Too Loose Ta Truck with Phil Lesh, May>December 1976 (Lost Highway)

 

An ad for upcoming acts at River City in Fairfax (Marin County) from the May 16, 1976 San Francisco Chronicle Datebook (the "Pink Section"). Touloos, with Phil Lesh, is booked for Monday, May 17. Opening the show was comedian Guido Sarducci (later famous from Saturday Night Live).

Too Loose Ta Truck: John Allair, Steve Mitchell, Terry Haggerty and Phil Lesh
Too Loose Ta Truck, whose name was billed with various spellings, remains the only band featuring Phil Lesh that played nightclubs. The group only existed for seven shows in the second half of 1976. A few tapes circulate, but you will be hard pressed to find anyone who had actually seen them. Years after the group had disintegrated, I did meet someone who had actually seen them at the Keystone in Berkeley. At this time (about 1981), I had never heard a tape of the group. In response to my urgent questioning, the eyewitness reported on his memory of the night: "they tuned up for three hours, and then it turned out that was the show." Eventually, I did hear some tapes, and this wasn't far off. Nonetheless, the story of Too Loose Ta Truck reveals some interesting byways of the Grateful Dead, and are worth unraveling, even if the musical payoff was a bit vague.

Too Loose: Short Version
During the "Hiatus, " when the Grateful Dead did not tour between October 20, 1974 and June 3, 1976, the various band members all participated to some degree in other groups. Some of these ensembles even lasted beyond June 1976. Phil Lesh had a musical partnership with Ned Lagin, but that had disintegrated by November 1975. Starting in May, 1976, Lesh was booked with some other musicians as Too Loose Ta Truck. Organist John Allair also played piano and sang, and they were joined by Allair's regular duo partner, drummer Steve Mitchell. Guitarist Terry Hagerty, then a full-time member of the Sons Of Champlin, rounded out the group. Most of the songs were extended covers, although some songs were Allair originals. 

Too Loose Ta Truck, spelled a variety of intriguing ways, was booked for nine shows between May 17 and December 21, 1976. Six were in the Bay Area, but the two booked at the Starwood Club in Los Angeles were canceled. A few tapes survive and circulate. I know of no photos of the band onstage. The eyewitness account I described is the only one I have heard (if you saw the band, or know someone who did, please note it in the Comments).

[update 20260220] Shortly after posting, BlueSky user Andeux pointed me to another show, namely Too Loose Ta Truck opening for the Sons Of Champlin at Keystone Berkeley on November 14, 1976. Post edited accordingly. 

This post will look at the brief, but interesting, history of Too Loose Ta Truck. Although there were only six seven known shows and three recordings, the saga reveals some undercurrents of the 1976 Grateful Dead universe that were not always apparent. The post will look at what can be learned from Too Loose, both in how different it was from other Phil Lesh projects, and for its similarities to other Dead-adjacent projects. Anyone with eyewitness accounts, additional information or intriguing speculation is encouraged to note them in the Comments. Flashbacks welcome. 

Phil Lesh with his Alembic "Mission Control" bass in 1974, in front of the Wall Of Sound

The Grateful Dead and Phil Lesh, 1974>1976
Phil Lesh had not wanted the Grateful Dead to go on hiatus after the Winterland shows in October 1974, but he had no real choice in the matter. Subsequently, Lesh had enthusiastically participated in the Blues For Allah sessions at Bob Weir's house in Mill Valley throughout the spring and summer of 1975. At the same time, he had worked with Ned Lagin on his Seastones electronic music project. Now, Seastones was really Lagin's project, although Lesh, Jerry Garcia, Mickey Hart and others played roles. Since the Grateful Dead saw themselves as a record company in 1975, the Seastones album was attributed to both Ned Lagin and Phil Lesh, as a Grateful Dead member's name greatly increased attention to the album. Presenting Phil and Ned as partners in Seastones was fine with both of them, but it didn't accurately characterize the project, which really belonged to Ned Lagin.

Round Records had released the Seastones album in April 1975. Challenging as the album was, there was some evidence that it was well received, as it appeared in the "Bubbling Under" section of the Billboard magazine album charts after it was released. Without going too far into the rabbit hole of what "Bubbling Under" meant, its Billboard listing indicated that chain record stores in big cities noticed that it was selling, or that people were asking for the album. Don't forget that 1975 was the high point of progressive rock bands like Yes and ELP, and music-to-get-stoned-by often sold more than you might think. However, the collapse of Round Records distribution hurt the existing album, and it appears in retrospect that when United Artists took over manufacturing and distribution of Round Records, the Seastones release got no attention (if it was even re-labeled and re-pressed, which is unlikely). 

By Spring 1976, the Grateful Dead had a new agreement with United Artists, a commitment to make new albums and at least a general commitment by the band to return to live performance. What has been lost in the passage of time was that while the Grateful Dead were going to tour again, for financial reasons if nothing else, it was not certain whether solo endeavors would take up a more substantial amount of their time. In early 1976, all the members save for Phil Lesh and Bill Kreutzmann had alternative gigs along side the Dead. Mickey Hart had the Diga Rhythm Band, Weir had Kingfish, and Keith and Donna Godchaux were members of the Jerry Garcia Band. Diga, Kingfish and Garcia had all released albums in the first half of 1976.

John Allair, probably in the early 1960s

John Allair
The key figure in Too Loose was organist John Allair, who turns out to be a legend amongst Marin musicians. On his website, a Marin Hall Of Fame lineup lays it out:  

• Van Morrison "Nobody plays organ like that" 
• Elvin Bishop "If I played piano I'd like to play like John" 
• Mark Isham "The best B3 player I've ever heard" 
• Huey Lewis "The godfather of rock in Marin County"   
• Phil Lesh “John Allair is a master of all styles, and swings like mad, to boot.”       

Allair's bio (on his website) gives the essential backstory:

Born and raised in Oakland, he used to pick up Fats Domino’s early records at the age of 12, and sat in with the local African American R&B and Jazz players, who taught him the basics. “A friend of mine, a black guy, Lonnie Leak, gave me lessons on the piano in 1952. I used to go to this spot in Oakland where I bought used 78 records they took off the jukeboxes. I went crazy for R&B! Nobody knew much about it back then in the early '50s. But I was well versed in R&B before it became Rock & Roll. I collected all of the records and played along with them.” 

When John moved to Marin in 1955, he started playing sock hops. He has been credited with being one of the first Rock & Roll players in the Bay Area: “When I started playing rallies at Tamalpais and Drake High Schools, there were no bands around. All the guys were into sports, it wasn’t cool to be a musician.” ...

While in College at S.F. State, John discovered J.S. Bach, “Before that, I didn’t care about Classical, or Jazz - Fats Domino and Boogie Woogie, that’s all I wanted to play. I studied Bach starting in college, and have studied him ever since. It fills me out to learn about classical music.” 

By 1967, he was accompanying Rock and Roller Bobby Freeman at San Francisco's Playboy Club. He once bested Freeman at a Fillmore District battle of the bands, before Mission High grad Freeman hit it big in 1958 with "Do You Wanna Dance?" and Allair got his first union job after high school, which involved traveling to Ukiah to back up Freeman for $18. 

Two years later [1969], he hooked up with a group called Pure Love and Pleasure. "They were young hippies," he said. "I was the old guy." They recorded an album of Mamas and Papas sound-alikes in Los Angeles (the tracks I have heard are more like "heavy" '70s rock, with prominent organ and slashing guitar).

Pure Love & Pleasure debut album, released by ABC-Dunhill Records in 1970 (John Alliar-l)

Pure Love and Pleasure broke up, probably around 1971 and Allair was soon back in Marin. He was well-known amongst Marin musicians, but not to the public at large. By 1973 or so, he had found a regular gig at the lounge in a restaurant in Novato. Although Marin County had been a commuter enclave for San Francisco workers for some time, it's population was small, and so was its commercial footprint. The kind of San Francisco executive who commuted to a San Francisco high-rise from Larkspur or San Rafael went out to eat and relax in the City. Marin, in turn, had almost no nightlife. There was one rock club, the Lion's Share in San Anselmo (near San Rafael), which had opened in 1970, and a few jazz joints in Sausalito, most prominently The Trident. Even the Trident, however,  depended on San Francisco traffic. Then there was Shipwreck Pete's, just up Highway 101 in Novato. 

For those who do not know Marin's geography, it was a very different county in the early 1970s, in comparison to its reputation today as an exclusive, wealthy oasis. True, Sausalito was just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, and a few nearby communities like Larkspur were wealthy and privileged, where elite San Franciscans bought expensive homes that had easy trips to The City. A few other towns near the bridge, like San Rafael, had their share of commuters, too. But most of early '70s Marin was pretty sparse, just a few years removed from a being a fully agricultural county. Yet the 5.5 mile Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, with its direct route to Berkeley, Oakland and Highway 80 had expanded the scope of Marin County. By the end of the '60s, the County was neither isolated nor exclusively agricultural.

Novato, however, 24 miles North of the Golden Gate Bridge, just up Highway 101, was the edge of populated Marin County. North of Novato was pretty rural. Just a few miles North of the town, in fact, was Rancho Olompali, the former site of the Burdell Mansion and an infamous commune. The Dead had hung out at the Mansion  in the late '60s. The BBC had taken pictures of a huge hippie gathering in 1966, and the band jammed there often. The back cover of Aoxomoxoa was photographed on the Olompali grounds. The mansion burned down in 1969, and the commune had moved out, but it looms large in Grateful Dead lore. 

An ad for Shipwreck Pete's lounge (at the Sportsman Lodge Hotel), from San Rafael's Marin Independent-Journal, February 12, 1970, soon after it opened. Note that in the pre-GPS era, the actual address (8141 Redwood Highway) was not given, just directions. Novato was then so rural that "2 miles North" was enough.

Shipwreck Pete's, 8141 Redwood Highway, Novato, CA 
Shipwreck Pete's was the bar in the lounge of the Sportsman Lodge Hotel in Novato. The address was 8141 Redwood Highway, North of downtown and just across from the tiny Marin County Airport. Rancho Olompali was just a few more miles up the road. Today there is a Days Inn at the site (the address is now 8141 Redwood Boulevard, as it is now a frontage road to US-101, which has since become the Redwood Highway). So Shipwreck Pete's was the last outpost of suburbia in that part of Marin, before it turned into farms and open space.

The Novato area had mostly been farmland, and housing developments only sprung up after WW2. Novato had only incorporated as a town in 1960, with a population of about 17,000. By 1970, it had a population of 31,000.  The Sportsman's Lodge was one of the few hotels in Novato, and probably the biggest facility. At the time. Shipwreck Pete's was likely the only live music venue in Novato, and one of the few in Marin in the mid-70s that was a bar rather than a coffee shop. Shipwreck Pete's had only opened in early 1970, replacing an earlier establishment. The Marin Independent-Journal regularly reported that various civic and professional groups had meetings at Shipwreck Pete's, no doubt planning to relax afterwards at the bar. 

Marquee spotting for Shipwreck Pete's at the Novato Sportsman's Lodge, from the September 8, 1973 Marin Independent Journal. John Allair shared the bill with local country singer Terry Ryan.

There was music booked at Shipwreck Pete's most nights. It seems that the same group would play all week, and danceable jazz was the order of the day. The owner was Pete Lind, and his son Dick Lind was a jazz drummer. Dick Lind, in turn, had been playing with John Allair since they were in high school in the 1950s. There wasn't much nightlife in Novato, and for local musicians, Shipwreck Pete's was probably the only real hangout. Around 1972, when the Highway 101 bypass was being constructed, Shipwreck Pete's and a few other businesses were somewhat isolated from traffic, and it was noted in the press as an issue. This did not help the business climate at the lounge, but of course--inevitably--the isolation would have added to the funky cool of the place, so musicians would have flocked to it even if regular patrons did not, and Marin was full of musicians. 

Drummer Steve Mitchell, at home in Pennsylvania in the 21st Century

Puppeteer Jim Henson's character "Animal, " rocking out--possibly inspired by Steve Mitchell

 

Steve Mitchell
Steve Mitchell (1946-2019) was an experienced drummer with a good musical education from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. After his graduation in 1967, he had moved to San Francisco. He immediately found work as a session musician, as well as playing with the band Cleveland Wrecking Company. At the time, the Wrecking Company were a sort of psychedelic band with lots of jamming (in later years they had a horns section and were more dance oriented, although Mitchell had long since left). Mitchell was highly regarded as a session musician in California, playing on film and TV soundtracks for Peanuts and the animated feature Garfield. He knew and had worked with puppeteer Jim Henson. Legend has it that Mitchell was the inspiration for the Henson drummer-character "Animal." Mitchell conceded it was possible, as he had met Henson in New York and later worked with him in an LA studio in 1968.

Mitchell had a good reputation in the studio, but freelance work is tough for musicians. In 1976, he skipped a local NARAS dinner because he needed his paying gig; it turned out it was a presentation of a Grammy for "best studio musician" that night. So Mitchell's reputation extended beyond just the Bay Area. By the 21st century, Mitchell had returned to Troy, PA, where he was from, but before he died Jake Feinberg talked to him, and Mitchell described the genesis of Too Loose Ta Truck.

I was playing with a piano player 4 nights a week [sic--actually 5] at a club called "Shipwreck Pete's." It was John Allair and myself, we were playing duo gigs. John sang and played piano and a B-3 organ at the same time.

We're playing one night and this fella comes in with his saxophone and he's dressed all in black and he's got a black hat on and nobody knows who he is and he's standing there in the middle of the dance floor getting knocked around and he could play pretty good - it turned out to be Van Morrison.

Van liked what we were doing so he played with us. He came to our gigs and played with us cause he enjoyed playing and he wanted to develop his saxophone chops.

I had run into Phil Lesh at one of Mickey Hart's gatherings and we talked and he said he wanted to be able to play when the Dead weren't on the road.

It was all the Marin County guys, John Allair, Terry Haggerty from the Sons of Champlin and Van and Phil Lesh. There was a revolving door of people who were in and out of the band. Most of the time it was Phil, Allair, Haggerty and myself.  

Drummer Steve Mitchell's memories of Shipwreck Pete's are about 45 years after the fact, so we can forgive him a few vague details. Nonetheless, the connection wasn't casual. Allair and Mitchell played a little with Van around Marin, and John Allair also toured with Van Morrison numerous times, starting in 1980 and as recently as 2022. 

Van Morrison
Belfast singer Van Morrison had moved to Marin County around late 1970, from Woodstock, NY. After all, his wife Janet was from San Leandro, Van was popular in the Bay Area, and anyway the weather was great. Bay Area fans were lucky in that when Van had a new tour or new material, he would try it out with his current band in local clubs. The Bay Area already had a tradition of local stars like Jerry Garcia and Jorma Kaukonen playing club gigs. Unlike in some cities, stars playing clubs was seen as cool rather than a sign of insecurity. In places like Los Angeles or Manhattan, big stars only played big shows, but San Francisco wasn't like that. 

Joel Selvin's SF Chronicle column on June 7, 1974 tipped off the Bay Area to Van Morrison's partnership with John Allair and Steve Mitchell

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Joel Selvin had an interesting surprise for readers on Friday, June 7, 1974. He wrote:

At The Orphanage Tuesday [June 4], the "surprise guest" scheduled to appear with John Allair and Steve Mitchell failed to show. It was to have been Van Morrison, the taciturn Irish poet-rhythm and blues singer now living in Fairfax.

Morrison had introduced Allair and Mitchell as his new backup group Sunday and Monday [June 2 & 3] at the Lion's Share in San Anselmo. He has cut loose both his large band, the Caledonia Soul Orchestra, and his manager and apparently intends to make future local performances and possibly tour Europe this summer with the keyboards-drum backing of Allair and Mitchell. 

A flyer for Van Morrison with John Allair and Steve Mitchell playing early and late shows at the Lion's Share in San Anselmo on June 2 &3, 1974 (via the amazing VanOmatic site)

The Lion's Share was the principal rock musician hangout in Marin County, in San Anselmo, just a few miles from downtown San Rafael. Only local groups played there, but in Marin, the locals were some heavy hitters. The excellent Van0matic site somehow found a flyer for Van Morrison's gig with Allair and Mitchell the Lion's Share. There were four shows, and the capacity was nearly 300, so with just three players they probably made decent money.  If Joel Selvin hadn't written about it in the biggest Bay Area paper, though, no one outside of Marin County would have known.

Still, Van is who he is, and his no-show at the Orphanage the next night was a harbinger. There was a big tour coming up, yes, but it came off with a different group of Marin musicians. The local band Soundhole featured some hot young players, and they were the ones who toured with Van. Any plans with Allair and Mitchell were dropped. Later, however, Allair would join in on Van's 1980 tour, and he toured with Van numerous times subsequently. Van's ways are ever mysterious, and that includes to his own band members.

What's less well known is that Van Morrison used to hang out at the Grateful Dead office. Sadly, it appears that he never played with any band members, or not enough for any tapes to be made, but he wasn't a stranger. In a recent Deadcast, Jesse Jarnow even found out that Van Morrison attended at least one of the Blues For Allah sessions at Bob Weir's house in Mill Valley. He quite literally "sat in," in the sense that he sat in a chair for the entire afternoon and listened, rather than played or sang (would that he could have taken a rip at "Help On The Way," but...). 

Van may have even alluded to hanging out with the Dead in the lyrics to his 1973 song "Hard Nose The Highway" (props to Commenter PC over at JGMF some time ago)

I was tore down at the Dead's place
Shaved head at the organ
But that wasn't half as bad as it was oh no
Belfast and Boston 

So Van was very much part of the day-to-day Marin music scene. Van would have known what was going on. Since Van lived in Fairfax, once someone had hipped him to John Allair and Steve Mitchell at Shipwreck Pete's, it wasn't hard for him to drop in. 

Terry Haggerty some years ago, probably amazed at the solo he just played

Terry Haggerty
Steve Mitchell suggested that numerous musicians dropped by at Shipwreck Pete's. That's what jazz hangouts are like--there's a combo laying it down, and they invite a friend to leave his drink at the table and take a trumpet or guitar solo. There were a lot of musicians in Marin at the time, because rent was cheap (really) and it was an easy to drive to gigs all over the Bay Area. Most musician's paying gigs are on weekends, so I'll bet the drop-ins were mostly school nights, with just a few dozen patrons in the crowd. 

Guitarist Terry Haggerty had been in the Sons Of Champlin since their founding in 1965, and he had already been a professional musician in High School. All of the Sons members were actually from Marin, unlike those bands (like the Dead, the Airplane or the Youngbloods) who had just moved there later. Haggerty's father had been a big band guitarist who was gigging well into the 1960s, and beyond, so young Terry had been a disciplined and well-trained musician from an early age. Haggerty was a phenomenal, if under-rated guitarist (listen to the Sons' "Freedom" from 1969). The Sons performed constantly, but mostly in Northern California, so Haggerty would have been able to drop in and jam often enough. Ironically, Haggerty was such a good guitarist that he would overwhelm most musicians, so if he liked to drop in on Allair and Mitchell that alone marks them as world-class. 

Round Records released the Seastones album in March 1975, credited to Ned Lagin and Phil Lesh

Phil Lesh 1975-76 Status Report 
What's historically unremarked about Too Loose Ta Truck was how out of character it was for Phil Lesh to have a bar band. The rest of the Dead regularly performed in night clubs for much of their careers, or at least until they graduated to larger places, yet Phil Lesh consistently resisted that. He may have occasionally played a bar gig as a favor to another band member, but even so it was not his preference. Phil himself has acknowledged he liked his Heinekens and enjoyed bars, perhaps too much, and there were plenty of sightings of him at local clubs and bars over the years, but he didn't sit in and play. 

In 1975, besides recording Blues For Allah, Lesh was working with Ned Lagin on Seastones. While not likely to record a break-out FM hit, Seastones had a chance to sell a few records. They also drew san audience for their performances. So if Lesh was thinking that he needed an alternative gig to go along with Grateful Dead recording projects, parallel to the Jerry Garcia Band, Kingfish, Diga Rhythm Band and so on, Seastones was a plausible project. A record company advance was not an unreasonable expectation for a member of the Grateful Dead, no matter how odd or difficult the music might have been.

Nonetheless, Seastones had fallen apart by the end of 1975. Ned and Phil played their last Seastones gig in the San Diego area on November 22, 1975. By this time, the Grateful Dead's record company edifice had crumbled, and had been re-constituted with the support of United Artists Records. This was all right, but since Seastones was gone, Lesh wasn't really going to benefit from it. By April of '76 it was clear that the Grateful Dead were going back on tour. Nonetheless, contrary to the inevitability with which it seems to possess now, it wasn't clear to members of the Dead whether their return to touring would be successful or permanent. 

Joel Selvin's September 19, 1976 Chronicle column notes that Bob Weir had left Kingfish and that Phil Lesh had joined Terry Haggerty, Steve Mitchell and John Allair to play local nightclubs

It's revealing that Lesh told Steve Mitchell that he wanted to be able to play when the Grateful Dead weren't on the road. It implies a concern that the Dead might not be touring much, or that Lesh might need the cash. One of the few sources of information about the Grateful Dead in those days was Joel Selvin's column in the San Francisco Chronicle. In his music news round-up for September 19, 1976 (above), Selvin noted

Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir has left Kingfish, and the band will record its second album as a quartet. Meanwhile, Dead bassist Phil Lesh has teamed up with Sons guitarist Terry Haggerty, drummer Steve Mitchell and keyboard player John Allair for a round of local club dates. The Dead recently closed their San Rafael record company office, after running out of funds to support it. The group has fulfilled its current agreement with United Artists Records, at least as far as amount of product owed, and is said to be shopping for a new record deal.

Translating the polite industry-speak, the Dead's record company had gone belly-up, they had no money and no record deal and were hoping to put something together. In fact, they would do that, with Clive Davis and Arista, but that was no sure thing in September '76. Phil asking Steve Mitchell about playing when the Dead weren't on tour was about financial survival, not some conceptual thing about music. Note that Too Loose Ta Truck had made its official debut before the Dead's Summer '76 tour, and the tour had gone well. Nonetheless, Too Loose gigs were still being booked in September, when the Dead's tour (and two stadium shows in the Northeast) had been completed.

Lesh had to have concerns that the Dead might not fully support him. They didn't have a record deal, they were no longer "cool," and Jerry Garcia might very well tour profitably as a solo act, minimizing Dead tours. This threat is perpetually unstated by other members of the Dead, but I assure you it weighed heavily on their economic calculations. Note also that Phil, alone among Dead members, couldn't really be part of any Jerry Garcia Band because John Kahn was so integral. So Too Loose Ta Truck was some kind of hedge against the future. Without trying to personalize this too much, per Phil's own autobiography, he was rather deep into the Heineken during this period. On top of that, he had a brief, unhappy marriage from 1975-77 (in his book, his wife is just called "Lyla," which may not have been her name), so things were precarious on numerous fronts.  

So whenever exactly Phil mentioned to Steve Mitchell that he wanted something for when the Dead weren't playing, I see it as a concern on Phil's part that he might need a Garcia Band of his own. I also have to assume that Lesh had already dropped into Shipwreck Pete's and heard Allair and Mitchell--indeed, Van Morrison might have even invited him. Shipwreck Pete's had closed in October 1975. From 1975 onwards, however, Allair and Mitchell had been playing on Sundaty nights at the Sleeping Lady in tiny Bolinas, and on Mondays at River City in Fairfax. The Monday night River City gigs continued on into 1976. I have think Phil must have brought his bass along at least once and plugged in, just to see how it sounded, whether at Shipwreck Pete's, the Sleeping Lady or River City.

A flyer for Touloos Ta Truck, with Phil Lesh, at River City in Fairfax on May 17, 1976

May 17, 1976 River City, Fairfax, CA: Touloos Ta Truck/Father Guido Sarducci (Monday)
The official debut of Too Loose Ta Truck was at the River City bar at 52 Bolinas Road in Fairfax, on Monday, May 17, 1976. River City--I'm not clear what "River" was responsible for the name, possibly it was a nod to The Music Man--was a game arcade and pool hall in the tiny town of Fairfax, four miles West of San Rafael (with San Anselmo in between). In early 1975, proprietor Ron Barbarita started booking jazz bands, ultimately booking rock bands as well. Since the Lion's Share had closed in July '75, and Shipwreck Pete's in October, that left River City as pretty much the only rock club in Marin County. It could hold perhaps 200, maybe slightly more. 

The SF Chronicle listed Touloos Ta Truck at River City on Monday, May 17, 1976. The next night was the Rowan Brothers (with Peter) and Jack Bonus ("Hobo Song"). Just another week in Marin.

Of course, River City got all the Marin bands: Jerry Garcia Band, Kingfish, Keith & Donna, Clover, Taj Mahal, Brian Auger, Mike Bloomfield and numerous others all played there, particularly on weeknights. But even a packed house isn't that big a payday for a club when it can only sell 200+ tickets. By mid-1976, River City was struggling financially. Marin County in this era was a peculiar market, in that there were numerous quality local musicians willing to play a club for the door receipts, but no way for a club to really succeed. 

Intriguingly, we have a tape of this show.  It's a little over two hours. John Allair sings some, but most of it isn't complete songs, just riffs and verses. It's so rare that we hear Phil Lesh outside of a Grateful Dead context that it's fascinating, but ultimately it's just high quality noodling. That being said, it was probably a nice way to spend Monday night, nursing a beer while top flight musicians let it rip. 

Opening the show was comedian Don Novello, appearing in character as Father Guido Sarducci. Novello had created the character of Father Sarducci when he had purchased a priest costume for $7.50. By 1976, he had already appeared on TV. In 1978, Sarducci would appear on Saturday Night Live, where he later appeared many times. In the mid-70s, the Bay Area was a thriving market for rising comedians, and Novello was just one of many who would go on to greater acclaim (including Robin Williams, Dana Carvey and many others). 

 

Touloos Ta Truck, Long Branch, Berkeley May 26, 1976

 

May 26, 1976 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Touloos Ta Truck (Wednesday)
A week after their debut, Too Loose Ta Truck played a Wednesday night at the Long Branch Saloon in Berkeley. Wednesday was usually "audition night" at the Branch, so the band could have just phoned up and gotten themselves on the bill. The Long Branch Saloon was at 2504 San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley (at Dwight Way), an infamous address in Berkeley music history. As the Cabale Creamery, from 1962-65, it had been an important part of the folk music scene. During the week of March 11-15, 1964, Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir and others had seen the Jim Kweskin Jug Band, and it was a formative event in Grateful Dead history. Garcia had been to the club many times, catching bluegrass acts like the White Brothers.

By Spring, 1966, 2504 San Pablo had become a sort-of-psychedelic folk rock club called The Questing Beast. Owsley was reputedly a regular visitor, and the Grateful Dead had definitely rehearsed there in late January '66 (there's a tape). In late April, probably April 28, Country Joe McDonald and Barry Melton bought electric instruments and a few friends to their folk gig, having just seen the Paul Butterfield Blues Band at the Fillmore. Joe sang that immortal line "Hey partner/ Won't you pass that reefer around" while Barry Melton squeezed out some blues licks on his Gibson. Berkeley was never the same, and better for it.

After many transformations, 2504 San Pablo had evolved into the Long Branch by May 1971. Capacity had been doubled to about 350. There was music six nights a week, and the club was mainly a beer joint that appealed to young people who lived in that part of Berkeley. In 1972, with the rock market booming, the much larger Keystone Berkeley (capacity 500+) had opened nearer to the UC Berkeley campus, two miles North. To some extent, the Long Branch became a feeder club for the Keystone. Jerry Garcia had played a few gigs with the New Riders at the Long Branch in 1971, but by 1972 Garcia's ensembles were regulars at Keystone. Other Dead spinoffs, like Kingfish and Keith & Donna, did play occasional gigs at the Long Branch. So Phil Lesh's new ensemble playing a weeknight at Long Branch wasn't unprecedented.

In Berkeley at this time--I was a college freshman--local clubs primarily advertised with flyers posted on bulletin boards. There were services that were paid to staple them up (it didn't occur to me at the time to save any of them). No doubt the simple flyer for the Long Branch show above was stapled to bulletin boards on the UC Campus and telephone poles downtown and near the Branch itself. Tantalizingly, the flyer says  "final show before U.S. Tour," as the Dead were playing Portland the next weekend (June 3-4). The phrasing implies that there was more than just one show prior to this, so maybe we are missing a few more dates. If so, my guess is that they were unpublicized appearances by Lesh and Haggerty at some Allair & Mitchell bookings at the Sleeping Lady or River City.  

 

Listings for the Santa Rosa Press Democrat (Sep 19 '76) at the Inn Of The Beginning in Cotati

September 19, 1976 Inn Of The Beginning, Cotati, CA: Toulouse La Truck (Sunday)
The next Too Loose booking was months later, after the Grateful Dead had completed not only a sold out small theater tour in June, but two successful small stadium shows in August (in Hartford and Jersey City). But the band's recent album, Steal Your Face, had been poorly received, and the Dead did not yet have a record deal. This very weekend was the one when Selvin's Chronicle article (above) had appeared, and the fact that the information was being shared by band members indicates their financial anxiety. Clearly the Grateful Dead were still a viable live attraction, but the band had no money, no royalty-paying records and no record company supporting them. 

The Inn Of The Beginning was a tiny hippie hangout in bucolic Cotati, in Sonoma County, near Sonoma State University. It had opened in 1968 and held about 200. An easy drive from Marin, San Francisco and Berkeley, it was a fun gig for Bay Area bands since it was easy to get to and a nice place to play. The Inn was at 8201 Old Redwood Highway, only 20 miles North of Novato. There couldn't have been a friendlier crowd, and band members probably had plenty of friends in the audience.

The September 19, 1976 Sunday Chronicle Datebook (Pink Section) ad for Keystone Berkeley includes the listing for "Toulousse" (yet a new spelling), and it's "with PHIL LESH from The Grateful Dead

 

September 20, 1976 Keystone, Berkeley, CA: Toulousse (Monday) 
The next night, Too Loose played Keystone Berkeley, the biggest rock club in the Bay Area. The official capacity was 476, but regulars had good reason to think that number was readily exceeded. Monday night at Keystone Berkeley was usually a no-cover night with a local East Bay band, but with a member of the Grateful Dead in the house, it probably drew a few hundred patrons. From the point of view of the Keystone, this was a great night. Whereas normally a Monday might draw, perhaps, several dozen people, most of whom just dropped in for a pint, more likely the crowd was around 200 people, most of whom stayed for hours. The economics of Keystone Berkeley was all about selling beer, so this was a great night from the club's point of view.  

All of Too Loose's bookings were usually on Sunday or Monday night (save for the Wednesday at Long Branch, and a Tuesday at the Starwood). This leads me to think that band members were only available on those nights. Working musicians like John Allair and Steve Mitchell probably had regular weekend gigs, even if they weren't listed in the paper. For professionals like them, who could read music and play in all styles, these might have included a San Francisco theater production, or playing in a hotel band, for example. As for Terry Haggerty and Phil Lesh, while their performance schedules may have been less rigid, working on weekends was still common, so Sunday and Monday must have suited the entire band.  

Apparently, Too Loose Ta Truck even had a sort of road manager, one Pat Reddix. Pat Reddix was one of the infamous Marin County "Waldos," Tam High students who invented the term "420" around 1971. His brother's memorial for Pat mentions that Pat and Phil were lifelong friends. Apparently Pat served the same function for both Seastones and Too Loose. His brother Dave recalled:

“Pat hired me to do security and collect tickets at the door for the bands. Phil and Pat would pick me up at my house in Fairfax in Phil's new silver BMW 528i. We’d stop by the Belli Deli San Rafael, get some sandwiches, and go to band rehearsal at the Grateful Dead’s San Rafael rehearsal hall behind Litchfield’s, a sketchy hotel at the time, on Front street, also known as “Shake Down Street,” the same as the album by the Grateful Dead.”

“David Crosby stopped by and jammed a few times at shows and we all smoked out backstage a lot. I remember Crosby coming up to me during a backstage bong session saying - “Man, your brother is crazy,” as Pat was coughing and laughing in the background. Pat and myself spread the Waldos term 420 at those shows with the band and Deadheads who attended them. We always had a real good time every show and the memories are precious to me.” [Dave Reddix] 

Although it is tempting to hope that David Crosby at least rehearsed or jammed with Too Loose, I suspect that Dave Reddix is recalling Crosby's work with Seastones. Nonetheless, it's interesting to hear that Too Loose rehearsed at all, since their tapes don't show much sign of it.

The November 14, 1976 Chronicle ad for Keystone Berkeley includes the listing for Tooloos opening for the Sons Of Champlin that same night. The tape of this show circulates on the Archive.

BlueSky user Andeux pointed me to a hitherto unknown Too Loose show, namely opening for the Sons Of Champlin at Keystone Berkeley on Sunday, Novembe 14, 1976. For decades I had assumed that a show circulating as Too Loose at "Keystone Berkeley October 1976 (?)" was a misdating of the September 20 show. Andeux pointed out that at the end someone in Too Loose says "The Sons coming up." Since it wasn't likely to be 6am (i.e. "the sun's coming up") that suggested opening for the Sons. Remarkably, the show was listed in the Chronicle and we all missed it. The tape was misdated, but it was a previously unknown event.

I had a long-ago tape, possibly this one, where Allair, Mitchell and Terry Haggerty played about 45 minutes as a trio, eventually joined by Phil Lesh on an extremely loose version of "Swanee River." The tape on the Archive matches up to that, as it begins with Phil in the quartet format jamming on "Swanee River." We have so little information about Too Loose, however, that we don't know if it was typical or a one-off for Phil to join mid-show. 

 

An ad for The Starwood club on 8151 Santa Monica Blvd in Los Angeles. Too Loose Ta Truck was booked for December 13 and 14, 1976. Jackie Lomax had been a friend of the Beatles in Liverpool and Hamburg, while The Motels were a happening New Wave band. 

December 13-14, 1976 Starwood, West Hollywood, CA: Too Loose Ta Truck (Monday-Tuesday) canceled
The most mysterious of the Too Loose dates was the two nights at the Starwood club in West Hollywood. The Starwood, at 8151 Santa Monica Boulevard (at North Crescent Heights Blvd), had been a West Hollywood club called PJ's in the '60s. By 1973, it had changed its name to the Starwood, and was owned by a notorious character named Eddie Nash. As for Nash, I'll leave you to google him yourself. Don't do it at work, and prepare to cleanse yourself spiritually if you read too much about him.  

Lots of now-famous bands, and now-infamous bands, played the Starwood.  The Starwood was open until 1981, and is famous for breaking lots of punk and metal bands. Black Flag, X and the Go-Gos all played the Starwood, and Van Halen was discovered there in 1977 by Warner Brothers producer Ted Templeman. Motley Crue played their first show at the Starwood, around 1981. Frank Zappa even namechecked the Starwood in a song about bands in LA (In 1980's "Tinseltown Rebellion" he sang"From Madam Wong's to Starwood/To The Whisky on the Strip"). Like any club, however, it was open most nights of the week and booked all sorts of acts. Kingfish, albeit without Bob Weir, had played there earlier in 1976 (September 15-16).

The December 12, 1976 LA Times shows Fresh at the Starwood on Monday and Tuesday (Dec 13-14), replacing Too Loose Ta Truck

In fact, Too Loose Ta Truck did not play the Starwood (they were replaced, per the LA Times above, with a presumably local band). The significant thing was why Too Loose was booked at the Starwood in the first place. Too Loose To Truck couldn't have made much money at the Starwood, not enough to justify hotel rooms and the like. Even if they squeezed expenses somehow (driving to LA and staying with friends, a very plausible scenario) it still would have been less than playing the Bay Area somewhere. Bands didn't expect to make money at the Starwood. Bands played the Starwood to attract record industry interest. Jesse Jarnow found this Starwood booking, much to my surprise, and caused me to re-think the entire timeline of Too Loose.

The Starwood booking was a sign that Phil Lesh was still anxious about the Grateful Dead's economic future. To be clear, I don't think Phil was considering Too Loose as any more than a steady side gig, but he must have been concerned that the Dead would not tour enough to pay his bills, and that the Jerry Garcia Band would have taken a bigger piece of Jerry's interests.

Club dates would have had to be booked thirty days in advance, or more, and the Arista deal did not come together until December. So the Starwood booking stands out as an indicator that Too Loose Ta Truck was not just a casual exercise--there were rehearsals and an out-of-town booking, so it wasn't all just for fun, because Phil Lesh was concerned about making ends meet.

As it happened, by December 1976, the Grateful Dead were rehearsing with producer Keith Olsen in His Master's Wheels studio at 60 Brady Street. The studio had formerly been Pacific High Recorders and then Alembic Studios. So Lesh did not interrupt rehearsal to take a trip to Southern California. It's possible that Lesh played another stealth gig with the Too Loose band to make up for it--I would suspect the most likely time to have been the Allair & Mitchell gig booked at the Sleeping Lady Cafe in Bolinas on Sunday, December 5.

The SF Chronicle Sunday Datebook ("Pink Section") ad for Keystone Berkeley notes Tooloos on December 19 &20, and the Jerry Garcia Band on the next three nights (Dec 21-23). Under Tooloos it says "Lesh from G. Dead, Hagerty's The Sons, Allair & Mitchell of Van Morrison." This indicates to me that Allair& Mitchell's association with Van was generally known.

December 19, 1976 Keystone, Berkeley, CA: Tooloos/Kid America (Sunday-Monday)
December 20, 1976 Keystone, Berkeley, CA: Tooloos/Fred's Band (Sunday-Monday)  
The Too Loose Ta Truck story ends the next weekend, on December 19 and 20, 1976, a Sunday and Monday night at the Keystone Berkeley. We do have a tape from the December 19 show. The band almost sounds rehearsed, however, so it fits my thesis that Phil Lesh had some worries about the viability of making a living exclusively from the Dead, and he had rehearsed a band and booked gigs in case he had needed to branch out. As it turned out, he didn't need to do any such thing. By December, the Grateful Dead were locked in with Arista Records, as they would record in February and tour in March and April. In December of '76, they would spend most of the month rehearsing with Keith Olsen, but both Lesh and Garcia played Keystone gigs, presumably after studio work was done for the day. 

While Jerry Garcia continued to have an active touring and recording schedule, the Grateful Dead were full throttle from then on. Phil never returned to any club bands. He did play a few gigs with Grateful Dead entities, mostly in 1981: two shows with Mickey Hart and "the Rhythm Devils," a percussion extravaganza where he played fretless bass (Feb 13-14 '81), and a few instances where he filled in for John Kahn in the Jerry Garcia Band (Jun 24-26 and Aug 22 '81). 

The only other trace of Too Loose Ta Truck was Phil Lesh's cover of Bob Dylan's "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues." Phil Lesh first sang it in concert with the Grateful Dead in 1985 (there is a rehearsal version from 1984). Too Loose did perform the song at least once, because we have a tape (the "October " tape, from November 14 at Keystone). It's sung by John Allair, but in the last verse he sings "I'm going back to San Anselmo" instead of Bob's "New York City," and Phil adopted that for his own version. So whether he recalled it or simply sang it out, it was the last hint of Phil's only bar band. 

John Allair's 1985 album Larkspur, produced by Mark Isham. The solo piano-and-vocal record features some songs that were performed by Allair in Too Loose Ta Truck

Aftermath 

John Allair had a long professional career as a musician, and indeed he is still playing. He is now best known for performing regularly with Van Morrison. Van does not have fixed bands, and rotates players in and out of his groups, but Allair had been performing live with him since 1980 (here's a great version of "Summertime In England" from Jun 18 1980 Montreaux).  More details from Allair's bio page:  

John first appeared as Van's organ player on the Common One album, leading to a succession of Morrison titles, Beautiful Vision, Inarticulate Speech of The Heart, Live At The Grand Opera House Belfast, A Sense of Wonder, and later works like Too Long In Exile (with John Lee Hooker), Keep It Simple, and Three Chords and The Truth. 

In 1985, Allair made his first solo album, with Morrison bandmate Mark Isham producing. While the album itself, Larkspur, never received widespread distribution, KSAN, then San Francisco's top rock radio station, played one track off the set as though it were a hit record, "High Place (in Your Mind)," which has a Fats Domino sound matched to an appropriately new-agey Marin County lyric. 

But Morrison continues to turn up in Allair's life. He has completed 2 short tours with him in 2022, and in September participated in recordings for a new blues-based Morrison album, with appearances by Buddy Guy, Elvin Bishop and Taj Mahal. And Van recorded a new version of John's "High Place (In Your Mind)," with the two of them sharing vocals.  

Steve Mitchell returned to Pennsylvania in the early 21st century, and continued his successful career as a drummer and teacher. He died in 2019.

The Sons Of Champlin broke up in 1977. But then they reformed again in 1980, then broke up, then reformed in 1996 and so on. Although Terry Haggerty's guitar playing remains as stunning as ever, his health no longer allowed him to tour. But the Sons still occasionally played the Bay Area, and Haggerty could be expected to join in and rip it up for a few numbers.

Phil Lesh played with the Grateful Dead until 1995. After Jerry Garcia's death, he continued to tour and record until his death on October 25, 2024.

 

 

Acoustic Opening Acts for The Jerry Garcia Band at Keystone Berkeley 1976-84 (Lost History)

Keystone Berkeley, 2119 University (at Shattuck), some time in the later 1970s. Jerry Garcia Band opening acts were rarely listed on the marquee.

Jerry Garcia played the Keystone Berkeley 243 times from 1972 to 1984, a number that dwarfs his performances at any other single venue. The Keystone was in downtown Berkeley, a few blocks from campus at 2119 University Avenue (at Shattuck). It was big for a rock club of the era, but not really big for a downtown bar. A sign on the wall inside said "Maximum Capacity: 476 Persons," but regular patrons of the club had reason to think that number was regularly exceeded when Garcia was playing there. 

Everything about Garcia's appearances at the Keystone were in sharp contrast to the high profile surrounding Grateful Dead concerts. Keystone Berkeley shows were barely publicized, only appearing as listings on flyers or weekly newspaper ads. There were no advance tickets sold. That's why no one has a Keystone Berkeley Garcia Band ticket stub--there weren't any. Often scheduled shows were canceled, but since no one had advance tickets, it didn't matter. Garcia would just be back the next month anyway. Bay Area fans took local Jerry Garcia shows for granted. Maybe they went, maybe they didn't, but they weren't revered as legendary gatherings of the extended tribe. People went to Shattuck and University, hung out, bought some beer, and eventually Garcia and his current ensemble would wander on stage and ring the bells until closing time. 

As Jerry Garcia scholarship improves, thanks in particular to institutions like Jerrybase, there is a much greater awareness of the terrific music Garcia played at Keystone Berkeley, when the pressure was off and he could do his own thing. We are fortunate, thanks to Betty Cantor-Jackson and numerous volunteers, that we have tapes of a lot of Jerry Garcia Band shows from Keystone days. My focus, however, has been on establishing the actual circumstances of Garcia Band performances at the time, rather than the resulting tapes.

This post will provide another angle towards fleshing out the experience of the Jerry Garcia Band at the Keystone Berkeley. Garcia's first few years at the Keystone, with Garcia/Saunders, Old And In The Way and Legion Of Mary, included a variety of changes and experiments, some of them having to do with changes in how the Keystone presented shows. By the end of 1975, Garcia had formed the Jerry Garcia Band, and had locked in his own format for Keystone shows. One now largely forgotten fact was that every Garcia Band show at Keystone had an opening act, usually solo and acoustic but occasionally a small combo. This act would appear a few hours before the JGB came on stage. They are largely forgotten, and in most cases we don't even know who opened the shows. 

A peculiar, almost unique, feature of JGB Keystone shows was that although Garcia came onstage after 11:00pm, there wasn't really much reason for fans to come before that. There weren't seats (or not good ones, anyway), and since there were in-and-outs, you could buy your tickets early and go down the street for food and drink. For those who lived near campus, you could still make the decision to see Garcia right when you realized that you'd already seen the evening's upcoming re-run of MASH on Channel 2. So it's no surprise that there was little awareness of the opening acts. Nonetheless, to have a full picture of any JGB Keystone show, it's important to know the opening act, even if only part of the audience actually heard them.

What follows is a review of what is known about every act that opened for Jerry Garcia at Keystone Berkeley from 1975 through 1984. I am focused mainly on the performers themselves, rather than worrying so much about who opened which show. If anyone knows any performer I forgot, and has some memories or even half-memories, or even just straight-up flashbacks about openers for Garcia at the Keystone Berkeley, please share them in the Comments.

The August 1974 calendar for Keystone. Garcia and Saunders are listed for August 4, 30 and 31, but no opening acts were noted for those nights

Jerry Garcia at The Keystone 1972-75
Freddie Herrera had made a little money in construction, and in 1968 he had bought a club in San Francisco at 750 Vallejo Street (between Stockton and Powell), near North Beach.  He named it Keystone Korner, since it was across the street from an old police station. Nick Gravenites then discovered the club, bringing in friends like Mike Bloomfield, and Elvin Bishop became a regular performer as well. Jerry Garcia's chosen "clubhouse" had been The Matrix, over in the Marina (at 3138 Fillmore), but it would close in May 1971. John Kahn, who had also been a regular in Bloomfield's band, seems to have been the link that brought Garcia over to Keystone Korner. Garcia would play Keystone Korner 54 times in 1971 and '72.

Yet Keystone Korner was small, officially just 200 patrons. In Summer 1971, Herrera took over the booking of Berkeley's New Monk, twice or more the size of Keystone Korner. By March 1972, it had become The Keystone (colloquially it was known as "Keystone Berkeley," though that wasn't yet actually it's name). Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders inaugurated the new club name at their March 1, 1972 show. Garcia would go on to play the Berkeley Keystone 243 times. He also played Herrera's other clubs, in Stockton (once, maybe), Palo Alto (83 times) and San Francisco (The Stone: 86 times).

The Keystone Berkeley took a few years to figure itself out. Herrera had sold the Keystone Korner in mid-1972, and it went on to become a legendary jazz club. The New Monk had been a sort of fraternity hangout, with pizza and beer most nights and dancing on weekends. The first few years at Keystone had at least some food and some tables, although exact details are obscure. In any case, by 1975, the kitchen was gone. The Keystone did not have a full bar, with mixed drinks. In order to meet California licensing obligations to serve food, necessary to serve beer and wine, the Keystone initially provided pizza or chicken. By the end, the Keystone just provided popcorn. It sold a lot of beer, however. In order to understand the economics of the Keystone, it's critical to understand that it was financially dependent on selling as much beer as possible. 

Let It Rock, by the Jerry Garcia Band, recorded on November 17 & 18, 1975 at Keystone in Berkeley

Jerry Garcia at The Keystone, Berkeley in 1975
Jerry Garcia played the Keystone 28 times in 1975. The first sixteen shows, from January 21 through July 6, were with Merl Saunders (I'm not going to discuss the difference between "Garcia/Saunders" and "Legion Of Mary" here). There was also another likely date with the Keith & Donna band (Aug 5 '75), also another side-note rabbit hole. The new Jerry Garcia Band, with Nicky Hopkins holding down the piano role, debuted at the Keystone on the weekend of October 11 and 12, 1975. The opening act was Paul Pena, a guitarist, singer and songwriter who played solo. He had already opened for Garcia at Keystone many times. Pena is an interesting part of the story, and I will discuss him in detail below. For now, however, I just want to focus on opening acts for Jerry Garcia in 1975, before the Jerry Garcia Band officially established itself in September 1975.

For all the tapes of Jerry Garcia at Keystone, for which I am very grateful, we have very little in the way of eyewitness accounts. For one thing, even when crowded, the Keystone had no more than 600 people at most. Secondly, most of the people who went to see Garcia at Keystone saw him there regularly. As a result, most eyewitnesses have general memories of the Keystone, but have a hard time recalling any show specifically (I fall into this category, albeit from the 1980s). Finally, once the tables were removed, and there were almost no seats, many fans (including me) typically showed up just a few minutes before Garcia was likely to come on stage. 

Nonetheless, I believe that by 1975, Garcia Keystone shows had fallen into the pattern they would retain into the 1980s, when I became old enough to get in. The tables had been removed, and there was little or no food available, just beer and possibly white wine. The room was a big dance floor, albeit one with a pillar in the middle. There were some benches along the wall, but when the dance floor was full you couldn't really see the stage from those benches. The soundboard was up on the balcony, and there were a few tables behind the soundboard, but that area was small and I believe sight lines were poor anyway. Early arrivals could sit at the benches, but after a certain point you were going to stand all night. Nonetheless, although Garcia did not come on stage until 10:00pm or later (11:00pm or later by the 1980s), the doors opened at 7 or 8 p.m. 

There were no advance tickets, but Garcia shows almost never sold out. You could go to Keystone, get your hand stamped and go back out to a local bar or restaurant (good Chinese across the street, and Arinell's Pizza just down Shattuck) and return whenever. I only know of one instance where the show was sold out to the point where people were denied entrance. In this case (about 1981), my friend reported that there was a Berkeley Fire Dept guy with a clicker, counting bodies at the door, and at a certain point he apparently insisted that there be no more admitted. My friend reported that while the Keystone must have been "full" (with the allotted 476 persons), it seemed pretty empty to him. This is why I think the Keystone was oversold at times.

Nonetheless, people actually waited in line until the doors opened, and came in immediately. Beer sales were greatly enhanced by the tendency of Deadheads to show up early at gigs to hang out. So it's not surprising that Keystone regularly had an opening act. The beer sales alone easily paid for the opener. It's not at all clear if there were opening acts in the earliest days. None were listed, which doesn't mean much, and for reasons stated above, no one remembers. Off an on there were openers listed, however. By 1975 it seems to have been regular, with an opener listed at least some times in the weekly calendar or in newspaper ads.

The January 1975 Keystone flyer notes that Paul Pena will open for Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders on Jan 21-22, and also for Kingfish on Jan 24. Howard Wales opens some shows the next weekend (for Booker T and the Sons). Side note: San Mateo soul band Crackin' (Jan 27) played my high school graduation dance.

Paul Pena
Between January and July 1975, Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders played 14 shows at the Keystone in Berkeley. Singer and guitarist Paul Pena opened 11 of them. For two shows, we don't know the openers (March 1 & 2), and there are two other Garcia shows that don't quite fit the profile, so even though we don't know the openers for either of them, it's impossible to draw conclusions in any case (the Good Old Boys played February 25 and Garcia was probably backed by Keith & Donna on August 5). The one exception to this was the Oakland R&B band Delta Wires, who opened the March 15 Legion Of Mary show, but we will discuss them subsequently. For now, let's consider Paul Pena, who opened numerous Garcia shows at Keystone, and may be responsible for confirming Garcia's preference for having a solo performer open for him rather than a band.

Capitol Records released Paul Pena's debut album in 1971

Paul Pena (1950-2005) was from Massachusetts, born with congenital glaucoma. He was completely blind by age 20. Pena, from a family of musicians, sang, wrote and played guitar. His electric blues band had opened for a week at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia in February 1969. He opened for the Grateful Dead, and hit it off with Pigpen. Jerry Garcia told him to look up the Grateful Dead office if he was ever in San Francisco. In 1971, Pena did move to San Francisco, and the Dead hooked him up with the Keystone. Pena also released his debut album (Paul Pena) on Capitol in November 1971. Pena apparently had an apartment near Keystone, and he regularly opened for Garcia and other Keystone acts, which suited both him and the Keystone. 

By 1973, Pena had signed with Bearsville Records, run by Albert Grossman. Grossman was Bob Dylan's manager, and a powerful man in the music industry. Pena recorded his second album, New Train, in 1973. Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders both played on two tracks. Grossman, however, was notoriously litigious and blocked release of the album, freezing Pena's career. Ironically, however, Steve Miller had heard the tape of the album, and chose to record one of the tracks (Pena's producer Ben Sidran had played in the Steve Miller Band). "Jet Airliner" was released in 1977, and would reach #8. 

Pena would suspend his music career in the mid-70s, to focus on caring for his wife. Although he was on Disability, the fact that he had royalties from a monster hit by Steve Miller certainly helped. This is just part of the Paul Pena story, by the way, but the rest is too much to go into here (hey, there's even a movie!). For the purposes of our narrative, to the extent we know who opened for Jerry Garcia at the Keystone in the first half of the 1970s, and we don't know much, Paul Pena was the only solo artist. I'm not aware of any tapes of Pena's live show from that era, but my impression is that Pena had a "big sound" that filled up a sizable club quite nicely. I think once Paul Pena wasn't available, Garcia decided he liked it better to have an acoustic act open for him rather than an electric band, and that became the regular program at Keystone.

March 15, 1975 Keystone, Berkeley, CA: Legion Of Mary/Delta Wires (Saturday)
Of the opening acts we know for Garcia/Saunders at the Keystone in 1975, the only exception we know to Paul Pena was on Saturday, March 15. The Oakland band Delta Wires opened the show. They had formed in 1970 at the California College of Arts and Crafts (on Broadway Terrace), and had been gigging ever since. They had a bluesy sound with a 3-piece horn section, more or less intentionally a throwback sound even back then. Delta Wires played East Bay clubs for many years, and developed a local following, but never graduated beyond Alameda County. Since it was Saturday night, no doubt Delta Wires was probably pretty lively and helped sell a lot of beer (amazingly, Delta Wires never really stopped performing and is still out there).

Nonetheless, save for some very rare exceptions which we will address below, Garcia rejected having electric bands open for him. This isn't just speculation. In a David Gans interview with Freddie Herrera (for the New Year's Eve 1975 Garcia Live cd set), Herrera specifically said that Garcia preferred not to have bands open for him. Herrera, nor Garcia nor Steve Parish, has never given a specific reason for this, but I think I have a pretty likely explanation.

The interior gatefold of the 1974 Garcia/Saunders Live at Keystone album, showing the "green room" at Keystone, where musicians and friends hung out before the show. It was on the opposite side of the club from the stage.

The Keystone in Berkeley was medium sized, as far as rock clubs go, but the stage wasn't that large. More importantly, there was no actual "backstage." The stage was on the South end of the club, backing onto the entrance (and University Avenue). The "green room," where the musicians hung out between sets, immortalized on the inside cover of the Garcia/Saunders Live At Keystone album, was on the opposite end of the club (the North end). To reach the stage, Garcia and the band had to walk through the Keystone crowd, always an astonishing moment for East Coasters visiting the club. 

As a practical matter, however, the Keystone setup created two problems for an electric Jerry Garcia ensemble:

• For a club band, Garcia's had a lot of gear. There was barely room to fit an opening band's drum set and amplifiers in front of the Garcia rig. That usually meant that even if the soundcheck was all good, Garcia's amplifiers and other gear would have had to be wheeled backwards to accommodate any opening band.
• Since there was quite literally no backstage, Steve Parish nor any other crew members were not hovering around behind the band. It wasn't like a regular concert, where if something needed to be tweaked or reset, a crew member could just lean over in the darkness between songs and deal with it. All the more reason to set up Garcia and his band's gear in the afternoon, get it right and not move it. That endeavor was a lot easier when the opening act just needed a microphone or two for a guitarist and some vocals. 

Garcia played the Keystone because it was profitable, yes, but also because there was a minimum of hassle. He knew how to get there, where to park, knew all the staff and he had played it so many times that Parish could set up the rig just right. Once it was set up, there was no desire to even partially undo it to allow an opening band's drums and amps on the tiny stage. Letting Paul Pena open so often seemed to have provided the working model. A guy playing a guitar, or maybe two guys, but without drums and without big amps, didn't affect Garcia's stage setup. That was the model, and Garcia stuck to it for the balance of his time at the Keystone. All that changed was the identity of the opening performer, and that is the focus of this post. 

October 11-12, 1975 Keystone, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia Band/Paul Pena (Saturday-Sunday)
The brand new Jerry Garcia Band had only played seven gigs prior to this weekend at Keystone, although there had been quite a few days in the studio already. The significant fact that usually gets elided about this weekend, however, was that the Garcia Band was auditioning a second keyboardist. Session man Tim Henson (mis-introduced by Nicky Hopkins as "Tim Hensley," to the dismay of prosopographers for decades) played electric piano both nights. Why exactly Garcia wanted to try out a second keyboard player is a subject for another day (not to say I didn't consider it).

The point I want to make here is that not only was it the first time the newly-configured Jerry Garcia Band had played the Keystone, it was the first time the Jerry Garcia Band had played with a fifth member. Given the size of Nicky's grand piano, finding room for an additional keyboard on the tiny Keystone stage must have been a challenge. Once Parish had figured it out, it makes sense that he wouldn't want to push all the keyboards and drums out of the way. With Paul Pena playing by himself, as always, all that was needed was a stool and an amp. That had to be attractive for the setup of the new Garcia Band. I think that became the preferred model from then on. 

Paul Pena seems to have stepped away from performing around this time, apparently because of his wife's health. From here on, however, the Jerry Garcia Band almost exclusively featured acoustic performers, mostly solo, as their opening act. 

Minneapolis Times ad, Jan 18 '70. The Labor Temple features PG&E, Golden Earring (this is before "Radar Love") and "hip comedian Bobby Kosser." The next Sunday is Grand Funk Railroad (they're an American band).

November 8, 1975 Keystone, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia Band/Bobby Kosser (Saturday)
The Jerry Garcia Band returned to Keystone Berkeley as a quartet. With Paul Pena unavailable, the door was open for another solo performer. In a unique occurrence, the opening act was "hip comedian" Bobby Kosser. Comedy was happening in Bay Area clubs, with the likes of Robin Williams around, and there had been attempts to book comedians on rock bills. Only Cheech & Chong had really succeeded with it. I can't imagine a comedian opening for Garcia--ok, I can imagine one, but he's not with us--and it was never tried again. The 70s were different--I poked around and I don't think Kosser's humor was going to fly at the Keystone, but then I'm sure he had different material for rock clubs. Still, Kosser went on to a fairly successful career as a comedian and character actor.

A Foot In The Door, by Roy Rogers and David Burgin (Warehouse Records, 1978). David Burgin (at right) played harmonica on the song "Palm Sunday" on the JGB Cats Under The Stars album.

November 18, 1975 Keystone, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia Band/Rogers & Burgin (Tuesday)
The Jerry Garcia Band played a Monday (Nov 17) and a Tuesday night at Keystone. This was significant, since normally the club would either have had a $1.00 admission charge, or none, or simply been dark. Instead, both nights would have been packed with beer drinkers as soon as the doors opened. Both nights were recorded, and all of this Tuesday night show was released.

We know that the opening act for Tuesday night (18th) was the blues duo of Rogers & Burgin. Harmonica player David Burgin had led the band Lucky Strike for a couple of years. Lucky Strike had played the Keystone regularly, and they had probably opened for Garcia/Saunders a few times. They  played a kind of swinging blues, Chicago-style but with some horns. As that sort of music became harder to book, Burgin narrowed his focus to a more country blues style with guitarist Roy Rogers. In 1978, Rogers & Burgin would release an album called A Foot In The Door.

Rogers & Burgin opened for the Jerry Garcia Band a number of times, including May 20 '76, July 20-21 '76, August 22 '76, September 11-12 '76 and April 10 '77. Of course there were probably other times that weren't listed, and I am not even listing known events at Keystone Palo Alto. So clearly the duo was a good fit as an opener for Garcia. It's important to note here that the opening act wasn't so much intended to sell tickets as to encourage people to come early and stick around. Keystone allowed in-and-outs, so the key was to keep fans in the house drinking beer, and Rogers & Burgin must have done it pretty well.

Interestingly, David Burgin played harmonica on a Garcia Band record. It's him on "Palm Sunday," at the end of Cats Under The Stars. For decades, Deadheads (like me) had assumed it was Matt Kelly, but in fact it was Burgin. So Burgin must have made enough of a mark on Garcia or Kahn to get the call when the time came.

The November 29, 1975 Keystone ad notes that the Jerry Garcia Band will be playing Saturday night, supported by Prelude. Prelude are noted as "English Rockers."

November 29, 1975 Keystone, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia Band/Prelude (Saturday)
The Sunday listing for upcoming Keystone shows showed the Jerry Garcia Band on Saturday night, supported by Prelude. The ad noted "English Rockers." This was only half-true. They were indeed an English band, and had recently released their third album, Owlcreek Incident on Dawn Records. In fact, however, Prelude was an acoustic trio. As far as I know, despite some drums on a few studio tracks, and a few other instruments, on stage Prelude played as an acoustic trio. Brian Hume and his wife Irene shared three-part harmonies with Ian Hardy, while Brian and Ian played acoustic guitars. This configuration would have fit right in with Garcia's preferences for an opener. No need to re-arrange the JGB rig for the opening act.

The distinctive fact of Prelude was that they were a touring English act, not local singers. Even more interesting, they actually had a somewhat substantial hit record, one that many radio listeners from the early 70s will recognize (myself included). Although Prelude mainly recorded their own original material, their second album included an a capella cover of Neil Young's "After The Goldrush." The group had initially sung it casually at a bus stop, for themselves, but it ended up on their second album. Unexpectedly, it became a hit single in the UK in January '74, reaching #21. The song hit the US charts later, in October '74, riding the Billboard charts for 13 weeks. "After The Gold Rush" would peak at #22 on Billboard. Island released a 1974 Prelude album called After The Gold Rush for the US market, with a mixture of songs from the band's first and second albums. 

Prelude continued to tour and record after this. In fact, Prelude continued to tour at least as late as 2012. Their website seems to have gone dormant now, but--never say never.

December 31, 1975 Keystone, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia Band/Grayson Street (Wednesday)
The Jerry Garcia Band played New Year's Eve 1975 at the Keystone. It was Nicky Hopkins' last show with Garcia. Bob Weir, Mickey Hart and Matt Kelly showed up to jam. The entire show was released as an archival cd. Freddie Herrera made an exception to his pattern with Garcia, however, and had Grayson Street open the show. Grayson Street was a bluesy R&B band with a horn section, kind of in the mode of the Elvin Bishop Group. They were regular performers at the Long Branch, a few miles away on San Pablo Avenue. The actual Grayson Street was a tiny Berkeley street that ended next to the Long Branch.

Grayson Street had played the Keystone many times, usually on weeknights for $1 or so admission, or as an opening act. I believe Herrera had Grayson Street opening on New Year's Eve for two reasons:

• New Year's Eve was going to be rowdy, and while there had to be music to keep everyone happy, it was just too much to ask some acoustic player to keep up with the party, and
• Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders had been booked for New Year's Eve 1974 and canceled. That was surely all cool with Garcia and Herrera, but Herrera had booked Lucky Strike as the opener and they ended up being the headliner. Every band works New Year's Eve, so if Herrera needed an emergency substitute opener, they had to already be on the bill.

The Rowans (Peter, Lorin and Chris) 1975 album on Asylum Records

February 13-14, 1976 Keystone, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia Band/Rowan Brothers (Friday-Saturday)
By early February, Nicky Hopkins had left the Jerry Garcia Band, superseded by Keith and Donna Godchaux. After rehearsing various musicians, Garcia and Kahn had decided on Keith and Donna, and the lineup had played three weeknights in January (26-28). Now they were returning for two weekend nights at Keystone, followed by a Sunday night at Sophie's in Palo Alto (on February 15). All three shows listed the Rowan Brothers as openers. This configuration of the Rowan Brothers featured all three of the brothers: Chris, Lorin and Peter. The group would record three albums for Asylum Records. Their current album would have been The Rowans (followed by Sibling Rivalry in '76, and Jubilation in '77).

It's important to recall that in 1976, while the Grateful Dead were legitimate legends, Jerry Garcia's drawing power in the Bay Area was muted. He had played so much that few fans saw any urgency in rushing to catch one of his shows. You could always catch one of his shows next month. Also, although I was too young to go to Keystone, I believe that in general fans already knew that Garcia wouldn't come until 11:00pm, and with no seats, why hurry over to the club? So having a recognized opening act in the Rowan Brothers was an inducement for local Garcia fans to come out before Garcia came on stage.

Ed Perlstein, who arrived in Berkeley in September 1972, wrote evocative liner notes for  GarciaLive Volume 21. The 2cd set was released in June 2024, and includes the complete set from the Keystone on February 13, 1976 (and a few tracks from Sophie's two days later).

Ed Perlstein's liner notes for Garcia Live Volume 21, from February 13, 1976 at the Keystone, has a good description of the Keystone from the early 70s. Perlstein had arrived in Berkeley in Fall '72, and saw many Garcia shows at the club over the next dozen years. He notes that at the beginning, there were still a few dozen tables near stage left. Those were gone by the time I got old enough for Keystone (1979), but I don't know exactly when they were removed (probably when the food was stopped, whenever that was). I would note that while Perlstein has excellent, fascinating liner notes about Garcia at the Keystone, well worth reading, he never mentions any opening acts.

Sophie's, later the Keystone in Palo Alto, was a little different. While there was a dance floor in front of the stage, there were tables on raised platforms. So coming early could stake you out a good vantage point. Sophie's also had a full bar and food, so an appealing opening act was meant to make it worth your while to get to the club early.

On July 8, 1976, Steve Seskin & Friends were booked to open for the Jerry Garcia Band at Keystone

July 8, 1976 Keystone, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia Band/Steve Seskin & Friends (Thursday)
At the time, opener Steve Seskin was a local singer and songwriter. He had moved to the Bay Area from Brooklyn in 1971. Sometimes he appeared solo around town, and sometimes he appeared with an acoustic trio. Seskin would release his first solo album in 1979. In the mid-80s, apparently at the invitation of Crystal Gayle, he moved to Nashville. He has since become a hugely successful songwriter, with big hits for many well-known country performers. Although Seskin was not a big name, including an opening act on the calendar was the notice that it might be worth it to come early. 

Steve Seskin & Friends was initially advertised for July 20-21, too, but seems to have been replaced by Rogers & Burgin. Seskin & Friends did open again for the Garcia Band on December 22 and 23, 1976. Larry Kelp of the Oakland Tribune reviewed the December 22 show and mentioned that Seskin had an acoustic trio along with singer Landy Pereira and bassist Steve Gurr. Reviews of Garcia at Keystone were rare enough, and mention of the opening act was all but unheard of.

Don Cooper and John Dodge, shown here when Cooper-Dodge was headlining a show at Wright State University in Fairborn, OH (from the Wright State Guardian, February 3, 1978)

August 16, 1976 Keystone, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia Band/Cooper Dodge (Monday)
Cooper Dodge appears to be the singer/songwriter duo of Don Cooper and John Dodge, originally out of the Midwest. They may have released an album, and then formed a five-piece band and released a single for ATCO in the early 1980s (for an interview with John Dodge, see here).

Laura Allan's name was printed as "Laura Allen" when she opened for the Jerry Garcia Band on August 21, 1976 (Cooper Dodge opened on August 16, and Rogers & Burgin on August 22).

August 21, 1976 Keystone, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia Band/Laura Allan (Saturday)
Laura Allan was a Bay Area singer/songwriter and vocalist with numerous connections to the Grateful Dead circle. Her name was printed as "Laura Allen" in the Keystone ad, just one of the many indignities facing opening acts. Allan's picture may be familiar since she played on David Crosby's 1971 If I Could Only Remember My Name album, and her photo was alongside Jerry Garcia's. Of course, Crosby spelled her name "Allen" as well.

Laura Allan's photo was right next to Jerry Garcia's on David Crosby's 1971 album

Allan had links to the band RJ Fox, too. RJ Fox, like Allan, had been recorded by American Beauty producer Stephen Barncard, and part of David Crosby's circle. From the RJ Fox page: 

For a while she played in a duo with Joel Bernstein (who is perhaps best known as an archivist, guitar tuner and photographer for the likes of Joni Mitchell, Graham Nash, Neil Young and others — he’s also a helluva guitarist himself). She worked for a time with the Fairfax Street Choir and in an acoustic duet with Sons of Champlin founder Bill Champlin, called Lay Around and Be Cool. She also sang on the Sons’ Circle Filled With Love album. Laura got her own record deal, with ABC Records, after her friends Crosby and Nash sent some of her demos down to the label and she auditioned personally for the company president. Stephen Barncard (who else?) produced the album in L.A. with some of the top session pros of the day, but some internal wrangling at ABC resulted in the album eventually being sold to Elektra/Asylum and then re-recorded by engineer Chuck Plotkin. Meanwhile, Laura recorded a beautiful album of voice, guitar, zither and dulcimer recordings (with guest flutist Paul Horn) for the new age label, Unity Records, called Reflections.

By the time Laura’s eponymous Elektra record came out, Plotkin and the label were on the outs, and when the album didn’t perform as hoped commercially, Laura was dropped from the label.

The back cover of Nick Gravenites' debut album for Columbia, My Labors, released in 1969. One side featured Mike Bloomfield, and the other featured Quicksilver Messenger Service.

September 10, 1976 Keystone, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia Band/Nick Gravenites (Friday)
Opening act Nick Gravenites had a particularly close connection to John Kahn. Of course, Gravenites went way back with Garcia as well. In the early '60s, Gravenites had been a blues singer and songwriter, and by his own accounting, a hard-drinking tough guy who carried a gun. He moved to San Francisco around 1965 to clean up his health. Gravenites played a few local folk gigs, too, often using the name "Nick The Greek."

The first Paul Butterfield Blues Band album took the rock and folk worlds by storm. The lead-off track was "Born In Chicago," written by Gravenites. By 1967, many of Gravenites' pals from Chicago had relocated to the Bay Area, including Mike Bloomfield and Mark Naftalin from the Butterfield band. Bloomfield started playing around the Bay Area, and his neighbor John Kahn ended up as his first-call bassist. Gravenites usually sang with the Bloomfield band, who never rehearsed, so he grew to appreciate Kahn's abilities.

Gravenites found success as a producer, initially of Quicksilver Messenger Service (managed by Nick's old Chicago pal Ron Polte). As the studio scene expanded in San Francisco, Gravenites produced albums by Bloomfield, Brewer & Shipley ("One Toke Over The Line") and many others. While producing the debut album of the band Southern Comfort, Gravenites found himself over-committed. Gravenites handed off the production duties to John Kahn, who was already working with the band as an arranger.

By 1976, Gravenites' peak as a producer was over, but he was a regular performer around the Bay Area. I assume that when opening for the Garcia Band, Gravenites played solo. He would also open for the Garcia Band on November 15 and November 22 1976.

November 7, 1976 Keystone, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia Band/Michael DeJong (Sunday)
Michael DeJong opened for the Garcia Band at Keystone, and later at Keystone Palo Alto (Jan 23 '77). I know that DeJong released an album in 1982, produced by Nick Gravenites and backed by regular members of Nick's band. I'm assuming that DeJong was a solo performer in 1976, but I haven't been able to confirm that.

December 21, 1976 Keystone, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia Band/Stacy Raven (Tuesday)
The monthly Keystone calendar lists Stacy Raven as the Tuesday night opener. I have unable to find out anything about her (assuming it's a her, of course). 

Keystone Palo Alto calendar for April 1977. Jerry Garcia Band was booked for April 8 and 9. Terry Horn was the opener for Apr 8, and Rogers & Burgin the next night

April 8, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Jerry Garcia Band/Terry Horn (Friday)
To simplify this post, I have only been focusing on Jerry Garcia Band openers for the Keystone in Berkeley. We have even less information about openers for the Keystone in Palo Alto (much less The Stone). Freddie Herrera took over Sophies, at 260 S. California Avenue, in January 1977, and the Garcia Band had played the first weekend. The setup seems to have been the same: no advance tickets, an acoustic opener to encourage early arrivals (there was food and a full bar) and a late start for the JGB. To my knowledge, the same openers played Palo Alto as Berkeley. The one exception I have found so far was April 8, when a Terry Horn opened. I have no idea who that was. If you have any ideas or cool speculation, put it in the Comments. 

The July 1977 Keystone Berkeley calendar has Steve Hayton and His One Man Band opening for the Jerry Garcia Band on both July 1 (Friday) and July 17 (Sunday)

July 1, 1977 Keystone, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia Band/Steve Hayton and His One Man Band (Friday)
Guitarist Steve Hayton first opened for the Garcia Band in 1977, and I saw him open for Garcia at least as late as 1982. He probably opened many more times than we even know, since we have so little information about '80s openers. Hayton played acoustic guitar, but he seemed to play what amounted to finger-style ragas, as if Doc Watson had gone to India. He didn't play blues, or recognizable songs, although there was a bit of an old-timey feel to his guitar playing, for all its complexity. His back-story turned out to be complicated and interesting. He had been from Burlington, VT and, had moved to San Francisco in 1967. Hayton had joined a transplanted Chicago  group  called Buffo, and ultimately ended up in an English group called Daddly Longlegs.

The front cover of Daddy Longlegs' 1970 debut album for Warner Brothers

A now inaccessible site had some more of the story:

A fledgling Chicago group named Boffo went to San Francisco in 1967, looking for members
When the company returned, they had in tow Steve Hayton, a hyper-talented finger-picking guitarist who was making his living playing ragas for tips outside Indian restaurants, and Clif Carrison, a drummer who also owned and could play a set of tablas. Hayton had already been a star in Burlington, Vermont, and had been living on his own houseboat in Vermont from the proceeds of appearances at the local folk venue, run by (Future Reverend) Jimmy T, before moving to San Francisco for the “Summer of Love.” There he met Moe Armstrong, who had a small part in Buffo but a defining one in Daddy Longlegs.

The back cover of Daddy Longlegs' 1970 debut album on Warner Brothers. I'm not sure which of these guys was Steve Hayton (maybe the guy in the middle?).

The rest of the saga was too lengthy to recount here--it was a good read--but suffice to say that Buffo reconvenes in Colorado in 1969 with Hayton and Ronnie Montrose, who were friends. Montrose ended up leaving the group to return to the Bay Area (where he would go on to fame and fortune). Hayton and the others end up in England, where they get signed and spend a year on the rock and roll treadmill. They open for everybody, put out a 1970 album on Warner Brothers and got written up in Melody Maker, but they didn't really get any traction. Hayton left the band, although Daddy Longlegs would put out three  more albums

Somehow, Hayton ended up back in the Bay Area. By 1976 he was opening for the Garcia Band. When I saw him open for Garcia in the 1980s, he was exclusively playing long raga-like pieces. It's possible that in the 70s, he was playing music in a different vein (Daddy Longlegs played in a sort of country-rock jam  style). I don't know what "and His One Man Band" meant.

Steve Hayton is listed as the Keystone opener for July 17 '77, Aug 6 '77 and Nov 2 '78. The Steve Hayton Trio was listed for Dec 19 '81 and Jun 11 '82. I caught the end of his opening sets once or twice at Keystone Berkeley in the early 80 (definitely on May 8 '82), but by that time JGB openers were not listed in either the calendar or even on the marquee. If you didn't hear the soundman say "Ladies and Gentlemen, a big hand please for Steve Hayton," at the end of his set, you didn't know who you had seen. This was one reason that there is so little documentation of Garcia Band Keystone openers.

August 7, 1977 Keystone, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia Band/Rick & Ruby Show (Sunday)
The Rick & Ruby Show was a comedy act, with the pretense of being a second-rate lounge act. "Rick" (Brian Seff) and "Ruby" (Monica Ganas) did smarmy pop hits and told self-important and self-deprecating jokes. Rick played guitar, and the duo was supported by "Righteous Raoul" (Josh Brody) on piano. They weren't necessarily a great fit for a Garcia opener, but they were musical rather than just telling "take my wife" jokes. More importantly, since they were used to playing comedy clubs, with just an electric piano  and a guitar, they didn't need much room on stage to set up.

The Rick & Ruby show was popular in the Bay Area. They toured in support of Robin Williams in the late 70s, who was also based in San Francisco. As a result, Rick & Ruby appeared on an episode of The Mork & Mindy Show (March 26 '81). "Ruby" retired from performing in 1985, but Brian Seff is still a comedian with a guitar, known professionally as Rick Right.

The December 1977 Keystone Berkeley calendar shows Robert Hunter & Comfort opening for the Jerry Garcia Band on December 19 and 20 (Monday and Tuesday). The JGB played Wednesday, December 21 as well, but I don't know who opened.

December 19-20, 1977 Keystone, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia Band/Robert Hunter & Comfort (Monday-Tuesday)
These two shows break the pattern of acoustic openers for the Garcia Band at the Keystone, but they prove my hypotheses in other ways. After the demise of the band Roadhog, Hunter had joined the band Comfort, which also included old pal Rodney Albin. Hunter financially supported Comfort out of his own royalties, and they performed regularly around the Bay Area (I have looked into Comfort's performing history at length). By the end of 1977, a substantial amount of new Hunter material was part of their set. Most prominent was an almost twenty-minute song cycle called "Alligator Moon." Just a few weeks earlier, Hunter & Comfort had played the Keystone in Palo Alto, broadcasting live on KFAT-fm (from Gilroy, CA), with no less than Bob Matthews and Betty Cantor-Jackson managing the sound (read about it here). So Hunter & Comfort were gearing up for bigger things.

A handbill for the Jerry Garcia Band and "Comfort/Hunter" at the Keystone in Palo Alto on December 22 and 23, 1977. I highly doubt that tickets were available at all BASS outlets, but I suppose anything's possible

Comfort, including Hunter, was an 8-piece band. At times they were even accompanied by three dancers (VHS video existed), although that wasn't until February '78. In December, they opened four times for the Garcia Band, twice at each Keystone. The substantial Comfort ensemble was in stark contrast to the typical acoustic solos or duos that typically opened for the Garcia Band. However, we now can see that Hunter & Comfort were gearing up for an Alligator Moon album release--which never happened--and were planning an East Coast tour in the Spring of 1978, which would begin in March. 

Notwithstanding Garcia and Hunter's friendship, the key point here is that the JGB and Comfort would share a crew and gear. There would be a single setup, even if that set-up involved a certain amount of moving drums, amps and a keyboard to move Comfort out for the JGB. There wouldn't be any tense negotiations between headliner and opening act about placing pre-amps, the kinds of things that happen in regular venues. Steve Parish, Harry Popick and anyone else on the Garcia crew would be in charge of the stage setup from the time they entered the venue until the load-out. In my estimation, that was the attraction of having acoustic openers, and Comfort fulfilled it, even if in a different way. Hunter said that including the band, Comfort had a 13-person ensemble (including three ballerinas).

Garcia and Hunter had planned an East Coast tour together beginning in March of 1978. The idea had been that Garcia's Cats Under The Stars and Hunter's Alligator Moon would both be released, but those didn't happen. Cats was delayed, and Hunter rejected the idea of releasing Alligator Moon, although honestly it wasn't clear what label it might have been on. The tour was good business, however, and did very well. After some warm up gigs for Garcia in Berkeley (Feb 14-15 & 17), the JGB/Comfort bill played Marin Vets (Feb 18) and Santa Cruz Civic (Feb 19). The East Coast tour commenced March 9, and Comfort joined the tour on March 12 in Long Island. For East Coast Deadheads, March 1978 was their first look at the hitherto mysterious Hunter.

June 10, 1978 Keystone, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia Band/Clarence Gatemouth Brown (Saturday)
June 10, 1978 was a Saturday, and there was a unique opening act. Clarence Gatemouth Brown was a Texas musical legend and a great electric guitarist. He had released his first record in 1949, and his guitar instrumental "Okie Dokie Stomp" had been released by Peacock in 1954. Frank Zappa and many other guitarists have always cited that song as a huge influence. So "Gate" was already an influential musician before Garcia had  even picked up a guitar. As if that weren't enough, Brown played fiddle, piano and drums, and ranged widely beyond R&B into country, jazz and cajun. In the 1960s, Brown had moved to Nashville. He was the musical director of the amazing The Beat show in 1966. He also became friends with Roy Clark, and appeared on the Hee Haw TV show several times. Europeans "rediscovered" Brown in the 70s, and there was renewed interest in him overseas.

In the 1970s, however, there just weren't very many good bookings for touring blues musicians in the United States. African-American fans weren't really interested, and while white rock fans nodded respectfully, they didn't really go see blues artists in concert. Freddie Herrera regularly booked blues artists at the Keystones, however, and provided much needed support. I believe what happened this weekend was that Herrera was committed to Brown for two nights at Berkeley (and the next Friday in Palo Alto) and had a chance to book Garcia as well. 

I think in the case of a legend like Clarence Gatemouth Brown, Herrera asked for some accommodation from Garcia. I'm sure Garcia was aware of "Okie Dokie Stomp," and John Kahn would have known all about Brown as well. So on a Saturday night in Berkeley, one guitar legend opened for another for about 500 people. What a night it must have been. Brown did not open Garcia's Sunday night show, so I think Garcia was shoehorned into a pre-existing Saturday booking.

Old pals Roy Clark and Clarence Gatemouth Brown burn up their fretboards on the 1979 MCA album Makin' Music. The rhythm section has Tony Garnier on bass, Jim Keltner on drums and Airto Moreira on percussion. An amazing album.

Clarence Gatemouth Brown (1925-2004) had an amazing career, all but impossible to briefly summarize. Check out "Okie Dokie Stomp," check out Brown leading the band on TV, check out the 1979 album he made with Roy Clark.

The Chronicle ad for the Jerry Garcia Band Keystone shows on October 10, 11 & 12, 1978 list Mike Henderson and Jonah as opening acts

October 10 & 11, 1978 Keystone, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia Band/Mike Henderson (Tuesday-Wednesday)
On October 10 and 11, 1978, Mike Henderson opened for the Jerry Garcia Band at Keystone. We have no accurate statistics, but I would feel comfortable asserting that Mike Henderson opened more for Jerry Garcia than anyone else not named Robert Hunter. Henderson was a blues singer and had a big sound on the acoustic guitar, kind of like a solo John Lee Hooker. With a big, energetic presence he was a good fit for a noisy beer-drinking crowd at the Keystone. Indeed, the roots of the blues come from entertaining noisy drinkers, so it's historically appropriate as well.

We know of various other times Mike Henderson opened at Keystone Berkeley, including April 15 '79 (for Reconstruction), August 20 '81 and January 13 '83. Henderson also opened the Jerry Garcia Band show at the Warfield on June 26 '81, apparently to fill in for a late arrival by some member of opening act High Noon. Henderson also opened for the Grateful Dead on New Year's Eve 1983 at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium. Thus Henderson has a presence in the Garciaverse far larger than some of the other names I have been mentioning here. 

Blues Club Row, by the Mike Henderson Blues Band (EJ Records 1983)

Googling "Mike Henderson" is more daunting than it may appear (there are 17 Mike Hendersons on Discogs, for example). Nonetheless, I am pretty sure that this Mike Henderson was born in Marshall, MO in 1943, and came to the San Francisco Art Institute in 1965, as a painter. Along the way he had picked up blues guitar. He lived in the Haight, at least initially, and was a member of the Johnny Mars Blues Band in the late 60s/early 70s. Along with his musical career, Johnson had successful careers as an artist and a filmmaker. He ultimately put out a few albums. I believe his first was Blues Club Row, by The Mike Henderson Blues Band, released in 1983 on EJ Records.

October 12, 1978 Keystone, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia Band/Jonah (Thursday)
Jonah opened on the third night of this run, but he (or they) is (or are) unknown to me.

Reconstruction
Reconstruction was organized by John Kahn as a contemporary jazz ensemble, with the idea that the band would continue to perform when Garcia was on the road with the Grateful Dead. Garcia played most of the shows, however, and while they did play a few shows without him near the end, Reconstruction never established an identity separate from Garcia. Reconstruction began and ended at the Keystone in Berkeley (from January 30 to September 22 '79). In general, Reconstruction followed the booking practices of the Garcia band. Keystone shows did not have advance tickets.

As near as I can tell, Reconstruction shows at Keystone only had acoustic acts as openers, but we know even less about Reconstruction than the Garcia Band of that era. Steve Seskin did open on April 14, and Mike Henderson opened the next night. 

Linda Waterfall's debut album was released on Windham Hill Records in 1977

July 6, 1979 Keystone, Berkeley, CA: Reconstruction with Jerry Garcia/Linda Waterfall (Friday)
Seattle singer-songwriter Linda Waterfall (1949-2015) had released the first of her many albums on Windham Hill Records in 1977. Windham Hill was a mostly acoustic, kind of New Age label based in Palo Alto. Windham Hill artists often played Keystone Palo Alto, so there was a connection to Herrera. 

A 2004 view of Cloyne Court from Ridge Road. I can see my old room from this angle. It wasn't nearly as nice back in 1979, but on the other hand, if there's still a beer machine in the basement (which I doubt), I'll bet the beer costs more than 25 cents a bottle.

Mary Fewell
The most peculiar detail I have for a Garcia Keystone opener is that sometime in April or May 1979, a solo performer named Mary Fewell opened for Reconstruction. At the time, I lived in Cloyne Court, a  Berkeley  student housing co-op (at Ridge & Leroy in Northside), as did Mary Fewell. I was only a nodding acquaintance with her, but I recall her playing guitar out in the back courtyard, albeit not near enough for me to hear. She may not have used the name Mary Fewell on stage. I knew nothing about her opening for Reconstruction at the time, and indeed I only found out around 2013. 

Someone I faintly knew in our co-op self-published a 2009 memoir of his three years in Cloyne Court. I was only there for the final year (the 1978-79 school year). I knew many of the people in the memoir, although neither I nor my roommate appear in the book. Near the end of the book, the author describes how a bunch of people from Cloyne went to Keystone to see Mary open for Garcia, so I have been able to approximate the date. I wasn't part of that crowd, and in any case I wasn't 21, so I wouldn't have considered going. The Keystone was an easy walk from Cloyne Court.

Besides thoroughness beyond reason, the prosopographical interest in Mary Fewell is the suggestion that many of the unknown openers for Garcia may not have been prominent at all. Many of the performers listed here recorded albums, had their songs covered by well-known singers and had local followings. That may explain why Keystone made an effort to list their names when they could. Other nights, Garcia's openers may have just been available local singers, who were not established. One thing I am hoping to get from posting this list is some memories, however distant, of different performers who opened for Garcia at Keystone or other clubs.

Jerry Garcia first played The Stone on February 1 & 2, 1980, shortly after Freddie Herrera and Bobby Corona took over the club.

Keystone Berkeley Garcia Band Openers 1980-84
The third leg of the Freddie Herrera Keystone empire, The Stone at 412 Broadway in San Francisco, opened in February 1980. By that time, the other two Keystones had officially conceded that they were named "Keystone Berkeley" and "Keystone Palo Alto," which everyone already called them anyway. The Keystone Berkeley only lasted until 1984. Garcia shows were getting bigger and bigger, and Freddie Herrera had a grand plan to open a larger Keystone Berkeley near the BART station (at Adeline), but the city did not permit it.

In the 1980s, there was no effort whatsoever by Keystone Berkeley to publicize any of the opening performers at Jerry Garcia Band shows. There wasn't room in the crowded newspaper ads and flyers, and it wasn't necessary in any case. Still, as near as I could tell, there was always an opening act. Even though there were no tables at Keystone Berkeley, and no advance tickets, and it never seemed to sell out, people would stand in line to get entry at 7pm or so. Garcia would not come on stage until 11pm, and sometimes well after that. A lot of beer got sold. For all I know, some openers may have done two sets, but no one has any accurate intel. 

Here and there we know of a few of the openers. Most of them were the ones I already mentioned above (Steve Hayton, Mike Henderson, Steve Seskin). Here and there were a few extra names, too, like Zukari on September 18 '81, or Mark Stanley on May 6 '83, but I don't know anything about either of them. 

Ramblin' Jack Elliott

January 24, 1983 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia Band/Ramblin' Jack Elliott (Monday)
I have a cautionary tale, and one that may make consideration of my post worthy of reflection. When I was in college and graduate school I didn't have much money, plus the usual other considerations (life, etc), so I didn't see the Jerry Garcia Band much at Keystone Berkeley (keep in mind I could have walked). I did decide to go on May 8, 1982, however. I was pretty restless, so even knowing that Garcia would not come on until 11:00pm or later, I arrived before 10:00. I'm pretty sure the opener was Steve Hayton. 

Solo acoustic guitar music, however well-played, just doesn't grab me when I'm standing in a noisy barroom where most people are talking. Cold beer is great, even when it's Miller Lite (Keystone Berkeley only served Miller Lite by this time), but it doesn't really help with guitar ragas. By the time Steve Hayton went offstage at around 10:45, I was already pretty tired. After a long wait for Garcia, I made a mental note to come much later the next time I saw the Garcia Band at Keystone.

So my next Garcia Band show at Keystone Berkeley was January 24, 1983, a Monday night. I made sure to get there a little before 11:00, just in time to see if any friends were in the crowd and get a beer, but not wasting my energy standing around not enjoying the music. I arrived just as the opener was finishing, which I thought was awesome timing, except for the discovery that I had just missed a set by Ramblin' Jack Elliott. Now, Ramblin' Jack, that's a whole different thing, and he was perfect for a bunch of rowdy beer drinkers on University and Shattuck. Granted, I did eventually get to see Jack a few other times, and he was great, but that only made me more sad that I had missed him opening for Jerry. 

So who else did I miss, or did everyone else miss, when they played Keystone Berkeley long before the Jerry Garcia Band came on stage? If you have any fragmentary memories, or second-hand tales, put them in the Comments for posterity. At this juncture, we can only wonder what they might have sounded like, but its better than not knowing at all.

Aftermath
The Jerry Garcia Band's final show at Keystone Berkeley was March 22, 1984. Garcia's final show at Keystone Palo Alto was May 19, 1986. The final JGB show at The Stone was May 28, 1987. The Jerry Garcia Band was too large to be contained by neighborhood clubs, and Bill Graham Presents took over the gigs. The Warfield Theater became the Jerry Garcia Band's home court for the balance of his career.

On the whole, outside of the Keystones, the Jerry Garcia Band had very few opening acts. Once Robert Hunter and other Dead-related acts are subtracted from the total, opening acts were rare indeed. Nationally, the Jerry Garcia Band could have done lucrative business sharing the bill in larger places with like-minded performers like Willie Nelson or Bob Dylan, but it is plain that Garcia chose not to follow that path. 

Full rock bands who opened for the Jerry Garcia Band were very rare. There were some openers in the early days, but there were acoustic performers as well. The Garcia Band played a few shows in 1975 and '76 at the Del Mar Theater in Santa Cruz, and Doug Haywood (from Jackson Browne's band) and Larry Hosford (he's from Salinas) opened the shows. I know there were a few East Coast shows with either Peter Rowan or Rick Danko opening, but I haven't looked into the whole history of that

Rachel Sweet opened two shows for the Jerry Garcia Band at Boston's Orpheum on February 15, 1980.

February 15, 1980 Orpheum Theater, Boston, MA: Jerry Garcia Band/Rachel Sweet (Friday) 7:00 and 10:30 pm
On the 1980 East Coast tour, Stiff Records recording act Rachel Sweet was booked to open a number of the shows at small theaters. Sweet may have played solo, but more likely she had a small combo. Sweet was a singer/songwriter type, an American who recorded in London in a "New Wave" style and had thus gotten signed to Nick Lowe's label. Stiff had just released Sweet's second album, Protect The Innocent.

While the Garcia Band did not need "help" to sell tickets, opening acts are good for crowd management and help sell popcorn and soda, even for shows that will do well on their own. Apparently, however, the Boston crowd did not take well to Sweet, and her appearance was a disaster--supposedly she was "booed off the stage."  She canceled her other Garcia dates. I believe Robert Hunter was brought in to take her place (he may have already been booked for other dates in the tour), and certainly no Garcia crowd was going to boo him. Save for members of the Grateful Dead, or well-established fellow travelers like Peter Rowan, openers for the Garcia Band were rarely seen after the Keystone family shut down.