Ron “Pigpen” McKernan” Episode 7: Busted Down on Bourbon Street, Workingman’s Dead, and Riding that Train

27 Club

iHeartPodcasts and Double Elvis

Society & Culture, Music

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 21 July 2022

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Busted down on Bourbon Street. Fleeced by a member of the family. Plastered on a runaway train barreling through the Canadian countryside. As the Grateful Dead faced a number of new challenges and detours, their music moved steadily ahead on solid footing – evidenced by the back-to-basics songs that made up Workingman’s Dead, their best album in years.

Sources:

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

Living with The Dead: Twenty Years on the Bus with Garcia and the Grateful Dead, by Rock Scully with David Dalton

Searching for the Sound, by Phil Lesh

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

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

The Grateful Dead Were "Busted Down On Bourbon Street," On This Day In 1970 (Live for Live Music)

Jerry Garcia on the NOLA bust (YouTube)

Pigpen Forever: The Life and Times of Ron McKernan, by Blair Jackson

January 30, 1970: New Orleans Bust & Benefit (Dead Sources)

Grateful Dead live at the Fillmore East, 5/15/1970

How 1970's 'Workingman's Dead' Changed the Grateful Dead Forever (Guitar World)

50 Years Ago: Grateful Dead Kick Up Dust on 'Workingman's Dead' (Ultimate Classic Rock)

Workingman's Dead (The Grateful Dead Wiki)

Lenny Hart Arrested (Dead.net)

How 'Workingman's Dead' And 'American Beauty' Marked A Turning Point For The Grateful Dead 50 Years Ago (Forbes)

Train kept a rollin': a brief history of the (in)famous 1970 Festival Express (RETROactive)

1970: The Saga of the Festival Express (Mind Smoke Records)

June/July 1970: The Festival Express (Dead Sources)

Brian Jones: Sympathy for the Devil (Rolling Stone)

FLASHBACK: BRIAN JONES LEAVES THE ROLLING STONES (Nights with Alice Cooper)

Life, by Keith Richards

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Twitter: @DoubleElvisFm @Disgracelandpod

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Pinterest: @doubleelvisfm

Facebook: Double Elvis Productions

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	The 27 Club is a production of I Heart Radio and Double Elvis.
0:14.0	Ron Pigpin McCurden died at the age of 27, and he lived a life that was always meant
0:19.7	to go off the tracks.
0:22.1	I can give you 27 reasons why that statement is true.
0:26.3	Two would be the number of times he narrowly avoided a possession wrap for drugs.
0:31.3	Drugs that he had absolutely no desire to use, or even sell.
0:36.1	Another four would be the number of years of savings Pig would lose when the dead got
0:40.8	taken for a financial ride by a trusted member of their family.
0:45.5	Eight more would be the number of tracks that appeared on the Grateful Dead's fourth studio album
0:50.2	Working Man's Dead, which turned away from psychedelia, though not directly back towards pigs
0:56.7	beloved blues. Another 11 would be the number of days Pigpin and the Grateful Dead would embark
1:02.7	on a cross-country journey into the Canadian wilderness on a train ride that altered their
1:07.4	perspective and their minds. And two would be the number of Englishmen who had the unpleasant
1:14.1	task of letting an original band member go. A member who would die a month later in
1:19.3	serve as a grim harbinger of what would await Pigpin and his good friend.
1:24.7	All totaling 27. On this episode 7 of season 5, possession wraps, money blues,
1:32.5	riding that train in Ron Pigpin, McCurden. I'm Jake Brennan and this is the 27th Club.
1:49.3	I'm Jake Brennan and this is the 27th Club.
1:53.0	I'm Jake Brennan and this is the 27th Club.
1:55.0	I'm Jake Brennan and this is the 27th Club.
1:57.0	I'm Jake Brennan and this is the 27th Club.
1:59.0	I'm Jake Brennan and this is the 27th Club.
	...

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