Listen to Jerry Garcia’s isolated guitar on the Grateful Dead song ‘Bertha’
Californian rockers the Grateful Dead were a vital part of the American music scene during the 1960s, aiding the development of the psychedelic rock genre. Although the band were inspired by artists such as The Beatles and Bob Dylan, with members Bob Weir and Jerry Garcia being active members of the American folk movement, Grateful Dead decided to do something completely different.
Moving from genre to genre, the band took an improvisational approach, and their live performances were particularly important to their ethos. Garcia once stated, via The Grateful Dead: Playing in the Band: “We don’t make up our sets beforehand. We’d rather work off the tops of our heads than off a piece of paper.” Soon enough, the band attracted a large fanbase known as Deadheads.
The band’s frequent appearances at Ken Kesey’s drug-fuelled parties, known as Acid Tests, were an essential space for the band to practise and develop their sound. These events were captured in Tom Wolfe’s 1968 book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, encapsulating an era that feels so far removed from today. During these performances, the band were accompanied by evocative light displays, such as strobing and fluorescent lights, with attendees all taking LSD.
Since the band were such a significant live act, naturally, they have released many live albums over the years, such as 1971’s Skull and Roses or, as it’s sometimes called by fans, Skull Fuck. The album opens with ‘Bertha’, a popular track, despite a studio recording never coming to fruition.
For a while, fans claimed that the song was named after a floor fan that sat in the band’s office. In an interview on 92.7 WLIR-FM Garden City, New York, Robert Hunter stated that the fan was named after the song. “No, this was after the fact. I don’t know where that story,” he said. “I think they started calling this fan in the office that would run around and try and catch everyone and cut their fingers off. They started calling it Bertha. But no, this is not true.”
He also explained the meaning behind the song: “Bertha, I think, is probably some vaguer connotation of birth, death and reincarnation. Cycle of existences, some kind of such nonsense like that. I wouldn’t be surprised, but then again, it might not be. I don’t remember.”
The song features Garcia’s usual impressive guitar playing. Fans of the track, particularly those trying to learn the guitar parts, will find the isolated audio of Garcia’s parts in ‘Bertha’ incredibly useful. Listen below.
