Good points about hearing them (Pigpen et.al.) warts and all. But, still, Pigpen couldn't carry a tune on any live recording I have ever heard, and even the studio ones are yucky. Yes, some many of the bands were trying to copy the black blues and soul singers. One that was successful was Mick Jagger and since they did not tour from 1966-69, they were absent from the Fillmore. But Wolfgang did promote some of their songs, so they will show up eventually. How about Lydia Pense of Cold Blood? I think she did pretty well. Better than Linda Tillery of The Loading Zone, who voice is trite. At the time, it seemed better, but at the time, a lot of it seemed better to me.

One of the best things about the Vault is that it is allowing me to groundtruth to some extent if what I was seeing and hearing in those days was "good" music. It's all relative, as the amps/soundsystems came a long ways after the 1960's. But, I knew greatness when I saw it and I was lucky enough to see a lot of it in San Francisco and San Jose. Take Janis for instance...