Grateful Dead 06-21-71 Hard To Handle

From the Brokedown House Production archives ... one of the truly great versions of PigPen Hard to Handle done in 1971 at Chateau d'Herouville (a.k.a "The Honky Chateau") Herouville, France - the original POP2 video was cut leaving out one of the most amazing Jerry solo's so I added using graphics. The audio is from a sweet Charlie Miller soundboard and is much cleaner than the original video.

[@jackspry9736]

RIP the two members of The Grateful Dead Jerry Garcia (August 1, 1942 - August 9, 1995), aged 53 Ron "Pigpen" McKernan (September 8, 1945 - March 8, 1973), aged 27 You both will be remembered as legends.

[@eugenedolcini695]

Also Kieth and Brent

[@BrianTheDeadhead]

​@@eugenedolcini695no love for Vince?

[@JohnathanRebel2]

@@BrianTheDeadheadno.

[@tvav69]

Billy really is a monster drum player. Amazing stuff. These guys could cook like nobody’s business! Pigpen and Jerry!! Two irreplaceable talents. 😊

[@jimpowell6789]

Yes, watching him & Jerry working, completely synched -- a maz ing. -- and the way he shoots Pigpen a look when it's time for him to pick up the vocal reprise -- in case you wondered who was driving this bus. BK space pilot.

[@PayneLive]

The Black Crowes best selling single doesn't even compare to this version. Pigpen will steal your woman to this.

[@melonhead49]

PayneLive ....A-fkcn-Men

[@Steve-uv9kb]

Yep. The Black Crows made some hay with it and had a fine little rock and roll band but no doubt - Hard to Handle belongs to Otis Redding and Pigpen so far. No one else

[@paulrivenbark5087]

The black crowes got nothin’ on pig’s versions

[@manabiker]

When I see in the Dead at Hill Auditorium in 71 they played this song, I thought they are playing Motown,, WOW here we are in a suburb of Motown,, GRATE STUFF...

[@bholaoates1542]

@@manabiker Not Motown -- Stax Records. Otis Redding did the original version on Stax Records.

[@mulehead126]

One of the best examples of why my favorite era of the Dead was with PIGPEN!

[@jimmy5391]

mulehead126 amen!

[@richardfinlayson1524]

he was the soul of the dead, that is my favorite era too.

[@jeremymoorer7033]

76-79 for me.

[@jeremymoorer7033]

Put 🐖 in the mi-late 70's! A man can dream

[@herbythechef7624]

Pig wouldnt even have fit in the late 70s. 66-72 is as good as it ever was!

[@mdemma60]

Remembering the late, great Pigpen on the day he left us.

[@tourhead]

RIP Pigpen! 49 years gone today!

[@biffjohnson7107]

Can’t have this jam without Pigpen 🙌🏻

[@mortensenegbert6619]

Jerry called him "the best singer we had." Doing Otis proud and adding their own country-folk-rock-jazz (need all four do them justice) magic.

[@bjwnashe5589]

Billy is best rock drummer of all time. Right up there with Charlie Watts.

[@kevincreel3944]

Sooooooooooioioioi gangster. Wow. Jerry on god mode. Imagine being part of this lucky crowd .

[@IzitAllGoUnder]

I saw them 6 weeks later at the great Hollywood Palladium shows. Very, very, very lucky indeed. I'd love to go back and do it again and again.

[@Travelin_Man]

GOAT

[@ryandrake7818]

The Crowe bros know they had nothing on this version!!!😂😂😂😂

[@robertevans4424]

I saw them at the closing of the fillmore west this same year and they played this. Best the dead ever sounded.

[@knuteboy3778]

What I love about this is it's just the Grateful Dead at a backyard party. Not the normal environment they were used to playing at. Just so informal with a thrown together set up.

[@PGalanides]

even borrowed the instruments... 🤯

[@photoslum]

Got on the bus in 84 and 38 years later THIS is blowing be away. Goddam this footage!!!! PIGPEN FOREVER!

[@chrischandler4483]

I love you Pigpen beyond words. But I can't express how huge of a magical sound these four guys made this night & this jam!!!

[@kap1492]

Uh……it’s five buddy.

[@chicagodaktilosu]

expressionism at its best. this solo tells so much without words. excitement, joy, ambition and pride. 70s dead was something else...

[@noabroadwaybrockett7087]

Phil is killin it

[@johnsmithers5686]

I love that I can sit hear and jam out watching live Grateful Dead from 1971. Thank you KZbin. And thank you to whoever originally filmed this. And thank you to the person who put it all together. And thank you to the person who posted it here.

[@bluesyoucanuse1861]

Not to mention the amazing clarity of the recording. Simply out of this world. Best Dead song ever recorded!

[@davidwaltzer2235]

I second that emotion!

[@xSiLviCoOk]

@@bluesyoucanuse1861 Owsley Stanley

[@mullerk2]

The very best line up of the Dead. Don't need two drums.

[@deluxeasshat8547]

Need? No. But I think Mickey became an invaluable part of the band over time

[@nameeman1562]

And you definitely don't need a banshee incoherently wailing in the background of your harmonies.

[@mattcalendinemusic5661]

wow!!! the jam in this... is why these guys were the baddest band in the land!🔥🔥🔥

[@drabolit]

As much as I love the kreutzman hart combo I love just bill drumming by himself - stellar

[@samiam7342]

MAGIC!!!!! RIP PIGPEN!!!!

[@michaelmacchi9476]

Ron rocking it

[@bencande5172]

And that's how it's done! Love Jerry on the strat years.

[@christopherchandler2570]

If someone asked me"Who are the Grateful Dead&what do they do?"I would play them this!!!!

[@chrisgould7606]

Yep, exactly!!

[@WritingontheWallIL]

I love Phil's sweater

[@kylef4595]

one of my all-time favorite songs. really wish we'd been blessed with more Pigpen. gone too soon...⚡️⚡️ music never stops..!

[@donnicholas7552]

Whoa! This cooks! RIP Pigpen.

[@nataliezementbeisser1492]

the 1971 Hard to Handles are ALL FIRE

[@kaeldotorg]

I mean, I've listened to a ton of the Dead from this era, and the sound quality is, frankly, amazing. Phil with the bass face and button-down collar. Jerry, OMG. Bob: yeah! Bill, so much better as lone drummer! Plus Pig!

[@lambert13]

Pigpen....that's a bad man there. Goddam.

[@bamadeadhead]

lambert13 was? goddman! Man you act like he’s still alive and cussing people out, taking the lords name in vain like your DUMBASS does.

[@jimmy5391]

bamadeadhead bad means cool. Get with it ya stooge.

[@bamadeadhead]

Jimmy Biggums no shit DUMBASS😂 I don’t like the god damn part...

[@bamadeadhead]

Jimmy Biggums bad means cool🤣😆😎 I’ve been speaking Jive since 1989.

[@jimmy5391]

​@@bamadeadhead you're real nice person calling people dumbass while getting mad another said the lords name in vain. Think straight.

[@johnybaltimore3687]

Bill the drummer

[@kb9788]

Nothing against Mickey, but Bill was better as a single drummer.

[@robertswanson6930]

@@kb9788 Mickey openly admits Bill was like a teacher to him

[@brianmeagher5771]

Hello. I've met Mickey... Nice guy! Wish i could've met Billy. Maybe i still can. Love you Deadheads.

[@alborrelli1604]

Pig was awesome.To me the dead we're never the same without him.He was the original rapper and he always said thank you after his songs.

[@mitchconner865]

Folks this is the grateful dead

[@motibenshoshan3328]

Bless Kreutzmann! Amazing fill and a unique way of holding this jam together.

[@larryluv8879]

Right was thinking the same and as always to PIG now and forever….

[@420chaiguy8]

The Kreutz!!The legend!!

[@goodtimefolkrock]

This was the lineup! Original 5 piece

[@The_Preacher_LLC]

Its Billy or nothing for me. That man DROVE THAT BUS and theres nobody better. The Fillmore East show where its just him and Jerry Jamming a tune, amazing. Same year I think.

[@Mr123pbd]

Think the lsd is holding bull togeather

[@skeezix64]

Jesus H…how have I not seen this until now? This music is my bloodstream. It’s my soul. Has been for 40 years. Wow.

[@BigElectricCat]

Bayeeeeeeeeeebeh.

[@skeezix64]

@@BigElectricCat “ just stay away from them wires and them towers and things is gonna be fine.”

[@masonkanterbury3007]

Sometimes it seems like time travel does occur. The presence of these visual gems can only mean future generations are going back to record these impromptu events and post them to mess with our heads. Thank you for posting this!

[@bluesyoucanuse1861]

If you look up good music in the dictionary, this is the very definition

[@samuel.langhorne.clemens]

Just absolute gold. RIP Pig. 🥺❤

[@noelleewen2946]

Love me some Pigpen!! 💕💕

[@bluesyoucanuse1861]

Tremendous jam. This is a must listen for any Deadhead or any music fan, period! Wow

[@Survivor-15n]

Top of my favorite Dead songs!! Gerry and Pigpen at their best💪🏻💪🏻😎😊

[@flyingash]

Bob Weir was the greatest compliment to Jerry.

[@mle1ravens1]

...has to be the most selfless guitar player to ever play in a band.

[@JohnathanRebel2]

⁠​⁠@@mle1ravens1selflessness takes you far remember that, and always humble yourself

[@JH-yk5se]

I get lost in this every single time I watch it.

[@gatzb4]

I’ve seen Jerry and the boys and they’re great live but boy I missed out on Pigpen he was amazing

[@donnaweber4184]

Me too saw the Dead in the 70's with Keith who was so talented but i sure would have loved to see them with Pigpen. Gone way to soon at 27

[@stonegroveguitar2560]

Phil Lesh, looking the awkward Prom Date! Love him, but he looks like Napoleon Dynamite's dad.

[@alvarhanso6310]

Hey, at least when asked the question, "Are you ready to get down?" Napoleon enthusiastically responds, "Yes!" And so, too did Phil Lesh. He may not look the part, but he's just as much a groove master as Duck Dunn or James Jamerson.

[@keeganrissanen1613]

Yeah but he fuckin rips dude

[@fordprefect7316]

Phil's the man.

[@joshuadowling8778]

He was probably wearing argyle socks to match. Regardless, Pig was on time. This jam is the tits!

[@gregduva9411]

@@joshuadowling8778 Sure is. Happy 420 🌻

[@leroylem51]

Seen them once... 1970 Golden Hall, San Diego... They did this tune ... A few months later I was in Nam...

[@MrBobbystyles]

Whoooooooweeeeeee this is that Good ol Grateful⚡️Dead

[@poolman1726]

magic, absolute magic. thanks from the bottom of my black little heart.

[@gusto1776]

Dude you just made my Sat night. Pigpen 4 Life

[@MrHAPPYHAWAIIAN]

Jerry, what a BEAST🤯🦄🤪 Thank God I saw the Dead from 1981-1992.

[@tippimail1]

WALSTIB-the Dead,just chuggin' along like an old freight train.R.I.P. Pig and Jerry.

[@melonhead49]

What a gem we have here

[@albertomartinez2479]

Pigpen Jerry playing a Strat one drummer. Wayback in the wayback machine.

[@dblbogi2283]

57 strat given to him by graham nash

[@ryandrake7818]

Actually it was a contract dispute Mickey Hart's Father so he left the band for a little bit so it's all bill

[@christopherchandler2570]

I had just moved to Oslo Norway a month before this show and I definitely would have gone but I had had just turned 9 months old&my parents wouldn't let me hitch a ride;you know parents!

[@garynewman2935]

This lineup just grabs you by the perinium and throws you around the stage . This is the band I saw more than any other lineup. To me, this will always be the Dead Thnx for posting 🎉

[@surfer6802]

Wowsers....Dynamic . Huge fan of the Pig. Everyone totally in sink. Jerry and Lesh banging out the Blues Jam. Love Love Love it

[@waltermaravilla3635]

This is the fucking best jam ive seen how awesome thanks for sharing your the greatest.

[@biffjohnson3354]

Gets better every time I watch it 👌🏻🇺🇸

[@danitsari6586]

Call me naive, I just found out it was their song all this time, one of the greatest to ever do it!!! This happened to me twice already.. with Sublime’s version of Scarlet Begonias, only to find later it was Grateful Dead’s song… God Bless them, their music is timeless.

[@musicdunc]

it’s not theirs, but they did the best cover of this of all time. This isn’t even their funkiest version.

[@HoursonEarth1]

Best Hard to Handle you'll ever see/hear..great footage. Thanks for sharing.

[@hazysativa3045]

I went through Herouville a few years ago and everything is still there.

[@AnArchyRulzz]

Just started singing this song randomly at work today. So i had to look it up.

[@jeremymoorer7033]

Billy is Tripping hard

[@biffjohnson3354]

Can’t get enough of this one! 💀

[@kb9788]

Pig Pen killing it! Dude looked gangster. The only guy in the band with charisma, Bob is weird, Jerry is Jerry, Pig Pen added a dimension to the band. Whoever did the camera work was an idiot.

[@mrjon75]

They all have charisma.

[@Steve-uv9kb]

that fucking tone Jerry is throwing here is just so damn sweet and funky

[@pembrokejones3969]

I cannot listen to this without bouncin'!

[@direwolf8124]

Pigpen forever more respect to you and your insight on music. Never forgotten

[@timothyrogers3673]

pigpen was one of a kind. ❤️

[@steve1739]

I enjoy the Grateful Dead but nothing compares to Pigpen.This is great!

[@petercollins5861]

i like it when Bill was the only drummer.

[@jambandfreak1]

I've heard this before. Really like this version

[@biffjohnson7107]

I want to jump up and down every single time I watch this. And I watch it a LOT. AMAZING. ✌🏻

[@skiadikt]

on fire. always loved the progression they went into around the 7 minute mark.

[@kevincreel3944]

Oh man wen pig comes back in.. just other world shit

[@skeezix64]

I always loved that bridge around the 8 minute mark. Man what a Dead nugget HTH is!

[@poigmhahon]

Gawd why have I not seen this before?? This is one my favorite Dead videos!!

[@ChoctawNawtic4]

Awww, did anyone else hear him say, "Merci" at the end?? :)

[@alborrelli1604]

He always thanked the audience after his songs.Always.

[@ChoctawNawtic4]

@@alborrelli1604 Yes he did, and even sweeter he used Merci. :)

[@cartwright420able]

Billy playing traditional style, nice.

[@dustydiciurcio137]

Wow😳what FOOTAGE!!🙏✝️🎸🥳 this video just made my whole day🙃🍻✌

[@HoursonEarth1]

Love Jerry's quick smile while he's just tearing it up around 5:39

[@GOTTAFISHNOW]

gotta figure he somehow knew he would still be melting faces 50 years later

[@roryfitzpatric]

@@GOTTAFISHNOW And still be getting new fans that weren't even alive when he went on to the other side. Deadhead born 10/23/95

[@dxcaz3715]

Beautiful version

[@pyrostooge78]

Oh man - this is fantastic! Pigpen! What a great video. Thank you so much for posting this - I haven't listened to the Dead in a while - and this just blew my mind away. As much as I love Mickey, they sounded so much looser with just Bill.

[@richardmartinez5032]

Bill knows how to lay it down! He's got spooky sex-magic in his drums! Ironic that Aldous Huxley gave Bill encouragement when his teacher tried to discourage him. The Greatest of any American band.

[@wtwrva]

Wow! Real footage! GD was just back ip band for pigpen. Awesome film, just watching pp when he still had juice, incredible.

[@vladdrakul7851]

@@wtwrva So true. We old Dead heads who LOVED Ron and Jerry's blues and Space music and later the Jazz rock era Magic of Blues for Allah are resented by the later fools who think the 80's rubbish was 'the shit' which for us is depressingly boring burnout music after the magic had died! IMHO. After 1979 I don't care. Jerry's solo stuff with Grisham still had soul freed from the lumpen 80s' Dead even if it was mellow. .

[@johnring1243]

Late 70s? Eh, nothing about it compares favorably to what came before, and soon after, if you ask me

[@Rollen531]

6/21/1971

[@fordprefect7316]

Bless Pigpen

[@marcolascaraky5044]

In his film have discovered how much important and great Mickey Hart was in that period!

[@michaellapetina4623]

I just verified with the KZbin Algo. This is the most awesome thing in all of KZbin.

[@BrianTheDeadhead]

When sifting through recordings on archives, when a Betty Board isn't available, i look for Kevin Tobin and Charlie Miller recordings. These names guarantee best audio quality available. Thank you both for this gem!

[@tommymaxfield4216]

Listen wish recorded inside of an indoor swimming pool because concert in France got canceled because of rain. A really good track right here! One of my favorites!!

[@user-xj2sm3xd5l]

I think about this version of the song like twice a week

[@MrBobbystyles]

Billy could hold this down with one hand 🤚 got damn

[@robg3997]

Absolutely love this, always coming back to listen through the years

[@josephscottcostanzo9550]

Zen magic wrapped in really honest no b.s.honest pleasure and taking the musical road to anywhere...

[@marcolascaraky6663]

Mikey Hart was a favolosi drummer...his natural style with impossible times..cool and sure as was the most natural thing..

[@cosmicslopass]

Mickey Hart didn't play with the dead during there greatest years 71-74 . The band was incredibly looser , funkier, and jazzy with just bill kreutzman holding it down. I appreciate Mickey's work with global drumming but he didn't belong with the grateful Dead after the 60s

[@davidwaltzer2235]

@@cosmicslopass Yeah I thought in the later years the drums were way too busy and the band members werent listening to each other as carefully. In the early 70's there were holes and dynamics and creative excitement. This recording is just a unique blend of R&B, Jazz' Psychedielic improvisation and enlightened musical conversation. I never get tired of hearing the Dead during this era..this was their finest hour. I saw the Dead robably 80 times during the 70's but I threw in the towell about '84. The audience went nuts through their most mediocre lackluster performances and it was no longer about the quality of playing...it was all that Deadhead hype with feathers and bells and books of Indian lore.🤣

[@cosmicslopass]

@@davidwaltzer2235 the more and more I listen to the dead the more obvious it becomes that adding mickey hart back in 75/76 was a fatal mistake. If I was bill kreutzman I would have been severely pissed. Having to be tied to this drummer who sounds like he's banging pots and pans in your ears . 76 and 77 aren't too bad since mickey doesn't make too loud of a racket. But then drums and space showed up, and for some reason never goes away. Drums and space is just noise, its no longer natural when you shove the same thing in your second set every show. Listening to bill , Keith and Jerry in JGB is much better in mid to late 70s. Would've loved to seen Jerry strike out on his own with bill and Keith and have dropped the dead altogether.

[@user-hu7en6ur9g]

doing the funky chicken extra crispy every time i hear this 53 years later.

[@dedhippi]

for me the HTH played on 4/29/71 still remains on top...

[@mitchellbrozinsky3054]

I was at the FIllmore East this night seeing last show of Allman Brothers..

[@maryannesobocinski2589]

Happy Born Day in Rock n Blues Heaven. I adore Ron. thanks for the great video.

[@edkaminski7969]

71 arguably there best year my humble and grateful opinion ! Yeah baby !!

[@herbythechef7624]

71 is amazing but they were snowballing into the monster that is early 72!

[@jameswagner1481]

Yep...something about. 1971. I was at Hollywood Palladium Aug 6 show..stage left about 30ft from Jerry. That "Hard to Handle" was about the ultimate live version

[@bamadeadhead]

Funktastic👍🏼😎👍🏼

[@FOTISCASPER]

it's impossible not to clap and snap your fingers after some point :)

[@scottieruck]

Look up the story of this show. It's a random pick up show--never planned or scheduled. That's when the magic tends to happen!

[@michaelbauch7005]

their actual gig was rained out so they got back to their hotel and set up and played

[@Tia619]

I was really curious where this was, looks like it could be somebody's backyard. Would give anything to have been there. ✌

[@biffjohnson7107]

I can NEVER get enough of this one! 🔥 🔥

[@rosiemcgee9308]

@@Tia619 Yes, somebody's "backyard" - It was at the Chateau d'Herouville 35 miles outside of Paris. Beautiful park-like grounds. They set up on the lawn next to the swimming pool!

[@Tia619]

@@rosiemcgee9308 we keep running into each other online, haha...I'm the one on FB the other day that mentioned about my cat ruining my copy of your wonderful book! Back to this video, it is one of my favorites because I ❤ Pigpen so much and this time period in the Dead's history is my favorite. How blessed you are to have been a part of it. If only time travel were possible, I'd go back and never leave. 💃🏻🎶💀🌹⚡

[@Occaras]

Thanks so much for posting. Killer version/solo but the 1971 Aug 16 version is Jerry's stellar solo to Hard to Handle.

[@michaellester8079]

Aug 6th'71?

[@robertevans4424]

Closing of the fillmore west that year was the best version. Can't find video but audio is out there. I was there so have to rely on memory for the video and, well, you know...

[@jason-dn3hy]

Perhaps the best version of Hard to Handle Grateful Dead or otherwise, what say you?

[@LSommer]

Billy's right foot is a time machine! 😊🙏😊