club

537
00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:22,959
Speaker 1: series page, Talk to me on social at disgrace Land Pod,

538
00:34:23,200 --> 00:34:25,120
Speaker 1: and hang out with me live on a Twitch channel

539
00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:28,719
Speaker 1: disgrace Land Talks. For more news on your favorite podcast,

540
00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:36,960
Speaker 1: follow at Double Elvis on Instagram. Rocar ROLLA what up

541
00:34:37,080 --> 00:34:37,600
Speaker 1: here is