October 2005 saw the premiere of Bobby Roth's Berkeley, a feature film about music and protest in the 60s, at the Mill Valley Film Festival.  The film features ten songs by Berkeley favourites Country Joe and the Fish.  You can see a trailer for the movie here.

The Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley, CA

The Albatross opened as a "pub" in 1964 and remains open to this day.

1837 Alcatraz, Berkeley, CA

1837 Alcatraz is now the home of the Most Worshipful Sons of Light Grand Lodge.

1845 Alcatraz, Berkeley, CA

1845 Alcatraz is seemingly in the same building as 1837 Alcatraz.  Strangely, this whole end of Alcatraz Street has adopted a somewhat bizarre numbering

scheme for the properties.

Blind Lemon, 2362 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley, CA

The Blind Lemon has a history dating back to the late 1950s.  Today it is an office machine repair store.

Cabale Creamery, 2504 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley

[see also Questing Beast, Tito's and Longbranch]

None of this would be possible without the input from Jesse Cahn and Evelyn Kerr

In the early 1960s, there was a ‘folk circuit’ that emphasized serious folk music like Doc Watson and Mississippi John Hurt (as opposed to the more popular Kingston Trio-style of folk music).  The Cabale was one of the anchors of the circuit, along with Club 47 in Cambridge, many clubs in Greenwich Village (such as the Gaslight and Folk City), the Ark in Ann Arbor and the Ash Grove in Los Angeles.  The story of this circuit is well told in Jim Rooney and Eric Von Schmidt’s book Baby Let Me Follow You Down (U-Mass Press, 1979).

The Cabale Creamery, at 2504 San Pablo Avenue (at Dwight), was a folk club founded in late 1962 by Rolf Cahn and Debbie Green (two Cambridge, MA folkies) along with Howard Zeem and Red Dog alum Chandler A. Laughlin III (later known as Travus T. Hipp).  It opened on January 4, 1963 and ran until mid-1965, when the folk action moved to the Jabberwock.  Somewhere along the way Carroll Peery, manager of the Chambers Brothers and Big Mama Thornton, happened to acquire a majority interest in the Cabale.  Jesse Cahn, son of Cabale founder Rolf and folksinger Barbara Dane, recalls "I was the one who cleaned the johns and swept up and practically lived there until 1965 ...".  Jesse went on to play with Tongue & Groove (with Lynne Hughes and Michael Ferguson) and the Chambers Brothers.  After some time on the East Coast he returned to manage the Jabberwock for Bill "Jolly Blue" Ehlert when he moved across to San Francisco to run the Matrix.

The 2504 San Pablo location later became home to the Questing Beast, Tito's and the Longbranch.

California Hall, University of California, Berkeley, CA

Most Berkeley academic buildings had a large lecture hall, and 101 California was the lecture hall for this building. It probably seated about 200.

Canyon, Berkeley, CA

The tiny town of Canyon, CA was in the hills behind Berkeley (between Berkeley and Moraga). Canyon, a very out-of-the-way town, was a peculiar outpost for avant-garde filmmakers like Robert Nelson, and there were many Berkeley connections, not least folk singer Paul Arnoldi who was a regular on the Bay Area "scene" and local resident.  The two known concerts in Canyon in 1967 were held outdoors, one at a private school and the other in a Eucalyptus Grove.

Community Theater, Milvia and Allston, Berkeley, CA

 Berkeley Community Theater serves as both the Auditorium for both the city and the high school.  It is located at the high school on Milvia and Allston.  It has seats for 3,691 and is still in use today.

Finnish Brotherhood Hall, Chestnut off University Avenue, Berkeley, CA

The Finnish Brotherhood Hall was a small hall just West of downtown, on Chestnut off University Avenue (University Avenue runs from San Francisco Bay to the Campus).  The Finnish Brotherhood Hall is still used today as a community resource with regular meetings, dance classes etc.. 

Folk Festival, Berkeley, CA

The Folk Festival at the University of California was a major event in the 1960s, when its organizer was Barry Olivier. Numerous venues all over campus (many listed here) were used. By 1967, many of the primary acts were rock groups such as Country Joe and The Fish and Kaleidoscope, but they were often made up of former folkies. The Festival ran at least from 1958-69, and possibly somewhat later.

The "Golden Sheaf Bakery Series", Berkeley, CA

Nifty Little Factoid:  The Golden Sheaf Bakery was actually a production company named after the historic Berkeley landmark (which is in downtown Berkeley, at Addison and Adeline).  I know of only a few shows promoted by the Golden Sheaf Bakery in early 1967, each at a different location.  The first set were on January 6, January 13 and January 14 at the Finnish Brotherhood Hall (1970 Chestnut Street).  There then came two nights (January 27 and 28) at 1845 Alcatraz and finally two nights (February 10 and 11) at nearby 1837 Alcatraz.  The Finnish Brotherhood Hall is still used today as a community resource with regular meetings, dance classes etc..  1837 Alcatraz is now the home of the Most Worshipful Sons of Light Grand Lodge.

Tom Weller adds "There was at least one concert held at the Golden Sheaf Bakery building itself. I was there. Don't remember the date, but I think it was prior to the shows you list - subsequent concerts had to be held elsewhere but kept the same name. The building has been rehabilitated as a theatrical arts school associated with the Berkeley repertory Theater down the street."

Greek Theater, University of California (at Gayley Road) , Berkeley, CA

The Greek Theater is an amphitheatre modelled in the style of architecture from ancient Greece with a rising bowl of stone seats.  It opened in September 1903 as the William Randolph Hearst Greek Theatre.  It was remodelled in 1957. It has a capacity of 8,700. Despite its pretension, it is an elegant venue in a very pretty setting, and has spectacular sound.  Its University affiliation limited its use as a rock venue.  It was not used regularly for rock concerts until the 1980s.

Harmon Gym, University of California, Berkeley, CA

Harmon Gym was the Men’s Basketball Arena.  All events on the University of California had to be sponsored by a student group, but in turn the University often had funds to pay the musicians.  In the 1990s, the gym was torn down and replaced by a much larger venue that bears the same name.

Hearst Gym, University of California, Berkeley, CA

Hearst Gym is the smaller UCB Women’s Gym, on Bancroft and Bowditch.

Helmet Club, Berkeley, CA

Jabberwock, Berkeley, CA

The Jabberwock, at 2901 Telegraph at Russell (9 blocks from campus) was initially a Coffee House called Tsubo’s (Wes Montgomery recorded his Full House there on July 25, 1962).  It changed its name to The Jabberwock by 1963, and regularly presented folk music. By mid-1965, after new owner Bill "Jolly Blue" Ehlert took over the club from previous owner Belle Randall, it became the premier folk venue in Berkeley.  For the complete story of the Jabberwock, click here.

Copyright for many of these "Jabberwock" images is vested in Tom Weller. 

Thanks are due Tom who kindly gave permission for them to be reproduced here.

Jefferson Auditorium, Rose and Sacramento, Berkeley, CA

Little Theater, Berkeley, CA

Live Oak Park, Berkeley, CA

Live Oak Park, at 1301 Shattuck (at Oxford), was a small park on the North side of campus.  The park was built in 1916.  It was used mostly for local events. 

Longbranch, 2504 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA

[see also Cabale Creamery, Questing Beast and Tito's ]

The Longbranch was the same venue as the folk club Cabale Creamery, the Questing Beast and Tito's.  It was reborn in the early 1970s as a rock club.  It primarily provided a home for established East Bay bands before they graduated to bigger stages.  Bands such as Asleep At The Wheel, Earthquake and The Rockets (featuring lead singer Eddie Money) were regular performers at the club. 

The Longbranch was also a tour stop for little known national bands on the lowest rung of the ladder, often touring behind their first album.  Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band and Bob Marley and The Wailers both played the club in their earliest days of touring.

Longfellow School, California at Ward, Berkeley, CA

Miramonte High School, Orinda, CA

Moe's Books, 2476 Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley, CA

Moe’s Books was a huge bookstore that also sold used records  in Berkeley, at 2476 Telegraph between Dwight and Haste.  Not only is it still a great store today, but it was a great place for graduate students and others to hang out and look at books for hours when they couldn’t afford to do anything else.  Legendary proprietor Moe Moskowitz occasionally helped out local musicians and artists by holding events in the store (probably in the cavernous basement).

Moe Moskowitz is fondly remembered by Tom Weller "The great Moe Moskowitz was a great friend of music and musicians.  In addition to having concerts at his store, he helped many musicians financially when times were tough, as they often were.  He helped out Country Joe and the Fish, John Fahey, and Robbie Basho, and I know he financed one of Basho's albums."