Here are two promo ads for the Grateful Dead's May 10, 1970 concert at Atlanta's Sports Arena. The Hampton Grease Band opened. As mentioned previously, the Allman Brothers were not on the bill, but lent their equipment to The Dead and joined in for an epic jam that still echoes.
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| The Great Speckled Bird Volume 3, Number 18 May 4, 1970 |
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| The Great Speckled Bird Volume 3, Number 19 May 11, 1970 |
Why no mention of Chuck Berry? He did the set after the Grease Band. The Dead were more lively than their normal languid selves. I have never heard them play better than they did that night. After the Dead finished the Allman Brothers came in and played and then they and the Dead, Chuck Berry, and the Hampton Grease band all jammed together for hours. And it wasn't horrible like a jam usually is but incredible, as if they were all pieces composed over many months of work. It was the most wonderful concert in the history of humanity and there are no recordings of it.
ReplyDeleteThe May 10, 1970 Mother's Day concert has been much discussed online as to what went down with the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers that afternoon/evening. In those threads, promoter Murray Silver clarified things, backed up by the ads and concert review in The Great Speckled Bird available in the GSU archives online:
ReplyDeletehttp://digitalcollections.library.gsu.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/GSB
Your mention of Chuck Berry during that event is indeed a surprise! It is most definitely on record that he headlined the Sports Arena October 17, 1971. Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes opened for him then. Must have been crazy.
I have an recording of tge Chuck Berry set, which I lent the reel of to someone to see if it’s still playable so we can transfer it.
ReplyDeleteI have an recording of tge Chuck Berry set, which I lent the reel of to someone to see if it’s still playable so we can transfer it.
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