Expost: Art Johnson, "Uncommon Common," Berkeley Tribe, August 22-29, 1969, pp. 5, 24; "at the square dance on Tuesday [sic], a new San Francisco band made its debut, sort of. The New Riders of the Old Purple Sage, with Jerry Garcia and Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead, and starring the fair-haired John Dawson on vocal and acoustical guitar. The sound was as smooth as the Dead is, yet it had this sweet country pulse and tune that just made you swoon" (p. 5).