Truckin' With The Dead: Radio Interview

By the time the fall of 1966 rolled around, the Dead were a household name in the San Francisco music scene. Although they had not yet seen national exposure, they were continuing to gain a strong following in the Bay Area due in large part to their participation at the Acid Tests. By all accounts they were quickly becoming one of the have-to-see bands toward the end of '66.

Within the first two weeks of November in 1966, Jerry, Pigpen, Bill, and Bobby were invited to the

KRFC studio to give a group interview on the show "Perspective," hosted by Steve O'shea. KRFC was a newly re-formatted Top-40 Rock & Roll radio station. As is clear through this Dead interview, the station was making it a priority to tap into the burgeoning music scene in the San Francisco Bay area. O'Shea mentions during the interview that he had seen the Dead in person at least three times at the Fillmore. Later in June of 1967, the station organized and hosted the Fantasy Fair and Magic Mountain Music Festival featuring bands such as the Airplane, the Doors, the Byrds, and Steve Miller. Many credit the Fantasy Fair to be the first music festival in the United States. It was held the week prior to the Monterey Pop Music Festival.

At the time of airing, only a part of the interview survived. Luckily, a re-airing in the spring of 1967 was recorded in full, which circulates today. We know this interview occurred within the first two weeks of November because the band mentions an upcoming show at the Fillmore with the James Cotton Blues Band. Deadbase lists the Jame's Cotton Blues band as on the docket with the Dead at
the Fillmore Auditorium on Saturday and Sunday November 19 and 20 (DB50, 419). One band member (probably Kreutzmann) puts the day of the show as the, "weekend after next," and O'shea adds that it is "the Sunday next," indicating they are about 10 days to two weeks out. That would put the interview somewhere between November 6 and November 10 of 1966.

Garcia wearing the Pigpen t-shirt circa '68

In this recording we can hear the Dead in their relative infancy relating stories of their first year-plus as a band. Their opinions and life as the Grateful Dead is told in its complete innocence. There was no brand to protect or promote, no issues or philosophies to cover and mold, and no giant overhead pressing weight onto the band members. What we hear is a group of friends talking about making music together, enjoying the trip they are just starting out on. This interview provides perhaps the best and most highly unbiased take on the Dead in their beginning. Opinions and stories had not yet been corrupted by time, and are likely the true stories of the first year of the band.

Notes:

I found it interesting to hear Pigpen talk rather than singing. I am not sure that I've heard him speak before now.
Steve O'Shea refers to the Pigpen t-shirt that was being produced. The band ends up giving O'Shea a shirt, to which he replies that he has to figure out where he can wear it.
Pigpen makes reference to the hangers on, which O'Shea calls a fan club. This may or may not include Rock Scully, Danny Rifkin, Rosie McGee, etc

Listen to the entire interview on track two, hosted on archive here: https://archive.org/details/gd1966-11-00.FM.interview.ordon.sorochty.125586.flac16

Read the interview transcript at Dead Sources: http://deadsources.blogspot.com/2012/02/1966-radio-interview.html

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