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From: gratefulvideo
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  • Jerry looks really high on this one. I might get some bad reps on that but it's obvious. Any real fans will notice. Performance was awesome though!

  • @icecoldhubbas jerry always looks really high ;)

  • Such an amazing song once I got this hooked up through some speakers with bass. Phil deserves better than computer speakers!

  • @jbraunger Agreed! Video kinda poor, audio is outstanding! I just bought a pair of Altec-Lansing Muzx 'Noise-Isolating Earphones' for my laptop (list: ~ $ 35).

    The first time I plugged this baby in and listened, I almost hit the floor. Picks up every note of the bass track beautifully.

  • How lucky am I to have my favorite version of Bertha be caught on video? been searching for awhile now and can't come up with a better one than this. Let me know if you know of one.

  • thumbs up if you knew this song was about an electric fan

  • @TheOtherrOne I always thought it was about alcoholism. "test me test me, why don't you arrest me"

  • @gratefulvideo Nope. "Bertha is a big electric fan that we used to have in the office upstairs. Colossal electric fan, and you'd plug it into the wall, and it would hop along on the ground. It was this huge motor and way overpowered and the fan was a little off kilter and it would bounce around and bang up and down, and it would blow this tremendous gale wind. It was the only air conditioning that we had at the time, and if you left it for a minute, it would crash into the wall..." Jerry G.

  • @gratefulvideo yeah i'm pretty sure it is

  • this is sweet plus one of jerrys waves

  • Anyone know if this version can be found on Dick's Picks?

  • Don't you love it when they open a set with one of your favorite tunes.

  • yes

  • Cocaine and Heroin caused Jerry's death, along with cigarettes, overweight and Diabetes...

  • Nice cut. Probably my favorite Dead song. Been collecting Berthas since 1990. Winterland, 10-28-73 (may have the date wrong, I'm trying to go by memory here, don't have my catalog handy) is still probably my favorite. This one's still pretty good though. Don't think I have this one. Sound's fantastic on this one. Nice and sharp. Good pick.

  • Like,Like, Like, Like Like Like

  • these were the golden years. mmmm this is a good version!

  • ISITADREAM

  • WHO DAT WITH THE LONGEST HAIR?

  • @FRANCECHILD That's Donna Jean Godcheaux, Keith Godcheaux's wife

  • april 78 was such a great month in dead land

  • if u have tyme..listen to the buddy holly version..twas great as well

  • 2 sweet

  • I love this damn show. and I love whoever filmed it.

  • one line is too many and a thousands not enough

  • three humans didn't like this vid? i am injured. jerry's smile lights up the universe.

  • How is it that my very favorite version of Bertha ends up being the one shown on Youtube??? So grateful for this video. Cheers Deadheads!

  • GOTTA LOVE IT !! I listen to a whole lot of scandanavian black metal,west coast 80's hardcore,Blues,Blues,Blues,zyd­eco.Living in Tx,still loving Jerry.i went to at least 500,got inside for 98.

  • Donna ruined the 70s

  • Effortless magic!!!

  • Love you jerry :)

  • I grew up on the grateful dead! My dad showed me their music when I was little, we used to go to tons of concerts! I used to have a Jerry doll :P

  • @soxs36 You have an awesome Dad

  • I could watch donna dance forever

  • Absolutely the best I've heard of this song from the GD. Garcia was high as a kite.

    Puts a smile on my face.

    Nobody makes music like this anymore. All I hear nowadays is "music" about violence and greed.

  • really had to moooovvve...

  • running from your window...

  • Yeah, Jerry was happy. Back then we were all happy - the fucking war was over, and it seemed like all we needed to do was a little clean-up and pruning, and things would soon be pretty damn cool. Now? Oh fucking hell!!! Now, we got people dancing in the street, but instead of to stop killing, it's to fucking celebrate it. *sigh*

  • I love that "tinny" guitar sound you only hear on the grateful dead tunes. I find it really tough to duplicate

  • @chillichomper mu-tron III envelope filter

  • Hey was Jerry born old? Ha ha. Even going back to the 70's he's still a colourful but grey haired hippy!! I say that not being fnot too far off his age group myself!. But the man is sadly missed.

    @gratefulvideo The Vid may be B&W though not being deaf just yet, notice sound Q is pretty damned good here for a live act- better than most all the others! A v worthwhile upload+!

  • Coked to the max! Check out the windmilling on Truckin from this show.

  • Mr. Lesh dancing and shaking it on the back....from beginning to end...grandioso...

  • I had to move really had mo,ooooove, fuckn heat!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

  • feel the power

  • Jerry !!! :)

  • What's unfortunate is using the phrase " unfortunate Mexican ancestry". Was it unfortunate that Hendrix was black, that Santana was Hispanic or that Dylan is a Jew, or started out that way anyways. Jerry was a virtuoso on his instrument, and sang like he lived every note of every song. Rest In Peace you lucky old sun. God Bless!

  • one of muh favorites to jam with to jam with!

  • Dude... that Bertha is SICK! Holy SHIRT!!!! Help me Jeebus!

  • Dude... that Bertha is SICK! Holy SHIRT!!!!

  • The best concerts I have been at were with The Dead . The first concerts Englishtown at Raceway park . I was 16 ok maybe 15 Im 52 now . With many Dead concerts under my belt . The dead were a great band . Thier shows were one big party . The Grateful Dead were one of the best bands to come out of the USA .

  • there is alot of fucken smoke in this video

  • sweeeeeet.....!

  • Very nice share. Very grateful! TY

  • If only the people knew Jerry like they think they know Jesus, or Mohmmead. If only I could build a time machine and visit these amazing shows.

  • If only the people knew Jerry like they think they know Jesus, or Mohmmead.

  • second best gd song

  • 2:20 yeah Jerry's a little happy

  • Seeing this brings to mind the difficulty associated with nailing down when exactly the boys peaked. 78 is a relatively boring year save for the Dark Star, most of their best songs were shelved that year in an attempt to shake a few loose who wanted to quiet things down even more than before.(opinion) yet this is one of the best if not THE best Bertha's. Jerry is lit up and having a blast, Bobby conducting galiently, Phil bombing the place, and all just rhythmnically synched in time AWESOME

  • @passengerbob 78 was anything but a boring year. What are you talking about?

  • @gratefulvideo Isn't cocaine a wonderful drug?

  • @tabber87 I wouldn't know. I hear it's helluva drug.

  • @tabber87 thats tabs brother

  • @tabber87 cocaine's a hell of a drug...

  • @tabber87 Cocaine is far from a wonderful drug if you have any experience with it. It's a horrible drug. weed is a wonderful drug...

  • @fatstrat6969 werd!!!

  • @fatstrat6969 agree with u bro..smoke weed...and R.I.P Jerry

  • @fatstrat6969 K is one hell of a drug...

  • @fatstrat6969 "Cocaine is a hell of a drug"- Rick James

  • @tabber87 Cocaine is for horses- not for men- they say it will kill you, but they dont say when

  • @gratefulvideo *NO*- I have too many dead friends to back me up- you fool.

  • They've got it. 

  • My 1st year., Uptown chicago. Been hooked for life. :-)

  • The connections he made in those days were quite unique. This was a college tour...all sorts of people following them... Youth.. Check out 3:45 and onward. he liked to connect.

    Jesus Christ bless the Grateful Dead and all the souls in purgatory

  • No this is not the Travis.. It is the one after Tiger Rose or something like that. I think this was his most beautiful sounding and looking guitar

  • Playin the Travis Bean?

  • @CyTaggart No not the Travis This is the one after I thinnk his most attractive and best sounding guitar

  • These were the days barr none

  • zzzzzzzzzzzzz

  • When is Bertha going to learn that she shouldn't come around there anymore?

  •  There's somethin' kinda sexy about Mrs. Godcheaux

  • @woodyt56 - God, like, hell YES! Totally agree with you! Donna was such a pleasant, classy, hot hippie chick! These years are when I saw them live about 25 times, late college days. Some people don't get it: They were THE counterculture band. They weren't stars, they were us and we were them. They expressed in music what we all felt ... The Joy of Living! Ground Zero of The Counterculture was right here! Loved it! Miss them SOOO much. Now that I'm much older, I know this was it!

  • @woodyt56 Certainly isn't her voice.

  • @AliIKarimi I think that occaisionally her vocals added to the performance, but most of the time her singing was just, uh, unnecessary

  • @woodyt56 ugh i hate donna, she's ruined so many live songs. not bad in this one though!

  • @woodyt56, that's Miss Donna Jean Godcheaux to you, m'r f'r!

    Cheers!

    FrankC32

  • @frankc32 MISS Donna Jean Godcheaux?  Wouldn't it be Mrs., as in Mrs. Keith Godcheaux? Why don't you arrest me

  • @woodyt56, it was a Bill Graham intro, one of many similar intro's, must have been prior to the day of wedded bliss!

    Cheers!

    FrankC32

  • @frankc32 ok right, gotcha now. Like the intro on the One From The Vault album, before the band goes into that sweet Help->Slip->Franklin's

  • @woodyt56, exactly dude!

    there's a cracking disc out there, 7/16/66, Fillmore West, and Graham intro's the band as "the oldest juveniles in the state of California". Good stuff.

    The "Viola Lee Blues" that opens that 7/16/66 show is a melon-bender for sure. I strongly urge you to locate this disc and give it a listen, you will not be sorry.

    Cheers!

    FrankC32

  • Euphoria!

  • Great to see JG in such a good mood

  • @GDXPRSS I think Jerry for the most was in a good mood but your right he was enjoying it just a lot more than usesually.p.s.sory for the type error

  • crispy-critters that they became is not in evidence here, the beat is up, back when the band was not arena-oriented, my favorite band pre-1980....

  • This is The Grateful Dead at their most unadulterated best. Simply sublime and a favourite song of mine. I love this band! They will never be bettered....

  • Bass great, Lesh filling....

  • I miss you all.

  • Audio quality kicks ass!!!

  • Check out Jerry's expression at 4:25 -- this is pure and real artistic bliss. Not only a true genius, but he also has the touch of connection across time. Most rare. No one like him could live today.

  • All I can say is..."Hot!!!!" Love ya Jerry!!

  • SOOOOOOO GOOOD

    :D

  • Boy I miss that voice and that guitar. I sure wish he knew Jesus.

  • @yeshua2come Jesus Garcia Marquez?

  • had to ohave been an awesome time!!

  • STL425 youtube channel.. Great version of Furthur covering Magnolia Mountain. Great footage of Jerry Garcia

  • YAAAAAY DONNA JEAN! I LOVE YOU!

    You can see her more here at zzzzzz1000 on youtube.

  • I thought Cameron would get a kick from this video

  • are you serious...dont bring that race shit hear...this is about MUSIC!

  • Wow! Thanks for the rewind! Gary, Betsy, John, Linda & I caught the show 3 nights later 4/15/78 @ William & Mary in Williamsburg VA. It was good show with a nice Bertha > Good Lovin', but seems like maybe we'd have done better making the trek to Duke! Thanks again.

  • Wow this entire show is amazing. I'm glad I found this.

  • Very very nice vid. Some songs are simply great works of art, Bertha is one of them. Love it.

  • im only commenting becuase i cant believe anyone is concerned about a persons heritage with the name of GARCIA,its self explanitory and who cares?and if you you want to hear phils bass,the only place is in concert....

  • Very nice job, thanks for the post!!!!

  • Rare footage...nice

  • These were the years when Jerry was in his prime. THE BEST. I get chills everytime listening to Jerry in the late 70's!

  • Great to see an enthusiastic, energetic 36 year old mexican american leading a tremendous band who had the balls to experiment and who had recently hit their stride and the only ones who knew it were them and their fans. I can remember going to the bathroom at halftime of the shows in this era and everyone would be downright giddy about what they were witnessing; there was a sense of feeling privideged to be part of the event and resulted in a great comraderie among the fans as well as the band.

  • FWIW, Jerry was not mexican american. His father was spanish.

  • cnj77- thanks for the info; I stand corrected. And all these years I have advocated immigration form Mexico hoping for another jerry; guess im now in favor of the big fence....:) On a serious note, I also fouled up his age. He was 35 at the time and would turn 36 about 4months later.....

  • @cnj77 Stop bringing race into this. garcia was white with some unfortunate spanish ancestry. Stop tarnishing the man and listen to the music for god's sake.

  • Jerry was basically white - drop the racial nonsense please.

  • Alfrunk- racial nonsense is for racists. i love all of Gods people equally and appreciate and cherish their differences. sorry if i gave a different impression.

  • jerry was half mexican and half white.

  • Yeah and Obama is half white but he's considered black. Jerry is half white and considered white. See how that works?? Idiot.

  • @Alfrunk also you too, TALK ABOUT THE MUSIC. Talk about how amazing Jerry was at playing and singing. We don't need race talk here.

  • @coopercity1 You are so wrong, dude

  • @coopercity1 talk about the music, not the race. Its about Jerry's music that we all love to listen to.

  • @coopercity1

    Not that it matters, but actually Jerry's mom was Irish and Swedish and his dad from Galatia (part of European Spain) so no he was not "half Mexican" but fully "white" by today's definitions.

    Why do you care even if he were Mexican?

  • @Alfrunk fuck the colors....Garcia later

  • just so lovely

    this brings back that feeling of being so happy to be at a show, like there was no place else you'd rather have been at that particular time

    magical, thanks for posting this

  • Wow!

  • simply epic

  • BERTHA!!!!! Furthur CO. march 5,6 be there

  • First song I've ever heard of the dead (studio version).

    After since I called myself a Deadhead.

    Born in 1990 here.

  • @redSuikoden Didn't think there was a studio version of Bertha......

  • He may be thinking of Skull & Roses which was live with some overdubb

  • Love this song, I was born 3.5 years after this vid was filmed so though wish I was there it couldn't happen.

    But for dead head kids who went to shows as babies and others bitch about it being unsafe, well hey if you have lived on a happy and succesful life, well I'd much rather have that feeling in my mind that I saw the Dead in their prime.

    RIP Jerry

  • I love this April '78 Duke University show, and not just for the Bertha. First there's the b/w video that gives a proper sense of the 31 years between then and now. Then there's Jerry, Bob, and Donna all vocally bringing it, and Jerry with his black beard, so energetic and happy. I wish someone had driven me as a 17 year old down from VA to NC to see this show. Still, its sweet to watch and listen on Youtube.

  • Beautiful, beautiful!

  • Jerry dancing and enjoying himself is so nice to see.

    God, I miss Jerry Garcia and going to Dead shows with my friends.

  • where do you get this video

  • kickass, just kickass.

  • scroll down to the 7:57 version of this video....much better....plays in hd

  • Love the yodel on "voice a call-in," what an inspired version.

  • Jeeery!!!!!! is on a mission

  • wolf sounds so different from tiger but one can really tell its Jerry instantly

  • Man they were so young in 78 .  So was I but it was some great times . Jerry seemed to age so quick after that. RIP Jerry . Somehow missing you more today then years past.

  • This is good stuff right here

  • too groovy!!

  • Ya, Donna's good moments where she added nice harmonies were rare. Too much off-key crap thinking she was Janis and drowning out Bobby at the wrong time. Wench. And that stupid awful shimmy dance she did on every number. Keith was the best but...

  • lol so true

  • Personally I think Donna should have just been in the audiance with the rest of the heads. Felt she never really fit in up there. Keith, on the other had, was amazing.

  • Yes. I agree that Bobby played sweet rhythm guitar. I guess I am just too into a Jerry Garcia phase right now. Come to think of it, I really have no complaints about any of the musicians. I am always on board with the Dead.

  • It's got to be funnest to be either Jerry or Keith. Everyone else is just like a secondary part. I mean I am a big Phil fan and perhaps he is the best bassist around, but now think of this.......I am sure there are times that Phil and Bobby are pissed because they don't nearly have the skill of Jerry and thus must assume secondary musical roles for the band.

  • not really because they all had differnent styles - No one can play rythym guitar like bobby - he made his own chords up!

  • Can't agree with you on this; Phil was an intregal part of the dead sound. It simply would not be the dead without him. Listen to how he handles ballads; it's almost like duel lead guitars; unconventional base. Weir played his part well; I never detected jealousy; saw them many times. The drummers were also integral. I loved Donna Jean. Liked Keith but sometimes in late 70's he would disappear.....

  • Thanks for your reply. Now I must give it another listen and focus more on the Phil factor. I enjoy the Phil interviews I have discovered on here...just the fact he mentions a Bill Frisell concert tells me that he has a sophisticated ear and surely it can be sensed on his melodic bass. I'm not so Bobby but I think he helps make Jerry shine....without Bobby, Jerry may have played out differently. Many anti Donna Jean - but I, myself must say she added to the ecclectic flavor of this music :)

  • Can you tell me where these Phil interviews are? When focusing in on Phil, I have found that my ability to hear him well depends on the mixing of the song; sometimes you can hear him better and you also need a decent sound system. I'm hooked on focusing in on him and also the drums; the other instruments seem to be easier to hear without focusing. This approach to listening causes me to never get bored by the Dead, and also speaks to Garcia's understanding of how to participate within a band.

  • Check it out at about 2:05. One wave from Jerry and that band is ready to explode. Never heard Jer go falsetto on this song before!!

  • Yer right darkstar, fantasic. it's great to see these old gems instead of just trying to visualize it. Great to see the body language, especially the shoulder shrugs and head bobs -- the man knew how great he was when he was on. A nightly high-wire act, something to behold.

  • Man this is Hot! Great to see. Thanks!

  • true acid music

  • I have a new favorite Bertha!

  • thanks for the post i miss the donna and keith years

  • Anymore!!!

  • Yeah, go JEEERRRRRREEE!!!!!! Any time, any place, the Dead always soothe my soul...

  • hell yea

  • Another killer! Clean! Crisp! Precious Gem from the "around '77" era...

  • great stuff....amazing memories!!!

  • Wonderful work from Garcia. Relaxed, fluent, melodic improvisation. Thank you for sharing this.

  • they made history

  • im seein the dead on april 25th at the garden! too bad i was to young to ever see jerry =/.

  • That's a shame, so was I... but Dark Star Orchestra has a man who plays the part of Jerry spotlessly. He's not the man himself, but when he's up there, he's damn close!

  • Yeah who needs footage of Jerry when we have a half-assed memory!

  • that is really good jerrys so lazy on everything its beautiful

  • donna can absolutely kill you too on some songs.. but hey god bless anyway

  • I was too young for Keith and Donna, but I miss them. There's nothing like a Going Down TRFB with Donna on background. Like someone said, Keith was classically trained, so he didn't stand out. But he sure fit in.

  • Huh?? Keith was 100x the musician Brent or vince was. He was eloquent and much more a true dead sound than the others. Melvin Seals from JGB is his his only real rival.

  • You don't know what you are talking about.

  • Wow thanks for that detailed opinion! You sound really smart.