8/14/71: berkeley community theatre, berkeley, CA. this pristine soundboard recording is loaded to the gills with great music. the performance, missing from the dead’s vaults, made it’s way onto the archive in april of 1997 when the brother of former GD staffer, bonnie parker, discovered a few rich sounding cassette tapes in a box of miscellaneous belongings he inherited from his sister after her untimely passing. the word is that the tapes were a gift to bonnie from jerry garcia. a damn nice office perk, to say the least.

much has been written about how the band loved playing in berkeley, and this night proves this in spades. everything the lads touch sparkles with energy from the opening bertha, to the johnny b. goode > uncle john’s double encore. stage banter abounds and phil’s bass is prominent in the mix—two aspects of 1971 grateful dead i’ve always adored. the first set is typical for the period; the tunes are presented with authority, including compact early versions of sugaree and playing in the band. other highlights include a lilting brokedown palace that is close to perfect. the three pig pen numbers are delivered with confidence and power, including a full-speed-ahead hard to handle that sizzles with mckernan verve.

what makes this night even more special is the set 2 appearance of MIT-trained biologist and electric keyboard specialist, ned lagin. lagin is most well known in grateful dead circles for his seastones work with phil lesh, not to mention a handful of way out bio-music intermission performances during the wall of sound era. lagin also sat in on a few other documented 1970-71 shows on both coasts, most notably the 2/18/71 gig at the capitol theatre when he accompanied the band for dark star, wharf rat, and candyman on the clavichord.

in a 2001 interview with david gans, lagin was chatting about his time with the dead and shared a tidbit about the august 14th berkeley gig: “when the band got into the truckin’ into the other one jam, pigpen waved me over to the organ and got up so i could sit in.” the outcome, as rapturous as the great bodhisattva departure, is one that would surely satisfy a good number of the ancient sages. the enlightened quintet throws down the lotus sutra of other one suites, beginning with one of the most engaging and powerful introductions, followed by a deep, polyrhythmic bridge jam, and an extremely tight climax. listening to the interplay amongst the musicians, it’s clear that the band was inspired by lagin’s presence, his inventive contributions and, most likely, some other radiant, guiding narrative.

recorded by betty cantor-jackson, with a digital transfer from the esteemed mr bill guarneri, this is a show that’ll set you straight. https://archive.org/details/gd1971-08-14.sbd.130871.MrBill.flac16

the following night's performance ain't half bad either: https://archive.org/details/gd1971-08-15.sbd.130890.MrBill.flac16