Talk:Keystone (Berkeley, California)

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Keystone[edit]

I tended bar at the Keystone Berkeley for several years, 1973-76. I would like to add some of the names of musicians who I saw perform there during that time. Tower of Power got its start there. Jerry Garcia played there regularly with friends outside of the Grateful Dead, most notably Merl Saunders (keyboards), and others, including John Kahn (bass), Bill Vitt (drums), Nicky Hopkins (piano), and Martin Fierro (saxophone). Elvin Bishop, Van Morrison, and Lydia Pense with Cold Blood performed regularly.

Many of the older Chicago Blues artists also performed at Keystone: Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Lightnin' Hopkins, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee. The Bay Area's John Lee Hooker was also a regular. Bo Diddly, Freddie King, Bobby "Blue" Bland all played there.

 The man who checked ID's at the door was an older Black guy called Smitty, who worked the door at Bill Graham's Fillmore West, as he put it, "from the night it opened till the night it closed."  The club was frequented by everyone from Cal Berkeley students to Hell's Angels, and everyone in between.  We very rarely had any problems. Stockdog1 (talk) 18:12, 19 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]