Song · The Grateful Dead
“Bertha” by The Grateful Dead
“Bertha” by The Grateful Dead appears on 13 radio countdowns from 5 stations between 1991 and 2025. Its best result is #128 on the WNEW Firecracker 500 (1996). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #1,711 indie & aaa song of all time.
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"Bertha" made its first appearance on a live record. Jerry Garcia, the Grateful Dead's lead guitarist and singer, wrote it with lyricist Robert Hunter, and the version that opens Grateful Dead, the band's second live album, released on September 24, 1971, was taped at the Fillmore East in New York on April 27 of that year, one of three new songs on the set. A year later it turned up again as the B-side of "One More Saturday Night".
After that it never really left the stage: the Dead kept it in their shows from 1971 right up to their breakup in 1995, and fans and critics alike count it among the best things the band ever did.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
Classic Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 183 | WNEW-FM | WNEW Firecracker 500 (1991) | 500 |
| 1996 | 128 | WNEW-FM | WNEW Firecracker 500 (1996) | 500 |
| 1997 | 590 | 102.3 WBAB | WBAB Top 1,023 Rock and Roll Songs of All Time (1997) | 1023 |
| 2010 | 209 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010) | 885 |
| 2019 | 755 | WYEP | WYEP Big Spring Countdown 2019 | 1017 |
| 2019 | 755 | WYEP | WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019 | 1099 |
| 2020 | 1200 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
| 2021 | 420 | Q104.3 | Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2021) | 1043 |
| 2022 | 630 | Q104.3 | Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2022) | 1043 |
| 2023 | 343 | WYEP | WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 | 1229 |
| 2023 | 183 | Q104.3 | Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2023) | 1043 |
| 2024 | 370 | Q104.3 | Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2024) | 1043 |
| 2025 | 350 | Q104.3 | Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2025) | 1043 |
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