I attended a marvelous concert at the SJ Civic, I think it was 1967. I should have kept a journal of those years, but I was straight enough to remember the Dead opening for Cory Wells Blues Band and Bob Dylan with The Hawks.
At the concert, Cory Wells introduced the band under their new name, Three Dog Night, and they performed many of the songs that would become well-known hits. With a big B3 sound and Chuck Negron's vocals, they were amazing. Bob Dylan introduced The Hawks as his backup band (before they became "The Band"). Dylan played a Wurlitzer electric piano for part of their set and played the intro from Ray Charles "I Believe To My Soul" as a preamble for Ballad of a Thin Man. I loved the Dead for their long "freakouts" at the Fillmore. And I also admired them for their humility - 3rd billing on this one. As an R&B sax player, I didn't consider myself a Deadhead and I can't recall their set list. I can't find this concert referenced anywhere, but it happened... There's another Dead event that seems to be missing from the annals, again 1967/68 (?), a "be-in" at El Camino Park in Palo Alto (near the intersection of Alma and El Camino Real) where they featured Eldridge Cleaver speaking. He made perfect sense and his rap that day furthered my radicalization - opened my eyes to the prison-industrial complex and the over-incarceration of young black men (and Hispanics). I had taken clarinet lessons from Dana Morgan (Sr.), went to junior high with Jerry's first wife (Sara), and a drummer friend (Jerome Kimsey) played blues gigs at Stanford frat parties with Ron McKernan on harmonica. My personal taste ran to Sons of Champlin, Linda Tillery & Loading Zone, Lydia Pense w/ Cold Blood - but I loved the psychedelic fervor of the era, and I've got a couple of anecdotes that illustrate Janis Joplin's great sense of humor - I got to smoke with her at their pad on one occasion. I guess I kind of took the Dead for granted at the time but "they showed me!"
