Editing Grateful Dead (section)

===Pigpen era (1967–1972)===
[[File:1967 Mantra-Rock Dance Avalon poster.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Mantra-Rock Dance]] promotional poster, published in 1967, featuring Grateful Dead]]
One of the group's earliest major performances in 1967 was the [[Mantra-Rock Dance]], a musical event held on January 29, 1967, at the [[Avalon Ballroom]] by the San Francisco [[International Society for Krishna Consciousness|Hare Krishna]] temple. The Grateful Dead performed at the event along with the Hare Krishna founder [[Bhaktivedanta Swami]], poet [[Allen Ginsberg]], bands [[Moby Grape]] and [[Big Brother and the Holding Company]] with [[Janis Joplin]], donating proceeds to the temple.<ref>{{citation|last1=Bromley|first1=David G.|author-link1=David G. Bromley|last2=Shinn|first2=Larry D.|author-link2=Larry Shinn|title=Krishna consciousness in the West|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F-EuD3M2QYoC&pg=PA106|year=1989|page=106|publisher=[[Bucknell University Press]]|isbn=978-0-8387-5144-2|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610215011/https://books.google.com/books?id=F-EuD3M2QYoC&pg=PA106|archive-date=June 10, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{citation|last1=Chryssides|first1=George D.|author-link=George D. Chryssides|last2=Wilkins|first2=Margaret Z.|title=A reader in new religious movements|year=2006|publisher=[[Continuum International Publishing Group]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HgFlebSZKLcC&pg=PA213|isbn=978-0-8264-6168-1|page=213|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610160834/https://books.google.com/books?id=HgFlebSZKLcC&pg=PA213|archive-date=June 10, 2016}}</ref> The band's first LP, ''[[The Grateful Dead (album)|The Grateful Dead]]'', was released on Warner Brothers in 1967.

On May 3, 1968, the band played a free concert at [[Columbia University]] during the [[1968 Columbia University protests|anti–Vietnam War student protests]] during which students occupied several campus buildings. In order to play, the band, equipment and all, had to be “smuggled” on campus in the back of a bread delivery truck. “We were already jamming away before the security and police could stop us.”<ref>{{cite web | url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/grateful-dead-protest-gig-columbia-1968-video/ | title=Revisit the Grateful Dead's powerful gig at a protest against the Vietnam war, 1968 - Far Out Magazine | date=April 24, 2021 }}</ref>

Classically trained trumpeter [[Phil Lesh]] performed on [[bass guitar]]. [[Bob Weir]], the youngest original member of the group, played [[rhythm guitar]]. [[Ron "Pigpen" McKernan]] played [[Hammond organ|keyboards]], [[Percussion instrument|percussion]], and [[harmonica]] until shortly before [[27 Club|his death in 1973 at the age of 27]]. Garcia, Weir, and McKernan shared the lead vocal duties more or less equally; Lesh sang only a few leads, but his tenor was a key part of the band's three-part vocal harmonies. [[Bill Kreutzmann]] played [[drum]]s, and in September 1967 was joined by a second drummer, New York City native [[Mickey Hart]], who also played a wide variety of other [[percussion instrument]]s.

1970 included tour dates in [[New Orleans]], where the band performed at [[The Warehouse (New Orleans)|The Warehouse]] for two nights. On January 31, 1970, the local police raided their hotel on [[Bourbon Street]] and arrested and charged 19 people with possession of various drugs.<ref>"Drug Raid Nets 19 in French Quarter", ''The Times-Picayune'', February 1, 1970</ref> The second night's concert was performed as scheduled after bail was posted. Eventually, the charges were dismissed, except those against sound engineer [[Owsley Stanley]], who was already facing charges in California for manufacturing LSD. This event was later memorialized in the lyrics of “[[Truckin']]", a single from ''American Beauty'' that reached number 64 on the charts.

Hart took time off from the band in February 1971, after his father, an accountant, absconded with much of the band's money;<ref>{{cite web|last=Planer|first=Lindsay|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/rolling-thunder-r102792/review|title=''Rolling Thunder:'' Review|work=AllMusic|access-date=April 6, 2015}}</ref> Kreutzmann was once again as the sole percussionist. Hart rejoined the Grateful Dead for good in October 1974. [[Tom Constanten|Tom "TC" Constanten]] was added as a second keyboardist from 1968 to 1970, to help Pigpen keep up with an increasingly psychedelic sound, while Pigpen transitioned into playing various percussion instruments and vocals.

After Constanten's departure, Pigpen reclaimed his position as sole keyboardist. Less than two years later, in late 1971, Pigpen was joined by another keyboardist, [[Keith Godchaux (musician)|Keith Godchaux]], who played [[grand piano]] alongside Pigpen's [[Hammond organ|Hammond B-3 organ]]. In early 1972, Keith's wife, [[Donna Jean Godchaux]], joined the Grateful Dead as a backing vocalist.

Following the Grateful Dead's "[[Europe '72]]" tour, Pigpen's health had deteriorated to the point that he could no longer tour with the band. His final concert appearance was June 17, 1972, at the [[Hollywood Bowl]], in Los Angeles;<ref>{{cite web|title=Pigpen Played His Final Show with the Grateful Dead Today in 1972|url=https://www.relix.com/blogs/detail/pigpen_played_his_final_show_with_the_grateful_dead_today_in_1972|website=Relix|access-date=December 6, 2017|date=June 17, 2017}}</ref><ref>Scott, Dolgushkin, Nixon, "Deadbase X", New Hampshire, p. 23. {{ISBN|1-877657-21-2}}</ref> he died on March 8, 1973, of complications from liver damage.<ref>McNally, Dennis, "A Long Strange Trip", New York 2002, p. 584. {{ISBN|0-7679-1186-5}}</ref>