Grateful Dead: Bob Weir (guitar); Phil Lesh (bass guitar); Donna Jean Godchaux, Jerry Garcia, Keith Godchaux, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, Bill Kreutzmann. Personnel: Jerry Garcia (vocals, guitar); Ron "Pigpen" McKernan (vocals, harmonica, organ, percussion); Phil Lesh (vocals, electric bass); Donna Jean Godchaux, Bob Weir (vocals); Keith Godchaux (piano); Bill Kreutzmann (drums). Audio Mixer: Jeffrey Norman. Recording information: Rheinhalle, Dusseldorf, Germany (04/24/1972/05/24/1972); The Lyceum, London, England (04/24/1972/05/24/1972). The Grateful Dead's 1972 European tour marked the end of an era for the band. It was their last outing with founding member Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, who was the bluesy soul force of the group. Sadly, he would drink himself to death less than a year after the concert captured on this 3-disc set. Unlike EUROPE '72, a tour sampler notoriously overdubbed after the fact, ROCKIN' THE RHEIN offers a full show, warts and all, which is really the only way to experience the Dead's magical spontaneity. Pianist Keith Godchaux had already come aboard to fill out the sound, and his jazzy piano inspires the extended jams on "Playing in the Band" and legendary improv-epic "Dark Star." Pigpen's gritty, gutter-rat blues are still present, though, as on his own "Chinatown Shuffle" (which never made it to the studio) and the classic Elmore James slow blues "Hurts Me Too." Even though alcohol had already begun taking its toll on Pigpen, his soul-man dominance of extended R&B rave-ups "Good Lovin'" and "Turn on Your Lovelight" (a bonus track from a London concert a month later) shows just what the band lost when he passed away. The Dead would never have another fiery frontman like Pigpen.

• Genre: Pop
• Format: CD
• Released: 5/25/2004