Ronald C. "pigpen" Mckernan (September 8 1945- March 8 1973)
Ronald C. "Pigpen" McKernan, a serious, but sweet and considerate child, was born on September 8, 1945 in San Bruno, California to a boogie-woogie piano playing father, Phil, and a loving mother, Esther. When Ron was born in 1945, his father relinquished his job as a piano player and instead worked as a rhythm and blues disk jockey at the radio station KRE up until the mid 1950's. His father's taste in music certainly rubbed off on him and he developed an early fondness for the music of Elvis Presley as well as the African American artists that were at the core of Presley's black roots. This early exposure to the blues eventually became the driving force in Ron's life and, as a result, he became a serious student of blues history and lore. Growing up alongside many African American friends, Ron felt very connected to African American music and culture. Refusing to take lessons at a young age, Ron taught himself how to play the blues piano and developed a snarly biker image through his teenage years. In addition, he also developed a nasty habit for heavy drinking at a young age, he recalled his first drink to be at age twelve. He abandoned the middle-class suburban lifestyle completely when he was expelled from Palo Alto High School as a sophomore but still enjoyed spending time writing poetry, painting, and reading science fiction. Ron's appearance, according to Grateful Dead publicist Dennis Mcnally, was characterized by "a motorcycle chain permanently bolted to his wrist" as well as "oily jeans, Brandoesque T-shirts, and greasy hair." Ron's unkempt appearance was inherently a part of him and he embraced his bodily funkiness leaving him with a confident glaze of individuality and an interesting nickname. According to Dennis Mcnally's book, A Long Strange Trip, Ron was gifted his nickname from a girlfriend who paralleled his permanently dirty appearance with a character from the comic strip Peanuts. His name was Pigpen, and it stuck.
Around the year 1962, Ron began hanging around the local coffee houses and music stores when he met Jerry Garcia on the San Mateo Peninsula coffeehouse circuit and they struck an intrinsic bond. Pigpen was not only a talented blues singer and pianist, he was quite an exceptional harmonica player as well and Garcia would end up inviting Pigpen to many a jam session after their introduction. As a result, Pigpen was a member in all the musical groups leading up to the inception of the Grateful Dead, beginning with the Zodiacs in 1963 and then the Dead in 1965. Pigpen was one of the driving persuaders who helped convince the band to switch to electric instruments and his bluesy influence was a distinct part of the Grateful Dead's early sound. As a member of the Dead, Pigpen played blues organ as well as harmonica and vocals. During the beginning of the band's life, Pigpen could have very well been considered the frontman, as much of their material was a unique kind of blues-infused rock. Contrary to most of the band, Pigpen was not a fan of the LSD experience and instead stuck to drinking Thunderbird Wine and Southern Comfort, something that would no doubt contribute to his eventual death in 1973.
The band began to take a stylistic turn from the blues to full blown psychedelia experimentation around the years 1967 and 1968 when Mickey Hart and Tom Constanten, another talented keyboardist, joined the band. Thus, Pigpen was often replaced and began putting on a nonchalant front, failing to show up for rehearsal and being generally lazy. It was around this time that Pigpen and Bob Weir were asked to leave the band and according to Grateful Dead manager, Rock Scully, "he took it hard." Later that year, the two were taken back, but Tom Constanten was hired full-time for the band, having only a little bit of studio experience with them. Subsequently, Pigpen was sometimes delegated to the congas, something that Jon Mcintire said "was really humiliating and he was really hurt, but he couldn't show it, couldn't talk about it." Regardless, Pigpen reemerged with a new kind of drive and purpose throughout the year 1969, as his versions of the popular Bobby Bland R&B song "Turn on your Lovelight" often became the band's show-stopping finale.
Pigpen was a high energy bluesman with an uncanny ability to rant improvised lyrics incessantly, his intense audience-interactive raps would help bring the shows to a climax. More often than not, these rants would take place during "Turn on your Lovelight," sometimes extending the song's running time to around fifteen to twenty minutes. One instance, during the Grateful Dead's performance at Woodstock, which was marred by technical problems, the Dead churned out a set which mostly consisted of a 48-minute version of the song. For a while, Pigpen was the image of the Grateful Dead, many who were privileged enough to see him play with the band will never forget what an incredible musician and performer he was. Jerry Garcia himself has called Pigpen "the heart and soul of the Grateful Dead," and it is certainly hard to argue against that. Right around the time when his rants were getting really great, McKernan's heavy drinking began to catch up with him and in 1971 he began experiencing symptoms of congenital biliary cirrhosis and was hospitalized. The Dead hired Keith Godchaux in Pigpen's absence, but contrary to the advice of his doctor he rejoined the band in December of 1971, far from healthy. After their tour of Europe in 1972, McKernan's health had gotten so bad that he could no longer continue on the road, his final appearance on stage with the Grateful Dead was June 17, 1972 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California.
Many initially believed McKernan to have passed away due to cirrhosis of the liver caused by excessive drinking, however, this is not true as it has been confirmed he actually succumbed to Crohn's disease, an inflammation of the small intestine, which also claimed the life of his brother, Kevin. Pigpen was found dead at his home in Corte Madera, California of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage on March 8, 1973.
Around the year 1962, Ron began hanging around the local coffee houses and music stores when he met Jerry Garcia on the San Mateo Peninsula coffeehouse circuit and they struck an intrinsic bond. Pigpen was not only a talented blues singer and pianist, he was quite an exceptional harmonica player as well and Garcia would end up inviting Pigpen to many a jam session after their introduction. As a result, Pigpen was a member in all the musical groups leading up to the inception of the Grateful Dead, beginning with the Zodiacs in 1963 and then the Dead in 1965. Pigpen was one of the driving persuaders who helped convince the band to switch to electric instruments and his bluesy influence was a distinct part of the Grateful Dead's early sound. As a member of the Dead, Pigpen played blues organ as well as harmonica and vocals. During the beginning of the band's life, Pigpen could have very well been considered the frontman, as much of their material was a unique kind of blues-infused rock. Contrary to most of the band, Pigpen was not a fan of the LSD experience and instead stuck to drinking Thunderbird Wine and Southern Comfort, something that would no doubt contribute to his eventual death in 1973.
The band began to take a stylistic turn from the blues to full blown psychedelia experimentation around the years 1967 and 1968 when Mickey Hart and Tom Constanten, another talented keyboardist, joined the band. Thus, Pigpen was often replaced and began putting on a nonchalant front, failing to show up for rehearsal and being generally lazy. It was around this time that Pigpen and Bob Weir were asked to leave the band and according to Grateful Dead manager, Rock Scully, "he took it hard." Later that year, the two were taken back, but Tom Constanten was hired full-time for the band, having only a little bit of studio experience with them. Subsequently, Pigpen was sometimes delegated to the congas, something that Jon Mcintire said "was really humiliating and he was really hurt, but he couldn't show it, couldn't talk about it." Regardless, Pigpen reemerged with a new kind of drive and purpose throughout the year 1969, as his versions of the popular Bobby Bland R&B song "Turn on your Lovelight" often became the band's show-stopping finale.
Pigpen was a high energy bluesman with an uncanny ability to rant improvised lyrics incessantly, his intense audience-interactive raps would help bring the shows to a climax. More often than not, these rants would take place during "Turn on your Lovelight," sometimes extending the song's running time to around fifteen to twenty minutes. One instance, during the Grateful Dead's performance at Woodstock, which was marred by technical problems, the Dead churned out a set which mostly consisted of a 48-minute version of the song. For a while, Pigpen was the image of the Grateful Dead, many who were privileged enough to see him play with the band will never forget what an incredible musician and performer he was. Jerry Garcia himself has called Pigpen "the heart and soul of the Grateful Dead," and it is certainly hard to argue against that. Right around the time when his rants were getting really great, McKernan's heavy drinking began to catch up with him and in 1971 he began experiencing symptoms of congenital biliary cirrhosis and was hospitalized. The Dead hired Keith Godchaux in Pigpen's absence, but contrary to the advice of his doctor he rejoined the band in December of 1971, far from healthy. After their tour of Europe in 1972, McKernan's health had gotten so bad that he could no longer continue on the road, his final appearance on stage with the Grateful Dead was June 17, 1972 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California.
Many initially believed McKernan to have passed away due to cirrhosis of the liver caused by excessive drinking, however, this is not true as it has been confirmed he actually succumbed to Crohn's disease, an inflammation of the small intestine, which also claimed the life of his brother, Kevin. Pigpen was found dead at his home in Corte Madera, California of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage on March 8, 1973.