2119 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA November 24, 1974 Earthquake/Patti Smith (Things To Come)

Sometimes past, present and future come together in a single snapshot. The weekly listing in the San Francisco Chronicle for the Keystone Berkeley from Sunday, November 24, provides a view of rock history at the time, what was and what will be. The Chronicle's Sunday Datebook section, published on pink paper, and known around the Bay Area as "the Pink Section" published weekly listings for many of the venues in the Bay Area, not just music, but theater, movies, dance, museum, sports and many others. Mostly, they are just lists. Once in a while, however, a list can be a window.

Thanksgiving week, 1974: the big albums are The Rolling Stones' It's Only Rock and Roll and Elton John's Greatest Hits. Other big hits of the year include Stevie Wonder's Fullfillingness First Finale and Eric Clapton's 461 Ocean Boulevard. Rock giants still reign on Mount Olympus. At the Keystone Berkeley, a hippie beer joint near campus, where bluesy guitar solos are the order of the day, the upcoming week brings:

Sunday, November 24: Eli/Earthquake/Patti Smith
Monday, November 25: Eddie Money
Wednesday, November 27: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders/Paul Pena
Friday/Saturday, November 29-30: Earthquake/Eddie Money

At this time, Patti Smith had just released one single on an independent label. 

The Keystone Berkeley, at 2119 University Avenue (at Shattuck), ca. early 80s

Keystone Berkeley-Fall 1974
The Keystone Berkeley was a rockin' beer joint, and it was the second best-paying gig in the Bay Area. The best gig, of course, was playing a big concert for Bill Graham Presents. Most of those bookings went to out of town acts, however. Sure, some local bands got the call on occasion, and playing for Graham was both prestigious and financially rewarding. But a band wasn't going to make their rent every month if they only played for Graham, because they would only open a few shows a year.

Headlining a weekend at Keystone Berkeley was at least a 4-figure payday, however, and bands could come back every month or two. While some Keystone headliners had some albums and got some radio airplay, other bands had slugged it out playing weeknights, until they had a big enough following to get the call on the weekend. Blues were big at Keystone, and so were long guitar solos. Sure, there were a few tables and some seats along the edge, but mostly the crowd stood up and danced on the sawdust floor. Lots of beer was sold, lots and lots.

What was Patti Smith doing there?

In November 1974, Patti Smith released her debut single on MER records, "Hey Joe" b/w "Piss Factory"

Patti Smith and "Piss Factory"
Patti Smith had been part of the New York Artist underground since the late 1960s. She wrote poetry, appeared in a play and wrote some articles for rock magazines. Smith had even contributed lyrics to some Blue Oyster Cult albums, although BOC themselves were not well-known at this time. By 1974 she had evolved from reading poetry into performing original songs with guitarist Lenny Kaye. In July, Smith had recorded two songs for a single. The single was released by an independent label in November, 1974. Back in '74, DIY indie labels were unknown, and singles were pushed by record companies for AM radio airplay. Of course, Patti Smith anticipated the punk and indie movements by years, but no one could have known that at the time.

As for the record, Smith's take on the old chestnut "Hey Joe" was intentionally provocative. At this time, Patty Hearst was still a fugitive, and people were unaware that she had been coerced into cooperation. Although Smith's take on "Hey Joe" has not aged well, it was unlike anything that had come before it. The B-side, "Piss Factory" was mostly Patti reciting a grim poem about working in a factory. This too, was remarkable, and it, too, was not going to get played on any radio station. Remarkably, Smith played three dates at Bay Area rock clubs on the weekend of November 22-24, 1974, opening for some very unlikely bands at very unlikely--for Patti Smith--venues.

From the Friday SF Examiner: "Rock Show--Stoneground, and street poet Patti Smith, at Bimbo's, 1025 Columbus Ave, 9 p.m."

Bimbo's was a strange venue in North Beach, an old sort of cabaret nightclub. It was not a club, just a room available for rent. Stoneground had been a real hippie band, formed by KSAN-impresario Tom Donahue with much fanfare in 1971. They had folded in early 1973, but they had reformed for the first of many reunions. Stoneground played a kind of boogeying soul-rock. The original incarnation had been a 10-piece band with 5 lead singers, and but now they were just a four-piece. I'm assuming that Patti Smith was just backed by Lenny Kaye, although perhaps pianist Richard Sohl was along, too. I'm confident that a full band wouldn't have come West with her for such small gigs. Bimbo's was an odd place, and Patti Smith's general uniqueness might have actually worked better than you might think.

From the Saturday SF Examiner: "Rock Dance--Eddie Money and street poet Patti Smith, at Long Branch Saloon, 2504 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley, 9 p.m."

The Long Branch show has to be the most surreal Patti Smith event ever. The Long Branch was another Berkeley beer joint, about a mile further from campus than Keystone Berkeley. The Keystone liked to rock out, but there was some serious music there as well. Long Branch just liked to rock. The crowd at the Long Branch was younger, a lot nearer to 21, and the place was smaller than Keystone (300+ vs 500 at Keystone). Successful weekend bands at the Long Branch aspired to move up to the weeknight slot at Keystone Berkeley.

Keystone Berkeley, for all the loud guitars, got some University people. Long Branch--not so much. Patti Smith, being Patti Smith, may have thrived on a rowdy crowd hoping for some loud blues, probably mystified at way too many words and no drummer. But it would have been strange.

Eddie Money had been playing the Long Branch since about 1972, when he was still called Eddie Mahoney and his band was called The Rockets. By '75, he could headline Saturday night at the Long Branch. Two years later, he would release his debut album, which featured "Two Tickets To Paradise" and "Baby Hold On To Me." Money was dynamic, and all, but a completely derivative performer, just recompiling the music that had come before him.

Who Booked Patti Smith?
Who in Berkeley knew to book Patti Smith? I don't know--but I'll bet I can guess. The hippest, most ultra-cool record store in Berkeley was Rather Ripped Records, on Hearst and Euclid. It was Northside, relatively far from the turmoil of Southside and Telegraph Avenue. Do you recall the kind of record store where everyone was too cool for words, they knew all the Kinks b-sides by heart, and could tell you the difference between the first and second pressing of Pink Floyd albums by reading the scratchings in the vinyl? Rather Ripped was the model for all of those stores.

Part of the Rather Ripped thing was that all the other Berkeley stores--over on Telegraph and Southside--were into hippie stuff, and Rather Ripped was into the British invasion and weird progressive rock. It was a great store, and they would open any record and play it for you if you asked, but their whole thing was that they were wired into the underground mojo.

A number of Berkeley musicians regularly worked at Rather Ripped, including some of the Beserkely Records crowd. Within a few years, Beserkely, a local independent label, would release albums by Earthquake, Greg Kihn, Johnathan Richman and others. So seeing that Patti Smith was opening for Earthquake at the Keystone is a hint of the Beserkeley/Rather Ripped connection. Rather Ripped had at least enough favors to call in that they could get someone to open on a weeknight at the Keystone.

Thanksgiving Week at Keystone Berkeley, 1974
So let's review the week at Keystone Berkeley:

In 1975, Earthquake would release the album Rocking The World on the independent label Beserkeley. The record featured covers of cool, obscure 60s records.

Sunday, November 24: Eli/Earthquake/Patti Smith
Eli was a band from Tallahassee, I think. OK--I saw them once. Earthquake had formed in 1967 in Berkeley High School as The Purple Earthquake, and were still slugging it out. They had released two albums on A&M in the early 70s, but had been dropped by the label. They had kept plugging, and would soon release their own albums on Beserkely. Earthquake played like a British Invasion band, and specialized in obscure covers from the 60s (like the Easybeats "Friday On My Mind"). Patti Smith, then obscure, would go on to the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.

In 1977, Eddie Money would release his debut album on Capitol. It had two giant hits, "Two Tickets To Paradise" and "Baby, Hold On To Me."

Monday, November 25: Eddie Money
Eddie Money, as discussed, probably sold more records than anyone on this list, at least while alive. He's a footnote now. Sometimes you hear his music on late-night commercials for baby boomer products. Money is a symbol of 70s/80s "Arena Rock," and all that it implies.

Paul Pena's 1971 debut album for Capitol

Wednesday, November 27: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders/Paul Pena
Jerry Garcia used the Keystone Berkeley as his personal clubhouse. He played there over 200 times, more than any other building (including the Fillmores, the Warfield, etc). On this Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Garcia and Merl Saunders would have been jamming on Bob Dylan and Smokey Robinson songs, with Jerry soloing away to his heart's content. Whether you think Garcia's penchant for jamming was a sign of artistic depth or profound self-indulgence doesn't matter here. Jamming out in public in some club on a Wednesday is what you would expect a 60s hippie guitarist to do, and Jerry did it at the Keystone.

Opening act Paul Pena is an interesting case, with a surprising resonance. Pena, who was mostly blind due to a childhood condition, had a blues band in Philadelphia that had opened for the Grateful Dead at the Electric Factory in February 1969. Pena became friendly with Garcia. Pena moved to the Bay Area in 1971. Almost entirely blind by this time, he called the Dead office, who helped him get work. Pena ended up living near Keystone Berkeley, so he played the club regularly.

Pena recorded two albums, for different labels. His self-titled debut album came out on Capitol in 1971. The followup, New Train, was recorded for Bearsville in 1973, but (like many Bearsville albums) was tied up in litigation for decades and not released until 2000. However, Steve Miller had heard a copy of New Train, and made a big hit of Pena's song "Jet Airliner," providing Pena with a solid income.

Friday/Saturday, November 29-30: Earthquake/Eddie Money
Come the weekend after Thanksgiving, just another weekend in Berkeley. Two bands who ruled the Longbranch, moving a dozen blocks nearer to campus. Sawdust, beer and loud guitars. No street poets on the bill tonight. Still, in a week: two future members of the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, some songwriters who would write massive 70s hits, and some local bands just trying to make it pay.