Ron “Pigpen” McKernan Episode 1: Fueled by Thunderbird, Taught by a Nine-Fingered Wizard, and Saving Woodstock

27 Club

iHeartPodcasts and Double Elvis

Society & Culture, Music

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 9 June 2022

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Ron "Pigpen" McKernan was the primary figure and driving force at the core of the Grateful Dead's origin story. He was an old soul, a digger of deep moods, a devotee of biker chic, and a tireless student of the blues. His devotion to classic Americana kept the band grounded even when they found themselves lost in experimental improvisation. But as the Dead evolved and became more famous, Pigpen became more of an outlier. While the rest of the band dropped acid, he drank Thunderbird. While they looked to the future for a new strain of American music, he looked back to the past. And by the time he died in 1973 at the age of 27, the band that Pigpen had started all those years ago no longer had room for him.

Sources:

A Long Strange Trip: The Inside Story of the Grateful Dead, by Dennis McNally

Searching for the Sound, by Phil Lesh

This Is All a Dream We Dreamed: An Oral History of the Grateful Dead, by Blair Jackson and David Gans

The Grateful Dead FAQ: All That’s Left to Know About the Greatest Jam Band in History, by Tony Sclafani

San Francisco Blues, by Jack Kerouac

5 Logistical Woodstock Nightmares We Can Learn From (Prevue Meetings)

The Grateful Dead at Woodstock 1969 (Bethel Woods)

Debunking Woodstock: What really happened? (Today)

The Grateful Dead (Woodstock Wiki)

The Dead At Woodstock (Dead Essays)

Grateful Dead at Woodstock (YouTube)

Owsley Stanley Interview (KPFA)

Grateful Dead Guide: Pigpen Solo (Dead Essays)

White people, blues music and the problem of cultural appropriation (Medium)

'Pigpen' McKernan Dead at 27 (Rolling Stone)

Jerry's Brokendown Palaces: Dana Morgan's Music Store

Bob Weir on meeting Jerry Garcia (Vimeo)

The Grateful Dead: Making the Scene in Palo Alto (Palo Alto History)

Live at Top of the Tangent

Fact-checking the Life and Death of Bluesman Robert Johnson (Mother Jones)

The Sad Story Of Robert Johnson (Radio Facts)

Robert Johnson: Murder or Bad Whiskey? (Criminal Element)

David “Honeyboy” Edwards on Robert Johnson and Mississippi Delta Blues (Chicago Magazine)

Robert Johnson: Unlock the guitar mysteries of the Delta blues great (Guitar World)

The Not-So-Mysterious Missing Grave of Blues Legend Robert Johnson (Atlas Obscura)

Greatest Stories Ever Told - "Easy Wind" (Dead.net)

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Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse and many more musical icons all died at the age of 27. Scandalous, tortured, dramatic, and incredibly talented, these artists torched a wild path to their early graves and shifted and shaped our culture along the way. 27 Club tells their stories. 27 Club is hosted and created by Jake Brennan, host and creator of the award-winning music and true crime podcast DISGRACELAND. 27 Club is not a journalistic podcast. It is an entertainment podcast inspired by true events. For more shows like 27 Club, check out www.doubleelvis.com.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Penelope Spheras, on the host of a new podcast about the life and death of Peter Ivers.
0:06.4	Peter was the host of a TV show featuring prominent LA punk bands until he was murdered in 1983.
0:13.9	Forty years later, we dive into that music scene and the mystery of his passing.
0:19.7	Listen to Peter and the Acid King on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
0:30.0	The Unimaginable Season 2 of The Unimaginable hones in on individuals who have led unimaginable lives by following their instinct from guests like Tyco White TT.
0:42.0	Stick to your vision of what you're trying to do. It's just more pure. The family is more pure and the success is more pure.
0:48.8	This season delivers behind the scenes conversations about the many roads to success.
0:54.0	Listen to The Unimaginable on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:01.0	Hello world, you're tuning in to Amplify Color, and I'm your host, The Voice of Atlanta, Ryan Caron.
1:06.6	During the course of this season, I'll share the stories of black trailblazers who left an undeniable impact on the radio industry.
1:13.0	Despite the uphill challenges they faced, from the very first black DJ, all the way to the voices you know and love today.
1:21.0	Listen to Amplify Color on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:35.0	Double Elvis
1:38.0	The 27 Club is a production of iHeartRadio and Double Elvis.
1:45.0	Ron Pigpen McCurnen died at the age of 27. And he lived a life that seemed to always be running a little late.
1:53.0	I can give you 27 reasons why that statement is true.
1:57.0	Five would be the number of years he absorbed the blues and R&B music that his disc jockey father spun,
2:03.0	helping Pigpen develop a love for music that was decades before his time.
2:08.0	Another 12 would be the age he was when he became a fixture in blues clubs in and around Palo Alto,
2:15.0	where it wouldn't be too long before he was consuming more than music.
2:19.0	Three more would be the number of years he'd study under a nine fingered banjo wizard,
2:25.0	honing his craft and becoming a fully realized musician.
	...

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