Robert Hunter and Roadhog: Performance History, May-October 1976

(a scan of a flyer for a Roadhog performance at a Round Records memorabilia sale on September 26, 1976)

In the modern Internet age it is difficult to explain how mysterious Robert Hunter was to Deadheads in the early 1970s. His name was listed as lyricist on most Dead albums, and occasionally there was a quote in Rolling Stone magazine attributed to him. He was reputed to be one of the figures on the cover of Workingman's Dead, and once in a while a picture had been published of him. Even if you had seen one, however, there was no way to easily access it, so he remained elusive. A few quotes from Jerry Garcia suggested that Hunter had played folk or bluegrass music with Garcia in the early days, but compared to even the late 1970s there was very little material circulating, so most people had never heard the 'Wildwood Boys" tape fragment that is in wide circulation today. By all accounts, a distant presence was all Robert Hunter desired to be during that period.

Thus it was a great surprise in June 1974 when Round Records released a Hunter solo album, Tales Of The Great Rum Runners. Abruptly it turned out that the Dead's poet could write music without the band, and sing and play as well. The album had a sort of demo tape feel, and Hunter has dismissed his vocal performances on the album (they sounded alright to me), but it was instantly fascinating to get a feel for what Hunter brought to a Hunter/Garcia song. Hunter's solo material lacked the musical expressiveness and melodic gift that Jerry Garcia brought to the music, but they had a lyrical density that the more terse Garcia apparently preferred to edit out.

Rum Runners was followed by an even better album, Tiger Rose, produced by Garcia and released (on Round) in March 1975. However, while Hunter the songwriter was made deeper and more tangible by two fine albums, the man himself remained a cipher. There were no pictures of him on either album, and no conventional music industry press where he gave interviews or posed for photos. During the 1974-76 period, the Grateful Dead proper stopped touring, only recording an album (Blues For Allah) and playing the occasional show. Thus they dropped out of the mainstream, and while the various members of the band played Bay Area clubs (and sometimes elsewhere) with regularity, there was very little coverage of the Dead's activities, even in the Bay Area. Thus it was with great astonishment that my friends and I discovered in mid-1976 that Robert Hunter was playing an obscure venue in San Francisco with a band called Roadhog. My friend and I had to go--only McGannahan Skjellyfetti would have been more exotic than this.

I saw Robert Hunter and Roadhog on a weeknight in May 1976, at a little place on Market Street in San Francisco, near the Civic Center. I will not bore anyone with college memories about how I am certain that it was in May and on a weeknight, but the chronology is clear. I'm not even sure how we found out about it, as the Green Earth Cafe did not advertise. I think we heard that Hunter had a band in Joel Selvin's Chronicle column, and then found a listing in BAM Magazine. I do recall my friend actually calling the Green Earth Cafe (hi Mitch) to insure that it really was Robert Hunter of the Grateful Dead. None of our other Deadhead friends wanted to go, but to us it just seemed too exotic to pass up.

Roadhog was pretty good, in a bar band sort of way, but it honestly didn't matter, because Hunter was such a mystery that it transcended the show. It would be like going to a bookstore to hear Thomas Pynchon or B. Traven read--would you care what they read? Roadhog only lasted a few months, however, and then Hunter went off the radar for a while. He reappeared with the fine group Comfort, and then began his long career of intermittent solo touring, group appearances, book readings and other work, to the point where he became as familiar a face as any other member of the Dead. Very few people ever saw Roadhog, however, so this post will attempt to rectify that a little bit by publishing what little is known about the performance history of the band (thanks to Doug for re-posting his list, and indeed for keeping it in the first place).

Robert Hunter and Roadhog performing at the Beta Theta Pi Fraternity house at a "Beta Nooner" afternoon keg party in May 1976 (photo courtesy of and (c) Bill Kn)

Roadhog

• Robert Hunter-vocals, acoustic guitar
• Shelly Ralston-vocals
• Jeffrey Dambrau-guitar
• Ted Claire-guitar, vocals
• Jim McPherson-electric piano
• Rodney Albin-bass, violin
• Bill Summers-drums

Ted Claire, Jeffrey Dambrau (sometimes spelled Dambreau) and Rodney Albin had been part of the South Bay folkscene in the early 1960s, from whence sprang Garcia, Hunter and others. Rod Albin had started a little folk club called The Boar's Head in San Carlos, which was among the first places that bohemian folkies could play back in '62. Albin had been an important part of the Haight Ashbury scene (his brother Peter was a founding member of Big Brother), but he had never found a specific musical home. When Albin switched to violin, other members of the band played bass, including (on one song) Robert Hunter.

Jim McPherson had been a South Bay musician, too, but he was part of the thriving San Jose rock scene. He had recorded a couple of 60s albums with a group called Stained Glass, a heavy rock band in which McPherson played bass and organ as well as singing and writing. In the early '70s, McPherson had worked with John Cipollina in the group Copperhead. Hunter had apparently not known McPherson prior to Roadhog, but somebody--probably Mickey Hart--had recommended him for the group.

Shelley Ralston's and Bill Summer's backgrounds are not known to me. Googlers should be warned that this Bill Summers was not the guy who played with Herbie Hancock.

When I saw Roadhog at the Green Earth Cafe, they played three sets. It was a school night, so we only saw the first two sets. Hunter was clearly the main fulcrum of the group, but they were very much a group. They performed many songs from both of Hunter's albums, some unrecognizable songs and a few interesting covers. Shelley Ralston had a prominent role in the vocals, singing Donna Godchaux's parts from the record (even now I recall she was great on "That Train") and no doubt giving the rusty Hunter some confidence on the choruses. She also did a great cover of Patsy Cline's "I Fall To Pieces."

There were no Grateful Dead covers. Other members of the group sang a few numbers, although I couldn't identify them. Rodney Albin played electric violin and led the band through Doug Kershaw's country cajun classic "Louisiana Man." The only cover I recall hearing Hunter singing was country singer Tom T. Hall's hit "The Night Clayton Delaney Died." While the Grateful Dead and others were proud country rockers by 1976, their style was more oriented towards Buck Owens and the Bakersfield sound, epitomized by Merle Haggard. More conventional Nashville fare, like Tom T. Hall, was not part of the rock repertoire, and at the time it was fascinating to see Hunter pull off a convincing version of the song. For a band of San Francisco hippies, Roadhog had a more traditional country/honky tonk sound, a little more Centrist than the Western Swing style of groups like Commander Cody.

Roadhog Performance History, May-October 1976

A correspondent (possibly using a Time Sheath) sent this amazing flyer for Roadhog at the Green Earth Cafe in San Francisco on May 6, 7 and 8, 1976. Note that there is no mention of Robert Hunter.

May 1976: Green Earth Cafe, San Francisco, CA: Roadhog
The Green Earth Cafe was on Market Street, near the Civic Center, somewhat past the Warfield (the Warfield is near 6th Street, and the Civic is on 9th). I don't know the exact address [JGMF figured it out: 1806 Market Street]. It served food and beer and wine, but it wasn't a bar. Roadhog seems to have played every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in May, 1976. There was no cover charge. Roadhog may have started as early as April, and may have creeped into early June. Word seems to have gotten out, however, and their Summer performances at The Green Earth were on weekends and received at least a minimum of publicity. The stint in May seems to have been as much to get Hunter and the band used to performing as anything.

[update] A correspondent (possibly using a Time Sheath) sent in a great flyer for Roadhog at the Green Earth Cafe on May 6, 7 and 8, 1976. He tells us

They played two nights after the fraternity show at Stanford. I went to the first night with a bunch of friends. Probably about 30 people were there. Did a great Wild Nights by Van Morrison and handed out these stickers about 4”x4” the said “Ignore Alien Orders”.

Incidentally, that dates the Fraternity show (below) to May 4.

An interview in BAM in January 1978 (I think by David Gans) was the first real conversation Hunter had with the press, to my knowledge. In that interview, Hunter referred to initially playing as 'Lefty Banks' in order to perform without pressure. While I have never seen a Lefty Banks booking (I'm still looking), Hunter alluded online to playing as Lefty Banks with Roadhog, so perhaps he started earlier than I realized at the Green Earth Cafe, and word only leaked out later that it was Hunter. For now, however, I am leaving this entry as May 1976.

Roadhog business car, circa 194 (thanks Perry Rotwein)

[Update:] we have now learned that the roots of Roadhog go back much further than I thought. Initially, Rodney Albin, Ted Claire, Jeffrey Dambrau and Kathy Vaughn had a bluegrass/od-timey band called the Liberty Hill Aristocrats, a successor to the early 60s group led by Rodney and Peter Albin.  In the grand tradition of San Francisco hippie bluegrass bands, they "went electric." I was contacted by Perry Rotwein, their first drummer, who sent along some memories and some great memorabilia. Rotwein came out to San Francisco in Fall 1973, and he picks up the story:

Roadhog at the Cypress Garden Restaurant, Walnut Creek, March 1-2, 1974

Here is my story how I came to know Rodney Albin and play with him in Roadhog: 

I was the first drummer for the new band, after answering an ad and auditioning for the gig. My girlfriend and I had just driven across country in our VW Squareback, and it was 1973. There was a major recession that affected everything, including the SF music scene. It was difficult to get any job, let alone being paid to play music. I believe this was the members of Roadhog's first foray into electric music. Rodney had a music store in the Haight-Ashbury district, where he made and repaired acoustic stringed instruments. He had me work at the shop a few days a week, sweeping up and doing menial tasks, as I was the struggling musician in the band. He also was the guy with the van in the band, so he'd pick me up and drop me off after each gig (and always help me lug the drums in and out). 

I remember Rodney had electrified a banjo (not done before) and outfitted it with a wah-wah pedal for Jeff Dambrau to play, and it sounded amazing......he was way ahead of his time! 

We started playing restaurants and bars, and the crowd always loved us. The music was sort of an electric bluegrass style. The one place we played the most (it was our most steady gig) was LaFamiglia Restaurant, where we got paid $10 each plus all the food and drink we could consume. The coolest place we ever played was at the lounge at the base of the Pyramid building, which had just opened. No one showed but a few businessmen, but it was a great space to play. 

During the time I was in Roadhog, Peter Albin came a few times and sat in (he was fantastic) and Robert Hunter came one evening to watch us play (he was hitting on my girlfriend the whole time!) The band had been working with him on his first solo album, and he joined the band not long after I left, in 1974. 

My girlfriend and I got married on April 1 at the San Francisco courthouse (we're still together after 44 years). I still play the drums in a fusion band,  taught my son how to play as well, and started a small company called Drum Starz, that sells drumsticks for kids on Amazon called Pocket Stix, and Grip Stix.

A matchbook from Roadhogs best gig, the La Famiglia Restaurant ($10 per member plus all they could eat)

A matchbook from the newly opened Transamerica Pyramid. Roadhog played a gig in the lobby

Thanks so much to Perry Rotwein for telling us about the early days of Roadhog. The discussion of Roadhog and Hunter's first solo album will be worthy of a post of it's own, one of these days.









Update: some advanced scholarship suggests that Robert Hunter was making stealth appearances with Roadhog as early as October 1975. A Commenter looked at the English magazine Dark Star, written in the October/November 1975 period (h/t JGMF):

The "Weather Report" column, p. 5, has this: "Barry [Melton]'s most recent appearance was at the Klamath potato festival ... also at the destival [sic] was the bluegrass unit Road Hog, featuring Bob Hunter on mandolin."

I am guessing this is the Klamath Basin Potato Festival around Merrill, OR. This is a harvest season event, it seems, usually mid-October by what I have seen.

So, if this is right, for now it might be a 10/??/75 Klamath Basin Potato Festival entry.

At the top of the bill was Barry Melton's band featuring Peter Albin and David LaFlamme.

[update] JGMF has found numerous references to Roadhog performances in the Bay Area in the Spring and Summer of 1974. There was even an add in the Marin Independent-Journal for a manager. While we do know that regular drummer Bill Summers had joined Roadhog by this time, replacing Perry Rotwein, we don't know how often Hunter played with them.


[update] Commenter and Scholar JGMF has found some dates from the Green Earth Cafe that pre-date the public admission that Robert Hunter was playing with Roadhog
April 2-3, 1976 Green Earth Cafe, San Francisco, CA: Roadhog
April 16-17, 1976 Green Earth Cafe, San Francisco, CA: Roadhog
Both of these booking were Friday>Saturday weekend shows.
May 6-8, 1976 Green Earth Cafe, San Francisco, CA: Roadhog
May 20-22, 1976 Green Earth Cafe, San Francisco, CA: Roadhog
Both of these bookings were Thursday>Saturday weekend shows. I must have seen one of the Thursday shows, most likely the May 20 show.

Robert Hunter and Roadhog performing at the Beta Theta Pi Fraternity house at a "Beta Nooner" afternoon keg party in May 1976 (photo courtesy of and (c) Bill Kn)

May 4, 1976: Beta Theta Pi Fraternity House, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Roadhog
Roadhog was invited to perform at a noontime outdoor concert at a Fraternity House in Stanford. Resident Bill K (who not only kept his photos all those years, he very kindly gave me permission to post them) reported:

It came about this way.  A friend of mine was a serious Deadhead and somehow learned about Robert Hunter and RoadHog performing in San Francisco.  He drove us all up to The City to catch the show and negotiated a performance of the Band to highlight a traditional spring party held on the lawn of the Beta Theta Pi house at Stanford.  The event was called the Beta Nooner.  A live band, kegs of free beer and, as the name implies, the show started at noon and went on for most of the afternoon.

At the time, there was a ban on Grateful Dead performances at Stanford, so we felt all revolutionary to sneak in a performance by this band.  I can’t tell you what they played, but it was a great concert.  I can’t even tell you the specific date, but  it was probably in April, or maybe May of 1976.  Sorry I can’t be more precise with the dates, but memories fade after so many years.

I asked about the mysterious "ban" on the Grateful Dead, and Bill reported

Of course, the actual facts mutated into the legend.  My fraternity brothers and I were not really rock promoters, but did have to get some kind of permission from some authority figure to put on this outdoor concert.  I did not make that appeal.  We did get permission, but I remember being told that, “The Dead were banned from playing at Stanford.”  Oooh, cool.  As is so frequently the case, the rumors overran the truth.

June 4-5, 1976: Green Earth Cafe, San Francisco, CA: Roadhog
Doug Aldridge was attempting to track Hunter's performances at one point, and his site was inaccessible, but now it's back on line. It remains the only source for Roadhog dates.

In any case, Hunter and Roadhog played a weekend show at the Green Earth in June. I believe this was sort of a "coming out" party, announcing the mysterious Robert Hunter's accessibility to the wider world.

June 9, 1976: The Omnibus, San Francisco, CA: Roadhog
I don't know anything about the venue.

June 11-12, 1976: Green Earth Cafe, San Francisco, CA: Roadhog
[update[JGMF confirmed these from BAM listings.

June 15, 1976: Shady Grove, San Francisco, CA: Roadhog
The Shady Grove was at 1538 Haight Street, between Ashbury and Clayton. The Shady Grove wasn't large, but it was larger than the Green Earth.

While the Shady Grove was within walking distance of 710 Ashbury, it's worth recalling that Hunter never lived in 710 with the Dead, and hardly lived in San Francisco at all, so it would have had less personal significance for him than it might have for others.

June 16, 1976: The Omnibus, San Francisco, CA: Roadhog

July ?, 1976: Rio Theater, Rodeo, CA: Roadhog
An uncertain date from a list, provenance unknown.

Summer 1976: Barney Steele's, Redwood City, CA: Roadhog
The most intriguing note I have on a Roadhog performance is a performance at a Redwood City saloon named Barney Steele's. Barney Steele's was basically a pickup joint, with a cover charge to keep out riffraff. The purpose of the band was to keep the patrons dancing, so they would get hot and buy beer. One of the bar managers was one Norm Van Maastricht, whom some readers may recall was a member of the Wildwood Boys along with Garcia, Hunter and David Nelson.

Maastricht, who still played guitar, apparently joined Roadhog on stage for at least a few numbers, a funny coda for the former Wildwood Boys.

July 15, 1976: Shady Grove, San Francisco, CA: Roadhog
 I have a brief (5-song) audience tape of a Roadhog performance with this date. It seems like a plausible date, since it's a Thursday. Note that this was the only night of the week where the Grateful Dead were not playing the Orpheum Theater. I think the reputed source of the circulating Roadhog tape is Jerry Moore (himself), so it would make sense for a visiting East Coaster to see the legendary Robert Hunter if he could.

July 30-31, 1976: Green Earth Cafe, San Francisco, CA: Roadhog
The July 30 show was immortalized by a fine Jerry Moore audience tape. The tape gives a good idea of the band's sound, although it lacks some of the cover versions of when I had seen them earlier. Perhaps as Hunter's name became more prominent, the focus was more on his songs.

This was a weekend booking (Friday and Saturday).

[unknown], 1976 Euphoria Tavern, Portland, OR: Roadhog
A Commenter recalls seeing Hunter and Roadhog in Portland. 

August 6, 1976: Shady Grove, San Francisco, CA: Roadhog

SF Examiner listing from August 26 1976

August 26, 1976 Green Earth Cafe, San Francisco, CA: Roadhog

September 3-4, 1976: Green Earth Cafe, San Francisco, CA: Roadhog

September 9, 1976: Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Roadhog

September 17-18, 1976: Shady Grove, San Francisco, CA: Roadhog

September 25-25, 1976 Armory, Santa Rosa, CA: Roadhog and Robert Hunter

September 26, 1976: Record Factory Parking Lot, San Rafael, CA: Roadhog
Round Records, in a state of financial distress held an afternoon "memorabilia sale" in the parking lot of a Marin record store--can you imagine what eBay treasures must have been available for a pittance?--and Roadhog were the featured performers.

David Gans was present and had the foresight to take photos of Robert Hunter and Roadhog, which are accessible on Gans's Flickr site, and well worth a look. I know of no other photos of Roadhog in action, or even at rest. A tape apparently endures, and the setlist says that Roadhog played "Friend Of The Devil" and "Kick In The Head," a sign that Hunter was beginning to acknowledge his status in the Grateful Dead universe.

October 2, 1976: West Dakota, Berkeley, CA: Roadhog
West Dakota, at 1505 San Pablo Avenue, was at the former site of The New Orleans House.

October 7, 1976: Highland Dell Inn, Monte Rio, CA: Roadhog featuring Robert Hunter

October 10, 1976: Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Roadhog
The Keystone Berkeley was one of the Bay Area's major rock clubs, and certainly well known to Deadheads, as Jerry Garcia and Kingfish had played there regularly.

October 12, 1976: "Nobody For President" Rally, Civic Center Plaza, San Francisco, CA: Roadhog
"Nobody For President" was a Wavy Gravy endeavour ("whose the best politician for the United States? Nobody!"). I have a vague recollection of being told that this was billed as a Roadhog show, and it rained, and Hunter played solo. Solo Hunter would have been an unseen rarity at the time.

October 16, 1976: Piperoom, U. of Santa Clara, Santa Clara, CA: Roadhog
Commenter ruffmike tells us

I don't see mention of the Roadhog show at The Piperoom , a basement club at Santa Clara U. The show was just after the 1976 Who/Dead shows in Oakland, Hunter was doing guitar windmills all night in an imitation of Townsend's signature move. Great show.

Date approximated (The Dead/Who shows were Oct 9-10).

October 21, 1976: Shady Grove, San Francisco, CA; Roadhog

October 24, 1976: The Savoy, San Francisco, CA: Roadhog

October 28, 1976: Inn of The Beginning, Cotati, CA: Robert Hunter and Roadhog

October 29-31, 1976: Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Roadhog with Robert Hunter
What seems to be Roadhog's most high profile show also seems to be their last, or the last that I could find anyway.  This was a three-day weekend booking (the clip is from the Hayward Daily Review of October 31, 1976), and Sunday night was Halloween, so plenty of people planned to go out. Still, whatever transpired on this Halloween in Berkeley, this seems to be the last trace of Roadhog. 

November 13, 1976: West Dakota, Berkeley, CA: Robert Hunter and Roadhog
[update] Scholar DKS found another show. The West Dakota was at 1505 San Pablo Avenue, and was formerly the New Orleans House.

Hunter and Rodney Albin went on to form Comfort in 1977, another fine band. Hunter largely went solo after that, and Rodney Albin unfortunately died too soon in 1984. In 1981, Jim McPherson worked with Mickey Hart in his band High Noon, but he too left unfinished business when he died in 1985 (to some extent rectified by the recent cd release of his studio work, A Promise Kept). The musical activities of Jeffrey Dambrau, Ted Claire, Shelly Ralston and Bill Summers after Roadhog are unknown to me.

Roadhog seems to have left a very small imprint, surprisingly so given the intensity of interest in all things Grateful Dead. I think the group's penchant for playing San Francisco saloons means that many who saw them may have had little idea who they were seeing, particularly if Hunter was initially using the name Lefty Banks. Nonetheless, I have to think many people may recall seeing the group somewhere around the Bay Area in 1976, or may have some obscure artifacts, so I am hoping that this post can be continually updated as new information comes to light.

November 22-24, 1976 The Starwood, Los Angeles, CA: Hunter/Melton Band
Barry Melton and Robert Hunter played a few shows in Los Angeles as the Hunter/Melton Band (other members unknown)

Update I: A commenter has discovered some additional dates past Halloween '76, so perhaps the trail didn't entirely end until after Halloween. The dates were advertised in BAM with no mention of Hunter.
November 5, 1976: Shady Grove, San Francisco, CA: Roadhog
November 26-27, 1976: Shady Grove, San Francisco, CA: Roadhog
December 4, 1976: Rio Theater, Rodeo, CA: Roadhog

Update II: A flyer has surfaced (h/t Yellow Shark) advertising a Roadhog show at the Shady Grove for the weekend of March 4-5, 1977, well after the band's presumed "last" show in 1976. However, since Robert Hunter's name isn't mentioned on the calendar, it's clear he wasn't a member of the band by that time. Whether Rodney Albin was still a member, and how many other shows Roadhog played after Hunter's departure, remains a mystery.