Dead of the Day: 03-09-1985

Berkeley Community Theater

Berkeley, California

Our Dead of the Day comes from the Berkeley Community Theater on March 9, 1985. The show is solid, and there are a few really outstanding songs. In the first set, the Sugaree proves to be really nice with some sparkly jams and nice vocals from Jerry. The Let It Grow set-closer, though, is possibly even better as Bobby nails each verse and Jerry provides some sprightly and scintillating licks. The second set starts off with a rare China Cat> Cumberland. And, a bit later, the Eyes, though not truly otherworldly, delivers. However, the highlight of the night is easily the Other One> Wheel > Sugar Mags, with Merle Saunders helping out of Space. The entire show is fast and upbeat, providing a different pace than most. For instance, just listen to the One More Saturday Night where Bobby is more or less racing through the lyrics and the band sounds a bit like Cassady on Benzedrine.

Recording info
Use alternative player
Identifier:
gd1985-03-09.senn421.mccue.84027.sbeok.flac16
Source:
MAC; Sennheiser 421s > Sony D5 > TDK MA90s
Notes:
Source: MAC; Sennheiser 421s > Sony D5 > TDK MA90s Location: behind SBD Taper: Mark McCue Transfer: Master Audience Cassettes > Nakamichi Dragon > Kind Kables RCA/XLR > Lunatec V3(@2496) > coax > Audiophile 2496 > WaveLab 5.0 > Waves L2 Ultramaximizer (dither) > WAV @ 16/44.1 > TLH > FLAC16.
Description:
Set I: d1t01 crowd/tuning d1t02 Bertha d1t03 One More Saturday Night d1t04 Sugaree d1t05 It’s All Over Now d1t06 Row Jimmy d1t07 Let It Grow Set II: d1t08 crowd/tuning d1t09 China Cat Sunflower > d1t10 Cumberland Blues d2t01 I Need A Miracle > d2t02 Eyes Of The World > d2t03 Drums* > d2t04 Space* > d2t05 The Other One* > d2t06 The Wheel > d2t07 Sugar Magnolia Encore: d2t08 It’s All Over Now Baby Blue
Lineage:
Master Audience Cassettes > Nakamichi Dragon > Kind Kables RCA/XLR > Lunatec V3(@2496) > coax > Audiophile 2496 > WaveLab 5.0 > Waves L2 Ultramaximizer (dither) > WAV @ 16/44.1 > TLH > FLAC16.
Transferrer:
Alex Ford
Play
Pause
Back
Forw.
Volume
00:00
1
crowd/tuning
00:23
2
Bertha
06:22
3
One More Saturday Night
04:17
4
Sugaree
10:32
5
It’s All Over Now
10:58
6
Row Jimmy
11:21
7
Let It Grow
12:35
8
crowd/tuning
04:17
9
China Cat Sunflower >
04:55
10
Cumberland Blues
07:02
11
I Need A Miracle >
05:03
12
Eyes of the World >
11:29
13
Drums >
05:44
14
Space >
09:57
15
The Other One >
04:36
16
The Wheel >
04:25
17
Sugar Magnolia
11:25
18
It’s All Over Now Baby Blue
07:15
Choose recording

Speaking of drugs, this was the first Bertha – and fourth show – since Jerry’s January 18, 1985 bust. And, unsurprisingly, the knowledgeable hometown crowd goes absolutely nuts when Garcia gets to the “test me test me, why don’t you arrest me” verse of Bertha. The actual circumstances of the arrest were far sadder than the crowd’s response would have you believe. With Jerry’s rampant drug use spiraling out of control, a large number of his close friends staged an intervention, and we can only begin to imagine the shear volume of substances Jerry was using when the Dead’s inner circle decided it was time to do something. Jerry apparently acquiesced to entering rehab, but somehow everyone let him drive himself there. So, on his way, he stopped off at Golden Gate Park to finish off his supply of heroin, coke, and god knows what else while, perhaps, taking stock of his life. As he was making his way through at least twenty-five different packages of various drugs – per the police report – a cop approached the car and, inevitably, made the arrest (for more information see this blog post). Incredibly, Jerry ended up getting off without jail time, allowing him to play this March 9th date. Incidentally, the Frets Magazine cover photo above was shot on January 12th, just six days before Jerry’s arrest. The white powder on his chest was probably coke, considering Jas Obrecht, the interviewer, later noted that Jerry did about twenty lines over the course of an hour while they talked (you can read Obrecht’s comments and the interview here). And, for those who are counting, there are only nine anymores at the end of the Bertha.

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Comments

2 responses to “03-09-1985”

  1. P_P_K Avatar
    P_P_K

    In a world of almost 8 billion people, there are relatively few of us who appreciate a statement like this: “…there are only nine anymores at the end of the Bertha.”

  2. Jim Hauer Avatar
    Jim Hauer

    The week including this show DotD posted 3 shows I attended. This one in particular took this old guy back to a time and a place that will never be recreated, but always just as breathtaking when I listen. That Sugar Mag at the end just tore me up this morning (today is March 18, 9 am, in Hualien Taiwan) as if I was there again. Except for the fear of scaring my new neighbors, I would have been howling. Good share, folks. Thank you!

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