Grateful Dead Europe ‘72 50th Anniversary: Pigpen Playlist
Listen to a playlist featuring Ron ‘Pigpen’ McKernan fronting the legendary band during their historic tour.
By Andy Kahn Apr 9, 2022 • 11:02 am PDT
This week marked the 50th anniversary of the start of the Grateful Dead’s Europe 1972 tour. The trek of 22 performances was notable for many reasons beyond being the source of the outstanding triple live LP, Europe ‘72.
Europe ‘72 ended up being the final tour for co-founding member of the Dead, keyboardist and sometimes frontman Ron “Pigpen” McKernan. A number of health issues, which he performed through in Europe, ultimately forced Pigpen to leave the band after a final performance in June 1972. By March 1973, the health problems led to his untimely death at the all-too-young age of just 27.
Evident of his last impact on the legendary band, McKernan’s headstone at Alta Mesa Memorial Park cemetery in Palo Alto, California reads “Pigpen was and is now forever one of the Grateful Dead.”
While the ever-evolving sonic sound of the Grateful Dead had started shifting away from the psychedelic blues in the late-1960s that saw Pigpen often taking a prominent frontman role during the band’s early years, the Europe ‘72 Tour saw the band still calling upon their charismatic bluesman for nightly romps that revved up the European audiences.
Throughout the tour, Pigpen led the band through a total of nine different songs – 10 if counting the brief performances of “Who Do You Love” inside “Caution (Do Not Step On Tracks).” Written by Pigpen and Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, “Mr. Charlie” was played at all 22 Europe ‘72 performances.
Two of the few Dead songs credited solely to McKernan, “Chinatown Shuffle” and “The Stranger (Two Souls in Communion),” were also prominently played during the tour, the former 20 times and the latter seven times.
One of Pigpen’s signature songs, his rave-up of Bobby “Blue” Bland’s “Turn On Your Lovelight” was only played three times in Europe in 1972. Another early Pig showcase, “Good Lovin’” showed up some 15 times, often serving as a vehicle to expansive improvisations.
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The tour saw Pigpen further showing off his blues chops on covers of Elmore James’ “It Hurts Me Too,” Little Junior Parker’s “Next Time You See Me” and Jimmy Reed’s “Big Boss Man.”
The final Europe ‘72 performances of “Mr. Charlie,” “Chinatown Shuffle,” “The Stranger (Two Souls In Communion),” “Caution (Do Not Step On Tracks),” “It Hurts Me Too” and “Next Time You See Me” were also the final Grateful Dead performances of the songs. Several years later, guitarist Jerry Garcia took over leading the band on “Big Boss Man,” while Weir would take charge of “Good Lovin’” and “Lovelight.”
The playlist below presents a Europe ‘72 recording of each of the songs Pigpen sang lead on during the course of the tour. The set starts with the first “Mr. Charlie” on April 7 in Wembley, England and ends with the last song he fronted the band on in Europe, “Chinatown Shuffle,” on May 26 in London. Stream the Grateful Dead Europe ‘72 Pigpen playlist below:
As a bonus, watch Pigpen fronting the Dead on “Chinatown Shuffle” on April 17, 1972, in Copenhagen, Denmark, via video remastered by Christopher Hazard below:
