Thursday, June 7, 2012

Sandy Bull's basement apartment, off 5th Street, South Berkeley, CA

All I know is it's not only quite likely and probable though I can't say positively factual as I can't provide specific dates that Jerry visited and spent time with Sandy Bull and his pedal steel. I kind of knew Sandy's landlord. I can remember this vividly because of others who were in the vicinity at the time, as well, and perhaps a more memorable marker is some people who were staying at my house were taken out to eat at a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco by "The Grateful Dead".

Sandy's landlord was the projectionist at the Berkeley Repertoire Theater, a job he occasionally found so boring and repetitious, he would pick up the projector during a movie and project the film on the wall, like a light show, and every one would laugh, or at least sometimes they would.
Sandy Bull

Sandy Bull lived, renting a basement room.. He had a pedal steel that had a sticky foot pedal. He practiced for hours, countless hours. Some of the others in the vicinity at the time might recall exactly how Jerry and Sandy connected, though Sandy's two Vanguard records were in every single musician's record collection at the time. All I know is some Golden Toad musicians were around at the time, and the Grateful Dead's sound man liked their music a lot, and I saw his green and foreign and most unpractical car parked down the street now and again.

When located near 5th Street, Sandy Bull had a baby in his household. They had a little springy baby jumper hanging in the door way. And some adults would mention they wanted something like that but for grown ups. His was actually a Jolly Baby Jumper brand. I like to think that's where the title for one of his tracks came from on Demolition Derby ... "sweet baby jumper"(1)

Sandy Bull was a sweet gentle person - I seem to remember that his father was a journalist? He recorded his own overlaid tracks on some pieces - which can give the illusion of more players, but he also could make one instrument sound like many.
(Susan in Berkeley)



Jerry may have played at Sandy's place in
1966




1,)^Barbara Flasker's memories of Mandrakes, Berkeley, CA

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