It never fails to amaze me how much praise is heaped on Pigpen (of the Grateful Dead and may he RIP) as being a great bluesman! His harp playing, even for 1966, is barely passable for a garage band and his singing, while not quite the proverbial 'nails across the chalkboard,' is often off-key, with no range, and little emotion. Listening to "King Bee," this is simply awful. What is the fascination with this guy anyway? The subsequent keyboardists were all better on those instruments too. I guess it must be because he was part of the original acid tests and certainly looked the part.

The Dead as bluesband is much overrated in my opinion. Compare them to Steppenwolf (currently playing, "Tighten up Your Wig"); the Dead cannot cart in their amps for them. In fact, Steppenwolf is a mild relevation on the Vault. These guys were much more than "Magic Carpet Ride" as a band. Now Deadheads, don't jump on me -- I saw them many, many times and relished the shows -- but bluesband they were not.