If any room could lay claim to being Jerry's home base, the venue he played most often, it would be the Keystone Berkeley. The Jerry Site documents 191 shows at the small East Bay nightclub between 1972 and 1984. Anyone who was there will tell you the relaxed, informal vibe was like none other. The Jerry Garcia & Merl Saunders releases recorded in 1973 are classics.

By September 1974, when our new release "Keystone Berkeley" was recorded, it was a whole other band: the core of Garcia, Saunders and John Kahn had been augmented by Martin Fierro on sax and flute and Paul Humphrey on drums. It was the lab that exploded very soon after into the legendary Legion of Mary (with drummer Bill Vitt replacing Humphrey.)

"Keystone Berkeley" is the sound of a band playing for the pure love of music to a small, very lucky audience. A three-CD set, "Keystone Berkeley" features red-hot and deeply soulful performances, including a first-ever release of Bob Dylan's "Going, Going, Gone," brand-new to the Garcia & Saunders repertoire.

About the Recording:
KEYSTONE BERKELEY presents remastered versions of certain Garcia Saunders Band two-track work tapes from the late summer of 1974. Not to be confused or compared with studio recordings, these CD compilations may present sonic characteristics as unique as the performances from which they were taken and are therefore perhaps best enjoyed with that in mind. Fear not--while the audio standards associated with this music may occasionally wander, our commitment to its production does not, and almost always rewards even the most finicky with a truly transcendent listening experience.