Palo Alto had something going on in the late 60s, with free concerts in the downtown El Camino Park, the thriving Poppycock club and the occasional Stanford rock concert. Yet live rock music had almost evaporated in Palo Alto in the early 1970s. Unlike most towns, Palo Alto had no problem with protest, anti-war sentiment, weed, long hair or the threat of promiscuity. Palo Alto had been a nexus of ban-the-bomb liberalism since the 1950s, and parents were not threatened if their kids became hippies. What Palo Alto didn't like was noise and hassle downtown. The free concerts were chased away, ultimately to paid gigs at Stanford's Frost Amphitheatre, and the Poppycock got no love. It would close by mid-1970.
Palo Alto would re-assert itself later on, as it always does. As Silicon Valley began to thrive, the Keystone Palo Alto became the premier South Bay rock club soon after it opened in 1977. By 1986, Bill Graham Presents had opened the Shoreline Amphitheatre, so every major rock act would play the town next to Palo Alto. Of course, Shoreline was actually in Mountain View, the next town over, because actual live rock music was noisy. Hey, Palo Alto never changes.
There was an interregnum, however, in the 1970s. There were no thriving original rock clubs in Palo Alto, no permanent rock concert venues either, and only the most grudging concessions to live rock from Stanford University. This post will review live rock concerts in the Palo Alto and Stanford area from 1974 through 1977, when it seemed like Palo Alto's tendency to avoid excitement of any sort had chased rock out of town.
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| The Grateful Dead's concert at Maples Pavilion on February 9, 1973 was a memorable event in Palo Alto and Stanford rock history |
Palo Alto Rock and Roll Status Report: End of 1973
Despite the desires and hopes of Stanford students and Palo Alto teenagers, neither place was conducive to rock and roll by the end of 1973. Palo Alto's only rock club, Homer's Warehouse, had booked Jerry Garcia, Commander Cody and other fun bands, but it had closed for good by December. Palo Alto had a few potential venues--the Baylands softball field, El Camino Park, Mayfield School and some other places--but exactly none of them were being used for live rock music.
Stanford, meanwhile, had
banned rock music from Frost Amphitheatre, its biggest, most appealing venue, at exactly the
time when live rock had expanded enough that major acts could fill it. Maples Pavilion was an alright venue, but Stanford seemed
grudging about booking rock bands there. In any case, basketball
dominated the weekends there, and they wouldn't use it during the
summer. There were a few smaller venues on campus, but the market wasn't
really going that way. Anyway, Stanford didn't care about booking rock bands.
That left Marine World Aftica USA over in Redwood City on Saturday nights. There were actually some good bands there, but rock and roll was supposed to be about rebellion and changing times, right? How did going to an animal-and-aquatic-themed park make you feel rebellious? Any rockers or aspiring rockers in Palo Alto had to look to San Francisco or Berkeley for hope. Palo Alto, as always, seemed to be a hotbed of social rest, and just a place where rock and rollers were From.
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| The fully restored Stanford Theater, as it appeared in 2011, was a creaky old dowtown movie house (built 1925) when it was turned into a rock (and theater) venue called the Stanford Music Hall in 1974 |
Live Rock in Palo Alto and Stanford, 1974-77
This post will review the live rock concerts in the Palo Alto and Stanford area from 1974 through '77. It follows our previous post reviewing concerts in the area from 1970 through 1973. Throughout these periods there was a thriving audience for concerts, yet Stanford and Palo Alto were resistant to allowing any of the available venues to be used for rock concerts. Elsewhere I have tracked the parallel story of rock nightclubs in Palo Alto. The Poppycock (at 135 University Avenue, downtown) stopped booking rock bands in early 1970, replaced soon after by a jazz-oriented hybrid, In Your Ear. In Your Ear, however, ended its tenure when it burned down on New Year's Eve 1972. The funky Homer's Warehouse had opened in 1973, across the tracks from downtown, but it too had closed.
While Stanford returned to the live rock concert business in the middle-70s, it did so rather grudgingly. This post will focus on the concerts rather than Palo Alto nightclubs. In January 1975, Ken Rominger had opened Sophie's at 260 South California, which booked original rock acts along with Top 40. In an earlier post I looked at the evolution of Sophie's bookings throughout 1976. By 1977, Palo Alto was ripe for another rock nightclub, and Berkeley's Freddie Herrera took over Sophie's with much fanfare in the first half of 1977. Things went surprisingly poorly, but in my prior Palo Alto post we saw how Herrera righted the ship, and how the Keystone Palo Alto (with a little help from Jerry Garcia) found its own identity. The Sophie's/Keystone Palo Alto story runs in parallel with the concert story of this post, but I only generally allude to it in order to keep the size of the post under control.
If anyone has with memories, recollections, insights or corrections about Palo Alto and Stanford concerts from 1974 through 1977, please put them in the Comments. Flashbacks always welcome.
January 18, 1974 Maples Pavilion, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Cheech and Chong (Friday)
Cheech & Chong were definitely rock and roll, even though they were comedians. Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong recorded hip comedy about dope, cops, getting high and other hippie adventures. Tracks from their comedy albums were played on FM radio station with great regularity, and the duo's catch phrases were local hippie code ("Dave's not here"). The duo's current album was Los Cochinos, released on Ode Records in August '73. The most popular track was a silly ditty called "Basketball Jones." Cheech & Chong's dope humor was already seeming a bit passe, but Los Cochinos would reach #2 on the Billboard charts.
Cheech and Chong had played Stanford before, headlining early and late shows at 1700-seat Memorial Auditorium back on June 23, 1972 (supporting their Big Bambu album). Elvin Bishop had opened for them. I assume a rock band opened for the duo at the Maples Pavilion basketball arena, capacity 8000. The Stanford Daily complained that they only did a 50-minute set. Now, to be fair, I don't think Cheech & Chong were funny for more than 50 minutes, but it probably didn't seem like a concert bargain.
Just to be clear, I was a high school student a few miles away and was dying to go this show.
March 15, 1974 Campus Center, Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, CA: Sons of Champlin/Congress of Wonders (Friday)
The Foothill College campus in Los Altos Hills had opened in 1961, and it had played its part in the '60s Bay Area rock music explosion. The original version of the Chocolate Watch Band, San Jose's finest '60s rock band, had formed at Foothill. There had been various concerts in the Foothill gym and caferia during that decade, as well. By the '70s, however, Foothill had all but ceased having rock events on campus. This wasn't some sort of cultural choice--it's just that the student body was rapidly expanding, and the facilities were constantly in use. The Foothill Gym, for example, supported numerous college sports teams. The Campus Center, as far as I can determine, was the main hall of the student union. It too would have usually been busy, but Winter Quarter was ending.
The Sons Of Champlin had been an original 60s Fillmore band, and through thick and thin had stayed together. The Sons' most recent album had been the great Welcome To The Dance, released in '73 on Columbia. The band had gotten dropped by Columbia, but they would be among the first local bands in the 70s to release their own album. Congress of Wonders, a hip comedy duo from Berkeley that had released two albums on Fantasy, made one of their last appearances.
April 4, 1974 Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Firesign Theater (Thursday) Benefit for KZSU
Similar to Cheech & Chong, while the Firesign Theater
were comedians, their presence on the Stanford campus was definitely a
rock and roll event. The Firesign Theatre had become well-known
improvising hip comedy on KPFK-fm rock radio in LA. By 1968, however,
the troupe was recording sophisticated comedy albums for Columbia, with
elaborate scripts, overdubs and stereo sound effects. Cuts from their
albums were regularly played on FM rock radio. The Firesign Theatre's
third album Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers, released
on Columbia in July, 1970, was a huge underground hit. The album was a
continuous "radio drama" over both sides of the LP. It was regularly
played in dorms and FM radio throughout the country. Their most recent
album was Tale Of The Giant Rat of Sumatra, released on Columbia in January of '74.
April 8, 1974 Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Jesse Colin Young/Mike Bloomfield-Mark Naftalin (Monday) 7:30 & 10:00pm
Jesse Colin Young had left the Youngbloods back in '72, and was now a solo artist on Warner Brothers. His second solo album, Song For Juli was very popular on Bay Area FM radio. Radio was more regionalized in this era, so Young didn't have a big following elsewhere. Young's next solo album, Light Shine, would be released shortly after this concert. Young played guitar on stage, although he had played mainly bass with the Youngbloods. He had a lively band, too with Scott Lawrence on keyboards and Charlie McCarthy on soprano sax (plus Kelly Brown on bass and Jeff Myer on drums).
Mike Bloomfield was a genuine legend, but he didn't like to tour and he hadn't had a successful record in at least 5 years. He was satisfied playing around the Bay Area, gigging at nightclubs and opening for other bands. He generally played with the same pool of musicians, but he didn't rehearse, so his sets alternated between brilliant and sloppy. For this show, he was backed by bandleader Mark Naftalin on piano and Hammond organ, along with drummer George Rains and bassist Roger "Jelly Roll" Troy.
Per the Stanford Daily reviewer Jay Harlow in the April 11 paper, the packed Monday night crowd included "half the high-school age population of Palo Alto." That may have been true--certainly, I was in high school and I was there. According to Harlow, Bloomfield was a later arrival and simply walked directly on to the stage as the band was announced. I do recall Bloomfield tuning his guitar while he took his first solo. Bloomfield's performance was loud but ragged, with some nice moments when Bloomfield soloed, while Jelly Roll sang some slow blues. The set ended on an odd note, with Bloomfield inviting a young, unknown guitarist (I think named Mark Silverman?) on to the stage, while sitting himself down to wail away on the Hammond organ.
Jesse Colin Young, in contrast, was smooth and well-rehearsed. He did much of Song For Juli (which I knew pretty well) and a couple of Youngblood's classics. Young didn't have a lead guitarist, and Lawrence and McCarthy took the soloes on electric piano and soprano sax, giving them a distinctly soft-rock feel. I was 15 years old and thought both bands were great. It was my sixth concert ever, as I recall.
May 2, 1974 Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Gordon Lightfoot/Doc and Merle Watson (Sunday)
Frost Amphitheatre was a beautiful grassy bowl at the edge of campus, at Campus Drive and Galvez Street. Frost was situated somewhat between downtown Palo Alto and the Stanford Shopping Center. It had been built in 1937, to honor a student who had passed away. Frost had a seated capacity of about 6,900, but without seats it could absorb as many as 11,000. Frost was mostly used for graduation, speeches and major events. For the most part, it had been too large for the rock shows of the 60s (at that time, Fillmore West had a capacity of around 2500, and Frost was over four times that).
By the early 1970s, however, the rock market had expanded considerably, as had sound systems, and the pleasant, centrally located Frost Amphitheatre seemed custom-made for big rock concerts. Since the Amphitheatre wasn't far from the Football Stadium, there was plenty of parking as well. Starting in 1969, Stanford booked more and more weekend afternoon concerts at Frost. In the Summer of 1970, there had been a whole series of rock shows at Frost.
As I discussed in an earlier post in this series, an October 9, 1970 Friday night show with Sly And The Family Stone was mishandled by security and numerous "gate crashers" were allowed into the show to avoid prospective trouble. Santa Clara County Sheriff's Deputies clashed with local hippies who believed "music should be free." Stanford decided never to hold evening concerts at Frost. The next Summer, Cold Blood and Elvin Bishop were booked for a Sunday afternoon show on July 18, 1971. Although both bands had a certain following, neither had the pull to pack Frost. As it happened, Santana, then one of the most popular bands in the country, chose to use the show to debut their new lineup, which included guitarist Neal Schon.
Palo Alto teenagers all knew how to sneak into Frost--most of the time the unlocked amphitheatre functioned as a public park--and all of them tried to do it to see Santana. There was another running clash with Sheriff's deputies and the locals, and things went really badly. Bottles were thrown, numerous people were injured and the vibe was very bad. It's hard not to note that when Stanford had acts whose audiences were not entirely white, the Sheriff's Deputies were "un-mellow." In any case, Stanford University had responded to the Cold Blood debacle by banning rock concerts from Frost Amphitheatre.
There were still regular concerts at Frost Amphitheatre, but the bookings were limited to acoustic folk music like Joan Baez or jazz. Ok, sure, the first jazz concert after the Frost rock concert band had featured Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders (October 3, 1971), so the University's position hardly made any rational sense. Nonetheless, the "no-rock" status quo had continued for the next few years.
Gordon Lightfoot was typical of the type of Frost booking that made Stanford comfortable. The Canadian Lightfoot had been a successful songwriter since the mid-60s, but in the early 70s he became a nationally successful performer as well. In January 1974, Reprise Records had released Sundown, his tenth album. Both the album and the title track single reached #1 on the Billboard charts. According to Danny Scher, the student head of ASSU (Associated Students of Stanford University) Special Events, Frost was at capacity with 11,000 tickets sold. I think it may have rained this day, not unheard of in May in the pre-Global Warming era.
Opening was legendary North Carolina guitarist and singer Doc Watson (1923-2012), supported with his talented son Merle. Doc had been playing Stanford and Palo Alto as far back as the mid-60s. With the decline of the Folk Revival, Doc's recording career wasn't thriving in the early 70s, as he had been dropped by Vanguard and would not be picked up by major labels. Doc was touring with a trio that had Merle on guitar and bassist T. Michael Coleman. As for the music, Doc Watson live was always exceptional, and he would continue to shine on stage well into the 21st century.
KFJC (89.7 fm, known locally as "The Fine 89") was a 10-watt campus radio station that was only audible in Santa Clara County and parts of the Peninsula, basically from Northern San Jose to about Belmont. Nonetheless, in the next several years KFJC and Stanford's KZSU drew meaningful audiences. Both stations, along with UC Berkeley's KALX and KUSF, would play important roles in the punk, new wave and alternative universes that were follow. This specific benefit concert was to allow KFJC to upgrade its transmitter to stereo.
The Sons Of Champlin headlined the benefit, and according to long-ago memories they absolutely killed it. The band had just headlined at Foothill a few months earlier (see March 15 1974, above). The Foothill KFJC Benefit was also the debut of the band Kingfish. Kingfish rehearsed in Palo Alto, perhaps the last band to form when downtown rehearsal space on Hamilton Avenue was still cheap enough to rent. Kingfish's bandleader was Matthew Kelly, who had lead 60s bands like Horses and Shango. His partner in crime had been bassist and singer Dave Torbert, who had started out the 1970s as a member of the New Riders of The Purple Sage. After five successful albums with the Riders, Torbert had rather unexpectedly left them to team up with his old pal Kelly. Shortly after this, Kingfish would leave to spend much of the summer in Juneau, AK. When they returned to California, they would be joined by no less than Bob Weir, but that was still in the future.
August 3, 1974 Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Loggins & Messina/Tim Buckley (Saturday)
Although rock music was banned from Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford crept closer to lifting the ban by allowing ASSU to book Loggins & Messina. On July 9, the Stanford Daily published a guarded article explaining the compromise.
Loggins, Messina To Play Despite Rock Moratorium-Mark Simonian, Stanford Daily July 9 1974
The moratorium on rock music in Frost Amphitheatre imposed by the Committee on Public Events in 1971 may slowly be on its way out, signaled by the appearance of Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina here on August 3.
University Public Events Director Thomas Bacchetti admitted that the Loggins and Messina concert "might be a step in that direction," but reaffirmed that total elimination of the moratorium is not imminent.
The University committee declared a moratorium on rock concerts in Frost after several persons were injured at a July 18, 1971 Cold Blood-Elvin Bishop concert...
Bachetti stressed that the University will continue to exercise its judgement in imposing the ban, depending on the concert producers, the artists and the type of audience the artists are expected to draw...
I am told Loggins and Messina are not rock," [Bacchetti]said, "and I am willing to accept that." Bachetti said that ASSU Special Events Director Dan Scher characterized Loggins and Messina as playing "mellow blues-oriented stuff. And I have a considerable amount of trust in Dan Scher."...
A more peaceful audience is also expected for Loggins and Messina, Bachetti said. A different type of person is attracted to that group's softer music, he commented.
The convoluted language only makes sense in its real context. Stanford had problems at Frost with Sly and The Family Stone (Fall '70) and Santana (Summer '71), both popular with broad, non-white audiences. Stanford got anxious about non-white audiences, and laid on heavy security. The overzealous Santa Clara County Sheriff's Deputies then overreacted to local white hippies trying to sneak in, and the crowd scenes escalated. Stanford did not actually need the revenue brought in by successful rock concerts, so they had arbitrarily declared a moratorium on rock concerts at Frost.
Kenny Loggins had been signed by Columbia as a solo artist, and Jim Messina had been assigned to produce him. Messina played a much larger role in the 1971 debut album than originally foreseen, and the pair ended up as a sort of "accidental duo." They went on to huge success, particularly with their 1972 single "Your Mama Don't Dance,' which would reach #4. By Summer '74, they had released three hit studio albums, and in April they had released the double-live album On Stage, which would reach #5. Loggins & Messina had a great live band, too, including Richard Greene on fiddle.
It's important to note that Loggins and Messina were definitely rock and roll. Soft rock and roll, sure, sensitive rock and roll, yes, but c'mon--their hit single was a genuine, swinging rock tune that you could snap your fingers to. But Loggins and Messina, through no fault of their own, appealed to an exclusively white audience, with a lot of girls, and a lot of girls on dates with well-behaved boyfriends, and to a largely non-druggy crowd. No funky dancing in the aisles, multi-colored audiences or calls to revolution. So, Stanford University was down for Loggins and Messina. ASSU Director Dan Scher knew perfectly well that saying Loggins & Messina played "mellow blues-oriented stuff" was misleadingly absurd, but that was required to put the show on. I know a few people who went--apparently it was sold out, a great show and everyone had fun.
Tim Buckley (1947-75) was a talented singer with a powerful voice. He was kind of a cult item, and never got any popular traction while he was performing. At the time, his most recent album was Sefronia, released on the DiscReet lable. Buckley was managed by Herb Cohen, who also managed Frank Zappa. His son, Jeff Buckley, had a similar career arc, and also died young (1966-97).
August 9-10, 1974 Jungle Theater, Marine World Africa USA, Redwood City, CA: Boz Scaggs (Friday-Saturday)Marine World was a 60s-era park that was kind of miniature Sea World, half-aquarium and half water skiing with Orcas. It was owned by the ABC television network. The park was at Redwood Shores, a landfill near the Redwood City harbor, just 12 miles North of Palo Alto. Marine World didn't succeed, however, and in 1972 it had merged with Africa USA. It evolved into a zoo/aquarium/water-skiing-with-Orcas/lions jumping-through-hoops kind of place.
One of Marine World Africa USA's features was music shows at the 3800-capacity Jungle Theater. Starting in 1972, on some Saturday nights in the Summer, Marine World Africa USA booked "name" acts that had released albums. The idea was that they could draw teenagers and college students on date night. Admission to the concert included admission to the park. There were a lot of suburban teenagers who had access to their parents' car, but who wouldn't have had permission to go to Winterland. Marine World gave them a chance to see a "real" band in a suburban environment.
Marine World had been all-in the Summer of 73, with headline acts (like Boz Scaggs and Donny Hathaway) almost every weekend. It was a lot more sedate by the next Summer, due to local noise complaints. Concerts were limited to a five week window.
Boz Scaggs had been a local favorite for some time, but after the release of his sixth album Slow Dancer in March 1974, and a local hit with "You Make It Hard (To Say No)" his ship was finally coming in. Scaggs also had a great band, led by guitarist Les Dudek.
August 17, 1974 Jungle Theater, Marine World Africa USA, Redwood City, CA: Cold Blood/Gideon and Power (Saturday)
Cold Blood had a new album on Warners (Lydia, their 5th album, named after lead singer Lydia Pense and produced by Steve Cropper), but they weren't a big deal. Gideon & Power was a sort of gospel-rock act led by singer Gideon Daniels. At this time, the band probably included organist Melvin Seals (later well-know from the Jerry Garcia Band) and singer Mickey Thomas (who would go on to have hits with Elvin Bishop and Jefferson Starship). After 1974, however, local objections to the concerts ended Marine World rock bookings.
August 30-31, 1974 Jungle Theater, Marine World Africa USA, Redwood City, CA: Elvin Bishop/Stoneground (Friday and Saturday)
Elvin Bishop had moved to the Bay Area in late 1968. When he had formed the Elvin Bishop Group in 1969, Freddie Herrera had booked him regularly at the Keystone Korner. Bishop had been signed by Bill Graham and released two albums on Fillmore, the BGP Columbia imprint. When that label folded, Epic had picked Bishop up, then dropped him after another album. Bishop had reformulated his group and gotten signed by Capricorn Records, the Allman Brothers label. Elvin Bishop's first album for Capricorn, Let It Flow, had been released in May 1974.
Stoneground had broken up in 1973, but reformed again in mid-74.
This new Stoneground only had guitarist and singer Tim Barnes and singer
Annie Sampson from the original incarnation. Jo Baker, former lead
singer for the Elvin Bishop Group (in 1970-72), was also on board.
September 7, 1974 Jungle Theater, Marine World Afric USA, Redwood City, CA: Boz Scaggs (Saturday)
Boz Scaggs returned after his successful weekend in August.
September 20-21 Jungle Theater, Marine World Africa USA, Redwood City, CA: Tower Of Power/Night Shift (Friday-Saturday)
Oakland's Tower Of Power had gone national, but they still played the Bay Area regularly. They had released their fourth album, Back To Oakland, in February 1974. An audience tape from one of the nights floats around.
Night Shift was led by guitarist and singer Frank Biner, and were regulars at the Keystone Berkeley.
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| An ad in the September 6 Palo Alto Times for the New Varsity Theater shows the spectrum of movies (then called "Repertory") and the upcoming live show by The Sons Of Champlin |
The 802-seat Varsity Theater had opened in 1928, and it had been one of the main downtown movie theaters since then, along with the Stanford. The Varsity was at 456 University, two doors down from the original site of Palo Alto's legendary St. Michael's Alley coffee shop (at 436), downtown's first bohemian hangout. Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter first became friends hanging out all night at St. Michael's Alley over a 50 cent cup of coffee.
In the Fall of 1972, the sleepy Varsity had initiated "Midnight Movies" every Saturday night. There was nothing to do in downtown Palo Alto--no bars, no trouble to get into, and Baskin-Robbins closed about 11:00pm. The first Midnight Movie was Frank Zappa's 200 Motels. Since no drinks were served--there were other ways--high school and college students could go. The first night, there was a huge line. Everyone who was restless in Palo Alto--pretty much everyone under 24--was there. The Midnight Movies ran until at least 1975, but that first year, they were must-do events. Remember, there were no video stores, no cable and regular TV went off the air soon after midnight. The Varsity would run double features. We would be out watching "The Harder They Come" and "O Lucky Man" until 4 am. Palo Alto was ripe.
In early 1974, the Varsity was purchased by new investors, both of whom had made their money in new technology, and had just invested in real estate ever since. Tom Corbin (medical devices) and Glen Lutge (electronics) turned out to be a harbinger of downtown Palo Alto's future, Silicon Valley money accelerating the development of University Avenue. The pair changed the Varsity from first-run movies to "Repertory," which in those days meant a foreign movie (e.g. Fellini's Roma) or a "cult" movie (e.g. Night Of The Living Dead) would run for a few days at a time. They also opened a little restaurant in the lobby, and changed the name to the New Varsity. In September, they started having shows on the theater stage, including rock concerts. First up was the Sons Of Champlin, supported by a Santa Cruz band called Timber Creek (previously known as Mose). The early show time of 6:30 shows how sleepy Palo Alto was. In any case, Corbin and Lutge were the first to catch on that Palo Alto was ripe for investment--people had money and needed something fun to do.
October 5, 1974 Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Sunshine Daydream Premiere (Saturday) 8:00 & 10:00pm
An unexpected rock and roll event at Stanford was the premier showing of the unfinished Sunshine Daydream Grateful Dead concert movie, filmed in Veneta, OR on August 27, 1972. The movie was eventually completed and released on DVD by The Grateful Dead in 2013, but before that it was a bootleg, and before that it was just a rumor. The first real sign of its existence was a showing at a fund-raising event for the film itself at Memorial Auditorium. Both showings were apparently packed, per a review in the Stanford Daily (which can be read at the indispensable Dead Sources).
The Sunshine Daydream movie project had Stanford roots. Filmmaker Philip DeGuerre had been a Stanford student (class of '66), and he had hosted a Tuesday night KZSU show as far back as '63 that broadcast tapes from the Top Of The Tangent at 117 University. Did you ever wonder how those Jerry Garcia tapes from the early 60s got made and preserved? It was to broadcast them on DeGuerre's Flint Hill Special show on KZSU. So when DeGuerre and some others asked the Dead about a concert film, he already had the bona fides. By the early 70s, DeGuerre had been in the film industry for several years (later, DeGuerre would go on to produce Black Sheep Squadron, Simon & Simon and the re-booted Twilight Zone).
Few people outside of the Stanford campus read the Stanford Daily. Nonetheless, I recall being aware of this showing, so it must have been listed in the Palo Alto Times (which often listed special movies at Stanford). I was a teenage know-it-all, and persuaded myself that there couldn't be a movie of the Grateful Dead that I didn't know about. I assumed it was the 7-minute short called Grateful Dead, by filmmaker Robert Nelson. I didn't go. Some months later, at a Journey concert in San Mateo--don't ask--I met a girl from my High School who had gone. I was dismayed indeed to find out that I shoulda been there. Let it be a cautionary tale. I had to wait another few decades to actually see Sunshine Daydream.
October 6, 1974 Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Joan Baez/Mimi Farina (Sunday)It was a big weekend on the Stanford campus. On Friday, there had been a double showing of the Grateful Dead movie. On Saturday, Stanford had hosted #3 Michigan. The Indians (remember, they were the Stanford Indians) with Mike Cordova at QB, would lose 27-16. On Sunday, Joan Baez headlined at Frost Amphitheatre. Baez wasn't rock, but she appealed to a rock demographic, of sorts, she was local (she had gone to Palo Alto High School and now lived nearby) and she was a big star. Her sister Mimi Farina, also talented but not as famous, was in support. Baez sold out Frost, without any kind of current hit. It was a sign of how big the rock market was at the time.
October 19, 1974 Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Doc & Merle Watson/John Fahey (Saturday) 7:30 & 10:00pm
Doc and Merle Watson returned to the campus, with two shows at Memorial Auditorium. Anyone who had seen them with Gordon Lightfoot would have been plenty impressed, and likely returned for more.
Opener John Fahey was a truly legendary Berkeley guitarist, but far less accessible than Doc. Fahey had phenomenal techique, and had transformed his steel string acoustic blues picking into unique, extended compositions that defied categorization. Fahey had been playing around Berkeley and the Bay Area since the mid-60s, and had been an influence on Country Joe and The Fish, as well as other guitarists like Leo Kottke. He mostly released his recordings on his own Takoma label. Fahey, too was unforgettable, but not everyone wanted to see him twice.
November 9, 1974 Stanford Music Hall, Palo Alto, CA: Journey/Pablo Cruise/Fever (Saturday)
The Palo Alto and Stanford market was clearly lucrative. Tom Corbin and Glen Lutge, having bought and remodeled the Varsity (see September 13, 1974, above), bought another old movie palace on University Avenue. The Stanford Theater, at 221 University, had opened in 1925, and with 1300 seats, it was Palo Alto's grandest movie house. Yet by 1974, it was also the most rundown theater in downtown Palo Alto, showing second-run movies and weird junk. I recall seeing a Ray Harryhausen movie there (I think Golden Voyage of Sinbad) and also a rare theatrical showing of Neil Young's Journey Through The Past around this time. The place was a real dump (in 1987, the Stanford Theater was bought by Palo Alto billionaire David Packard and restored to its former glory).
Corbin and Lutge planned to remodel the Stanford into a real theater, with musicals, symphony orchestras and light opera. This would distinguish it from the smaller New Varsity, just down the street, which was intended to have more of a cabaret feel. Although I know little about the South Bay theater scene, there were apparently no venues for musicals in the region, either. Plans were made to book extended runs of shows like Oklahoma!. In the short term, however, the theater booked rock concerts, promoted by Glen Lutge and his son Randy. First up was two hot new bands from the Bay Area.
Journey was a new group that had not yet
released an album. Of course, since the band featured two former members
of Santana, and had already been signed to Columbia Records for several months,
they had a much higher profile than other local groups. Organist and singer Gregg Rolie was from Palo Alto (Cubberley HS '65), and guitarist Neal Schon was also from the Peninsula, so they had both surely seen movies at the Stanford as kids.
Opening act Pablo Cruise also had its roots in Palo Alto. One member of Pablo Cruise was even from Palo Alto. Pianist Cory Lerios and had gone to Palo Alto High School. Lerios had been in a band that had played the free concerts at Lytton Plaza back in '68 and '69, and then both Lerios and drummer Steve Price had ended up in a band called Together. Lerios and Price had left Together for Stoneground in 1971. They had left Stoneground in 1973 to form Pablo Cruise with guitarist David Jenkins and bassist Bud Cockrell (ex-It's A Beautiful Day). Pablo Cruise's debut album on A&M would come out in 1975. At this time, they had probably just been signed.
Fever was a Palo Alto club act, a regular group in Top 40 bars, but I think they played some originals as well. An enthusiastic review in the Stanford Daily praised Journey (Joan Hinman, November 12), but reported that the concert was just half full.
November 16, 1974 New Varsity Theater, Palo Alto, CA: Steamin Freeman (Saturday) Midnight
The New Varsity booked a band instead of movies for this midnight. By this time, the Midnight Movies had lost some of their allure. The local teenagers had seen all the good circulating cult movies by this time (Gimme Shelter, King Of Hearts etc) and you could only go the Varsity so many times. Steamin Freeman was a popular Berkeley band, led by violinist Freeman Lockwood, and including keyboard player Dorothy Moskowitz (ex-Country Joe and various other ensembles). Steamin' Freeman, to my knowledge, played sort of hippie country rock.
Concerts at the New Varsity never became a regular event, but they never quite went away. Once a bar opened at the New Varsity, in the early 80s, shows were somewhat viable for a while, despite the small size (true story: once I stood next to Van Morrison in the urinal at the New Varsity). The patio area also had music, and some popular local acts like Michael Hedges and Tuck & Patti got known there. So Corbin and Lutge were right about downtown Palo Alto and right about the New Varsity, even if they were several years early (I do not know exactly when they sold out).
Glen and Randy Lutge tried again with another rock show on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. Stoneground was a pretty good group, actually, but ever-sniffy Palo Altans tended to dismiss them as out-of-date, albeit without having heard them. Opening act Crossfire included various veteran Bay Area musicians (guitarist Gary Pihl and organist Mitch Froom, for example).
A Palo Alto Times review said that both bands played well, but that only a few hundred patrons showed up. The Stanford Theater mostly focused on stage shows for the next several months, although those did not do particularly well, either. Palo Altans will tolerate many kinds of nonsense, but only if they think it is new or interesting. If something is old, or has been popular in other (less cool) places, the locals lose interest.
December 31, 1974 Stanford Music Hall, Palo Alto, CA: Kingfish/Osiris (Tuesday)
The Stanford Music Hall hosted a New Year's Eve concert featuring Bob Weir. The Grateful Dead had stopped performing in October, 1974, and Weir had recently joined the band Kingfish, which featured former New Rider Dave Torbert. At this time, Weir had only played a few dates with Kingfish.
I have discussed the history of the Kingfish New Year's Eve show at great length, and I also have discussed the performance history of Kingfish in great detail, so I don't need to recap it all here. Suffice to say both Weir and Kingfish leader Matthew Kelly, an old junior high school pal of his, had grown up in nearby Atherton. Atherton had no movie theaters of its own, so no doubt both Weir and Kelly had been to the Stanford Theater to see movies on many occasions.
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| Kevin "Mickey" McKernan, letting it shine with Osiris sometime in the 1970s |
The New Year's Eve show was promoted by a Palo Alto character named Paul Currier, well-known around the local hippie underground. According to various long-ago eyewitnesses, the stage at the Stanford was not in good shape, and lots of work was needed before the show to get it ready. Opening act Osiris was also a Palo Alto band. On organ, and sometime lead vocalist, was Kevin "Mickey" McKernan, Pigpen's younger brother. According to many reliable eyewitnesses, Osiris did a fine version of "Turn On Your Lovelight," with Mickey sounding very much a member of the McKernan clan (here's a demo recording of McKernan and Osiris).
Taj Mahal had released his seventh studio album on Columbia, Mo Roots, in 1974. Mahal was seen as a "rock artist," although he only generally fell into the category, in that he was mainly popular with white rock audiences. Mo Roots, in fact, was primarily a reggae album. At this time, Taj fronted a 7-piece band that included guitarist Hoshal Wright. Street Corner Symphony is unknown to me.
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| An ad in the October 15, 1974 Stanford Daily for the opening of Sophie's, a nightclub at 260 S. California in Palo Alto. Although initially a Top 40 club, original rock acts did play there regularly. Ultimately the venue became Keystone Palo Alto. |
Sophie's, 260 South California Avenue
Palo Alto was booming. Even if residents didn't know it at the time, Silicon Valley was starting to form, and the money was starting to roll in. As for Stanford University, after many decades as a "respectable" but second-tier private school, the financial innovations of the 1950s that had led to industrial parks and Stanford Shopping Center gave the University the funding to have some academic clout. The long-haired computer geeks on and off campus all liked rock and roll, and they needed somewhere to go. There wasn't a rock club that booked original rock on the Peninsula.
Sophie's had opened in January 1975, and slowly that started to change. Sophie's had been opened by Ken Rominger. Rominger had a club in nearby Campbell, a San Jose suburb, called The Bodega (at 30 South Central, near The Pruneyard). The Bodega was mainly a Top 40 bar. It is widely forgotten that Silicon Valley began as a manufacturing center, with silicon chips replacing fruit in the Santa Clara Valley. Workers on a semiconductor line wanted a cold one at 5:00pm, and maybe to meet someone and dance, too. The Bodega, however, booked original rock bands on Thursday nights, although they were always groups like Elvin Bishop or the Sons, who still made sure everyone danced.
Mayfield and California Avenue
Palo Alto had been created out of thin air by railroad magnate Leland Stanford, to accommodate Stanford University. The nearest town to the designated site of the University was Mayfield, infamous for its numerous saloons. The temperate Leland Stanford offered to align the University to Mayfield, but only if they would close their saloons. Mayfield, of course, declined. Stanford and his partner Timothy Hopkins then purchased all the land between Mayfield and Menlo Park, and invented saloon-free Palo Alto. Palo Altans always looked down on Mayfield as uncultured ruffians, and Mayfield residents looked down on Palo Altans as a bunch of snobs. Palo Alto was founded in 1875. In 1975, when I graduated from Palo Alto High School, with Mayfield having been assimilated into Palo Alto 50 years earlier (in 1925), these attitudes were still embedded.
The main street for "downtown" for the original town of Mayfield was by now called California Avenue. In Mayfield days, it had been called Lincoln Avenue, but Palo Alto already had a Lincoln, so the street name was changed. While Mayfield was South of Palo Alto, by 1975 Palo Alto had spread much further South, beyond the confines of old Mayfield. Still, the "old" Palo Alto looked down on everything South of it. When Rominger chose a California Avenue location for his new nightclub, however, the civic forces of downtown Palo Alto had no objection. Mayfield had always been a bit rowdy, so a rock and roll nightclub on California Avenue seemed appropriate.
Sophie's was at
260 South California Avenue, at Birch Street, in "downtown Mayfield."
The site had been a Purity Supermarket back in the 60s, but more
recently it had been a German restaurant called Zinzinatti Oom Pah Pah. The Zinzinatti restaurant had various kinds of music, mostly polka and some bluegrass. That tells me that
the building was zoned for some kind of entertainment. In California
(and probably in most places), if a building is zoned as a nightclub,
it's easier to transform the venue than to find a new place and get it
approved.
The location was well-chosen, so well-chosen in fact that it would be a critical factor in the upgrade of Sophie's into the Keystone Palo Alto in January 1977. First of all, California Avenue is near the courthouse, so there was plenty of parking at night. Second of all, because of some odd geography involving the train tracks, there were no residences near the nightclub. This meant that no one would complain when noisy customers left the club at closing time.
Finally, in the era before GPS, it was easy to get to Sophie's without directions. 260 South California was two blocks from two of the main streets in Palo Alto, namely El Camino Real and Oregon Expressway. Since Oregon Expressway had its own freeway exit on US101 (the Bayshore Freeway), the directions to Sophie's were easy from anywhere in the South Bay or the Peninsula, near or far.
(Palo Alto note: almost all advertising for Sophie's and Keystone Palo Alto says "260 California" when in fact the address was 260 South California. North California Avenue was across the train tracks, and not a commercial district. Anyone who says "260 South California" instead of "260 California" is just a Palo Altan signaling to his or her own kind. Which, admittedly, is what I'm doing)
January 22, 1975 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Buddy Miles (Wednesday)
January 23, 1975 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders/Paul Pena (Thursday)
Sophie's opened in January 1975. Generally speaking, the club booked Top 40 bands, usually the same ones that played The Bodega. Because of its location, however, it started to book original music as well. And these weren't just up and coming bands--these were "real" groups with records. Unlike suburban San Jose, the Palo Alto semi-hippie programmers weren't working on an assembly line, and weren't just looking to dance at 5:00pm (insert your own joke here about whether they knew how to ask women to dance at all). They wanted to see the type of band you could see in San Francisco or Berkeley.
Buddy Miles (1947-2008) had been a big name in the 1960s, but he was seen as a bit over-the-hill by 1975. Still, Buddy had played drums and sung with the Electric Flag, Jimi Hendrix and Carlos Santana, and people still recognized his hit "Them Changes." At this time, Miles was finishing his contract with Columbia, and his most recent album was All The Faces Of Buddy Miles. By 1975, he would move to Casablanca Records for his next few albums. Presumably, Miles was on tour, and Sophie's filled in a Wednesday night. Sophie's was a Top 40 bar, yes, but it also served a purpose for touring rock bands.
On Thursday and Friday night, the headliner at Sophie's was no less than Jerry Garcia. Garcia played relentlessly around the Bay Area, and was a regular at the Keystone Berkeley and the Great American Music Hall. Sophie's gave him a stage in the South Bay. Needless to say, Garcia didn't have to worry about wearing out his audience with too many gigs.
Garcia would go on to play 260 S. California over 90 times, as both Sophie's and Keystone Palo Alto. Garcia audiences came early, stayed all night, and bought tons of drinks. Indeed, Garcia bookings were regularly the most profitable night of the month for every nightclub he played. Over the next two years, Sophie's would book more and more touring rock bands, and when Berkeley's Keystone took it over, it would become Palo Alto's principal full-time original rock club.
Opening act Paul Pena was a songwriter and guitarist from Pennsylvania. He had opened for the Dead in Philadelphia in February, 1969, and the band had invited him to call when he got to SF. By the time Pena moved in 1971, his eyesight had deteriorated and he was almost entirely blind. The Dead office went out of their way to help him. Pena lived near the Keystone Berkeley and often opened for Garcia (this is just a tiny part of Paul Pena's remarkable story).
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| An ad from the January 22, 1975 Stanford Daily |
January 26, 1975 Maples Pavilion, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Dave Mason/Journey (Sunday)
Stanford's Maples Pavilion basketball arena was the only viable mid-size arena in the South Bay. As the rock market had gotten bigger, there were more and more acts that could fill it, but Stanford never seemed anxious to put it to use. The Pavilion had opened in 1969, and there had been a Ray Charles concert. In late 1970, the University had apparently made some improvements to the Pavilion to make it more concert-friendly, but there still hadn't been much. The next school year only had the Moody Blues (December 3, 1970) and Chicago (April 16, 1971) at Maples. Subsequently, there were a few more: Stephen Stills Manassas (November 8, 1972), an epic Grateful Dead show (February 9, 1973), John Mayall (April 6, 1973) and then Hot Tuna (November 1973). I discussed all these shows in my prior Palo Alto concert post. 1974 had been dark, however, save for Cheech and Chong a full year earlier (see January 18, 1974, above).
Dave Mason was starting to get popular, and getting some good FM airplay, and there was a buzz about Journey, although they hadn't even released their new album. But the Dave Mason/Journey show was packed. There was a lot of pent-up interest to see a rock concert, not just from the campus but from High School students and regular folks around the area. Maples was big, easy to get to and the parking was good. The place was jammed.
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| Blue Thumb Records released Dave Mason's 1970 Alone Together lp on colored vinyl |
Dave Mason had left Traffic at the end of the 60s, and recorded his first solo album for Blue Thumb, hitherto a jazz label. Alone Together was famous for its release as a multi-colored picture disc, but it was also a great album that received huge airplay on all the new FM rock stations around the country. Instead of catapulting Mason to instant stardom, however, record company and management issues led to nothing but lawsuits. Mason hardly played live behind the album, and only some very weak and poorly distributed follow-ups came out, destroying any momentum.
By mid-1973, Mason had resolved his various issues, and Columbia had bought him out of the Blue Thumb contract. His first album for Columbia, It's Like You Never Left, had been released in October '73. Mason put together a killer live band and hit the road, hard. By January 1975, he had released another album, Dave Mason, and it was getting great airplay. Along with Mason's own "Show Me Some Affection," there were popular covers of "Bring It On Home To Me" and a Hendrix-style "All Along The Watchtower." Much was made of the fact that Mason had played on Hendrix's version (although Mason admitted his parts were likely all erased by Jimi's own overdubs). The album would go Gold, and reached #27 on Billboard.
I attended this concert. Mason had a complicated recording career, but that actually made for a great show. He played the best songs from Traffic, Alone Together and his recent albums, finishing it all with "Gimme Some Lovin," appropriately enough, as he had been a roadie for the Spencer Davis Group way back when. His band was killer--Jim Kreuger on second guitar, Mike Finnegan on organ, both on harmonies, and a thumping rhythm section (Rick Jaeger on drums and Bob Glaub on bass). Maples was packed, the crowd was excited--Palo Alto was ready for some serious rock and roll and Dave Mason delivered the goods.
Journey opened the show. There was a lot of hype about them, since Neal Schon and Gregg Rolie had been in Santana, and Aynsley Dunbar had been in many fine bands (Zappa, Bowie, etc). The crowd was enthusiastic, although I recall being distinctly underwhelmed. Their first album had probably already been recorded (it would come out in April), so I assume they played material from that. Journey was also on Columbia, so it made sense that the label was pairing them with the more established Dave Mason. The Stanford Daily enthusiastically praised both Mason and Journey in separate reviews.
April 4, 1975 San Jose Center For The Performing Arts, San Jose, CA: Santana/Journey (Friday) Bill Graham Presents
The San Jose Center for The Performing Arts, downtown at 255 S. Almaden Boulevard, had opened in 1972. It was the home of the San Jose Symphony and San Jose Light Opera (which presented musicals and other shows). In 1975, Bill Graham Presents started using the 2,677 seat hall for rock shows, starting with Santana and Journey. Up until this time, Graham had almost no presence in the South Bay, but from this time onwards, BGP regularly put on shows in San Jose. Typically, a touring band would have one night at San Jose and one or two nights in Berkeley Community Theater or Winterland.
The history of live rock in San Jose is a self-contained saga that I will tell some other time. The SJCPA, however was a lot nearer to Palo Alto than Winterland (18 miles vs 35 miles), so it was an appealing option for South Bay and Peninsula rock fans who didn't always want to go to San Francisco or Berkeley for shows. Ultimately it meant that there was less pressure on Stanford to book shows, although the rock market exploded so quickly in the mid-70s that it would not be obvious until a few years later.
April 25, 1975 Stanford Music Hall, Palo Alto, CA: Sons Of Champlin/Pablo Cruise (Friday) 7:30 & 10:00pmI'm not certain who promoted this concert, possibly the Lutges but possibly Andrew Bernstein and Rollie Grogan (see May 28 '75 below). Palo Alto Times reviewer Dan Roach praised the Sons and Pablo Cruise, but criticized the promoters for starting late and cutting off the early show. The Sons had added a horn section by this time. Apparently there were "good crowds" (per Dan Roach in the Times) for both shows, which was a promising sign.
May 28, 1975 Stanford Music Hall, Palo Alto, CA: Hot Tuna/Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen (Wednesday) 7:00 &10:00pm Andrew Bernstein and Rollie Grogan Present
The most prominent local promoters were the partnership of Andrew
Bernstein and Rollie Grogan. Bernstein had grown up in the Palo Alto
area, and had known Jerry Garcia and Pigpen back in the day. When the
pair had started their nightclub Homers's Warehouse, behind the Town
& Country Village shopping center and across from downtown, they had
booked Garcia numerous times. Homer's Warehouse was a converted
Quonset hut that sold a lot of beer, but in their year of existence they
had booked Old And In The Way, Garcia/Saunders, Elvin Bishop, Commander
Cody and many other popular club bands (fellow scholar CryptDev has the detailed breakdown).
Homer's Warehouse had closed by the end of 1973, done in by its tiny size, rowdy crowds--never ok in Palo Alto--and an uncomfortable landlord. But Grogan and Bernstein didn't give in. They thought bigger, putting on concerts in a variety of venues in the Palo Alto area for the next few years. Andrew Bernstein told the story in his 2013 memoir, California Slim: The Music, The Magic, The Madness. The first third of the book talks in detail about his time as a rock club owner and concert promoter in the Palo Alto area. Bernstein's colorful tale is full of details, of adventures with bands, bikers, the cops and other characters. It's an enjoyable read, but like many old hippie stories the details don't really add up. Many of the dates and details in the book were hardly fact-checked. While that didn't cut down on my enjoyment of it, a little leeway has to be accepted in the storytelling.
For example, Bernstein gives a detailed accounting of the team's first Palo Alto concert promotion after Homer's Warehouse. Grogan and Bernstein produced a show by Journey, who had not yet released an album. Bernstein went way back with Gregg Rolie (class of '65 from Palo Alto's Cubberly High), so he describes booking Journey's first Palo Alto concert, in Fall 1974.
Bernstein describes the planning and execution of the
Journey concert in great detail. Bernstein, however, describes the concert as having been at a
recently-closed polka club on California Avenue called Zinzinatti
Oom Pah Pah. There is no trace, however, of such an event. Of course, there was the concert held at the Stanford Music Hall on November 9, 1974 (see above). As for Zinzinnati Oom Pah Pah, it would become the rock club Sophie's (see below). The Palo Alto rock scene was so small that Bernstein was probably involved in both the remodeling of the Zinzinnati club and the Stanford Music Hall Journey concert, but he has completely conflated the two events. This is typical of the level of detail in his memoir. I have done my best to unpack Bernstein's memoirs (I would still
recommend the book, however, if you've read this far down my blog).
Rollie Grogan and Andrew Bernstein indeed promoted shows at the Stanford Music Hall. Their first confirmed promotion was two shows with Hot Tuna and Commander Cody. At this time, Hot Tuna had a unique lineup with Gregg Douglas on slide guitar, making for some great jamming with Jorma and Jack. Sadly, the lineup never recorded, but some great tapes circulate. Dan Roach of the Times reviewed the shows and particularly praised Douglas' playing. This was likely the last Hot Tuna show with Douglas on board. According to Bernstein's book, Hot Tuna jammed until 2:45am on the late show, only stopping because the Palo Alto police shut the concert down.
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen were a popular band in the Bay Area, but they had largely been treading water. They had exploded onto the scene in 1971 with their hit "Hot Rod Lincoln," but they had nothing nearly as successful afterwards. The band's hippie Western Swing sound was unique, and they killed it in clubs, but they didn't really sell any albums. The band had moved from Paramount Records to Warners, and their 1975 album was oriented more towards Eagles-like country-rock (a story captured in Geoffrey Stokes' interesting book Star-Making Machinery). The Airmen were always great live, but the switch to country rock didn't sell any more records.
June 1, 1975 Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Sons Of Champlin/Osiris (Sunday) free concert
The "moratorium" on rock concerts at Frost Amphitheatre was quietly lifted for a free concert with the Sons of Champlin and Osiris. The Sons had played Frost many times, going back to 1968. The Frost concert was sponsored by Row houses (Fraternities), dorms and the Student Union (ASSU). This would have been the week before finals.
June 8, 1975 El Camino Park, Palo Alto, CA: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders/Kingfish/The Rowans (Sunday)
Palo Alto actually had yet another excellent rock concert venue right on the edge of downtown. El Camino Park, at 100 El Camino Real, right across from the Stanford Shopping Center, had been built in 1914 and was Palo Alto's oldest park. It was mainly a grassy open field, surrounded by trees, with a softball diamond at the South end, and a soccer field on the opposite side. In the '60s, the local hippies realized what they had. Tolerant Palo Alto had no less than 5 free "Be-In" concerts in 1967 and '68. The most famous had the Grateful Dead (July 2, 1967), but they were well-attended and the crowds were genial.
Palo Alto, in the 60s and today, isn't like other places. Unlike other cities in the 60s, Palo Alto had no problem with long hair, opposition to the Vietnam War or topless girls. What they didn't like was noise. By Summer '69, the apartment across the street from the park (at 101 Alma) managed to shove a noise ordnance through that effectively banned rock concerts at El Camino Park (Palo Alto offered another site, far from downtown, but it didn't catch on).
For reasons that remain unclear, Palo Alto allowed two concerts to be booked in the Summer of '72, although I am only certain that one of them was held (on July 1, 1972). In 1975, Palo Alto agreed to another concert, featuring no less than Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir. Opening act The Rowans, featuring Chris, Lorin and Peter Rowan, was also Dead-affiliated. This 1975 show was well attended, and everyone was well-behaved. The show was presented by the Institute For Non-Violence, a local group associated with Joan Baez. Yet there has never been another concert at El Camino Park to this day. Dan Roach in the Times reported a huge crowd and great weather. As was common practice for the Dead--and no one else--putative headliner Jerry Garcia came on before Kingfish, letting Bob Weir rock out to end the show.
Songwriter Hoyt Axton arranged this benefit for Interplast, a non-profit organisation that provided free plastic surgery for Latin American patients with sever injuries, birth defects and deformities. Axton was a somewhat successful performer, but much better known as a songwriter for Three Dog Night ("Joy To The World" and "Never Been To Spain"), Steppenwolf ("The Pusher") and others. The show was booked from 1 to 5 pm, so sets were probably short. Sutro Sympathy Orchestra was a rock band from Reno.
August 9, 1975 Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Eric Clapton/Kingfish (Saturday) Concerts West Presents
Although the moratorium on Frost rock concerts from 1971 had been skirted with Loggins & Messina and seemingly rescinded with local bands Sons of Champlin and Osiris, there still hadn't been a Frost show with a high profile "real" rock and roller. The long drought ended with the arrival of Eric Clapton at Frost Amphitheatre.
Eric Clapton had stopped touring after 1970, grounded by drug and personal problems, but he only became bigger than ever. Clapton finally returned to the road after 1974, when he toured the UK and the States behind his album 461 Ocean Boulevard and his hit single "I Shot The Sheriff." Serious music fans already knew about Bob Marley, but it was Clapton who brought him to the masses. Clapton's Summer 1974 tour had been one of the major events of the rock year. In 1975, Clapton returned with another album There's One In Every Crowd. It wasn't that great an album, and it didn't feature particularly impressive guitar playing, but it didn't matter. He was still Eric, and that sufficed.
Clapton's national tour was promoted by Jerry Weintraub and Concerts West. Concerts West was a truly national operation, producing tours by the largest names in entertainment. Weintraub had established Concerts West by producing Elvis Presley's return to touring in 1970, and subsequently had produced tours by Led Zeppelin, Frank Sinatra, John Denver and other giants. Concerts West transcended local promoters, even Bill Graham. But, of course, Graham controlled all the Bay Area venues, so Concerts West had to find one he didn't control. Thus, Eric Clapton played Frost Amphitheatre, and it was such a major event it was written up in Billboard. The show was an instant sell-out.
I attended the show. It was a very hot day. Opening the show was Bob Weir and Kingfish. Although Kingfish was a club band, both Bob Weir and Dave Torbert had plenty of experience playing to big crowds, and they delivered a nice, rocking 50-minute set to open the show. Clapton was a bit lackluster to start, probably somewhat due to the heat. He had too many hits to even consider playing them all--he didn't even play "I Shot The Sheriff," but it hardly mattered. In the middle of the show, Clapton's band did the Cream chestnut 'Badge," and Eric let if fly. For the back half of the concert, Clapton reminded everyone of why they cared about his playing.
Clapton had toured the East Coast in the Summer double-billed with Santana, which itself was a big deal. Santana didn't play the Bay Area show. But sitting high up in the grassy bowl at Frost, we could see Carlos hovering by the side of the stage. For the encore, Carlos came out and joined Eric to burn through "Eyesight To The Blind." The Eric Clapton concert was a huge financial success, a huge musical success and caused no problems for Stanford. It remains one of the seminal events in Palo Alto rock history, remembered fondly by all who were there.
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| Palo Alto Times, September 11, 1975 |
September 13, 1975 Stanford Music Hall, Palo Alto, CA: Kingfish/Link Wray/Barry Melton (Saturday) Andrew Bernstein and Rollie Grogan Present
I attended this Kingfish concert, the week before I went off to college. The Summer I departed town, Eric Clapton had played less than a mile from my house, and then I walked to see Bob Weir downtown. It seemed like Palo Alto, a rock and roll desert while I was going to High School, was heating up on my departure. This was only partially true, but it was how it seemed to me at the time.
Kingfish put on a great show, as they always did during this period. The house was about 2/3 filled. Opening the show was Guitarist Link Wray, who had changed the rock world by inventing the power chord, with his 1958 instrumental hit "Rumble." He had moved to the Bay Area from Maryland in the early 70s. His 1973 Polydor album Be What You Want To had been recorded in San Francisco. Link was an unspectacular singer and writer, but his guitar playing had been so far ahead of its time that he still seemed contemporary. He was backed by a bass player and drummer. Barry "The Fish" Melton was added to the bill shortly before the show, and did a solo acoustic set.
The Palo Alto Times noted that this was the third Stanford Music Hall show promoted by Bernstein and Grogan. Thus either the April Sons show (April 25 '75, above) was their promotion, or I am missing one.
October 10, 1975 Flint Center, De Anza College, Cupertino, CA: Jerry Garcia Band (Friday)
The Associated Student Body of Foothill College presented the Jerry Garcia Band at De Anza (Community) College in Cupertino, a San Jose suburb just south of Palo Alto (the iPhone weather app defaults to Cupertino, since Apple Computers HQ is located there). De Anza was the "sister" college to Foothill, which was in the Los Altos Hills just above Palo Alto. Los Altos and Cupertino were on the Northern and Southern ends of Santa Clara County. The Foothill campus had opened in 1961, and De Anza in 1967. In 1971, De Anza opened the Flint Center, a 2400 seat auditorium at 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd (named after Chancellor Calvin Flint). Flint Center was only occasionally used for rock concerts.
Rollie Grogan and Andrew Bernstein actually produced the concert, on behalf of the Foothill students (per Jerrybase, Grogan actually signed the contract). Based on the financial results, the show drew a good crowd but not a packed house. The student papers at Foothill and DeAnza found Garcia to be anemic and dull. In the mid-70s, there were no Jerry Garcia Band recordings available, and casual fans expected Garcia to be more like the Dead. At this time, the Grateful Dead were not performing, and Garcia's band included Nicky Hopkins the "house pianist" for the Rolling Stones, along with Ron Tutt, the drummer for Elvis Presley.
October 19, 1975 Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Elvin Bishop/Cold Blood/Cecilio and Kapono (Sunday)
Stanford had banned rock music at Frost Amphitheatre after an Elvin Bishop/Cold Blood concert on July 18, 1971. Granted, much of the ruckus and gate-crashing at the concerts was likely triggered by the unbilled appearance of Santana, then as ever one of the biggest rock bands in the country. Still, articles over the years in the Stanford Daily always referred to the show as an Elvin Bishop concert. Rock came full circle at Stanford, with the University not only allowing rock at Frost, but booking both Elvin Bishop and Cold Blood there as well. Elvin Bishop had risen in the rock firmament, while Cold Blood's light was fading.
Bishop had been signed by Bill Graham and released two albums on Fillmore, the BGP Columbia imprint. When that label folded, Epic had picked Bishop up, then dropped him after another album. Bishop had reformulated his group and gotten signed by Capricorn Records, the Allman Brothers label. Bishop's third album for Capricorn, Struttin' My Stuff, would be released in late 1975. The single from that album, "Fooled Around and Fell In Love" put Elvin (and lead singer Mickey Thomas) on the national charts, reaching #3 on Billboard. Bishop had a crack, road-tested band, too, with Johnny Vernazza joining him on lead guitar, and great vocals from Thomas.
Cold Blood, conversely, had been playing around the Bay Area for over five years, and were basically treading water. Their James Brown-inspired funk was starting to seem a bit dated, and they hadn't had a successful record to put them in a new light, like Bishop. By this time, Cold Blood was pretty much singer Lydia Pense and a bunch of dudes, and local fans politely shrugged them off, even though they were actually pretty good in person.
Cecilio & Kapono were a soft-rock duo who played in a Hawaiian style.
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| The October 28, 1975 Stanford Daily featured Randy Phillips, head of ASSU Concert Promotions |
Stanford University was unique in many ways (ask any Stanford student). In the mid-70s, Stanford stood out by having their own in-house concert production operation managed by students. Most universities and colleges booked rock shows, and some student committee would help pick the bands, but the schools were not generally in the business themselves. Yet the October 28, 1975 Stanford Daily had a detailed article about how the ASSU (Associated Students of Stanford University) had their own concert promotion wing, headed by one Randy Philllips. The Daily noted that Billboard had taken notice of Stanford's Eric Clapton show at Frost. The promotional wing had been built by recent graduate Dan Scher, who had gone on to become a key man in the Bill Graham Presents organization.
The only University that ever had a concert promotion group similar to Stanford, to my knowledge, was Princeton University, just a few years earlier (1970-74). Princeton put on an extraordinary number of rock concerts in the early 70s. Princeton was situated in a sweet spot between Manhattan and Philadelphia, and put on many shows with touring bands as they worked up and down the Eastern Seaboard. Of course, Palo Alto was the West Coast doppleganger of Princeton, and going from Paly High to Princeton University was a seamless transition, so its no surprise to me at least that Princeton and Stanford shared a role as college concert promoters.
November 22, 1975 Maples Pavilion, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Stephen Stills/Flo & Eddie (Saturday)
Rock returned to campus with a bang in November. The Saturday before Thanksgiving was the day of "The Big Game," the annual football matchup between Stanford and the University of California at Berkeley ("Cal"). Even when both teams were lousy, which was usually the case with two academically advanced institutions, the Big Game would sell out. In 1975, both teams were good, which was unheard of, and had 5-1 records in the Pac-8. Victory would give the winner a leg up into the Rose Bowl, so the game had surprisingly high stakes for what was usually just a grudge match. Cal Coach Mike White had Joe Roth at QB and Chuck Muncie at running back (and a ton of academic violations, but that would be later), while Stanford countered with new QB Guy Benjamin. #13 Cal would prevail easily, winning 48-13 to a packed house of 80,000 at Stanford Stadium.
The same night, Stephen Stills headlined at Maples Pavilion, just several hundred yards away from the Stadium. Stills has been a touring rock star for so many years that we lose sight of how big he was in 1975, both on his own and as part of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. His current album was his fifth, Stills. While unmemorable today, it would still reach #19. The crowd was probably pretty jacked after all the parties associated with the Big Game, and probably went appropriately nuts when local resident Neil Young dropped in to play guitar for all of Stills' set.
Opening act Flo & Eddie (Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman), formerly of The Turtles, had been given their monickers by Frank Zappa when they were members of The Mothers Of Invention, and unable to use their real names when performing or recording (due to a lawsuit involving the Turtles record label). They were both great singers, stand-up comedian funny and veteran performers, so they were a great concert attraction. They joined Stills (and Young) for some harmonies at the end of the show, too.
Status Report: Palo Alto Rock and Roll, January 1976By early 1976, things were actually looking up for Palo Alto rock and rollers. Stanford University had not only undone the moratorium on rock concerts at Frost Amphitheatre, the role of ASSU Concert Promotions meant that there was an institutional interest in promoting rock shows on campus. As for Palo Alto proper, although Sophie's was largely a Top 40 bar, it regularly booked touring rock acts, including Jerry Garcia. Since Sophie's was on California Avenue, in the old Mayfield area, downtown Palo Alto was undisturbed by anything going on there, so noisy rock and roll was just fine.
At the same time, the quiet revolution sparked by the foundation of Fairchild Semiconductor over on Charleston Avenue was blossoming. Silicon Valley was not the worldwide phenomenon it was become, but Palo Alto was becoming the center of the universe again, just as the town preferred. There was plenty of money in town, but that money was largely being earned by younger, long-haired guys, and they weren't inclined to go to the symphony.
January 10, 1976 Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: The Tubes/Toad The Mime (Saturday) 7:30 &10:00pm
The Tubes had formed in early 1972, from the amalgamation of two bands from Phoenix, AZ. Unlike every other early 70s Bay Area band, the Tubes neither jammed the blues nor sang sensitive songs in three-part harmonies, while earnestly staring at their instruments in their Pendleton shirts. They played clever progressive rock songs full of satiric lyrics about sex, drugs and modern times. More importantly, they had a stage show where they dressed up in costumes and had numerous clever special effects. Initially, the effects had just been cardboard and confetti. By 1975, with their debut album on A&M, they had a genuine stage show with dancing girls and numerous get-ups for lead singer John "Fee" Waybill.
The Tubes debut album had been released in September. Right before it, the band had played two incredible weeks at The Boarding House. I had seen them there twice. They were incredible. We named the new family kitten after Fee (Fee the cat, RIP, lasted longer than the first incarnation of The Tubes). The new album was great, the songs were amazing, the stage bits were epic. Not just classics like "Mondo Bondage" and "What Do You Want From Life," but other hilarious bits, like where Fee would dress up as Dr Strangelove in a wheel chair, start by singing "Bali Hai" (from South Pacific) and end by leaping out of his chair, throwing away his crutches while the Hula Girls went full-stripper and threw away most of their clothes, and ending up with a smoking version of "It's Not Unusual." You had to be there.
The Tubes had shrewd MTV sensibilities years before the station debuted--the dancers, the gay fashions (we had no clue), the clever merger of pop and prog, the relentless jump cutting from scene to scene. With no concerns about the budget--their touring act broke them--and no predecessors, the Tubes in this incarnation were one of the great San Francisco rock bands. And the conclusion to each show? Fee would come out as English rock singer Quay Lewd, in 30-inch platforms and a giant blonde wig, and lead the band through "White Punks On Dope." Anyone in the crowd not already converted was a permanent fan from then on.
On New Year's Eve, the Tubes had headlined Winterland with Flo & Eddie, putting on an epic, nearly 2-hour show (it's on YouTube). Ten days later they played two shows at Memorial Auditorium. My sister and my cousin went, and reported that they were as awesome as ever.
January 30, 1976, Stanford Music Hall, Palo Alto, CA: Journey/Sons Of Champlin (Friday)
I'm not sure who promoted these two shows at the Stanford Music Hall. Rollie Grogan and Andrew Bernstein seem the most likely, as they were well-connected with all the old Fillmore acts, and the bands that arose from them. Neither of these shows were reviewed in the Times or the Stanford Daily, which means they didn't have much impact. The rock world was slowly changing, with Punk and New Wave hinting at displacing old hippie bands. Palo Alto wasn't really a New Wave town, mind you, but Palo Alto never likes to be behind the times.
One oddity of these shows was that the Stanford Music Hall was given as 167 University, when it should have been 221. I don't know why the number was changed temporarily.
March 6-7, 1976 Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Jesse Colin Young (Saturday-Sunday) 7:30-10pm Sat, 2:00 pm Sunday
Jesse Colin Young had been a rising singer/songwriter when he had headlined at Memorial Auditorium in 1974 (see April 8 '74, above). He had released another album on Warners in 1975 (Songbird), but he was treading water somewhat. Young was very popular in the Bay Area, as he could headline three shows on a weekend at Stanford, but he never got a big national profile.
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| ASSU Special Events ad Billboard March 27 1976 |
Stanford may have been the only university to have had a full page ad in Billboard in the 70s, and perhaps ever, advertising their concert production. The March 27, 1976 ad listed the acts that had played Stanford in the previous few years. Somewhat disingenuously, the ad lists "Stephen Stills with special guest Neil Young," misleading since Neil Young hadnt't really been booked. Nonetheless, hype is what Billboard was all about, so why not?
Stanford Stadium is listed as an available venue--capacity 90,000--even though it had never been used for a concert, nor would it ever.
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| 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
Of course there were many smaller musical events around the Stanford campus, which are not part of my chronicle. The story of how the songwriter for the Grateful Dead came to play a noon kegger at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity is worth re-telling, however (originally arising from my performing history of Robert Hunter and 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.
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.
May 15, 1976 Maples Pavilion, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Graham Central Station/Donald Byrd & The Blackbyrds (Saturday) ASSU Presents with BAC and BSU
The booking of Graham Central Station at Maples Pavilion stands out for a number of reasons. Stanford University had a complex relationship with African-American music. On one hand, Stanford was in progressive Palo Alto--activist and comdian Dick Gregory had headlined a Frost Amphitheatre concert (supported by Jefferson Airplane) as far back as 1967. Plenty of jazz was booked at Stanford, including Miles Davis, and Aretha Franklin had played Maples back in '71. So Stanford didn't have any problem with black artists, per se.
Where Stanford seemed implicitly nervous was booking music you could dance to, particularly black music. Wilson Pickett had played Frost back in '67--remember, plenty of Stanford coeds probably had Mustang convertibles--but no similar act was booked in the 60s. Sly and The Family Stone had sold out Frost in October, 1970, and Stanford mishandled the event. A similar outcome of a 1971 Santana concert caused Stanford to ban rock concerts from Frost all together--except Jerry Garcia could play, because he was booked as part of a jazz festival. You'll have to draw your own conclusions, but Stanford seems to have been nervous about anything funky.
Thus the booking of Graham Central Station stands pretty much alone. Graham Central Station had been founded by former Sly and The Family Stone bassist Larry Graham, and they had deep Bay Area roots. Their fourth Warner Brothers album, Mirror, had just been released and would peak at #7 on Billboard. Their previous album (1975's Ain't No Bout-A-Doubt It) had peaked at #4. They were hot. Also, Graham Central Station was the epitome of funk. You know that string-popping bass sound that the world finds synonymous with funk music? That was invented by Larry Graham himself, when he was laying it down on Sly And The Family Stone classics like "Dance To The Music." So the crowd was going to be jumping from the first downeat.
The Blackbyrds, the opening act, were led and produced by jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd. Byrd had an influential career in the 60s, working with Herbie Hancock and a variety of other musicians. By the end of the decade, Byrd was moving more towards electric fusion style jazz. By the early 70s, Byrd was teaching in the music department at Howard University, and he found a group of students playing in a fusion style, and he produced them for Fantasy. The Blackbyrds had a big hit with "Walking In Rhythm" in 1973. Their third album, City Life had been released in November 1975.
Note that the poster announces "ASSU Special Events presents, in association with BAC and BSU." When Stephen Stills or The Tubes were booked, it just said "ASSU Special Events presents." BAC was the Black Advisory Committee, and the BSU was the Black Students Union, the two leading African American organizations on campus. The concert was probably really fun, and Graham Central Station fans from all over the South Bay probably went to the show. But it's the only one where a student group was the co-presenter of the concerts.
The Stanford Daily seems to have ignored the concerts. The Monday after, the Daily reviewed the Genesis concert in Berkeley and the Peter Frampton Day On The Green in Oakland.
May 21, 1976 Stanford Music Hall, Palo Alto, CA: Papa John Creach (Friday) Grogan and Bernstein Present
John Creach (1917-94), better known as Papa John Creach, had been a violinist in Chicago since 1935. He had played all kinds of music, including jazz, with many well-known musicians. He had purchased an electric violin way back in 1943. He had become friends with drummer Joey Covington when they had met in a Los Angeles union hall in 1967. Covington joined Jefferson Airplane in 1970, and introduced the band to Creach. Papa John joined both the Airplane and Hot Tuna, lending his distinctive violin solos to both. At the time, Creach was in his early 40s, and mostly bald, both of which made him seem shockingly old.
Creach was in the Airplane through 1972, and he was in the Jefferson Starship when they formed in 1974 (he had lasted until 1973 in Hot Tuna). Creach had played on a number of Airplane, Hot Tuna and Kantner/Slick albums in the early 70s. Creach had been in the Starship for their first two albums (Dragonfly and Red Octopus), and had also put out two solo albums on Grunt, the Starship's label. Creach left the Starship after the hugely popular Red Octopus and signed with Buddah. He played in a funky, jazzy style rooted in the blues, hard to to fit into a genre, but then his musical background was pretty unique. His backing band, Zulu, included the young guitarist Kevin Moore, later better known as Keb' Mo. I don't know whether his current album was 1975's I'm The Fiddle Man or 1976's Rock Father (both on Buddah).
May 23, 1976 Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Boz Scaggs/Les Dudek (Sunday) ASSU Special Events Presents in Association with Morning Sun and KSJO
Boz Scaggs had actually headlined Frost before, on July 26, 1970, back when such concerts were far more low-key. At the time, Boz only had one album on Atlantic and was mostly a local act, second on the bill at Fillmore West. Now, in his return, he was a big rock star with two Gold albums and some hit singles on Columbia. His 1974 album Slow Dancer had gone Gold (500,000 albums shipped), and his new album Silk Degrees was huge. It would reach #2 on the Billboard charts, driven by singles like "Lowdown" (reaching #5) and "Lido Shuffle" (to #11). Boz had gone from blues to blue-eyed soul, mixing rock with classic rhythm and blues sounds.
Florida guitarist Les Dudek had first gotten noticed when he played on the Allman Brothers tracks "Jessica" and "Ramblin' Man." He ended up moving to the Bay Area, however, and working with Steve Miller and Boz Scaggs. Dudek had been the principal soloist in Boz' band back in '74 and '75, and he had played on Slow Dancer. Now he had his own contract with Columbia, and had just released his debut album. I assume he came out to sit in for a few numbers with his former employer.
The concert was a co-promotion with Morning Sun Productions, one of the few local competitors to Bill Graham. Due to some ancient dispute dating back to Fillmore West days, Scaggs rarely played for Graham. Morning Sun was run by one Roy DuBrow, who concentrated on booking shows in the outlying Bay Area, away from Bill Graham's center of gravity in San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley.
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| Capitol had released Solid Silver in December 1975, reuniting orginal Quicksilver Messenger Service members Dave Freiberg (2nd r), Greg Elmore (4th r) and John Cipplina (left) with Gary Duncan (right) and Dino Valenti (center). Cippolina played a few gigs, but only Duncan and Valenti carried on. |
June 4, 1976 Stanford Music Hall, Palo Alto, CA: Quicksilver Messenger Service (Friday) 7:00 & 10:00pm
I don't know who promoted this show. Quicksilver Messenger Service, once perhaps the finest rock band export from the Fillmore, was just a shadow of itself. By 1976, the band was just guitarist Gary Duncan and singer Dino Valenti, plus a few others, recyling early glories and choogling along. Capitol had attempted a reunion of the classic lineup in late '75, including John Cippolina, David Freiberg, Nicky Hopkins and Greg Elmore, but the album Solid Silver didn't really recapture the old magic. Cippo played a few gigs but soon retreated.
I don't know anything about these shows. No more concerts were held at the Stanford Music Hall, and it returned to being a crumbling old movie theater before being restored over a decade later (and returning to its old address of 221 University, although the building itself never moved).
June 26, 1976 Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: The Band/Flying Burrito Brothers (Saturday)
The Band concert at Frost was another huge event. The Band had a status far beyond their relatively modest record sales, and they had never had a hit single. No matter--they were The Band. They backed Dylan, and they had been at the largest rock concert in history (Watkins Glen on July 28 '73, with the Dead and the Allmans). In November of '75, The Band had released their first new album of original material since Cahoots in 1971. Northern Lights/Southern Cross was an excellent album, but not the masterpiece everyone had hoped for. The Band had hardly performed since 1971, either, and had not played live at all since the Summer of 1974. The Frost show was the kickoff of their first National tour since '71. Saying that expectations were sky-high only barely hints at the anticipation of this show.
Opening the show were another legendary band, the Flying Burrito Brothers. The Burritos had debuted in 1969, to very little notice. Their electrified country rock had been hugely influential, however, and fans were finally catching up to how good they had been. Founder Gram Parson had been kicked out of the band in 1970, co-founder Chris Hillman had left in '71, and the embers of the band had burned out in '72. Parsons, perhaps on the verge of solo stardom, had overdosed in 1973, and Hillman had moved on to other successes. Nonetheless, the Burritos had reformed with only pedal steel guitarist Sneaky Pete Kleinow and bassist Chris Etheridge from the original crew. The front line was now guitarists Joel Scott Hill and Gib Gilbeau, along with drummer Gene Parsons (ex-Byrds--no relation to Gram). They had just released their second album on Columbia (Airborne), and Skip Battin (another ex-Byrd) had taken over for Etheridge.
The show was sold out, and since Frost was general admission, there was a big crowd waiting to get in to get the best seats. I remember standing outside the gates on a very hot day, and hearing The Band do a smoking hot "Life Is A Carnival," a very difficult song, as their soundcheck. After that the gates were opened, and the whole crowd was really excited. The Band were certifiable rock legends already, hit singles or not, and here they were. Little did we know that the Last Waltz was coming, and how large seeing this show would loom in our minds later.
The Flying Burrito Brothers had been criticized harshly in Rolling Stone for their two newest albums, so I wasn't expecting much. Was I wrong. The "new" Burritos, though retreading the old band's sound, was actually a great live band (and based on tapes, far better than the original lineup). Sneaky Pete was a uniquely powerful and original steel guitarist, and his solos sounded just great on the big sound system. Granted, the Burritos new material was sort of conventional, but they mostly did classic material anway. In complete contrast to The Band, Gib Gilbeau kept the Flying Burrito Brothers airborne for another 45 years--their last album was released in 2020, incredibly enough.
The Band entered Frost on the back of a fire truck, driven through the crowd (slowly) so that water could be sprayed on the generally grateful patrons, as it was well over 90 degrees. The five members played as if they had playing together forever, which they had, and not as if they had just taken years off from touring. They did many of their classics, but the songs from their new album sounded great. Since it was the beginning of the tour, Richard Manuel's voice was in good shape, and that always guaranteed that The Band would play a show for the ages. This was a great show, the whole audience knew it was a great show, and given the Last Waltz, it has only magnified itself in the memories of everyone there.
July 18, 1976 Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Dave Mason/New Riders of The Purple Sage/Cate Brothers (Sunday) Bill Graham Presents in Association with ASSU Special Events Presents
A sign of Stanford's surprising importance in the local rock universe was that Dave Mason's appearance at Frost was co-produced by Bill Graham and ASSU Special Events. Mason had toured relentlessly since his 1975 appearance, and his last album (Split Coconuts) had gone Gold as well. Graham wasn't going to miss out on him, but he needed Frost to put on the show. This was the only Bill Graham show at Frost in the 1970s, although BGP would return many times in the 1980s, with the Grateful Dead and others.
The opening acts weren't particularly needed to sell tickets, but rather to make it a full afternoon. Mason put on an excellent show in those days, but 75 minutes or so wasn't going to fill Sunday afternoon. The New Riders of The Purple Sage were perpetually in the shadow of the Grateful Dead, even though founder Jerry Garcia had left the band back in 1971. After some promising albums without Garcia, the Riders had run out of gas. Country rock bands had been passed up by long-haired "Outlaw Country," the band's tales about dope and ecology seemed sort of dated. By the summer of '76, the New Riders had put out three dud albums in a row, and every Deadhead had seen them. Still, they were an enjoyable live band. Bassist Stephen Love was the newest member, who had replaced recently departed Skip Battin (who in turn had replaced Dave Torbert, by this time in Kingfish).
The Cate Brothers were from Helena, AK, and were old friends with Levon Helm. Helm had even drummed with them briefly around 1966, sitting out a Dylan tour. Helm's cousin Terry Cagle was the Cate Brothers band's drummer. Their debut album In One Eye and Out The Other had just been released on Asylum.
August 7, 1976 Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Crosby & Nash (Saturday)
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young were perhaps the biggest American rock band at this time, although they had not released a new album since 1970 and they had only toured one Summer since. Even before the era of social media, their endless saga of break-up and reconciliation was eagerly consumed by rock fans. The quartet had nearly recorded an album in 1974, failed, toured anyway--to massive success--and then gave up recording in early 1975. The group split like an amoeba into component parts. Stephen Stills and Neil Young had teamed up (recording and touring as the Stills/Young Band), while David Crosby and Graham Nash had formed their own duo. They had signed with ABC Records, and they were massively successful.
The duo's first album for ABC, Wind On The Water (Crosby and Nash had released a 1971 album on Atlantic), had been released in September 1975. It had gone Gold, reaching #6. Their followup was Whistling Down The Wire, released in June of 1976. It too went Gold, although it only reached #26. Crosby & Nash recorded and toured with some of the best session players in LA, and Crosby informally named them "The Jitters." The Jitters featured guitarist Danny Kortchmar, multi-instrumentalist David Lindley, pianist Craig Doerge, bassist Tim Drummond and drummer Russ Kunkel. All of them had too many session credits on classic 70s albums to even count.
The Frost show was packed. Crosby And Nash typically played for about two hours, a substantial show. Each would do some solo numbers, and they did a few CSNY classics along with the material from their duo albums (for an idea of how they sounded, check out the Crosby & Nash Live album). Crosby & Nash was a major event on the summer rock calendar, and it had gone to Stanford rather than Bill Graham, mainly because Frost was the best venue for them in the Summer.
Pablo Cruise had released Lifeline in February, their second album on A&M. They were starting to build a substantail local following, as well as opening shows nationally. Pablo Cruise had played the 1976 graduation dance for Paly High, from which pianist Cory Lerios had graduated (Earth Quake also played the dance). Since there weren't any rock clubs--Sophie's only booked original bands intermittently--Pablo Cruise had to take what local gigs they could find.
October 30, 1976 Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Doc Watson/John Fahey (Saturday) 7:30 &10:00 pm
Doc Watson returned and sold out two shows at Mem Aud. He had no real presence on the radio, but anyone who had seen Doc had to see him again. His current album was the Doc And The Boys, on United Artists.
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| Crackin's 1975 album on Polydor. The band was from San Mateo. |
December 31, 1976 Main Gym, De Anza College, Cupertino, CA: Pablo Cruise/Crackin'/California/Hush (Friday) 8:30-2 am
January 15, 1977 Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Herbie Hancock with Wa Wa Watson/Stanford Jazz Ensemble (Saturday) 10:15pm
On January 20, 1977, Sophie's had changed its name to The Keystone, as it was a sister club to the Keystone in Berkeley. Soon after, the club was commonly referred to as "Keystone Palo Alto," even though that was not the official name until sometime later. Sophie's manager Ken Rominger still ran the club day-to-day for Berkeley owner Freddie Herrera. The idea was that bands could play dates at both the Berkeley and Palo Alto Keystones. It was a good plan, but initially it didn't work that well in practice. Jerry Garcia christened the club on the fourth night it was open (he had played Sophie's several times in the preceding two years).
The Palo Alto rock audience wasn't all teenagers and college kids by now, so a club that served drinks was a good idea. Ultimately it greatly expanded the rock and roll footprint in Palo Alto. Nonetheless, Herrera had some early problems. I have discussed the rocky early history of the Keystone Palo Alto elsewhere, so I won't detail it all here. One somewhat unexpected development, however, was that even though early Silicon Valley was full of young, long-haired pot smokers, they really weren't that into the hippie acts popular in Berkeley. Sure, Jerry Garcia was an exception, as he always would be, but Palo Alto liked things that were new. Herrera had also tried booking all the hot New Wave bands at Keystone Palo Alto--Blondie, Television and Talking Head all played there in 1977--but nobody in Palo Alto recalls them. The Punk/New Wave thing was happening, but it was only happening in Berkeley and San Francisco.
Stanford's radio station, KZSU, had some alternative, punk-oriented djs, but nearby KFJC (the "Fine 89" at Foothill College) was the South Bay punk flagship (along with KALX in Berkeley and KUSF in the City). Keystone Palo Alto would finally find its identity with the infamous "psychedelic country" station KFAT, out of Gilroy. In any case, the Keystone in Palo Alto provided a great venue for well-paid programmers who wanted to see good bands without battling a bunch of teenagers and college kids at a general admission show. Ultimately, Silicon Valley's willingness to pay for convenience would be the cornerstone of the rock music scene in the Peninsula, epitomized by Shoreline Amphitheatre, but that was some years in the future.
February 4, 1977 Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Emmylou Harris/Ian Mathews (Friday) 7:30 & 10:00pm
Emmylou Harris had first become known when she joined ex-Burrito Gram Parsons' band in 1972. She went solo when Parsons died in 1973. Harris' second album for Warners, Elite Hotel, released in December 1975, was a Gold record that had gone to #1 on the Billboard country charts (and #25 on the Pop charts). Her new release was Luxury Liner, which had just been released in January of 1977. It too would go Gold and reach #1 on the Country charts (and #21 on Pop). Luxury Liner remains a true classic of country music, timely and popular when it was recorded, while looking backwards with reverence at the same time.
Emmylou's touring ensemble was appropriately called "The Hot Band:" the great Albert Lee on lead guitar, Rodney Crowell on rhythm and harmonies, Hank DeVito on pedal steel, Glen Hardin on piano, Emory Gordy Jr on bass and John Ware on drums. There may have been country bands as good as The Hot Band, but none better. Do you doubt me? Listen to the great audience tape of the late show from Memorial Auditorium (thanks DavMar77), and the ecstatic crowd.
Luxury Liner, San Antone Rose, Sleepless Nights, Return Of The Grievous Angel, Feeling Single Seeing Double, Sin City, Pancho And Lefty (Band Intros), Country Boy, One Of These Days, You're Supposed To Be Feeling Good, Tulsa Queen, Wheels, Hello Stranger, Bluebird Wine, C'est Le Vie, Ooh Las Vegas
Opening act Ian Matthews was a rare bird, an English country rocker. Matthews had been in Fairport Convention in the 60s when they had a sort of West Coast sound, but he left in '69 when they veered towards English folk-rock. He formed the country rock band Matthews Southern Comfort, and had a suprise UK hit with a cover of Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock." The single even got some US airplay. By 1977, Matthews had moved to the States and had a somewhat conventional singer/songwriter sound. His most recent album was 1976's Go For Broke on Columbia.
May 30, 1977 Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Bonnie Raitt/BB King (Monday)
Bonnie Raitt had been steadily building an audience throughout the 1970s, but she had finally broken through with Sweet Forgiveness, her 6th album on Warners. Released in April '77, the album included Raitt's biggest hit single, a remake of "Runaway." That song was actually a pretty trivial entry into Bonnie's catalog, but it was catchy on the radio. She was consistently excellent in concert. Raitt always had a cooking live band, and she was a distinct contrast to other popular female singers. Raitt was her own main soloist, playing sizzling lead and slide guitar, and emphasizing the blues over softer ballads. Raitt's touring band at this time had Will McFarlane on rhythm guitar, Marty Grebb (ex-Fabulous Rhinestones) on saxophone and keyboards, Jeff Labes (ex-Van Morrison) on piano, Dennis Whitted on drums and, as always, "Freebo" (Daniel Freidberg) on bass.
Raitt herself was probably somewhat sheepish about headlining over BB King. Any even marginally knowledgeable rock fan would reflexively genuflect at the mention of his name, of course, but very few fans had any idea what he actually sounded like. He had scored a big AM hit with "The Thrill Is Gone" back in '68, but otherwise had hardly been heard on the radio. In fact, BB was great live, usually leading his 12-piece band with a giant horn section in a throwback set of classic R&B as well as epic blues. This must have been a great show.
Elvin Bishop returned to headline Frost yet again, having headlined in both 1971 and 1975. This time around, he was finally a big rock star. The "Fooled Around And Fell In Love" single (from the 1975 Struttin My Stuff album) had hit it big in February of 1976. Lead singer Mickey Thomas was listed on the bill as well, since his voice was the recognizable one. Bishop's current album was the fine double-live LP Raising Hell, which also acted as an informal Greatest Hits collection. Bishop had a killer band at this time, with second lead guitarist Johnny Vernazza, organist Melvin Seals (who would go on to play with Jerry Garcia for 15 years), bassist Fly Brooks and drummer Don Baldwin (who would join Mickey Thomas in Jefferson Starship).
October 22, 1977 Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Ronnie Laws/Seawind (Saturday) 7:00 & 10:00 pm
Seawind was a jazz/fusion group from Hawaii. Their current album was Window From A Child, their second on CTI Records.
Stanford's 1977 outdoor rock season ended with the somewhat odd pairing of the Outlaws and Country Joe McDonald. The Outlaws were a "Southern Rock" band from the Tampa Bay (FL) area. They had been together in some form since 1967, although only guitarist Hughie Thomasson remained from the original configuration. They finally struck it big in 1975 with a three-guitar lineup. Their Arista debut, with Thomasson joined on the front line by guitarists Billy Jones and Henry Paul, was best known for the FM radio classic "Green Grass And High Tides." While never actually a single, that song became the band's signature, like "Free Bird" or "Whipping Post."
By the time of the Frost concert, The Outlaws had released their third Arista album, Hurry Sundown. Guitarist Freddie Salem had just stepped in for Paul (who had been on the album). The Outlaws would continue to tour and perform for many years, with various lineups, but they were at their high water mark in the late 70s.
Country Joe McDonald had headlined Frost as a solo act in 1969, and then with Country Joe and The Fish in April 1970. McDonald surprised everyone by revitalizing his career in 1975 with his hugely popular Fantasy Records album Paradise With An Ocean View. Besides the title track, the songs "Oh Jamaica" and "Save The Whales" got huge radio airplay, particulary in the Bay Area. Country Joe put together yet another killer band--his live ensembles were always good--and toured around steadily. In 1977, McDonald had released his third album Goodbye Blues, and his second revival was fading. He was still excellent live, however, and even if being paired with Southern rockers was a bit odd, Joe was so good live that it probably went over very well.
Mistress had been around the Bay Area off an on since about 1973. Guitarist Greg Douglass was the primary driver. Douglass had been in various Bay Area bands, mainly a Fillmore era group called Country Weather. When Country Weather faded away in early '73, Douglass had formed Mistress. Douglass also played with various other musicians, most notably with Hot Tuna. Douglass' slashing slide guitarist made for some great Tuna shows in the first half of 1975. Douglass also worked a lot with the Steve Miller Band, playing on the famous album Book Of Dreams, recorded in 1976. Douglass co-wrote the song "Jungle Love," but the single would not be released until August 1977 (it would reach #23).
Mistress played a kind of dual-guitar hard rock, rare for San Francisco bands, but very much in the vein of English bands like Mott The Hoople or Wishbone Ash. Of course, even English rock music had moved away from that sound, so I think Mistress' sound was a little bit retro in any case. As near as I can tell the lineup of the band at the time was Douglass on guitar, former Savoy Brown and Fleetwood Mac (Penguin album) lead singer Dave Walker, Skip Olson (ex-Copperhead) on bass and Chris Paulson on drums. Possibly Chris Kovacs had joined on keyboards, and possibly Dave Brown (ex-Boz Scaggs) had already replaced Olson on bass.
Mistress was generally well-reviewed by local writers, even though very few Bay Area rock fans had actually heard them. Shortly after this, Dave Walker accepted an offer to join Black Sabbath, and the band had to reconstitute itself. Yet another version of the band (with Charlie Williams, ex-Carrie Nation, on lead vocals) would record an album, but the band broke up. Even more strangely, RSO Records would release the recorded-in-'77 album in 1979, when Mistress was long gone.
November 19, 1977 Roscoe Maples Pavilion, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Frank Zappa (Saturday)
There was one final rock event at Stanford in the Fall of '77, and it stood out in the mind of everyone who went. For obscure reasons lost to the mists of time, Frank Zappa did not prefer to play for Bill Graham Presents when he played in the Bay Area. The independent and litigous Zappa was engaged in lawsuits with Warner Brothers, his record company since 1969, so he was making all his money touring. But Zappa didn't really get played on the radio, anyway, so he was somewhat immune to the peaks and valleys of popular music.
Zappa had given up the "Mothers Of Invention" name around 1974, and now just promoted himself as "Zappa," but that was enough. In fact, for all his sardonic joking and charismatic presence, his concerts presented hugely challenging music to an audience that had never heard it, and they did it pretty much every tour. Every Zappa band played his music, carefully written out but including improvisational sections, and stitched together each concert to provide a unique, ne'er to be repeated concerto of sorts. Almost all the music, every night, had not yet been released on any Zappa album. Here and there, while a few familiar instrumental themes would arise, and Zappa would play a couple of "known" songs, he didn't really have any hits that regular rock fans recognized. If you saw Zappa in concert, you either got engaged or overwhelmed, and Frank was OK either way.
Zappa played to a packed Maples Pavilion with a brand new band. He also had an amazing skill for finding new talent, and his '77 band seems all the more remarkable now:
- Adrian Belew-guitar, vocals (Zappa discovered him in a bar in Nashville and hired him. Belew went on to play with Talking Heads, Bowie and King Crimson)
- Peter Wolf-keyboards (produced huge hits for Starship, Commodores and Wang Chung)
- Tommy Mars-keyboards, vocals (longtime anchor of Zappa's bands)
- Pat O'Hearn-bass (joined Missing Persons)
- Terry Bozzio-drums, vocals (the only holdover from Zappa's SF appearance in 75, besides his legendary performances with Zappa from 75-78, he was in UK and Missing Persons, and toured with Jeff Beck)
- Ed Mann-vibes, marimbas, percussion (less well-known than his band mates, a true mallet monster, the Ruth Underwood of his era).
Zappa killed it for two hours, playing mostly new songs. Zappa's most recent album was his tepid Zoot Allures from October 1976, and he only played one song from it ("The Torture Never Stops"). There were also a couple of classic instrumental themes "Peaches En Regalia" and "A Pound For A Brown." But most of the two-hour-plus was songs that were unreleased (most of them would turn up on Sheik Yerbouti, released nearly 18 months later). Zappa tore through sizzling guitar solos in impossible time signatures, as his band rolled through the difficult music like it was "Louie Louie." For the last number, Zappa played his nearest-to-a-hit, "Dinah Moe Humm" from 1972's Overnite Sensation album, and the crowd went absolutely wild. He followed that with an encore of the somewhat known "Camarillo Brillo," leaving the crowd unconcho.
I attended this show, and I assure you I am understating the power of Zappa's band and his electric stage presence. As a footnote that I would not appreciate for a few more years, for one of the difficult instrumental numbers, he invited out a pretty young woman in a black leotard to dance, whom he introduced as Terry's "sister," Dale Bozzio. Of course, Dale was Terry's wife, and Dale, Terry and Pat O'Hearn would go on to have huge success as Missing Persons in the 1980s, but I did not figure that out until later.
Setlist: November 19, 1977 Maples Pavilion, Stanford (band: FZ, Belew, Wolf, Mars, O'Hearn, Bozzio, Mann)
Intro, Peaches En Regalia, The Torture Never Stops, Tryin' To Grow A Chin, City Of Tiny Lights, A Pound For A Brown (q: Rhapsody In Blue), Bobby Brown, Conehead, Flakes, Big Leg Emma, Envelopes, Disco Boy, I Promise Not To Come In Your Mouth, Wild Love, Titties 'n Beer, The Black Page, Jones Crusher, Broken Hearts Are For Assholes, Punky's Whips, Dinah-Moe Humm, Camarillo Brillo 130 min
By the end of 1977, Stanford University and the city of Palo Alto were feeling the first boom that would come to be known as "Silicon Valley." In fact, the seeds had been planted by Fairchild SemiConductor many years earlier, but they were blossoming now. Palo Alto wasn't just a University town with nice weather, but rather a town that saw itself as the center of the universe and the harbinger of a new future. That view, in fact, was always held by Palo Alto, but the world was starting to agree with it.
The Keystone Palo Alto was a thriving rock club, and it booked some jazz and a lot of stoned country music to distinguish it from some Berkeley hippie joint. It was in the old Mayfield area, so it would thrive without the residential pressure of downtown. Stanford University, meanwhile had a professional concert booking operation that took advantage of the major venues on campus, all with abundant parking. The new wealth of the Valley and the central location of Stanford boded well for the future of rock and roll on the Peninsula.
What Really HappenedPalo Alto is tolerant, but doesn't like noise. Stanford got richer, and needed neither the money nor the grief that came from booking big rock concerts. Somewhere along the way, Stanford gave up its professional concert booking operation. When the Keystone Palo Alto finally closed in 1985, Palo Alto had no interest in ensuring that the replacement venue was higher profile. Bill Graham Presents booked shows at Stanford University, and sometimes other promoters did, too, but events were scant.
The Grateful Dead played Saturday and Sunday afternoon shows at Frost Amphitheatre most years from 1982 through 1989. These were beautiful, epic events, but as the Dead got bigger and Stanford got richer, the University had fewer reasons to even bother. After the May, 1989 Grateful Dead shows that overwhelmed Frost, there were no more Grateful Dead concerts there. According to rumor, the Grateful Dead were banned from campus, which made it a sort of traditon, since they had been banned after 1966 and '73 as well. Sic Transit Gloria Psychedelia.
Bill Graham Presents finally cashed in their chips on the Peninsula, building their concert "shed" in nearby Mountain View. The Shoreline Amphitheatre was on the bay itself, right off the US101 freeway, accessible to the entire Bay Area. Shoreline wast most convenient for the highly compensated silicon vally engineers who wanted to see their favorite bands from a reserved seat, imported beer in hand, whatever the price. By putting Shoreline in Mountain View, Palo Alto itself was spared the noise and inconvenience, while still benefiting from proximity. Shoreline, capacity 22,500, opened on June 29, 1986. Julio Iglesias headlined, since the planned Grateful Dead concert was canceled due to Jerry Garcia's illness. Still, the Dead would go on to play there 49 times, just two miles from the site of the 1965 Palo Alto Acid Test.
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