It’s true– Courtney Love’s father, Hank Harrison, was the on-again, off-again manager of everyone’s favorite hippie band in the late 60s. This photo appears on the back cover of AOXOMOXOA, and pictures Themselves on a hillside somewhere in Marin County. That’s Pigpen in the hat, splayed out in front of course, and to the right, in the front row, is the five-year old Courtney Love. Bob Weir is just behind her; you can probably make out poor old Jerry Garcia in the third row, left hand side of the photo, behind the girl to the left of Pigpen. They’re all in there– Phil Lesh, Tom Constantin, Bill the Drummer, a big ol’ Dawg, somebodys’ horse. And so on. As James Thurber used to say, You could look it up.
It’s been said that we ought to keep gay and lesbian couples from raising children since that “lifestyle” will take, somehow, “turning” young people gay. To these folks I can only say, behold Courtney Love. Who grew up to be, among many, many other things, Something Other Than A Deadhead.
Courtney Love, who said, “I’m not a woman; I’m a force of nature.” And Jerry Garcia, who said, “Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil.”
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I’ll take your Courtney Love trivia and go you one even farther. Courtney Love’s grandmother was Paula Fox, children’s author of such books as the award winning The Slave Dancer.
The hillside is in what is now Olompali State Park. It was one of the largest Native American villages in N. Cal. The Dead rented the property in 1966 and was a popular party place for Janis Joplin and Grace Slick among many others. It’s a wonderful place to hike and take in the history.