Grateful Dead do Christmas: Hear the jam legends play ‘Run Rudolph Run’
The diverse interests in the Grateful Dead meant that they were able to play a whole host of different styles. Their ability to transcend genres, create their own spin on it and deliver top draw performances for their audiences is what made them perhaps the most potent band on the stage. Part of that ability came from the group’s collection of influences.
Jerry Garcia’s roots were in bluegrass, while Bob Weir’s were in folk. Bill Kreutzmann was an R&B drummer, while Ron ‘Pigpen’ McKernan was a blues purist. Phil Lesh studied classical avant-garde, while Mickey Hart trained in marching bands and looked to integrate rhythms from around the world. It meant that the band, whenever they came together, were perhaps the most complete group in the world and able to devour any song laid out in front of them.
Having the ability to switch in and out of styles is perhaps the reason they were one of the bravest live acts around, but when they got down to it, the Dead were a rock and roll band. Inspired by The Beatles, the band cast aside their acoustic jug band leanings and plugged in, going for fuzzy garage rock and psychedelic sonic experiences that epitomized the ‘Primal Dead’ era. By 1970, the acoustic instruments had returned, but the band’s rock and roll roots never went away.
If you went to enough Dead concerts, you’d be sure to eventually hear a Chuck Berry cover. Tracks like ‘Around and Around’, ‘Johnny B. Goode’, and ‘The Promised Land’ had permanent spots in the Dead’s ever-evolving rotation of songs, and the group got so good at Berry’s singular take on rock that they decided to write their own song in his style: ‘One More Saturday Night’. The Dead were also known, on the intermittent festive occasion in 1971, to bust out one of Berry’s classic Christmas songs, ‘Run Rudolph Run’.
Although Bob Weir was nominally the Chuck Berry singer in the band, ‘Run Rudolph Run’ was actually helmed by Pigpen and he delivers one of his finest performances. It was only played in ’71 and in total, less than ten times. Hearing Pigpen take on a song that would clearly normally be taken by Weir is a fascinating role reversal and foreshadows Weir’s take over of some of Pigpen’s own signature tunes after the latter’s death in 1974.
Pigpen’s rough and ready vocal is charmingly ragged, especially for a Christmas song. Although he garnered a tough and taciturn cowboy biker image over the years, Pigpen was known to have a goofy and fun side to him as well. If nothing else, ‘Run Rudolph Run’ shows Pigpen at his most endearing, belting out the track with enough yuletide cheer to make even the most miserly of Scrooges feel festive.
There are few Christmas gifts as perfectly potent as listening to a forgotten jam session from Grateful Dead, hearing them take on a festive classic is just the icing on the cake.
