Vintage Purple Cotton Grateful Dead 20th Anniversary Tour Bandana Featuring Pigpen (1980s)

'Cause I'm a stone jack baller and my heart is true
And I'll give everything that I got to you, yes I will... ~Pigpen (1969)

• Lavender Purple color fabric.
• Red, Green, White, & Black screen print.
• Steal Your Face logos featuring Pigpen.
  
• Cotton.
• Excellent condition, hard to tell if it has ever been washed...
• No holes or tears to note. Slight discoloration on one corner. (See bottom corner in picture) Sold as is.
• Sourced in Los Angeles, California. 

Doesn't get much better than this! An extra-special relic of tour merch, this lavender-colored bandana is screen printed with Steal Your Face logos that showcase a portrait of Ron "Pigpen" McKernan on all four corners. The central logo features a white-haired tuxedo-clad skeleton holding a top hat & a rose. Hard to tell if this is official band merch or bootleg lot merch, but either way, it's lovingly dedicated to the memory of Pigpen. This 20th Anniversary Tour (1965-1985) merch came long after Pigpen's passing in 1973 at the age of 27. His last show with the Dead was at the Hollywood Bowl in LA in '72. Long live Pigpen!

A little history if you're interested... According to Jerry: Jerry & Pigpen (Ron McKernan) met in 1961 when Pigpen was only 14 or 15 years old. Since Jerry was the only one in Palo Alto who could play the Blues, Pigpen & Jerry got along like two peas in a pod. First forming Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions in 1964, Jerry & Pigpen added a few members & became the Warlocks toward the end of '64. It wasn't until 1965 that Jerry, Pigpen, Bobby, Phil, & Billy changed their name from the Warlocks to the Grateful Dead. 

Pigpen was known for his ability to sing blues songs written by the likes of Lightnin' Hopkins (Ain't It Crazy) & Otis Redding (Hard To Handle). A highly-talented multi-instrumentalist, Pigpen was known to play the organ, piano, harmonica, celesta (bell piano), acoustic guitar, fiddle, banjo, bongo drums, & conga drums.

For your listening pleasure, check out these rip-your-heart-out Pigpen songs: Hard To Handle, Good Lovin', Turn On Your Lovelight, Easy Wind, Smokestack Lightning, Alligator, Hurts Me Too, & Ain't It Crazy (The Rub).