tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post9099497396812611849..comments2024-03-27T02:55:04.190-07:00Comments on Grateful Dead Guide: Pigpen SoloLight Into Asheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comBlogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-70329993397171256602021-11-09T22:14:30.412-08:002021-11-09T22:14:30.412-08:00https://www.facebook.com/groups/1559369524351383/p...https://www.facebook.com/groups/1559369524351383/posts/3060618640893123/ <br />Mostly Pigpen home demos (some familiar, some not) and what appear to be some circulating Dead tapes...and tapes with no labels at all. Tantalizing to see some unheard stuff in this box...which hopefully won't stay unheard! Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-34824465276793470892021-11-09T03:59:01.487-08:002021-11-09T03:59:01.487-08:00Jim Sullivan has posted on the "Cult of Ron M...Jim Sullivan has posted on the "Cult of Ron McKernan" facebook page photos of a box of cassettes from Pigpen's estate with the message<br /> ·<br />"Feast your eyes...<br />Knew I had another box of Ron's home recordings+ misc.<br />Moving my shop boxes it turned up.<br />My oldest will be transferring to digital soon."<br /><br />The photos aren't too clear and runonguinnesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11089424718490613109noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-46237148532817927642020-11-03T13:50:35.390-08:002020-11-03T13:50:35.390-08:00The best investigation of the phrase is here:
htt...The best investigation of the phrase is here: <br />http://mypages.iit.edu/~ahrens/boxbackmiddy.htm <br /><br />Whatever Pigpen's source, he heard it before 1964. As far as I know, no one's found that identical verse either in Lightnin' Hopkins' songs or elsewhere, though similar verses do turn up in older blues songs. That page suggests he read the phrase in an interview with Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-13646546662319232282020-11-02T12:07:09.166-08:002020-11-02T12:07:09.166-08:00Has anyone ever considered that the word is "...Has anyone ever considered that the word is "knitties"? As in long underwear (union suit style) made of knitted cloth with a square flap on the back? Which would place the "box back knitties" in the general area, anatomically, of "great big noble thighs" and "boar hogs eye". Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-36175992755060993832020-07-12T23:54:28.215-07:002020-07-12T23:54:28.215-07:00Thanks. I don't have a musician's ear, I j...Thanks. I don't have a musician's ear, I just try to listen carefully! I was pointed in the direction of the Pennywhistlers; I wrote a post on them to go along with the podcast. Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-88876580603958672882020-07-12T06:36:38.998-07:002020-07-12T06:36:38.998-07:00Light Into Ashes - I listened to the new GOOD OLE ...Light Into Ashes - I listened to the new GOOD OLE podcast about Workingman's and UJB that just dropped this week. They mentioned your research to uncover the Pennywhistlers tune that held the spectral germ of an inspiration for the UJB melody. I am deeply impressed. I read that Garcia interview long ago and had the same questions. EXCELLENT research. Are you a musician? You must have a damn Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12317531799462695952noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-43551790579670530242020-06-06T15:40:38.621-07:002020-06-06T15:40:38.621-07:00 You do fantastic work, I love the site. Thanks f... You do fantastic work, I love the site. Thanks for looking into the Hooker-Pig connection. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12317531799462695952noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-16435682139363310702020-06-05T23:49:00.401-07:002020-06-05T23:49:00.401-07:00By the way, Garcia & Saunders did play a benef...By the way, Garcia & Saunders did play a benefit concert with John Lee Hooker in Berkeley in December '71.Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-67032274296040738352020-06-05T23:42:15.964-07:002020-06-05T23:42:15.964-07:00You have a point, Hooker probably didn't know ...You have a point, Hooker probably didn't know too many other guys named Pigpen who lived outside San Francisco. I was mistaken, McNally writes that Hooker visited Pigpen at 710 Ashbury. So I guess Hooker also visited him out at Mickey's ranch in Novato. But I don't think the other Dead members have ever said squat about meeting John Lee Hooker. Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-30005048161904162952020-06-05T20:35:14.987-07:002020-06-05T20:35:14.987-07:00They mention San Francisco. You don't think Pi...They mention San Francisco. You don't think Pigpen sought out John Lee when he had a chance? Hooker lived in the Bay Area.You think Alan Wilson knows this other old friend guy? The Dead lived in the countryside in this period, no. You researched the shit out of everything else, which is why I'm visiting this site. Research this and find out. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12317531799462695952noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-56204216299955245272020-06-04T19:00:11.563-07:002020-06-04T19:00:11.563-07:00Well, that's a different Pigpen, an old friend...Well, that's a different Pigpen, an old friend of Hooker's who lived out in the country with his wife & farm animals. I doubt John Lee Hooker ever met the Dead. Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-19843590646700452622020-06-04T15:29:32.573-07:002020-06-04T15:29:32.573-07:00You guys ever heard the album John Lee Hooker did ...You guys ever heard the album John Lee Hooker did with Canned Heat? Someone mentioned Bob Hire earlier. Anyhow, it's called Hooker N Heat and at the start of Burning Hell, John Lee tells Alan Wilson a story about Pigpen. Check it out on YouTube!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12317531799462695952noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-51800296087280131062019-12-05T13:34:09.869-08:002019-12-05T13:34:09.869-08:00Amazing and thank you to whoever compiled all this...Amazing and thank you to whoever compiled all this. This site is amazing. Thank you!Zachhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09945313856912789473noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-80333466316278350812018-03-29T14:29:37.122-07:002018-03-29T14:29:37.122-07:00From a 1975 interview with Peter Simon:
Q: When ...From a 1975 interview with Peter Simon: <br /><br />Q: When Pigpen departed, was that a big break in your history as a group? <br />JG: Well, yeah, sure...all of a sudden it's not the same group, it's a different group. Pigpen had influenced a lot of what we were doing because of who he was...the music had to be able to include him. In a way, Pigpen - technically at any rate - Pigpen Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-60913986387495805392018-03-28T23:15:30.849-07:002018-03-28T23:15:30.849-07:00Garcia said in a 1991 interview, "He didn’t w...Garcia said in a 1991 interview, "He didn’t want to die, but it turns out he had this other disease that was really rare. Now his brother has it, some kind of genetic deal that causes a gradual enlarging of your internal organs, which gradually kills you, and it’s really really rare. And Pigpen had that disease. And that’s what killed him, not the drinking, you know? ...He wasn’t a real hardLight Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-2551706403873137842018-02-20T00:45:51.811-08:002018-02-20T00:45:51.811-08:00From the Santa Cruz Sentinel, March 11, 1973:
Roc...From the Santa Cruz Sentinel, March 11, 1973: <br />Rock Star's Death Was Natural <br />Corte Madera, Calif. (AP) - The Grateful Dead rock group's Ron McKernan, whose death was described as the result of natural causes, suffered from cirrhosis of the liver, the Marin County coroner's office said Friday. <br />McKernan, 27, known for what some called his "outrageous appearance&Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-86328992658315511922017-06-30T13:27:55.363-07:002017-06-30T13:27:55.363-07:00Thanks for the memory! I've often wondered how...Thanks for the memory! I've often wondered how Pigpen's parents felt about his rock & roll lifestyle. I know Kevin was later in a band called Osiris which opened for some of the Dead's sidebands in '74-75. <br />https://www.facebook.com/UniversityoftheGratefullyEducated/photos/a.959735487396880.1073741828.859424494094647/962783657092063/?type=3 <br /><br />Rolling Stone's Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-19266967285702952042017-06-30T11:01:49.951-07:002017-06-30T11:01:49.951-07:00Pigpen's brother Kevin and I were good friends...Pigpen's brother Kevin and I were good friends 1966-69,and I spent a lot of time at their house. Ron (Pigpen) never got up before noon, always had a hangover, and was always pissed off about something until he started drinking for the day. His room was a tiny add-on to the front of the house, the piano was in the main room of the house so I got to hear him play many times. Never heard him Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-59606325176207704662016-12-29T14:45:49.352-08:002016-12-29T14:45:49.352-08:00Yes, they all agree that it was congenital liver p...Yes, they all agree that it was congenital liver problems, not the alcohol, and mention that Pigpen's brother Kevin died of the same thing. (They say Crohn's disease, but I'm not sure that's right.)<br />Always nice to see Lesh & Weir get together and reminisce about the Dead.Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-17147320066852678482016-12-28T20:42:52.278-08:002016-12-28T20:42:52.278-08:00(including a priceless Weir impression of Janis Jo...(including a priceless Weir impression of Janis Joplin in bed with Pigpen.)Davenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-27606359475415225902016-12-28T20:41:32.354-08:002016-12-28T20:41:32.354-08:00Lesh, Weir, and Steve Parish say the same thing ab...Lesh, Weir, and Steve Parish say the same thing about Pigpen dying due to a congenital disease, not the results of alcoholism, here at 44 minutes in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfPGwJZ9-1g<br /><br />The chat contains some other good Pigpen stories as well.Davenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-82371502767413161852016-08-28T01:09:31.940-07:002016-08-28T01:09:31.940-07:00I don't know if Merl Saunders is a good compar...I don't know if Merl Saunders is a good comparison... Garcia's side-bands were less destructive on their members than the Dead were, true; but Saunders (along with other organists that worked with Garcia) felt that the Dead kind of resented him and didn't want him "taking" Garcia. (And he didn't want to join them in 1990 either.) And though the evidence is thin, I think Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-15067664933585729012016-08-27T17:24:59.544-07:002016-08-27T17:24:59.544-07:00Not sure if it's true, but I remember reading ...Not sure if it's true, but I remember reading that Saunders made sure *not* to be in town when the Dead had to find a new keyboardist after Brent died.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-35772576569276389892016-08-27T06:37:33.814-07:002016-08-27T06:37:33.814-07:00The Dead might not have been all too good to their...The Dead might not have been all too good to their keyboardists -- but Jerry's relationship with Merle Saunders seems to have been quite amicable. Why was there such a difference? That might be another angle of inquiry for your research. (For what it's worth, I think, perhaps, that Jerry might have been more of a perfectionist (isn't 'perfectionist hippie' an oxymoron?) flea-bit peanut monkeynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-508596483308849125.post-44334510549595317292016-04-13T23:24:27.766-07:002016-04-13T23:24:27.766-07:00No, he didn't miss any shows that year until O...No, he didn't miss any shows that year until October. On the other hand, in any songs he didn't sing or play organ on (which was a lot of them) during that time, the band was essentially a four-piece. Light Into Asheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06943335142002007213noreply@blogger.com