Listen To The Grateful Dead Perform ‘Mr. Charlie’ In 1971 At St. Louis’ Fox Theatre
The Pigpen-fronted number appears on the band’s upcoming ‘Listen To The River: St. Louis ‘71 ‘72 ‘73’ box set.
By Scott Bernstein Aug 11, 2021 • 10:13 am PDT
Photo by Mary Ann Mayer
Official audio featuring the Grateful Dead‘s “Mr. Charlie” from the band’s December 10, 1971 concert at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis has been shared on streaming services. The track appears on the Grateful Dead’s upcoming Listen To The River: St. Louis ‘71 ‘72 ‘73 box set and as part of a release of the show digitally and on CD and vinyl.
Listen To The River is due out via Rhino on October 1. The 20-CD box set and digital version feature audio of seven previously unreleased Grateful Dead concerts recorded in St. Louis between 1971 – 1973. Box sets containing the band’s Fox Theatre shows from December 9 – 10, 1971 and October 17 – 19, 1972 as well as two performances at Kiel Auditorium on October 29 – 30, 1973 are individually numbered and limited to 13,000 copies.
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Ron “Pigpen” McKernan stars on “Mr. Charlie,” which came just weeks after keyboardist Keith Godchaux joined the band. “The final Pigpen-Hunter collaboration that would be released on an album, this shuffle was a standout on Europe ’72,” explained Grateful Dead archivist and the set’s producer, David Lemieux. “It was played a total of 50 times after its debut on 7/31/71 in New Haven, the same show at which ‘Sugaree’ debuted. It was played at all 22 shows of the Europe ’72 tour.”
Pigpen departed the Grateful Dead before the group returned to the Fox in October of 1972 and passed away on March 8, 1973. Stream the version from December 10, 1971 below:
