Before the Dead: Music from the Hills of San Francisco Pt. II

Before tie-dye. Before acid rock. Before Haight Street became shorthand for a psychedelic revolution—San Francisco was already humming.

Most people trace the city's musical reputation to the late 1960s, with the birth of bands like the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin’s Big Brother and the Holding Company, and Jefferson Airplane. And yes, that era cemented SF’s place on the global stage. But music didn’t just erupt out of nowhere when someone plugged in a fuzz pedal in Golden Gate Park. The city had been nurturing sounds—raw, refined, rebellious—for decades.

Let’s roll back a little.

The Fillmore District: Harlem of the West

During the 1940s and ’50s, the Fillmore was a powerhouse of Black culture and nightlife. Jazz and blues legends came through regularly—John Coltrane, Mingus, Ella Fitzgerald, B.B. King—playing venues like Jimbo’s Bop City and the Fillmore Auditorium. But it wasn’t just touring acts: local talents like Saunders King (a Bay Area bluesman and one of the first to play electric guitar on the West Coast) and Little Esther Phillips made their mark, too.

The Beatnik Era and Coffeehouse Folk

Meanwhile, in North Beach, a different sound was taking root. With the rise of the Beat Generation came poetry and folk music in dark little rooms like the hungry i and The Purple Onion. Acts like The Kingston Trio (formed at Stanford but launched in SF) and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott were strumming their way toward what would eventually become the folk revival.

Latin Heat in the Mission

In the Mission District, the rhythms were different—percussive, passionate, and infectious. SF’s Latin jazz scene pulsed through dance halls and neighborhood bars, thanks to artists like Cal Tjader, who helped popularize Afro-Cuban jazz on vibraphone, and Carlos Vidal, one of the earliest Latin percussionists in the city. That cross-pollination of cultures eventually set the stage for Santana and the Latin rock explosion of the late ’60s.

Homegrown Jazz with Heart

And then there was Vince Guaraldi—born in San Francisco, raised in the Mission, and gigging in North Beach long before Charlie Brown ever heard his piano. His early work with the Cal Tjader Quintet and his solo trio brought a west coast swing to cool jazz that still sounds fresh today.

Before the Dead, there was already life! Click below to time-travel through San Francisco’s early soundscape:

Saunders King – “S.K. Blues”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYYm9Edm7as

Cal Tjader – “Soul Sauce” https://open.spotify.com/track/78RajZHCigVOTsHlmo2jp8?si=78db8fb5216a4402

The Kingston Trio – “Tom Dooley”

https://youtu.be/S3zdE8bliGI?si=0_e1e6OV2iek3H4N

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott – “San Francisco Bay Blues”

https://youtu.be/Do4fwuHxol4?si=zsHGWx__FmsmtyZA

Little Esther Phillips – “Release Me”

https://youtu.be/kap6KXG9fxs?si=bkDoqSiGxjq2JgIn

Carlos Vidal – “Descarga Cubana”

https://youtu.be/fd0aXzkB3Tg?si=PGY7j3mWeuvJgSUO