tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66678002984225709102024-03-13T15:02:56.614-07:00Rock Prosopography 101Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.comBlogger186125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-59707060409876417492024-01-19T06:05:00.000-08:002024-01-19T06:05:53.424-08:00Lake Tahoe Rock Concerts 1968-69 (Tahoe II)<p><br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9aDr3j6w7gWu6LB_kup3j1LtiktcsGg4jDXaiSTgS8csC6zdyXAZCqhD2hr_q9vV7pXFA7nDA1k4c_fiXfsOcQK9QrCnjwalO5CXBeb_EUERnR5xmlC5l2Yc6my4x4MgP8Kh5fNx1BctHr6IektMlj8bFIo5o-BiWYJplU21Y9Cme9bI79PwHSoGrYKc/s800/north%20shore%20lake%20tahoe%20photo.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="534" data-original-width="800" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9aDr3j6w7gWu6LB_kup3j1LtiktcsGg4jDXaiSTgS8csC6zdyXAZCqhD2hr_q9vV7pXFA7nDA1k4c_fiXfsOcQK9QrCnjwalO5CXBeb_EUERnR5xmlC5l2Yc6my4x4MgP8Kh5fNx1BctHr6IektMlj8bFIo5o-BiWYJplU21Y9Cme9bI79PwHSoGrYKc/s320/north%20shore%20lake%20tahoe%20photo.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The beautiful North Shore of Lake Tahoe</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />At fifty years and counting, classic rock from San Francisco's
Fillmore era remains central to our appreciation of rock music and late
20th century culture. All the Fillmores are rightly celebrated as
cornerstones of the evolution of the modern rock concert. Prior to the
Fillmores, rock concerts were just entertainment for teenagers, little
more than personal appearances by popular performers. After the Fillmores,
live rock music became art, community and culture. <p></p><p>As digital files
have increased the scope of our information, rock fans worldwide are
far more knowledgeable about the other stops on the Fillmore circuit,
like the Boston Tea Party and the Grande Ballroom in Detroit. I have
made a great effort myself to uncover some of the history of 60s live
rock scenes in places like <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/04/crystal-ballroom-1332-w-burnside_09.html">Portland</a>, <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2009/11/late-60s-rock-concerts-in-utah-work-in.html">Salt Lake City</a>, <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2009/12/thee-image-and-miami-rock-scene-march.html">Miami</a>, <a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/06/2201-arch-street-philadelphia-pa.html">Philadelphia</a> and more. Yet the history of one thriving 60s rock scene has lain dormant since then, and it's time to rectify that. </p><p>Lake
Tahoe, CA, 200 miles North of San Francisco and 60 miles South of Reno,
has been the city's resort area since Southern Pacific Railroad made it
a destination in 1899. In the 1960s, floods of Sacramento and Bay Area
teenagers spent weekends, weeks or entire Summers in Lake Tahoe. It's no
surprise there was a live music scene. What's hardly known is that
there were some psychedelic outposts there, too. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2011/11/august-19-25-26-1967-grateful-dead-lake.html ">I have written a little about the Grateful Dead's appearances in the Lake Tahoe era</a>,
but in fact numerous famous bands passed through. Many of the San
Francisco bands played there, too, as did famous 60s acts including not
only Buffalo Springfield and no less than the Jimi Hendrix Experience.</p><p>This
post completes a two-part series on the Lake Tahoe live rock scene in
the 60s, when from Memorial Day to Labor Day, the North and South Shore
were stops on the circuit before and after San Francisco. <a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2023/07/lake-tahoe-rock-concerts-summer-1967.html">The previous post focused on the roots of the Lake Tahoe scene and the year 1967, including the Winter of 1968</a>. This post will focus on the Summer of 1968, and also look at Lake Tahoe concerts throughout 1969. Anyone with recollections, corrections, insights or unexpected flashbacks is encouraged to add them in the Comments</p><i><b>Lake Tahoe 60s Venues</b></i><br />There were six venues in the Lake
Tahoe area that booked rock concerts in the late 60s, mostly lost to
rock history save for Tahoe-area nostalgia and me. Over the course of
these two posts, I will deal with each of these venues in some detail,
but a brief overview will set the stage.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpeLm5ygI64irz_gMoBekjabu1maXY0CBzywVs0VAVzpu9J1flKfn1IkJik3m1M9kgHd_ZBUfWcmsOkUmm8sMg_BQhgqp0FwyVQS8oV-_Pd4b2LiWQxQEm_vYmYvHvfAJCEhRYGy3ASYQci9HyZsSf80zyA90Np3ttl4J0cj-OT6I-fh1P_ESsPnbx/s270/Jim%20Burgett%20Tahoe.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="187" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpeLm5ygI64irz_gMoBekjabu1maXY0CBzywVs0VAVzpu9J1flKfn1IkJik3m1M9kgHd_ZBUfWcmsOkUmm8sMg_BQhgqp0FwyVQS8oV-_Pd4b2LiWQxQEm_vYmYvHvfAJCEhRYGy3ASYQci9HyZsSf80zyA90Np3ttl4J0cj-OT6I-fh1P_ESsPnbx/s1600/Jim%20Burgett%20Tahoe.jpg" width="187" /></a></div><b>American Legion Hall, 2748 Lake Tahoe Boulevard (US-50), South Lake Tahoe, CA</b><br />Guitarist
Jim Burgett had been putting on dances at the American Legion Hall in
South Lake Tahoe since 1958. By the mid-60s, Burgett was
putting on dances at the Legion Hall seven nights a week, from Memorial
Day to Labor Day, with his band playing every night. If that wasn't
enough, his band also played a day shift at Harrah's Tahoe six days a
week. The official capacity of the Legion Hall was 1000, but since
patrons would come and go, some nights he would sell as many as 1500
tickets. In the Summer, every night was a Friday night night for visiting
teenagers. Burgett's band played rock and R&b hits, pretty well,
apparently. <div><p></p><p>The American Legion Hall was on Lake Tahoe Boulevard, also
known as US-50, and was the main road on the Tahoe South Shore. No matter
where a family might be staying around the Lake, it would have been
easy to get to Tahoe Boulevard and find the Legion Hall. Burgett also occasionally booked other touring
acts, and in 1967 and '68, these were usually Fillmore rock acts, since
that's what teenagers wanted to see. <a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2023/07/lake-tahoe-rock-concerts-summer-1967.html">I looked at the backstory of the American Legion Hall dances in the previous post</a>.<br /><br /><a href="https://northtahoeevents.com/about/ "><b></b></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgUhwDPgoc42kK7RmWnONUOYN7NnklYB-SXyLghwEJkS-8qI4niQ-D6bhjbhA-JHXsBcLYmwFN4u8oDY6qeJFBDDewoLCAa0l3guHffGWWvaN3ukBX_Rig4ygWBoJOyaG4jsjXoepkBYr9wOBKjDrfpMKXz0UHO6Pfhgvhd0TGhSwCt8ZgCqi2wbqf0jA/s248/kings%20beach%20bowl%2019670719.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="248" data-original-width="203" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgUhwDPgoc42kK7RmWnONUOYN7NnklYB-SXyLghwEJkS-8qI4niQ-D6bhjbhA-JHXsBcLYmwFN4u8oDY6qeJFBDDewoLCAa0l3guHffGWWvaN3ukBX_Rig4ygWBoJOyaG4jsjXoepkBYr9wOBKjDrfpMKXz0UHO6Pfhgvhd0TGhSwCt8ZgCqi2wbqf0jA/s1600/kings%20beach%20bowl%2019670719.jpg" width="203" /></a></b></div><b><br />Kings Beach Bowl, 8318 North Lake Blvd (CA-28), Kings Beach, CA</b><br />The
North Lake Tahoe area was less developed than the area around the town
of South Lake Tahoe, and the "North Shore" crowd saw themselves as
separate (in a teenage way) from the other side of the lake. Dave Jay
and Allan Goodall had been managing an underused bowling alley near
Kings Beach. In Summer 1967, they converted it into a sort of teen
nightclub, mostly featuring The Creators, a Sacramento band that
included Jay's teenage sons. For three years, however, Kings Beach Bowl
also booked Fillmore rock bands for some visits, including some true
legends. <p></p><p><a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2023/07/lake-tahoe-rock-concerts-summer-1967.html">In the previous post, I looked at the foundation of Kings Beach Bowl and the
Summer 1967 shows in this post, along with the Winter 1968 "Trip Or Ski"
shows with the Grateful Dead ( February 22-24, 1968)</a>. In the Summer of '67, Kings Beach Bowl booked the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Country Joe and The Fish, Big Brother and The Holding Company, Quicksilver Messenger Service, the Grateful Dead and Moby Grape. The 1968 and '69 Kings Beach Bowl shows
will be discussed in this post.<br /><br /><b>The Sanctuary, Lake Tahoe Boulevard (US-50), South Lake Tahoe, CA</b><br />By
1968, with the success of the Legion Hall and Kings Beach Bowl, another
entrepreneur opened The Sanctuary, also on Lake Tahoe Boulevard (US-50), not
far from the Legion Hall. It was larger than the Legion Hall, with a
capacity of about 1600. It, too, had a house band, Queen Lily Soap,
which included the son of the club owner. Weekends were headlined by
regular Fillmore bands, and The Sanctuary was soon doing better than
either of the other two rock venues. I will look at the Sanctuary in this post. <br /><br /><b>The Crystal Ship, Roundhill Village, US-50, Zephyr Cove, NV</b><br />In
1968 Palo Alto pianist Cory Lerios started a "teen club" called The
Crystal Ship, in the Roundhill Village shopping center near Zephyr
Cove. It, too, was on US-50, but on the Nevada side, just north of the
town of South Lake Tahoe. The Crystal Ship was only open in the Summer
of 1968. Lerios would go on to form the hit group Pablo Cruise. I will
discuss the Crystal Ship in this post.<br /><br /><b>The TNT, Alpine Meadows, CA<br /></b>The TNT was a venue at the Alpine Meadows Ski Resort that held four rock shows in January, 1969. Almost certainly it was produced by East Bay Promoter Bill Quarry and his TNT group ("Teens N Twenties"). Alpine Meadows is West of Lake Tahoe (nearer to San Francisco), and just south of US80 and near Olympic Valley, where the 1960 Winter Olympics were held (then known as Squaw Valley). I will look at TNT Alpine in this post.<br /><br /><b>The Fun House, Lake Tahoe Boulevard (US-50), South Lake Tahoe, CA</b><br />In late 1968, snow caved in the roof of the American Legion Hall.
Burgett's Legion Hall shows were having trouble competing with the name
acts at The Sanctuary in any case, but the owner of The Sanctuary chose
to sell his business. Burgett took over the club in 1969 and renamed it
The Fun House. Burgett promoted shows at The Fun House through 1971. I
will look at The Fun House in this post.</p><i><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi85Q5hbAoFRvQiWP7BjU8nSnmHaNYXw_0eS6iI6GtwSXamxt_93dnSM6GCTyr2Aik2jVIVzokfPRqQXoOsY2CsRUt0F_UQeXhzlkKd1CE0UQD2lPJGwywoBjp4mB4QRU4KRr_oTxJDiQH_5kISf3upRWpWF7jrM5-MhrhHPFCkC3--INpq9tXlPxmJZE/s992/Lake%20Tahoe%20Map%20w%20counties.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="992" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi85Q5hbAoFRvQiWP7BjU8nSnmHaNYXw_0eS6iI6GtwSXamxt_93dnSM6GCTyr2Aik2jVIVzokfPRqQXoOsY2CsRUt0F_UQeXhzlkKd1CE0UQD2lPJGwywoBjp4mB4QRU4KRr_oTxJDiQH_5kISf3upRWpWF7jrM5-MhrhHPFCkC3--INpq9tXlPxmJZE/s320/Lake%20Tahoe%20Map%20w%20counties.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><br />Teenagers, Lake Tahoe, 1960s</b></i><br />Lake Tahoe had always been
San Francisco and Northern California's playground, and there is a long
American history of entertainment in resort areas. The Catskills in New
York and the 'Silver Circuit' in Nevada (Las Vegas, Reno, North Tahoe)
have lengthy post-WW2 traditions. One peculiar feature of Lake Tahoe,
however, was that there was gambling on the Nevada side of the lake, but
not in California. Thus the casinos focused on the high-end trade in
Nevada. The California side was more of the family side. After Lake
Tahoe boomed following the 1960 Winter Olympics, the California side of
the lake was left for "the kids," because the adults wanted to go to
Nevada and gamble. As a result, for a resort area, the California side
of Lake Tahoe in the 1960s had a peculiar focus on rock and roll, and it
has been largely undocumented. <br /><p>Lake Tahoe, straddling California
and Nevada, is one of the West’s largest, deepest, clearest and most
beautiful lakes. The lake sits six thousand feet above sea level, and
the Truckee River feeds the lake, flowing into and then out of the lake.
Truckee, CA, about 12 miles North of Lake Tahoe and 30 miles
West of Reno, was an original train stop on the Transcontinental
Railroad. In 1899 the Duane L. Bliss Family built the Lake Tahoe Railway
and Transportation Company. The Southern Pacific Railway actively
encouraged tourist attractions along its rail lines, and Lake Tahoe
became a popular resort for the San Francisco Bay Area.<br /><br />Many
families in both the Bay Area and the Sacramento/Central Valley area
would buy or rent second homes in Lake Tahoe, and they would spend much
of the Summer and many Winter weekends at Tahoe. Part of Lake Tahoe's
specialness was that it was a great resort for both Summer and Winter.
After 1960, when the Winter Olympics were held at nearby Olympic (Squaw) Valley, Lake Tahoe boomed again, particularly for
Winter sports. Since the Lake was on the California/Nevada border,
parents would go over to the Nevada side and gamble, often leaving their
teenage kids to themselves. If there was an older sibling with a
family station wagon, then the whole Lake Tahoe area was available for
fun.</p><p>The only substantial town on the Lake at the time was South
Lake Tahoe. The city had only incorporated in 1965, an assembly of a
half-dozen little communities. The 1970 population was only 12,000, but
that is misleading. In the Summer (and even the Winter), houses all
around the Lake were packed with families and kids, so the potential
weekend population was quite high. All the other communities referred to
here, such as Kings Beach or Zephyr Cove, were not actually towns
(technically they are "Census Designated Places"). Those who generally
stayed in the North Lake Tahoe area referred to it as "North Shore," but
I gather that the Southern Lake Tahoe visitors did not refer to it as
"South Shore." For clarity, however, I am going to generically refer to
the South Shore, however, even though I am aware that it wasn't really a
local usage.<br /></p><i><b></b></i><p><i><b></b></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-QDFvArqXmjcRZMqIiKqiBO92WJLV_r0zU86koLgLwapmOa8-j3oHlofind9EWYW4oCPmX3PP2pQgsYX-1D1BldYIzLZ4o2iQTfCdCJOAa2GdzJP5P5e1SKwd4Fq0QWpfNIP5mZeUbYSOffStr7E6u99dW356L3QrXPTZhLE0jfvq7YM9Vxtsn2EYLJc/s1200/Jim%20Burgett%20Swim%20Set.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-QDFvArqXmjcRZMqIiKqiBO92WJLV_r0zU86koLgLwapmOa8-j3oHlofind9EWYW4oCPmX3PP2pQgsYX-1D1BldYIzLZ4o2iQTfCdCJOAa2GdzJP5P5e1SKwd4Fq0QWpfNIP5mZeUbYSOffStr7E6u99dW356L3QrXPTZhLE0jfvq7YM9Vxtsn2EYLJc/s320/Jim%20Burgett%20Swim%20Set.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></i></div><i><b><br />Jim Burgett</b></i><br />The rock scene in 60s Lake Tahoe can be
directly traced to one man, guitarist Jim Burgett (b.1942) from tiny
Ceres, CA. Ceres is a small Central Valley town a few miles South of
Modesto on US-99. Burgett had a little band, and he he had been putting
on dances locally. His father had opened a plumbing supply store in the
Lake Tahoe area, and Burgett realized that local teenagers had nothing
to do on family vacations. Starting in Summer 1958, Burgett--still a
teenager himself-- rented the American Legion Hall on Tuesdays and
Wednesdays, and his band provided the entertainment.<p></p><p><a href="https://www.cerescourier.com/news/local/1953-chs-grad-jim-burgett-was-first-to-introduce-rock-roll-to-lake-tahoe-scene/">By
the mid-60s, Burgett was putting on dances at the Legion Hall seven
nights a week, from Memorial Day to Labor Day, with his band playing
every night</a>. The official capacity of the Legion
Hall was 1000, but since patrons would come and go, some nights he would
sell as many as 1500 tickets. In the Summer, every night was a weekend
for visiting teenagers. Burgett's band played rock and R&b hits,
pretty well, apparently. The American Legion Hall was on Lake Tahoe
Boulevard, also known as US-50, and was the main road on the Tahoe South
Shore. No matter where a family might be staying around the Lake, it
would have been easy to get to Tahoe Boulevard and find the Legion
Hall. <br /></p><p>Throughout the early 60s, in suburbs throughout the US, particularly on
the West Coast, there were local "teen dances" on the weekends at
National Guard Armories, Veterans Halls and High School Gyms. These were
like high school dances, except without being tied to high school, and
appealed to the 13-18 year old set. Since "grown-ups" didn't play rock
music, the bands playing these dances were often local, and the same age
as the people attending. In 1966, however, the Fillmore and the Avalon changed the equation
somewhat. Fillmore shows were events, not just dances, with lights and
really loud music. The music was original, even if it wasn't always
good, so fans felt like they were seeing something special that adults
didn't understand. There was weed, too, and parents didn't even realize
it, so that made the Fillmore especially cool. Thus Burgett's Legion
Hall dances, while the only show in Tahoe, weren't necessarily the height
of cool anymore to sophisticated Bay Area teens.</p><i><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfk1caqS3zZ3L0Bw62aYQCdXcQ8RCitZOFOmuRQVPV7xK6p1u7NlufHEqsGJ2uVAa74Z3PT4lR5IS7dH31xkTdZM9yjo5A-1S8pXds16bmeHDQlzHy0h6sK6LFT_HmXK4OypjGXriqoksFX2L-pYmYiMnPvOIU7pJlSqFIqaPLynZGoZKKMuWOPR84fMU/s419/KingsBeach%20Janis%2019670804.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="312" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfk1caqS3zZ3L0Bw62aYQCdXcQ8RCitZOFOmuRQVPV7xK6p1u7NlufHEqsGJ2uVAa74Z3PT4lR5IS7dH31xkTdZM9yjo5A-1S8pXds16bmeHDQlzHy0h6sK6LFT_HmXK4OypjGXriqoksFX2L-pYmYiMnPvOIU7pJlSqFIqaPLynZGoZKKMuWOPR84fMU/s320/KingsBeach%20Janis%2019670804.jpg" width="238" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Kings Beach Bowl booked Big Brother and the Holding Company, with Janis Joplin, on the weekend of August 4-5, 1967<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table></b></i><i><b><br />King's Beach Bowl, North Lake Tahoe, Summer 1967</b></i><br /><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2023/07/lake-tahoe-rock-concerts-summer-1967.html">In the previous post, I looked at the opening of Kings Beach Bowl in North Lake Tahoe in the Summer of 1967</a>. Just as the Fillmore rose up to provide a hip alternative to somewhat homogenized teen attractions, Kings Beach Bowl presented itself as cooler than the Legion Hall. Also, almost all the teenagers coming to Lake Tahoe were fully aware of the Fillmore and Avalon, and thus fully tuned in to the appeal of the Bowl. Furthermore, many of the Tahoe teenagers may not have been allowed to go to big, bad San Francisco, but their parents were perfectly fine sending them off unaccompanied to Kings Beach Bowl. <br /><p></p><a href="https://tahoequarterly.com/summer-2017/rock-n-rollin-tahoe">A Lake Tahoe site has a good summary of the backstory</a>:<br /><blockquote><i>Owned by Dave Jay and Allan Goodall, the Kings Beach Bowl—<a href="https://northtahoeevents.com/about/ ">now the North Tahoe Event Center</a>—was initially constructed as a furniture store but was converted into a bowling alley at some point in the 1950s.</i> <br /></blockquote><blockquote><i>By
the time Jay and Goodall operated the building, its use as a bowling
alley had diminished. But Jay’s teenage sons, Warren and Gary, were in a
Sacramento-based band called The Creators (and were also friends with
Goodall’s son), so the owners converted the building into a dancehall
and let the young rock group play concerts on the weekends.</i></blockquote><blockquote><p><i>In
the summer of 1967, The Creators hired a group of Sacramento State
college students to perform a light show set to music at the newly
christened Kings Beach Bowl. The students, who had a band they called
the Simultaneous Avalanche, joined The Creators as the two mainstays at
the Kings Beach Bowl [note: </i>Simultaneous Avalanche was actually a Light Show<i>]<br /><br />Happy to be earning any proceeds at the
location, the two owners hired a professional booking agent to fill out
the roster of bands, but were careful to lean on the advice of the
younger generation, who at the time were plugged into the burgeoning
music scene that surrounded the Fillmore West [</i>sic<i>].</i></p><p><i>It was this
growing popularity that led The Creators to urge the agents at Kings
Beach Bowl to successfully book acts such as Hendrix, Big Brother and
the Holding Company, Buffalo Springfield, Creedence Clearwater Revival,
Country Joe and the Fish, and Iron Butterfly, among others. </i></p></blockquote><p></p><p>According to members of the Sacramento band The Working Class, who
visited the Kings Beach Bowl in 1967, and played there in 1968, the
venue was open most weekends whether they had a major headliner or not.
The building was often open during the day, too, functioning as a kind
of coffee shop/hangout for local teens. Jay and Goodall housed the
musicians in a place they owned on the corner of Bear and Rainbow
streets in Kings Beach. Performers could effectively have a Lake Tahoe vacation
between gigs. New psychedelic venues in 1967 often had problems with
the cops, but since Allen Goodall was the Placer County sheriff, that
was not a factor. </p><p>Starting in June, Kings Beach Bowl had bands every weekend. These included the Grateful Dead, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Big Brother and The Holding Company, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Moby Grape. A correspondent whose family had a house on Carnelian Bay, always full of teenagers every weekend, described the scene [personal email]: <br /></p><p> </p><blockquote><i>On the weekends we would all pile into the jeep and head
into Kings Beach to go to the dance. Sometimes we’d go both Friday and
Saturday night, since it was only, like two bucks, or some ridiculous
amount. For the first year, I didn’t know what pot was (I later
rectified that ignorance with a vengeance), but I think the older kids
were trying to hide something from me and my younger sister. No doubt
it was that $10 (per ounce!) weed they were trying to light or roll with
zigzag papers under someone’s coat. </i></blockquote><blockquote><i>Everyone
would hang out in the parking lot until it was time to go in. You’d go
through the glass doors onto a dirty carpeted area with the dance floor
on the right on the other side of the wall one normally finds in a
bowling alley. Further down along the back wall was the snack bar.
Right smack in the center of the cement dance floor was some kind of
platform where they ran the sound system and presumably the light show,
as well. When the music started, I remember it was LOUD, but very, very
good. Because I was so socially awkward, in the later years I would
sometimes go up near the speakers on the stage and start groovin’. I’m
surprised I still have my hearing. When it was over, we’d break out of
the sweaty heat and out into the cool lake air, our ears still ringing.
We’d pile back into the Willys and head for home, some card playing,
and late night snacks.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>The Kings Beach Bowl season ended on Labor Day weekend. The venue booked the Grateful Dead for a weekend in February, with a poster encouraging visitors to "Trip Or Ski." Thanks to a reprinted poster and archival cd re-release, the February 22-24, 1968 event is the only widely known event at Kings Beach Bowl. In fact, only around two hundred attended each night and the event was not a success (if loads of fun). Nonetheless, Kings Beach Bowl was all in for the Summer of 1968.<br /></p><p>Memorial Day in 1968 was on Thursday, May 30, but I don't know exactly when the season started at Kings Beach Bowl. The Creators probably did not play that Summer. They had been offered a gig in New York, but they didn't want to wear mime-like whiteface makeup and change their name to Charlotte The Harlot (really, this apparently was the deal) so they passed on the trip, but did not return to Kings Beach Bowl. The "house band" at Kings Beach Bowl may have been a Sacramento group called The Working Class. In any case, members of the Working Class have been my best source on Kings Beach Bowl in 1968. <a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/07/sanpaku-performance-list-1968-69.html">Most of the members of the Working Class went on to form the group Sanpaku, who were part of the Bill Graham organization throughout 1969</a>. <br /></p><p></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirhgYmlftrBbJXbC7HlwXIZEt3E_oqcu0umkvcRjgC02Y-OjfzDDtBZ4xZCBRaqLxbIhC6GfyDe2DLVS0VEZzOm_P_RO4ZcKgljAPJYQjvcmZ22-L6Z2NM78tzgD1cgpZz3327NDqlkbfZ6xkITSqsgkI0sZ9OXkoT67-HXE84BKwmg9O2TLce7EZIeT4/s419/Kings%20Beach%20Working%20Class%2019680622.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="307" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirhgYmlftrBbJXbC7HlwXIZEt3E_oqcu0umkvcRjgC02Y-OjfzDDtBZ4xZCBRaqLxbIhC6GfyDe2DLVS0VEZzOm_P_RO4ZcKgljAPJYQjvcmZ22-L6Z2NM78tzgD1cgpZz3327NDqlkbfZ6xkITSqsgkI0sZ9OXkoT67-HXE84BKwmg9O2TLce7EZIeT4/s320/Kings%20Beach%20Working%20Class%2019680622.jpg" width="234" /></a></div><p><br /><b>June 21-22, 1968 Kings Beach Bowl, North Lake Tahoe, CA; Working Class/<i>? </i></b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />The first known concert of the Kings Beach Bowl '68 Summer was in mid-June. Working Class/Sanpaku road manager Hewitt Jackson told me that he rode to Lake Tahoe on the back of saxophonist Stan Bagdizian's 125cc scooter. The band was put up in a house by the venue (probably the one on Deer and Rainbow). Visiting bands would stay in the house with the Working Class. <b>The Working Class</b> had Mark Pearson on guitar and vocals, Bob Powell on organ, Duane "Motor" Timme on drums, with Bagdizian and Gary Larkey on saxophones. Even I am not sure who was playing bass at this time. </p><p>There wasn't a daily paper in the Tahoe area, that I'm aware of, and in any case it wouldn't have advertised local rock shows directed at visiting teenagers. Advertisements for Tahoe rock shows were few. In most cases, visiting teens would just drive by the venue and see who was on marquee. Lake Tahoe has so few roads that this strategy is far more sensible than it sounds. Teens with cars were the only ones coming to the shows, and they would drive by the venue, whether on the North Shore or South Lake Tahoe. The flyers were probably to promote shows outside of the immediate area, possibly even in Sacramento. <br /><br />From looking at the poster (above), it's clear some other band was booked with the Working Class, but I can't figure out who it was. If anyone has any ideas, please put the suggestions in the Comments. I know there were dance concerts every weekend, but I don't know when they started. I have to assume that the Working Class of some other local band played when there wasn't a touring band worthy of a custom flyer. <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDfb5Z4_1mScIP_zTjkIWxM4HBWXUUQeYrIx7iHUeRXpae8sgayteY2rcixgQK7aG5Hyp9ILWwpdq_-phJ2YpBMI0kVRbTyyGq7sJ8cMCq5wAcYoMe1rO46OPJkamj87OJkC5iXNdj85zW6jROfnZE6fkX75xI46MuLt9SrGLZ9aa7fqyBG4xGw5Hdj58/s419/KingsBeachBowl%20Working%20Class%2019680704.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="309" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDfb5Z4_1mScIP_zTjkIWxM4HBWXUUQeYrIx7iHUeRXpae8sgayteY2rcixgQK7aG5Hyp9ILWwpdq_-phJ2YpBMI0kVRbTyyGq7sJ8cMCq5wAcYoMe1rO46OPJkamj87OJkC5iXNdj85zW6jROfnZE6fkX75xI46MuLt9SrGLZ9aa7fqyBG4xGw5Hdj58/s320/KingsBeachBowl%20Working%20Class%2019680704.jpg" width="236" /></a></div><b>July 4-6, 1968 Kings Beach Bowl, North Lake Tahoe, CA: Things To Come/Working Class</b> <i><b>(Thursday-Saturday)</b></i><br /><b>Things To Come</b> was a sort of psychedelic band from Long Beach. They were regular performers at the Whisky A-Go-Go in West Hollywood. Members included future session veterans Bryan Garafolo (bass) and Russ Kunkel (drums)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTQC3eCzTXguOWksSs4jgqHXHr3fprEWADdYoApM4-2OWHyBVCq0ITeKEjDbwOG-U3vYaWXsZqlSM5HPAINf32ouqxW-vONV4tnoNkZBFfFa0vkBRCa4xFyJDib7kgUhX_g-rknISZnIXw05UZ5kCVRg0kpgdF8yQCRk-goM8BqPHDImLiOGa_fMx9lY4/s418/KingsBeach%20Iron%20B%2019680710.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="290" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTQC3eCzTXguOWksSs4jgqHXHr3fprEWADdYoApM4-2OWHyBVCq0ITeKEjDbwOG-U3vYaWXsZqlSM5HPAINf32ouqxW-vONV4tnoNkZBFfFa0vkBRCa4xFyJDib7kgUhX_g-rknISZnIXw05UZ5kCVRg0kpgdF8yQCRk-goM8BqPHDImLiOGa_fMx9lY4/s320/KingsBeach%20Iron%20B%2019680710.jpg" width="222" /></a></div><p><b>July 10, 1968 Kings Beach Bowl, North Lake Tahoe, CA: Iron Butterfly/Working Class </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br /><b>Iron Butterfly</b> had just released their second album on Atco, the 60s classic <i>In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida</i>, in mid-June of 1968. The album stood out because not only did it have just one song on the entire second side (the title track), but because it sold 8 million copies in its first year of release, more than any other record ever released up until that time. The idea that the best-selling record of all time could come from a record with a 17-minute mostly instrumental track was hitherto unthinkable. The title track, edited, had been a hit single, but it had only reached #30. <i>In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida</i> told the record industry that the rock market was different than anything they had seen before. According to legend, Atlantic Records created "Platinum Records" just to reward Iron Butterfly. <br /></p><p>Simplistic as it seems today, <i>In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida</i> was single-handedly responsible for ensuring that record companies signed any band that was popular in underground Fillmore-type ballrooms, and let them record anything they wanted. Since record companies didn't understand why Iron Butterfly were a hit, they were willing to take a chance on Captain Beefheart, the Soft Machine or Mad River. <br /></p><p>Thanks to FM radio, California caught on to Iron Butterfly quickly. In the sixties, touring bands were like sharks, and had to keep moving to survive. The Butterfly were at the Avalon on the weekend of July 4-7, then Sacramento (Monday July 8) and were booked at the Cow Palace on Friday (July 12). In between they slipped in a Wednesday booking at Kings Beach Bowl. There was no FM station in Tahoe at this time, to my knowledge, and KZAP in Sacramento wouldn't open until November 1968, but KMPX and KSAN were going in San Francisco. At least some of the visiting Tahoe teens would have known that Iron Butterfly was a happening band. <br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisrqCPChL4v7Jc-YDt1n5k7ovrXT-xEMu_WIwnFi_X8fah00879sw-4nE9Z1O0IFvIsZlUbVsnrXest_fwIYfhbGnkcJAmMeueSRk6L54yJ0AW02UnsnX4fJhRPz6wZYh-v5al4AGSQ8Sysb7BSMlsvAScwpMSS6SqHVAhziA0ts9sHUDQSMTh6Yq2rqk/s800/GD%20North%20Beach%20Bowl%20tahoe%2019680712.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="618" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisrqCPChL4v7Jc-YDt1n5k7ovrXT-xEMu_WIwnFi_X8fah00879sw-4nE9Z1O0IFvIsZlUbVsnrXest_fwIYfhbGnkcJAmMeueSRk6L54yJ0AW02UnsnX4fJhRPz6wZYh-v5al4AGSQ8Sysb7BSMlsvAScwpMSS6SqHVAhziA0ts9sHUDQSMTh6Yq2rqk/s320/GD%20North%20Beach%20Bowl%20tahoe%2019680712.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><b>July 12-13, 1968 Kings Beach Bowl, Kings Beach, CA Grateful Dead/Working Class </b><i>(Friday-Saturday) </i><i> </i><br />The <b>Grateful Dead</b> returned for a weekend at Kings. Beach Bowl, having played both the previous summer (August 25-26 '67) and in the Winter (Feb 22-24 '68). Members of The Working Class recall hanging out with the Dead in the North Tahoe vacation house. Road manager Hewitt Jackson already had a "business relationship" with Ramrod dating back to the previous summer (Hewitt would hitchhike to San Francisco to purchase a product from Ramrod, ahem). The Dead admired the musicality of the Working Class, and were very supportive of the band when they changed their name to Sanpaku and moved to San Francisco in 1969. <p></p><p>The Dead had just released their second album, <i>Anthem Of The Sun</i>. For various reasons, however, some clear and some obscure, the Dead were not doing a good job of promoting the record. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2021/09/august-2-3-1968-hippodrome-san-diego-ca.html">The Grateful Dead would not play another show until the weekend of August 2, when they played San Diego</a> and then the Newport Pop Festival in Orange County. Not a very sound strategy for a band with a new album.</p><p>The flyer notes that the Simultaneous Avalanche would be doing the light show. The Sacramento-based Avalanche had done the light show at Kings Beach Bowl in the Summer of 1967, but I suspect that the weekend with the Dead was their only show in Tahoe this Summer. Simultaneous Avalanche had started to establish themselves as concert promoters in the Sacramento area, so they may have been fairly busy. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAsLE_T4C1iA-idTSQDK7S64iN2Iko6I8JkLq9AeYH-utnZMJiyhgxiG3j8PZzX6JzD1Okp-SK2gUitFEjf4ALn5RrfP3CS9Ue85bXgvFeuSy3aeMDP9R2J1Diki-7WxOkG1CFuiGZIVwctgA1hqAM1WyUsdZgovdEfvP71twqB0tMD8MdSmBB5mQCS3s/s418/Kings%20Beach%20QMS%2019680719.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="294" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAsLE_T4C1iA-idTSQDK7S64iN2Iko6I8JkLq9AeYH-utnZMJiyhgxiG3j8PZzX6JzD1Okp-SK2gUitFEjf4ALn5RrfP3CS9Ue85bXgvFeuSy3aeMDP9R2J1Diki-7WxOkG1CFuiGZIVwctgA1hqAM1WyUsdZgovdEfvP71twqB0tMD8MdSmBB5mQCS3s/s320/Kings%20Beach%20QMS%2019680719.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><p><b>July 19-20, 1968 Kings Beach Bowl, North Lake Tahoe, CA: Quicksilver Messenger Service </b><i>(Friday-Saturday) </i><br /><b>Quicksilver Messenger Service</b> also returned to Kings Beach Bowl. The previous year, Quicksilver had been an underground phenomenon, but now they had a new album on Capitol that was getting heavy play on KSAN. Quicksilver was far less sloppy than either the Dead or Jefferson Airplane, and always put on a great show. In later decades, we were able to determine that those shows were mostly the same night after night, but few would have realized that in the Summer of '68. </p><p>Jim Burgett (b. 1942), the guitarist who had founded the entire Lake Tahoe teenage dance scene since 1958, was from the tiny Central Valley town of Ceres, CA, just South of Modesto. In 1960, Ceres had a population of 4406. The only other rock guitarist to come out of Ceres was Gary Duncan (b. 1946), who also grew up there. Burgett has never mentioned Duncan, to my knowledge, but perhaps no one ever asked him. <br /></p><p>I assume there was an opening act, but I don't know if it was the Working Class or someone else. <br /></p><p>Eyewitnesses all recall that <b>Creedence Clearwater Revival</b> played Kings Beach Bowl in the Summer of '68. For a legendary band, Creedence's performance history is poorly undocumented, and we have no flyer from Tahoe, so the date is uncertain. Creedence had just released their debut album in July 1968, and their debut single "Suzie Q" had been released in June. "Suzie Q" was a hit in the Bay Area, and probably Sacramento, and the band definitely got played on KSAN and KMPX. Creedence Clearwater had closed the original Fillmore (July 2-4 '68), so they were playing around. At the same time, Creedence was still local enough to need a gig in North Tahoe--by the Summer of 1969, they would have been too huge for Kings Beach Bowl. <br /></p><p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaMDBoM6MxqddA17zDpLwt2D75_yUFqz7_zon7PRDPzYPjEcnI1G1FD8U36eVKPCcdLu_Az9Tz5i1Z0baPEM9XtRUtN8_9ROM1luiM46j1Qwdkx_bJ3AXF3VVoJREsrbuk3SCVvFH5aBSmarNtSbc5g5kwhADyiBYgd6rSrKWl02DcQtY7zou2FDYvC8E/s419/Kings%20Beach%20Bowl%20Steppenwolf%2019680823.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="306" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaMDBoM6MxqddA17zDpLwt2D75_yUFqz7_zon7PRDPzYPjEcnI1G1FD8U36eVKPCcdLu_Az9Tz5i1Z0baPEM9XtRUtN8_9ROM1luiM46j1Qwdkx_bJ3AXF3VVoJREsrbuk3SCVvFH5aBSmarNtSbc5g5kwhADyiBYgd6rSrKWl02DcQtY7zou2FDYvC8E/s320/Kings%20Beach%20Bowl%20Steppenwolf%2019680823.jpg" width="234" /></a></div><p><b>August 23-24, 1968: Kings Beach Bowl, North Lake Tahoe, CA: Steppenwolf </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Steppenwolf</b>'s members were mostly from Toronto, where they had been called The Sparrow. They had mostly been an R&B cover band in Toronto, but they had moved to San Francisco in 1967, and they promptly busted free of that, writing their own material and jamming it out. The Sparrow played the Avalon, The Ark and many other local venues, but they weren't really getting anywhere, so they moved to Los Angeles. In Los Angeles, they changed their name to Steppenwolf, and found a good middle ground between the discipline of Toronto and the creativity of San Francisco. <br /></p><p>ABC-Dunhill Records had released the first Steppenwolf album back in January 1968. It got some attention, but the band became really big when ABC released the single "Born To Be Wild" in May. The ode to riding a motorcycle would reach #2 on <i>Billboard</i>, and the album would make it all the way up to #6. The weekend at Kings Beach was probably booked before "Born To Be Wild" took off, because by the time the band played the little bowling alley they were huge. A few months later, Steppenwolf would release an equally big hit ("Magic Carpet Ride"), and the next year "Born To Be Wild" would be immortalized in the <i>Easy Rider</i> movie. <br /></p><p>There were almost certainly events every weekend at Kings Beach Bowl through Labor Day, but I don't have any more information. Below I list the bands that eyewitnesses recall, but not the locations, and some of those could have been at Kings Beach. Presumably a house band, very likely the Working Class, played the other weekends. <br /></p><p></p><p><i><b></b></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHPUv6xDnFMYe3rJyOw5eOFluxthFCf-nQim5RS-jrCT147V8XwQZ7knVmf1xs7XoIljG5tQu1L5IsquGY6U2mat-uygtHF_qoxqOdtjaoBIIm1IULp-qH7S6MUexJVdXfuCdUh2-_deeaddBqvuHK3CUwxMwvAl9U6bEZM2exZfMBiD0vwut1lg1J0ac/s300/American%20Legion%20Hall%20SL%20Tahoe.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHPUv6xDnFMYe3rJyOw5eOFluxthFCf-nQim5RS-jrCT147V8XwQZ7knVmf1xs7XoIljG5tQu1L5IsquGY6U2mat-uygtHF_qoxqOdtjaoBIIm1IULp-qH7S6MUexJVdXfuCdUh2-_deeaddBqvuHK3CUwxMwvAl9U6bEZM2exZfMBiD0vwut1lg1J0ac/s1600/American%20Legion%20Hall%20SL%20Tahoe.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The American Legion Hall, at 2748 Lake Tahoe Blvd (US-50)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><i><b><br />South Lake Tahoe: American Legion Hall and The Sanctuary</b></i><br />South Lake Tahoe was far more populated and active than the North Shore. The major casinos on the Nevada side were nearer to South Lake Tahoe, too, so the South had both the "family" side and the gambling side. As noted, the American Legion Hall had been putting on dances up to seven nights a week during the Summer, from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Kings Beach Bowl had arisen as a kind of alternative in the Summer of '67, but there were plenty of teenagers to go around. Jim Burgett had booked a few Fillmore bands at the Legion Hall, too, giving his band the night off. There seemed to be plenty of room for both Kings Beach Bowl and the Legion Hall. <p></p><p>Jim Burgett's success at the American Legion Hall hadn't gone unnoticed, however. A competitor arose, booking shows throughout the Summer of 1968. The Sanctuary was just a few blocks from the American Legion Hall, also on US-50, and was housed in an old supermarket. Details are scant, since The Sanctuary was only open for a year. Jim Burgett was kind enough to remember some important facts for me, but even he had forgotten the name of the owner. Apparently he had made his money in the Supermarket business, and thus had access to the building. The Sanctuary could hold about 1600, whereas the American Legion Hall could only hold around 1000.</p><p>The Sanctuary was open several nights a week, although once again details are fragmentary. The "house band" was called <b>Queen Lily Soap</b>, and similar to Kings Beach Bowl the son of the owner was apparently a member, so they played there regularly. It's possible Queen Lily Soap played on weeknights when there weren't out of bands, but its impossible to confirm. In any case, The Sanctuary was more explicitly framed like the Fillmore or Avalon, with hip rock bands and a light show. The posters for the shows, while not always of high quality, had the clear semiotic references of Fillmore shows, and it was understood that The Sanctuary was "cooler" than the American Legion Hall.</p><p>Jim Burgett's band not only played the Legion Hall, but they also played six days a week at Harrah's Tahoe (yes, six days at Harrah's and seven nights in South Lake Tahoe, for ten weeks). Burgett's band was well-rehearsed and professional, which is more than you could say for a lot of Avalon bands, even popular ones. Even so, the fact that Burgett had a cover band made them less "authentic" by Avalon standards. Throughout the Summer of 1968, the Sanctuary was the most popular destination, to the point where Burgett's franchise at the American Legion Hall was under financial duress. Kings Beach Bowl, being farther away, was less directly affected by The Sanctuary, but the competition would not help their business. <br /></p><p><b>May 30-June 19, 1968 The Sanctuary, South Lake Tahoe, CA: Santana Blues Band/Queen Lily Soap </b><i>(Thursday-Wednesday)</i><br />In early Summer '68. the <b>Santana Blues Band</b> were a hard-working local band in the Bay Area, playing clubs, high school dances and anywhere they could get a gig. They had played the Fillmore a few times, but Bill Graham had gotten angry at them for being late, so he had refused to book them again. The lineup at the time had Carlos on guitar, Gregg Rolie on organ and vocals, David Brown on bass, Doc Livingston on drums and Marcus Malone on congas. </p><p>Santana Blues Band were booked for six weeks at The Sanctuary, staying at a vacation house near the Lake. They apparently played several nights a week, but I have been unable to lock down exactly when they started and which nights they actually played. Back in 1968, Memorial Day was on May 30, which was a Thursday that year, so I have assumed their "residency" began then. Santana did play one Sunday night gig in San Francisco (on June 16), but it was a Sunday night benefit. Either Santana didn't play Tahoe on Sunday nights, or they simply opted out of that night. Bands who had long engagements often skipped a night for more important gigs. <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXmAU1DUQqF4AA-pFi5n4mjWKQZZajBlbln3Se2IVETLfqMhNyJ7dtUpKyv5VAjofSjavjgGwGWbUF8klLCZskO23QDTjj8d4vorXJiXC-GBqDt3Mk_THfZZuJEsXqlTv8lJASYxDHNq8MYtNiDOPqLL9KpRA9MAd9ssohNVwkicgk6BZMjVbbNN4sse4/s800/Moby%20Grape%20Sanctuary%20Tahoe%2019680620.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="610" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXmAU1DUQqF4AA-pFi5n4mjWKQZZajBlbln3Se2IVETLfqMhNyJ7dtUpKyv5VAjofSjavjgGwGWbUF8klLCZskO23QDTjj8d4vorXJiXC-GBqDt3Mk_THfZZuJEsXqlTv8lJASYxDHNq8MYtNiDOPqLL9KpRA9MAd9ssohNVwkicgk6BZMjVbbNN4sse4/s320/Moby%20Grape%20Sanctuary%20Tahoe%2019680620.jpg" width="244" /></a>1</div><p><b>June 20-22, 1968 The Sanctuary, South Lake Tahoe, CA: Moby Grape/Santana Blues Band/Queen Lily Soap </b><i>(Thursday-Saturday)</i><br />Our first firm trace of The Sanctuary is the poster for Moby Grape, the Santana Blues Band and Queen Lily Soap on the weekend of June 20-22. This poster probably also served as notice that there was a new venue in South Lake Tahoe. <b>Moby Grape</b> had released their second album, <i>Wow</i>, in April of 1968. Columbia had paired it with a "jam" disc called <i>Grape Jam</i>, which featured Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper. If Moby Grape was anything resembling a normal rock group, this would have been a high profile show in an outlying market for a hot group on the rise. But nothing was normal about the Moby Grape story. <br /></p><p>Soon after Moby Grape had come together in late 1966, manager Matthew Katz got them signed to Columbia, who believed they had signed the American Rolling Stones. Now, the Grape had five experienced musicians who could sing, play and write, and they were handsome, too. Columbia may not have been wrong. They had assigned producer David Rubinson to the band, and Moby Grape's debut album was one of the great San Francisco rock albums of the 60s. </p><p>Columbia was in a great position, with a hot band coming out of the hip epicenter of 1967 rock music. But they overplayed their hand. In an era when the Fillmore ethic was about authenticity, and not trusting "The Man," Columbia decided to release the entire album as 5 singles. They rented the Avalon for a record release, and invited an audience on a Wednesday night (June 6, 1967), with 700 bottles of specially-labeled Moby Grape Wine. The Grape played, and Janis Joplin sang with them. </p><p>Everything went wrong. There were 700 bottles of wine, but no corkscrews. Inviting several hundred industry people went over all wrong, just like releasing 5 singles. The Dead and the Airplane were known for playing free in the park, and here was Columbia's new band having an expensive private party. Publicity value? Most of the publicity just reported that after the concert, on the morning of June 7, three members of Moby Grape were arrested in West Marin for allegedly contributing to the delinquency of a 17-year old girl (to be fair, the Grape members were indeed probably trying to contribute to her delinquency). </p><p>Throughout 1967, Moby Grape played all over the West and East Coasts, and they were a terrific live band with great songs. But there was the taint of Hype to them, and audiences were suspicious that any band with that kind of record company support could really be that good. None of the five singles hit the charts. Still, everyone who saw the band generally liked them. Moby Grape had played Kings Beach Bowl on the last weekend of the season (September 2-3, 1967). </p><p>Things only got worse in 1968. Their second album wasn't bad, but it was ill-conceived, with a bonus "jam" album, and a single track inexplicably released at 78 rpm (you had to get up and change the album). <a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2009/12/moby-grape-performance-history-january_26.html">Moby Grape was headlining a high-profile weekend at Fillmore East (May 31-June 1 '68), but guitarist Peter Lewis had a dispute with band management and returned to California prior to the gig, so Moby Grape had to play as a quartet</a>. Then guitarist Skip Spence had some sort of dangerous episode where he ended up at Bellevue Pschiatric Hospital in New York, and left the band. Spence was never the same. Moby Grape canceled their East Coast tour. </p><p>Peter Lewis would return to Moby Grape, albeit now truly a quartet. Did Moby Grape play The Sanctuary? Maybe, but it's not certain. Moby Grape played Manhattan on June 29, as a quartet, but did they play Lake Tahoe? Tahoe teenagers recall seeing Moby Grape, but they may be recalling Kings Beach Bowl from the year before.</p><p></p><p><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiob6ukVA6nubfY9eQva3g1xtkYtFZ6-jnXZ8B7avxBKp0vwdPJYyHbikiJ2SQQd-I87SpceDtCTnDBIZhD5iGljjlY6b0Gl38A8mnIcGlsG89EXIlSYsG6-7qFiExP8BP5GJG_o-9uKsjnS8xg7jo2yxnr5VA21Qm5b8ZNKrKsdf82zLS93_cqrd-4FSU/s419/Sanctuary%20LZ%2019680726.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="315" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiob6ukVA6nubfY9eQva3g1xtkYtFZ6-jnXZ8B7avxBKp0vwdPJYyHbikiJ2SQQd-I87SpceDtCTnDBIZhD5iGljjlY6b0Gl38A8mnIcGlsG89EXIlSYsG6-7qFiExP8BP5GJG_o-9uKsjnS8xg7jo2yxnr5VA21Qm5b8ZNKrKsdf82zLS93_cqrd-4FSU/s320/Sanctuary%20LZ%2019680726.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><p><b>June 26-27 1968 The Sanctuary, South Lake Tahoe, CA: Loading Zone/Flaming Groovies </b><i>(Wednesday-Thursday)</i><br />Santana ended their Tahoe sojourn, and returned to San Francisco, on the road to stardom. <b>The Loading Zone</b> were an Oakland band, and pioneered mixing psychedelic guitars with soul music. They kicked open the door that was walked through by the likes of Sly And The Family Stone and Tower Of Power (<a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Loading%20Zone.htm">we have looked at Zone history at great length</a>). The Zone had released their debut album on RCA Records. </p><p>The <b>Flaming Groovies</b> had initially formed in San Francisco in 1965 as The Chosen Few. Unlike all the other Fillmore bands, the Flaming Groovies continued to play in a "British Invasion" style, more modeled on The Who and The Rolling Stones, rather than emphasizing jamming the blues. In the 1960s, at least, it didn't make them more popular. Still, the Groovies generally drew their own posters for any show they played, so they are an excellent source of documentation for the likes of me. The fact that The Sanctuary booked this show on Wednesday and Thursday indicates that the club was open on more than just weekends. <br /></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqf-e6fYFB4nsiIMMc-S5c9n0BhgTGljlxukDvuQbNVgUKOC7SFYPN3k0SXk3X1Ek2f5N2U_48fIc9Dr9_JQLqDSHryg2P28_ABIwWBkqffqjLGjjqpUan6ZfLZX3MVXNkNE6HsmhK7ETe6il6ERf94zqPTPQ4iLjZXF0_4qHpOgD9gExwFHUwFAbFYEE/s720/Love%20Sanctuary%20Lake%20Tahoe%2019680628.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="555" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqf-e6fYFB4nsiIMMc-S5c9n0BhgTGljlxukDvuQbNVgUKOC7SFYPN3k0SXk3X1Ek2f5N2U_48fIc9Dr9_JQLqDSHryg2P28_ABIwWBkqffqjLGjjqpUan6ZfLZX3MVXNkNE6HsmhK7ETe6il6ERf94zqPTPQ4iLjZXF0_4qHpOgD9gExwFHUwFAbFYEE/s320/Love%20Sanctuary%20Lake%20Tahoe%2019680628.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><p><b>June 28-29 1968 The Sanctuary, South Lake Tahoe, CA: Love/Flamin Groovies/Queen Lily Soap </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Love</b> had been a seminal band when psychedelia flowered in West Hollywood in 1966. Love was fronted by guitarist Arthur Lee, who made influential fashion choices as well as musical ones. Love released three albums on Elektra, and had never performed outside of California. Love ranks with Nick Drake, Gram Parsons and Skip Spence as artist who retain an inexhaustible fascination for their adherents. From 1968 onwards, the history of Love was checkered and confusing. <br /></p><p>I have no idea who might have been in Love in 1968 other than Albert Lee. There's a greater than 50% chance that Lee did not make the gig, and Love canceled. <br /></p><p></p><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Oca7YObH8XmaCiBKen9tUAP9YpIEuSpR71BvcgoOj9F1Oj2Tb3qhV7apvIjzg0EvyT16Lpw2Yu92HJ56D3B9COl-Vxg3DHPFU2f8ocTC-gZYl8kbNbG5N2sOPNdDfOOQ7RtYKdW_5aBCBw6Nar-H50ge2xdzR1eE_uqJy65IxxC0C7tA-snnSpQ5wLI/s960/Chambers%20Brothers%20Sanctuary%2019680708.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="721" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3Oca7YObH8XmaCiBKen9tUAP9YpIEuSpR71BvcgoOj9F1Oj2Tb3qhV7apvIjzg0EvyT16Lpw2Yu92HJ56D3B9COl-Vxg3DHPFU2f8ocTC-gZYl8kbNbG5N2sOPNdDfOOQ7RtYKdW_5aBCBw6Nar-H50ge2xdzR1eE_uqJy65IxxC0C7tA-snnSpQ5wLI/s320/Chambers%20Brothers%20Sanctuary%2019680708.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p><b>July 7-10, 1968 Sanctuary, South Lake Tahoe, CA: Chambers Brothers/Frumious Bandersnatch/Queen Lily Soap </b><i>(Sunday-Wednesday) </i><br />The four Chambers brothers, originally from Mississippi, had been an important part of the Los Angeles folk scene going back to the 1950s. They had been critical for infusing genuine gospel sounds into contemporary folk music. They were well-placed to "go electric" when that storm hit. There were four Chambers Brothers, as well as a white drummer (Brian Keenan). The <b>Chambers Brothers</b> had recorded for various labels, but they were signed by Columbia in 1967. In December '67, Columbia released the Chambers Brothers' enduring hit "Time Has Come Today." The tag line "My soul's been psychedelicized" pretty much encompasses the merger of rock and soul music in the 1960s. </p><p>The Chambers Brothers were a pretty good live act, but none of their records or songs ever reached the immortal level of "Time Has Come Today." <b>Frumious Bandersnatch</b> was from Contra Costa County, and featured future members of the Steve Miller Band and Journey, among other players. They played the Fillmore West and other venues many times, but never recorded an album. <br /></p><p></p><p></p><p><br /><br /><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh90zSOyU9hXYKl89-d8U2wuR-rty5PmqlKrOAF6_60AhAInkXLi7fCDSHpysFBjRg8HnP8aqPvqNn1XoeAcheWHi3xP0O9cLKsEaDzUxEBgTPTGOBm1Mz7Ja_eBaQi-OLlBEAxJmP1WjG5ST1uIJp0uMbhUv0oSGUHayshHIIhfWDZsKj78AW6y3NR7fY/s421/Sanctuary%20Cold%20Blood%2019680712.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="337" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh90zSOyU9hXYKl89-d8U2wuR-rty5PmqlKrOAF6_60AhAInkXLi7fCDSHpysFBjRg8HnP8aqPvqNn1XoeAcheWHi3xP0O9cLKsEaDzUxEBgTPTGOBm1Mz7Ja_eBaQi-OLlBEAxJmP1WjG5ST1uIJp0uMbhUv0oSGUHayshHIIhfWDZsKj78AW6y3NR7fY/s320/Sanctuary%20Cold%20Blood%2019680712.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><p><b>July 12-13, 1968 Sanctuary, South Lake Tahoe, CA: Cold Blood/Queen Lily Soap/Maggie's Farm </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Cold Blood</b> were another rock and soul mixture, easy to dance to but with longer solos than a more pure R&B band. Cold Blood is generally seen as affiliated with East Bay funk bands like Loading Zone and Tower Of Power, and not unreasonably, but in fact their roots were on the Peninsula. Singer Lydia Pense, guitarist Larry Field and bassist Rod Ellicott had lead The Generation in the mid-60s, the first Bay Area rock band to fully include a horn section. By 1968, Cold Blood were one of the first acts booked by Bill Graham's Millard Agency. Millard figure out early that the Fillmore West had a lot of cachet out in the suburbs. Teenagers in Lake Tahoe, for example, would recognize Cold Blood's name from posters of concerts that their parents would not have allowed them to attend. <br /></p><p><b>Maggie's Farm</b> was from Berkeley, and at this time the band mostly consisted of high school students. <br /><br /><b>July 14-17, 1968 Sanctuary, South Lake Tahoe, CA Iron Butterfly </b><i>(Sunday-Wednesday)</i><br /><i>Billboard</i> Magazine (in the July 13 edition) had listed Iron Butterfly at The Sanctuary from July 14 to July 17, which was a Sunday through Wednesday booking. They had also been booked at Kings Beach on Wednesday, July 10. It's a plausible booking, unexpected as it may sound. </p><p><a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/04/crystal-ballroom-1332-w-burnside_09.html">Initially, Iron Butterfly had been booked at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland in the intervening weekend (July 12-13), but the Crystal had been closed by the city</a>. Instead, the Butterfly played the Cow Palace in Daly City on Friday, July 12, and then were booked in Woodland Hills (in the San Fernando Valley) on Saturday July 13. The Woodland Hills show, however, seems to have been canceled and replaced by a gig in Pasadena. </p><p>Unlikely as this may sound today, this is how bands toured in the late 60s. Save for the Grateful Dead and one or two others, bands did not tour with much equipment save their guitars, and traveled light. Thus Iron Butterfly's itinerary would have been</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>July 4-7 (Thursday-Sunday) Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco<br /></li><li>July 8 (Monday) Sacramento Memorial Auditorium (with The Who)</li><li>July 10 (Wednesday) North Beach Bowl, Lake Tahoe</li><li>July 12 (Friday) Cow Palace, Daly City</li><li>July 13 (Saturday) Rose Palace, Pasadena</li><li>July 14-17 (Sunday-Wednesday) The Sanctuary, South Lake Tahoe</li></ul><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyX3WvuvHZD0Ws150KctWKhyYmF8Tap8tzepJXP8MCMwGK16fKeVdCdbrJfCsCnTAG3uIT6y6dj17hDScjic7P6d8z68W0Ulz0orN98kWr7dz2C7MtlsVlLUUUiuiCVQa_cqk8djdSKma1DWMkdVHuZiWvIIbYkQtWC5G-Z_VbXnH93GuNf1rWtd2kYHY/s720/Steppenwolf%20Sanctuary%20Tahoe%2019680718.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="529" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyX3WvuvHZD0Ws150KctWKhyYmF8Tap8tzepJXP8MCMwGK16fKeVdCdbrJfCsCnTAG3uIT6y6dj17hDScjic7P6d8z68W0Ulz0orN98kWr7dz2C7MtlsVlLUUUiuiCVQa_cqk8djdSKma1DWMkdVHuZiWvIIbYkQtWC5G-Z_VbXnH93GuNf1rWtd2kYHY/s320/Steppenwolf%20Sanctuary%20Tahoe%2019680718.jpg" width="235" /></a></div><p><b>July 18-19, 1968 Sanctuary, South Lake Tahoe, CA: New Charlatans/Country Weather/Maggie's Farm </b><i>(Thursday-Friday) </i><br />The Charlatans had been San Francisco's first true psychedelic band, and their six-week residency at the Red Dog Saloon in Virginia City, NV, had spawned the Family Dog, the Trips Festival, the Fillmore and everything that came afterwards. The band had fallen apart by 1967 without recording an album, but they had reconstituted themselves. Original drummer Dan Hicks had moved to guitar and was now the main singer of the group. Although already legendary, however, the reformed Charlatans had long since been passed by the legion of Fillmore bands that had followed in their wake. </p><p><b>Country Weather</b> was from then-rural Lafayette, in Contra Costa County. Originally called The Virtues, they had "gone psych" and changed their name to Country Weather. Lead guitarist Gregg Douglas would go on to some success in the 1970s, but Country Weather stood as one of those 60s bands that was fondly remembered by fans but with no recorded output. <br /></p><p></p><p><b>July 20-21, 1968 The Sanctuary, South Lake Tahoe, CA: Steppenwolf/Country Weather/Maggie's Farm </b><i>(Saturday-Sunday)</i><br />Steppenwolf played two nights at The Sanctuary the month before they had played Kings Beach Bowl (August 23-24, above). Steppenwolf's touring shows how Lake Tahoe made sense for bands. Steppenwolf was based in Los Angeles. They had a weekend at the Avalon (August 9-11) and a mid-week gig at Fillmore West later (August 27-29), so Lake Tahoe gigs kept the wheels turning. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUMg_QZnYKa9Am7NRHp_ZURSVNSi9tOq2QuZXABhnGoW1IJzkHogiTO42OgOyXgtdVE4pd2arNHbfsJua5fuFK9-RwIjtqrNfMBMLamjBtYY-WutLfzxRKuSsIEeyxsQyqKiBiBXVMAYN1hPWMIb4Q04DfawNhaYHhrRtUylY6Jjc1pYVy_t9XgIC_KTI/s228/Tahoe%20Legion%20Hall%2019680727.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="228" data-original-width="177" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUMg_QZnYKa9Am7NRHp_ZURSVNSi9tOq2QuZXABhnGoW1IJzkHogiTO42OgOyXgtdVE4pd2arNHbfsJua5fuFK9-RwIjtqrNfMBMLamjBtYY-WutLfzxRKuSsIEeyxsQyqKiBiBXVMAYN1hPWMIb4Q04DfawNhaYHhrRtUylY6Jjc1pYVy_t9XgIC_KTI/s1600/Tahoe%20Legion%20Hall%2019680727.jpg" width="177" /></a></div><br /><b>July 27, 1968 American Legion Hall, South Lake Tahoe, CA: Neighb’rhood Childr’n/Jim Burgett & Wally Cox </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />Meanwhile, just down the road, Jim Burgett's American Legion Hall wasn't doing as well as they had previous years. Kings Beach Bowl was 40 miles away, but The Sanctuary was nearby, and larger. The Sanctuary was doing well, while Burgett reported that crowds at the American Legion Hall were suffering. So it turned out that the number of teenagers in Lake Tahoe wasn't infinite after all. <br /><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMDol_N6_r6xrKhQia5qKpkmbNzDGKhpuwvlghtmlQFqaHWJWfWs6gPNZfTzQsOPHY0gBubs7lPZ9BO1g3unyqa2HgyDSRS9Ibf94Kx274Mz2GxxzGRNG7jn-3F4OtJxb_G0fv-Payjn53wrA4GgrwYcTYxq7POkRgTcW-Ijzp7mrFBEza3qsb5EmcJyw/s580/Neighborhood%20Childr'n%20Acta%20Records%201968.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="580" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMDol_N6_r6xrKhQia5qKpkmbNzDGKhpuwvlghtmlQFqaHWJWfWs6gPNZfTzQsOPHY0gBubs7lPZ9BO1g3unyqa2HgyDSRS9Ibf94Kx274Mz2GxxzGRNG7jn-3F4OtJxb_G0fv-Payjn53wrA4GgrwYcTYxq7POkRgTcW-Ijzp7mrFBEza3qsb5EmcJyw/s320/Neighborhood%20Childr'n%20Acta%20Records%201968.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>The Neighb'rhood Childr'n, from Ft. Bragg, CA, released a 1968 album on Acta Record. They were from far Northern California, but the picture on the cover intentionally evokes hilly San Francisco</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>To my knowledge, this Saturday show was the only 1968 event where Burgett booked an out-of-town act. Although largely forgotten by nostalgic record collectors, the strangely-named Neighb'rhood Childr'n were from Fort Bragg, CA, far up North. They played a sort of psychedelic garage rock, and were very popular in Northern California and Southern Oregon. They were making a good living, but not by playing the Fillmore or Los Angeles, and thus aren't remembered by posters on dorm walls. They did release one album in 1968 on Acta Records (since re-released by Sundazed Records with additional tracks as <i>Long Years In Space</i>).<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaFDmIOZS7LyuO2kKg4bYVBG-OvXyy8E8sC8FfBsvRuZpfHN4i9koxi3wNqA4-bhK1YKDrMSBWuZVpvZZRJi64RzItNxBNQ9ndv8GoZBkWBAr4F3pHktsVALe0Y8x2vsNbqTuv2aYIIHT7zFF4GiXKD0vYWEL9ubH_BGHn_q5YH0Str6CZO2jFXuNhHdg/s600/Wally%20Cox%20singer%20photo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="317" data-original-width="600" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaFDmIOZS7LyuO2kKg4bYVBG-OvXyy8E8sC8FfBsvRuZpfHN4i9koxi3wNqA4-bhK1YKDrMSBWuZVpvZZRJi64RzItNxBNQ9ndv8GoZBkWBAr4F3pHktsVALe0Y8x2vsNbqTuv2aYIIHT7zFF4GiXKD0vYWEL9ubH_BGHn_q5YH0Str6CZO2jFXuNhHdg/s320/Wally%20Cox%20singer%20photo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Wally Cox (not the actor) was a popular soul singer based in Oakland. He is hard to google, but he put out a number of singles that were popular in the Bay Area. I'm pretty confident that Jim Burgett's band backed Cox in concert. <br /><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Since Labor Day 1968 was on September 2, I'm sure there were additional concerts at The Sanctuary, particularly in August. We also have no information about visiting bands at the Legion Hall (save the one above). Eyewitnesses have recalled seeing a few other bands in Lake Tahoe in the Summer. My eyewitnesses' memories have usually checked out, as the flyers above testify. I can't find any confirmation for some of these other memories, but see below for a list. If anyone recalls anything--real or imagined, flashbacks welcome--put it in the Comments. </p><p><b><i></i></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN0Dipxcsa5AOj5-YkiAzhnKIK7XeUv2kfywybvWtpa3Z2UlUSuQkC7vyzKjS4qj9zeLjpPyFY3jHE3WXh4WjUnIlTDE4q1tc2eGTQtd1ew77wqUnN3K04YfSEl59krdBSO_X3VklBhn8TXhJdQ0PCbDZITpqcn1kmy6s2TSOIwrEtK3JA-3l82olqXlw/s599/Pablo%20Cruise%20A&M%20August%2075.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="599" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN0Dipxcsa5AOj5-YkiAzhnKIK7XeUv2kfywybvWtpa3Z2UlUSuQkC7vyzKjS4qj9zeLjpPyFY3jHE3WXh4WjUnIlTDE4q1tc2eGTQtd1ew77wqUnN3K04YfSEl59krdBSO_X3VklBhn8TXhJdQ0PCbDZITpqcn1kmy6s2TSOIwrEtK3JA-3l82olqXlw/s320/Pablo%20Cruise%20A&M%20August%2075.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pablo Cruise's debut album on A&M Records was released in August 1975</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><i><br />The Crystal Ship at Roundhill Village, Zephyr Cove, NV</i></b><br />Jim Burgett had figured out that there were a lot of teenagers in Lake Tahoe, ready ready ready to rock and roll, and he had made a thriving business out of it in Lake Tahoe every Summer through 1967. By 1968, rock had exploded nationwide, and suddenly he had competitors. Burgett's nearest competitor was of course The Sanctuary, booking Fillmore bands just a few blocks away from the American Legion Hall. Just 20 minutes North, however, over the California border but still on US-50, another competitor had opened.<p></p><p>Palo Alto pianist Cory Lerios was the son of a concert pianist. If his name seems familiar, it's because he would be one of the founding members of the band Pablo Cruise in the early 70s, and the band went on to huge success. In 1968, however, Lerios played piano and organ in a group called Together, and they opened a "teen-only" club in Lake Tahoe. It was open seven nights a week, with Together as the house band, a similar arrangement to Burgett and his band at the American Legion Hall. The twist was that The Crystal Ship was on the Nevada side, rather than the California side, even though it was near the state line. <br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV0q1Lu0sDRHNwLDCFIP4e8_GurW4_PH1qO5zjapK95EOv9eofNRBziQRZprQ_n5SPGb-wOHTLK7_aqrozezWeVIjHoHmwjacCMo8HZ4ymkeDFGiX5lT9NklMYMD7PETRICLrQbJlishdFNyoYoyVCkNv8bVh04kFYy7t6sx0j1yP5MHFlzOMcL2Qbl3A/s735/Cory%20Lerios%20Crystal%20Ship%2019681017.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="735" data-original-width="546" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV0q1Lu0sDRHNwLDCFIP4e8_GurW4_PH1qO5zjapK95EOv9eofNRBziQRZprQ_n5SPGb-wOHTLK7_aqrozezWeVIjHoHmwjacCMo8HZ4ymkeDFGiX5lT9NklMYMD7PETRICLrQbJlishdFNyoYoyVCkNv8bVh04kFYy7t6sx0j1yP5MHFlzOMcL2Qbl3A/s320/Cory%20Lerios%20Crystal%20Ship%2019681017.jpg" width="238" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>The October 17, 1968 Palo Alto Times had a feature article on hometown lad Cory Lerios' new venture, The Crystal Ship at Roundhill Village</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>June 27-September 2, 1968 Crystal Ship At Roundhill Village, Zephyr Cove, NV: Together </b><i>(Monday-Sunday)</i><br />The Crystal Ship was located in Roundhill Village, a tiny unincorporated community near Zephyr Cove. Roundhill Village was right near the biggest casinos on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe, and was directed at the teenage children of those adults who wanted to be on the Nevada side in order to gamble. The name "Crystal Ship" came from a Doors song, and young people would have recognized the hip reference. Although The Crystal Ship seems to only have been open for the Summer of '68, it was fondly remembered on nostalgic Palo Alto Facebook pages (which is how I found out about it). <p></p><p>Together featured Lerios on piano and organ along with Ron Davis on guitar, Brian Godula on bass and Steve Price on drums. Lerios had previously been in the band Hydraulic Banana, with guitarist Phil Scoma (who had left to join The Chocolate Watch Band). An article in the October 17, 1968 Palo Alto <i>Times</i> documented Lerios' successful Summer. The Crystal Ship had opened sometime in June, and from July 4 onwards it was open seven nights a week, apparently with Together as the house band each evening. I have approximated the dates (June 27-September 2) per the article, but I don't have any other documentation. </p><p>The article also promotes Lerios' forthcoming venture, The Crystal Ship at Heavenly Valley, scheduled to open Thanksgiving Weekend and apparently to remain open throughout December. Heavenly Valley was a ski resort in South Lake Tahoe, straddling the California/Nevada border, and near to both the Lake and the Nevada casinos. Heavenly was a popular ski resort on its own terms, and its proximity to other attractions made it a desirable destination. Clearly Lerios' planned to provide some fun for visiting teenagers at the resort. It was another effort to try and capitalize on teenage rock fans who visited in the Winter. I can find no other trace, however, of the Crystal Ship at Heavenly Valley, so I do not know if it ever opened.</p><i><b>Winter Snowfall</b></i><br />Lake Tahoe had an abundance of teenage rock fans in the Summer, but 1968 had suggested that there were too many venues, with The Sanctuary, the Legion Hall, The Crystal Ship at Kings Beach Bowl. Jim Burgett has said that his business at the Legion Hall was threatened by the success of the larger Sanctuary, and the nearby Crystal Ship can't have helped. Kings Beach Bowl wasn't really thriving, but it's location in North Tahoe was still an incentive for locally-based teenagers not to head to South Lake Tahoe. <br /><p>A heavy winter storm changed the equation. Burgett controlled the master lease on the American Legion Hall, and he rented it out to different parties outside of the summer. His band usually played other resorts around the country, so he wasn't around that much. In the Winter of 68/69, Burgett had rented the Legion Hall out to a local dj for a "record hop" (dancing to records), but heavy snowfall caved in the roof. No one was hurt, but the American Legion Hall was unusable for some time. There would be no chance of Burgett holding dances there in the Summer of 1969.</p><p>Rather unexpectedly, however, the owner of The Sanctuary gave up the business. The Summer of '68 had been very successful, but for personal reasons he chose to give up operating the venue. He asked Burgett to run it instead. Much to Burgett's surprise, he was now operating the venue of his biggest competitor, alone in South Lake Tahoe. The only condition was that Burgett had to change the name from The Sanctuary. Apparently, according to Burgett, the owner's wife was a devout Catholic and did not like the name. Burgett would re-open The Sanctuary in the Summer of '69 as The Fun House. <br /><br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu0tPLLrpZ3WAlz-LBpR-wgZf7_7DNzaWXVmp7oLE7DY1pgtJ-xjVO6J-827Ejh2YlNJD-z8R9WdLNSkCe9H9_w7rc2bubBD7ao7A-zl_qjUkJ35OysPn7RH6cd1kqeCIc-FPYR-IfSFsaiKiaOq_X38btLU5L-XK2OJNo4CDgho5LEbsoP55R3XCqiYk/s897/SFC19690105b-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="741" data-original-width="897" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu0tPLLrpZ3WAlz-LBpR-wgZf7_7DNzaWXVmp7oLE7DY1pgtJ-xjVO6J-827Ejh2YlNJD-z8R9WdLNSkCe9H9_w7rc2bubBD7ao7A-zl_qjUkJ35OysPn7RH6cd1kqeCIc-FPYR-IfSFsaiKiaOq_X38btLU5L-XK2OJNo4CDgho5LEbsoP55R3XCqiYk/s320/SFC19690105b-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>The January 5, 1969 San Francisco Chronicle had a picture of the Santana Blues Band, who were playing The TNT, newly opened at Alpine Meadows Ski Resort</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b><i>Winter 1969</i></b><br />The Summer of 1968 showed that there was a thriving rock market for visiting teenagers in the Lake Tahoe area. There may have been an over-saturation of venues, but there was no doubt that the market was there. Lake Tahoe, however, was just as important as a Winter Resort as a Summer one. After the 1960 Winter Olympics had been held there, the entire State of California was aware of Lake Tahoe skiing. Alpine Meadows was Northwest of the Lake, about ten miles West of Tahoe City. Alpine Meadows abuts Olympic Valley, where the Olympics had been held. The Alpine Meadows Resort had opened in 1961. Paired with Olympic Valley (then called Squaw Valley), it was a primary Lake Tahoe destination in Winter. </p><b>January 10-11, 1969 The TNT, Alpine Meadows Ski Resort. Tahoe City CA: Santana Blues Band </b><i>(Friday and Saturday)</i><br /><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2011/01/january-10-11-1969-tnt-alpine-meadows.html">A promotional photo in the January 5, 1969 San Francisco <i>Chronicle</i> is my only real trace of a Winter rock venue at Alpine Meadows</a>. Under a photo of the early 1969 lineup of Santana, the Chronicle caption says<p></p><blockquote><i>SANTANA'S
BLUES BAND will perform Friday and Saturday evenings at The TNT,
located one mile south of Squaw Valley in the Powder Bowl-Alpine Meadows
area. Weekend rock concerts will be presented throughout the winter
months at TNT. Among the groups to come, Country Weather and Cold Blood. </i></blockquote><p></p><p>TNT was the business name for East Bay promoter Bill Quarry, who had booked shows in the San Leandro Roller Bowl and <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2009/10/1825-salvio-street-concord-ca-concord.html">the now-forgotten (except by me) Concord Coliseum</a>. He also booked shows around the Bay Area in different places. Quarry was an important promoter from 1965-68, before he simply got squeezed out by Bill Graham's dominance. There's every reason to assume that The TNT was a Bill Quarry production. </p><p>Santana had just been signed to Columbia Records, but had not yet begun recording. Their lineup at the time still included conguero Marcus Malone, but he would soon be replaced by Mike Carabello. At this time, Santana were regulars at the Fillmore West, and widely known around the Bay Area, but without a record they were not yet on the highest tier of attractions. <br /></p><p></p><p><b>January 18-19, 1969 The TNT, Alpine Meadows Ski Resort, Tahoe City, CA: Cold Blood </b><i>(Saturday and Sunday)</i><br />Ralph Gleason mentioned the TNT bookings in his Friday roundups in the SF <i>Chronicle</i>, the only other trace I could find of the Alpine Meadows adventure. <br /><br />Cold Blood was booked by Bill Graham's Millard Agency, as was Santana, the Grateful Dead, Elvin Bishop and other Bay Area groups. </p><p><b>January 24-26, 1969 The TNT, Alpine Meadows Ski Resort, Tahoe City, CA: Country Weather </b><i>(Friday-Sunday)</i><br />Country Weather was also booked by the Millard Agency. <br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuj8L5Z-XBUPI9GPn_GhXUjYT_o2Xe6sADFT6htecsEA_EIDVCprt1LIqDV37GrazusCYe303zNg4TlCJfjTWhUsWsfxTKeA8YEiPdeSf-zjW61BLxWvUMblvQsCAB5cGIjpFvD7T7TZVe96yHlN23OsBwuk6AZ_o19OjpsHdKCnalRnKIf7WN1V-atRo/s297/SFC19690131b-Frumious%20TNT.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="47" data-original-width="297" height="47" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuj8L5Z-XBUPI9GPn_GhXUjYT_o2Xe6sADFT6htecsEA_EIDVCprt1LIqDV37GrazusCYe303zNg4TlCJfjTWhUsWsfxTKeA8YEiPdeSf-zjW61BLxWvUMblvQsCAB5cGIjpFvD7T7TZVe96yHlN23OsBwuk6AZ_o19OjpsHdKCnalRnKIf7WN1V-atRo/s1600/SFC19690131b-Frumious%20TNT.jpg" width="297" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Ralph Gleason's Ad Lib column, January 31, 1969 SF Chronicle</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />January 31-February 1, 1969 The TNT, Alpine Meadows Ski Resort, Tahoe City, CA: Frumious Bandersnatch </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Frumious Bandersnatch, too, was booked by the Millard Agency. The band's road manager was one Walter "Herbie" Herbert, who would become Santana's road manager in the early 1970s and then Journey's manager and the architect of their success in the middle of the decade. Those whose record collections are too large may recall his recordings with Bill Kreutzmann and Neal Schon as Sy Klopps. <p></p><p>The TNT disappears without a trace after these listings. If anyone recalls anything, please note them in the Comments. <br /></p><p><b><i>1969: Kings Beach Bowl</i></b><br />Kings Beach Bowl returned to action in 1969, but the rock market had exploded. The bands who would play for the small change and good times in North Lake Tahoe were no longer Fillmore headliners with record contracts. </p><b>February 7-8, 1969 Kings Beach Bowl, North Lake Tahoe, CA: Sanpaku </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />After the Alpine Meadows TNT shows, there were two weekends at Kings Beach Bowl. We don't know for a fact that the Alpine Meadows shows didn't continue, but I don't think so. Both weekends at Kings Beach Bowl featured bands booked by Millard, just like Alpine, and I don't think the Agency would book against themselves. Since Kings Beach Bowl was still only a half-hour from Olympic Valley, I think this was an effort to continue to draw Winter teenagers. <br /><p>The scheduling replayed the unsuccessful Grateful Dead concerts ("Trip Or Ski") of the previous February. This time, however, the bands were much lower on the rock heirarchy, more in line with the scale of Kings Beach Bowl. <b>Sanpaku</b>, in fact, were the revised version of The Working Class, who had been the "house band" during the Summer of 1968. They had changed their name, and after an audition at Fillmore West, they had been signed up to the Bill Graham operation. <br /></p><p><b>February 14-16, 1968 Kings Beach Bowl, North Lake Tahoe, CA: Dancing Food & Entertainment </b><i>(Friday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Dancing Food & Entertainment</b> was a Berkeley band, who generally rehearsed at <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/New%20Orleans%20House.htm">The New Orleans House</a>. Naomi Eisenberg, later an original Hot Lick with Dan Hicks, and bassist Tom Glass (aka Ned Lamont, ex-Jazz Mice) led the band. <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7nMJEXIvfxSzj5AIKZVO3Qu9TP5HTbK-dVyh6LC4rzAVQtYJgYr3eMG6x8Oa6agrI9ZIIIVL80-KLNoKMzq05JQ5Khn0itgkFdvCwvvK2_iGEcYUn4X7trDr66u0vcBxWNpcEOxJF1sCBa2WgsYG3OyZ4k-QTLpMPYEh3cFDlrC7xCXpxfGgVAOnWqI0/s418/KingsBeachBowl%20Birth%2019690620.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="301" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7nMJEXIvfxSzj5AIKZVO3Qu9TP5HTbK-dVyh6LC4rzAVQtYJgYr3eMG6x8Oa6agrI9ZIIIVL80-KLNoKMzq05JQ5Khn0itgkFdvCwvvK2_iGEcYUn4X7trDr66u0vcBxWNpcEOxJF1sCBa2WgsYG3OyZ4k-QTLpMPYEh3cFDlrC7xCXpxfGgVAOnWqI0/s320/KingsBeachBowl%20Birth%2019690620.jpg" width="230" /></a></div><p><b>June 20-21, 1969 Kings Beach Bowl, North Lake Tahoe, CA: Birth/Orion/Lamb </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Kings Beach Bowl seems to have opened their Summer 1969 season in June. I don't know why Kings Beach Bowl started in June rather than Memorial Day (like the Legion Hall), but the pattern was consistent all three years. <br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhZFnWujVfbQQj6_269Q0NeUnYFwzWH9Fc1cjXqb8Vr_mvWROMtDdaqiF-HTrYKp29dIv-FjrAsayXvXkBCQGz0nLfQOL3LzRfZxPJ8itUybvX_dJNt7bgJDVc8l59TMg4Dx7Hwtz45HcVt1GGiE0nI_Xuh2pRUEG8eorDOWSURO9vzi6tC2L9PllDGTg/s495/Womb%20Dot%20Records%20lp%201969.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="495" data-original-width="475" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhZFnWujVfbQQj6_269Q0NeUnYFwzWH9Fc1cjXqb8Vr_mvWROMtDdaqiF-HTrYKp29dIv-FjrAsayXvXkBCQGz0nLfQOL3LzRfZxPJ8itUybvX_dJNt7bgJDVc8l59TMg4Dx7Hwtz45HcVt1GGiE0nI_Xuh2pRUEG8eorDOWSURO9vzi6tC2L9PllDGTg/s320/Womb%20Dot%20Records%20lp%201969.jpg" width="307" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>In 1969 Dot Records released the only album by the Bay Area band Womb. Womb apparently changed their name to Birth (insert joke here). <br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Birth, Orion and Lamb were all Bay Area club bands. <b>Lamb</b> was mainly the songwriting duo of Barbara Mauritz and Bob Swanson, and they too were associated with the ubiquitous Millard Agency. <b>Birth</b> had previously been named Womb (really), and under that name had released an album on Dot Records. <b>Orion</b> is a familiar name to me from various 1960s rock club listings, but I don't know anything else about them. <br /><p></p><p></p><p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioQz1QrFZU48ijL35liYFAvWRnJsslxhBj_2d5TADy7dejwEZS-wUZFGx85SYXUCBloIe5hIjmF7v2whKNiRCTgaMZI7XOe7PUj_kL6r1iJ_RIXq9TFMUbYpuJH017v1mqmfcI4Q2lUsFqFxP9GHcVMb39iSVCejXMY0cIrjMpfmSpBvptdNg7NY8McIU/s418/KingsBeachBowl%20Mad%20River%2019690627.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="289" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioQz1QrFZU48ijL35liYFAvWRnJsslxhBj_2d5TADy7dejwEZS-wUZFGx85SYXUCBloIe5hIjmF7v2whKNiRCTgaMZI7XOe7PUj_kL6r1iJ_RIXq9TFMUbYpuJH017v1mqmfcI4Q2lUsFqFxP9GHcVMb39iSVCejXMY0cIrjMpfmSpBvptdNg7NY8McIU/s320/KingsBeachBowl%20Mad%20River%2019690627.jpg" width="221" /></a></div><b>June 27-28, 1969 Kings Beach Bowl, North Lake Tahoe, CA: Bicycle/Mad River </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Bicycle and Mad River were on the fringes of the Bay Area psychedelic scene, both from the East Bay. <b>Bicycle</b>, originally called Hofmann's Bicycle (a clear LSD reference), and then Bycycle, but usually just written as Bicycle in listings, had grown out of an East Bay band called The Cheaters. The lead singer was East Coast transplant Stephen Fiske, but the most interesting member was bassist Dan Healy. Healy was mainly an engineer and producer for Capitol and Mercury Records at this time, but he is best known for having been the Grateful Dead's soundman from 1971 to 1994. He had already recorded <i>Anthem Of The Sun</i> with the band, but after that he was working independently (<a href="http://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2015/01/hoffmans-bicyclebycycle-1968-69-secret.html">I mapped out what is known of Healy's Bycycle career elsewhere</a>). <br /><p><b>Mad River</b> are true legends of psychedelia, but like many legends they got little respect when they were together. <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Mad%20River.htm">The band were art students from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, OH, who had relocated to Berkeley in 1967</a>. Their music was not at all typical of the bluesy folk jamming typical of hippie bands at the time, but somewhat closer to what we would now call progressive rock. They were definitely an acquired taste, and most fans of Mad River did not acquire that taste until a decade or two after they had broken up. Their 1968 debut album was infamous, not least because even the band can not tell if the engineer sped up the tape (hint: what does that tell you?). </p><p>By 1969, the members of Mad River had all but given up. Their second and final album was essentially country rock, once again years ahead of its time and disappointing what few fans they had. The band had broken up by July, so Kings Beach Bowl was one of their last shows. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDSiYyL6jltC68y5xJb_6R5YMx-AGHyfQq-SqaRpVHFWmXo7VM0-P1P6VSNdM_SzKLAHlJNjshC1biaWS8oFdjJnhaowmWt13ppZs-wqjelCuzUvj2pWwACVYwOlaVhs8BpzK6AgUWyDOfezxuA_v7GMk49_O1rjrDgl72sWKMDDEgS7y7N39-PNMv81M/s419/Kings%20Beach%20Bowl%20Musselwhite%2019690704.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="319" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDSiYyL6jltC68y5xJb_6R5YMx-AGHyfQq-SqaRpVHFWmXo7VM0-P1P6VSNdM_SzKLAHlJNjshC1biaWS8oFdjJnhaowmWt13ppZs-wqjelCuzUvj2pWwACVYwOlaVhs8BpzK6AgUWyDOfezxuA_v7GMk49_O1rjrDgl72sWKMDDEgS7y7N39-PNMv81M/s320/Kings%20Beach%20Bowl%20Musselwhite%2019690704.jpg" width="244" /></a></div><b>July 4-6, 1969 Kings Beach Bowl, North Lake Tahoe, CA: Charlie Musselwhite/Lightnin Hopkins/Harvey Mandel </b><i>(Friday-Sunday)</i> <br /><b>Charlie Musselwhite</b>, from Chicago via Memphis, played harmonica and sang the blues. <b>Harvey Mandel</b> had been the guitarist in Musselwhite's band when Charlie had made the record <i>Southside Sound System</i> for Vanguard in 1967. Mandel and Musselwhite were among the many Chicago blues musicians who had migrated to the Fillmore in 1967. By 1969, Mandel was a solo artist in his own right for Mercury Records, while Musselwhite continued to record for Vanguard. They both played regularly in San Francisco rock clubs. <br /><p>Mandel was well regarded by other guitarists. Just a month after this show, he would join Canned Heat in time to play Woodstock, and he would later tour with John Mayall and Sugarcane Harris. It's not clear from the flyer whether Mandel would sit in with Charlie or was bringing his own band. </p><p><b>Lightnin' Hopkins</b> and his country blues wasn't really a teenage attraction, but he was such a cagey veteran that he probably did just fine in any case. <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5pjjoqylHTpvg-4B0a0RO4cl_qM0Gc-HRV32eAkGExvYcymTbf0pTVcqWBbJf-rBlwnEkxKi-AuSkbqSowogHKaJ_4ALuo4GS1u1aqTQl6SeyIHSEUlhu0sSxu86B-8-1VZzDKamOZOZ00OLFZ90y3FWkORMKS1fRoEXYc-PLPnpMkSQ2qyaYaVO11Yk/s419/KingsBeach%20Bloomfield%2019690712.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="310" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5pjjoqylHTpvg-4B0a0RO4cl_qM0Gc-HRV32eAkGExvYcymTbf0pTVcqWBbJf-rBlwnEkxKi-AuSkbqSowogHKaJ_4ALuo4GS1u1aqTQl6SeyIHSEUlhu0sSxu86B-8-1VZzDKamOZOZ00OLFZ90y3FWkORMKS1fRoEXYc-PLPnpMkSQ2qyaYaVO11Yk/s320/KingsBeach%20Bloomfield%2019690712.jpg" width="237" /></a></div><p><b>July 11-12, 1969 Kings Beach Bowl, North Lake Tahoe, CA: Mike Bloomfield/Southern Comfort </b><i>(Friday-Saturday) </i><br /><b>Mike Bloomfield</b> was by far the biggest name to play Kings Beach Bowl in the Summer of '69. Despite his legendary status, however, Bloomfield preferred lower profile gigs. He would play low profile shows around the Bay Area with pickup bands organized by Nick Gravenites or pianist Mark Naftalin. He always played with high class musicians, but he never rehearsed. In 1969, his "first-call" lineup would have John Kahn on bass and Bob Jones on drums, usually with either Naftalin or Ira Kamin on keyboards (or both), and Gravenites singing. Other musicians would take their places if they were not available. Bloomfield would just tell the band what song they were playing and in what key, and count them off. It was surprisingly good for being so casual, but it wasn't like seeing a real band. <br /></p><p><b>Southern Comfort</b> was a band that had been formed by Bob Jones as both a studio rhythm section and a live ensemble, in the manner of Booket T and The MGs. Jones was the singer and drummer, Fred Burton played guitar, Ron Stallings was on sax and vocals and Steve Funk was on keyboards, along with various bass players. Their sole 1970 Columbia album would be co-produced by Gravenites and Kahn. Southern Comfort did not act as Bloomfield's backing band, but Jones would have drummed for Bloomfield.</p><p>Bloomfield was famously unreliable, and with only a flyer and no eyewitnesses to these shows, there's no guarantee that Bloomfield showed up for either of both nights. <br /></p><p></p><p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTFgLenaHaHkKuvZ2n0EuzBqM0ZeVt7T59PHU49NqWnNRHg1U9DkeeBst8nXZcZYKQg0QNRdCKhO0P7l63KmnliVpEE8ucbDharJNoEQK8aKw52Ui9a1hxRg3o713qIAYq-G1nDX1e7BKs6N6pEHpvxywTwhwOwuz2PFX7n1FdVF_HBmVr9AzHdwKlyxU/s419/KingsBeach%20Alarm%20Clock%2019690718.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="304" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTFgLenaHaHkKuvZ2n0EuzBqM0ZeVt7T59PHU49NqWnNRHg1U9DkeeBst8nXZcZYKQg0QNRdCKhO0P7l63KmnliVpEE8ucbDharJNoEQK8aKw52Ui9a1hxRg3o713qIAYq-G1nDX1e7BKs6N6pEHpvxywTwhwOwuz2PFX7n1FdVF_HBmVr9AzHdwKlyxU/s320/KingsBeach%20Alarm%20Clock%2019690718.jpg" width="232" /></a></div><p><b>July 18-19, 1969 Kings Beach Bowl, North Lake Tahoe, CA: Strawberry Alarm Clock/Giant Crab/Birmingham Sundae </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />The <b>Strawberry Alarm Clock</b> were from Glendale, and they had scored a huge hit in 1967 with their catchy debut single "Incense and Peppermints." By 1969 they had released four albums, but of course all anyone knew about them was their initial hit. As rock music had become more serious and "heavier" by 1969, the Strawberry Alarm Clock seemed cheesier. They probably put on an enjoyable show, but they were essentially an oldies act already. <br /></p><p><b>Giant Crab</b> and <b>Birmingham Sundae</b> are completely unknown to me.<br /></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmnZdYGhel7F3OgITcPsQcIeY-IITd309dukTsv0fgqvU2L948VmUB-Nr1veKUkyUoxcZ_nwu1yDh9eyx-Kasr91LgOI3WSJ5fL-PCNYDhWiUV6V-uQfyeBaHP2Km3s_veYofEzIK6Ldd-1ZdGRPvQ0DeYYEbr60Z_1QJcA5YL01lxc8IWPZyLm4Ancd4/s418/KingsBeachBowl%20Wolfman%20Jack%2019690801.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="297" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmnZdYGhel7F3OgITcPsQcIeY-IITd309dukTsv0fgqvU2L948VmUB-Nr1veKUkyUoxcZ_nwu1yDh9eyx-Kasr91LgOI3WSJ5fL-PCNYDhWiUV6V-uQfyeBaHP2Km3s_veYofEzIK6Ldd-1ZdGRPvQ0DeYYEbr60Z_1QJcA5YL01lxc8IWPZyLm4Ancd4/s320/KingsBeachBowl%20Wolfman%20Jack%2019690801.jpg" width="227" /></a></div><p><b>August 1-2, 1969 Kings Beach Bowl, North Lake Tahoe, CA: The Wolfman Jack Show </b><i>(Friday-Saturday) Produced by Promotion Associates</i><br />The "boxing style" flyer is one indication that the Wolfman Jack event was put on by outside promoters, in this case "Promotion Associates." <b>Wolfman Jack </b>was a legendary dj, so this show was basically like a high school dance with a celebrity dj. They addition of the Kings Beach light show gave it a vaguely psychedelic overlay.</p><p>The Wolfman had been based in the United States for some time, but his all-night shows were broadcast on a powerful Mexican radio station audible through much of the Southwest. <br /></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUILMygYRiyvAXCp2A86oqQYUcFRsfdd93JwKukSa4HlG1IRaIWjUs9VXmd_kCIrtmW-bUFYz9W0M-B9GhDpuHHC2vrZtW_GKH6ikTDDGObuEPIh9d0zuvcABPCwwaC0GaJGBYmDhIOaBkp1_wB6bbDlsl8rgKSJQOVVgc5KBgBaN59R0r2ssGF38AoX8/s413/SFC19690829-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="53" data-original-width="413" height="41" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUILMygYRiyvAXCp2A86oqQYUcFRsfdd93JwKukSa4HlG1IRaIWjUs9VXmd_kCIrtmW-bUFYz9W0M-B9GhDpuHHC2vrZtW_GKH6ikTDDGObuEPIh9d0zuvcABPCwwaC0GaJGBYmDhIOaBkp1_wB6bbDlsl8rgKSJQOVVgc5KBgBaN59R0r2ssGF38AoX8/s320/SFC19690829-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Ralph Gleason's Ad Libs column, SF Chronicle, August 29, 1969</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <p></p><p><b>August 29-31, 1969 Kings Beach Bowl, North Lake Tahoe, CA: The Crabs </b><i>(Friday-Sunday)</i><br />There were probably additional Kings Beach Bowl events in August, but I don't really know anything about them. Ralph Gleason noted the event in his Friday column, but after this I have no trace. Summer 69 appeared to be the end of the line for the Kings Beach Bowl as a rock venue, a pioneer sized out by the exploding rock market, a fate shared by many other contemporary places. <br /></p><p><b>The Crabs</b> were a Berkeley band, playing what we would now call "roots-rock." They were popular locally, but never graduated to making a record. <br /></p><p><b><i>1969: The Fun House </i></b><br />Meanwhile, Jim Burgett had taken control of the re-named Sanctuary. As far as I know, his own band was booked seven nights a week, with occasional performances by touring bands. We only have a few posters to go on, as I'm not aware of any advertisements in any newspapers. It's impossible to tell from this remove how often visiting bands played instead of Jim Burgett's band. </p><p><b>June 14, 1969 The Fun House, South Lake Tahoe, CA Sons of Champlin/Santana/AB Skhy </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />By this time, Santana had recorded their debut album for Columbia but it had not yet been released, and they had dropped the "Blues Band" appendage. Santana was more popular than ever in San Francisco, but they were about even in status to Marin's <b>Sons Of Champlin</b>, amusing as this sounds from our vantage point. The Sons had released their own Capitol debut album in May, <i>Loosen Up Naturally</i>. </p><p><b>AB Skhy</b> had been formed when a band transplanted from Milwaukee, The New Blues, had joined with organist Howard Wales. Wales had wide experience playing rock in Cincinnati and jazz in El Paso, among other stops. AB Skhy would release their debut album on MGM Records later in 1969. <br /></p><p>Sons' road manager Charlie Kelly recalled this show for me in a private email, and remembered a smoking hot set by Santana. The lineup and the material would have been the same one that the world saw at the Woodstock Festival a few months later. The Sons followed them, but the show was shut down by the police. According to Jim Burgett, he did not typically have problems with the police (whom he no doubt knew very well) and when something like this happened, it was because a show was running late. </p><p>The show is recalled by Kelly and other eyewitnesses on message boards, but I have approximated the date. It's reasonable to assume that the lineup played Friday night (June 13) as well. <br /></p><p><b>July 3-5, 1969 The Fun House, South Lake Tahoe, CA: Santana </b><i>(Friday-Sunday)</i><br />Santana returned to The Fun House for the July 4 weekend. This was the Woodstock lineup, probably warming up for their forthcoming East Coast tour. They would play Fillmore East August 1, and then play up and down the coast, including Woodstock on August 16. Their album would be officially released on August 30, although some stores and radio stations might have had it before then. </p><p><b>August 29-31, 1969 The Fun House, South Lake Tahoe, CA: Aum/Fritz/Together (Friday-Sunday)</b><br />The weekend before Memorial Day had an intriguing triple bill. <b>Aum</b> was a power trio fronted by Oakland guitarist Wayne Ceballos. They had released their second album <i>Resurrection</i> on Bill Graham's Fillmore Records (distributed by Columbia). Aum, too, was booked by Millard. </p><p><b>Fritz</b> was a rising band from Menlo Park, the town just North of Palo Alto and Stanford. The band members had met as students at Menlo-Atherton High School. Fritz included former MA Swim Team member Lindsay Buckingham on bass and Stephanie "Stevie" Nicks on vocals. They played all over the Bay Area in 1969 and '70.</p><p><b>Together</b> was Cory Lerios' band, who would have been somewhat well known from their Summer of '68 playing every night at The Crystal Ship in Roundhill Village. </p><p>Labor Day '69 was September 1, so Aum closed out The Fun House while The Crabs closed out Kings Beach Bowl (above). </p><i><b>Eyewitness Reports</b></i><br />My eyewitnesses' memories have usually checked out, as the flyers above testify. Still, some people recall a few shows that I couldn't track down. Although I can't find any confirmation for some of these other memories, I still think these shows likely occurred:<p><i>Kings
Beach Bowl</i>: an eyewitness recalls the <b>Butterfield Blues Band </b>in either
1967 or '68. Butterfield toured the West coast regularly. A weekday
concert in July 1968 seems especially plausible. </p><p><i>Kings Beach
Bowl</i>: an eyewitness recalls the <b>Youngbloods</b> in the Summer of 1968. The
Youngbloods were based in Marin, so this is very plausible.</p><p><i>South
Shore</i>: An eyewitness recalls seeing <b>Chicago Transit Authority</b> in Tahoe.
They were based in Los Angeles after Summer 1968. A Summer 1969 show at The Fun House seems the most
plausible. </p><p><i>South Shore</i>: Some eyewitnesses recall <b>Spirit</b>, the great Los Angeles band with Randy California. Although Summer '68 is just possible, Summer '69 seems far more likely. <br /></p><p><i>South Shore</i>: An eyewitness recalls seeing <b>John Mayall</b>. Mayall's touring
schedule doesn't fit any of the Summers, so I suspect that this may be a
crossed wire. It's not totally impossible, however. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiejKpDNx4P7q1be4I7-01NSPmVs9Nl5hNOnTmksYuRigSzT5SDPOHZ6J_yLMea9pPZZV6T8MqVcyuQ3wTbtm0zA-5OzLvEiAx1IB149yxIFeGESEnlXB4x7HgefHQROZ0mTA1Q2-HlKBGOg9sglFlNHXF8FdWLei6awSfFrWuOz0AbnUIJCa1oOOBFfMw/s2400/North%20Tahoe%20Event%20Center%20Lake.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="779" data-original-width="2400" height="104" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiejKpDNx4P7q1be4I7-01NSPmVs9Nl5hNOnTmksYuRigSzT5SDPOHZ6J_yLMea9pPZZV6T8MqVcyuQ3wTbtm0zA-5OzLvEiAx1IB149yxIFeGESEnlXB4x7HgefHQROZ0mTA1Q2-HlKBGOg9sglFlNHXF8FdWLei6awSfFrWuOz0AbnUIJCa1oOOBFfMw/s320/North%20Tahoe%20Event%20Center%20Lake.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Tahoe Events Center at 8318 N. Lake Blvd, formerly the site of Kings Beach Bowl. </i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /><i><b>Aftermath</b></i><br />Kings Beach Bowl ceased to be an entertainment venue after the Summer of '69. The building went through various uses. <a href="https://northtahoeevents.com/venue/directions-parking/">It is currently the North Tahoe Events Center, and it is a popular wedding venue. </a></p><p>Jim Burgett ran The Fun House until 1971. Eventually, the rock market changed so that big touring rock bands could not play tiny Lake Tahoe. Teenagers wanted to go to larger concerts with bigger names, even if they were in a basketball arena or football stadium. As the rock market got older, there were more rock nightclubs serving beer or liquor, and those clubs always paid better than any teen dance. Burgett himself had a successful career leading his band in Las Vegas, Reno and elsewhere, but his franchise in Lake Tahoe was a unique sixties event, now lost in the mists of time. <br /></p><p><br /></p><br /></div>Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-18031077188349567272023-10-19T09:03:00.001-07:002023-12-17T10:22:34.590-08:00Keystone Palo Alto, 260 South California Avenue, Palo Alto, CA: Performance List August-December 1977 (Keystone Palo Alto II)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uoRJI2Mqqlg/YTPi7HIQzpI/AAAAAAAAJgU/447y9rmb4UQYrTIODg9PQ7MzQDnfoCnZgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1200/260%2BS%2BCalifornia%2BPA%2B1990s.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="609" data-original-width="1200" height="162" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uoRJI2Mqqlg/YTPi7HIQzpI/AAAAAAAAJgU/447y9rmb4UQYrTIODg9PQ7MzQDnfoCnZgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/260%2BS%2BCalifornia%2BPA%2B1990s.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>260 South California Avenue, the site of the Keystone Palo Alto, as it appeared in the 1990s. At the time it was a nightclub called Illusions.<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>The Keystone Berkeley and The Keystone, Palo Alto</b><br />Freddie Herrera was a successful rock nightclub owner and operator for over 15 years, from 1968 until about 1985. He ran a number of different nightclubs in San Francisco, Berkeley, Palo Alto and even Stockton, all using some variation on the Keystone name. It's hard enough to stay in the rock business for 15 years, much less to do it in multiple locations. Herrera's most high profile expansion was adding a Keystone in Palo Alto alongside of the Keystone Berkeley club. When it opened in 1977, the Keystone in Palo Alto was the only nightclub in the Peninsula or South Bay presenting original rock music every week, multiple nights of the week. There had been <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/07/palo-alto-psychedelic-rock-shows-1969.html">the Poppycock, in Palo Alto from 1967 through 1970</a>, and a few successors (<a href="https://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2020/07/tales-from-in-your-ear-live-music-in.html">In Your Ear</a> and <a href="https://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2020/07/live-music-in-palo-alto1971-73-across.html">Homer's Warehouse</a>), but the South Bay just had beer joints and dance clubs. The Keystone in Palo Alto changed all that, and it thrived for many years. <br /><p>The Keystone
came to Palo Alto exactly as Silicon Valley was coming to prominence.
Palo Alto, sleepy but attuned to culture, was now full of young people
with money who wanted to go out, but who wanted to go out and see
something interesting. Palo Alto had no nightlife, for various
historical reasons. Thus the Keystone was primed both to provide that
nightlife during a time when employment was booming. It seems like it
was the perfect time to start a rock nightclub in the Peninsula.</p><p>And
yet--it was a near thing. With no real competition, it should have been
relatively easy to supply all the Keystone Berkeley acts with another
gig an hour away. Something went south, however--what exactly went wrong isn't exactly
certain--and the Palo Alto operation seems to have nearly failed. Around June 1977, just five months after the grand opening, almost every major club act in the Bay Area, and all the touring acts, apparently refused to play the Keystone in Palo Alto. Herrera was reduced to booking Top 40 cover bands, and reverting the club to the pickup/dance joint it had been a few years earlier. Yet
the Keystone survived, apparently due to Jerry Garcia's continual
willingness to play lucrative shows for Herrera. <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2023/04/the-keystone-palo-alto-260-south.html">In a prior post, I discussed the history of the first seven months of The Keystone in Palo Alto in great detail</a>. <br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qWi56wZLVwg/YTPkP5ogqgI/AAAAAAAAJgg/G0Uxje4wEYg_7G3xKWtuOzswda1kFaKsgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1272/JGB%2B19770703%2BKeystone%2BPA%2B3%2BJul%2B1977%252C%2B133%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1272" data-original-width="666" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qWi56wZLVwg/YTPkP5ogqgI/AAAAAAAAJgg/G0Uxje4wEYg_7G3xKWtuOzswda1kFaKsgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/JGB%2B19770703%2BKeystone%2BPA%2B3%2BJul%2B1977%252C%2B133%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" width="168" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Remember that Maria Muldaur was JGB-bassist John Kahn's girlfriend. Only Garcia and Maria were booked in Palo Alto in July '77, along with aging (if talented) bluesman Bobby Blue Bland. The other nights, uncredited here, would just have been Top 40. Garcia was coming through for Freddie Herrera at a critical time.<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Jerry Garcia was fairly unique in that his own band played nightclubs
even though Garcia himself was a big rock star with the Grateful Dead.
Typically, any nightclub ad with the Garcia Band, whether in Berkeley or
Poughkeepsie, had no name more famous than Jerry's. Yet most rock clubs
that could afford to book Garcia had other bands with albums, or who
had played Woodstock, or had some other traction. Yet here was Garcia in July of 1977,
booked at a club where almost every other night featured a Top 40 band. <p></p><p>Within
the next few months, the Keystone Palo Alto would return to its emphasis on
performers playing original rock music. The club had the occasional Top
40 band on a Tuesday night, but weekends had more substantial bands.
Over time the Keystone Palo Alto leaned a little harder into a country
sound than its Berkeley counterpart, riding on the unexpectedly hip KFAT
connection. The club would survive and even thrive until 1985, when
Herrera would step away from the nightclub business. Jerry Garcia had
always been a key component for the success of the Keystone family. But
if the Garcia Band had not stepped up for a couple of weekends in July,
1977, there's every reason to think the Keystone Palo Alto would not
have continued much longer.</p><p>Thus the Keystone in
Palo Alto got through 1977, found an identity of its own, and thrived
until 1985. Rock nightclub years are like dog years--eight years was a
heroically long time. This post will look at the balance of 1977 Keystone bookings in Palo Alto, with a view to seeing how the Palo Alto club established a different musical identity than its sister club in Berkeley.<br /></p><p><i><b></b></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7fWknPrZMlc/YTPlfHyG-WI/AAAAAAAAJgs/Q-oDEUWQiEQ28pZuEV4ADxxXE4ku_7AWQCLcBGAsYHQ/s458/Keystone%2BPA%2Bad%2B19770807%2B7%2BAug%2B1977%252C%2B135%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="166" data-original-width="458" height="116" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7fWknPrZMlc/YTPlfHyG-WI/AAAAAAAAJgs/Q-oDEUWQiEQ28pZuEV4ADxxXE4ku_7AWQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Keystone%2BPA%2Bad%2B19770807%2B7%2BAug%2B1977%252C%2B135%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><i><b><br /> </b></i><p></p><p><i><b></b></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2HKCO6xlqlE/YTPl7fQa4jI/AAAAAAAAJg0/P2rP9ARQrAo3xfz7lQlzZgpqWbgIixw7gCLcBGAsYHQ/s426/Keystone%2BBerkeley%2Bad%2B19770807%2B7%2BAug%2B1977%252C%2B135%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="144" data-original-width="426" height="108" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2HKCO6xlqlE/YTPl7fQa4jI/AAAAAAAAJg0/P2rP9ARQrAo3xfz7lQlzZgpqWbgIixw7gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Keystone%2BBerkeley%2Bad%2B19770807%2B7%2BAug%2B1977%252C%2B135%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>The August 7, 1977 SF Chronicle listings show "Keystone" (at 260 California) but "Keystone Berkeley" (at 2119 University). Calling the club "Keystone Palo Alto" was a concession that owner Freddie Herrera eventually accepted</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><i><b><br />The Keystone, Palo Alto: A Note On The Name</b></i><br />The
Keystone Palo Alto is recalled by two categories of people. One
category is people who lived or worked in or around Palo Alto from
1977-85, and attended shows (or at least heard about them) at the club.
The other category is Deadheads, specifically those who were fans of the
Jerry Garcia Band. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2011/01/jerry-garcia-and-keystone-shows.html">Jerry Garcia played for Freddie Herrera and his range of Keystone clubs over 400 times, a staggering number</a>. The
Keystone Palo Alto is thus widely known by Deadheads who never saw
Garcia in Palo Alto, and may have been barely alive during that period. <br /><p></p><p>In
fact, "Keystone Palo Alto" was not actually the original name of the club. It
was "The Keystone." Freddie Herrera had initially opened the Keystone
Korner in 1968, at 750 Vallejo Street in San Francisco. In mid-1971,
Herrera started booking shows at The New Monk in Berkeley (at 2119
University Avenue). <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/11/keystone-berkeley-2119-university.html">Herrera took over the club altogether in March, 1972, calling it Keystone Berkeley to distinguish it from Keystone Korner.</a> Herrera sold the Keystone Korner in August 1972 to proprietor
Todd Barkan, who kept the name but turned it into a jazz club. Herrera
briefly opened the Keystone Stockton in March, 1974, but it did not
catch on. <a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2023/02/sophies-260-south-california-avenue.html">In late 1976, following his prior pattern, Herrera had taken
over the booking of a Palo Alto rock nightclub called Sophie's, at 260
South California</a>. In January, 1977, after a $70,000 renovation, Herrera
opened the club as The Keystone.</p><p>All the ads for the club said
"The Keystone" with the words "Palo Alto" following a comma, or on the
next line. Since rock fans and djs were used to saying "Keystone
Berkeley," the name "Keystone Palo Alto" fell into common use. Herrera
did not discourage it, but that was not the original name of the club. By January 1978, the Sunday <i>Datebook</i> ad and even some Keystone flyers used the Keystone Palo Alto formulation, but it was more of a concession to usage than a name change. I think the marquee always said "Keystone" rather than "Keystone Palo Alto" (the marquee in Berkeley also just said "Keystone"). <br /></p><i><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-71pHak6n_xM/YTPoTvpqFtI/AAAAAAAAJg8/HjBF_4cmu3oRAzp7e8qPgic-pDUUHc9nwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/California%2BAvenue%252C%2BPalo%2BAlto%2B21st%2Bcentury.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-71pHak6n_xM/YTPoTvpqFtI/AAAAAAAAJg8/HjBF_4cmu3oRAzp7e8qPgic-pDUUHc9nwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/California%2BAvenue%252C%2BPalo%2BAlto%2B21st%2Bcentury.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>S. California Avenue in Palo Alto, as it appeared around 2019. Now long-gone Keystone Palo Alto, at 260 S. California would have been at the far end of the street, on the left<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table></b></i><i><b><br />Downtown Palo Alto Geography and Economics, 1955-85</b></i><br />Back
in 1875, there was no Palo Alto, just a town called Mayfield. Lincoln
Avenue, Mayfield's main drag, was famous for its rowdy saloons. Railroad
magnate Leland Stanford wanted to build a University nearby, and
offered to build it next to Mayfield. Since Stanford was a teetotaler,
his only condition was that Mayfield close all its saloons. The town
refused. So Stanford and his partner Timothy Hopkins bought up all the
land just North of Mayfield and extended the Southern Pacific train one
more stop. Palo Alto was founded in 1875, followed finally by Stanford
University in 1893. There were no bars. All the Stanford undergraduates
would go to Mayfield to have fun, but downtown Palo Alto was a thriving
business district.<p>By the mid-1950s, Stanford University was
struggling financially. The school was land-rich but cash-poor, and
could not sell its land by condition of its charter. A forward looking
Chancellor conceived of a mall, and the Stanford Shopping Center opened
in 1955. It was hugely successful, but it decimated the downtown
business district around University Avenue. At the same time, Stanford
developed "industrial parks," college-like settings for high technology
firms, and the seeds of Silicon Valley were born. Stanford University
provided the brains, the likes of Fairchild-Hiller and Hewlett-Packard
had the employment and Stanford Shopping Center was the desirable retail
destination.</p><p>Downtown Palo Alto had nearly died, but its demise
created cheap housing in the early 60s for bohemians like Jerry Garcia.
There was a little folk scene in the sleepy downtown at a place called
The Top Of The Tangent, and eventually the popular rock club The
Poppycock. Interestingly, downtown Palo Alto still had no bars.
Restaurants could serve beer and wine, but the local residents liked a
quiet downtown with no bars. Mayfield, meanwhile, had to fold its tent
back in Prohibition and merge with Palo Alto proper. Lincoln Avenue had
become California Avenue (Palo Alto already had a Lincoln Avenue). The
old Mayfield, however, was outside of downtown, so it had bars, a tiny
link to the rowdy Mayfield of yore.</p><p><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/07/palo-alto-psychedelic-rock-shows-1969.html">The Poppycock had closed in mid-1970</a>, and its successor <a href="https://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2020/07/tales-from-in-your-ear-live-music-in.html">the sorta-jazz-club In Your Ear had closed
after a fire on New Year's Eve 1972/73</a>. <a href="https://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2020/07/live-music-in-palo-alto1971-73-across.html">Homer's Warehouse, near but not
actually part of downtown, also had closed by the end of 1973</a>. There weren't
really any original rock clubs south of San Francisco. The club Sophie's had
opened in 1975, at 260 South California in the old Mayfield area.
Although initially just a sort of dance joint with live bands, <a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2023/02/sophies-260-south-california-avenue.html">by the
end of 1976 Sophie's was booking a lot of original rock acts, the kind
playing Keystone Berkeley</a>. There was nowhere else for such bands to play
on the Peninsula or San Jose area.</p><p>Freddie Herrera must have
noticed the perfect location of Sophie's. It was just outside of
downtown Palo Alto, so it could have a full bar, and it wasn't subject
to the sniffiness of old-time Palo Altans who didn't like a fuss
downtown. 260 South California was near the County Courthouse, so there
was plenty of unused nighttime parking. There were very few residents around
California Avenue, so there was no one to complain about noise and
bother. In the era before Google Maps, it was easy to get to. One of the
biggest intersections in the Peninsula (El Camino Real and Oregon
Expressway) was a few blocks away, and there was simple freeway access
from CA-101 (Bayshore) and I-280 (Junipero Serra Freeway). No
competition for miles, easy to get to and plenty of parking--was there anything else?<br /></p><p>Oh yes--throughout
the whole South Bay, Palo Alto was perceived as "safe" at night, code
for "not too many African Americans." 260 South
California was the perfect location for a rock club, and Sophie's was
already there and regularly booking acts. Herrera took over the booking,
and eventually the club, following the pattern he had established with
the New Monk and the Keystone Berkeley in 1971 and '72.<br /></p><p>The actual address of the
Keystone was 260 South California Avenue. Yet all the ads for the club
say "260 California." Palo Alto actually has a North California Avenue, but it is
across the train tracks, and only long-time residents are aware of it.
For anyone who didn't live in Palo Alto, "California Avenue" was the
commercial district bordered by El Camino Real, Oregon Expressway and
the Railway Station, and saying "South California" was just local snobbery.
Whenever you see someone asserting that the Keystone was at 260 South
California, that's just a Palo Alto local signaling to other Palo Altans
in a secret code. So, yeah, the Keystone was at 260 South California.</p><b>August 2-4, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Brothers Owens </b><i>(Tuesday-Thursday)</i><br />In early 1977, Freddie Herrera had invested $70,000 in upgrading Sophie's to the Keystone Palo Alto, converting it from a local dance joint that usually featured cover bands to a destination nightclub featuring rock bands playing original music. Something went wrong, however--exactly what remains unclear--and the leading local bands, the kind with albums to their name, stopped playing the Keystone Palo Alto. Touring acts stopped being booked there. Jerry Garcia played some gigs there in July, marking the club as still a competitive enterprise, but the August bookings were largely Top 40 or Disco. This was not at all what Herrera had spent $70K for. <br /><p>A newspaper listing indicated that the <b>Brothers Owens </b>would be playing "Top 40 disco" for no cover from Tuesday through Thursday. In Palo Alto language, that meant "you can dance to it, but the music won't be excessively funky." Thus the Keystone Palo Alto was just a pickup bar, basically. Now, granted, there were no dance clubs in Palo Alto this near to downtown, and the Keystone was probably less stuffy than any of the hotel bars with discos further South on El Camino Real. But that wasn't the goal.<br /><br /><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4aMJdL5YE1I/YTUKEv-aewI/AAAAAAAAJhE/XZR1F9IqXAUVNGe6RRJQpf3kK2Fj3FBigCLcBGAsYHQ/s350/Loving%2BIs%2BWhy%2BSons%2BOf%2BChamplin%2BAriola%2BAmerica%2B1977.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="350" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4aMJdL5YE1I/YTUKEv-aewI/AAAAAAAAJhE/XZR1F9IqXAUVNGe6RRJQpf3kK2Fj3FBigCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Loving%2BIs%2BWhy%2BSons%2BOf%2BChamplin%2BAriola%2BAmerica%2B1977.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />August 5, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Sons Of Champlin/Brothers Owens </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />The <b>Sons of Champlin</b> headlined over the Brothers Owens on Friday night. The Sons had 7 albums to their name, and were a "real band." Their most recent was <i>Loving Is Why</i>, on the Ariola America label. Still, they played dance music as well. The Sons were coming to the end of their 12-year run as a band, and this would be their next-to-last show before breaking up (of course, they would reform several times after this, but that's another tale). <br /><br /><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6jI2YxsbVcw/YTUK2TWUnCI/AAAAAAAAJhM/VDK9lyzRmd8UmkTnq3OH8dVhb-dntKp7ACLcBGAsYHQ/s466/Stoneground%2BFlat%2BOut%2B76%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="464" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6jI2YxsbVcw/YTUK2TWUnCI/AAAAAAAAJhM/VDK9lyzRmd8UmkTnq3OH8dVhb-dntKp7ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Stoneground%2BFlat%2BOut%2B76%2Blp.jpg" width="319" /></a></div><br />August 6, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Stoneground/Brothers Owens </b>(Saturday)<br /><b>Stoneground</b> was another Bay Area band with a pedigree, but long in the tooth. They had been formed in 1970 as part of KSAN head Tom Donahue's ill-fated <i>Medicine Ball Caravan</i> movie, and they had been signed to Warner Brothers. They had put out three albums by 1972, then broken up, and then they had reformed in late 1974. They had self-released their own album in 1976 (<i>Flat Out</i>), and it had done well enough to get them signed to Warner Brothers. Original members Tim Barnes (lead guitar) and Annie Sampson (vocals) were still in the band, along with singer Jo Baker (ex-Elvin Bishop) to give them a big vocal front line. Stoneground was actually a pretty good live band, but they had been around for long enough that there wasn't a lot of buzz around them. <br /><br /><b>August 7, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Skycreek </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br /><b>Skycreek</b> was some kind of country rock band. They had played the club regularly when it was Sophie's. I don't know if they played any original music. <br /><br /><b>August 8, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: East Bay Hotline </b><i>(Monday)</i><br /><b>East Bay Hotline</b> was an R&B band led by guitarist Frank Biner. Biner was friendly with Tower Of Power, wrote some songs on their albums, and sometimes played with some of the members. For many years, Biner and his band Nightshift had been regulars at the Keystone Berkeley, and Herrera was giving him a chance to expand his footprint. I think the East Bay Hotline played a lot danceable cover music mixed in with Biner originals. They probably sounded broadly like Tower Of Power or Cold Blood.<br /><br /><b>August 9-13, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: North Bay with Bishop Mayfield </b><i>(Tuesday-Saturday)</i><br />I don't know anything about <b>North Bay</b> or <b>Bishop Mayfield</b>. It seems like another week-long Top 40 booking. <br /><br /><b>August 15, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: East Bay Hotline </b><i>(Monday)</i> <br /><p></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dZapGlvJius/YTULfrS_ZFI/AAAAAAAAJhU/UShrmLJ8X6U8elYbrPVvMrhRXUUlWFH7gCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Sons%2BOf%2BThe%2BBeaches%2BFlash%2BCadillac%2B1975%2BPrivate%2BStock%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dZapGlvJius/YTULfrS_ZFI/AAAAAAAAJhU/UShrmLJ8X6U8elYbrPVvMrhRXUUlWFH7gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Sons%2BOf%2BThe%2BBeaches%2BFlash%2BCadillac%2B1975%2BPrivate%2BStock%2Blp.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />August 16-18, 20, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Bad Water Bridge </b><i>(Tuesday-Thursday, Saturday)</i><b><br />August 19, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Flash Cadillac/Bad Water Bridge </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />Once again, it appears there was a Top 40 dance band booked all week, with a sort of "name" headliner on Friday night. <b>Flash Cadilla</b>c, previously known as Flash Cadillac and The Continental Kids, had formed in Colorado in 1969. They played 50s-type rock and roll, somewhat like Sha Na Na. They had moved to Los Angeles in the early 70s, and they appeared in the 1973 movie <i>American Graffiti</i>. In concert, I believe they played a mixture of oldies and original material written in a retro style. They had released three albums by this time, <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Flash-Cadillac-And-The-Continental-Kids-Sons-Of-The-Beaches/release/15782171">the most recent of which was 1975's <i>Sons Of The Beaches</i>, on Private Stock Records</a>.<br /><p></p><p><b>Bad Water Bridge</b> is unknown to me. <br /><br /><b>August 21, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Streamliner </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br /><b>Streamliner</b> was a South Bay band. I think they played a mixture of Top 40 and originals. They were managed by Rollie Grogan, <a href="https://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2020/07/live-music-in-palo-alto1971-73-across.html">who had run the rock nightclub Homer's Warehouse in Palo Alto a few years earlier</a>, as well as promoting shows at the Stanford Music Hall dowtown (now the Stanford Theater). <br /></p><p><b>August 22, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: </b><i>Dance Contest (Monday)</i><br />There were no discos in South Palo Alto, that I was aware of at the time. Well, ok, one, but it was for teenagers (the My-Oh-My on Emerson and Hamilton, downtown). Keep in mind that Saturday Night Fever was not released until December 14, 1977, so a "Dance Contest" was new territory for Palo Alto. This wasn't repeated, that I'm aware of, so it must not have been a fruitful endeavor for the club. <br /><br /><b>August 24-27, 1977 Keystone Palo Alto, CA: Brothers Owens </b><i>(Wednesday-Saturday)</i><br /><br /><b>August 29, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Arm and Hammer </b><i>(Monday)</i><br /><b>Arm and Hamme</b>r are unknown to me.<br /><br /><b>August 30-September 3, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Brothers Owens </b><i>(Tuesday-Saturday)</i><br /><br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xU9z-M9XEek/X2lBuhMR4YI/AAAAAAAAHV8/iwvS4Y_xOmkQDgXFxvKb2r95GCbKQuUZQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1668/Keystone%2BPA%2BSelvin%2Bcolumn%2B19770904%2B4%2BSep%2B1977%252C%2B183%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="462" data-original-width="1668" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xU9z-M9XEek/X2lBuhMR4YI/AAAAAAAAHV8/iwvS4Y_xOmkQDgXFxvKb2r95GCbKQuUZQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Keystone%2BPA%2BSelvin%2Bcolumn%2B19770904%2B4%2BSep%2B1977%252C%2B183%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Sep 4 1977 San Francisco Chronicle, Joel Selvin column</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b>September 7, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Pablo Cruise </b><i>(Wednesday) unbilled</i><br />Freddie Herrera began to right the Keystone ship in September. Many of the nights in September featured bands playing original rock music, and at least some of them were established artists with albums to their credit. There were still a few Top 40 bookings, but while the Keystone in Palo Alto had bottomed out in August, it was starting to climb out from the hole.<p>Joel Selvin's Sunday <i>Chronicle</i> column (September 4, 1977) had some telling details. Speaking about the Palo Alto band Pablo Cruise, who were riding high on a new hit single, Selvin mentioned "Pablo will perform Friday at Freddy Herrera's beleagured Keystone, Palo Alto remembering the many jobs Pablo worked at Herrera's clubs before 'Whatcha Gonna Do.'" Selvin's casual reference to the club as "beleagured" was one of the few public indicators that there were real problems, even though it is impossible to tell who, exactly, in the local rock industry was having issues with the Keystone Palo Alto.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MaYAciU9QEY/YTUL-6HKy7I/AAAAAAAAJhc/c3bb9YeyQYsool2H_OUvQ0OPEutfxA27QCLcBGAsYHQ/s610/Pablo%2BCruise%2BA%2BPlace%2BIn%2BThe%2BSun%2BA%2526M%2BFeb%2B77.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="610" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MaYAciU9QEY/YTUL-6HKy7I/AAAAAAAAJhc/c3bb9YeyQYsool2H_OUvQ0OPEutfxA27QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Pablo%2BCruise%2BA%2BPlace%2BIn%2BThe%2BSun%2BA%2526M%2BFeb%2B77.jpg" width="315" /></a></div><br />In fact, Selvin got the date wrong and Pablo Cruise was playing on Wednesday night. <b>Pablo Cruise</b> had released their first album on A&M Records back in August 1975. and their second album, <i>Lifeline</i>, had come out in April 1976. It was <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Pablo-Cruise-A-Place-In-The-Sun/release/1474661">the third Pablo Cruise album, <i>A Place In The Sun</i>, released in February 1977</a>, that would really make the band. The single "Whatcha Gonna Do" had been released in April, and would reach #6 on <i>Billboard</i>.<br /><p></p><p>In fact, one member of Pablo Cruise was actually from Palo Alto. <a href="https://www.corylerios.com/">Pianist Cory Lerios</a>
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
Stoneground. They had both left Stoneground in 1973 to form Pablo Cruise with
guitarist David Jenkins and bassist Bud Cockrell (ex-It's A Beautiful
Day).</p><p>I have not yet been able to track down bookings for every night at the Keystone in Palo Alto during this period, particularly weeknights. I am assuming that cover bands played on nights where I have nothing listed during 1977, but I don't yet know that for a fact.<br /></p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPnuUBCLNhuVGu4FYjW5gEEdBAzsjxWHufxfZKR3pfSbSRhL3SP4i3BjFUwaiZrSjQtQpG1yongc8x6cVKPm5Bai8HUk-4x40WRxyizOyeb6Hq2JZUKkjNsvdUzXD6nt3Jp6sEerpwGFmwlIRYvXb9OWV1Kigg57M7LBe_4Bj3w52EtsznxA86BppTXlU/s504/JOhn%20Lee%20Hooker%20The%20Cream%201978%20Tomato.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPnuUBCLNhuVGu4FYjW5gEEdBAzsjxWHufxfZKR3pfSbSRhL3SP4i3BjFUwaiZrSjQtQpG1yongc8x6cVKPm5Bai8HUk-4x40WRxyizOyeb6Hq2JZUKkjNsvdUzXD6nt3Jp6sEerpwGFmwlIRYvXb9OWV1Kigg57M7LBe_4Bj3w52EtsznxA86BppTXlU/s320/JOhn%20Lee%20Hooker%20The%20Cream%201978%20Tomato.jpg" width="317" /></a></div><br />September 9-11, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: John Lee Hooker</b><i> (Friday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>John Lee Hooker </b>(1912-2001)<b> </b>had been a regular performer at Keystone Berkeley since it had opened, and in any case had played for Herrera before that. Herrera himself loved the blues, so he had booked blues artists consistently. By 1977, white rock fans were who was listening to blues players anyway. Hooker, in fact, lived in the hills above Redwood City, so driving down for a night was an easy thing. He had a regular band to back him, even if it may have had shifting membership. <br /><p>Hooker<b> </b>was from Mississippi, via Memphis and Detroit. He had been
recording since 1948, and had gained notoriety in the 60s, when bands
like The Animals and Canned Heat had made some of his songs famous, like
"Boom Boom" or "Boogie Chillen." In '77, however, he was at a low ebb,
as were most classic bluesmen at the time. He had not released an album
since 1973, nor would he until 1979. In that respect, Herrera did a lot
for Hooker and other bluesmen, giving them a consistent audience and
paying gigs.</p><p>These shows were recorded, and formed the basis of a sort of comeback album for Hooker, a double album called <i>The Cream</i>. It was released by Tomato Records in 1978. <br /></p><p><b>September 14-16, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Brothers Owens <i>(Wednesday-Friday)</i></b></p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zSa2C4nTMSA/YTUMvIdCUGI/AAAAAAAAJhk/yitMfHl80-Aj6HSmNMW-4EkRZlvsPb2WwCLcBGAsYHQ/s602/Who%2BAre%2BThose%2BGuys%2BNew%2BRiders%2BMCA%2BJune%2B77.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="602" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zSa2C4nTMSA/YTUMvIdCUGI/AAAAAAAAJhk/yitMfHl80-Aj6HSmNMW-4EkRZlvsPb2WwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Who%2BAre%2BThose%2BGuys%2BNew%2BRiders%2BMCA%2BJune%2B77.jpg" width="319" /></a></div><br />September 17, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: New Riders of The Purple Sage/Mistress </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />The New Riders of The Purple Sage were far from their peak, but they were genuine nightclub headliners by any standard. Even if there had been a Top 40 early in the week, Herrera was starting to mark his club as a place that booked original music, not just dance bands.<p>When the New Riders had released their debut album in 1971, with Jerry Garcia on pedal steel guitar, they had seemed to be in the forefront of country rock. Country and rock were going to merge, it was true, but it turned out to be experienced country singers like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings who had the biggest impact. The New Riders had put out four good studio albums, but by the end of 1973 bassist and singer Dave Torbert had left, and original songwriter John Dawson's newer songs were nowhere near as good as his initial efforts. The New Riders had also split (quite amicably) from the Grateful Dead umbrella. The New Riders were still a successful touring act on the East Coast, but in San Francisco they were a bit of an afterthought. It was no longer a foregone conclusion that any Dead fan was a New Riders fan.</p><p>Still, in mid-1977, the New Riders of The Purple Sage had found a little traction. New bassist Stephen Love provided a nice foil to Dawson, and lead guitarist David Nelson sang as well, so there were three front-line singers. Pedal steel guitarist Buddy Cage and drummer Pat Shanahan were both first-class players, so the band was always good live. T<a href="https://www.discogs.com/New-Riders-Of-The-Purple-Sage-Who-Are-Those-Guys/master/273872">he band had just released their eighth studio album, <i>Who Are Those Guys?</i> on MCA Records</a>, recorded in Nashville with veteran producer Bob Johnston. There were no songs by Dawson on the album, a first. </p><p>I saw the New Riders around this time and they were pretty good. The tapes bear me out. Still, they weren't shiny and new. Palo Alto, even more than most Bay Area towns, likes things that are new and different. They don't even necessarily have to be that good, just unique and special. That's why Palo Alto has always been well-disposed to startups. The New Riders of The Purple Sage were probably good this Saturday night, and sold some tickets, but to Palo Altans--even long-haired pot-smoking Deadhead Palo Altans--they would have been old news.</p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--tPP4yAfN3o/YTUNVty2UTI/AAAAAAAAJhs/psuA2Dl5HWwxckXqprKXzl_jbznAAafUQCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Mistress%2BRSO%2BRecords%2B1979.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--tPP4yAfN3o/YTUNVty2UTI/AAAAAAAAJhs/psuA2Dl5HWwxckXqprKXzl_jbznAAafUQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Mistress%2BRSO%2BRecords%2B1979.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>RSO Records released the Mistress album in 1979, even though it had been recorded sometime in 1977 and the band had already broken up</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />Mistress</b>, meanwhile, had been around the Bay Area off an on since around
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. It's not exactly clear who exactly was in the band at
that time. 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 had also worked a lot
with the Steve Miller Band, playing on the famous album <i>Book Of Dreams</i>,
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 had played the Keystone in Palo Alto a few times before, in both February and April of 1977.<br /><p></p><p>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 (<i>Penguin</i> 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.</p><p>Mistress
was generally well-reviewed by local writers, even though very few Bay
Area rock fans had actually heard them. Shortly after this (by November 1977), Dave Walker
had accepted an offer to join Black Sabbath (although he never ended up performing with them), and Mistress 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 then broke up. Even more strangely, <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Mistress-Mistress/release/2887894">RSO Records would release the
recorded-in-'77 album in 1979</a>, when Mistress was long gone. <br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-na9sZVpWkkY/YTUNzSwyFzI/AAAAAAAAJh0/_b8Mq8YLkMkb1UFnhRriO5Y2S74Y5ki4ACLcBGAsYHQ/s604/John%2BHandy%2BCarnival%2BABC%2BImpulse%2B1977.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="604" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-na9sZVpWkkY/YTUNzSwyFzI/AAAAAAAAJh0/_b8Mq8YLkMkb1UFnhRriO5Y2S74Y5ki4ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/John%2BHandy%2BCarnival%2BABC%2BImpulse%2B1977.jpg" width="318" /></a></b></div><b><br />September 21, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: John Handy/Bill Summers</b><i> (Wednesday)</i><br /><b>John Handy</b> (b.1933) was a well known alto saxophonist. He had made his name playing with Charles Mingus in the 1950s. In the 60s he had led some well-known groups working out of the Bay Area. From the 1970s onwards, he was an educator as well as musician, teaching at Stanford, UC Berkeley, the San Francisco Conservatory and elsewhere. At this time, Handy lived in Palo Alto, so the Keystone would have been a convenient local gig. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/John-Handy-Carnival/release/785594">Handy's current album would have been <i>Carnival</i>, released in 1977 on ABC/Impulse</a>. Handy's previous album, <i>Hard Work</i>, had reached #4 on the Billboard jazz chart. <i>Hard Work</i> had some R&B influences, like a lot of contemporary jazz, but Handy was fundamentally a jazz player. <p></p><p>In any case, Palo Alto didn't really have any jazz clubs, so the Keystone was a good place for him to play. Since the club had tables and chairs, it was a better site for jazz than the Keystone Berkeley. The premier jazz venue in the Bay Area was the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, as most of the North Beach jazz joints had closed. There was some jazz bookings in Palo Alto and the South Bay, but they were mostly at hotel lounges, and the music more or less fell into the "easy listening" category. Thus the Keystone in Palo Alto found a niche booking jazz or other musical acts that would otherwise play the Great American Music Hall. From a booking perspective, Palo Altans were largely not going to to go the city for a nightclub show, so the Keystone and Great American complemented each other. This was just one of the ways that the Keystone in Palo Alto distinguished itself from its harder rocking Berkeley sister.<br /><br />Conguero Bill Summers had toured and recorded with Herbie Hancock and The Headhunters (both with and without Herbie). He had also played on numerous jazz and fusion records in the mid-70s. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Bill-Summers-Feel-The-Heat/release/1653332">In 1977, Summers would release his first solo album on Prestige, <i>Feel The Heat</i></a><i>.</i> Heavy hitters on the album included Headhunters bassist Paul Jackson, drummer Alphonse Mouzon (11th House) and Pete Escovedo (Azteca) on vocals. Based on the album credits, the record appeared to be a jazz/soul crossover with a Brazilian twist on the vocals.</p><p>I don't have any idea who was in Bill Summers' band, or how they sounded on stage. There's every reason to think that Summers (and maybe other players) sat in with Handy, however, because jazz musicians are gonna jazz.<b><br /></b></p><p><b>September 22, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Skycreek (</b><i>Thursday)</i></p><p><b>September 23, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Streamliner</b><i> (Friday)</i><br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O60gq0LL5kM/YRhKSOZ6HgI/AAAAAAAAJVQ/XMZb2K4zrzceXDQkhytuOiowxFkzQBB6QCLcBGAsYHQ/s602/Makings%2BOf%2BA%2BDream%2BCrackin%2BWarners%2B1977.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="602" data-original-width="595" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O60gq0LL5kM/YRhKSOZ6HgI/AAAAAAAAJVQ/XMZb2K4zrzceXDQkhytuOiowxFkzQBB6QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Makings%2BOf%2BA%2BDream%2BCrackin%2BWarners%2B1977.jpg" width="316" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Makings Of A Dream, the second 1977 album on Warner Brothers by the San Mateo funk band Crackin'</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b> </b><p></p><p><b>September 24, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Crackin'/Streamliner </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br /><b>Crackin</b>' was an R&B band from San Mateo, somewhat in the style of the Sons Of Champlin but with a funkier edge. In 1975, they had released their debut album on Polydor (and also played my high school graduation dance). By 1977, Crackin' was on Warner Brothers, and they released two albums that year. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Crackin-Makings-Of-A-Dream/master/705121">Their second Warners album was <i>Makings Of A Dream</i></a>. By this time, it appears they had much more of a disco edge, for obvious reasons, but they were playing their own music.</p><p>The core of Crackin' was lead singer Leslie Smith (who sang for The New Sons in 1980, when Bill Champlin wasn't in the band), guitarist Bob Bordy, keyboardist George Clinton (no, a different one) and Rick Chudacoff on bass, supported by various other players and session musicians.<br /></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ddnT0fNNmXk/YTUOQQ6KDsI/AAAAAAAAJh8/Iste5NclhxU8UPKOKge_d0N7XtrTt3MigCLcBGAsYHQ/s449/David%2BGrisman%2BQuintet%2Bdebut%2Blp%2BKaleidoscope%2B1977.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="442" data-original-width="449" height="315" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ddnT0fNNmXk/YTUOQQ6KDsI/AAAAAAAAJh8/Iste5NclhxU8UPKOKge_d0N7XtrTt3MigCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/David%2BGrisman%2BQuintet%2Bdebut%2Blp%2BKaleidoscope%2B1977.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Acoustic music was never the same after the 1977 debut of the David Grisman Quintet</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />September 25, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: David Grisman Quintet/Moro </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />The David Grisman Quintet epitomized the type of group that shined at the Great American Music Hall, and for so many reasons they were the perfect Palo Alto group as well. Since the Keystone had tables, a full bar and food, the DGQ could thrive in the Palo Alto Keystone in a way that the rowdy Berkeley club could never have managed.<p></p><p>The <b>David Grisman Quintet</b> had arisen out of a group called <a href="http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2010/11/birth-of-great-american-music-band.html">The Great American String Band--sometimes billed as The Great American Music Band--who initially were formed only to play at the Great American Music Hall</a>. The idea was to play acoustic American music across all genres--bluegrass, old-time, jazz, swing and anything else. Many of the players had been in Old And In The Way with Jerry Garcia, and indeed Garcia was a periodic member of the group. <a href="http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2010/11/birth-of-great-american-music-band.html">Garcia was not a member of the GASB's debut (March 9, 1974) but he showed up to play banjo for the next night (March 10)</a>. Grisman and fiddler Richard Greene had been the original instigators, but Garcia's occasional presence gave the group a profile beyond local bluegrass circles. Other rock stars, like Taj Mahal and Maria Muldaur, also made appearances. Thanks to obsessive taping by Deadheads, we have ample taped evidence of the Great American String Band.</p><p>Grisman figured out that there was a gaping hole in American acoustic music. There were a lot of points of contact between bluegrass, jazz and other idioms, but they had been siloed by various musical genres. Grisman decided to merge them all, but with acoustic instruments. Part of the reasoning, incidentally, was that it would be simpler and cheaper to tour with a five-piece band if they didn't have to drag a truck full of amplifiers with them. Grisman put together an All-Star team of brilliant acoustic players who could play effectively in any genre. The band's very first rehearsal was scheduled at Grisman's Stinson Beach (Marin County) house in the Summer of 1975. Grisman knew that if he was going to have successful band, he couldn't be tied to Jerry Garcia's occasional appearances weighed against his numerous other obligations, so Garcia wasn't part of the new lineup.<br /></p><p>In a cinematic vignette that's hard to believe, Grisman assembled his players, but the initial rehearsal was delayed since guitarist Tony Rice had not yet arrived at SFO airport. In anticipation of some pre-rehearsal jamming, Grisman went to the only convenience store in Stinson Beach (Ed's Superette) for beer and cigarettes, and ran into neighbor Jerry Garcia. Grisman invited Garcia up to jam, and so Jerry Garcia jammed on guitar with the soon-to-be David Grisman Quintet until Tony Rice showed up from the airport, which pretty much sums up the history of American acoustic music in the 70s.<br /></p><p>The David Grisman Quintet was groundbreaking. In the Bay Area of the time, Grisman had just enough of a name because he had played with Garcia in Old And In The Way (and GASB), so rock fans gave him a listen. They liked what they heard, and the David Grisman Quintet's astonishing melange of acoustic music became a genre unto itself. If you've ever gone to a pizza parlor and seen an acoustic trio in the corner playing "Blue Moon of Kentucky," "So What" and "Friend Of The Devil," that's Grisman's legacy. It's all music, and you don't have to plug in.</p><p>The 1977 David Grisman Quintet was</p><b></b><blockquote><b>Tony Rice</b>-guitar<br /><b>David Grisman</b>-mandolin<br /><b>Todd Phillips</b>-mandolin<br /><b>Darol Anger</b>-violin<br /><b>Bill Amatneek</b>-bass [<i>who had replaced <b>Joe Carroll</b> from the initial lineup</i>]</blockquote><p>It was all-acoustic and all-instrumental, with no vocals and no banjo. American acoustic music was never the same. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/David-Grisman-Quintet-The-David-Grisman-Quintet/release/4686363">The DGQ released their self-titled debut album on Kaleidoscope Records in 1977</a>.</p><p>The David Grisman Quintet was perfect act for the Keystone in Palo Alto. The venue had tables, so you could really sit and listen. Grisman had a pedigree, though, since he had played with Garcia, so it wasn't "old person's music." Most importantly, however, the DGQ was interesting and inventive, something you could tell your friends that they were missing out on, and Palo Alto loves that. If it's cool but not yet popular, Palo Alto will be all over it. David Grisman Quintet played the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, but in the South Bay they played the Keystone in Palo Alto.</p><p>Opening act <a href="https://moromusic.com/about-moro.html"><b>Moro</b> is unknown to me, although he was billed as a solo guitarist.</a> <br /></p><b>September 27, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Lady Bianca/Natural Impulse </b><i>(Tuesday)</i><br />Keyboard player and singer <b>Lacy Bianca</b> (b. Bianca Thornton, 1953) was from Kansas City, and had attended the San Francisco Conservatory on 1970. By 1976, she had played with Sly And The Family Stone (she was on the album <i>Heard You Missed Me Well I'm Back</i>), and even toured with Frank Zappa for a month in November '76 (she appears on <i>You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol 6</i> under the name Bianca Odin, since she was married to bassist Henry Odin at the time). By 1977, she had embarked on a solo career, but while she has been a successful musician over the decades (playing with Van Morrison and many others), her own career never really took off.<p><b>Natural Impulse</b> is unknown to me.<br /></p><p><b>September 29, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Clarence Gatemouth Brown/Queen Ida and her Bontemps Zydeco Band </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br />Freddie Herrera had always booked blues, which was fortunate, since there were fewer and fewer opportunities for those players. <b>Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown</b> had been an influential and important R&B guitarist in the early 60s, and he was making a comeback of sorts in the later 70s. He was also a fine singer and fiddle player. Queen Ida, meanwhile, was a leading proponent of Louisiana Zydeco music. In the Bay Area, the fan base for both of these performers was probably mostly white. In any case, knowing at all about either of these performers required a certain amount of musical knowledge, and that too had a sort of inverse snob appeal in Palo Alto. Palo Alto was the sort of place where high school students had heard of Gatemouth Brown because Frank Zappa had mentioned him as influential in an interview (I'm not guessing about this--I was the high school student in question, and <a href="https://www.newstarbooks.com/book.php?book_id=1554201462">I wasn't even the biggest Zappa fan in my high school</a>). </p><p>The family of <b>Queen Ida</b> (Ida Louis Guillory b.1929) had moved from Lake Charles, LA to Beaumont, TX to the San Francisco Bay Area. She had lived in the Bay Area since the late 1940, and mostly worked as a bus driver. She had learned accordian from her brother, Zydeco star Al Rapone. In 1975, she had started performing, and was soon signed to GNP/Crescendo. Her music was a mixture of Zydeco and Tex-Mex. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Queen-Ida-And-The-Bon-Temps-Band-Zydeco-A-La-Mode/master/886642">In 1977 she had released her second album, <i>Zydeco A La Mode</i>, produced by her brother</a>.<br /></p><p><b>September 30, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Menage A Trois </b><i>(Friday) </i><br /><b>Menage A Trois </b>was a local Top 40 band. I think they usually played The Bodega in Campbell, but they played out on occasion. Keystone house manager Ken Rominger, who had owned and managed the club when it was Sophie's the year before, also owned and managed The Bodega, so some crossover makes sense. <br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hmuz2HH43ks/YTUP_W1r50I/AAAAAAAAJiE/J70zAecbjD8iKMVy81q4IcEWivJEla5EgCLcBGAsYHQ/s437/Greg%2BKihn%2BAgain%2BBeserkeley%2B1977.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="435" data-original-width="437" height="319" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hmuz2HH43ks/YTUP_W1r50I/AAAAAAAAJiE/J70zAecbjD8iKMVy81q4IcEWivJEla5EgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Greg%2BKihn%2BAgain%2BBeserkeley%2B1977.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />October 1, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Greg Kihn/Rubinoos </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />Regular acts act Keystone Berkeley also played the Palo Alto club, but the appeal wasn't identical. One of Berkeley's most rocking bands was Earth Quake, who ruled the Long Branch and regularly headlined at the Keystone Berkeley. Earth Quake was a quintet who played in a British Invasion style, mixing originals in with exotic cover versions (like the Easybeats "Friday On My Mind"). Earth Quake, thanks to their manager Matthew Kaufman, had been the anchor for Beserkley Records, an independent label who carved out success for some local acts in the shadow of major labels, including Johnathan Richman and Greg Kihn. In a perfect apposition, however, Greg Kihn was more popular in Palo Alto than Earth Quake. Earth Quake was noisy and retro, which was not quite Palo Alto's style. Kihn could rock a little bit, but he was more mainstream and focused on his own material, which was right down Palo Alto's street. <br /><p></p><p></p><p>Originally
from Baltimore, <b>Greg Kihn</b> had moved to Berkeley in 1974. He worked in a cool
record store (Rather Ripped, on Northside) and originally played in some
local folk clubs. He had recorded some tracks with
Earth Quake. In 1975, Earth Quake's manager had released an album on his own
label. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Various-Beserkley-Chartbusters-Volume-1/master/212045"><i>Beserkeley Chartbusters</i> featured songs by Earth Quake, Kihn and
Johnathan Richman</a>, among others. Kihn wrote sensitive pop songs, but
they had a poppy, 60s sheen to them like The Kinks instead of the
fingerpicking folkie sound of Southern California songwriters.</p><p>By
1976, <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Greg-Kihn-Greg-Kihn/release/12113924">Kihn had recorded his debut album, (<i>Greg Kihn</i>), also
released on Beserkeley</a>. In 1977, the Greg Kihn band was playing around the Bay Area. Kihn
was joined by lead guitarist Dave Carpender, bassist Stevie Wright and
drummer Larry Lynch, all veterans of various Berkeley ensembles. The
group rocked pretty hard, but they kept the solos short and had nice
harmonies to go with their catchy hooks. The Greg Kihn Band would go on
to have great success over the next decade. In 1977, they would release <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Greg-Kihn-Greg-Kihn-Again/release/2811564 "><i>Greg Kihn Again</i>, this time recorded with the band. </a></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DS43GD2SW2s/YTURI8vE7YI/AAAAAAAAJiM/pgNTmSuAwd8aKhujncm8zTRHMgDwZAkqQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Rubinoos%2Bdebut%2BBeserkely%2B1977.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="320" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DS43GD2SW2s/YTURI8vE7YI/AAAAAAAAJiM/pgNTmSuAwd8aKhujncm8zTRHMgDwZAkqQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Rubinoos%2Bdebut%2BBeserkely%2B1977.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>The Rubinoos</b> were the junior partners in the Beserkely stable. Singer Jon Rubin and guitarist Tommy Dunbar fronted the band (Dunbar's older brother Robbie was the founding member and lead guitarist for Earth Quake). The Rubinoos played "power pop," with short, catchy songs. Initially sort of defiantly retro, the Rubinoos sound was not such an outlier when punk and new wave had come along in the mid-70s. The Rubinoos had one track on <i>Chartbusters</i> back in '75, a single in '76 (a cover of Tommy James' "I Think We're Alone Now") and <a href="https://www.discogs.com/The-Rubinoos-The-Rubinoos/release/3355271">had finally released their debut album on Beserkely in 1977</a>.<br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vcenmf6imqY/YRMZYAR7x9I/AAAAAAAAJRo/ENjoM0XYziUphtVo0soTE69GGGlYB5Z6ACLcBGAsYHQ/s410/SFChron%2B19771002%2BKeystone%2BPA%2B2%2BOct%2B1977%252C%2B215%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="408" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vcenmf6imqY/YRMZYAR7x9I/AAAAAAAAJRo/ENjoM0XYziUphtVo0soTE69GGGlYB5Z6ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/SFChron%2B19771002%2BKeystone%2BPA%2B2%2BOct%2B1977%252C%2B215%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" width="318" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>SF Chronicle October 2, 1977</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>October 2, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Queen Ida Bon Ton Zydeco Band/Roots of Creation </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />Queen Ida returned. <b>Roots Of Creation</b> are unknown to me.</p><p></p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j8kBHSGNB9U/YTUSTP0OAAI/AAAAAAAAJic/t9-KZu8WrEE2GIomnp0pG0tAz0AVfnU7gCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/The%2BWheel%2BAsleep%2BAt%2BThe%2BWheel%2BCapitol%2BLP%2B1977.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="600" height="317" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j8kBHSGNB9U/YTUSTP0OAAI/AAAAAAAAJic/t9-KZu8WrEE2GIomnp0pG0tAz0AVfnU7gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/The%2BWheel%2BAsleep%2BAt%2BThe%2BWheel%2BCapitol%2BLP%2B1977.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />October 7, 1977 Keystone Palo Alto, CA: Asleep At The Wheel/Larry Hosford </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />Asleep At The Wheel had been based in Oakland in 1972, and they had played the Keystone Berkeley many times, as well as having had <a href="https://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2020/07/live-music-in-palo-alto1971-73-across.html">a regular 1973 weeknight gig at Homer's Warehouse in Palo Alto</a>. The band had left for Austin, TX in 1974, but toured regularly. They had headlined at the Keystone in Palo Alto back in February.<p><b>Asleep At The Wheel</b> had been founded by guitarist and singer Ray
Benson in the Washington, DC area around 1970. He put together a fairly
large ensemble that played Western Swing music with a long-haired hippie
sensibility. By 1971, they were based in Paw Paw, WV. In 1972 they
opened for Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, perhaps the only
other band remotely similar to them, and the Airmen encouraged them to
move to Oakland, which they did. Asleep at The Wheel played almost every
night in the Bay Area from 1972-74, at the Keystone Berkeley, Homer's
Warehouse, the Long Branch and numerous other joints. Since 1974, Benson
and Asleep At The Wheel have thrived in Austin, TX, and they are still touring to this very day. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Asleep-At-The-Wheel-The-Wheel/master/283748">Their current album would have been <i>The Wheel,</i> released on Capitol Records in 1977.</a>
It was been the band's third album on Capitol, but their fifth
overall (with one on UA and another on Epic). The Wheel typically
toured with three fiddles and a horn section, so they could really light
up a club.</p><p><a href="https://americana-uk.com/forgotten-artists-larry-hosford "><b>Larry Hosford</b> (1943-2016) was from Salinas, and in many ways Hosford epitomized the niche of Keystone Palo Alto</a>. Hosford had learned to play guitar as a boy so that his father, an old-time fiddler, would always have an accompanist. In 1965, however, he had joined a popular Monterey County band, the E-Types, who played Beatles-style music (their main "rivals" were the Korvettes from Santa Cruz and The Jaguars from San Jose). In 1974, Hosford had been signed to Leon Russell's Shelter Records. Hosford had released two fine albums on Shelter, <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Larry-Hosford-Larry-Hosford-aka-Lorenzo/master/637829">his 1975 debut <i>AKA Lorenzo</i></a> and 1976's <i>Cross Words</i>. The albums featured many fine local Santa Cruz-area players, along with Russell, and on one track (on <i>Cross Words</i>), George Harrison. The albums didn't sell well, but they attracted good notices and fit in with the music produced by the likes of Willie Nelson. <br /></p><p>In 1977, Shelter Records fell apart, as Leon Russell had a falling-out with his partner Denny Cordell. Hosford went with Russell when he founded Paradise Records, distributed by Warner Brothers. Warners released Hosford's best-known song, "Salinas," about his home town, as a single in 1977, but no album followed. The popular radio station in Monterey County was the remarkable KFAT, out of Gilroy. Salinas, near Ft. Ord, was the heart of KFAT's listening area, so the song was played constantly. The chorus to "Salinas" was well-known to every KFAT listener ("I'm from Salinas/That's where I'm from/Guess I'm an Okie/I was raised among 'em"). Hosford had a good following in KFAT's listening area, from Palo Alto to Santa Cruz and Monterey, but not really anywhere else.</p><p>Nothing makes a Palo Altan happier than to be able to Alto-splain to someone that Hosford had only released one single on Leon Russell's label, but that it was his best song. <br /></p><p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rbgDd6oHj1I/YRMZknIc71I/AAAAAAAAJRs/QuCA3rxDIKgE7picpRQnI5I15qecjFm5wCLcBGAsYHQ/s590/SF%2BChron%2B19771009%2BKeystone%2BPA%2B9%2BOct%2B1977%252C%2B221%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="590" data-original-width="504" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rbgDd6oHj1I/YRMZknIc71I/AAAAAAAAJRs/QuCA3rxDIKgE7picpRQnI5I15qecjFm5wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/SF%2BChron%2B19771009%2BKeystone%2BPA%2B9%2BOct%2B1977%252C%2B221%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" width="273" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>SF Chronicle October 9, 1977</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>October 9, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Gatemouth Brown </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />I assume a Top 40 band was booked for Saturday night. Clarence Gatemouth Brown returned on Sunday evening. While Top 40 bands were still regulars at the Keystone, the Palo Alto club was starting to establish a broader booking policy than the hippie-rock prevalent at Keystone Berkeley.</p><b>October 12-13, Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Crackin'/Black Sheep </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><b>/Star Track </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br />Crackin' also returned for Thursday and Friday. Different Top 40 bands opened each night, <b>Black Sheep</b> on Wednesday and <b>Star Track</b> on Thursday. <br /><p>On Thursday, October 13, the Elvin Bishop Group played the Old Waldorf in San Francisco. The Old Waldorf was the principal competitor to the Keystones, located at Embarcadero Center in the San Francisco Financial District. The Old Waldorf had convenient parking, a full bar, dinner, intimidatingly pretty waitresses and was closely associated with Bill Graham Presents. Bishop playing for the Old Waldorf was unprecedented, as Elvin Bishop had probably played every month at the Keystone Berkeley from 1972 through the beginning of 1977. Bishop would not play a Keystone family club for some years, a clear sign of a relationship gone bad. <br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gp01SDG11Wk/YTUT5iMsT0I/AAAAAAAAJis/E7MouEKhpgos5JM60MVsZjDDy3Hw_rJAwCLcBGAsYHQ/s232/KFAT%2Blogo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="232" data-original-width="217" height="232" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gp01SDG11Wk/YTUT5iMsT0I/AAAAAAAAJis/E7MouEKhpgos5JM60MVsZjDDy3Hw_rJAwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/KFAT%2Blogo.jpg" width="217" /></a></b></div><b><br />October 14, Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Moonlighters/Cayenne </b><i>(Saturday) broadcast live on KFAT</i><br />When Freddie Herrera had opened the Keystone in Palo Alto in the Spring of 1977, he had initially followed the Keystone Berkeley model, with established--some would say over-the-hill--hippie bands as regular headliners. The Palo Alto club had tables, food and mixed drinks, and it was not the same as the beer-only Berkeley venue. Palo Alto also liked to think of itself as ahead of the curve, and guys who had been in old Fillmore bands didn't seem fresh and new.<p></p><p>The Keystone in Palo Alto needed to find a slot that benefited from the Berkeley Keystone, but was separate enough that it made the Palo Alto club have its own identity. One of those separators was booking jazz, since there were no serious jazz clubs in the South Bay. Another, more critical distinction was the emphasis on hip, underground country music. "Urban Country" was a rising fashion at the time, but nothing turns Palo Alto off like anything fashionable elsewhere. Pot-smoking Silicon Valley pioneers certainly had long hair and liked Willie Nelson, but nobody in Palo Alto is an "Outlaw." Palo Alto needed another view of country music, and that view was embodied by KFAT-fm, located 49 miles South on CA-101 in Gilroy. Gilroy, just south of San Jose, was a sleepy farm town at the time, known for its garlic.<br /></p><p>KFAT (94.5-fm) had only started broadcasting in
1975. Nothing in prior radio history seemed to anticpate KFAT. KFAT's
transmitter was on Mt. Loma Prieta in Santa Cruz County. It had a weak
signal, and was only heard well in the San Jose, Santa Cruz and Monterey
areas. KFAT was fairly audible in Palo Alto, a little weaker on the
Peninsula and pretty much inaudible in San Francisco. As I recall, only
South Berkeley could receive KFAT, and not well, and it was inaudible on
Northside.</p><p>Country music had always been big in the San Jose
area, as historically there had been a lot of agriculture. Also, Ft. Ord
in Monterey had a lot of soldiers who liked country music. <a href="https://kfat.com/">KFAT was a country music station, yes, but a country station that had never been seen before</a>. First of all, unlike "Nashville" country, the station had
the same hippie ethic as the rock stations: long hair, weed, VW buses
and generally relaxed. Second of all, KFAT defined country rather
differently. You could hear Emmylou Harris, an old Bill Monroe record,
the Allman Brothers and Pete Seeger, all in a row.</p><p>KFAT was
hilariously irreverent, too. They specialized in playing "only-on-KFAT"
songs like U. Utah Phillips "Moose Turd Pie" (and it's epic punchline
"it's good, though!"), or Elmo and Patsy's "Grandma Got Run Over By A
Reindeer." KFAT was a cult--hippies liked it, truckers liked it,
soldiers liked it, you couldn't hear it in San Francisco. Nothing makes
Palo Alto happier to have it's own private thing, and KFAT fit
perfectly. </p><p>KFAT began a long series of broadcasts from the
Keystone. The initial broadcast had been back on April 1, with Norton Buffalo. It must have gone well enough, since the Moonlighters were broadcasting on this Saturday night in October. My guess is that the first set was broadcast live, partially as an inducement for locals to come over to the Keystone for the late show. </p><p>Later, in November, KFAT would establish
the Monday Night "Fat Fry." Every Monday KFAT would broadcast both acts
playing an early set from the Keystone. Lots of bands got heard all over
the South Bay (and lots of tapes got made). It made the Keystone in
Palo Alto a destination, too. KFAT and the Monday night "Fat Fry" gave the Keystone in Palo Alto a unique identity, even for locals who never actually attended or listened to the Fat Fry. Bands without records could open the Fat Fry and get heard on the broadcast, too, a real boon for a working band.<br /></p><p>For all the good bookings of New Wave
bands during the club's first few months, the Keystone never caught on
as a New Wave club, probably because Palo Alto isn't edgy. But hip,
underground country was perfect for Palo Alto, cool and kind of
scholarly, but laid back as well. In the next few years, the Keystone
would carefully mix its bookings of old hippie stalwarts with hippie
country sounds. It didn't hurt that Jerry Garcia fit nicely in between
those two slots.</p><p><b>The Moonlighters</b> had started out as a part-time ensemble
featuring some members of Commander Cody's Lost Planet Airmen. They were
led by guitarist Bill Kirchen (from the Airmen) and singer Tony
Johnson, and at times included various other Airmen. Their sound was
"Rhythm and Western," in line with the Airmen but not identical. By the
end of 1976, the Airmen had broken up and the Moonlighters became a
full-time band. <a href="https://www.globerecords.com/moonlighters/#1st ">The Moonlighters would release their debut album on Amherst Records sometime in 1977</a>. Just to confuse matters, the
Moonlighters then signed up to back Commander Cody on tour, a
relationship which lasted many years.</p><p><b>Cayenne</b> is unknown to me. <br /></p><b>October 15, Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Clifton Chenier </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br /><b>Clifton Chenier</b> (1925-87), a Louisiana native, was known as the "King Of Zydeco." Chenier sang, wrote and played accordion. He had been making records since 1954, but he had expanded his audience when he had played the Berkeley Blues Festival in 1966. By 1976, he had appeared on the <i>Austin City Limits</i> TV show and had an album on the Berkeley "roots" label Arhoolie (<i>Bogalusa Boogie</i>). His audience had expanded greatly beyond the mostly Southern African-Americans who had been his original audience. Herrera was booked at both Keystones, Berkeley on Friday (October 14) and then Palo Alto the night after. Chenier's current album would have been <i>Boogie And Zydeco</i>, on the Maison De Soul label.<p><b>October 18, Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Skycreek</b><i> (Tuesday)</i></p><p><b>October 19, Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Eddie Harris </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br />Tenor saxophonist <b>Eddie Harris </b>(b.1934) been recording since 1961, in a soul and jazz vein. Harris was best known by rock fans for his 1969 <i>Swiss Movement</i> album with pianist Les McCann, recorded at the Montreaux Festival. McCann's vocal take on "Compared To What" was played widely on FM rock stations, so the record was quite familiar even if the rest of the album was not. In 1977, Harris' current album was <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Eddie-Harris-How-Can-You-Live-Like-That/release/2084008"><i>How Can You Live Like That,</i> </a>on Atlantic.<br /></p><p><b>October 20, Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Daddy O </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br /><b>Daddy-O</b> is unknown to me. I assume they were a Top 40 band.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oEatWe96ZNc/YTURb7H2SAI/AAAAAAAAJiU/ZbUo56v6aKwfVKz-25IYHsHDPF0Hr-mEgCLcBGAsYHQ/s739/Little%2BRoger%2BStairway%2B45.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="739" height="316" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oEatWe96ZNc/YTURb7H2SAI/AAAAAAAAJiU/ZbUo56v6aKwfVKz-25IYHsHDPF0Hr-mEgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Little%2BRoger%2BStairway%2B45.jpeg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />October 21, Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: The Rubinoos/Little Roger and The Goosebumps </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />The Rubinoos had opened for Greg Kihn a few weeks earlier (October 1) and were now back as co-headliners a few weeks later. Their new album had probably just been released, although I don't know the precise timing.<p></p><p><b>Little Roger and The Goosebumps</b> had formed in late 1974, and they were led by guitarist Roger Clark and classically trained violinist Dick Bright. They played poppish rock music with a sardonic twist. In 1976, they had gone on hiatus, for several months, and had only recently returned to the stage with new material. Joel Selvin had reported on them in a recent <i>Chronicle</i> column, and mentioned that they had added a new song to their repertoire: the theme song to the old TV show "Gilligan's Island," but done to the tune of "Stairway To Heaven." I saw them perform "Stairway To Gilligan's Isle" at Winterland (opening for Thin Lizzy) and I assure you the crowd went absolutely batshit crazy. It was made into a 45, but immediately withdrawn for copyright reasons, which is why you can't find it on YouTube. But you gotta trust me--showstopper. <br /></p><b>October 22, Keystone, Palo Alto, CA:Cal Tjader </b><i>(Saturday)</i><b><br />October 23, Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Cal Tjader/Courtial with Errol Knowles </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />Vibraphonist <b>Cal Tjader</b> was from San Mateo, and regardless of his Swedish heritage was an essential name in West Coast Latin jazz. Tjader (1925-82) had played drums with Dave Brubeck in the late 40s, although he had moved on by the time Brubeck started to get big. Tjader recorded for Fantasy Records in the 50s, and was a key figure in merging Latin music with jazz, and not just reducing it to dance music. Tjader had moved to Verve in the mid-60s and continued having success. By the early 70s, he had returned to Fantasy. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Cal-Tjader-Guarabe/master/723770">Cal Tjader's current album would have been <i>Guarabe</i>, featuring a small combo</a>. <br /><p><b>Courtial</b> featured ex-Vince Guaraldi guitarist Bill Courtial
(pronounced "Cor-tee-al"), along with ex-singer Erroll Knowles, both
former members of Azteca. The Palo Alto <i>Times</i> had described them as a blend of jazz, blues and funk. They had released the album <i>It's About Time </i>on Pipeline Records.</p><p><b>October 25, Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Nimbus/Pegasus </b><i>(Tuesday)</i><br /><b>Nimbus</b> was hard rocking prog-type band from either Fremont or Hayward, that had been around since 1970. I saw them once (opening for Hawkwind). They weren't bad, but weren't memorable. <b>Pegasus</b> is unknown to me. </p><b>October 26, Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Streamliner/Companion </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br /><b>Companion</b> is unknown to me.<p><b>October 27, Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Skycreek</b><i> (Thursday)</i><br /></p><p><b>October 28, Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Earth Quake </b><i>(Friday)</i><br /><b>Earth Quake</b>, noisy and rocking, had been a popular band at Berkeley's Long Branch for many years, and were regulars at Keystone Berkeley, too. Earth Quake had formed in Berkeley High School in the 1960s as the Purple Earthquake, and ultimately signed (as a quartet) with A&M Records, for whom they released two albums in the early 70s. A&M had dropped them, but Earth Quake kept going, by this time a quintet. Manager Matthew "King" Kaufman had started his own label, a prescient move as punk and new wave came to the forefront. By 1977, Earth Quake had released their second album on Beserkeley, <i>Leveled</i>.</p><p>Earth Quake wasn't slick, but they didn't jam out songs like the other long-haired Berkeley bands. They also had a wide variety of cover versions of exotic British Invasion songs. Earth Quake was popular in Berkeley, and probably did all right at the Keystone in Palo Alto, but as far as Beserkely Records acts went, Palo Alto was always more friendly to the melodic Greg Kihn or the quirky Johnathan Richman than the hard-rocking Quake. <br /></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MQtxSMjPd8I/YTUSsT80D1I/AAAAAAAAJik/veejHjG5ih0Z2V7nM-NCrDhoS7fRUkWtgCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/AKA%2BLorenzo%2BLarry%2BHosford%2B1975%2BShelter.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"></a><br /></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z-5-8IL5V9g/YTUW5JxyglI/AAAAAAAAJjE/ukxUytQ0q6gOKxVuUSXa84nm_aBySiGbACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Larry%2BHosford%2BAKA%2BLorenzo%2BShelter%2BRecords%2B1977%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="376" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z-5-8IL5V9g/YTUW5JxyglI/AAAAAAAAJjE/ukxUytQ0q6gOKxVuUSXa84nm_aBySiGbACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Larry%2BHosford%2BAKA%2BLorenzo%2BShelter%2BRecords%2B1977%2Blp.jpg" width="301" /></a></div><br />Larry Hosford, from Salinas (that's where he's from), had released his debut album AKA Lorenzo on Shelter Records in 1975.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />October 29, Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Larry Hosford</b><i> (Saturday)</i><br />It's not surprising that Larry Hosford began the month as an opening act and was a Saturday night headliner by Halloween. Hosford, mixing the Beatles and country music with some wry irony, was right in the center of Palo Alto's cultural sweet spot.<p></p><p><b>October 30, Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: David Grisman Quintet/Slow Motion Ocean </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />The David Grisman Quintet once again played the last Sunday of the month. <b>Slow Motion Ocean</b> is unknown to me. <br /></p><b>November 1, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Hush/Savannah </b><i>(Tuesday)</i><br /><b>Hush</b> was a newly-formed quartet from the San Jose area, sounding roughly like Journey. <a href="http://www.robertberry.com/hush.html">Hush was led by singer and guitarist Robert Berry</a>. They would release their debut album in 1978 on ASI Records.<p><b>Savannah</b> is unknown to me. Per the October 30 <i>Chronicle</i>, the band won a "new band" contest on KSAN sponsored by Don Wehr's Music City, a major equipment store in San Francisco. </p><b>November 4, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Greg Kihn</b><i> (Friday)</i><b><br />November 5, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Stoneground </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />The weekend featured established headliners who had both played the Keystone before. <br /><p><b>November 6, 1977 Keystone Palo Alto, CA: Mile Hi/Pegasus</b><i> (Sunday)</i><br /><b>Mile Hi </b>was a popular local band. I actually saw them shortly after this, opening for Elvis Costello. They played in a sort of hard rock style, leaning a little toward the likes of Mott The Hoople.</p><p><b>Pegasus</b> is unknown to me. <br /></p><p><b>November 10, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Skycreek</b><i> (Thursday) </i><br /></p><b>November 11, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: John Lee Hooker/Summer </b><i>(Friday)</i><br /><b>Summer</b> is unknown to me. <br /><p><b>November 12, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Streamliner </b><i>(Saturday)</i> </p><p><b>November 13, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: D'Thumbs/Sopwith Camel </b><i>(Sunday) </i><br /><b>D'Thumbs</b> are unknown to me. </p><p><b>Sopwith Camel </b>was one of the first hippie San Francisco bands, scoring a hit way back in early 1967 with "Hello, Hello." They had broken up by 1968 and reformed again in 1971, finally releasing an album in 1973. I presume this was another reunion, but I don't know anything about it.</p><p><b>November 16, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alt, CA: Franklin Dowes/Glide </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br /><b>Franklin Dowes </b>is unknown to me. <b>Glide</b> is unknown to me.<br /><br /><b>November 17, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Logos</b><i> (Thursday)</i><br /><b>Logos</b> are unknown to me. <br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8lsqhKSQgOc/YTUXx3RxkdI/AAAAAAAAJjM/AsIYgoqqt8kdtQ1_QRSvcVbrH7fTYdFhgCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/George%2BThorogood%2Band%2BThe%2BDestroyers%2BOct%2B1977%2BRounder.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="599" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8lsqhKSQgOc/YTUXx3RxkdI/AAAAAAAAJjM/AsIYgoqqt8kdtQ1_QRSvcVbrH7fTYdFhgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/George%2BThorogood%2Band%2BThe%2BDestroyers%2BOct%2B1977%2BRounder.jpg" width="319" /></a></b></div><b><br />November 18, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: George Thorogood and The Destroyers </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />Delaware guitarist George Thorogood (b.1951) was a throwback, grinding out high energy blues and boogie in the style of John Lee Hooker, Elmore James and other classic bluesmen. The<a href="https://www.discogs.com/George-Thorogood-And-The-Destroyers-George-Thorogood-And-The-Destroyers/release/919875"> debut record of <b>George Thorogood and The Destroyers</b>, released in October 1977, was on the folk label Rounder Records</a>, as blues was now seen as somewhat antiquated. Thorogood played slide guitar and led The Destroyers through classic numbers like Hooker's "One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer."<p></p><p><b>November 19, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Cruisin' </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br /><b>Cruisin</b>' is unknown to me.<br /><br /><b>November 20, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Star Track/Smoke Inc </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br /><b>Smoke Inc</b> is unknown to me.<br /><br /><b>November 23, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Streamliner </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br />This was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.<br /><br /><b>November 25, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Earth Quake/Thumbs </b><i>(Friday)</i> </p><p><b>November 26, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Snail/The Pets</b><i> (Saturday)</i><br /><b>Snail</b> was a four-piece, twin guitar band from Santa Cruz, with Bob O'Neill and Ken Kraft leading the way on guitars and vocals. The band had formed as a trio (with O'Neill) back in 1968, so they were well-established in Santa Cruz. Snail had been regulars at the club throughout 1976 when it was still Sophie's. Dowtown Santa Cruz was less than an hour from California Avenue, so this was a local gig for the band. Snail would go on to release two pretty good albums, the first one released in 1978 on Cream Records.</p><p><b>The Pets </b>are unknown to me.<br /> </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YS46xXnnNB0/YSK58f1Y57I/AAAAAAAAJYs/22zKnlMiQiIvS5N0Y_Tf5hjYnIAtqfHtACLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Billy%2BC%2BJames%2BParber%2BLong%2BBranch%2B1976.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="365" data-original-width="600" height="195" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YS46xXnnNB0/YSK58f1Y57I/AAAAAAAAJYs/22zKnlMiQiIvS5N0Y_Tf5hjYnIAtqfHtACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Billy%2BC%2BJames%2BParber%2BLong%2BBranch%2B1976.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Billy C Farlow, his band, and some friends, ca 1976</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b>November 28, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Billy C Farlow/Kate Wolf and The Wildflower Band </b><i>(Monday) First KFAT Fat Fry live broadcast</i><br />The Monday after Thanksgiving was the inaugural Fat Fry, a seminal event in the history of Keystone Palo Alto and also of KFAT. As discussed above (see October 14), <a href="https://www.kfat.com/">KFAT was a pioneering hippie country station in tiny Gilroy, with a transmitter in the Santa Cruz mountains</a>. The signal reached Monterey, Ft. Ord, Santa Cruz, San Jose, Palo Alto and some parts of the Peninsula and the East Bay. It did not reach San Francisco, however. So KFAT was a hip, inside thing for Silicon Valley. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak was a huge fan of KFAT, for example, not least because it made him different. <br /><p></p><p>For the balance of the 70s, there would be a Monday night live broadcast on KFAT from the Keystone in Palo Alto. The first sets of both the headliner and the opening act were broadcast, giving crucial exposure to bands who might never be heard on the radio otherwise. Many record companies have a cautious history with live broadcasts, but many local bands were well aware of both the history of country music on the radio and the way that the many Grateful Dead broadcasts did not seem to harm local ticket sales. In turn, the radio made the Keystone seemed like a fun place to hang out and hear some non-redneck country music. The Monday Fat Fry gave the Keystone in Palo Alto an identity distinct from every other nightclub in the Bay Area.</p><p>Singer <b>Billy C. Farlow</b>, from Alabama by way of Michigan, had been the lead vocalist for Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen until that band had broken up in 1976. He had formed his own band, playing music broadly in the same style as the Airmen, a high-energy mix of rockabilly and Western Swing, with hip covers and Farlow originals. The exact configuration of Billy C.'s band is uncertain, but in general his lead guitarist during this period was Merced guitarist James Parber, who had already played with Lawrence Hammond and The Whiplash Band for a few years. </p><p><a href="https://www.billycfarlow.com/bio.html">The picture above is from Billy C.'s website</a>, and features members of his band, and some friends, at The Long Branch in Berkeley around 1976. That may be Parber on the far left, with the beard and glasses. Does he look familiar? Sadly, Parber died of cancer in 1991. <a href="http://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2011/05/poster-by-jim-parber.html">Several years later, it turned out that his father (USAF Colonel Jack Parber) was Bob Weir's birth father, so Parber was Weir's half-brother</a>.</p><p><b>Kate Wolf </b>(1942-1986) was a Bay Area singer and songwriter. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Kate-Wolf-The-Wildwood-Flower-Lines-On-The-Paper/master/362159">By 1977, she had released her second album with The Wildwood Flower band, <i>Lines On The Paper</i></a>, featuring guitarist Nina Gerber. The Wildwood Flower Band would fall apart soon after this, but Wolf would continue to have a successful career as a songwriter and performer until her untimely death from leukemia at age 44.<br /></p><b>November 29, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Larry Hosford/Back in The Saddle</b><i> (Tuesday)</i><br /><b>Back In The Saddle</b> was an acoustic band playing "Western Music," old-time California country without as much twang. I know this because over the years I heard them on the Fat Fry. <br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MtMUD85r10o/YPiqegszV5I/AAAAAAAAJLI/I_uEu6WXJy0z96UF7s55AuEvVzep25oLgCLcBGAsYHQ/s794/Keystone%2BPA%2B19771204%2B4%2BDec%2B1977%252C%2B399%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="386" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MtMUD85r10o/YPiqegszV5I/AAAAAAAAJLI/I_uEu6WXJy0z96UF7s55AuEvVzep25oLgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Keystone%2BPA%2B19771204%2B4%2BDec%2B1977%252C%2B399%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" /></a></div><br /><p><b>December 2, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Rubinoos </b><i>(Friday) </i><br /></p><p><b>December 3, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Bros Owens </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br /></p><p><b>December 4, 1977 Keystone Palo Alto, CA: Ball, Taylor & Hatschek/Boarding House Reach </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br /><b>Ball, Taylor and Hatschek</b> are unknown to me, but they had played Keystone Palo Alto a number of times. <b>Boarding House Reach</b> is unknown to me. <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Oz6G97V3zBQ/YTUU9_gfJOI/AAAAAAAAJi4/zuKQlESXOqcbPyVGOFyQX7TelbosXRXxgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1422/KFAT%2Bsticker.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1422" data-original-width="1352" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Oz6G97V3zBQ/YTUU9_gfJOI/AAAAAAAAJi4/zuKQlESXOqcbPyVGOFyQX7TelbosXRXxgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/KFAT%2Bsticker.jpg" width="304" /></a></div><br /><b>December 5, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Robert Hunter & Comfort/Rogers & Burgin (Monday) </b><i>KFAT Fat Fry</i><br />The second Fat Fry broadcast was a particularly remarkable one. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/11/robert-hunter-and-roadhog-performance.html">In 1976, Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter had surfaced from anonymity with the band Roadhog</a> (with whom he had been performing under the name "Lefty Banks"). Roadhog had ground to a halt at the end of 1976, but <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2009/07/robert-hunter-and-comfort-performing.html">Hunter had joined another ensemble, Comfort.</a> Comfort was a songwriting collective, of sorts, and Hunter had contributed lots of material. In particular, Hunter had written the lyrics for a nearly 20-minute song cycle called "Alligator Moon." Hunter had also financed a studio recording of "Alligator Moon" and a few other songs, with an eye toward a formal release.<p></p><p>As a part of the Grateful Dead family, Hunter would have immediately understood the advantages to having a local broadcast of a live concert, to give fans a chance to hear what Comfort sounded like. Otherwise, with no record, the band would just be a rumor. So Hunter and Comfort broadcast live on KFAT on this Monday, and they brought along ace Grateful Dead engineers Bob Matthews and Betty Cantor-Jackson to ensure that the live tape would be A-list. It's the Dead, of course--so the tape is preserved. Comfort's lineup was</p><p></p><blockquote><b>Robert Hunter</b>-vocals, guitar<br /><b>Kevin Morgenstern</b>-lead guitar<br /><b>Rodney Albin</b>-violin, mandolin<br /><b>Richard McNeese</b>-keyboards<br /><b>Larry Klein</b>-bass<br /><b>Pat Lorenzano</b>-drums<br /><b>Marlene Molle</b>-vocals<br /><b>Kathleen Klein</b>-vocals </blockquote><p></p>The setlist was:<br /><i>Jesse James, Hookers' Ball, We Can Work It Out, Rum Runners, It Must Have Been The Roses, It's All The Same To Me, Alligator Moon Suite, Promontory Rider, Boys In The Barroom</i><br /><br />During the show, Hunter chatted with the live audience and acknowledged the broadcast, inviting the listeners to come to the Keystone for the late set. Hunter had gone to Junior High School in Palo Alto (at Wilbur) and part of High School (Cubberley, until 11th grade), and was an extraordinaly genial host, in contrast to his infamous reputation as a curmudgeon.<p>In the end, Hunter decided he was unhappy with the studio recording of <i>Alligator Moon</i>, and never authorized its release (save for a couple of shorter tracks). The live Fat Fry, with Bob & Betty managing the recording, stands as the definitive "Alligator Moon," and perhaps one day it will get released.</p><p><a href="http://www.roy-rogers.com/bio">Slide guitarist <b>Roy Rogers</b></a> and <a href="http://www.davidburginmusic.com/biography/ ">harmonica player <b>David Burgin</b></a>
were an acoustic blues duo. Burgin had been a singer in the East Bay
band Lucky Strike, but he had teamed up with Rogers around 1975. They
would release an album in 1978 (<i>A Foot In The Door</i>, on Waterhouse Records) and even contributed a track for the <i>One Flew Over Cuckoo's Nest</i> film soundtrack. They, too, would have been broadcast on the Fat Fry, but I'm not aware of the tape having been preserved.<br /></p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F3p1KtJIirI/YTUZIKAjK9I/AAAAAAAAJjU/YnhElgKZ9vwPQYnKVEBniKH_mjNWprIywCLcBGAsYHQ/s481/Charles%2BFord%2BBand%2B1972%2BArhoolie%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="481" height="319" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F3p1KtJIirI/YTUZIKAjK9I/AAAAAAAAJjU/YnhElgKZ9vwPQYnKVEBniKH_mjNWprIywCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Charles%2BFord%2BBand%2B1972%2BArhoolie%2Blp.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>In 1972, Robben Ford (guitar), Mark Ford (harmonica) and Pat Ford (drums) had formed a blues band named after their father. They had released an album on Arhoolie in 1972<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table></b><b><br />December 8, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Robben Ford with The Mark Ford Band </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br />Guitarist <b>Robben Ford</b> had been a teenage sensation out of Ukiah, CA, in Northern California. Around 1970, he had joined Charlie Musselwhite in his blues band, later joined by his drumming brother Pat Ford (and <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Charlie-Musselwhite-Takin-My-Time/master/582293">backing Musselwhite on the 1971 Arhoolie album <i>Takin' My Time</i></a>). The Ford brothers had teamed up with their harmonica playing brother Mark to form the Charles Ford Band (named after their father). <a href="https://www.discogs.com/The-Charles-Ford-Band-The-Charles-Ford-Band/master/793789">The Charles Ford Band had released a 1972 album on Arhoolie</a>. <br /><p>Robben Ford, with amazing technical ability to go along with his bluesy tone, had made a name for himself in Los Angeles. Robben played guitar with the Tom Scott and the LA Express, and as a result went on tour with both George Harrison and Joni Mitchell. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Robben-Ford-Schizophonic/release/3809289">In 1976, Robben Ford released his own solo album, <i>Schizophonic</i>, on LA International Records</a>.<br /></p><p>In the meantime, <b>Mark Ford</b> led his own blues band around the Bay Area. It looks like Robben was sitting in with his brother for this show. I doubt they needed to rehearse very much.<br /></p><p><b>December 9, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Bad Boys/Glide </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />The <b>Bad Boys</b> are unknown to me. </p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MR64GcW4kzw/YSWEGhdiwII/AAAAAAAAJY8/K--AnFyKzBQ6Tbm0VIyu5UStLs4L5IfUQCLcBGAsYHQ/s979/Keystone%2Bad%2B19771210.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="979" data-original-width="510" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MR64GcW4kzw/YSWEGhdiwII/AAAAAAAAJY8/K--AnFyKzBQ6Tbm0VIyu5UStLs4L5IfUQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Keystone%2Bad%2B19771210.jpg" width="167" /></a></div><br />December 10, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Talking Heads/Liars </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />The <i>Chronicle</i> display ad for the Keystones notes the <b>Talking Heads-</b>-mistakenly called "Talkin' Head"--in Palo Alto on Saturday night. This was the original 4-piece band, with David Byrne, Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz. They were unique and powerful. Keystone staff couldn't get the name right in the ad, and no one from Palo Alto seems to have known who they were.<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi7gJSe3pS9rBRPB7fQhqkXiJOuhQVVKOZ74_kuDu2SLj5ULKuupEs1MZrBd6x8w4IMQ1sv4TX8irEXY3RAho63rwAZ15QOQKQT4YiapdYN3c3c2F6PyLaIG9_o8-SSM51BOsZzKHwPfqkq0vilDAD999YUePJbXPN-_Z_0GQ0eC6O_3meH7xFaq-hY=s1440" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1100" data-original-width="1440" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi7gJSe3pS9rBRPB7fQhqkXiJOuhQVVKOZ74_kuDu2SLj5ULKuupEs1MZrBd6x8w4IMQ1sv4TX8irEXY3RAho63rwAZ15QOQKQT4YiapdYN3c3c2F6PyLaIG9_o8-SSM51BOsZzKHwPfqkq0vilDAD999YUePJbXPN-_Z_0GQ0eC6O_3meH7xFaq-hY=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>This flyer for the Talking Heads at the Keystones in December 1977 was probably made by one of the bands (possibly the Heads), not the Keystones. Note the usage of "Keystone Palo Alto."</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />People from Palo Alto and Berkeley will always brag about seeing a band like Talking Heads before anyone else. Everyone from Berkeley at this time, starting with me, brags about the time they saw them play for free in Sproul Plaza. So the fact that no Palo Altans mentioned seeing them at the Keystone back then means no one realized that it happened. It must have sold poorly. New Wave/Punk type bookings largely cease at the Palo Alto after this.<br /><p></p><p><b>Liars</b> are unknown to me.<br /></p><p><b>December 11, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Larry Raspberry and The High Steppers</b><i> (Sunday)</i><br />Larry Raspberry was from Memphis, where he had some notoriety in the early 70s as a member of The Gentrys. By the mid-70s, he had formed <b>Larry Raspberry and The High Steppers</b>, and they had released <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Larry-Raspberry-And-The-Highsteppers-In-The-Pink/master/1324906">the album <i>In The Pink</i> in 1975.</a> Raspberry seems to be a high energy performer in the style of Memphis rock and blues--<a href="http://larryraspberry.com/ ">he's still around</a>--but I don't know many details about him.</p><p><b>December 13, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Mary McCaslin & Jim Ringer/Biff Rose </b><i>(Tuesday)</i><br /><b>Mary McCaslin</b> (b. 1946) was a songwriter and folk singer who mostly released her albums on Philo Records, effectively a DIY label, long before that was fashionable. McCaslin was known for unique guitar tunings, and merging folk songs with contemporary pop sounds. In 1977, she had released the album <i>Old Friends</i>, produced by her husband <b>Jim Ringer</b>. In 1978, <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Mary-McCaslin-Jim-Ringer-The-Bramble-The-Rose/master/663989">the pair would release their best-known album as a duo, <i>The Bramble And The Rose </i>(also on Philo)</a>. Ringer, from the Fresno area, had also been recording on Philo since 1973. McCaslin and Ringer mostly played clubs like the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley or the Great American Music Hall, but there were no similar clubs in the South Bay.</p><p><b>Biff Rose</b> was a Hollywood sketch comedy writer, but he had an intermittent recording career as well. One of his songs ("Fill Your Heart") was recorded by David Bowie on <i>Hunky Dory</i>. At this time, Rose had not released an album for several years, but he would release a new record in 1978, so perhaps this was a warmup.</p><p>It looks like there was no Fat Fry on Monday night (December 12), as it was not yet an institution.<br /></p><b>December 15, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Sass/Island Band<i> (Thursday)</i></b><br /><b>Sass</b> was a Top 40 band. They had actually been the first band to play the (newly-named) Keystone in Palo Alto, on January 20, 1977. The <b>Island Band</b> is unknown to me.<p><b>December 16, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Streamliner/Little Roger and The Goosebumps </b><i>(Friday) </i></p><p><b>December 17-18, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Bros Owens </b><i>(Saturday-Sunday)</i><br />The published ad in the SF <i>Chronicle</i> <i>Datebook</i> (above) has the Ramones and The Avengers on Sunday, December 18, but it looks like they canceled. Palo Alto just wasn't punk territory in 1977.</p><p><b>December 19, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Water Brothers </b><i>(Monday)</i><br />The <b>Water Brothers </b>are unknown to me. I assume this was not a Fat Fry, as it wasn't advertised as such.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MA38KFz23Sc/YPirznfPgaI/AAAAAAAAJLU/nkVoZppGd88EM5xLLuZ3xXEr3DtcVv-JwCLcBGAsYHQ/s512/19771222%2BJGB%2BKPA.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="393" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MA38KFz23Sc/YPirznfPgaI/AAAAAAAAJLU/nkVoZppGd88EM5xLLuZ3xXEr3DtcVv-JwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/19771222%2BJGB%2BKPA.jpg" /></a></div><p><b>December 22-23, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Jerry Garcia Band/Robert Hunter and Comfort </b><i>(Thursday-Friday)</i><br />Jerry Garcia was the anchor tenant of the Keystone Berkeley, as he had been regularly packing the house since Freddie Herrera had taken it over in March of 1972. On top of that Garcia often played weeknights, and his crowd came early and stayed late, so Garcia was regularly responsible for big paydays on nights that might otherwise be thin. When Herrera opened the Keystone in Palo Alto, the Jerry Garcia Band had played the very first weekend (January 23). When the club was in dire straits with the local rock industry, for reasons that remain uncertain, Garcia had played three dates in July (possibly four), not only providing crucial revenue but signalling that Herrera's most important client was still in his corner. </p><p>Garcia and the Grateful Dead had been extraordinarily busy since July, touring hard. The Jerry Garcia Band had completed a successful East Coast tour in early December, and they were playing great music. Garcia had finally got his legendary Doug Irwin "Wolf" guitar repaired, and he was playing better than ever. So he finally returned to the Keystone in Palo Alto. A number of things stand out about this booking.</p><p>For one thing, there was a custom flyer, a very rare artifact from the Keystone. I note that the flyer says "tickets available at all BASS outlets" (BASS was the local computerized ticket service, a competitor to Ticketron). If advance tickets were indeed available, it would have been the first time that Garcia tickets would have been available in advance for a Keystone show (whether Berkeley, Palo Alto or The Stone), and it was not an experiment that was repeated. I actually think it was a mistake, and that whoever was assigned to draw the flyer didn't realize that there were never advance tickets for Garcia shows at the Keystone.</p><p>One of the keys to the professional relationship between Herrera and Garcia was that while Garcia shows were booked in advance, they could often be added and subtracted at will as Garcia's busy schedule changed. Since no tickets were sold in advance, there was no need to refund any money. At the same time, since Garcia often played weeknights, he was generally not interfering with booking by touring acts. </p><p>This booking also stands out for having Robert Hunter and Comfort as the Garcia's Band opening act. General practice at this time was for Garcia to have some sort of solo or duo acoustic act opening, to encourage those arriving early to hoist a few drinks, but they were rarely advertised. In this case, to Deadheads, Hunter had a unique status. Hunter and Comfort had been playing around the Bay Area since May, and they had just played a Fat Fry a few weeks earlier (December 5), so they weren't unknown, but most Deadheads still had not heard them. Comfort was working on an album, and it appeared that the plan was for Hunter to piggyback on Garcia's popularity to get noticed, all in all a fine plan. At least some Comfort shows actually had a dance performance that went along with the "Alligator Moon" suite, but I don't know if this was one of them.</p><p><a href="https://jerrybase.com/events/19771223-01">The Jerry Garcia Band at this time was</a></p><p></p><blockquote><b>Jerry Garcia</b>-guitar, vocals<br /><b>Donna Godchaux</b>-vocals<br /><b>Maria Muldaur</b>-vocals<br /><b>Keith Godchaux</b>-piano<br /><b>John Kahn</b>-bass<br /><b>Buzz Buchanan</b>-drums </blockquote><p></p><p>Maria Muldaur was bassist John Kahn's girlfriend, and was a regular member of the band. She only shared harmonies with Donna Godchaux, however, and did not sing her own material. Garcia might have been amenable, in fact, but Maria enjoyed just being a member of the band. In the orthodoxy of the time, her name was not mentioned in any publicity because that would have created the expectation that she would sing "Midnight At The Oasis" and the like. Buzz Buchanan had replaced the great Ron Tutt, who had retired from both Elvis Presley's band and the Jerry Garcia Band at the same time, albeit for different reasons. Buchanan had been recommended by producer Michael Stewart, an old pal of Kahn's. </p><p>Finally, this booking was unique in that the first set of the Friday night concert was broadcast live on KZSU-fm, the Stanford University radio station. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2016/12/jerry-garcia-live-on-kzsu-am-and-fm.html">Garcia had a long history with KZSU, having first broadcast on the station back in 1962, and then many times from the Tangent</a>, and then eventually with Old And In The Way (on July 24, 1973). Given that KFAT had just begun their Fat Fry program, it seems like broadcasting an early set on a different local radio station may have been part of a similar plan. KZSU did not repeat such a broadcast, however, with Garcia or anyone else, so we'll have to wonder. For locals like me, however, the FM broadcast provided a crispy Garcia tape at a time when such material was very rare.<br /></p><p><b>December 24, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Stoneground </b><i>(Saturday) </i><br /></p><p></p><p><b>December 26, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Larry Hosford</b><i> (Monday) KFAT Fat Fry</i><br />Larry Hosford was exactly the sort of artist who benefited greatly from a Fat Fry. I'm pretty sure that is where I first heard his music, as a matter of fact (although not this specific show). Hosford was local, so if you heard him on the radio, you got a good picture of what you were going to get to hear. Live broadcasts of bands without record company backing was unprecedented at the time. Hosford's first class songs, crack band and ironic hippie cowboy stance was perfect for a kind of laid-back South Bay type who wanted something accessible, but a little bit off the beaten path.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mPjXksxLnkU/YSV-Z9eGCoI/AAAAAAAAJY0/UusLOSnJYMg2D6jKGjOlB_pheQ5CSmk7ACLcBGAsYHQ/s475/Live%2BGrape%2B1978%2Blp%2BEscape%2BRecords.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="475" height="303" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mPjXksxLnkU/YSV-Z9eGCoI/AAAAAAAAJY0/UusLOSnJYMg2D6jKGjOlB_pheQ5CSmk7ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Live%2BGrape%2B1978%2Blp%2BEscape%2BRecords.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />December 29, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Moby Grape/Dirty Leggs </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br />Moby Grape had always been--and still is--the great Woulda Shoulda Coulda story of San Francisco rock. Five musicians who barely knew each other were assembled by ex-Jefferson Airplane manager Matthew Katz, and sold to Columbia Records. For all of their artificial beginning, the quintet was incredibly talented, and their 1967 debut album was fantastic. Columbia hyped it like crazy, however, so hippies doubted it, problems set in, and instead of becoming big stars Moby Grape became a sad, cautionary tale. <br /><p></p><p>By 1977 <b>Moby Grape</b> was on their third reunion, and involved in litigation with Katz (this litigation is still ongoing, by the way, interfering with the band's ability to profit from their own name). At this time, it appeared that the band could reform under their own name, and the new lineup featured guitarists Jerry Miller and Peter Lewis from the original lineup. Another new member was organist Cornelius Bumpus, a Santa Cruz legend from Korny and The Korvettes. Skip Spence even showed up to a Moby Grape gig once in a while. </p><p>The band would release a live album recorded around this time, on their own label Escape Records. The album was called <i>Live Grape</i>, coyly avoiding using their actual name. It's actually a really good album, if a little more blues oriented than some earlier Moby Grape offerings. This lineup of Moby Grape was actually really good--we know it from the album--but would have seemed like tired hippie music to Palo Alto, and it probably didn't draw that well.</p><p><b>Dirty Leggs</b> is unknown to me.<br /></p><p><b>December 30, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Poker Face </b><i>or</i><b> John Lee Hooker </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />The Sunday <i>Chronicle</i> and the Fremont <i>Argus</i> listed different bookings for Friday night. The <i>Chronicle</i> listed Poker Face, a local band. I actually saw them once, and if I recall correctly, they sounded sort of like Poco. The <i>Argus</i>, meanwhile had John Lee Hooker. Both were local, so it's hard to draw a conclusion, but I doubt they shared a bill.<br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--3-owMEZR0Y/YTUUx4c0UxI/AAAAAAAAJi0/qZG8TPA-8FAlQ0d5m8Rqg063W5SreQSYACLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Moonlighters%2BAmherst%2BRecords%2B1977.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="586" data-original-width="600" height="313" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--3-owMEZR0Y/YTUUx4c0UxI/AAAAAAAAJi0/qZG8TPA-8FAlQ0d5m8Rqg063W5SreQSYACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Moonlighters%2BAmherst%2BRecords%2B1977.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />December 31, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Moonlighters/Cayenne </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />The first year of the Keystone in Palo Alto was not at all smooth sailing. Freddie Herrera's initial goal of making it parallel to the sister club in Berkeley had gone awry. Some of that was due to unexplained problems with some local rock acts, but Palo Alto wasn't Berkeley. The loud blues hippie vibe of Keystone Berkeley was not Palo Alto at the dawn of Silicon Valley. Neither, surprisingly, was Punk of New Wave music, which was barely booked in Palo Alto and seems to have attracted little attention (and not surprisingly I should add).<p></p><p>After some mid-year struggles, however, the Palo Alto Keystone found a better mix, with some jazz and some hip country. The progressive country station KFAT, in Gilroy, had started broadcasting live from the club. A band like the Moonlighters, which would have gotten little radio play otherwise, was going to attract attention on KFAT. Since the Moonlighters were headlining a Saturday night New Year's Eve at the club, their efforts at earlier gigs in Palo Alto must have been well-recieved.<br /></p><p><i><a href="https://my.supportlpch.org/fundraiser/1226591">Freddie Herrera (1935-2019)</a></i></p><p><a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2020/12/palo-alto-rock-history-landscape-and.html"><i><b>Palo Alto Rock History</b></i></a></p><p><br /></p><br />Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-81545192648440553822023-07-20T09:19:00.003-07:002023-08-10T14:50:12.784-07:00Lake Tahoe Rock Concerts Summer 1967-Winter 1968 (Tahoe I)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUxlxE2mXXIcuTSSJjyqk-bdOiPtumqa5nOKwFfsgezTr2p9YI8VSjWHqvwG6-xO0RhKuo5L6rOEVNQ_k7PZo5T7ZExxrhw0RjWH1qUj2XNburPVlfhFxo4Ek5kSxB1xze3ob5kzbEIIkqC_ZmkplRucoThnc9ZppUoH4A6Cg1tj28-ycFOGyQidiV/s800/Kings%20Beach%20Bowl%20Tahoe%2019670719.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="618" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUxlxE2mXXIcuTSSJjyqk-bdOiPtumqa5nOKwFfsgezTr2p9YI8VSjWHqvwG6-xO0RhKuo5L6rOEVNQ_k7PZo5T7ZExxrhw0RjWH1qUj2XNburPVlfhFxo4Ek5kSxB1xze3ob5kzbEIIkqC_ZmkplRucoThnc9ZppUoH4A6Cg1tj28-ycFOGyQidiV/s320/Kings%20Beach%20Bowl%20Tahoe%2019670719.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><p>At fifty years and counting, classic rock from San Francisco's Fillmore era remains central to our appreciation of rock music and late 20th century culture. All the Fillmores are rightly celebrated as cornerstones of the evolution of the modern rock concert. Prior to the Fillmore, rock concerts were just entertainment for teenagers, little more than personal appearances by popular artists. After the Fillmore, live rock music was rock, community and culture. </p><p>As digital files have increased the scope of our information, rock fans worldwide are far more knowledgeable about the other stops on the Fillmore circuit, like the Boston Tea Party and the Grande Ballroom in Detroit. I have made a great effort myself to uncover some of the history of 60s live rock scenes in places like <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/04/crystal-ballroom-1332-w-burnside_09.html">Portland</a>, <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2009/11/late-60s-rock-concerts-in-utah-work-in.html">Salt Lake City</a>, <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2009/12/thee-image-and-miami-rock-scene-march.html">Miami</a>, <a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/06/2201-arch-street-philadelphia-pa.html">Philadelphia</a> and more. Yet the history of one thriving 60s rock scene has lain dormant since then, and it's time to rectify that. </p><p>Lake Tahoe, CA, 200 miles North of San Francisco and 60 miles South of Reno, has been the city's resort area since Southern Pacific Railroad made it a destination in 1899. In the 1960s, floods of Sacramento and Bay Area teenagers spent weekends, weeks or entire Summers in Lake Tahoe. It's no surprise there was a live music scene. What's hardly known is that there were some psychedelic outposts there, too. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2011/11/august-19-25-26-1967-grateful-dead-lake.html ">I have written a little about the Grateful Dead's appearances in the Lake Tahoe era</a>, but in fact numerous famous bands passed through. Many of the San Francisco bands played there, too, as did famous 60s acts including not only Buffalo Springfield and no less than the Jimi Hendrix Experience.</p><p>This post begins a two-part series on the Lake Tahoe live rock scene in the 60s, when from Memorial Day to Labor Day, the North and South Shore were stops on the circuit before and after San Francisco. This post will focus on the roots of the Lake Tahoe scene and the year 1967. Anyone with recollections, corrections, insights or unexpected flashbacks is encouraged to add them in the Comments. </p><p><i><b></b></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ9DWbWYgxEe9PC6rcTIjCP9g0y1oy9h0HRSOyZaOtz_Pk6ALBlxL_1ByGODCCUtERFO9VgHGonnmgSyewL8OgNts3uVMVn4IyAsC21UsrxmaTHHJnT_ulkfChwYsvBJ5Tn_V80nIzHZHYBw_xdGLGKkGSWYzChgpEBu99LQmQn3Jkuvo4nxUKCZrdV78/s300/American%20Legion%20Hall%20SL%20Tahoe.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="300" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ9DWbWYgxEe9PC6rcTIjCP9g0y1oy9h0HRSOyZaOtz_Pk6ALBlxL_1ByGODCCUtERFO9VgHGonnmgSyewL8OgNts3uVMVn4IyAsC21UsrxmaTHHJnT_ulkfChwYsvBJ5Tn_V80nIzHZHYBw_xdGLGKkGSWYzChgpEBu99LQmQn3Jkuvo4nxUKCZrdV78/s1600/American%20Legion%20Hall%20SL%20Tahoe.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The American Legion Hall in South Lake Tahoe, at 2748 Tahoe Boulevard, ca 1965</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><i><b><br />Lake Tahoe 60s Venues</b></i><br />There were six venues in the Lake Tahoe area that booked rock concerts in the late 60s, mostly lost to rock history save for Tahoe-area nostalgia and me. Over the course of these two posts, I will deal with each of these venues in some detail, but a brief overview will set the stage.<p></p><p><b>American Legion Hall, 2748 Lake Tahoe Boulevard (US-50), South Lake Tahoe, CA</b><br />Guitarist Jim Burgett had been putting on dances at the American Legion Hall in South Lake Tahoe since 1958. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, Burgett's band would play 7 nights a week. For teenagers vacationing in Tahoe, every day was Saturday, so the dances were packed. The Legion Hall had a capacity of about 1000. Burgett also occasionally booked other touring acts, and in 1967 and '68, these were usually Fillmore rock acts, since that's what teenagers wanted to see. I will look at the backstory of the American Legion Hall dances in this post.<br /><br /><a href="https://northtahoeevents.com/about/ "><b>Kings Beach Bowl, 8318 North Lake Blvd (CA-28), Kings Beach, CA</b></a><br />The North Lake Tahoe area was less developed than the area around the town of South Lake Tahoe, and the "North Shore" crowd saw themselves as separate (in a teenage way) from the other side of the lake. Dave Jay and Allan Goodall had been managing an underused bowling alley near Kings Beach. In Summer 1967, they converted it into a sort of teen nightclub, mostly featuring The Creators, a Sacramento band that included Jay's teenage sons. For three years, however, Kings Beach Bowl also booked Fillmore rock bands for some visits, including some true legends. I will look at the foundation of Kings Beach Bowl and the Summer 1967 shows in this post, along with the Winter 1968 "Trip Or Ski" shows with the Grateful Dead. The 1968 and '69 Kings Beach Bowl shows will be discussed in the next post.<br /><br /><b>The Sanctuary, Lake Tahoe Boulevard (US-50), South Lake Tahoe, CA</b><br />By 1968, with the success of the Legion Hall and Kings Beach Bowl, another entrepreneur opened The Sanctuary, also on Lake Tahoe Blvd (US-50), not far from the Legion Hall. It was larger than the Legion Hall, with a capacity of about 1600. It, too, had a house band, Queen Lily Soap, which included the son of the club owner. Weekends were headlined by regular Fillmore bands, and The Sanctuary was soon doing better than either of the other two rock venues. I will look at the Sanctuary in the next post. <br /><br /><b>The Crystal Ship, Roundhill Village, US-50, Zephyr Cove, NV</b><br />In 1968 Palo Alto pianist Cory Lerios started a "teen club" called The Crystal Ship, in the Roundhill Village shopping center near Zephyr Cove. It, too, was on US-50, but on the Nevada side, just north of the town of South Lake Tahoe. The Crystal Ship was only open in the Summer of 1968. Lerios would go on to form the hit group Pablo Cruise. I will discuss the Crystal Ship in the second post.<br /><br /><b>TNT Alpine, Alpine Meadows, CA</b><br />East Bay Promoter Bill Quarry and his TNT group ("Teens N Twenties") put on four shows at the Alpine Meadows ski resort in January 1969. Alpine Meadows is West of Lake Tahoe (nearer to San Francisco), and just south of US80 and near Olympic Valley, where the 1960 Winter Olympics were held (then known as Squaw Valley). I will look at TNT Alpine in the second post.<br /><br /><b>The Fun House, Lake Tahoe Boulevard (US-50), South Lake Tahoe, CA</b><br />In Winter 1969, snow caved in the roof of the American Legion Hall. Burgett's Legion Hall shows were having trouble competing with the name acts at The Sanctuary in any case, but the owner of The Sanctuary chose to sell his business. Burgett took over the club in 1969 and renamed it The Fun House. Burgett promoted shows at The Fun House through 1971. I will look at The Fun House in the next post.<br /></p><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPJrvMcPXmmlwq122Dlfif-nLZFrAuNkf-XvxHXnsCVFHyFbmQ4SGOCE1aC1ZmU5IzC2PgRANENEXdGsNrIs0zkA0RATMC0zfiZbD_zObvy74NXjgQB1Az_rFHsCtLpVR7R6-ow8LAldJIfENGiMTfE4dwIFKUanQ_f6ikD6FtDlheWOlGxVkKQ51ySJA/s992/Lake%20Tahoe%20Map%20w%20counties.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="992" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPJrvMcPXmmlwq122Dlfif-nLZFrAuNkf-XvxHXnsCVFHyFbmQ4SGOCE1aC1ZmU5IzC2PgRANENEXdGsNrIs0zkA0RATMC0zfiZbD_zObvy74NXjgQB1Az_rFHsCtLpVR7R6-ow8LAldJIfENGiMTfE4dwIFKUanQ_f6ikD6FtDlheWOlGxVkKQ51ySJA/s320/Lake%20Tahoe%20Map%20w%20counties.jpg" width="226" /></a></div><br /><b><br />Teenagers, Lake Tahoe, 1960s</b></i><br />Lake Tahoe had always been San Francisco and Northern California's playground, and there is a long American history of entertainment in resort areas. The Catskills in New York or the 'Silver Circuit' in Nevada (Las Vegas, Reno, North Tahoe) have lengthy post-WW2 traditions. One peculiar feature of Lake Tahoe, however, was that there was gambling on the Nevada side of the lake, but not in California. Thus the casinos focused on the high-end trade in Nevada. The California side was more of the family side. After Lake Tahoe boomed following the 1960 Winter Olympics, the California side of the lake was left for "the kids," because the adults wanted to go to Nevada and gamble. As a result, for a resort area, the California side of Lake Tahoe in the 1960s had a peculiar focus on rock and roll, and it has been largely undocumented. <br /><p>Lake Tahoe, straddling California and Nevada, is one of the West’s largest, deepest, clearest and most beautiful lakes. The lake sits six thousand feet above sea level, and the Truckee River feeds the lake, flowing into and then out of the lake. Truckee, California, about 12 miles North of Lake Tahoe and 30 miles West of Reno, was an original train stop on the Transcontinental Railroad. In 1899 the Duane L. Bliss Family built the Lake Tahoe Railway and Transportation Company. The Southern Pacific Railway actively encouraged tourist attractions along its rail lines, and Lake Tahoe became a popular resort for the San Francisco Bay Area.<br /><br />Many families in both the Bay Area and the Sacramento/Central Valley area would buy or rent second homes in Lake Tahoe, and they would spend much of the Summer and many Winter weekends at Tahoe. Part of Lake Tahoe's specialness was that it was a great resort for both Summer and Winter. After 1960, when the Winter Olympics were held at nearby Olympic Valley (then called Squaw Valley), Lake Tahoe boomed again, particularly for Winter sports. Since the Lake was on the California/Nevada border, parents would go over to the Nevada side and gamble, leaving their teenage kids to fend for themselves. If there was an older sibling with a family station wagon, then the whole Lake Tahoe area was available for fun.</p><p>The only substantial town on the Lake at the time was South Lake Tahoe. The city had only incorporated in 1965, an assembly of a half-dozen little communities. The 1970 population was only 12,000, but that is misleading. In the Summer (and even the Winter), houses all around the Lake were packed with families and kids, so the potential weekend population was quite high. All the other communities referred to here, such as Kings Beach or Zephyr Cove, were not actually towns (technically they are "Census Designated Places"). Those who generally stayed in the North Lake Tahoe area referred to it as "North Shore," but I gather that the Southern Lake Tahoe visitors did not refer to it as "South Shore." For clarity, however, I am going to generically refer to the South Shore, however, even though I am aware that it wasn't really a local usage.<br /></p><i><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpeLm5ygI64irz_gMoBekjabu1maXY0CBzywVs0VAVzpu9J1flKfn1IkJik3m1M9kgHd_ZBUfWcmsOkUmm8sMg_BQhgqp0FwyVQS8oV-_Pd4b2LiWQxQEm_vYmYvHvfAJCEhRYGy3ASYQci9HyZsSf80zyA90Np3ttl4J0cj-OT6I-fh1P_ESsPnbx/s270/Jim%20Burgett%20Tahoe.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="187" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpeLm5ygI64irz_gMoBekjabu1maXY0CBzywVs0VAVzpu9J1flKfn1IkJik3m1M9kgHd_ZBUfWcmsOkUmm8sMg_BQhgqp0FwyVQS8oV-_Pd4b2LiWQxQEm_vYmYvHvfAJCEhRYGy3ASYQci9HyZsSf80zyA90Np3ttl4J0cj-OT6I-fh1P_ESsPnbx/s1600/Jim%20Burgett%20Tahoe.jpg" width="187" /></a></div><br />Jim Burgett</b></i><br />The rock scene in 60s Lake Tahoe can be directly traced to one man, guitarist Jim Burgett (b. 1942) from tiny Ceres, CA. Ceres is a small Central Valley town a few miles South of Modesto on US-99. Burgett had a little band, and he he had been putting on dances locally. His father had opened a plumbing supply store in the Lake Tahoe area, and Burgett realized that local teenagers had nothing to do on family vacations. Starting in Summer 1958, Burgett--still a teenager himself-- rented the American Legion Hall on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and his band provided the entertainment. In some personal emails some years ago, Burgett was kind enough to explain the background:<p></p><blockquote><i>I first took my band to The Legion Hall in South Lake Tahoe in June
1958. I rented that hall for the next 10 years having dances from June
thru September for the first few years and then adding other dates
during the year after I moved to South Lake Tahoe a few years later.</i></blockquote>Burgett went on to explain how late 50’s Tahoe had no entertainment to speak of:<br /><i><blockquote>my
Father owned a plumbing shop in Tahoe City [between Kings Beach and
South Lake Tahoe] and although I didn't live there, when I would visit
as a teenager there was NOTHING TO DO so when I started my band I had to
create jobs and there were none. I went to Tahoe looking for a place
that I could rent and play my band. I was already doing this near
Modesto and Walnut Creek, CA. I was very happy to just play there myself
and I did so for the first ten years.</blockquote></i><p></p><p><a href="https://www.cerescourier.com/news/local/1953-chs-grad-jim-burgett-was-first-to-introduce-rock-roll-to-lake-tahoe-scene/">By the mid-60s, Burgett was putting on dances at the Legion Hall seven nights a week, from Memorial Day to Labor Day, with his band playing every night</a>. If that wasn't enough, his band also played a day shift at Harrah's Tahoe six days a week. The official capacity of the Legion Hall was 1000, but since patrons would come and go, some nights he would sell as many as 1500 tickets. In the Summer, every night was a weekend for visiting teenagers. Burgett's band played rock and R&b hits, pretty well, apparently. The American Legion Hall was on Lake Tahoe Boulevard, also known as US50, and was the main road on the Tahoe South Shore. No matter where a family might be staying around the Lake, it would have been easy to get to Tahoe Boulevard and find the Legion Hall. </p><p>Throughout the early 60s, in suburbs throughout the US, particularly on
the West Coast, there were local "teen dances" on the weekends at
National Guard Armories, Veterans Halls and High School Gyms. These were
like high school dances, except without being tied to high school, and
appealed to the 13-18 year old set. Since "grown-ups" didn't play rock
music, the bands playing these dances were often local, and the same age
as the people attending. Initially (about 1961 or '62) Surf Music was
featured along with "Northwest" music ("Louie Louie" or "Tall Call One",
from Oregon and Seattle respectively). When the Beatles hit, British
Invasion music (including their American competitors, Tacoma's Paul
Revere and The Raiders) became popular, and by the mid-60s the template had
broadened to include the tougher British bands like the Stones, Animals
and Yardbirds, along with Motown and Stax songs. Burgett's Lake Tahoe dances were a localized version of this trend.</p><p>In 1966, however, the Fillmore and the Avalon changed the equation somewhat. Fillmore shows were events, not just dances, with lights and really loud music. The music was original, even if it wasn't always good, so fans felt like they were seeing something special that adults didn't understand. There was weed, too, and parents didn't even realize it, so that made the Fillmore especially cool. Thus Burgett's Legion Hall dances, while the only game in town, weren't necessarily the height of cool anymore to sophisticated Bay Area teens. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnwSZXZf14rMirM46bWPL8e7UtSvUEZMlfwMQ_PspxKSAtNBgyZPZvM9kuztyixDAVa4WnQmqnxhCq_9MZj8XaYKfZTpKFB-gjEEh5Yhy6KDOn_dDHS7Y-yAF4eRnUvHf0hApHtMiZIpBXgpnafDw2Z77stew0fc-Z9F3C5njYUPs-npK4HNuj08AE/s400/springfield%20lake%20tahoe%2019670819%20.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="329" data-original-width="400" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnwSZXZf14rMirM46bWPL8e7UtSvUEZMlfwMQ_PspxKSAtNBgyZPZvM9kuztyixDAVa4WnQmqnxhCq_9MZj8XaYKfZTpKFB-gjEEh5Yhy6KDOn_dDHS7Y-yAF4eRnUvHf0hApHtMiZIpBXgpnafDw2Z77stew0fc-Z9F3C5njYUPs-npK4HNuj08AE/s320/springfield%20lake%20tahoe%2019670819%20.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>The only known photograph from inside a Kings Beach Bowl concert, taken by Kentfield (Marin County) then-teenager Michelle McFee (thank you, Michelle). L-R, Neil Young, Richie Furay and Stephen Stills performing with Buffalo Springfield on August 19, 1967.</i> <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>Kings Beach Bowl</b><br />In the Summer of '67, an alternative arose for Burgett's American Legion Hall dances. It wouldn't be quite right to call them a competitor, since the Kings Beach Bowl was on the opposite side of Lake Tahoe, 40 miles away, and in any case there were plenty of teenagers to go around. Nonetheless, just as the Fillmore rose up to provide a hip alternative to somewhat homogenized teen attractions, Kings Beach Bowl presented itself as cooler than the Legion Hall. Also, almost all the teenagers coming to Lake Tahoe were fully aware of the Fillmore and Avalon, and thus fully tuned in to the appeal of the Bowl. Furthermore, many of the Tahoe teenagers may not have been allowed to go to big, bad San Francisco, but their parents were perfectly fine sending them off unaccompanied to Kings Beach Bowl. </p><p></p><a href="https://tahoequarterly.com/summer-2017/rock-n-rollin-tahoe">A Lake Tahoe site has a good summary of the backstory</a>:<br /><blockquote><i>Owned by Dave Jay and Allan Goodall, the Kings Beach Bowl—<a href="https://northtahoeevents.com/about/ ">now the North Tahoe Event Center</a>—was initially constructed as a furniture store but was converted into a bowling alley at some point in the 1950s.</i> <br /></blockquote><blockquote><i>By
the time Jay and Goodall operated the building, its use as a bowling
alley had diminished. But Jay’s teenage sons, Warren and Gary, were in a
Sacramento-based band called The Creators (and were also friends with
Goodall’s son), so the owners converted the building into a dancehall
and let the young rock group play concerts on the weekends.</i></blockquote><blockquote><p><i>In
the summer of 1967, The Creators hired a group of Sacramento State
college students to perform a light show set to music at the newly
christened Kings Beach Bowl. The students, who had a band they called
the Simultaneous Avalanche, joined The Creators as the two mainstays at
the Kings Beach Bowl [note: </i>Simultaneous Avalanche was actually a Light Show<i>]<br /><br />Happy to be earning any proceeds at the
location, the two owners hired a professional booking agent to fill out
the roster of bands, but were careful to lean on the advice of the
younger generation, who at the time were plugged into the burgeoning
music scene that surrounded the Fillmore West [</i>sic<i>].</i></p><p><i>It was this
growing popularity that led The Creators to urge the agents at Kings
Beach Bowl to successfully book acts such as Hendrix, Big Brother and
the Holding Company, Buffalo Springfield, Creedence Clearwater Revival,
Country Joe and the Fish, and Iron Butterfly, among others. </i></p></blockquote><p></p><p>According to members of the Sacramento band The Working Class, who
visited the Kings Beach Bowl in 1967, and played there in 1968, the
venue was open most weekends whether they had a major headliner or not.
The building was often open during the day, too, functioning as a kind
of coffee shop/hangout for local teens. Jay and Goodall housed the
musicians in a place they owned on the corner of Bear and Rainbow
streets in Kings Beach. Performers could effectively have a Lake Tahoe vacation
between gigs. New psychedelic venues in 1967 often had problems with
the cops, but since Allen Goodall was the Placer County sheriff, that
was not a factor. </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ6GBAP-76DQt3Wd_jzFnN-e4PT5m7YSZqBYPA-C-YjUMzuoe8seAPcnzkkbs4Y530C_D32ErQ_2w7GHOLcFDjid4aArtqbaKe-ncoIEWehtKyFX8KxA-AY6XRchxx-6W5T-g9ua1tgkV5qepVNyj1zVwToFzz_ikwO-dxl3nr7oI99spb1XnzYVow/s620/Simultaneous%20Avalance%201967%20Kings%20Beach.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="620" data-original-width="482" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ6GBAP-76DQt3Wd_jzFnN-e4PT5m7YSZqBYPA-C-YjUMzuoe8seAPcnzkkbs4Y530C_D32ErQ_2w7GHOLcFDjid4aArtqbaKe-ncoIEWehtKyFX8KxA-AY6XRchxx-6W5T-g9ua1tgkV5qepVNyj1zVwToFzz_ikwO-dxl3nr7oI99spb1XnzYVow/s320/Simultaneous%20Avalance%201967%20Kings%20Beach.jpg" width="249" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>The Simultaneous Avalanche Light Show, ca 1967. It is possible that this photo was taken at Kings Beach Bowl in North Lake Tahoe. </i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><i><b>Eyewitness Reports</b></i><br />I am lucky enough to have some eyewitness accounts of Kings Beach Bowl. My best source is an old friend I will call "Bill Smith." Bill, in private emails many years ago, gave me a detailed perspective on who was going to the Kings Beach Bowl shows. "Bill" had grown up in Fairfield, on the edge of the Bay Area, and his family had a little vacation house on Carnelian Bay in North Tahoe. Thus Bill, his brother, sister, cousins and other teenagers spent much of every summer in North Tahoe. </p><p></p><blockquote><p><i>My two sisters and my childhood best friend and another 3 close friends all went to the shows together for about 3 or 4 years, almost every Saturday night. We even went to a few at South Shore . My family's summer home at Carnelian Bay was about 6 miles [south of Kings Beach]; it slept 16 to 20 and was usually filled with teenagers all summer long.<br /></i></p><p><i>The north (and west) side of the lake was always more cool, socially in, and less crowded than the "south end” (according to the denizens of the north end, of course). The casinos at the north end were dirty and small but a lot of fun for the summer residents who enjoyed slumming there. The big, glitzy casinos on the south shore were fun for a show or dinner now and then, but mainly the south end was where the unwashed went for a weekend of gambling, a cheap room, and all they could eat. </i></p></blockquote><p></p><p>In 1967, Bill was 14. He and his crew would hang out and cruise the lake during the week, playing mini-golf or using various family boats.</p><p></p><blockquote><i>On the weekends we would all pile into the jeep and head into Kings Beach to go to the dance. Sometimes we’d go both Friday and Saturday night, since it was only, like two bucks, or some ridiculous amount. For the first year, I didn’t know what pot was (I later rectified that ignorance with a vengeance), but I think the older kids were trying to hide something from me and my younger sister. No doubt it was that $10 (per ounce!) weed they were trying to light or roll with zigzag papers under someone’s coat. </i></blockquote><blockquote><i>Everyone would hang out in the parking lot until it was time to go in. You’d go through the glass doors onto a dirty carpeted area with the dance floor on the right on the other side of the wall one normally finds in a bowling alley. Further down along the back wall was the snack bar. Right smack in the center of the cement dance floor was some kind of platform where they ran the sound system and presumably the light show, as well. When the music started, I remember it was LOUD, but very, very good. Because I was so socially awkward, in the later years I would sometimes go up near the speakers on the stage and start groovin’. I’m surprised I still have my hearing. When it was over, we’d break out of the sweaty heat and out into the cool lake air, our ears still ringing. We’d pile back into the Willys and head for home, some card playing, and late night snacks.</i></blockquote>Matt H, an old friend of Bill's, recalled the Kings Beach Bowl scene<p></p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>It always amazed me that the concerts at Kings Beach had such big names but the crowds were so small in comparison to what goes on today. In my mind it seemed like there were only 250 to 300 people at the concerts, almost like high school dances but with a big name acts. Maybe the bands thought playing Tahoe was like going on vacation with the chance to make a little extra money on the side. I also remember how hokey the accompanying light shows were compared to today. It seemed like they would just turn on different colored Christmas-tree-like spotlights and that was about it. I remember a lot of dim red overlighting with everyone looking like a black silhouette against the band up front.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>Matt also recalled how one learned in a new world:<br /></p><blockquote><i>The roach story goes like this. I bought an ice cream cone at the bowling alley and was enjoying it immensely when someone screamed that there was a roach on the floor. I promptly threw my cone into the trash as I was not going to eat something from a place that had roaches crawling around. I was bewildered by every ones hysterical outburst as they retrieved the offending half-smoked joint from the floor. Billy was quick to bring me up to speed but I can remember being so mad because I did not have any more money to get another cone.</i></blockquote><p></p><i><b>Summer 1967 Performance List, Kings Beach Bowl, 8318 North Lake Blvd, Kings Beach, CA</b></i><br />The Kings Beach Bowl was apparently open most days. On Friday and Saturday nights there were dances, featuring either The Creators or a visiting headliner. On some weekdays, there were concerts with visiting headliners. Although Kings Beach Bowl wasn't a big booking, a band between weekend shows in California (for example, in San Francisco and then LA) would happily take a midweek gig. Given that housing was provided by the promoters, making little money and having lodging covered was better than making no money at all.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8FT1SwQzm8T9y5mSMn4tXFuRZV5CTyA_8YzG1gIMS8C33Js1C-1X0uf6dEA9kqLuOg0Shvpjuz7epqYhfJc-vSnt3tJ5GIcA0DTUXX8DHmv884RDploufzotuyYYfeEjCEPRwARPbzwzE-HX-t6OzBSUbgFNMgWvCYaABtI2vngcYRHzX83Mo2vTP/s620/Kings%20Beach%2019670616.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="620" data-original-width="488" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8FT1SwQzm8T9y5mSMn4tXFuRZV5CTyA_8YzG1gIMS8C33Js1C-1X0uf6dEA9kqLuOg0Shvpjuz7epqYhfJc-vSnt3tJ5GIcA0DTUXX8DHmv884RDploufzotuyYYfeEjCEPRwARPbzwzE-HX-t6OzBSUbgFNMgWvCYaABtI2vngcYRHzX83Mo2vTP/s320/Kings%20Beach%2019670616.jpg" width="252" /></a></div><p><b>June 16, 1967 Kings Beach Bowl, Kings Beach, CA: New Breed/The Creators </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />Rock shows at Kings Beach Bowl commenced on Friday, June 16, the same weekend as the Monterey Pop Festival. The initial flyer tells us "All New Motif," "Good Supervision" and "Snack Bar." Appealing to all the local teens, while reassuring parents that things wouldn't get out of hand. At the bottom it says "Starting Next Week--Open Wed, Fri. and Sat. nights with Live Music." The address is simply "Hwy 28, Kings Beach," which was sufficient. It also tells you how tiny the town was.</p><p>Bands from out of town had the potential to attract patrons from all around the Lake, so it makes sense that there were some flyers. Show just featuring <b>The Creators</b> were probably simply advertised on the
marquee, since in tiny North Lake Tahoe, any potential attendees would
likely drive by during the week. <b>The New Breed</b> were a popular Beatles-style group from Sacramento. They had scored a regional hit in Fall '66 with "Want Ad Reader." Later in 1967 the quartet would change their name to Glad. Bassist Tim Schmidt left to join Poco (and later the Eagles), and the rest of the band became Redwing. In Fall '67, however, the New Breed was a big draw in the Sacramento area, so they would have been popular in Lake Tahoe as well. <br /></p><b>June 27 <span style="background-color: red;"><i><strike>(30</strike>)</i></span>, 1967 Kings Beach Bowl, Kings Beach, CA: Jimi Hendrix Experience </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />The most tantalizing detail of the Kings Beach shows was an appearance by no less than the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Hendrix' tour schedule is not exceptionally well documented, to my knowledge, and the Kings Beach date appears on no list that I have ever seen. Nonetheless, I am confident that it happened. The performance was checked off in the retrospective article quoted above (from <i>Tahoe Quarterly</i> in 2017), and Bill Smith has a firm recollection of the show. He recalled. <br /><p></p><blockquote><i>I KNOW I remember dancing to Jimi Hendrix playing "Purple Haze" (soon after it first came out, if I recall correctly)...but my memories are so vivid of the Hendrix concert I know it had to be true (I wasn't taking drugs at the time, I don't think, which if true would place it prior to the fall of 1968).</i></blockquote><p></p><p>"Purple Haze" was released in the US on the <i>Are You Experienced</i> album, released in the US in early May 1967. The US release of the single was June 19, 1967. Hendrix had played the Monterey Pop Festival on June 18, 1967, followed by six nights at the Fillmore with Jefferson Airplane (June 20-25). The Experience had also played a free concert in Golden Gate Park on the afternoon of Sunday, June 25. Hendrix next known appearance was Saturday, July 1 at the Earl Warren Showgrounds in Santa Barbara.</p><p>Thus, with a week off in California, it makes perfect sense that the Jimi Hendrix Experience would have booked a paying gig at Kings Beach Bowl, even for modest money. Live bands in this era were like sharks, who had to keep moving to live. The Experience would have had expenses whether they played North Tahoe or not, so the gig made perfect sense. <strike>I have assumed Friday June 30 as the date, but it could have been Wednesday (June 28) or Thursday (June 29) as well</strike>. <i><b>Update 2023 10 Aug</b>: <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2023/07/lake-tahoe-rock-concerts-summer-1967.html?showComment=1691569061957#c5894840965984898200">Commenter and Scholar LightIntoAshes reports that Hendrix was recording in LA on June 28-30</a>, so I am proposing June 27 as a date. It could also have been early July, or even mid-June</i>. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2a_uyIyDXCqsnqIhBk-d5ar-Gxj3id1n2855zcPE7iEvMB5jVJdbc2nY21eMrd35ei7Lwd3keIXL8GhYzcFW5kEVrk4YxE-cWwwfdgHsviqRzDgMVQ4ww9C3zfISXyqLiquSo1WZV5ncQxUoi6lXMDSeLQlvo6V0FjJGzZGtIzwsYvHJIpapzB-Cd/s248/gd%2019670719%20Tahoe.poster.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="248" data-original-width="203" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2a_uyIyDXCqsnqIhBk-d5ar-Gxj3id1n2855zcPE7iEvMB5jVJdbc2nY21eMrd35ei7Lwd3keIXL8GhYzcFW5kEVrk4YxE-cWwwfdgHsviqRzDgMVQ4ww9C3zfISXyqLiquSo1WZV5ncQxUoi6lXMDSeLQlvo6V0FjJGzZGtIzwsYvHJIpapzB-Cd/s1600/gd%2019670719%20Tahoe.poster.jpg" width="203" /></a></div><p><br /><b>July 21, 1967 Kings Beach Bowl, Kings Beach, CA: Country Joe and The Fish/The Creators </b><i>(Friday)</i><b><br />July 19, 20 and 22, 1967 Kings Beach Bowl, Kings Beach, CA: The Creators </b><i>(Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday)</i><br />The most well-known artifact from the Kings Beach Bowl is this colored poster. It seems to be for the weekend of July 21 and 22, so the Creators are listed as the headliners on three of the four weekend days, and Country Joe and The Fish are the Friday night headliners. Upcoming headliners are mentioned, and it appears to be assumed that the Creators will perform regularly. I assume this poster was for distribution around Lake Tahoe, and possibly in the Sacramento area as well.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiRx4luavkRU7CJXZRIry4imC53QDnikNnnq8i4WiuK2M8yRx_nVzJXBeeD49bpr3zFp-bFWIDHdIZaOLmyEFfUyJPSgr-U4K7r-FDlS82FAoc6Fo3gjfgjXCbh1F6VWWoO3TF6jxJS1-uFelA4VC2GxurXNVKUIkY1pjagJ2T_L8AiJ1jDAaQ2K5F/s600/Country%20Joe%20&%20The%20Fish%20Electric%20Music%2067%20Vanguard.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiRx4luavkRU7CJXZRIry4imC53QDnikNnnq8i4WiuK2M8yRx_nVzJXBeeD49bpr3zFp-bFWIDHdIZaOLmyEFfUyJPSgr-U4K7r-FDlS82FAoc6Fo3gjfgjXCbh1F6VWWoO3TF6jxJS1-uFelA4VC2GxurXNVKUIkY1pjagJ2T_L8AiJ1jDAaQ2K5F/s320/Country%20Joe%20&%20The%20Fish%20Electric%20Music%2067%20Vanguard.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Berkeley's Country Joe & The Fish released their debut album Electric Music For The Mind and Body on Vanguard Records in May 1967. The live shots on the cover were from The Barn in Scotts Valley, CA. </i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Berkeley's <b>Country Joe and The Fish </b>were one of the first Fillmore bands to get an album into stores. <i>Electric Music For The Mind And Body</i> had been released by Vanguard Records in May, 1967. When Joe McDonald sang "Hey, partner won't you pass that reefer around" it was many people's introduction of the shape of things to come. By Summer '67, the classic Country Joe and The Fish was battle-tested and a great live band. <br /><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0eS7DsMfVQ1HzZx13gbFwRj3OTOxom_gVsEBNCz7pWXjws63cvoTvHMviEEZ00FRt2JBrm_2y74nJCgY2OxzrwzprAb6pL5c8LIiZsqAh5KCAcrVpQmSIjfCNIhdsB6icxR-sJMTt61uxb4vEkjDJQAeKjCpS0QDH8hZXrzogHHIXGrRnr6j9fR7h/s604/Quicksilver%20debut%20album%20Capitol%201968.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="604" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0eS7DsMfVQ1HzZx13gbFwRj3OTOxom_gVsEBNCz7pWXjws63cvoTvHMviEEZ00FRt2JBrm_2y74nJCgY2OxzrwzprAb6pL5c8LIiZsqAh5KCAcrVpQmSIjfCNIhdsB6icxR-sJMTt61uxb4vEkjDJQAeKjCpS0QDH8hZXrzogHHIXGrRnr6j9fR7h/s320/Quicksilver%20debut%20album%20Capitol%201968.jpg" width="318" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Quicksilver Messenger Service's debut album (May 1968, Capitol Records)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>July 28-29, 1967 Kings Beach Bowl, Kings Beach, CA: Quicksilver Messenger Service </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Quicksilver Messenger Service</b> had a high profile at this time from headlining so many Fillmore and Avalon concerts, but they had not yet released a record. The band had signed to Capitol Records during this period, but their self-titled debut album would not come out until May of 1968. The original Quicksilver is remembered by record buyers as a classic quartet, with guitarists John Cipollina and Gary Duncan, bassist David Freiberg and drummer Greg Elmore. Prior to signing with Capitol, however, Quicksilver Messenger Service had been a quintet that included Jim Murray. Murray, an old pal of Cipollina's, played guitar and harmonica and was a pretty good singer.<p></p><p>Tapes of the Quicksilver quintet (albeit not from Kings Beach) have a distinct sound from the classic quartet. Early Quicksilver had more harmonies, with three voices, and more of a folk-rock sound. The guitar solos were shorter, and Murray played a fair amount of harmonica. This weekend was probably the last weekend of the quintet, so the lucky patrons of Kings Beach Bowl saw an earlier version of the classic Fillmore band. </p><p>I presume The Creators opened the show. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Qc3Z5-R34flhyQW0DwW8MF_T9iXEsS4r-5W7TOPJbUkd8ygQZKfRCqY2Dr5QbRnzDlZgHhhTgzo3SZ0xTMVhdEiVlLssaX0IaFDSyJZd2gBI7CyYuFbFUR9c1MmnFwQixHRQcn-AtH7v3RnAjK5Orj1ovCnGglPB5pkB0tAVDb3lJCVsre1k7QCL/s419/KingsBeach%20Janis%2019670804.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="312" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Qc3Z5-R34flhyQW0DwW8MF_T9iXEsS4r-5W7TOPJbUkd8ygQZKfRCqY2Dr5QbRnzDlZgHhhTgzo3SZ0xTMVhdEiVlLssaX0IaFDSyJZd2gBI7CyYuFbFUR9c1MmnFwQixHRQcn-AtH7v3RnAjK5Orj1ovCnGglPB5pkB0tAVDb3lJCVsre1k7QCL/s320/KingsBeach%20Janis%2019670804.jpg" width="238" /></a></div><p><b>August 4-5, 1967 Kings Beach Bowl, Kings Beach, CA: Big Brother and The Holding Company/The Creators <i>(Friday-Saturday)</i></b><br /><b>Big Brother and The Holding Company</b> were another well-established band at the Fillmore and Avalon. Their debut album would not be released on Mainstream Records until later in August, so to most of the teenagers in Lake Tahoe the band would have been more of an underground legend that they hadn't actually heard. Big Brother had formed in early 1966, and Janis Joplin had joined the band in June of that year. They had impressed the crowd and received extensive press attention at the Monterey Pop Festival (June 16-18, 1967), so Big Brother had a high profile for a band without an album. </p><p><a href="https://tahoequarterly.com/summer-2017/rock-n-rollin-tahoe">According to a Comment on the post, some Kings Beach bands stayed at the Totem Pole Lodge, owned by a relative of the Goodalls</a>. Big Brother and The Holding Company were asked not to return. <br /></p><p>Unless other evidence turns up (and I hope it does), I presume The Creators headlined the weekend of August 11-12. <br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJXBNcZ3kictuwLLnDSmvwD56i1E5QUjLXnGHWvTUkU-pnaRFIOJjF0OtzgLbtuUjty_wHzsQtZuG07KOD05E5AqWoJgVN3wikNzs8402KZ2eA5mWOFTINrW8pK0r4DXtqqfGUmVPj_BBMk8WcwLtSmQspkhBK1jxmP8AGKjz9zWQyKOYI9plO6FX_/s400/Buffalo%20Sprinfgfield%20Bluebird%20Mr%20Soul%20Swedish%2045.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="396" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJXBNcZ3kictuwLLnDSmvwD56i1E5QUjLXnGHWvTUkU-pnaRFIOJjF0OtzgLbtuUjty_wHzsQtZuG07KOD05E5AqWoJgVN3wikNzs8402KZ2eA5mWOFTINrW8pK0r4DXtqqfGUmVPj_BBMk8WcwLtSmQspkhBK1jxmP8AGKjz9zWQyKOYI9plO6FX_/s320/Buffalo%20Sprinfgfield%20Bluebird%20Mr%20Soul%20Swedish%2045.jpg" width="317" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Atlantic Records released the Buffalo Springfield's "Bluebird"/"Mr Soul" in June 1967. This is the picture sleeve of the Swedish 45 (clockwise from top: Stills, Young, Palmer, Martin, Furay)<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />August 18-19, 1967 Kings Beach Bowl, Kings Beach, CA: Buffalo Springfield </b><i>(Friday-Saturday) </i><br />In the modern era, we tend to reflect upon albums by our favorite groups. At this time, <b>Buffalo Springfield </b>had only released their debut album, put out by Atlantic in December 1966. But that wasn't why they were hugely popular. Their initial, iconic hit single, Stephen Stills' "For What It's Worth," with its anthemic chorus and the ghostly bong of Neil Young's guitar, had hit the charts in January 1967. It hadn't even been on the album, but Atlantic released a new version of the album with the song included. "For What It's Worth," like all hit singles of the era, was played incessantly on AM radio, so everyone knew the song.<p>Buffalo Springfield's second album, <i>Buffalo Springfield Again</i>, would not even be released until September of 1967. It didn't matter, however. In June 1967 Atlantic released the band's new single, the irresistible "Bluebird." Even then, Stills' memorable A-side may well have been eclipsed by the equally immortal B-side, Neil Young's "Mr. Soul." By the end of Summer, both those songs would have been etched on the brains of every rock'n'rollin' California teenager. Buffalo Springfield would have been the bomb. </p><p>Unlike many popular hit bands of the time, Buffalo Springfield could play really well live. Hollywood studios aside, the Springfield was just fine at the Avalon or the Fillmore, jamming away. Young and Stills led a great guitar attack, Richie Furay was probably an even better singer than both of them, and the rhythm section of drummer Dewey Martin and particularly bassist Bruce Palmer was very solid. So in live performance, the Springfield had great songs and played great, and they were going to shine. One of Bill Smith's friends (Annie M) had particularly fond memories (private email):<br /></p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>I went to see the Buffalo Springfield concert... At that time, "For What It's Worth" had to be my favorite song. Neil Young wore that fringed cowboy jacket... God he was cool. He just oozed cool. </i></blockquote><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaERzPwqnKAXYUMsyNvMi6QfaAdhrDK3e_w0PKxSoFbOpB7Lr5XVVroi9LabXuk0wo2hhayy2_ktR6mJfrLv0K4KT7ONTqWOwcqtNXQNSmugIOX3lVHfjzM-NCcAFVwKVAeIm8pV21R5rYRvpG7p0aDzaOmdD9uaCNBtCCSptI0lYQVlPGojr3HMY7/s800/GD%20Kings%20Beach%20Bowl%2019670825.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="605" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaERzPwqnKAXYUMsyNvMi6QfaAdhrDK3e_w0PKxSoFbOpB7Lr5XVVroi9LabXuk0wo2hhayy2_ktR6mJfrLv0K4KT7ONTqWOwcqtNXQNSmugIOX3lVHfjzM-NCcAFVwKVAeIm8pV21R5rYRvpG7p0aDzaOmdD9uaCNBtCCSptI0lYQVlPGojr3HMY7/s320/GD%20Kings%20Beach%20Bowl%2019670825.jpg" width="242" /></a></div><p><br /><b>August 25-26, 1967 Kings Beach Bowl, Kings Beach, CA: Grateful Dead/The Creators </b><i>(Friday-Saturday) </i><br />The true mark of an historic psychedelic venue was appearances by the <b>Grateful Dead,</b> and Kings Beach Bowl had plenty. The Dead, uniquely, played on Saturday night (August 19) at the Legion Hall in South Shore (see below), a show etched in Tahoe legend. The very next weekend, the band returned to put on two shows at Kings Beach Bowl. <a href="https://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2020/05/august-19-september-5-1967-axis.html">In between, Bill Kreutzmann met Mickey Hart at the Fillmore (seeing Count Basie), Jerry Garcia saw Cream there, and Robert Hunter took up his old friend Jerry Garcia's offer to become house songwriter for the Grateful Dead. Some week</a>. </p><p></p><p>Note that while typical Kings Beach weekend dances had a $2.00 or $2.50 admission, the venue charged $3.00 in advance and $3.50 at the door for the Dead. We laugh hysterically at these prices now (even with inflation, $3.50 in 1967 would only be about $31.63 today), but remember that $3.00 vs $2.00 was still a 50% increase, so the Dead were clearly a big draw. The Grateful Dead had released just one not-very-successful album, but they were already underground legends (<a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2011/11/august-19-25-26-1967-grateful-dead-lake.html ">I have written about the Grateful Dead's weekend in Lake Tahoe at some length</a>). <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGwhsNhsDT-t8e-Pin17HRV2FYa_wB1B-a5DminAU9--AWdycgJMmkge5itLAofIrnnnZG44XzVlgOQWkQvG_g_P-hkJ3aLp1NI0ADPkFH0H-qOY0wDjWTm8dQyNuqA4NRBT8s7J7IbeFet43JlQSLeskExF1Tn8itZAAaWywmB0OYhr-KZiuuAtih/s560/Moby%20Grape%2019670902.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="424" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGwhsNhsDT-t8e-Pin17HRV2FYa_wB1B-a5DminAU9--AWdycgJMmkge5itLAofIrnnnZG44XzVlgOQWkQvG_g_P-hkJ3aLp1NI0ADPkFH0H-qOY0wDjWTm8dQyNuqA4NRBT8s7J7IbeFet43JlQSLeskExF1Tn8itZAAaWywmB0OYhr-KZiuuAtih/s320/Moby%20Grape%2019670902.jpg" width="242" /></a></div><b>September 1, 1967 Kings Beach Bowl, Kings Beach, CA: The Creators/Tom Thumb and The Hitchhikers/The Inmates </b><i>(Friday)</i><b><br />September 2-3, 1967 Kings Beach Bowl, Kings Beach, CA: Moby Grape/The Creators </b><i>(Saturday-Sunday)</i><br />Labor Day was Monday, September 4, so the three-day weekend was the end of the Summer season and the huge waves of teenagers. Friday night was headlined by The Creators, supported by some local bands. There were various 60s bands called "Tom Thumb," but I think <b>Tom Thumb and The Hitchhikers</b> were from Fremont. I don't know anything about <b>The Inmates.</b><p></p><p>As for the rest of the weekend, <b>Moby Grape</b> was as hot a band as ever came out of the Fillmore, and the hype was actually justified. Nonetheless, the hype was Moby Grape's undoing. Nothing was hotter than a San Francisco band in early 1967, and Moby Grape seemed to have a higher upside than any of the other bands. The group had been "constructed" by impresario Matthew Katz, who was the former manager of Jefferson Airplane. The five members of the Grape were all fine musicians, experienced and good looking. Unlike the erratic junior Beatniks and converted folkies who made up most Fillmore bands, the Grape had talent and appeal to spare. They got together and wrote and rehearsed over a dozen great songs, and they played them really well around town. Columbia didn't hesitate and snapped them up in early '67.</p><p>Columbia assigned staff producer David Rubinson to Moby Grape, and he rapidly produced their debut. All five members wrote songs, all of them were excellent singers and they played well, so the band absolutely cooked on stage. San Francisco was hot, too, with Jefferson Airplane hits, buzz about Janis Joplin and Country Joe and The Fish, and more. But Columbia went too far. They thought they had the American Rolling Stones in hand--maybe they did--but in the 60s, too much hype from "The Man" was what got the country into the Vietnam War. Cool bands were supposed to bubble up from the underground.</p><p>Columbia released five singles at once from the debut album, which meant the entire album was released on 45s as soon as it came out. Now, mind you, there were at least five potential hits on the album, but there was nothing "underground" about it. For the record release party, Columbia booked the Avalon Ballroom, and Janis Joplin sang onstage with the Grape. In a typical Moby Grape moment, Columbia provided 700 bottles of Moby Grape wine, but no corkscrews. What should have been a triumph made hippies suspicious. The Grape did their part in the debacle--early the next morning, three members of the band were arrested in Marin for contributing to the delinquency of an underage girl (which, to be fair, they probably were). </p><p>By Labor Day '67, the jury was mixed on Moby Grape. On one hand, there was too much hype to trust, and none of the singles caught on to AM radio. There was only one FM rock station anywhere, anyway (KSFX in San Francisco), so most fans hadn't heard the band. Yet in Summer '67, for all their future travails, and there were many, the original quintet of Moby Grape was healthy and optimistic, and they could kill it on stage. The few hundred patrons who showed up on Saturday and Sunday night would have seen a great show, never to pass that way again. </p><p>After Labor Day, Lake Tahoe mostly cleared out. Some families still visited, of course, but there wasn't enough critical mass for Kings Beach Bowl to put on concerts. There was a little activity at the Legion Hall in South Shore, but things stayed quiet until ski season. There was one big event at Kings Beach in February of 1968, the Grateful Dead's now famous "Trip Or Ski" weekend, but that was a unique outlier I will address below. <br /></p><p><i><b>American Legion Hall, 2748 Lake Tahoe Blvd, South Lake Tahoe, CA: Summer 1967</b></i><br /><a href="https://www.cerescourier.com/news/local/1953-chs-grad-jim-burgett-was-first-to-introduce-rock-roll-to-lake-tahoe-scene/">By the Summer of 1967, Jim Burgett had been putting on dances at the Lake Tahoe American Legion Hall since 1958</a>. As noted, His band played there seven nights a week from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Whatever teenagers may have thought of the dances (most online commentators remember them quite fondly) they were pretty much the only teenage entertainment at the lake until Kings Beach Bowl. Occasionally, Burgett would bring in different acts as guest stars, but its hard to know how often he did that, since few posters have survived. <br /></p><p>Psychedelic rock did not penetrate Lake Tahoe consciousness until Kings Beach Bowl and the "Summer Of Love." Still, there had been the briefest hints. Up through 1967, Burgett had control of the American Legion Hall, but his band played around the country outside of the Summer. So he sub-leased the hall, usually for weekend events. For the generally smaller Fall and Winter months, there was typically a dj playing records, a low-key way to provide fun for restless teenagers. Burgett told me in an email that he knew who he had leased the hall, too, but not what events they had planned, as he was off touring around. So some concerts took place at the Legion Hall the rest of the year. </p><p>A long-ago and now inaccessible thread on Lake Tahoe in the 60s had a convincing recollection from someone who remembered seeing the Grateful Dead at the Legion Hall in Fall 1966. The commenter said there were only a few dozen people at the concert, and it was so laid-back that Pigpen was wearing his guns on stage. In Fall 1966, who would be leasing the Legion Hall to put on the very-underground Grateful Dead? The paucity of possible suspects points directly at The Red Dog Saloon crowd in Virginia City, NV. Allowing guns on stage would fit right in, and Red Dog patron Mark Unobsky seems very likely as someone behind such an odd event (google him yourself). Unobsky isn't with us anymore, but unless an eyewitness turns up we will have to leave it at that. </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxuv6MK5CL1PeEfFIjWlGGhKOiUW2MR3sQUxW9GEYls2s2eVmtKHaNihB8BOQVfe3oVmvgeqkS1hF_FkJSE_Mo5LT2nrR5SYt_t00xKuoVECLbNXzG0f9QwEwh6rAmj6TVy7y9J0vRY2CZHTKr5Vi1oyRlHB7LUWE25y_ylDQW996pX2614S6We0sO/s500/Truckee%2019670421.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="430" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxuv6MK5CL1PeEfFIjWlGGhKOiUW2MR3sQUxW9GEYls2s2eVmtKHaNihB8BOQVfe3oVmvgeqkS1hF_FkJSE_Mo5LT2nrR5SYt_t00xKuoVECLbNXzG0f9QwEwh6rAmj6TVy7y9J0vRY2CZHTKr5Vi1oyRlHB7LUWE25y_ylDQW996pX2614S6We0sO/s320/Truckee%2019670421.jpg" width="275" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>A poster for a concert at the American Legion Hall in Truckee, with two bands from the Santa Cruz area, on April 21 and 22, 1967. It's unclear if this show actually occurred.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br />Over the years, a psychedelic poster has circulated promoting a weekend of concerts at the American Legion Hall in Truckee. Truckee is just 12 miles Northwest of Kings Beach. The show was booked for the weekend of April 21 and 22, 1967, and was promoted by "Sierra Banana." The two bands, Peter And His Group and Spirit, were mostly associated with the Santa Cruz/South Bay Area (Spirit was not the LA band with Randy California). Nothing is known of these shows save for the poster. Since the poster was included in Paul Grushkin's notable 1987 book, <i>The Art Of Rock</i> (poster 3.28), it has received prominence far beyond the event itself. </p><p>Truckee, near Donner Lake, is an important stop on Highway 80 (for both trains and cars), but it had a small population of around 10,000, so its not surprising it didn't take off as a concert venue. The poster was an indicator, however, that there was at least a possibility of rock-inclined teenagers. Since the poster is only known from the book, however, it should be noted that there is no guarantee that the event actually took place, only that the poster was created.<br /></p><p></p><p>In the Summer of 1967, Jim Burgett had been in his tenth year of producing concerts at the South Lake Tahoe Legion Hall, but there were some unexpected developments. In the first place, the opening of Kings Beach Bowl as a concert venue in June meant that Burgett was no longer the only promoter in town. More importantly, however, in a peculiar series of events, Burgett lost the right to produce concerts at the Legion Hall. By mid-July, another promoter had wrested the venue from him, and was producing nightly shows with no less than Sly And The Family Stone. </p><p>The details of how this happened are vague. Burgett, in fact, mentioned it to me in an email (decades afterwards), but he didn't not spell out the whole story. Sly had recently been performing in Las Vegas, but had been "run out of town" (per <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sly-Family-Stone-Oral-History/dp/1637585020">Joel Selvin's fine oral history of Sly</a>) for carrying on with the club owner's girlfriend. Burgett implied that he had a sort of handshake deal for the Legion Hall that another promoter superseded. Within a few weeks, however, Burgett had formalized his arrangement, and Sly was back in the Bay Area in any case.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNyZbT5wkfgmDt-iw7tu2Yh0P3M6z6U21d4jfD8KQ85hM-Yr6Ct4r__2I_wX146Ldks0ypfsPbN8yx3CCuntDIrZbinFn332BC2VXgZxzF1WLnvnzHxsyA6yNK7iiLav7qBTELCD2TFpH5h0DW-Myh_8q16hVBrlaryc6e1_dMOkE7qGDHqFyprnS4/s612/Electric%20Prunes%20Tahoe%2019670811.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="394" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNyZbT5wkfgmDt-iw7tu2Yh0P3M6z6U21d4jfD8KQ85hM-Yr6Ct4r__2I_wX146Ldks0ypfsPbN8yx3CCuntDIrZbinFn332BC2VXgZxzF1WLnvnzHxsyA6yNK7iiLav7qBTELCD2TFpH5h0DW-Myh_8q16hVBrlaryc6e1_dMOkE7qGDHqFyprnS4/s320/Electric%20Prunes%20Tahoe%2019670811.jpg" width="206" /></a></div><br /><b>August 11-12, 1967 American Legion Hall, South Lake Tahoe, CA: Electric Prunes/Jim Burgett </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />The confluence of these events, however, indicates why Burgett may have brought in a few Fillmore-type bands later in the Summer. The <b>Electric Prunes</b> were a San Fernando Valley band that had scored a hit single with "I Had Too Much To Dream" in November 1966 (it would reach #11 on <i>Billboard</i>). Reprise had released the group's debut album in April 1967. We laugh now at the silly name, but in fact they were a pretty good live band (check out the <a href="https://www.discogs.com/release/4407523-The-Electric-Prunes-Stockholm-67"><i>Live In Stockholm 1967</i></a> cd released in 1997). <p></p><b>August 19, 1967 American Legion Hall, South Lake Tahoe, CA: Grateful Dead </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />Most famously, Burgett booked the Grateful Dead for a Saturday night, and the Dead filled up the evening with a lengthy show. Burgett told me that his own band took the night off for this show. The Dead's appearance at the Legion Hall is fondly remembered on Tahoe message boards. The Dead would go on to play the next weekend at Kings Beach Bowl.<p>A poster has occasionally circulated online with a different date (July 30), but nothing supports the Dead playing on that date, and I have seen no convincing provenance on the poster. [<i><b>update 2023 10 Aug</b>: LIA notes that an earlier thread did have some intel about this date. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2011/11/august-19-25-26-1967-grateful-dead-lake.html?showComment=1631537057587#c6503044056133424254">John Barlow, in his memoir, recalls driving the Dead's truck back from Tahoe while the band flew on to Toronto</a>, so perhaps this date did occur. Maybe the August 19 date was a phantom? There is so little corresponding evidence about Lake Tahoe shows that it is hard to be sure</i>). <br /></p><p>After Labor Day, Burgett's band stopped playing the Legion Hall. He would book it occasionally to outsiders, apparently mostly djs who would have Saturday night "record hops" for whatever teenagers might be in town. Once snow had fallen, Lake Tahoe would rev up again as a vacation area, but visitors tended to stay closer to ski resorts. In any case, for practical, weather-related reasons, visiting teenagers weren't as free to roam around in the family station wagon, and thus there wasn't any concerts to service them. </p><p>Reno was a busy entertainment town, but not for rock music. There was one rock club called The Open Door, which was a "teens only" club open only on Saturday night, and Quicksilver Messenger Service had played there in May 1967. <a href="http://thesanfranciscosound.blogspot.com/2010/02/quicksilver-messenger-service_7244.html">Quicksilver also played December 2 at the Sahara Hotel in Stateline, NV</a> (now the Hard Rock, on US-50), but that was an outlier. Fillmore bands didn't play Reno or even Vegas, because their audiences didn't really drink or gamble. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEs0i_YONdX2aIEOg03Lg5kOlmcPTVM84YNzeN6_WogNdk7jncPowXU9gm8hXNxZoc8GT-xWt6kZZYaWaVmGyMMW58UgYt1KrRgTlcNVRnd-92NfXLOQJcsDV-3g6yGn3z6r0QRDnYQ7goCpHqAszufM8g-qHNxJhQwRuCDWiTGiBHwDoWBQB16iNk/s500/KingsBeach19680222.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="324" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEs0i_YONdX2aIEOg03Lg5kOlmcPTVM84YNzeN6_WogNdk7jncPowXU9gm8hXNxZoc8GT-xWt6kZZYaWaVmGyMMW58UgYt1KrRgTlcNVRnd-92NfXLOQJcsDV-3g6yGn3z6r0QRDnYQ7goCpHqAszufM8g-qHNxJhQwRuCDWiTGiBHwDoWBQB16iNk/s320/KingsBeach19680222.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><br /><b>February 22-24, 1968 Kings Beach Bowl, Kings Beach, CA: Grateful Dead/Morning Glory </b><i>(Thursday-Sunday) "Trip Or Ski"</i><br />Kings Beach Bowl did make one serious effort to book a Winter weekend show, and it appears to have been a financial failure. The Bowl booked the Grateful Dead for a three day weekend surrounding George Washington's Birthday, then a California State Holiday. Although February 22 was a Thursday, many families would come to Lake Tahoe for an extended winter weekend. If any weekend was going to be packed with teenagers, this was the one, so booking the Dead seemed like a winning proposition. <a href="https://www.moonshineink.com/tahoe-news/the-timeless-headliners-of-the-kings-beach-bowl/">Working Class/Sanpaku road manager Hewitt Jackson attended one of these shows, and recalls less than two hundred people there</a>. He also recalls that Pigpen's organ didn't work, as it was too cold. The police apparently shut down the first night's show. <p></p><p>Of course, these otherwise obscure shows were nonetheless immortalized in Grateful Dead lore because of a Bob Fried poster encouraging everyone to "Trip Or Ski." The original poster did not circulate widely, but since it, too, was in Paul Grushkin's <i>Art Of Rock</i> (poster 3.29) the poster is relatively widely known. And of course, the Dead recorded the Tahoe shows as part of <i>Anthem Of The Sun</i>. While the first night's tape was flawed, the Friday and Saturday shows (February 23-24) were released in 2001. Thus a thinly-attended Grateful Dead show has been immortalized by a poster and a tape. Many venues, not just Kings Beach Bowl, have very few remaining traces save for posters and tapes by the Grateful Dead, just part of the band's unique 60s legacy. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMnNFnBYJUG7Q_98zuX0i-uCmLTlXq-HGvtMvoesRRDEK97BanxHAyjVRWsgqUGaB-e6T9aidGCFJqQcbjJgYC_RQoh0VjsxvSgbO-OF_xL3QoLdUpxfEfRgpX70_CVDC00x3K_LFAqjk01kBiVOcPJep932ddAtGRNO6QLUe1NrDDe7vPH_3k_8Ma/s600/Morning%20Glory%20Two%20Suns%20Worth%20Fontana%201968.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="593" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMnNFnBYJUG7Q_98zuX0i-uCmLTlXq-HGvtMvoesRRDEK97BanxHAyjVRWsgqUGaB-e6T9aidGCFJqQcbjJgYC_RQoh0VjsxvSgbO-OF_xL3QoLdUpxfEfRgpX70_CVDC00x3K_LFAqjk01kBiVOcPJep932ddAtGRNO6QLUe1NrDDe7vPH_3k_8Ma/s320/Morning%20Glory%20Two%20Suns%20Worth%20Fontana%201968.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><br /><b>Morning Glory</b> was a Sacramento band that had released the not-bad album <i>Two Suns Worth</i> on Fontana Records in 1968.<p></p><i><b>Status Report: Rock Music in Lake Tahoe, Spring 1968</b></i><br />Jim Burgett's increasingly successful dances at the American Legion Hall were evolving. The rock market was booming, and hip San Francisco and Sacramento teens wanted to see name bands, not just dance to a cover group. The Kings Beach Bowl in North Lake Tahoe was starting to fill that need, and Burgett in turn had booked a few name bands himself. FM rock radio was expanding ears in the Bay Area, and there were more rock bands than ever on tour. <br /><p>The Summer of '68 was going to rock in Lake Tahoe. The Legion Hall and Kings Beach Bowl had big summers, and there were two new venues on the horizon. We will look at Lake Tahoe's 1968 Summer in the next post in the series. <br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><br /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-25552374705388240292023-04-21T06:07:00.005-07:002023-12-17T10:19:51.917-08:00The Keystone, Palo Alto, 260 South California Avenue, Palo Alto, CA: Performers List January-July 1977 (Palo Alto VIII)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2o72WYl3ef8/X2aQqzBQpCI/AAAAAAAAHVg/Q6-SAOq8xs4yDZrT8XGlwgW6UyKnoWS0QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1641/Keystone%2BBerkeley%2BJanuary%2B1977%2Bcalendar.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1271" data-original-width="1641" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2o72WYl3ef8/X2aQqzBQpCI/AAAAAAAAHVg/Q6-SAOq8xs4yDZrT8XGlwgW6UyKnoWS0QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Keystone%2BBerkeley%2BJanuary%2B1977%2Bcalendar.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>The Keystone Berkeley and The Keystone, Palo Alto</b><br />Freddie Herrera (1935-2019) was a successful rock nightclub owner and operator for over 15 years, from 1968 until 1984. <a href="https://my.supportlpch.org/fundraiser/1226591">He ran a number of different nightclubs in San Francisco, Berkeley, Palo Alto and even Stockton, all using some variation on the Keystone name</a>. It's hard enough to stay in the rock business for 15 years, much less to do it in multiple locations. Herrera's most high profile expansion was adding a Keystone in Palo Alto alongside of the Keystone Berkeley club. When it opened in 1977, the Keystone in Palo Alto was the only nightclub in the Peninsula or South Bay presenting original rock music every week, multiple nights of the week. There had been <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/07/palo-alto-psychedelic-rock-shows-1969.html">the Poppycock, in Palo Alto from 1967 through 1970</a>, and a few successors (<a href="https://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2020/07/tales-from-in-your-ear-live-music-in.html">In Your Ear</a> and <a href="https://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2020/07/live-music-in-palo-alto1971-73-across.html">Homer's Warehouse</a>), but the South Bay just had beer joints and dance clubs. The Keystone in Palo Alto changed all that, and it thrived for many years. <br /><p>The Keystone came to Palo Alto exactly as Silicon Valley was coming to prominence. Palo Alto, sleepy but attuned to culture, was now full of young people with money who wanted to go out, but who also wanted to go out and see something interesting. Palo Alto had no nightlife, for various historical reasons. Thus the Keystone was primed to provide that nightlife during a time when employment was booming. It seems like it was the perfect time to start a rock nightclub in the Peninsula.</p><p>And yet--it was a near thing. With no real competition, it should have been relatively easy to supply all the Keystone Berkeley acts with another gig an hour away. Something went south, however--exactly what, isn't exactly certain--and the Palo Alto operation seems to have nearly failed. Yet the Keystone survived, apparently due to Jerry Garcia's continual willingness to play lucrative shows for Herrera. Thus the Keystone in Palo Alto got through 1977, found an identity of its own, and thrived until 1985. Rock nightclub years are like dog years--eight years was a heroically long time.</p><b>The Keystone, Palo Alto:</b><i><b> A Note On The Name</b></i><br />The Keystone Palo Alto is recalled by two categories of people. One category is people who lived or worked in or around Palo Alto from 1977-85, and attended shows (or at least heard about them) at the club. The other category is Deadheads, specifically those who were fans of the Jerry Garcia Band. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2011/01/jerry-garcia-and-keystone-shows.html">Jerry Garcia played for Freddie Herrera and his range of Keystone clubs over 400 times, a staggering number</a>. The Keystone Palo Alto is thus widely known by Deadheads who never saw Garcia in Palo Alto, and may have been barely alive during that period. <br /><p>In fact, "Keystone Palo Alto" was not actually the original name of the club. It was "The Keystone." Freddie Herrera had initially opened the Keystone Korner in 1968, at 750 Vallejo Street in San Francisco. In mid-1971, Herrera started booking shows at The New Monk in Berkeley (at 2119 University Avenue). <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/11/keystone-berkeley-2119-university.html">Herrera took over the club altogether in March, 1972, calling it Keystone Berkeley to distinguish it from Keystone Korner</a>. Herrera sold the Keystone Korner in August 1972 to proprietor Todd Barkan, who kept the name but turned it into a jazz club. <a href="http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2018/11/new-to-list-from-examiner-1973-end.html">Herrera also briefly opened the Keystone Stockton in March, 1974, but it did not catch on</a>. In late 1976, following his prior pattern, Herrera had taken over the booking of a Palo Alto rock nightclub called Sophie's, at 260 South California. In January, 1977, after a $70,000 renovation, Herrera opened the club as The Keystone.</p><p>All the ads for the club said "The Keystone" with the words "Palo Alto" following a comma, or on the next line. Since rock fans an radio djs were used to saying "Keystone Berkeley," the name "Keystone Palo Alto" fell into common use. Herrera did not discourage it, but that was not the name of the club. It did become the name of the club after a few years, but initially "Keystone Palo Alto" was a common usage that was incorrect.</p><i><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u3EAdUud69Q/YRaKyvPyT6I/AAAAAAAAJSQ/ni6Tuoc5Z_4Py9AicQW-tDZORsDsJomzgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1200/260%2BS%2BCalifornia%2BPA%2B1990s.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="609" data-original-width="1200" height="162" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u3EAdUud69Q/YRaKyvPyT6I/AAAAAAAAJSQ/ni6Tuoc5Z_4Py9AicQW-tDZORsDsJomzgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/260%2BS%2BCalifornia%2BPA%2B1990s.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>260 South California Avenue, Palo Alto, the site of Keystone Palo Alto. This photo was from the 1990s, when the club was called Illusions. </i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b></i><i><b><br />Downtown Palo Alto Geography and Economics, 1875-1985</b></i><br />Back in 1875, there was no Palo Alto, just a town called Mayfield. Lincoln Avenue, Mayfield's main drag, was famous for its rowdy saloons. Railroad magnate Leland Stanford wanted to build a University nearby, at the end of his rail line, and offered to build it next to Mayfield. Since Stanford was a teetotaler, his only condition was that Mayfield close all its saloons. The town refused. So Stanford and his partner Timothy Hopkins bought up all the land just North of Mayfield and extended the Southern Pacific train one more stop. Palo Alto was founded in 1875, followed finally by Stanford University in 1893. There were no bars. All the Stanford undergraduates would go to Mayfield to have fun on Lincoln Avenue, but downtown Palo Alto became a thriving business district.<p>By the mid-1950s, Stanford University was struggling financially. The school was land-rich but cash-poor, and could not sell its land by condition of its charter. A forward looking Chancellor conceived of a mall, and the Stanford Shopping Center opened in 1955. It was hugely successful, but it decimated the downtown business district around University Avenue. At the same time, Stanford developed "industrial parks," college-like settings for high technology firms, and the seeds of Silicon Valley were born. Stanford University provided the brains, the likes of Fairchild-Hiller and Hewlett-Packard had the employment and Stanford Shopping Center was the desirable retail destination.</p><p>Downtown Palo Alto had nearly died, but its demise created cheap housing in the early 60s for bohemians like Jerry Garcia. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2016/12/jerry-garcia-live-on-kzsu-am-and-fm.html">There was a little folk scene in the sleepy downtown at a place called The Top Of The Tangent</a>, and eventually the popular rock club The Poppycock, just next door. Interestingly, downtown Palo Alto still had no bars. Restaurants could serve beer and wine, but the local residents liked a quiet downtown with no hard liquor. Mayfield, meanwhile, had had to fold its tent back in Prohibition and merge with Palo Alto proper. Lincoln Avenue had become California Avenue (Palo Alto already had a Lincoln Avenue). The old Mayfield, however, was outside of downtown, so it had bars in the 1960s, a tiny link to the rowdy Mayfield of yore.</p><p>The Poppycock had closed in mid-1970, and <a href="https://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2020/07/tales-from-in-your-ear-live-music-in.html">its successor the sorta-jazz-club In Your Ear had closed after a fire on New Year's Eve 1972/73</a>. <a href="https://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2020/07/live-music-in-palo-alto1971-73-across.html">Homer's Warehouse, near but not actually in downtown, had closed by the end of 1973.</a> There weren't really any rock clubs south of San Francisco. The club Sophie's had opened in a1975, at 260 South California in the old Mayfield area. Although initially just a sort of dance joint with live bands, by <a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2023/02/sophies-260-south-california-avenue.html">the end of 1976 Sophie's was booking a lot of original rock acts, the kind playing Keystone Berkeley</a>. There was nowhere else for such bands to play on the Peninsula or San Jose area.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhslpApFvYPvAGo6omuBWf5B5eKKPzJScgFcIUXCRJMHayAx8lhSEeLM7uRr6OCmOBX_KHB6zjyrdCrClhtkL84xHv1rFtPko2i0_Ncgok6hvT8NKyAtJK3TsFHIpNXhfV5NQSm9rGs-atcwllr37k4QRiWeagP5N9UarJYZzx59BVuUG-3JpTZCYZT/s1528/Keystone%20Sophie's%20Transfer%20PAT%2019770111.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1528" data-original-width="546" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhslpApFvYPvAGo6omuBWf5B5eKKPzJScgFcIUXCRJMHayAx8lhSEeLM7uRr6OCmOBX_KHB6zjyrdCrClhtkL84xHv1rFtPko2i0_Ncgok6hvT8NKyAtJK3TsFHIpNXhfV5NQSm9rGs-atcwllr37k4QRiWeagP5N9UarJYZzx59BVuUG-3JpTZCYZT/s320/Keystone%20Sophie's%20Transfer%20PAT%2019770111.jpg" width="114" /></a></div><i>The official transfer deed from the January 11, 1977 Palo Alto Times.
The official transfer took place on January 21, 1977. The Keystone
Leasing business address was 2119 University Avenue, location of the
Keystone Berkeley. Signatory Robert Corona became Freddie Herrera's
partner in the Palo Alto club (and later The Stone).</i><br /><p></p><p>Freddie Herrera must have noticed the perfect location of Sophie's. It was just outside of downtown Palo Alto, so it could have a full bar, and it wasn't subject to the sniffiness of old-time Palo Altans who didn't like a fuss downtown. 260 South California was near the County Courthouse, so there was plenty of unused nighttime parking. There were few residents around California Avenue, so there was no one to complain about noise and bother. </p><p>In the era before Google, it was easy to get to. One of the biggest intersections in the Peninsula (El Camino Real and Oregon Expressway) was a few blocks away, and there was simple freeway access from CA-101 (Bayshore) and I-280 (Junipero Serra Freeway). No competition for miles, easy to get to and plenty of parking. Throughout the whole South Bay, Palo Alto was perceived as "safe" at night, code for "not too many African Americans." That was true, too. 260 South California was the perfect location for a rock club, and Sophie's was already there and regularly booking acts. As I discussed in a previous post, <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2023/02/sophies-260-south-california-avenue.html">Herrera took over the booking, and eventually the club, following the pattern he had established with the New Monk becoming the Keystone Berkeley</a>.<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXLv96ccu-aIFruuZcVQ_sjHmE6jYEcg6sQDQwcinusYTwIDUHYwqbr7Rg49AcCePFF1RxIAGOTXdEsFpjPzZllG7cqsFu3NyEeuXfeHljNto34EOVlfP1rlNgDM0TNyXR6-PTA8rCLiHoM-G1BCAvDzf8bKnvWWyevH6jv5fexo9XS6QkzytBajkt/s584/Sophies%20Palo%20Alto%201977.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="584" data-original-width="386" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXLv96ccu-aIFruuZcVQ_sjHmE6jYEcg6sQDQwcinusYTwIDUHYwqbr7Rg49AcCePFF1RxIAGOTXdEsFpjPzZllG7cqsFu3NyEeuXfeHljNto34EOVlfP1rlNgDM0TNyXR6-PTA8rCLiHoM-G1BCAvDzf8bKnvWWyevH6jv5fexo9XS6QkzytBajkt/s320/Sophies%20Palo%20Alto%201977.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><br />The actual address of the Keystone was 260 South California Avenue. Yet all the ads for the club say "260 California." There is a North California Avenue, but it is across the train tracks, and only long-time residents are aware of it. For anyone who didn't live in Palo Alto, "California Avenue" was the commercial district bordered by El Camino Real, Oregon Expressway and the Railway Station, and saying "South California" was just asserting local snobbiness, a known character defect of Palo Altans. Whenever you see someone asserting that the Keystone was at 260 South California, that's just a Palo Alto local signaling to other Palo Altans in a secret code. So, yeah, the Keystone was at 260 South California. <br /><p></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oEmu814Qt3M/X2aQ0SGf-SI/AAAAAAAAHVo/l1wGw1obEVowRQEZ7UxDgf0poVAJWA9IQCLcBGAsYHQ/s800/Keystone%2BPA%2B1st%2Bcalendar%2BJanuary%2B1977.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="622" data-original-width="800" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oEmu814Qt3M/X2aQ0SGf-SI/AAAAAAAAHVo/l1wGw1obEVowRQEZ7UxDgf0poVAJWA9IQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Keystone%2BPA%2B1st%2Bcalendar%2BJanuary%2B1977.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><i><b>Keystone, Palo Alto Performance Listings: January 20, 1977-July 30, 1977</b></i><br /><b>January 20, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Sass </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br />Freddie Herrera was following the plan that had worked at Keystone Berkeley. Back in 1974, Herrera had briefly opened a branch of the Keystone in Stockton, but it only lasted a few months. While the "oil shock" recession probably was a factor, Herrera had been trying to develop a club in uncharted territory. It hadn't worked out. In the case of Sophie's, the groundwork had been laid out. The owner of Sophie's, Ken Rominger, had stayed on as manager. Since there was already a club, and some patrons, some of the mechanical business that any club must deal with--parking, noise, cops, food delivery and so on--was already taken care of. Per a later article by San Francisco <i>Chronicle</i> writer Joel Selvin, Herrera put $70,000 into renovations. That was a lot of money for 1976. My guess was that a big part of that was upgrading the sound system.<p>On Thursday, January 20, 1977 the Keystone opened in Palo Alto with the band <b>Sass</b>. Sass was actually a Top-40 type band who had regularly played Sophie's. In fact, it was smart to have a soft opening on a weekend with a familiar band. The last show at Sophie's had been the weekend before (January 14-15, 1977), with Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, longtime veterans of the Keystone Berkeley.<br /></p><p>In Berkeley, the Keystone was primarily advertised with ubiquitous flyers, visible on every telephone pole in the city. The flyers had a monthly calendar of upcoming shows. Patrons could also get the flyers mailed to them. Palo Alto had flyers, too, but there far fewer bulletin boards in the city. Both Keystones advertised in the San Francisco <i>Chronicle</i> <i>Datebook</i> (Pink Section), in the same ad block. The "Pink Section" was how most Bay Area rock fans figured out their live music plans, anyway.<br /></p><b>January 21, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA John Lee Hooker </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />The first weekend show at Keystone was John Lee Hooker. Hooker had been a regular performer at Keystone Berkeley since it had opened, and in any case had played for Herrera before that. Herrera himself loved the blues, so he had booked blues artists consistently. By 1977, white rock fans were the fans who were listening to blues players anyway. Hooker, in fact, lived in the hills above Redwood City, so driving down for a night was an easy thing. He had a regular band to back him, even if it may have had shifting membership. <br /><p><b>John Lee Hooker</b> (1912-2001) was from Mississippi, via Memphis and Detroit. He had been recording since 1948, and had gained notoriety in the 60s, when bands like The Animals and Canned Heat had made some of his songs famous, like "Boom Boom" or "Boogie Chillen." In '77, however, he was at a low ebb, as were most classic bluesmen at the time. He had not released an album since 1973, nor would he until 1979. In that respect, Herrera did a lot for Hooker and other bluesmen, giving them a consistent audience and paying gigs.</p><p>The Keystone had a very different configuration than Keystone Berkeley. Keystone Berkley was a big, rectangular room. Initially there had been some long tables, but they were mostly gone by 1977. The Berkeley club was pretty much a stage and a dance floor, with some pillars in the middle. There were some benches along the wall, and a tiny balcony with a few tables and the soundboard. The Berkeley club only sold beer and wine. Nominally, there was food, but that was just a dodge (for many years, the only food in the "restaurant" was popcorn, to fulfill the license obligations). Keystone Berkeley generally featured loud bands with long solos and lots of dancing, because pretty much everyone had to stand up. If you sat along the wall--assuming you could find a seat--, you could only see the stage if the club was deserted. So Keystone Berkeley favored bands that had audiences who were all on their feet.</p><p>In Palo Alto, the Keystone had a little dance floor in front of the stage. But the tables were around the club in a series of circular risers, so even sitting in the back you had a chance to see the stage. Palo Alto also served food and hard liquor. While Keystone Berkeley had no real food, there was a thousand places to eat downtown. In 1977, South California Avenue just had a lot of lunch places. If you wanted to see a show after work, coming to the Keystone for dinner was a real option. With tables and drinks, it was a real option for a date, too, even if dancing wasn't in the plan. So the Keystone had a different footprint than Keystone Berkeley. I'm not sure of the official capacity in Palo Alto. I think it was around 500. I'll bet it was quietly exceeded on occasion, particularly for a band whose fans were willing to stand.<br /></p><p><b>January 22, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: </b><i>"Call For Details" (Saturday)</i><br />Keystone Berkeley regularly advertised shows on their calendar that said "Call For Details." Usually the band were well-known Keystone regulars who could not advertise their shows for a contractual reason. Since "Call For Details" never applied to Jerry Garcia, the most likely suspects would be Tower Of Power or Elvin Bishop, both long-time performers for Herrera in Berkeley or San Francisco. </p><p>While advance tickets for Keystone shows were now generally available at the computerized BASS outlets (a forerunner of Ticketmaster), most people decided to go the Keystone on the night of the show. The FM rock radio stations all had an entertainment calendar at around 5:30, where they would announce who was playing where. The odds were that whoever could not be advertised on a flyer a few weeks in advance could be announced on the radio the night of the show.<br /></p><b>January 23, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Jerry Garcia Band/Micheal DeJong </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />The <b>Jerry Garcia Band</b> debuted at the Keystone on its first Sunday night. Garcia had already played numerous times for Herrera in San Francisco and Berkeley, and had played Sophie's a number of times as well. Garcia was critical to the success of the Keystone empire. For one thing, Garcia often played on weeknights, packing the place on a night when a club might otherwise be pretty quiet. Also, as you might expect, Garcia's fans came early and stayed late, buying plenty of drinks along the way. Finally, Deadheads were a mellow bunch, and there were almost never any security issues with the crowd. Deadheads enjoyed their beer, yes, but they had other methods for getting their buzz on.<p>While the Keystone flyers advertised computerized BASS tickets for most shows, that usually did not include Garcia Band shows. This is why, incidentally, there are no Jerry Garcia Band ticket stubs from Keystone Berkeley or from Palo Alto (there did start to be computerized Garcia tickets around 1985, and they may have been used once or twice before that). This arrangement was attractive for a couple of reasons. First of all, Garcia could book shows at a Keystone, and then cancel or re-schedule them at will. No refunds had to be given. Nor were fans upset, really--if Garcia canceled, he'd be back next month anyway. Also, with no advance sales, everything was all cash and club owners and musicians like it that way. </p><p><b>Michael DeJong</b> is unknown to me. The Jerry Garcia Band very much preferred acoustic opening acts who did not interfere with their stage set up. At a Keystone, while the opening guitarists were sometimes quite good, their presence didn't affect attendance one way or another.<br /></p><p><b>January 24, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: The Skins/Frank Davis </b><i>(Monday)</i><br /><b>The Skins</b> and <b>Frank Davis</b> are unknown to me.</p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A0sKXKF3tms/YRaMA99LeVI/AAAAAAAAJSY/iwDqhpi44HgIzI84-J5VDiANvkq24mc1gCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Cornell%2BHurd%2BBand%2Bca%2B1977.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1260" data-original-width="2048" height="197" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A0sKXKF3tms/YRaMA99LeVI/AAAAAAAAJSY/iwDqhpi44HgIzI84-J5VDiANvkq24mc1gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Cornell%2BHurd%2BBand%2Bca%2B1977.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Cornell Hurd band ca 1977 (successor to the Mondo Hotpants Orchestra)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />January 25-26, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Cornell Hurd and His Mondo Hot Pants Orchestra/The Skins </b><i>(Tuesday and Wednesday)</i><br /><b>Cornell Hurd</b> was a guitarist and singer from nearby Cupertino. Along with partner Frank Roeber, he had formed an early 70s country band called the El Rancho Cowboys. in Berkeley, the pair met Asleep At The Wheel, newly relocated from Paw Paw, WV and playing Western Swing music. The El Rancho Cowboys broke up, and Hurd took a trip to Amarillo, TX. He heard real Texas showbands and was also interested in 20s music, so he put together a band to play Texas Dance Hall music with a 1920s flavor.<p></p><p><b>Cornell Hurd and His Mondo Hot Pants Orchestra</b> played original music (save for a hillbilly version of a Barbara Streisand classic, re-titled "The Way We Was"). It would have been a good fit for the Keystone, though, because it was built for dancing and probably sold a lot of drinks. The Cornell Hurd Orchestra was a large group (around 10 players, apparently), and worked off and on during 1976 and '77. <a href="http://www.cornellhurdband.com/HTML/theband.htm">Ultimately Hurd moved to Austin, TX, where he was a popular performer for decades</a>. </p><p><b>January 27, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: John Handy and Hard Work/Head </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br /><b>John Handy</b> (b.1933) was a well know alto saxophonist. He had made his name playing with Charles Mingus in the 1950s. In the 60s he had led some well-known combos of his own. From the 1970s onwards, he was an educator as well as musician, teaching at Stanford, UC Berkeley, the San Francisco Conservatory and elsewhere. At this time, Handy lived in Palo Alto, so this would have been a convenient local gig. </p><p>Handy's current album was <i>Hard Work</i>, released in 1976 on Impulse. It had reached #4 on the Billboard jazz chart. Hard Work had some R&B influences, like a lot of contemporary jazz, but Handy was fundamentally a jazz player. In any case, Palo Alto didn't really have any jazz clubs, so the Keystone was a good place for him to play. Since the club had tables and chairs, it was a better site for jazz than the Keystone Berkeley.<br /></p><p><b>Head</b> is unknown to me. <br /></p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lVVXjwSO0-4/YRaR9J3l27I/AAAAAAAAJTc/xWb4kWrl0Jcu2MdcJtiwpCiQHx21EnzLwCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Greg%2BKihn%2BBeserkeley%2B1976.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="600" height="318" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lVVXjwSO0-4/YRaR9J3l27I/AAAAAAAAJTc/xWb4kWrl0Jcu2MdcJtiwpCiQHx21EnzLwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Greg%2BKihn%2BBeserkeley%2B1976.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Greg Kihn's debut album on Beserkeley Records, released in 1976. In the background is Rather Ripped Records, where Kihn worked at the time (and where I regularly shopped)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b><b><br />January 28-29, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: New Riders of The Purple Sage/Greg Kihn </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>The New Riders of The Purple Sage</b> were inextricably linked with the Grateful Dead, even though by 1977 they were professionally actually pretty distinct from them. Country rock had been a coming thing when Jerry Garcia had helped found the Riders in 1970, but the genre had since been eclipsed by "Outlaw Country," long-haired and rebellious, and pro-weed, but really actually from the countryside rather than the suburbs. The promising songwriting of the first few Riders had also faded. By early 1977, the band was still enjoyable live, but they were treading water.<p>John Dawson and David Nelson still fronted the band. The mighty Buddy Cage still had the pedal steel chair, with Spencer Dryden on drums. New bassist Stephen Love also sang and wrote. The band's previous album, their first for MCA (called <i>New Riders</i>) had bombed in 1976. They would have a new album shortly, <i>Who Are Those Guys</i>, which would be their best album in a while. It was produced in Nashville, and was mostly all covers, which took away some of the unique sound of the band. Deadheads still liked the New Riders, but on stage they did a lot of the same songs they had always done, so the band didn't draw in the Bay Area anything like they used to.</p><p>Berkeley's <b>Greg Kihn</b>, however, was on the rise. Originally from Baltimore, Kihn had moved to Berkeley in 1974. He worked in a cool record store (Rather Ripped, on Northside) and originally played in some local folk clubs. He had recorded some tracks with the Berkeley band Earth Quake, and Earth Quake's manager had released an album on his own label. <i>Beserkeley Chartbusters</i> featured songs by Earth Quake, Kihn and Johnathan Richman, among others. Kihn wrote sensitive pop songs, but they had a poppy, 60s sheen to them, like The Kinks, instead of the fingerpicking folkie sound of Southern California songwriters.</p><p>By 1976, <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Greg-Kihn-Greg-Kihn/release/12113924">Kihn had recorded his debut album, <i>Greg Kihn</i>, also released on Beserkeley</a>. In 1977, the Greg Kihn Band was playing around the clubs. Kihn was joined by lead guitarist Dave Carpender, bassist Stevie Wright and drummer Larry Lynch, all veterans of various Berkeley ensembles. The group rocked pretty hard, but they kept the solos short and had nice harmonies to go with their catchy hooks. The Greg Kihn Band would go on to have great success over the next decade.<br /></p><p><b>January 30, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Ball, Taylor and Hatshek </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br /><b>Ball, Taylor and Hatshek</b> are unknown to me, beyond numerous club listings [<i><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2023/04/the-keystone-palo-alto-260-south.html?showComment=1682888198625#c3028131141814960012">DKS found that the band played original material as well as Eagles and Steely Dan covers</a></i>]. <br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SuAMS6Kb5wk/YRWug2eGDrI/AAAAAAAAJR4/QmDZdrPws5onlc2mtriPRzqQD9rhpoPPQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1000/Keystone%2BPalo%2BAlto%2BCalendar%2BFebruary%2B1977.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="779" data-original-width="1000" height="249" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SuAMS6Kb5wk/YRWug2eGDrI/AAAAAAAAJR4/QmDZdrPws5onlc2mtriPRzqQD9rhpoPPQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Keystone%2BPalo%2BAlto%2BCalendar%2BFebruary%2B1977.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />January 31-February 1, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: </b><i>Upcoming Talent (Monday-Tuesday)</i><b><br />January 31, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Mirage<br />February 1, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Dream </b><br />In the late 60s and early 70s, a lot of nightclubs had "Audition Nights," usually on a Monday or Tuesday. It was a holdover from "Hoot Nights" in folk clubs. Some bands would play, there was usually no cover charge, and the bands probably didn't get paid. If they went over OK, the club owner would book them for an opening slot on a better night of the week. The January 31 listing in the <i>Examiner</i> was the only time I have found the Keystone listing acts in this way.<br /><p></p><p>A couple of things had changed in the preceding decade. For one thing, housing prices in the South Bay (and indeed much of the Bay Area) were pretty high, thanks to Silicon Valley. The old scenario where some young hippies could rent a house together, live cheaply (supported by their girlfriends' waitress jobs) and rehearse in some deserted warehouse was no longer financially viable. There was cheap housing in East Palo Alto, of course, but white rock bands weren't going to rent in a mostly African American neighborhood, even if it was just across the freeway from Palo Alto proper.</p><p>Another significant change was more mundane: cassette tapes. By 1977, every nightclub or booking agent had a cassette player, and bands could get heard by just mailing a cassette. Sure, the sound quality might not be or record-release quality, but it could be listenable. There wasn't as much need or value for a band to lug all their gear to a club to play for a club owner, when they could do it by dropping off a tape. So "Audition Night" was never a thing at the Keystone in Palo Alto.</p>The February calendar listed the bands. <b>Mirage</b> and <b>Dream</b> are both unknown to me.<br /><p><b>February 2, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Willie and The Wild Bunch </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br /><b>Willie and The Wild Bunch</b> are unknown to me. </p><p><b>February 3, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA; Stoneground/John Hammond </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br /><b>Stoneground</b> had been formed in 1970, primarily for a Tom Donahue-financed movie called <i>Medicine Ball Caravan</i>. The movie was supposed to be a sort of "traveling Woodstock," featuring the Grateful Dead going across the country. At the last minute, the Dead had dropped out due to shaky financing, and the actual tour and movie were a mess. Still, Stoneground was an interesting band with five lead singers and a rocking rhythm section. They had recorded three albums for Reprise, but ultimately broke up in early 1973.</p><p>Lead guitarist Tim Barnes had reformed Stoneground in early 1974, however, and the band had stayed together since. By 1976, Stoneground had self-released their own album, <i>Flat Out</i>, and toured relentlessly. They would ultimately get picked up by Warner Brothers in 1978 (where they would release the album <i>Hearts Of Stone</i>). I think in 1977 they featured singers Annie Sampson and Jo Baker (who was ex-Elvin Bishop Group), along with Barnes on vocals and lead guitar. Stoneground was actually a pretty good club band, but a lot of people in the Bay Area had seen them on nightclub bills or opening at Winterland for almost a decade, and it didn't neccesarily make them seem intriguing<br /><br />Blues guitarist <b>John Paul Hammond</b>, the son of the legendary Columbia producer, had been at it a lot longer than Stoneground. He had released his first album back in 1964. Hammond had played in various configurations, but at this time he was mainly a solo performer. His most recent album would have been <i>Solo</i>, released in late 1976 on Vanguard. The album had been recorded live back on July 23, 1976.<br /></p><b>February 4, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Sons Of Champlin/John Hammond </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />Marin County's <b>Sons Of Champlin</b> were in their twelfth year together. The founding pair of Bill Champlin (lead vocals and organ) and Terry Haggerty (lead guitar) had been there at the beginning, and Geoff Palmer (keyboards, vibes) had joined in 1967. The other members (Jim Preston on drums, Rob Moitoza on bass and Steve Freidani and David Farey on horns) were more recent, but they had all logged a lot of time together. The Sons always got great reviews and had a loyal fan base, but they couldn't get over a certain level of popularity. <br /><p>The Sons had released a number of fine albums in the 60s and 70s, but record companies had lost interest. So the Sons took the step of releasing their own album in 1974, a step many other local bands were taking, and it revitalized interest in the band, and got them signed to Ariola Records. In early 1977 they would release their second album on Ariola, <i>Loving Is Why</i>. The Sons were as sophisticated as ever, but they were emphasizing some funkier R&B sounds underneath the flying solos of Haggerty, Palmer and the horn section. They had played Keystone Berkeley numerous times. They had also played a lot of shows in the Palo Alto area, so they had a local following.<br /></p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q6hPqGG7EJ0/YRaMhw-D2XI/AAAAAAAAJSg/jRR4rfJvZ74Y7f0UJEukrKNiOS96wOYjQCLcBGAsYHQ/s611/Ruby%2BTom%2BFogerty%2BRock%2Band%2BRoll%2BMadness%2BPBR%2B1976.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q6hPqGG7EJ0/YRaMhw-D2XI/AAAAAAAAJSg/jRR4rfJvZ74Y7f0UJEukrKNiOS96wOYjQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Ruby%2BTom%2BFogerty%2BRock%2Band%2BRoll%2BMadness%2BPBR%2B1976.jpg" width="314" /></a></div><br />February 5, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Ruby/Skycreek </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />Saturday night featured <b>Ruby</b>, the band led by former Creedence Clearwater Revival founding member Tom Fogerty. They had just released their second <i>Rock and Roll Madness</i> on PBR International Records. Other band members were Randy Oda (joining Fogerty on guitar and vocals), Anthony Davis on bass and Bobby Cochran on drums. Of course, brother Tom, while a solid musician, wasn't anything like the hitmaker that his brother John had been. I also doubt they played many or any Creedence songs. <br /><p>A characteristic of early Keystone bookings was that they featured bands or players that had been around for a while. Now, that didn't neccesarily make them bad bands. The Sons, for example, had a very contemporary sound and only played the occasional 60s oldie. From the point of view of prospective club goers in Palo Alto, however, names like The Sons, Jerry Garcia or a Fogerty didn't shout "new and happening" and I assure you that mattered in 1977 Palo Alto. Of course, it's also true that the rock fans who wanted dinner and a drink were older than college students, but not all of them were going to like old hippie music, either.</p><p><b>Skycreek</b> had played regularly at Sophie's, and appears to have been a country rock band [<i><b>update</b>: <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2023/04/the-keystone-palo-alto-260-south.html?showComment=1682888436594#c4594953443485138165">David Kramer-Smyth confirmed that Skycreek was a country-rock band from the Peninsula</a></i>]<br /></p><b>February 6, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Jerry Garcia Band </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />The Jerry Garcia Band returned for another Sunday night, no doubt packing the Keystone on a night that would otherwise have been pretty light. The Garcia Band lineup at the time had fellow Grateful Dead members Keith and Donna Godchaux on piano and vocals, respectively, JGB "Straw Boss" John Kahn on bass and Ron Tutt on drums. Tutt also drummed for Elvis Presley, so the touring schedules of the Jerry Garcia Band had to conform to both the Grateful Dead and Elvis Presley. Quite the iconic intersection.<p>Garcia had played Sophie's with some regularity, so his appearances at the Keystone drew little attention in Palo Alto outside of the narrow, devoted circle of local Deadheads. In fact, a good argument could be made that the regular presence of the Garcia Band did not really help the Keystone's image. Palo Alto is the ultimate town for looking down on last year's fad, or acting too cool for school about anything popular anywhere else. It was very 1977 Palo Alto to look down on the Grateful Dead as over the hill. It was all the easier since locals could say things like "my sister had Bill Kreutzmann as her graduation partner" or "I took guitar lessons from Jerry at Dana Morgan's." Palo Altans had long hair and liked to smoke weed, of course, but the whole hippie thing had come first to Palo Alto, and the town liked to claim to be over it. So the regular Keystone bookings of Garcia (and the New Riders, and old Fillmore bands) made it seem like just a joint for old hippies. In Palo Alto, that sort of thing never helped.</p><p><b>February 7, 1977 Keystone Palo Alto, Palo Alto, CA: East Bay Hotline with Frank Biner </b><i>(Monday)</i><br /><b>Frank Biner</b> was a soulful guitarist and singer who had moved from Chicago to the East Bay in the 1960s. He played the Keystone Berkeley and other clubs regularly, and he worked with members of Tower Of Power. It was logical that Herrera would let Biner build an audience in Palo Alto. From what I know, although Biner's material was original, it was funky and good for dancing, so it fit the casual Monday night vibe anyway. In the early 70s, his bands were called Night Shift and then Oakland Stroke, and it seems to have evolved into <b>East Bay Hotline</b> but I don't really know who actually played in the band.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NfxP1u4CuNU/YRXGWE-BQyI/AAAAAAAAJSA/JgEC31NxT6s7ISBbEwPPpli1Sf-6tsllgCLcBGAsYHQ/s570/Wheelin%2Band%2BDealin%2BAsleep%2BAt%2BThe%2BWheel%2BCapitol%2B76.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="564" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NfxP1u4CuNU/YRXGWE-BQyI/AAAAAAAAJSA/JgEC31NxT6s7ISBbEwPPpli1Sf-6tsllgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Wheelin%2Band%2BDealin%2BAsleep%2BAt%2BThe%2BWheel%2BCapitol%2B76.jpg" width="317" /></a></b></div><b><br />February 8, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Asleep At The Wheel/Moonlighters </b><i>(Tuesday)</i><br /><b>Asleep At The Wheel</b> had been founded by guitarist and singer Ray Benson in the Washington, DC area around 1970. He put together a fairly large ensemble that played Western Swing music with a long-haired hippie sensibility. By 1971, they were based in Paw Paw, WV. In 1972 they opened for Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, perhaps the only other band remotely similar to them, and the Airmen encouraged them to move to Oakland, which they did. Asleep at The Wheel played almost every night in the Bay Area from 1972-74, at the Keystone Berkeley, Homer's Warehouse, the Long Branch and numerous other joints. In 1974, Benson and Asleep At The Wheel moved to Austin, TX, where they have thrived to this very day.<p>Nonetheless, when they reappeared in the Bay Area on their endless touring, I'm confident they could still pack them in. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Asleep-At-The-Wheel-Wheelin-And-Dealin/master/820354">Their current album would have been <i>Wheelin' and Dealin'</i>, released on Capitol Records in 1976.</a> It would have been the band's second album on Capitol, but their fourth overall (with one on UA and another on Epic). The Wheel typically toured with three fiddles and a horn section, so they could really light up a club.<br /></p><p><b>The Moonlighters</b> had started out as a part-time ensemble
featuring some members of Commander Cody's Lost Planet Airmen. They were
led by guitarist Bill Kirchen (from the Airmen) and singer Tony
Johnson, and iat times included various other Airmen. Their sound was
"Rhythm and Western," in line with the Airmen but not identical. By the
end of 1976, the Airmen had broken up and the Moonlighters became a
full-time band. <a href="https://www.globerecords.com/moonlighters/#1st ">The Moonlighters would release their debut album on Amherst Records sometime in 1977</a>. Just to confuse matters, the
Moonlighters then signed up to back Commander Cody on tour, a
relationship which lasted many years.</p><p><b>February 9-12, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Powerhouse </b><i>(Wednesday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Powerhouse</b>, as far as I can determine, appears to have been a Top 40 dance band. Now, the Keystone was a new club, and there were probably a lot of Sophie's customers who liked to pay a buck, drop in for a beer and maybe meet someone interesting. The calendar (above) says "Highest Energy Top 40 Disco Band in the Bay Area." </p><p>But it's odd that an experienced club operator like Herrera booked a Top 40 band for four nights, including the weekend. Given that there were problems later--we'll get to that--it's possible that Herrera's inability to book an original rock act was an early indicator of problems. I suspect that, initially at least, these problems had to do with money, and Herrera couldn't meet the prices that the bands wanted. I don't think there were as many club bands in the Bay Area as there had been a few years earlier, and the groups may have been less available. Herrera was established, but Keystone Palo Alto was still new. <br /></p><p><b>February 13, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Baby Fat with Big Mitch </b><i>(Sunday) </i><br />Baby Fat with Big Mitch was another local Top 40 band. They were advertised fairly regularly in the Pink Section, but in the kind of Peninsula clubs that sold a lot of drinks to people who wanted to meet other people. This booking actually makes sense for a Sunday night at Keystone, but along with the Powerhouse booking it's a whiff of teething problems at Keystone (the calendar has Powerhouse on Sunday, but the <i>Examiner</i> has Baby Fat). <br /></p><p>I suppose that I should note that I was actually introduced to Big Mitch once, although I didn't yet know who he was. A close friend and his older brother ran a "teen" nightclub (The My-Oh-My, for you old Palo Altans), and for a reason I no longer recall, we went to Redwood City or somewhere so his brother could meet someone. We went to this restaurant/'nightclub" type place, and the person meeting the brother introduced us to a football-player sized guy in a suit as "Big Mitch." We didn't stay long (the meeting was about something mundane, like restaurant furniture, and I was just along for the ride), and it was only later that I realized Big Mitch was a local celebrity of some kind, and we were supposed to have been impressed. In any case, Big Mitch played around the Bay Area for years.<br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xdMCzVGHN0Q/YRaOCFj2HcI/AAAAAAAAJSo/UXL8uDItIrYkPumMhxHAZu-8SBPXIezuACLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Tom%2BPetty%2Band%2BThe%2BHeartbreakers%2BShelter%2BNov%2B76.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xdMCzVGHN0Q/YRaOCFj2HcI/AAAAAAAAJSo/UXL8uDItIrYkPumMhxHAZu-8SBPXIezuACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Tom%2BPetty%2Band%2BThe%2BHeartbreakers%2BShelter%2BNov%2B76.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />February 14-15, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers/Greg Kihn </b><i>(Monday-Tuesday)</i><br />After some unimpressive bookings, the Keystone had a couple of memorable nights. The question that is hard to answer at this remove is whether anyone actually attended these shows. It's an important question, from my perspective. If the Keystone was catching on as a place to see bands, this would have been the kind of show that would have made it so. Based on subsequent events, I suspect this show was very thinly attended (notwithstanding all the old Palo Altans who will swear they were there both nights). <p></p><p>We now think of <b>Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers </b>as "Classic Rock," and certainly they thought of themselves as that (notwithstanding the term "Classic Rock" hadn't been invented, it was just "Rock"). Strange as it may seen, though, when their debut album was released by Leon Russell's Shelter Records in November, 1976, Petty and the Heartbreakers were sort of lumped with the likes of Elvis Costello and Blondie. You would hear Petty on late night FM radio, and a few people had the album, but they weren't yet a hit. The first hit off the album was "Breakdown" and that did not reach AM radio until later in 1977, and "American Girl" was later than that. So in February 1977, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers were under the radar. </p><p>An act like this, on its way to fame and fortune, was the kind of booking that made everyone remember a club as the place to go. That's why it's such an interesting, if hard to know, question of whether people actually went. Petty would have been touring around, and two nights in Palo Alto, even if the pay was slight, was better than not working. </p><p>Greg Kihn was back, two weeks after opening the weekend for the New Riders. The Greg Kihn Band would play the Keystone many, many times, so these opening act bookings were part of a strategy that worked for his career.<br /></p><p><b>February 16, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: East Bay Hotline w/Frank Biner </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br /></p><p><b>February 17, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Sunsmoke </b>(Thursday)<br /><strike><b>Sunsmoke</b> is unknown to me</strike>. [<a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2023/04/the-keystone-palo-alto-260-south.html?showComment=1682882159911#c4459031825881568076"><i>David Kramer-Smthyth found an ad for them, <b>Sunsmoke</b> were a Latin/Disco band</i></a>]. Since this was a Thursday, I am assuming they were a kind of Top 40 dance band. The February calendar, printed long before the <i>Examiner</i> listings, had the band <b>Duck Butter </b>(unknown to me). The tag is "Fastest Breaking Dance Band From Monterey"<br /></p><p><b>February 18-19, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Albert King/Duck Butter </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Guitarist <b>Albert King</b> had been playing for Freddie Herrera since at least 1972. Back in the 60s, Albert had come to national attention because Cream had covered his song "Born Under A Bad Sign." Albert King had played both Fillmores, and headlined many times in the late 60s and early 70s. Now, hippies reflexively praised blues musicians--"Eric loves the blues, man"--but by the late 70s they weren't really buying albums by Albert or BB King. At this time, Albert's current albums would have been <i>King Albert</i> on Tomato, and <i>The Pinch</i>, on Stax. I'm not sure how recently either had actually been recorded.</p><p>All that being said, I saw Albert King at the Oakland Estuary Park in 1990, and he absolutely killed it, so I don't doubt he laid it down hard in Palo Alto. <br /></p><p><b>February 20, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Ruby/Skycreek </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br /></p><p><b>February 21-22. 1077 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Nimbus </b><i>(Monday-Tuesday)</i><br />Nimbus was a band from either Fremont or Hayward. They played sort of psychedelic boogie music, if that's a category. They had been around since the early 70s. I actually saw them once, opening for Hawkwind (in 1978). They weren't bad, but they didn't stand out.</p><p><b>February 23-26, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Dream Theater </b><i>(Wednesday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Dream Theater</b> is unknown to me. The calendar says "From The Big Apple." Were they a cover band, or an original group? The "prog metal" band named Dream Theater did not form until 1985.<br /></p><p><b>February 27, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Mistress/Iron Curtain </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br /><b>Mistress</b> had been around the Bay Area off an on since around 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. It's not exactly clear who exactly was in the band at that time. 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 <i>Book Of Dreams</i>, recorded in 1976. Douglass co-wrote the song "Jungle Love," but the single would not be released until August 1977 (it would reach #23). </p><p>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 (<i>Penguin</i> 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.</p><p>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.</p><p><b>Iron Curtain</b> is unknown to me. The calendar had Dream Theater but the <i>Examiner</i> would have been more current.<br /></p><p><b>February 28, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: The Ramones </b><i>(Monday)</i><br />Once again, the Keystone's interesting booking was on a Monday night. The Ramones got an astonishing amount of press, but they were never actually played on the radio. Yes, there was college radio, but the two local college radio stations at the time actually mostly played progressive rock (for the record, that was Foothill College's KFJC, "the fine 89" and Stanford's KZSU). Also, the fan base for the Ramones was right on the cusp of being 21 and probably didn't have much money. It's easy to make fun of aging hippies, but from a club owner's point of view, some guy in his late 20s that had a job and would buy a lot of drinks for his date was his target.</p><p>At this time, the Ramones had just released their second album <i>The Ramones Leave Home</i>, on Sire Records. There were 14 songs in just 29:57, unthinkable at the time. Now we see the Ramones and their leather jackets as cartoonish, and appropriately so, but they were lumped with the Sex Pistols and the implication was that they might be "dangerous." It seems laughable now. I'll bet this show was thinly attended, but everyone who went dines out on it to this day ("man, I saw the Ramones at Keystone Palo Alto on a Monday night in '77, and there was no one there!").<br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YJvLaSZX17U/X2aP8jClWMI/AAAAAAAAHVM/c4fbOr3MPpM2kmbtrjCG94hEPGw2OUNqwCLcBGAsYHQ/s512/Keystone%2BPalo%2BAlto%2BMarch%2B1977%2Bcalendar.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="399" data-original-width="512" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YJvLaSZX17U/X2aP8jClWMI/AAAAAAAAHVM/c4fbOr3MPpM2kmbtrjCG94hEPGw2OUNqwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Keystone%2BPalo%2BAlto%2BMarch%2B1977%2Bcalendar.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><b>March 1, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Crabshaw's Outlaws/Grayson Street (Tuesday)</b><br />Tuesday's bill was more typical Keystone fare. Around 1973, "<b>Crabshaw's Outlaws</b>" had been sort of an alternative name for the Elvin Bishop Group. At the time, Bishop essentially had two groups. By 1977, hwoever, the former Crabshaw's Outlaws were now the members of the Elvin Bishop Group. The calendar says "Happy Anniversary Johnny V." Johnny V was surely Bishop Group guitarist Johnny Vernazza, but "Anniversary" of what isn't clear. My assumption is that this booking was the Elvin Bishop Group <i>sans</i> Bishop. Vernazza was a fine guitarist, and vocalists Mickey Thomas and Reni Slais were both lead singer quality, so the group would have been fine without Elvin.</p><p><b>Grayson Street</b> was a Berkeley band, regulars at the Long Branch and the Keystone Berkeley since the early 70s.. They played a kind of soul/rock, and numerous members of the band had gone on to Tower Of Power, Santana, Elvin Bishop Group and many other ensembles. Saxophonist/singer Terry Hanck, one of the co-founders of Grayson Street, would end up joining the Elvin Bishop Group for many years.<br /></p><p><b>March 3, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Snail </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br /><b>Snail</b> was a four-piece, twin guitar band from Santa Cruz, with Bob O'Neill and Ken Kraft leading the way on guitars and vocals. The band had formed as a trio (with O'Neill) back in 1968, so they were well-established in Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz was under an hour's drive from S. California Avenue, so functionally they were a local band. Snail had played Sophie's regularly throughout 1976. The band would go on to release two pretty good albums, the first one released in 1978 on Cream Records. <br /></p><p><b>March 4-5, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Albert King/John Lee Hooker </b><i>(Friday)</i><br /><b>March 4-5, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Albert King/Spectrum </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br /><b>Spectrum</b> is unknown to me. <br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-erwFnCuaY9o/YRaOhdE-VjI/AAAAAAAAJSw/sAt_T-XlwXkg_W0dmqO-hopwXpfoNOvNACLcBGAsYHQ/s599/John%2BCale%2BHelen%2BOf%2BTroy%2BIsland%2B1976.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="588" data-original-width="599" height="314" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-erwFnCuaY9o/YRaOhdE-VjI/AAAAAAAAJSw/sAt_T-XlwXkg_W0dmqO-hopwXpfoNOvNACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/John%2BCale%2BHelen%2BOf%2BTroy%2BIsland%2B1976.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />March 6, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: John Cale Band/Blondie </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />In its first several weeks of existence, the Keystone brought some hip new bands to Palo Alto, ones that would become world famous shortly. At this time, there were very few places for such bands to play, and their management had figured out that being third on the bill at Winterland wasn't going to do it. The Keystone had to fill out the calendar, so Tom Petty, The Ramones, John Cale and Blondie all got a look. The New Wave was starting to become a Thing, and the Keystone was right there on the ground floor, but they couldn't seem to make it happen.<br /><p></p><p><b>John Cale</b> had been a founding member of the Velvet Underground. By 1977, his role in the band had made him infamous, sort of. Cale had released a few albums, but his most recent had been <i>Helen Of Troy</i>, released by Island in late 1975. His music was pretty dark, and didn't even get played on college radio. He had also produced Patti Smith's debut album <i>Horses</i>, which wasn't exactly radio-friendly either. Of course, it was cool to say you liked John Cale, because most people didn't. Such contrarianism is the essence of Palo Alto, but Cale seems to have passed through without a trace.</p><p>Opening the show on Sunday night was no less than <b>Blondie</b>, just a few months after the December '76 release of their debut. Blondie had been one of the original punk bands at CBGBs in Greenwich Village. To most Americans, Blondie equals the New Wave. They were what new music was supposed to be: intriguing, engaging, different and good. At the time, Debbie Harry quietly pretended that she hadn't been in a 60s folk rock group (The Wind In The Willows), because it didn't make her seem young enough. In a few years, Harry was an icon anyway--she still is--and her past didn't matter.</p><p><a href="http://archive.blondie.net/gig_list_2014jan01.php">At this time, Blondie was on their first US Tour. They had played West Hollywood's Whisky A-Go-Go the previous weekend, and then a couple of days at San Francisco's infamous Mabuhay Gardens</a> (headlining over the truly infamous band Crime). Now they were playing a few gigs out in the suburbs.<br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dCp41jwmKD0/YRaOlWaPv8I/AAAAAAAAJS0/aTiQQsyxuZw6v290R-qMDOa9679Ig5mrACLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Blondie%2BPrivate%2BStock%2Blp%2B1976.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="600" height="319" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dCp41jwmKD0/YRaOlWaPv8I/AAAAAAAAJS0/aTiQQsyxuZw6v290R-qMDOa9679Ig5mrACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Blondie%2BPrivate%2BStock%2Blp%2B1976.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />March 7, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Blondie/The Nuns </b><i>(Monday)</i><br />On Monday night, Blondie stayed in town to headline. No one in Palo Alto noticed. <a href="https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190859565.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780190859565">The future editor of The <i>Oxford Handbook of Punk Rock</i> was at Palo Alto High School at this time, and she knew nothing about it </a>(not that she could have neccesarily gotten in). Blondie, on the way up, passed through Keystone and caused no ripple. Freddie Herrera was in the right spot, and he had the right bands, but the club wasn't getting traction from them. They didn't return a few months later to headline, they weren't followed by yet more cool new bands, so it wasn't making the Keystone the cool place to be, essential for any club and particularly in self-conscious Palo Alto.<p></p><p>Someone in Palo Alto was on top of it, though. The Keystone booking appears to simply have been added at the last minute. <a href="http://archive.blondie.net/gig_list_2014jan01.php">The Blondie archive site says</a> </p><p></p><blockquote><i>unconfirmed!
Not in itinerary but someone had a tape allegedly from this, containing
the following set: Palisades Park (Chuck Barris), Little Girl Lies,
Look Good In Blue, Presence Dear, Man Overboard, Little GTO (Ronny &
The Daytonas), In The Sun, Rip Her To Shreds, Evil Friends (early
Blondie, unreleased original song; Debbie introduces the song as a
"jazz-rock" number), Poets Problem, Flight 45, Platinum Blonde, Kung Fu
Girls, I Didn't Have The Nerve To Say No, Rifle Range, Fan Mail,
Moonlight Drive (The Doors), A Shark In Jets Clothing, Star Beast (Gary
Valentine-Ronnie Toast, unreleased original song), Goldfinger (John
Barry), Heatwave (Martha & The Vandellas), X Offender. </i></blockquote><p></p><p><b>The Nuns</b> opened the show. The Nuns were one of the very first punk bands in San Francisco, and one of the very few local punk bands that played Keystone Palo Alto during 1977 (the Avengers would open for the Ramones in December). This early lineup had Jeff Olener and Alejandro Escovedo on guitars, and Jennifer Miro on vocals. On bass at the time was Leslie Q (last name forgotten). This was significant since he lived upstairs from me at the time (over on 51st in Oakland). As I recall, at least according to Les, he was really into playing like John Entwhistle of The Who and the Nuns wanted something simpler (plus his hair was really long). </p><b>March 9, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Greyship Daviz </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br /><a href=" https://www.discogs.com/artist/843554-Greyship-Daviz"><b>Greyship Daviz</b> (per Discogs) began in the mid-70s as a rock band but matured into a disco/funk group</a> influenced by artists like Mother's Finest, Funkadelic, and Earth, Wind, & Fire, they moved into a more funk-rock mode by 1977. <p><b>March 10, 1977 Keystone Palo Alto, CA: Snail/Artichoke Band </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br />I'm pretty sure the <b>Artichoke Band</b> was another Santa Cruz outfit, later called The Artichoke Revue. <br /></p><b>March 11, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Skycreek </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />It's not a great sign for an original rock nightclub to just have a local band on Friday night. That didn't mean that Skycreek were a bad group, by any means, but it wasn't going to get people in town to go "wow, I've always wanted to check them out."<br /><br /><b>March 12, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Michael Bloomfield/Skycreek </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />Guitarist <b>Mike Bloomfield</b>, on the other hand, was a genuine legend. The problem was, many Bay Area rock fans had already seen him, and for all his talent his shows were often fairly lackluster. There would be a few great moments, but not so many that the whole audience would think "wow, I can't wait to see him again." <br /><p>Bloomfield didn't rehearse any of his club bands. In fact, Bloomfield often didn't know which players would be with him. Pianist and friend Mark Naftalin would hire some players, and they would all meet Bloomfield at the gig. Bloomfield was also notorious for not showing up. <a href="http://mikebloomfieldamericanmusic.com/chronology-3.html#e1975-78">According to the best-researched site, the likely fellows were Roger Troy on bass and George Rains on drums</a>. Both of them had played with Bloomfield many times. Troy was a fine singer as well. Bloomfield's bands always played blues, because it was easy to do without rehearsal. Bloomfield was a name, yes, but he was an old hippie name and that light didn't shine so brightly in Palo Alto anymore.<br /></p><p><b>March 13, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Sons of Champlin/Stoneground </b><i>(Sunday)</i></p><p><b>March 14, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: John Lee Hooker </b><i>(Monday)</i></p><p><b>March 16, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Skycreek</b><i> (Wednesday)</i><br /></p><p><b>March 17, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: </b><i>St Patrick's Day Party (Thursday)</i></p><b>March 18-19, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Tower of Power </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Tower Of Power</b> had been playing for Freddie Herrera at Keystone Berkeley going back to 1972. Tower was still great live, but they too seemed to have crested their moment. In fact, Tower Of Power would go on for another 40-plus years--I saw them in 2019 and they killed it--but that didn't seem so clear in '77. Their current album was <i>Ain't Nothing Stopping Us Now</i>, their first release for Columbia after several albums on Warners. It had been a while since they had had a hit single, however, and Tower Of Power didn't seem all that fresh either.<p>Still, Tower would have knocked everybody dead at the Keystone. Lenny Pickett was on lead tenor sax, as he hadn't left yet for New York and the <i>Saturday Night Live</i> band. The core of Emilio Castillo, Steve 'Doc' Kupka, Greg Adams and Mic Gilletter ancored the horn section. Bruce Conte was on guitar, Chester Thompson on organ, Rocco Prestia was on bass, so the rhythm section was in good hands. Ron Beck was the drummer, not as solid as David Garibaldi--no one is--but still a player. So everybody who went to the club this weekend would have had a great time. <br /></p><b>March 20, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Maria Muldaur/Steve Seskin and Friends </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br /><b>Maria Muldaur</b> had released her third album, <i>Sweet Harmony</i> back in 1976. Her 1973 debut had spawned the classic "Midnight At The Oasis, " but although Muldaur's music was always high quality, it never reached that commercial peak again. I don't know if this booking was part of a larger tour, or who exactly was in her band. Like most 70s singers, she generally had a rotating cast of players, depending on availability. <br /><p>In terms of the Keystone, however, it's worth noting that Maria's band was run by John Kahn, just as he ran Jerry Garcia's band. Kahn had been playing for Herrera since 1969 (when he was with Mike Bloomfield), so Maria filling out a Sunday night was probably of mutual benefit for both Muldaur and Herrera. Kahn didn't always play with Maria's ensembles, but he seems to have played a big role in choosing the musicians. <br /></p><p>Steve Seskin had moved to San Francisco in 1971, and initially performed in the streets. By the mid-70s, he was performing in clubs. I think "<b>Steve Seskin And Friends</b>" was an acoustic trio. In the early 80s, Seskin would go to Nashville, and find great success as a songwriter. His recording career is modest, but he has a number of big hits for country stars over the decades. <br /></p><b>March 21, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Elvin Bishop </b><i>(Monday)</i><br />Given the subsequent history, this seemingly casual Monday night gig appears to have had significant implications for the Keystone. Yet we only have the most peripheral evidence. Suffice to say, <b>Elvin Bishop</b> had played just about every month for Freddie Herrera since 1969, at the Keystone Korner and later the Keystone Berkeley. Many times he had played more than once a month. Yet this show was not just the only time Bishop was advertised at the Keystone in Palo Alto, after this show he seems not to have played for Freddie Herrera for many years. In June, SF <i>Chronicle</i> writer Joel Selvin quoted Herrera as saying that Bishop had told him he would never play "that rathole" again (see below).<br /><p>What happened? Why would Bishop tell Herrera that the Keystone in Palo Alto was a "rathole?" First of all, compared to the Keystone Berkeley, which Bishop had played many times, it wasn't any rathole. What went so badly that Herrera would quote Bishop on the record to the rock critic at the biggest paper in the region? Something went wrong, and it probably happened this night.</p><p>Now, sure, money may have had something to do with it. Maybe Herrera promised something, and Bishop felt he didn't receive it, or was misled. But Bishop had been working together for at least 8 years. Most financial misunderstandings can be rectified later with more money. All I can imagine is that someone at the Keystone treated Bishop or his band disrespectfully, and Elvin wouldn't forgive Herrera. </p><p>After slugging it out in Bay Area clubs like the Keystone for many years, Bishop had hit it big with singer Mickey Thomas and "Fooled Around and Fell In Love" in 1975. At this juncture, when Elvin Bishop played the Keystone, it was more like Jerry Garcia--he didn't neccesarily have to. Elvin Bishop's current album was <i>Hometown Boy Makes Good</i>, released in 1976. It didn't have a breakout hit, but the Elvin Bishop Group had a much higher profile than before.<br /></p><p>The Keystone Berkeley had its up and downs, but Jerry Garcia and Elvin Bishop would play there every month, get good crowds and sell a lot of beer. The same model was clearly part of the Palo Alto plan. Now Elvin Bishop was being taken out of the Keystone mix, and a good monthly payday shunted aside. Even if we will never know the story, we can see the outlines of the problem.<br /></p><p><b>March 23-24, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Michael Bloomfield and Friends </b><i>(Wednesday-Thursday)</i></p><p><b>March 25, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Greyship Daviz </b><i>(Friday)</i></p><p><b>March 26, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Moonlighters/Swing Shift </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br /><b>The Moonlighters</b> had played a Tuesday night in February opening for the established Asleep At The Wheel, but now they were back as Saturday night headliners. One critical niche that the Keystone in Palo Alto would carve out was hip long-haired country rock, the kind pioneered by Commander Cody and continued by KFAT in Gilroy (see April 1-2 below). The Moonlighters fit perfectly, with country licks and rock sensibilities, simple but danceable. <br /></p><p><b>Swing Shift</b> are unknown to me.<br /></p><p><b>March 27, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: East Bay Hotline </b><i>(Sunday)</i></p><p><b>March 28, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Mistress </b><i>(Monday)</i></p><b>March 30, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Rubicon </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br /><b>Rubicon</b> was a local funk-rock band, broadly playing in the Sons/Tower Of Power vein. They would release their debut album on 20th Century Fox Records in 1978, and it spawned a successful hit single "I'm Gonna Take Care Of Everything," which would peak nationally at #28. At this time, the only member of Rubicon who had a profile was saxophonist Jerry Martini, who had been a founding member of Sly And The Family Stone. Saxophonist (and multi-instrumentalist) Dennis Marcelino had also been in various groups, including the Elvin Bishop Group and the Family Stone (in 1974-76). Both Martini and Marcellino were old Peninsula hands, going all the way back to the mid-60s. <br /><p>Also in Rubicon, however, were some young guns on the rise who would go on to success. Guitarist Brad Gillis and bassist Jack Blades would have success with Night Ranger. <a href="https://www.johnnycolla.com/">Guitarist/Saxophonist Johnny Colla, formerly of Marin's Soundhole, would make it big with Huey Lewis And The News</a>. Rubicon, although barely remembered now, was a band on the rise in 1977. That wasn't so true of most Keystone bookings during its opening year.<br /></p><p><b>March 31, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Snail/Artichoke Band </b><i>(Thursday)</i></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4I8xwSzqBXs/X2aQCBpe7yI/AAAAAAAAHVQ/0P-ojYDjvt4oWXdOxuMunDXSfRAQySBSACLcBGAsYHQ/s512/Keystone%2BPalo%2BAlto%2Bcalendar%2BApril%2B1977.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="512" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4I8xwSzqBXs/X2aQCBpe7yI/AAAAAAAAHVQ/0P-ojYDjvt4oWXdOxuMunDXSfRAQySBSACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Keystone%2BPalo%2BAlto%2Bcalendar%2BApril%2B1977.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><b>April 1-2, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Norton Buffalo/Rogers & Burgin </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)<br />Live Broadcast on KFAT-fm</i><br />This seemingly minor event in fact pointed the way to a new future for the Keystone in Palo Alto. Surely almost nobody realized it at the time. In the Spring of '77, Freddie Herrera had the Keystone following the Keystone Berkeley model, with established--some would say over-the-hill--hippie bands as regular headliners. The Palo Alto club had tables, food and mixed drinks, and it was not the same as the beer-only Berkeley venue. Palo Alto also liked to think of itself as ahead of the curve, and guys who had been in old Fillmore bands didn't seem fresh and new.</p><p>Per the calendar above, one (or perhaps both) of the weekend shows would be broadcast on the radio. KFAT, 94.5-fm from Gilroy, CA, just south of San Jose, had only started broadcasting in 1975. Nothing in prior radio history seemed to anticpate KFAT. KFAT's transmitter was on Mt. Loma Prieta in Santa Cruz County. It had a weak signal, and was only heard well in the San Jose, Santa Cruz and Monterey areas. KFAT was fairly audible in Palo Alto, a little weaker on the Peninsula and pretty much inaudible in San Francisco. As I recall, only South Berkeley could receive KFAT, and not well, and it was inaudible on Northside.</p><p>Country music had always been big in the San Jose area, as historically there had been a lot of agriculture. Also, Ft. Ord in Monterey had a lot of soldiers who liked country music. <a href="https://kfat.com/">KFAT was a country music station, yes, but a country station that had never been seen before.</a> First of all, unlike "Nashville" country, the station had the same hippie ethic as the rock stations: long hair, weed, VW buses and generally relaxed. Second of all, KFAT defined country rather differently. You could hear Emmylou Harris, an old Bill Monroe record, the Allman Brothers and Pete Seeger, all in a row.</p><p>KFAT was hilariously irreverent, too. They specialized in playing "only-on-KFAT" songs like U. Utah Phillips "Moose Turd Pie" (and it's epic punchline "it's good, though!"), or Elmo and Patsy's "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer." KFAT was a cult--hippies liked it, truckers liked it, soldiers liked it, you couldn't hear it in San Francisco. Nothing makes Palo Alto happier to have it's own private thing, and KFAT fit perfectly. </p><p>KFAT began a long series of broadcasts from the Keystone. This initial broadcast, probably the early set on Friday night, was sort of a one-off. Later, in November, KFAT would establish the Monday Night "Fat Fry." Every Monday KFAT broadcast both acts playing an early set from the Keystone. Lots of bands got heard all over the South Bay (and lots of tapes got made). It made the Keystone in Palo Alto a destination, too. For all the good bookings of New Wave bands during the club's first few months, the Keystone never caught on as a New Wave club, probably because Palo Alto isn't edgy. But hip, underground country was perfect for Palo Alto. Cool and kind of scholarly, but laid back as well. In the next few years, the Keystone would carefully mix its bookings of old hippie stalwarts with hippie country sounds. It didn't hurt that Jerry Garcia fit nicely in between those two slots.</p><p>Harmonica player <b>Norton Buffalo</b> (1951-2009), from Richmond, CA, was a unique talent. Buffalo did not confine his harmonica to the blues, although he played them excellently. He sang and played in a sort of Western Swing style. Buffalo had played around with various musicians, and on a number of sessions. In Fall '75, Buffalo had joined the Steve Miller Band for their <i>Fly Like An Eagl</i>e tour. Buffalo would remain a touring member of the Miller Band for over 20 years. Buffalo had even replaced Billy C. Farlow on the final tour of Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen in 1976. In 1977, Buffalo would release his debut solo album on Capitol, <i>Lovin' In The Valley Of The Moon</i>. On the record he was supported by members of the band Clover and other Marin regulars. </p><p><a href="http://www.roy-rogers.com/bio">Slide guitarist <b>Roy Rogers</b></a> and <a href="http://www.davidburginmusic.com/biography/ ">harmonica player <b>David Burgin</b></a> were an acoustic blues duo. Burgin had been a singer in the East Bay band Lucky Strike, but he had teamed up with Rogers around 1975. They would release an album in 1978 (<i>A Foot In The Door</i>, on Waterhouse Records) and even contributed a track for the <i>One Flew Over Cuckoo's Nest</i> film soundtrack.</p><p>It's a good bet that Buffalo, Rogers and Burgin played together at some points during the weekend. While Rogers and Burgin drifted apart in the early 80s, Rogers would form a similar duet with Norton Buffalo in the early 90s. <br /></p><p></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z6_ztKx4NtA/YRaQYnwNP-I/AAAAAAAAJS8/Ekn6oxPnwpEJwWibo6VaQJaSbc4NncurgCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Dictators%2BGo%2BGirl%2BCrazy%2BEpic%2B1975.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z6_ztKx4NtA/YRaQYnwNP-I/AAAAAAAAJS8/Ekn6oxPnwpEJwWibo6VaQJaSbc4NncurgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Dictators%2BGo%2BGirl%2BCrazy%2BEpic%2B1975.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />April 3, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Greg Kihn/The Dictators </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />The Greg Kihn Band seems to have established themselves enough to headline on a Sunday night. Opening the show were early New York punk rockers <b>The</b> <b>Dictators</b>. The calendar says "Punk Rock From New York." The Dictators had released their first album of short, hard-rocking songs back in 1975. <i>The Dictators Go Girl Crazy!</i> was promoted by Epic as a sort of cartoonish, fun pop band, since punk rock didn't really exist. <p></p><p>By '77, the Dictators had broken up and reformed, with most of the same members. The lead singer was the muscular Handsome Dick Manitoba, Ross "The Boss" Friedman on lead guitar and keyboard player and main songwriter Adny Shernoff (yes, the spelling is correct). Since The Dictators were from New York, they got a lot of press for a band that didn't sell may records nor ever get much radio play. Punk just wasn't a big deal in Palo Alto. Later in '77, the Dictators would release their second album, <i>Manifest Destiny</i>, on Asylum.<br /></p><p><b>April 4, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Loma Mar Store Band/Streamliner/Stu Blank Band </b><i>(Monday)</i><br />I don't know anything about the <b>Loma Mar Store Band</b>, but Loma Mar was a beach on Highway 1 near San Mateo. <b>Streamliner</b> was a local band, and I know they were managed by an old Palo Alto-area hand named Rollie Grogan (Grogan had been the co-promoter at the Stanford Music Hall, for those old Palo Altans who recall that). <b>Stu Blank</b> was a local piano player and singer, and (in general) he played original music, so this may have been a sort of "audition night" for local original bands. <br /></p><p><b>April 6, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Rattlesnake Hat Band/The Mogul Band/Field Effect </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br /><b>Rattlesnake Hat Band, The Mogul Band</b> and <b>Field Effect </b>are all unknown to me. <br /></p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4aYdaSHdUmI/YRXHnIEnCJI/AAAAAAAAJSI/d-EGtmFWz6ECRBQo7R8sewYGJiSJp_QJgCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Coyote%2527s%2BDream%2BLawrence%2BHammond%2B76%2Bwith%2BParber.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4aYdaSHdUmI/YRXHnIEnCJI/AAAAAAAAJSI/d-EGtmFWz6ECRBQo7R8sewYGJiSJp_QJgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Coyote%2527s%2BDream%2BLawrence%2BHammond%2B76%2Bwith%2BParber.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />April 7, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Skycreek/Lawrence Hammond & Whiplash </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br />Lawrence Hammond had been the bass player and main songwriter in the legendary psychedelic band Mad River. Mad River had moved from Yellow Springs, OH to Berkeley in 1967. After a daunting, feedback-laden debut album in 1968 (even the band can't tell if the tapes were mastered at the correct speed--what's that tell you?), Mad River's second album was unexpectedly soft country rock. The band had broken up in mid-69, and Hammond had gone solo. Hammond and his Whiplash band played Western style honky tonk music, in the country vein but more of a Bakersfield style. Hammond had released the solo album <i>Coyote's Dream</i> in 1976.<p><b>April 8, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Jerry Garcia Band/Terry Horn </b><i>(Friday)</i><b><br />April 9, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Jerry Garcia Band/Rogers & Burgin </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br /><b>Terry Horn</b> is unknown to me. <br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RigElezYqVc/YRaQr2nR0uI/AAAAAAAAJTE/at0AKZDy1NIf5d9nKq2YhqA4hdrSzIPqQCLcBGAsYHQ/s599/Television%2BMarquee%2BMoon%2BElektra%2B1977.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="599" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RigElezYqVc/YRaQr2nR0uI/AAAAAAAAJTE/at0AKZDy1NIf5d9nKq2YhqA4hdrSzIPqQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Television%2BMarquee%2BMoon%2BElektra%2B1977.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />April 10, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Television/Nuclear Valdez </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />The Sunday night headliner was the band Television. <b>Television</b> had risen to prominence as part of the CBGB's crowd, so they were kind of considered a punk band. in fact, they had been original punk band, back in 1974. Bassist Richard Hell had written the song "Blank Generation," and Television was as sloppy and aggro as their fellow punkers. Within a few years, however, Guitarists Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd were playing sophisticated guitar licks, and Hell was still playing simple riffs and jumping around. Hell was pushed aside (he would form the New York Dolls and then the Voidoids), while Television followed a more serious path. Still, the Keystone calendar says "Punk Rock From NY," just like the Dictators. There could hardly have been less similar bands than the Dictators and Television, but that was the nature of labeling. <p></p><p>In February, 1977, Television had released their tremendous debut album on Elektra, <i>Marquee Moon</i>. It's hard to imagine that a record ever got better press reviews than <i>Marquee Moon</i>. And let me add--they were all deserved. In 1977, the fact that Television's members had short hair, and the fact that they had played CBGB's made them "punk rock." In actuality, the twin guitars soared together, playing jazzy, resonant licks over the stern rhythm section of Fred Smith on bass and Billy Ficca on drums. Television definitely did not "jam the blues," but they admired Quicksilver Messenger Service and would have gone over just fine at the Fillmore. Every tape from this area tells us that Television was just as striking live as they were on their debut album. A lot of local hippies would have loved Television, but they probably didn't go to the show.<br /></p><p><b>Nuclear Valdez</b> was a punk band led by a dj on the San Jose hard rock station KSJO-fm. I saw them once. Their songs were short and they played loud, but it was only "punk rock" in a very vague, general sense. <br /></p><p><b>April 11, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Lattimore/Spectrum </b><i>(Monday)</i><br /><b>Lattimore</b> is unknown to me. <br /></p><p><b>April 13, 1977 Keystone Palo Alto, CA: Courtial </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br /><b>Courtial</b> featured ex-Vince Guaraldi guitarist Bill Courtial (pronounced "Cor-tee-al"), along with ex-singer Erroll Knowles, both former members of Azteca. The <i>Times</i> described them earlier as a blend of jazz, blues and funk. They had released the album <i>It's About Time </i>on Pipeline Records.<b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9xSu2-IspvhwHAypuR9cmbccN-t8RCdzxG0ecLUG2muz2AaCOnskwltH8rnW_fucW8iEc1i53dETeyDQ_tkfPfO4itV-0ke1cta-98fWW6oX1Px4k4DVyYXpHlKam2z4LHtZ17CgpnW8vMU7_7kDfMopvisCnHRdyzwhgDHI2PJYMrwjn-Ayd-qfW/s1496/Sophie's%20Snail%2019770107%20Daily.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1496" data-original-width="1100" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9xSu2-IspvhwHAypuR9cmbccN-t8RCdzxG0ecLUG2muz2AaCOnskwltH8rnW_fucW8iEc1i53dETeyDQ_tkfPfO4itV-0ke1cta-98fWW6oX1Px4k4DVyYXpHlKam2z4LHtZ17CgpnW8vMU7_7kDfMopvisCnHRdyzwhgDHI2PJYMrwjn-Ayd-qfW/s320/Sophie's%20Snail%2019770107%20Daily.jpg" width="235" /></a></b></div><br /><p></p><b>April 14, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Ruby/Bruce Stephens </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br />Opening act <b>Bruce Stephens</b> was a talented musician from Sacramento. He had been performing and recording since the late 1960s. After a brief time in the Davis, CA band Oxford Circle--as the drummer--he became the lead guitarist and lead singer of the band Mint Tattoo. After a 1969 album on Dot Records, Stephens replaced Randy Holden in Blue Cheer. Stephens had appeared on one side of the 1969 album <i>New!Improved!Blue Cheer!</i> He turned up again a few years later in the band Pilot, a mixture of English and American musicians (this was not the Scottish Pilot, who had a hit with "It's Magic"). <br /><p>Stephens' name (sometimes spelled "Stevens") would turn up on various demo tapes and other almost-there predictions. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Pilot-Pilot/release/1894684">One of Stephens' songs from the Pilot album, "Fillmore Shuffle,"</a> turned up on Sammy Hagar's third Capitol album (called <i>Sammy Hagar</i>), although I think that album was not released until later in the year. Note, however, that it was mentioned in the calendar, so maybe it was already out. Stephens was a talented guy who was on the fringe of Bay Area rock for many years, but he never seemed able to put the pieces together.<br /></p><b>April 15, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Bo Diddley/Lady Bo and The Family Jewels </b><i>(Friday)</i><br /><b>Bo</b> <b>Diddley</b> was a rock legend, of course, and probably put on a good show and sold a bunch of beers. Still, he had been playing around for years, and he was neither "new" nor "special," so he wouldn't have rung any of Palo Alto's bells. <b>Lady</b> <b>Bo</b> was his wife, I think, and sang some on her own. <br /><p><b>April 16, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: New Riders Of The Purple Sage/Skycreek </b><i>(Saturday)</i></p><p><b>April 17, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Bros. Owens </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />The <b>Brothers Owens</b> were a Top 40 band. <br /></p><p><b>April 20, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Self-Expression (Wednesday) </b><br />The band <b>Self-Expression </b>is unknown to me.</p><b>April 21, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Salsa De Berkeley </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br /><b>Salsa De Berkeley</b> played rocked up salsa music, and had a reputation for being a great band for dancing. They had been together since at least 1974, and some good musicians had passed through the band. Former bassist David Margen was touring with Santana by now, so the credibility of the band was high. Still, as far as I know, Salsa De Berkeley didn't have the kind of songs that set them apart from any other Latin Rock band. They were probably a great club band, and sold a lot of beer, but they never seem to have gotten past the local level. <br /><p><b>April 22, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Sons Of Champlin/Grayson Street </b><i>(Friday)</i></p><b>April 23, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band/Dave Liebman </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />Palo Alto loves a legend, particularly if no one else loves them, and Captain Beefheart was the archetype. Don Van Vliet, a teenage sculptor prodigy of working class parents (his father drove a bread truck), was hugely unpopular in his Lancaster, CA high school in the late 1950s. His best, perhaps only, friend was another smart, unpopular boy named Frank Zappa. They were in bands together in the early 60s, and Zappa dubbed his friend "Captain Beefheart" as part of a 1962 rock opera about High School. <br /><p>By the mid-60s, the pair had gone somewhat separate ways, with Beefheart leading a unique blues band, <b>Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band</b>. His five-octave voice and remarkable blues growl set him apart from every other white blues singer in the region. Beefheart also had unique ideas about music, insisting that his band play them just as he conceived them, which in his case meant simply singing their parts to each member. </p><p>By mid-1969, Zappa and Beefheart had re-connected, and since Warner Brothers had given Frank his own label, he produced the iconic double album <i>Trout Mask Replica</i>. Unique, challenging, fascinating, there has been nothing like it before or since. Captain Beefheart is the great dividing line of rock music--there's liking it weird, and there's liking <i>Trout Mask</i>. Throughout the 1970s, Beefheart's albums gave him a certain amount of notoriety, albeit no radio play, even on late-night FM. So he was a genuine cult item. I saw Beefheart and The Magic Band opening for Zappa at Winterland (on December 27, 1975), and there wasn't anything like him. I should add that although it was a Zappa crowd, the audience was substantially hostile to the extraordinarily strange music.<br /></p><p>The peculiar machinations of Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band are worthy of an entire book, so I won't even try. At this juncture in 1977, Zappa had produced an apparently classic Beefheart album called <i>Bat Chain Puller</i>, which had not been released (until 2012) due to lawsuits between Zappa and his manager Herbie Cohen. So Beefheart had no current album and an uncertain contractual status. It's not really certain who was in the Magic Band in 1977. It seems pretty likely that Denny Walley and Jeff Tepper were on guitars, with Eric Drew Feldman on bass. Who played drums (not John French nor Robert Pete Williams, apparently), or if anyone else was in the band remains obscure. </p><p>This show is another one where everyone who went to this show brags about it and how strange it was--I don't think they would have been exaggerating--but there just weren't likely that many people. Booking Beefheart made the Keystone look cool on the calendar, but it wouldn't actually have been likely to be a lucrative night for the club.<br /></p><p>Tenor and soprano saxophonist <b>Dave Liebman</b> (b. Brooklyn 1946) was from New York, but had relocated to San Francisco in the early 70s. Liebman had recorded for ECM, and had a reputation for sophisticated modern jazz. In 1976, however, following the trends, he had released a pretty funky album on Horizon Records called <i>Light N Up</i>. Part had been recorded in San Francisco, with locals like Chris Hayes (guitar), Tony Saunders (bass) and Pee Wee Ellis (saxes), and half in New York with big hitters like Jeff Berlin (bass) and Al Foster (drums). The reviews weren't glowing. Liebman was a great player, but he didn't apparently really want to play it funky. </p><p>I assume he was playing that kind of funk in local clubs, possibly with guys like Hayes and Saunders, but that's just a guess. One thing about Palo Alto in this period is that there wasn't really any jazz clubs. The hotels on El Camino Real booked jazz groups, but they mostly played tamer lounge stuff. So a jazz booking at Keystone made sense, simply because there wasn't any other venue for non-lounge jazz.<br /></p><b>April 24, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Bros. Owens </b><i>(Sunday)</i><p><b>April 26, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Spectrum </b><i>(Tuesday)</i></p><p><b>April 27, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Courtial </b><i>(Wednesday)</i></p><p><b>April 28, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Moonlighters/Skycreek </b><i>(Thursday)</i></p><p><b>April 29-30, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Lee Michaels/Mistress </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Lee Michaels</b> had been a unique 60s act, mostly based in the Bay Area, and pretty successful. Michaels had a high, soulful voice and was a remarkably good organ player. After a conventional mid-60s arc--guitar in a San Luis Obispo surf band (The Sentinals), bands that included future members of The Wackers, Moby Grape and Canned Heat (Family Tree, the Joel Scott Hill Band), and so on, he had found a special niche. On stage, Micheals played Hammond organ at ear-splitting volume, backed only by his pounding drummer, Bartholomew Smith-Frost (aka "Frosty"). Supposedly, Frosty's style influenced John Bonham, although that seems impossible to confirm.<br /></p><p>Organ/drum douos had been a common configuration in jazz lounges since the 1950s, usually in the African-American community. But no one was doing it at the Fillmores. Michaels could absolutely belt out songs like "Stormy Monday," rip on the organ, and kick funky bass lines with his foot pedals, while Frosty filled in all the gaps. It was loud and powerful in concert. In 1970, Michaels had an "FM hit" with the song "Heighty Hi," and in 1971 he had a genuine hit single with "Do You Know What I Mean." </p><p>By 1973, Michaels' unique approach had worn a bit thin. He had started touring around using an electric piano instead of an organ (and future Doobie Brothers drummer Keith Knutsen instead of Frosty, who had since joined the band Sweathog). Michaels' studio albums were more diverse than the live duo format, suggesting that he felt constrained by what he had created. Michaels' last album for Columbia had been <i>Tailface</i> in 1974, and he dropped out of music for a while. </p><p>In 1977, Michaels returned, apparently with a new sound and new songs. I don't know of any releases or even any tapes, but apparently it was not well-received. Fans just wanted to hear "Stormy Monday, "Heighty Hi" and "Do You Know What I Mean," done the old-fashioned way. Michaels had little interest in that, and largely stopped performing shortly after this. From the Keystone point of view, this was an all-around loss: Michaels was another old Fillmore act, but he wasn't even doing the old stuff. Old fans would be unhappy, and without record company support, there wouldn't be any new fans. </p><p>Now, you needn't have worried about Lee Michaels. <a href="https://www.killershrimp.com/locations/killer-shrimp-2/">He went into the restaurant business, and was extraordinarily successful. Killer Shrimp is a giant place in Marina Del Rey</a>, with (as of 2019) at least 4 other places in California and Nevada. While his son appears to run the day-to-day business, Michaels did fine without his Hammond organ. <br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GlaxjxIPo1U/X2lCnFp5vSI/AAAAAAAAHWQ/gE6QjTL9ec8pG8F0yTmBgPioY-ra1uyvwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1274/Keystone%2BPA%2B19770501%2B1%2BMay%2B1977%252C%2B197%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1090" data-original-width="1274" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GlaxjxIPo1U/X2lCnFp5vSI/AAAAAAAAHWQ/gE6QjTL9ec8pG8F0yTmBgPioY-ra1uyvwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Keystone%2BPA%2B19770501%2B1%2BMay%2B1977%252C%2B197%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">May 1 77 SF Chronicle ad<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>May 1, 1977 Keystone Palo Alto, Palo Alto, CA: Cornell Hurd and his Mondo Hot Pants Orchestra/Ball, Taylor and Hatschek </b><i>(Sunday) </i><br />The advertised bookings for the Keystone in May do not indicate a healthy club. The bible for Bay Area rock fans was the Sunday <i>Chronicle/Examiner</i> <i>Datebook</i>, whose pink newsprint immortalized it as "The Pink Section." Whatever appealed to you in music, theater or arts, you read the 60-plus page Pink Section from front to back each week, particulary the ads, to see who was playing, and what had been added or canceled from the prior week. The Keystones had an ad every week, and had had one since the early 70s. Usually, the ad didn't mention the local bands on a Monday night, or other minor listings, because their purpose was to give the whole Bay Area a chance to see which dates they might want to be going to Berkeley or Palo Alto in the next few weeks.</p><p>In the Sunday, May 1 edition, with copy submitted by the prior Tuesday (April 26), the listings run a few weeks out, which is typical (see just above). The Berkeley highlights are typical: some touring acts, like Robert Cray, Edgar Winter and Mark Almond, and some local favorites like Mile Hi, Norton Buffalo and Earth Quake. That's a pretty normal spread for this era of Keystone Berkeley.</p><p>The Palo Alto side of the ledger is a lot thinner. The Palo Alto side has much larger font, a tip that they've got nothing much to fill the ad with. Some of the touring acts are booked for Palo Alto--Edgar Winter, Mark Almond and Clifton Chenier, which fits the Keystone plan to offer touring acts a pair of bookings in both Berkeley and Palo Alto. But Palo Alto really has nothing else to offer--no local heroes, no special "only in Palo Alto" bookings. </p><p>The most ominous listing in a way, is the Palo Alto one for the forthcoming Friday and Saturday: "TBA." Any rock fans in the South Bay trying to decide what to do on the next weekend won't even know who is playing the Keystone. Hint--this wasn't a sign that they couldn't announce an act, because it would have said "Surprise Special Guest--Call For Details." Keystone has no one to headline in Palo Alto on Friday and Saturday night. Of course, the club would be open and one of the regular Top 40 bands would have been there. But no one was making special plans to go to California Avenue on Friday to see Top 40. </p><p>The other dynamic for researching club dates in this era was the listings in the daily paper. Although newspapers weren't obligated to list club performers--it wasn't paid advertising--it was in a newspaper's interest to list the best bookings for local clubs each night, because they wanted to be a resource for their subscribers. A newspaper like the SF <i>Examiner</i> (for which I have digital access) was competing with any other local paper, weekly advertiser and the radio, so having good listings was ultimately a competitive issue. A smart club knew to have their publicist call papers the day before a good booking, to ensure the booking was listed. </p><p>To some extent, if there were no Palo Alto Keystone listings in the <i>Examiner</i>, it's a pretty clear sign that the club had nothing worth calling the paper about (or nothing the <i>Examiner</i> felt was worth putting in the "Tonight's Attractions" section). There is nothing in the SF <i>Examiner</i> nightly listings between May 1 and May 17. The Sunday listings (from May 8, 15 and 22) fill in a few blanks, but they still don't represent healthy bookings. The empty weekends weren't filled by acts with even a local profile, so they must have been just Top 40.</p><p><b>May 13, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: HooDoo Rhythm Devils/Streamliner </b><i>(Friday)</i></p><p><b>May 14, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Streamliner </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br /></p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SUbUFMd7D4A/YCnU3KpYk5I/AAAAAAAAIJU/QKSl7syDdu4mOBudbBG33ehBoT7_Ex-0ACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/california%2Bplayboys%2Blp%2BLoadstone%2B1976.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="379" data-original-width="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SUbUFMd7D4A/YCnU3KpYk5I/AAAAAAAAIJU/QKSl7syDdu4mOBudbBG33ehBoT7_Ex-0ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/california%2Bplayboys%2Blp%2BLoadstone%2B1976.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The self-released California Playboys album, from 1976 (Loadstone Records)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />May 15, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Rufus Thomas/California Playboys </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br /><b>Rufus Thomas</b> (1917-2001) had begun his career as entertainer in the 1930s. After World War 2, he had a successful recording career, particularly in the 1950s. Remarkably, he had a hit on Stax Records in 1963 with "Walking The Dog," and again in 1970 with "Do The Funky Chicken." Stax had collapsed by 1976, so Rufus Thomas would have been kind of an oldies act. I'm sure he put on a cool show, but I don't know how much interest there was on a Palo Alto Sunday night in 1977 for "Walking The Dog."<p><a href="https://www.cargo-records.de/en/item/121452/katalog_art.123.html">The <b>California Playboys</b> were a local rhythm and blues ensemble, apparently playing "old school" R&B with perhaps a modern twist</a>. They released an obscure, collectibe album in 1976, called <i>Trying To Become A Millionaire</i>, released on Loadstone Records. I assume they were backing Rufus Thomas (and possibly touring with him, too). <br /></p><p><b>May 19, 1977 Keystone Palo Alto, Palo Alto, CA: Pete and Sheila Escovedo </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br /><b>Pete Escovedo</b> (b. 1935, Pittsburg ,CA) and his brother Joseph "Coke" Escovedo had formed the groundbreaking Latin rock orchestra Azteca in 1972, after both had played with Santana. Pete and Coke had been percussionists and bandleaders in Latin bands around the Bay Area since the early 1960s. By 1977, Pete's band included his remarkably talented daugher <b>Sheila</b> (b. Oakland, CA 1957). Sheila had made her recording debut in 1976, on an Alphonso Johnson album. By that time, she had already been performing with her father for many years. Over the years, the Escovedo Brothers, with and without Azteca, had played for Freddie Herrera at the Keystone Berkeley many times.<br /></p><p>This was probably a great show, and any lucky Palo Altans who went would be getting to see future star Sheila E, about seven years before she would participate in Prince's <i>Purple Rain</i> movie. Palo Alto isn't exactly a hotbed of Latin music, however, and I note that the Escovedos did not return. <br /></p><b>May 20, 1977 Keystone Palo Alto, Palo Alto, CA: Edgar Winter's White Trash/Hoodoo Rhythm Devils </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />Edgar Winter (b. 1946) was the younger brother of guitarist Johnny Winter. Edgar, extraordinarily pale-skinned like his brother, played keyboards and alto saxophone, and was a powerful singer. While Johnny had been signed to a major label in 1968, Edgar began his major label career by leading his band White Trash in 1971. Initially, White Trash had played a horn-driven kind of boogie rock. By 1972, White Trash had stripped down to a four-piece band, featuring guitarist Ronnie Montrose and bassist Dan Hartman. Directed by producer (and additional guitarist) Rick Derringer, the band had two giant hits: the instrumental "Frankenstein" and "Free Ride," sung by Hartman. White Trash flew high for a couple of years, but wasn't really able to follow up their 1972 peak. The band broke up, sort of, and Edgar Winter released a few solo albums.<p>By 1977, <b>Edgar Winter's White Trash</b> had re-formed. Floyd Radford, formerly in Johnny's band, was now the guitarist (replacing Rick Derringer, who had replaced Montrose). Hartman was now the producer. The horn section had returned, too. In 1977, the band had released <i>Recycled</i>, a title which may not have had the appeal that was intended. White Trash had an odd booking sequence, two nights at Berkeley and Palo Alto, and then two more such nights 10 days later (incidentally, the dates appear to be slightly different than the ad above). The Winter brothers are underrated musicians, and I'll bet White Trash was pretty good, but Palo Alto was never a town looking for recycled bands.</p><p>The <b>Hoodoo Rhythm Devils</b> were a funky rock band from San Francisco. They were apparently great live, and much beloved by their fans, but they never got over the top. In the early 70s, they were led by singer Joe Crane and lead guitarist John Rewind. I think they broke up for a period around 1974, and then reformed a year later. By 1977, they had released five albums on three labels, their most recent being <i>Safe In Their Homes</i>, which had been released by Fantasy in 1976.<br /></p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7VJGTebV9yI/YRaRGG2qDqI/AAAAAAAAJTM/8Lk3TZgYlNI9s-K06TMqQ9TeuAh8vsLtACLcBGAsYHQ/s595/Mark%2BAlmond%2BTo%2BThe%2BHeart%2BABC%2B1976.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="595" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7VJGTebV9yI/YRaRGG2qDqI/AAAAAAAAJTM/8Lk3TZgYlNI9s-K06TMqQ9TeuAh8vsLtACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Mark%2BAlmond%2BTo%2BThe%2BHeart%2BABC%2B1976.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />May 21-22, 1977 Keystone Palo Alto, Palo Alto, CA: Mark-Almond/Courtial </b><i>(Saturday-Sunday)</i><br />Englishmen Jon Mark (acoustic guitar, vocals, songwriter) and Johnny Almond (tenor sax, flute) had first risen to prominence as members of John Mayall's unique accoustic lineup in 1969. Mayall's live recording of "Room To Move," backed by Mark and Almond (and bassist Stephen Thompson) had gotten huge FM airplay around 1970. When the duo left Mayall, they had formed the unique jazz-rock ensemble <b>Mark-Almond </b>(no connection to an 80s band called Marc Almond). Mark-Almond's moody jazz-rock albums on Blue Thumb Records in 1970 and '71 (<i>Mark-Almond</i> and <i>Mark-Almond II</i>) got a fair amount of late night FM airplay, particularly an extended number called "The City."<p>Mark-Almond had an understated sound, with Mark's deep voice and thoughtful lyrics, and Almond steadfastly refusing to play jazz cliches. They were mostly acoustic, without sounding too laid back. Mark-Almond moved to Columbia and released their third album, <i>Rising</i> in 1972. Mark nearly lost part of a finger in October 1972, due to an accident, but surgery saved the day. In 1973, the band released a fine live album on Columbia (<i>Mark-Almond '73</i>). I saw Mark-Almond at Winterland in 1973, and they were unique and exceptional. The great Danny Richmond (from Charles Mingus' band) was on drums, with Wolfgang Melz (ex-Gabor Szabo) on bass, Bobby Torres (ex-Joe Cocker) on congas and Geoff Condon (ex-Zoot Money, as Almond had been) on trumpet. The band was strikingly good, with great songs and great playing. Yet they still broke up.</p><p>Mark-Almond had reformed in 1976, and had released <i>To The Heart</i> on ABC in 1976. I don't know who was on the record, nor who was in the touring lineup. Mark-Almond released two more albums (in 1978 and '80), but Johnny Almond retired from music in the early '80s. In fact, Almond moved to San Francisco, for some full time employment, but he almost never performed. The original Mark-Almond band was so good, I can't imagine that they were at least worth hearing in 1977, but to most prospective club-goers they would have seemed like another band from the past. <br /></p><b>May 23-24, 1977 Keystone Palo Alto, Palo Alto, CA: Chepito Areas All Stars </b><i>(Monday-Tuesday)</i><br />Chepito Areas had been the timbales player in the famous, Woodstock linep of Santana. The Santana band had been through many upheavals since then, although it had maintained a high level of success and musical quality. Areas was leading his own Latin rock ensemble. <br /><p><b>May 26, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: HooDoo Rhythm Devils </b><i>(Thursday) </i><br /></p><b>May 27-28, 1977 Keystone Palo Alto, Palo Alto, CA: Crabshaw's Outlaws w/Mickey Thomas </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Crabshaw's Outlaws returned, once again without Elvin Bishop. Again, this wasn't the sign of a healthy club. <br /><p><b>May 29, 1977 Keystone Palo Alto, Palo Alto, CA: Edgar Winter's White Trash/Mistress </b><i>(Sunday)</i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0d3lGj7cfh8/X2lBmZkNZvI/AAAAAAAAHV4/U-u5d8bNrDgOztv3E9iHmGRVgBtIPsA3wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1660/Keystone%2BPA%2BSelvin%2Bcolumn%2B19770612%2B12%2BJun%2B1977%252C%2B193%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="1660" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0d3lGj7cfh8/X2lBmZkNZvI/AAAAAAAAHV4/U-u5d8bNrDgOztv3E9iHmGRVgBtIPsA3wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Keystone%2BPA%2BSelvin%2Bcolumn%2B19770612%2B12%2BJun%2B1977%252C%2B193%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>June 12, 1977 Joel Selvin SF Chronicle column</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b>June 3, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: Skycreek <i>(Friday) </i><br /></b><b>June 4, 1977 Keystone, Palo Alto, CA: New Riders Of The Purple Sage/Skycreek </b><i>(Saturday)</i><b><br /></b>Up through May, the Keystone had been listed in the part of the Pink Section that listed every club in the Bay Area. This wasn't advertising--clubs just phoned in their address, phone number and week's bookings to the <i>Chronicle</i>. Many of the listings were for restaurants, and they just said something like "dance music nightly." Clubs that didn't phone into the <i>Chronicle</i> were more or less consciously trying to be local places. Since its opening in January, the Palo Alto Keystone had had a listing in the Sunday <i>Datebook</i> each week (one of my principal sources for some of these listings). In June, these listings stopped.<p>Every week, <i>Chronicle</i> rock critic Joel Selvin had a casual, <i>Random-Notes</i> style summary of past and upcoming events in the Bay Area rock scene. On June 12, Selvin had some ominous comments about the Keystone:<br /></p><blockquote><i>Keystone Berkeley owner Freddy Herrra will convert Keystone-Palo Alto into a Top 40 dance club, after encountering considerable resistance among acts he wanted to book into the South Bay club. For instance, Elvin Bishop, who has worked for Herrera since forming his first solo album band, told the club owner he wouldn't play "that rathole," despite the $70,000 that Herrera and his partners spent renovating the former Sophie's.</i><br /></blockquote><p>While Herrera was clearly strategically leaking some information, and there surely must have been a more complex story. Still, the fact that Herrera would give this quote to Selvin in the column that every rock fan in the Bay Area would read was a clear sign of a club in crisis. Herrera had put money into expanding his Keystone empire, and he hadn't done it to create a Top 40 dance club in Palo Alto. <br /></p><p><b>June 16, 1977 Keystone Palo Alto, Palo Alto, CA: Snail/Heroes </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br />Snail reappeared for one of their regular Thursday night shows. <b>Heroes</b> are unknown to me (around 1975, there had been a band called Heroes led by guitarist Bill Cutler, but I don't think they were still together [<i><b>update</b>: Heroes was still together at the time, as they didn't break up until 1978]</i>). It's a mystery why only this specific show was listed in the <i>Examiner</i>. Perhaps it was the one night of original music.<br /></p><p><b>June 22-26, 1977 Keystone Palo Alto, Palo Alto, CA: Mother Bear </b><i>(Wednesday-Sunday)</i><br />I assume <b>Mother Bear </b>was Top 40 band, since they were booked for five nights. Still, the Keystone had a Sunday listing for them, and Mother Bear's Palo Alto booking was noted in the weekly Keystone Berkeley ad. I wouldn't rule out the possibility that for much of June, the Keystone didn't even have bands.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LO5iYhrYTDs/X2lBz3ne9AI/AAAAAAAAHWA/5Tp7sJffazUyiApooA8vCI0NF0_E3b6kQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1272/JGB%2B19770703%2BKeystone%2BPA%2B3%2BJul%2B1977%252C%2B133%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1272" data-original-width="666" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LO5iYhrYTDs/X2lBz3ne9AI/AAAAAAAAHWA/5Tp7sJffazUyiApooA8vCI0NF0_E3b6kQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/JGB%2B19770703%2BKeystone%2BPA%2B3%2BJul%2B1977%252C%2B133%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Keystone ad from the July 3 SF Chronicle lists a few shows in Palo Alto</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>July 2-3, 1977 Keystone Palo Alto, Palo Alto, CA: Jerry Garcia Band </b><i>(Saturday-Sunday)</i><br />After a month of what appears to have been Top 40 cover bands, the Jerry Garcia Band returned to play Saturday and Sunday night at the Keystone. Never mind, for a moment, that Garcia was always far and away the most profitable act at any Keystone. Based on the admittedly limited evidence I have managed to assemble in this post, I'm pretty sure that Garcia single-handedly kept the Keystone afloat in Palo Alto. </p><p>While average rock fans probably weren't paying much attention to what was happening on California Avenue, it would have been a significant development amongst bands, managers, booking agents and rival clubs. Not only had Freddie Herrera been established on the Bay Area rock scene since 1969, but there was a new club in San Francisco that was attracting the best acts. The Old Waldorf, near downtown and with its own parking, was the coolest club in San Francisco. It had drinks, food, pretty waitresses and bands supported by their record companies, with songs on the radio. Once the dispute with Elvin Bishop burst into public view via Joel Selvin's column, the whole local rock scene had to be wondering what was going to happen next.</p><p>By 1977, Jerry Garcia hardly "hung out" with any local rock musicians. He worked constantly, with various bands, and in any case Garcia only went out when he was working. The Grateful Dead's status was so unique that almost no musician or group could actually compare their own professional situation to that of Garcia. On the other hand, even musicians who didn't particularly like the Grateful Dead respected that Garcia and his bandmates had worked hard and stuck to their dreams, playing their own music in defiance of all the odds (or even good sense). If Garcia had abandoned Freddie Herrera, the whole rock music community would have seen that as a dismissal of the Keystone empire. By playing the weekend, Garcia was implicitly indicating that Herrera's strongest bond was still not broken. Everybody had to notice.<br /></p><b>July 6-7, 1977 Keystone Palo Alto, Palo Alto, CA: Bobby Blue Bland </b><i>(Wednesday-Thursday)</i><br />Veteran blues singer Bobby "Bland" played some midweek shows. Bland was playing the following weekend at Berkeley, so it made sense for Herrera to offer four gigs instead of two. Bland (1930-2013) already had a decades-long career. In the early 60s, he had sung many hits, most famously "Turn On Your Lovelight." His most recent album would have been <i>Reflections In Blue</i>, on ABC.<br /><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NrGA-7aqzMI/YCnVN9FWGcI/AAAAAAAAIJc/BtqxAt5b42cukPPXP7nX-Y8N6NgqEA7GgCLcBGAsYHQ/s910/JGB%2B19770703%2BKeystone%2BPalo%2BAlto%2B3%2BJul%2B1977%252C%2B99%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="292" data-original-width="910" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NrGA-7aqzMI/YCnVN9FWGcI/AAAAAAAAIJc/BtqxAt5b42cukPPXP7nX-Y8N6NgqEA7GgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/JGB%2B19770703%2BKeystone%2BPalo%2BAlto%2B3%2BJul%2B1977%252C%2B99%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Starting in July 1977, the name "Keystone Palo Alto" replaced "The Keystone" (this listing is from the Sunday, July 3, 1977 SF Chronicle Datebook)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b>July 9, 1977 Keystone Palo Alto, Palo Alto, CA: Maria Muldaur</b><i> (Saturday)</i><br />Maria Muldaur played Saturday night. At this juncture, it's likely no accident that the only other local name act playing the Keystone was the girlfriend of Jerry Garcia's bass player.<p></p><p>Weekly listings for the Keystone returned to the San Francisco <i>Chronicle</i> Pink Section. On occasion, though not always, from July 3 onwards, the name of the club is listed as "Keystone Palo Alto."</p><p><b>July 10-11, 1977 Keystone Palo Alto, Palo Alto, CA: Cortial </b><i>(Sunday-Monday) </i><i> </i></p><p><b>July 12-16, 1977 Keystone Palo Alto, Palo Alto, CA: Snap-Crackle-Pop </b><i>(Tuesday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Snap-Crackle-Pop</b> is unknown to me, but I assume they were a Top 40 band. </p><b>July 17, 1977 Keystone Palo Alto, Palo Alto, CA: Sons Of Champlin </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />The Sons were also long-time Freddie Herrera regulars. <br /><p><b>July 19-22, 1977 Keystone Palo Alto, Palo Alto, CA: Siren </b><i>(Tuesday-Friday) </i><br /><b>Siren</b> is unknown to me, but I assume they were a Top 40 band. <br /></p><b>July 23-24, 1977 Keytstone Palo Alto, Palo Alto, CA: Jerry Garcia Band </b><i>(Saturday-Sunday)</i><br />Jerry Garcia was fairly unique in that his own band played nightclubs even though Garcia himself was a big rock star with the Grateful Dead. Typically, any nightclub ad with the Garcia Band, whether in Berkeley or Poughkeepsie, had no name more famous than Jerry's. Yet most rock clubs that could afford to book Garcia also booked other bands with albums, or who had played Woodstock, or had some other traction. Yet here was Garcia, booked at a club where almost every other night featured a Top 40 band. <br /><p>Within the next few months, the Keystone Palo Alto returned to its emphasis on performers playing original rock music. The club had the occasional Top 40 band on a Tuesday night, but weekends had more substantial bands. Over time the Keystone Palo Alto leaned a little harder into a country sound than its Berkeley counterpart, riding on the unexpectedly hip KFAT connection. The club would survive and even thrive until 1985, when Herrera would step away from the nightclub business. Jerry Garcia had always been a key component for the success of the Keystone family. But if the Garcia Band had not stepped up for a couple of weekends in July, 1977, there's every reason to think the Keystone Palo Alto would not have continued much longer.</p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8IBA2T0uzy4/YRaRkckeJ8I/AAAAAAAAJTU/v_5B1_iBcs0W2r2s3UyepOgKzISsXc3wACLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Aint%2BNothin%2BStoppin%2BUs%2BNow%2BTower%2Bof%2BPower%2BCBS%2B1976.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="600" height="319" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8IBA2T0uzy4/YRaRkckeJ8I/AAAAAAAAJTU/v_5B1_iBcs0W2r2s3UyepOgKzISsXc3wACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Aint%2BNothin%2BStoppin%2BUs%2BNow%2BTower%2Bof%2BPower%2BCBS%2B1976.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Tower Of Power's most recent studio album was Ain't Nothin' Stoppin' Us Now, released on Columbia in 1976 (after several albums on Warners)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b><br />July 28-29, 1977 Keystone Palo Alto, Palo Alto, CA: Tower of Power </b><i>(Thursday-Friday)</i><br /><b>Tower Of Power</b> was another band that had been playing for Freddie Herrera going back to the Keystone Korner days. While Tower weren't the rising stars they had been a few years earlier, they were still popular. Similar to Garcia, their booking for a few nights was a clear signal that whatever had transpired with Elvin Bishop, and whatever was going on with some other bands, another of Herrera's most loyal bands was still working for him.</p><p><i><b>Status Report: Keystone Palo Alto, July 1977</b></i><br />Jerry Garcia and Tower Of Power, old pals of Freddie Herrera, had stepped up to anchor the club as a viable venue for local rock stars. But the club needed to find another identity than just being an old hippie joint. Fortunately, Palo Alto and Silicon Valley were starting to boom in 1977, so there was a ready-made audience with money. The next post will look at the Keystone Palo Alto for the balance of the year, and how the club would set itself apart from the Keystone Berkeley. </p><p><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2023/10/keystone-palo-alto-260-south-california.html"><i>For the next post in the Palo Alto series (Keystone Palo Alto, August-December 1977), see here</i></a><br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xDK25LBokpk/X0gyrsOGLOI/AAAAAAAAHKE/fVlYia3TGaEzYoCjiKm3oCttSEvRS38MQCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/260%2BS%2BCalifornia%2B20160920-2.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xDK25LBokpk/X0gyrsOGLOI/AAAAAAAAHKE/fVlYia3TGaEzYoCjiKm3oCttSEvRS38MQCLcBGAsYHQ/w240-h320/260%2BS%2BCalifornia%2B20160920-2.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>By September 2016, 260 South California Avenue was a condo complex<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><i><a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2020/12/palo-alto-rock-history-landscape-and.html"><b>Palo Alto Rock History Landscape and Navigation</b></a></i><i><b> </b></i></p><p><a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2021/04/60s-and-70s-rock-nightclub-history.html"><i><b>60s and 70s Rock Nightclubs Navigation and Tracker</b></i></a> <br /></p>Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-3232097982707085372023-02-10T06:27:00.015-08:002023-10-17T11:09:48.409-07:00Sophies, 260 South California Avenue, Palo Alto, CA: 1976 Performance List (Palo Alto VII-Keystone Palo Alto Origins)<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H0l8QRYxhJA/X3N_5F9SJEI/AAAAAAAAHYo/H_kmQrC1LeQg1mhdClkT_VDC_Uk7aZP9wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1200/260%2BS%2BCalifornia%2BPA%2B1990s.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="609" data-original-width="1200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H0l8QRYxhJA/X3N_5F9SJEI/AAAAAAAAHYo/H_kmQrC1LeQg1mhdClkT_VDC_Uk7aZP9wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/260%2BS%2BCalifornia%2BPA%2B1990s.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>The
site of Sophie's, later Keystone Palo Alto, at 260 South California
Avenue. Almost no patrons of the club had ever seen it in daylight.
This photo was probably from the 1990s, when it was a dance club called
Illusions. Still, it gives an idea of the modest scale of the club,
inset from the street (California Avenue is off to the right about 50
yards)<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The Keystone Berkeley looms large in 1970s Bay Area rock history, and even larger in Jerry Garcia history. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/12/2119-university-avenue-berkeley-ca.html">Garcia played the Keystone Berkeley over 200 times</a>,
dwarfing the total of any other building that Garcia performed in.
Numerous other important acts, both from the Bay Area and from out of
town also played Keystone Berkeley during its tenure from 1972-1984.
Freddie Herrera opened the Keystone Berkeley on March 1, 1972. On
January 20, 1977, Herrera expanded his empire to include the Keystone
Palo Alto. The Keystone Palo Alto, at 260 South California Avenue, was
in a different part of Palo Alto than the downtown, where Garcia and
others had gotten their start, <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/07/palo-alto-psychedelic-rock-shows-1969.html">and where rock and roll had unexpectedly thrived from 1967 through 1969</a>. <br /></p><p>From
1975 through 1976, 260 South California had been a rock club called
Sophie's. Initially, it mostly featured local acts, and it was a place
for people to hang out, drink and dance, commodities rarely found in
that part of Palo Alto. Throughout 1976, however, Sophie's started to
book more and more rock bands with records, some from the Bay Area and
some from out of town. There had always been occasional road bands at
Sophie's, almost always on weeknights. The initial plan was that touring bands would only play Sophie's on Wednesday nights, with local bands on weekends. Top 40 or jazz was supposed to fill out the other nights. Whatever the plan, Sophie's bookings throughout 1975 were somewhat more flexible than that. <br /></p><p>It turned out, however, that the
South Bay needed a nightclub that was more than just a dance joint, and
that California Avenue in Palo Alto was the perfect place. This post
will look at Sophie's bookings for 1976, with an emphasis on the bands
that had records. We will see how some club needed to fill the South Bay
gap, and it will be clear why Herrera chose Sophie's to expand his
Keystone empire in 1977.<br /></p><i><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ktspxh9q8LY/X3OASpGZUYI/AAAAAAAAHYw/jO7FJX8iG8Ed2wdXxlq75WBMH_zxc8YKQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Fairchild%2BPlaque%2B391%2BSan%2BAntonio%2BRd%2BPA.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="278" data-original-width="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ktspxh9q8LY/X3OASpGZUYI/AAAAAAAAHYw/jO7FJX8iG8Ed2wdXxlq75WBMH_zxc8YKQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Fairchild%2BPlaque%2B391%2BSan%2BAntonio%2BRd%2BPA.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>A
plaque at 391 San Antonio Road, in South Palo Alto, commemorates the
first practicable Integrated Circuit, designed at Fairchild
Semiconductor. And so Silicon Valley began.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b></i><i><b><br />Silicon Valley: Mid-70s</b></i><br />Silicon
Valley, in its original 70s incarnation, was synonymous with Santa
Clara County. Santa Clara County extends south from Palo Alto to the
metropolis of San Jose, including various suburban towns in between
them. Historically, San Jose was the center of agriculture in the South
Bay. While the city was a thriving metro area, ultimately it was a
center for the farming communities surrounding it. Palo Alto, a
University town, generally looked down at San Jose as a city full of
bumpkins. San Jose residents, in turn, had an inferiority complex
towards San Francisco, Berkeley and Oakland. San Jose actually had a
thriving music scene since the 1940s, but it was mostly about country music.
There had been a lot of good rock and roll coming out of San Jose in the
60s, because there were so many teenagers, but there wasn't any
established "scene," since successful bands just tried to move up to San
Francisco.<br /><p>By the early 1970s, however, Santa Clara County's
economics had changed. Stanford, with all its property, had incubated
some major "high-tech" companies, such as Fairchild-Hiller, Varian and
others, and helped expand Hewlett-Packard. San Jose, in turn, was
focused on manufacturing. Microchips were becoming the primary produce
of Santa Clara Valley, but the joke to residents was that it was that
Silicon was just another crop. <br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cZRSHCNkWik/X1Z1nIVu_BI/AAAAAAAAHP0/Jlh2pmN2LwIwX5YUM9LXB5SwsKvOElmdQCLcBGAsYHQ/s395/The%2BBodega%2B9%2BSep%2B1976%252C%2B26%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom%25281%2529.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="230" data-original-width="395" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cZRSHCNkWik/X1Z1nIVu_BI/AAAAAAAAHP0/Jlh2pmN2LwIwX5YUM9LXB5SwsKvOElmdQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/The%2BBodega%2B9%2BSep%2B1976%252C%2B26%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom%25281%2529.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The nightclub guide from the September 9, 1976 SF Examiner</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><i><b><br />South Bay Live Music--1970s </b></i><br />There
were a lot of live music clubs in the South Bay in the mid-70s. The El
Camino Real in Palo Alto had some lounge music, but farther south, in
Sunnyvale and San Jose and the suburbs, there were a lot of beer joints.
<a href="https://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2022/09/march-7-1982-saddle-rack-san-jose-ca.html"> Country was still popular, at places like Cowtown (at 1584 Almaden Expressway).</a> But rock music was popular, too. If you had worked an eight
hour shift in a factory, mellowing out with a tall cool one and some
loud, rocking music was probably a lot of fun. A lot of bands played
rock music you could dance to, some covers and some original, but all
with a beat. There were plenty of places to play, and plenty of patrons.<p>One
such place was The Bodega, at 30 South Central Avenue in Campbell.
Campbell was a suburb of San Jose, but functionally part of greater San
Jose. Campbell was just West of San Jose, but just south of Santa Clara
(for those who know the area, Campbell is between CA17/I-880 and the San
Tomas Expressway). The SF <i>Examiner</i> ran a periodic guide to local nightclubs, and for the Bodega, the description said<br /></p><blockquote><i><b>Popular rock</b>.
Friday and Saturday, $1 cover charge. There's no dance floor, but this
place is so popular, they come to dance in the aisles. Thursdays, they
have big-name entertainment. Young single crowd.<br /></i></blockquote>Local
bands, probably playing mostly covers, played The Bodega on weekends
and probably most other nights. But on Thursdays, the Bodega had the
sort of band that played Keystone Berkeley, like Elvin Bishop Group or
Sons Of Champlin. Young people with day jobs went to places like The
Bodega (and The Pruneyard, The Odyssey Room and so on) to hang out,
drink, dance and relax from the daily grind. There were nightclubs like
The Bodega all over the South Bay, but none in Palo Alto. Silicon Valley
was expanding, so there would be plenty of potential patrons.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AJfyzVlbN-s/X3KbyUaLpzI/AAAAAAAAHYc/rL_K4MPIW30mJa0UYztVN3igdPMJPb_AgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1300/Santa%2BClara%2BCounty%2BCourthouse-Palo%2BAlto.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="867" data-original-width="1300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AJfyzVlbN-s/X3KbyUaLpzI/AAAAAAAAHYc/rL_K4MPIW30mJa0UYztVN3igdPMJPb_AgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Santa%2BClara%2BCounty%2BCourthouse-Palo%2BAlto.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>The Santa Clara County Courthouse, a few blocks south of California Avenue, provided plenty of nighttime parking for Sophie's. <br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><b><i><br />The Town of Mayfield vs Downtown Palo Alto</i></b><br />Ken
Rominger, the manager of The Bodega decided to open a similar club in
Palo Alto. <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/07/palo-alto-psychedelic-rock-shows-1969.html">Downtown Palo Alto had a surprisingly rocking late 60s, anchored by a club called The Poppycock</a>.
Ultimately, however, downtown Palo Alto frowned on the noise and hassle
of a downtown nightclub. When the successor club to The Poppycock,<a href="http://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2020/07/tales-from-in-your-ear-live-music-in.html"> a jazz club called In Your Ear, burned down on New Year's Eve 1972</a>,
no other club moved to University Avenue. On top of that, Silicon
Valley was rising. The type of young long-hairs who were computer coders
or product managers wanted to live in downtown Palo Alto, because it
had Espresso coffee, bookstores and foreign movies, just like their
college town. So downtown Palo Alto was starting to get upscale, and
late night rock and roll didn't fit.<br /><p>Even in Palo Alto, the
past wasn't really past. 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 and his partner, Timothy Hopkins, offered
to align the University to Mayfield, but only if they would close their
saloons. Mayfield, of course, declined. Stanford and 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, one hundred years later, 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.<br /></p><p>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.</p><i><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigYfEGa7kf3c0TGOXLVfgDOizi_C4Qmfy1aeuoEUPA9JTZestE2Hsl8v3aXsDLW-NBzfpSdFuoHCGujXP5L_KS3bB5d3gJh1KQUfGoayds6W-JLluJkC1m8zjmNrYy0eD1Nlmnms8T-lYuysmwEPBvaWVz7u2HqJ6sD_nn_QQrW0U7aQhu1erm7yf_/s662/Sophie's%20ad%20Daily%2019741015.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="662" data-original-width="530" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigYfEGa7kf3c0TGOXLVfgDOizi_C4Qmfy1aeuoEUPA9JTZestE2Hsl8v3aXsDLW-NBzfpSdFuoHCGujXP5L_KS3bB5d3gJh1KQUfGoayds6W-JLluJkC1m8zjmNrYy0eD1Nlmnms8T-lYuysmwEPBvaWVz7u2HqJ6sD_nn_QQrW0U7aQhu1erm7yf_/s320/Sophie's%20ad%20Daily%2019741015.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>A Help Wanted ad in the October 15, 1974 Stanford Daily promotes the opening of Sophie's at 260 California in Palo Alto, "A new garden restaurant & night club"</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b></i><i><b><br />Sophie's, 260 South California Avenue</b></i><br />Ken
Rominger opened his new club Sophie's in early 1975. 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. Zinzinatti had various kinds of music ("Oom Pah" and bluegrass, mostly). 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.<br /><p>The location was well-chosen, so well-chosen in fact
that it would be a critical factor in the upgrade of Sophie's into a
wing of the Keystone family. 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. </p><p>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 CA101 (the Bayshore Freeway), the
directions to Sophie's were easy from anywhere in the South Bay or the
Peninsula, near or far.</p><p><i>(<b>Palo Alto note</b>: 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)</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMDqhP4XD4jDIeFCJZLEItAWrsM7TgBt3kBinSmqmLekPU2GlBUGySXBr4ethbR0cIN1heGg3XPtPLacktkbiqh2z2tqcpJplVexQHdMXPMZsMXUSeVpXgabbSKR8Utq2Quf1qCIMRxU4Y-47NIkXNNRUyeZkHSAxgKK791aVa2MsWdjZD3GUqdNkk/s546/Sophie's%20Opening%2019750108%20PAT.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="544" data-original-width="546" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMDqhP4XD4jDIeFCJZLEItAWrsM7TgBt3kBinSmqmLekPU2GlBUGySXBr4ethbR0cIN1heGg3XPtPLacktkbiqh2z2tqcpJplVexQHdMXPMZsMXUSeVpXgabbSKR8Utq2Quf1qCIMRxU4Y-47NIkXNNRUyeZkHSAxgKK791aVa2MsWdjZD3GUqdNkk/s320/Sophie's%20Opening%2019750108%20PAT.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>Sophie's, January 1975 </b><br />Sophie's opened on January 8, 1975. The Palo Alto <i>Times</i> had a feature article, with a picture of then 32-year old Ken Rominger. The plan, as described in the paper, was that Sophie's would be a restaurant and bar that was open seven nights a week, featuring jazz, folk and rock music. Wednesday night was reserved for "touring acts," and weekends were for Bay Area bands. The implication was that the other nights were for jazz, folk or Top 40 cover bands. <p></p><p>The reality was slightly different. Touring bands typically played Wednesday nights, but touring schedules didn't work out that neatly. For the rest of the nights, Sophie's pretty much just booked rock groups. The weekend favored local bands who played mostly original material, but Sophie's was pretty much a rock club. Of course, it being the Bay Area and all, "local bands" included Jerry Garcia and some other higher profile bands, so Sophie's had a bit higher profile than a local dance club. Truthfully, however, Sophie's was kind of like The Bodega, a local dance and hangout, with the occasional "name" band, whether local or out-of-town. <br /></p><p><b><i></i></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_OaY4VfOfwI/X3OAbQuTxyI/AAAAAAAAHY0/x3ds2aslI1QrdvkKW5PbiSMlusrnH6SAQCLcBGAsYHQ/s604/keystone%2Bberkeley%2B1982%2Bapprox.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="604" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_OaY4VfOfwI/X3OAbQuTxyI/AAAAAAAAHY0/x3ds2aslI1QrdvkKW5PbiSMlusrnH6SAQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/keystone%2Bberkeley%2B1982%2Bapprox.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Keystone Berkeley, at 2119 University, as it appeared in the early 80s</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><i><br />Bay Area Rock Nightclubs in 1976</i></b><br />By
1976, live rock music was a bigger business than ever, dominated in the
Bay Area by Bill Graham Presents. BGP booked all the big touring rock
bands in Winterland, Oakland Coliseum, Cow Palace and even the Oakland
Stadium. One tier below that, however, the rock nightclub business had
been booming the previous few years. As rock fans got a little older,
and got jobs, they didn't always want to be in some giant barn with
5,000 or 15,000 or 55,000 other fans. A lot of them were more than
willing to pay a few extra dollars, grab some drinks, and get a close up
look at a band they really wanted to see. There were a number of
choices around the Bay for original music, all favoring a different
slice of the market.<br /><br /><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/02/bay-area-rock-nightclub-survey-berkeley.html">Berkeley had many of the higher profile clubs</a>:<br /><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2022/12/keystone-berkeley-2119-university.html"><b>Keystone Berkeley</b>
(2119 University) was a beer joint near campus, but it a lot of good
bands played there</a><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2022/12/keystone-berkeley-2119-university.html">. </a>Jerry Garcia, Elvin Bishop, Commander Cody and Tower
of Power were among the regular performers. Touring acts played there
regularly. The club was open several nights a week, and loud, bluesy
guitar solos were the order of the day. It held about 500 people,
although regular patrons insist that the number was exceeded on many
occasions.</li><li><b>West Dakota</b> (1505 San Pablo), <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/New%20Orleans%20House.htm">formerly the New Orleans House</a>, held about 250 people. West Dakota wasn't big enough to pay most touring acts, but a lot of good local bands played there.</li><li><a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Freight%20and%20Salvage.htm"><b>The Freight and Salvage</b> (1827 San Pablo) was the premier folk club, highly regarded, but of course tiny</a>.</li></ul><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2022/02/bay-area-rock-nightclub-survey-san.html">San Francisco had a few</a>:<br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>The Old Waldorf</b>
(444 Battery) had just moved from the Western Addition to downtown. It
had parking, seats and a nice bar, and was slowly becoming the record
company "showcase" for new acts that they were promoting</li><li><a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2021/09/960-bush-street-downstairs-san.html"><b>The Boarding House</b> (960 Bush) was much-beloved, but tiny (capacity 250-300) and hard to get to
and park</a>. Acoustic acts and comedy worked best there, since it couldn't
pay well enough for a big ensemble, but it had its moments. The Tubes had played there for two weeks in Summer 1975, for example. <br /></li><li><b>The Great American Music Hall </b>(859
O'Farrell) had originally been a jazz club, but had expanded its
footprint to include soul, folk and other kinds of music, as long as it
was "Americana.” Possibly the GAMH held as many as 500, but unlike the Keystone
Berkeley, they didn't pack them in like sardines.</li></ul><p>There were a few other smaller clubs: for jazz, the <b>Keystone Korner</b> (750 Vallejo) in San Francisco, for rock and soul, <b>The Orphanage </b>(807 Montgomery), and some smaller places out of town, like <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Inn%20of%20The%20Beginning.htm"><b>The Inn Of The Beginning </b>(Cotati, Sonoma County</a>)<b><i> </i></b></p><p><b><i>The Missing Link</i></b><br />What's
notable about this list of nightclubs, however, was that there was
really nowhere for rock bands to play in the South Bay. San Jose was a
big city, yes, but there weren't any rock nightclubs. The Bodega had original bands on Thursday nights, as did the Odyssey Room in Campbell on Mondays, but they were both primarily Top 40 beer joints for dancing.<br /></p><p>The
bands with records that were playing clubs needed places to play.
Whether they were Bay Area bands, or bands on tour, they couldn't play
multiple nights in the same city. The South Bay was wide open, however,
and by 1976 it was clear that those bands needed somewhere to perform.
While Sophie's was initially conceived as a beer joint for dancing--and
indeed, most nights it was one--it was the best choice for a booking by a
rock band looking both to expand their audience and needing a payday.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIDYWtqnM6asVYRUIzx6p8SPPgtm2ANhbaCAln-5B7qjp7WsXV1nXopDuN7rs6VQfy3bqFPO0qWBJoSjwMPFJTcg7FqL-2br9mYXU81xwsf18lZuzLLdi1KNuQqbLzNa4U0poYHjGIIsWRHb3BsyO0Y1zzaPWZjyGow9PfPN-GzrDZgRTRM1gMpviO/s546/Sophies%20Pre%20Launch%20PAT%2019741108.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="546" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIDYWtqnM6asVYRUIzx6p8SPPgtm2ANhbaCAln-5B7qjp7WsXV1nXopDuN7rs6VQfy3bqFPO0qWBJoSjwMPFJTcg7FqL-2br9mYXU81xwsf18lZuzLLdi1KNuQqbLzNa4U0poYHjGIIsWRHb3BsyO0Y1zzaPWZjyGow9PfPN-GzrDZgRTRM1gMpviO/s320/Sophies%20Pre%20Launch%20PAT%2019741108.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>David Kramer-Smyth found this "pre-launch" ad for Sophie's in the November 8, 1974 Palo Alto Times. Notice that it emphasizes food and drink as much as music, and doesn't claim to be a rock club per se<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br />There
were plenty of working stiffs, fresh off a shift from the phone company
or a defense contractor manufacturing plant, who were in easy range of
California Avenue. But California Avenue was in easy range of downtown
Palo Alto, too. So there were plenty of young guys coding at these new
companies, or selling "software," as it was called, and they listened to
KSAN. They would go up to San Francisco for a big show, sure, but they
didn't really want to just go dancing. They wanted to see a band with a
record, something they could tell their friends about at work, maybe a
chance to tell them in a few years that you saw The So-And-Sos "on their
way up." <p></p><p>If someone had decided to open a nightclub in 1976 in
the South Bay that would be part of the Keystone Berkeley/Old
Waldorf/Boarding House axis, and they had looked at a map, California
Avenue would have been just about perfect. Sophie's was already there,
and they had been open since 1975. Acts started to get booked there,
first a few and then a lot. Tickets were available in advance from BASS,
the new computerized ticket service, another mark of stability. After a
while, it may have seemed inevitable. Maybe it was.<br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhQa-Amqn0MN2tKwrU6XIgUi5Y7xfuSqaCb67pyRK3Fha5-egLjA8o_VqBwGQYRFzWfZ64mJmyVYOB28FrpypdY8YTVaLVTce_csVzVyfoD9IzCrC7VzFJ51MTzkmEn39BlblSAzntlLOOXC5u3rQd0CTfU4Kq_qlvR-zrBLDVVX82YkoEV4wMQ8cf/s584/Sophies%20Palo%20Alto%201977.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="584" data-original-width="386" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhQa-Amqn0MN2tKwrU6XIgUi5Y7xfuSqaCb67pyRK3Fha5-egLjA8o_VqBwGQYRFzWfZ64mJmyVYOB28FrpypdY8YTVaLVTce_csVzVyfoD9IzCrC7VzFJ51MTzkmEn39BlblSAzntlLOOXC5u3rQd0CTfU4Kq_qlvR-zrBLDVVX82YkoEV4wMQ8cf/s320/Sophies%20Palo%20Alto%201977.jpg" width="212" /></a></b></div><b><br />Sophie's, 260 South California Avenue, Palo Alto, CA</b><br /><b>Performance List 1976</b><p></p><b>January 6, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Fever </b><i>(Tuesday) </i><br />Sophie's was open six or seven nights a week (not always on Monday). I think there was a band every night. On weeknights, if there wasn't a "name" band, there was no cover. On weekends, there would be a $1.00 cover charge, just to keep out riff-raff (there wasn't much in the way of riff-raff in Palo Alto in those days, but still). For the most part, bands would play regularly on a given night of the week. <b>Fever</b> was a Palo Alto band. They definitely played some original music, but I think they also played some covers. Fever held down Tuesdays. <br /><p>As a practical matter, I have only listed shows where I can find a listing in the newspaper, which is mostly the San Francisco <i>Examiner</i> or the Palo Alto <i>Times</i>.
I am confident that I have just about all the listings for "name"
bands, but the regular weeknight stuff is somewhat random, depending on
what the <i>Examiner</i> or <i>Times</i> posted in their listing. Since bands played the
same night week after week, I wouldn't assume we are missing anything
interesting on the nights where I haven't found anything noted for
Sophie's.<br /></p><p><b>January 7, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Garcia Brothers </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br />To answer the obvious question: no. <b>The Garcia Brothers</b>,
whoever they might have been, were booked regularly in all the South
Bay beer joints, particularly The Bodega, which was also managed by Ken
Rominger. At this time, the Garcia Brothers held down Wednesday night at
Sophie's. </p><p><i><b>update</b>: thanks to David Kramer-Smyth, we know that Lucky (keyboards) and Gig Garcia (guitar) were originally from Chicago, and had been performing since 1973. <a href="https://www.soundclick.com/artist/default.cfm?bandID=814561&content=about">The Garcia Brothers are still playing, and describe their music as "Tropical Rock," a combination of rock, reggae, Latin and soul music</a>. </i><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EfYOV_2qfTw/X1mFYEViEbI/AAAAAAAAHRg/joJA-NENp1IgoIzwuoeEMldFQ9kn7d5_ACLcBGAsYHQ/s300/james-booker-junco-partner.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EfYOV_2qfTw/X1mFYEViEbI/AAAAAAAAHRg/joJA-NENp1IgoIzwuoeEMldFQ9kn7d5_ACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/james-booker-junco-partner.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>James Booker's 1976 album Junco Partner, released on Joe Boyd's Hannibal label</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>January 9-10, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Jerry Garcia Band</b><i> (Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Jerry
Garcia, a Palo Alto homeboy of sorts, had played Sophie's three times
in 1975. Garcia mostly played the Keystone Berkeley, as well as some
shows in San Francisco. In September of '75, Garcia had unveiled a new band
name, <b>The Jerry Garcia Band</b>. The new lineup had featured Nicky
Hopkins on piano, along with Ron Tutt on drums and the perennial John
Kahn on bass. Since all Garcia ensembles were notoriously
under-rehearsed, it was his general preference to open "out of town." <a href="http://jerrybase.com/venues/201">Thus,
the very first performance of the Jerry Garcia Band (proper) had been at
Sophie's, so Palo Alto qualified as outside of Garcia's usual orbit</a>.
I'm not guessing--the band's remaining September dates were at tiny
places in Sacramento and Marin (River City in Fairfax), prior to some
high profile concerts in October.<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3kGXTGqVRQ90ukxM0EvqMaaE--yT1lm4VOSkDSGIbURRNihF4Lch_4V1MbZ-OUFe7clwH94yvY0dr7hTFYa8UT9ELez5qh0V3_vP4UubEuT680ed2pTynWwRrs-SG1ZTc5sX8FhLf3XcpqAKd-pT81cC7Ky4m1pH2coUmuQpXYtpDoAETHI211hNt/s1044/JGB%20Sophies%2019760109%20Times.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1044" data-original-width="546" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3kGXTGqVRQ90ukxM0EvqMaaE--yT1lm4VOSkDSGIbURRNihF4Lch_4V1MbZ-OUFe7clwH94yvY0dr7hTFYa8UT9ELez5qh0V3_vP4UubEuT680ed2pTynWwRrs-SG1ZTc5sX8FhLf3XcpqAKd-pT81cC7Ky4m1pH2coUmuQpXYtpDoAETHI211hNt/s320/JGB%20Sophies%2019760109%20Times.jpg" width="167" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>This ad for the Jerry Garcia Band from the Palo Alto Times advertises the January 9, 1976 show. Note that no band members are listed. Also, the doors open at 6:00pm, dinner at 8, show presumably begins at 9 or later. A lot of drinks would have gotten sold, just one of the many ways in which Garcia gigs were very profitable for club owners (thanks DKS for finding this)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />By January of 1976, however, the
Jerry Garcia Band had just ended their experiment with the great Nicky
Hopkins as pianist. Hopkins' talent was undeniable, but he was too erratic a
personality, with too many apparent demons impeding his play. Garcia,
bassist John Kahn and drummer Ron Tutt decided to replace Hopkins with
someone who was one of the few players who was probably a better pianist
than Hopkins, but even more difficult. Once again, Garcia chose
Sophie's so that the new Jerry Garcia Band could open out of town. <br /><p></p><p>For the new pianist, Kahn had recommended the great New Orleans legend James Booker, "The Bayou
Maharajah." There's no way I can summarize the strange intersection
between Booker and Garcia, as it would take an entire post of it's own.
<a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/05/january-9-10-1976-sophies-palo-alto-ca.html">Fortunately,
I have already written that post. Booker and Garcia was a great idea,
and there is exactly no way it would ever succeed. The lucky Palo Altans
who saw these shows saw a strange, but memorable event</a>.</p><p><b>January 13, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Fever </b><i>(Tuesday)</i><br /></p><p><b>January 14, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Garcia Brothers </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br /></p><b>January 19, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Bold Truth </b><i>(Monday)</i><br /><b>Bold Truth</b> was another bar band, presumably a little lower on the heirarchy at this time since they appeared on a Monday night. Bold Truth played funk and disco music, somewhat in the style of the Sons Of Champlin. They were an East Bay group, with the key members having come from Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland (per FB, they seem to have had a full-band reunion in 2011). <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-APIJdtQrMpY/X3KVNQtWPAI/AAAAAAAAHXQ/735zfz0PZKA4RzPLwVxteskCa3F4ha4BwCLcBGAsYHQ/s225/Kingfish%2Blp%2BRound%2BRX%2B108.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="224" data-original-width="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-APIJdtQrMpY/X3KVNQtWPAI/AAAAAAAAHXQ/735zfz0PZKA4RzPLwVxteskCa3F4ha4BwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Kingfish%2Blp%2BRound%2BRX%2B108.jpg" /></a></b></div><b><br />January 20, 1976 Sophie's Palo Alto, CA: Kingfish </b><i>(Tuesday)</i><br />The January 20 (Tuesday) SF <i>Examiner</i> lists <b>Kingfish</b>,
an established band featuring Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, and Dave
Torbert, formerly of the New Riders Of The Purple Sage. This seems to
supersede Fever (with a regular Tuesday night gig), although Fever very
likely opened. The Sunday (January 18) <i>Chronicle</i> BASS tickets ad says Kingfish would play January 21-22 (Wed-Thur), but the band isn't listed on those nights in the <i>Examiner</i>.
There is no definitive answer. It seems certain that Kingfish played
Sophie's this week, possibly twice, somewhere from Tuesday to Thursday
(20-22). <br /><p><b>January 21, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Garcia Brothers </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br />I
wonder if Kingfish actually played this night? It's likely that a band
with a regular residency would have just been the opener if there was a
better known headliner. Being announced as "The Garcia Brothers" at a
Bob Weir gig...<br /></p><p><b>January 28, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Chambers Brothers</b><i> (Wednesday)</i><br />There
is a little confusion around this date, magnified by the fact that
Sophie's shows were neither advertised nor reviewed. The SF <i>Examiner</i>
would list the Sophie's shows on their Entertainment page, but it was
on a space available basis, and wasn't always accurate (since it was
based on press release or a phone call). The <i>Examiner</i> mentions
the Wednesday show by the Chambers Brothers at Sophie's in the Sunday
(Jan 25) and Tuesday (Jan 27) papers. On Wednesday (Jan 28), however,
Chuck Mangione is listed at Sophie's. Other papers list Chuck Mangione
at Keystone Berkeley on Wednesday. All of the papers list Chambers
Brothers as playing West Dakota in Berkeley as well, but that date, too,
moves around. <br /></p><p>For this narrative, the key point was that the
Chambers Brothers were booked at in both Berkeley (West Dakota) and
Palo Alto on consecutive days (whichever days they were). <b>The Chambers Brothers</b>
had been on the folk circuit in the early 60s, and then hit it big with
"Time Has Come Today" (y'know--"My soul's been psychedelicized!") in
1968. They still had a following, but they were past their prime.<br /></p><p><b>January 30-31, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Garcia Brothers</b><i> (Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Note the Garcia Brothers playing on a weekend, since there wasn't a high profile act. The cover charge was apparently $1.00. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-th3-s-8F40E/X3KVs4Jvp-I/AAAAAAAAHXY/VNbpQejc5zw1jfR-aMaqzIWu7swwpLOagCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Pablo%2BCruise%2BLifeline%2Blp%2B1976.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-th3-s-8F40E/X3KVs4Jvp-I/AAAAAAAAHXY/VNbpQejc5zw1jfR-aMaqzIWu7swwpLOagCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Pablo%2BCruise%2BLifeline%2Blp%2B1976.jpg" /></a></b></div><b><br />February 4, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Pablo Cruise </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br />The band Pablo Cruise played Sophie's three Wednesday nights in February. Unlike other resident weeknight bands, <b>Pablo Cruise</b> had already released their first album on A&M Records back in August 1975. Their second album, <i>Lifeline</i>, was due in April, so these gigs were probably a chance for the band to work on performing their new material. <br /><p>In fact, the key member of Pablo Cruise was from Palo Alto. <a href="https://www.corylerios.com/">Pianist Cory Lerios</a> 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, along with drummer Steve Price, and then both Lerios and Price had ended up in
Stoneground. They left Stoneground in 1973 to form Pablo Cruise with
guitarist David Jenkins and bassist Bud Cockrell (ex-It's A Beautiful
Day). It was the third Pablo Cruise album, <i>A Place In The Sun</i>, released in 1977, that would really make the band.</p><p><b>February 11, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Pablo Cruise </b><i>(Wednesday)</i></p><p><b>February 12-14, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Snail</b><i> (Thursday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Snail</b>
was a four-piece, twin guitar band from Santa Cruz, with Bob O'Neill
and Ken Kraft leading the way on guitars and vocals. The band had formed
as a trio (with O'Neill) back in 1968, so they were well-established in
Santa Cruz. Snail held down a regular Wednesday night gig at The
Bodega. They would go on to release two pretty good albums, the first
one released in 1978 on Cream Records.</p><p><b>February 15, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Jerry Garcia Band</b><i> (Sunday)</i><br />The
Jerry Garcia Band returned on a Sunday night. James Booker had been
replaced by Keith and Donna Godchaux, far more stable band-mates than
either Nicky Hopkins or James Booker. Garcia particularly liked
including Donna's vocals as part of his ensemble. Garcia would mostly
have female backing vocalists in the Jerry Garcia Band for the balance
of his career. The Godchauxs had debuted at a few shows in Keystone
Berkeley in January and February.</p><p><b>February 16, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Snail </b><i>(Monday) </i><br />Snail
returned for another night. Santa Cruz County was less than an hour
from California Avenue, so this was a local gig for Snail.</p><p><b>February 18, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Pablo Cruise</b><i> (Wednesday)</i></p><p><i></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmx_H__dtmv6ppcaaUJwvOZwkeJhVp5_SVrquVj247G3Zmuxjcb8zOcqA6JtwsGQ9nsu2_jc0URktfat-6R_IYjlv_WE1tMnmbuFvQqPxpCzFJJuhLQ8SIlS-Voso-dXoVlClcbGn1xhgdEc1MDubXG7jTGMrOD5N__Ofpw8M7I8J7lZedk9YUz03V/s1096/Sophies%2019760227.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1096" data-original-width="536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmx_H__dtmv6ppcaaUJwvOZwkeJhVp5_SVrquVj247G3Zmuxjcb8zOcqA6JtwsGQ9nsu2_jc0URktfat-6R_IYjlv_WE1tMnmbuFvQqPxpCzFJJuhLQ8SIlS-Voso-dXoVlClcbGn1xhgdEc1MDubXG7jTGMrOD5N__Ofpw8M7I8J7lZedk9YUz03V/s320/Sophies%2019760227.jpg" width="156" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Stanford Daily ad for Sophie's, February 27 1976</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />February 27-28, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Snail </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><i><br /></i><p></p><p><b>March 3, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Terry Garthwaite</b><i> (Wednesday)</i><br />Guitarist/songwriter <b>Terry Garthwaite </b>had
been one of the leaders of Berkeley's Joy Of Cooking, along with
pianist/singer Toni Brown. Garthwaite was solo now, although she
sometimes played with Toni Brown, too. <br /></p><p>I am assuming that all
the regulars--Fever, Bold Truth, Garcia Brothers, and so on--were
playing every night, but I don't have listings for them.</p><b>March 5-6, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Freddie King </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />The blues weren't as cool now, and mostly played to white audiences, but Palo Alto was a more fruitful place to fill a weeknight booking than clubs in African American neighborhoods that had stopped booking the blues a long time ago. Freddie King<i> </i>had been signed by Leon Russell's Shelter Records label in 1971, and had gotten some well-deserved attention from white hippie rock fans. Great as Freddie was, however, he never got over the top<i>. </i>By this time, Freddie had released two albums on RSO, probably on the word of Eric Clapton. Sadly, Freddie King would die of a heart attack in December, 1976, just 34 years old. <i><br /></i><p><b>March 10, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: James Cotton Blues Band </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br /><b>James Cotton</b>
was a great performer, and had been playing for white audiences at the
Fillmore since November 1966. James Cotton and
Lightning Hopkins were booked at Keystone Berkeley on Friday and
Saturday (March 12-13), so a booking on a weeknight helped pay the
bills. This booking was a hint that Freddie Herrera at the Keystone
Berkeley was working with Ken Rominger at Sophie's.<br /></p><p>Cotton
played a lot of soul along with the blues, so anybody who wanted to
dance would have been well served by Cotton and his band.<br /><br /><b>March 11, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Lightnin' Hopkins </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br /><b>Lightning Hopkins</b>,
too, had been playing for white hippie audiences since 1965 at the
Matrix (he had headlined then over a new band called "Jefferson
Airplane"). With a weekend gig upcoming, a Thursday night booking filled
out his week. I wouldn't be surprised if a regular bar band came on
afterwards for dancing. <br /></p><p><b>March 12-13, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Taj Mahal </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Taj Mahal </b>had
been part of the Cambridge/Greenwich Village folk scene in the early
60s, but he had moved to Los Angeles by 1965. He had started the
groundbreaking Rising Sons band, with Ry Cooder. By 1968, Taj had been
signed as a solo artist by Columbia, and his debut featured some hot
slide guitar by both Cooder and Jesse Ed Davis. Taj Mahal had introduced
a lot of hippies to blues music, some of it quite imaginatively
presented. Still, Taj was more of an aggregator than an original. He
always played a good show, but he was outshone by other performers as
the 70s wore on. Still, he had enough of a following to headline a
weekend in the suburbs.</p><p><b>March 16, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Together </b><i>(Tuesday)</i><br /><b>Together</b>
is unknown to me. There had been a 60s Palo Alto band called Together, but
it featured Cory Lerios and Steve Price, now of Pablo Cruise, so it's
unlikely it was the same group.<br /><br /><b>March 18-20, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Fever </b><i>(Thursday-Saturday)</i><i><br /></i>Fever had moved up from Tuesday nights, back in January, to Thursdays, and in this case the whole weekend.<br /><br /><b>March 23, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Together</b><i> (Tuesday)</i></p><b>March 24, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Kenny Rankin </b><i>(Wednesday) </i><br /><b>Kenny Rankin</b> was a jazz-influenced folk singer. He sometimes appeared with a jazzy combo, but often appeared solo as well. He had released his debut album <i>Mind Dusters</i> on Mercury in 1967. His most recent album was <i>Inside</i>, his fifth album. <p><b>March 25, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Fever</b><i> (Thursday)</i><br /><br /><b>March 26-27, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Gary Smith Band </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>The Gary Smith Band</b>
were a regular act at The Bodega. They also played at various clubs around
the Bay Area. In the past they had been billed as The Gary Smith Blues Band. Smith played harmonica and sang, fronting a Paul Butterfield-styled group with twin guitars. In 1975, guitarist Dave Gonzalez had left to form the Jackson Street Band, and Smith had added saxophonist Ken Baker. I don't know precisely who was in the Smith band at this time (the '75 lineup also had Mike Mondello on guitar, Russell Ferrante-piano, Johnny Moon-drum, Steve Gomes-bass).<br /><br /><b>March 30, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Together </b><i>(Tuesday) </i></p><b>April 9-10, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Sons Of Champlin</b><i> (Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Marin County's <b>Sons Of Champlin</b> were in their eleventh year together. The founding pair of Bill Champlin (lead vocals and organ) and Terry Haggerty (lead guitar) had been there at the beginning, and Geoff Palmer (keyboards, vibes) had joined in 1967. The other members (Jim Preston on drums, David Schallock on bass, with Michael Andreas, Mark Isham and Phil Wood on horns) were more recent, but they had all logged a lot of time together. The Sons always got great reviews and had a loyal fan base, but they couldn't get over a certain level of popularity.<br /><br />The Sons had released a number of fine albums in the 60s and 70s, but record companies had lost interest. So the Sons took the step of releasing their own album in 1974, a step many other local bands were taking, and it revitalized interest in the band, and got them signed to Ariola Records. Later in 1976, they would release their first album on Ariola, <i>Loving Is Why</i>. The Sons were as sophisticated as ever, but they were emphasizing some funkier R&B sounds underneath the flying solos of Haggerty, Palmer and the horn section. They had played Keystone Berkeley numerous times. They had also played a lot of shows in the Palo Alto area, so they had a local following. <br /><p><b>April 13, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Bold Truth </b><i>(Tuesday) </i></p><p><b>April 14, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Gary Smith Band </b><i>(Wednesday)</i></p><p><b>April 15-17, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Fever </b><i>(Thursday-Saturday)</i></p><p><b>April 20, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Bold Truth </b><i>(Tuesday)</i></p><p><b>April 21, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Gary Smith Band </b><i>(Wednesday)</i></p><p><b>April 22, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Fever </b><i>(Thursday)</i></p><p><b>April 23-24, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Snail </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i></p><p><b>April 27, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA; Bold Truth </b>(<i>Tuesday)</i><br /></p><p><b>April 28, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Gary Smith Band </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br />I do not know why there were no listings in the SF <i>Examiner</i>
for Sophie's for April, May and June. Without going too deep, I think the main
reason has to do with the <i>Examiner</i> listings themselves. I also think
that there weren't any notable acts, or at least not many, at Sophie's
during this period. David Kramer-Smyth found these April to June listings in the Fremont <i>Argus</i>. <br /></p><p><b>April 29, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Fever</b><i> (Thursday)</i></p><p><b>April 30-May 1, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Gary Smith Band </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i></p><p><b>May 25, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Kenny Rankin</b><i> (Wednesday) </i></p><b>June 4-5, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Kingfish Quartet </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Kingfish played some gigs around the Bay Area as a quartet, without Weir. They were anticipating his return to the Grateful Dead. <p><b>June 11-12, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Skycreek </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i></p><p><b>June 17, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Gary Smith Band </b><i>(Thursday)</i></p><p><b>June 18-19, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Fever </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i></p><p><b>June 25-26, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Gary Smith Band </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><b><br /></b></p><p><b>July 8, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Nimbus </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br /><b>Nimbus</b>
was a band from the Hayward/Fremont area. They went back to the late 1960s,
and I saw them in 1978. They weren't bad, but they never made a record
as far as I know.<br /><br /><b>July 15, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Gary Smith Band </b><i>(Thursday)</i><b><br /></b><br /><b>July 16-17, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Jackson Street Band </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />The <b>Jackson Street Band </b>were also regulars at The Bodega and similar clubs. They were lead by guitarist Dave Gonzalez, formerly of the Gary Smith Band.<br /><br /><b>July 22, 1976 Sophie's Palo Alto, CA: Gary Smith Band </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br /><br /><b>July 23-24, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Skycreek </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Skycreek</b> are unknown to me. Based on their bookings, appeared to be a country rock band. <br /></p><p><b>July 30-31, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Albert King </b><i>(Friday-Saturday) </i><br /><b>Albert King</b>
had been a crucial figure in the Blues Revival of the 1960s, all the
more so since Cream had recorded his song "Born Under A Bad Sign." Many,
perhaps most, rock guitar fans would have acknowledged Albert as a
blues legend, but he was no longer playing arenas. Now, he probably made
good money playing a weekend at Sophie's, but it wasn't as high profile
as headlining a weekend at The Fillmore. Although Albert King was doing
what he always did, his live performances were always strong, featuring
his great guitar playing and soulful vocals.<br /><br />Albert King was
playing two shows at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on
Wednesday, July 28. Since there was no competing South Bay club,
however, a booking in Palo Alto made sense. At this time, Albert King
had left Stax Records (which in fact had gone bankrupt), and had
released some albums with an independent label Utopia. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SpU3czFU6vQ/X3KWGrBJgvI/AAAAAAAAHXg/LVIdBIch5oQsIZkzefxPSFXpoijvMo0qACLcBGAsYHQ/s599/Roger%2BMcGuinn%2BCardiff%2BRose%2B76%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="596" data-original-width="599" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SpU3czFU6vQ/X3KWGrBJgvI/AAAAAAAAHXg/LVIdBIch5oQsIZkzefxPSFXpoijvMo0qACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Roger%2BMcGuinn%2BCardiff%2BRose%2B76%2Blp.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />August 2-3, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Roger McGuinn's Thunderbird </b><i>(Monday-Tuesday)</i><br />Roger
McGuinn was a major rock music figure since his 60s success with The
Byrds. He was widely respected by other musicians, most notably Bob
Dylan, and popular with rock critics. He had gone solo after the Byrds
had ground to a halt in 1973, but his records hadn't really sold. In
May, 1976 McGuinn had released his fourth solo album, <i>Cardiff Rose</i>.
The album was produced by Mick Ronson, of David Bowie fame, and
featured Ronson and other members of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue
(David Mansfield, Rob Stoner and Howie Wyeth). Befitting McGuinn's
historic stature, <i>Cardiff Rose</i> featured unreleased songs by Dylan ("Up To Me") and Joni Mitchell ("Dreamland"). <p>McGuinn was setting out on a national tour to support <i>Cardiff Rose</i>,
and he had a new road band. Palo Alto was still sufficiently
out-of-the-way that he could have some warmup gigs on weeknights. The
band featured the great Jesse Ed Davis on lead guitar, and Lost Planet
Airmen Lance Dickerson on drums and Bruce Barlow on bass, (along with
one James Q Smith, probably guitarist James Quill Smith). The tour
probably wasn't long, since the Airmen would have had to return for any
Commander Cody gigs.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XRkEUCQNFsA/X3KWlUupFhI/AAAAAAAAHXs/Tdycn9RtN6Ucw-6OK96OhfHHJiTeH8aWQCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Chris%2BHillman%2BSlippin%2BAway%2B76%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="599" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XRkEUCQNFsA/X3KWlUupFhI/AAAAAAAAHXs/Tdycn9RtN6Ucw-6OK96OhfHHJiTeH8aWQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Chris%2BHillman%2BSlippin%2BAway%2B76%2Blp.jpg" /></a></b></div><p><b><br />August August 6-7, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Chris Hillman/Skycreek </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Chris Hillman</b>,
another ex-Byrd, just like McGuinn, had also started his "solo" career.
Hillman had been an original member of The Byrds (1965-68), then a
founder of The Flying Burrito Brothers (1968-72), then Stephen Stills
Manassas (1972-74) and the Souther Hillman Furay Band (1975-76). His
first solo album was <i>Slippin' Away</i>, for Asylum Records in 1976. Hillman, too, was using Sophie's in Palo Alto as an out-of-town gig to get his band in order.<b> </b></p><p><b>August 10, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Etta James</b><i> (Tuesday)</i><br /><b>Etta James </b>(1938-2012)
was a rhythm and blues legend. She had a complex, up and down career.
In 1976, she was still on Chess Records, and her current album was <i>Etta Is Bettah Then Evah! </i><br /></p><p><b>August 11-13, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Lily Tomlin/Cris Williamson </b><i>(Wednesday-Friday)</i><br /><b>Lily Tomlin</b> had become nationally famous in the 60s on the NBC show <i>Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In</i>.
Tomlin had joined the hit show in 1969 (which had debuted in 1968),
essentially replacing Judy Carne. Tomlin immediately became famous with
characters like "Ernestine," the telephone operator ("We're the phone
company, and we don't care"). It is difficult to overstate how
ubiquitous National TV performers were at the time--almost everybody
would have recognized Tomlin's comic characters.<br /></p><p>From that
point of view, it was remarkable that Tomlin would play an unheralded
club in suburban Palo Alto. Tomlin had recently headlined a show at the
7500-capacity Concord Pavilion (on July 28). To compare her to the only
other big star to play Sophie's, Lily Tomlin was better known than
Jerry Garcia at this point (funnier, too). Presumably Tomlin wanted to
work on new material, or do something different (just like Jerry). Once
Tomlin had completed her headline gig at Concord, the show at Sophie's
could then be officially announced (her contract would have prevented
any official notification before that, a standard clause).</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRk5r79gn42G3ilMwKjiGdlkA4kMdsFo9y18O5fsXtvzI-lF1WNCJG0m4PEgOJXFm_fqRzlNN2K6VvTTPUGdcCbeoDFv_jPtiVxmqJVlJJIi7c1HtkVQ20qWkibUK1qMa9IUm7wqvtENvWzXMXgHtyJEx26fSa1Y1fSYRFPxZtBuLKzflqPc76tJS3/s570/Wheelin%20and%20Dealin%20Asleep%20At%20The%20Wheel%20Capitol%2076.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="564" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRk5r79gn42G3ilMwKjiGdlkA4kMdsFo9y18O5fsXtvzI-lF1WNCJG0m4PEgOJXFm_fqRzlNN2K6VvTTPUGdcCbeoDFv_jPtiVxmqJVlJJIi7c1HtkVQ20qWkibUK1qMa9IUm7wqvtENvWzXMXgHtyJEx26fSa1Y1fSYRFPxZtBuLKzflqPc76tJS3/s320/Wheelin%20and%20Dealin%20Asleep%20At%20The%20Wheel%20Capitol%2076.jpg" width="317" /></a></b></div><b><br />August 14, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Asleep At The Wheel </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br /><b>Asleep At The Wheel</b>
had been founded by guitarist and singer Ray Benson in the Washington,
DC area around 1970. He put together a fairly large ensemble that played
Western Swing music with a long-haired hippie sensibility. By 1971,
they were based in Paw Paw, WV. In 1972 they opened for Commander Cody
and His Lost Planet Airmen, perhaps the only other band remotely similar
to them, and the Airmen encouraged them to move to Oakland, which they
did. Asleep at The Wheel played almost every night in the Bay Area from
1972-74, at the Keystone Berkeley, Homer's Warehouse, the Long Branch
and numerous other joints. In 1974, Benson and Asleep At The Wheel moved
to Austin, TX, where they have thrived to this very day.<p></p><p>Nonetheless, when they reappeared in the Bay Area on their endless touring, I'm confident they could still pack them in. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Asleep-At-The-Wheel-Wheelin-And-Dealin/master/820354">Their current album would have been <i>Wheelin' and Dealin'</i>, released on Capitol Records in 1976.</a>
It would have been the band's second album on Capitol, but their fourth
overall (with one on UA and another on Epic). The Wheel typically
toured with three fiddles and a horn section, so they could really light
up a club.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9mN3B3kaBZWJ020sQOAGI_rOM-HeNrP1nq8lkpf5HPOCQU8wSVkSwY4uuvjRGuR2nlV7U11rsbk8GCDM04H_2hPUlU1UrKFFpZUNaeAR9NeQEkiyvTd4CTDnUiKSM6LfQWsvcev571vgQwm9lPqXH15JKhU3RZL_ckRvWGVw3FMnFHakHNckRn_Zh/s595/Sasha%20and%20Yuri%20Sophies%2019760819%20PAT%20Aug%2017.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="546" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9mN3B3kaBZWJ020sQOAGI_rOM-HeNrP1nq8lkpf5HPOCQU8wSVkSwY4uuvjRGuR2nlV7U11rsbk8GCDM04H_2hPUlU1UrKFFpZUNaeAR9NeQEkiyvTd4CTDnUiKSM6LfQWsvcev571vgQwm9lPqXH15JKhU3RZL_ckRvWGVw3FMnFHakHNckRn_Zh/s320/Sasha%20and%20Yuri%20Sophies%2019760819%20PAT%20Aug%2017.jpg" width="294" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>The Palo Alto Times (Aug 17) enthusiastically wrote up Sasha And Yuri's upcoming show at Sophie's on August 19, 1976. The Soviet Union was still mysterious to Americans.<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>August 19, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Sasha And Yuri </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br />In
1976, The Iron Curtain was a real thing, and life behind it was
mysterious. Sasha Lerman and Yuri Valov were Jewish immigrants from
Moscow (24 and 26, respectively) who had arrived in the Bay Area a few
months earlier. In the Soviet Union, they had played guitars and sang in
an underground rock and roll band. The pair teamed up with two Latvians
and an American guitarist to form Sasha And Yuri. The Palo Alto Times
enthusiastically promoted their Peninsula debut. <br /><p></p><p>I saw Sasha and
Yuri in Sproul Plaza right around this time. They were competent and
enjoyable, but not special. They did sing "Boney Maronie" with an
enthusiasm that no contemporary American could have matched. </p><p><b>August 21, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Kenny Rankin </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUwjHuWOFdvPZF1guWgxDB2ko0uT3Wz4-6UI4OlF57CtLV7VbtNV2pxg6gR66bMSMqcmYMRI7wVbgmVRTAT33xePS7CzJPX3r4gML-zW4pQmeYVBgFi9YC77Jn1Ws8glBSeapuDJj3ocaPF_1tLb3mdrlwz0a56-dDoM_jIhKMslwV_a21wqmgT_3S/s1267/Ramones%20Sophies%2019760901%20PAT%20Aug%208.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1267" data-original-width="546" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUwjHuWOFdvPZF1guWgxDB2ko0uT3Wz4-6UI4OlF57CtLV7VbtNV2pxg6gR66bMSMqcmYMRI7wVbgmVRTAT33xePS7CzJPX3r4gML-zW4pQmeYVBgFi9YC77Jn1Ws8glBSeapuDJj3ocaPF_1tLb3mdrlwz0a56-dDoM_jIhKMslwV_a21wqmgT_3S/s320/Ramones%20Sophies%2019760901%20PAT%20Aug%208.jpg" width="138" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Sophie's was really the only club option in the South Bay, and its offerings were eclectic (Palo Alto Times ad August 8, 1976)<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>September 1, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: The Ramones </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br />Palo Alto prides itself on being cutting edge, but no matter what anyone tells you, it wasn't a punk rock town. There weren't punks, there weren't punk rock concerts, it just wasn't Palo Alto. The few Palo Altans intrigued by punk (<a href="https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/38573">such as the future co-editor of <i>The Oxford Handbook Of Punk Rock</i></a>) had to export themselves temporarily or permanently to San Francisco or Berkeley. So I'm confident that this concert was thinly attended, although those few who probably went (looking at you, Clay) are probably still dining out on it. <p></p><p>The Ramones debut album had been released on Sire Records in April 1976. More people had read about the Ramones than had actually heard them. Although they seem like a cartoon today--rightly so--their leather jackets were considered faintly menacing. <br /></p><p><b>September 7, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Michael Dinner (</b><i>Tuesday)</i><br />The Palo Alto <i>Times</i> described <b>Michael Dinner</b> as a "singer-guitarist." Apparently the gig was part of a national tour. </p><p><b>September 10-11, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Grinderswitch </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Grinderswitch was a bluesy ensemble from Macon, GA, founded by former
Allman Brothers Band roadie Joe Dan Petty. Not surprisingly, <a href="https://www.discogs.com/release/2350235-Grinderswitch-Pullin-Together">they were signed to Capricorn Records, and would have just released their third album <i>Pullin' Together</i>.</a>
They weren't a bad band, but they never managed to break out of the
second tier. Besides Petty on bass and Dru Lombar and Larry Howard on
guitars, this configuration included ex-Elvin Bishop Group organist
Stephen Miller. <br /></p><p>I don't
have any evidence of any other performers at Sophie's for the balance
of August or September. I don't read anything into that one way or
another--it may have to do with the SF <i>Examiner</i>--but in general I
have reason to take it that no major or interesting acts played there. I
think the regular run of house bands played each night.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3gBXv2Vs5Hc/X1lW5nVG41I/AAAAAAAAHRU/-mXhibDaIP0nj_2gOnYW310JLYBGyr8KACLcBGAsYHQ/s299/Sophie%2527s%2B%2B9%2BSep%2B1976%252C%2B26%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="245" data-original-width="299" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3gBXv2Vs5Hc/X1lW5nVG41I/AAAAAAAAHRU/-mXhibDaIP0nj_2gOnYW310JLYBGyr8KACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Sophie%2527s%2B%2B9%2BSep%2B1976%252C%2B26%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The
SF Examiner's guide to nightclubs summarizes Sophie's on September 9,
1976. Compare it to the description of The Bodega (above), in suburban
San Jose, run by the same management</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>The SF <i>Examiner</i>
periodically ran a guide to nightclubs. Above I ran the description of
The Bodega in suburban San Jose (actually the town of Campbell), run by
the same management. At The Bodega, a young, single crowd are drinking
beer and dancing in the aisles to local bands. Sophie's, in Palo Alto,
has a different description<br /><blockquote><i><b>Sophie's, 260 California.</b>
Tuesday through Saturday. Rock, jazz, country music, a place which is
always experimenting. Since their schedule changes, check before going.
Also has big-name entertainment, such as Lily Tomlin. On Fridays and
Saturdays, $1 cover charge. For name entertainment, cover charge varies,
advance tickets necessary. Singles and couples, all ages.</i></blockquote><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--jlnq6Wj5ZA/X3KXMS1zqcI/AAAAAAAAHX0/XzUQV_sVYA87umEIFFSzjANb9FHue6PzACLcBGAsYHQ/s920/Bud%2BE%2BLove.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="920" data-original-width="612" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--jlnq6Wj5ZA/X3KXMS1zqcI/AAAAAAAAHX0/XzUQV_sVYA87umEIFFSzjANb9FHue6PzACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Bud%2BE%2BLove.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Bud E Love (contemporary of Bobby Bitman), aka Bob Vickers</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />October 8-9, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Dick Bright </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Dick
Bright</b> was--and, to my knowledge, remains--a true San Francisco
character. Bright was a talented, well-trained classical violinist. He
played many sessions in Bay Area studios as a violinist-for-hire. He was
also an hilarious guy with an acute knowledge of current popular music.
His main live gig was in a band called Little Roger and The Goosebumps.
The Goosebumps were a poppy rock group with an arch sense of humor.
Their showstopper was a version of the theme song to the TV show
"Gilligan's Island," done to the tune of "Stairway To Heaven." I saw the
Goosebumps open at Winterland (for Thin Lizzy and Graham Parker), and
when they did "Stairway To Gilligan's Island" the house went batshit
crazy (<a href="https://youtu.be/K4MKQMTHplI">I can't link it, because the song was blocked for copyright reasons--but you gotta trust me</a>).<p>Based
on the chronology, however, I suspect that this booking was a test run
of a unique aggregation called Dick Bright and The Highballs. Around
1978-79, Dick Bright and The Highballs mainly--perhaps
exclusively--played The Red Chimney Lounge in the Stonestown Shopping
Mall in South San Francisco. It being 1978, and all, middle-aged velour
coated gentlemen and their dates enthusiastically supported the
Highballs as they worked their way through the AM pop hits of the day. A
few knowing people in the corner (Dick Bright's girlfriend, her best
friend--my girlfriend--and some other knuckleheads) would chuckle away
at the over-the-top schtick. When they played a Pablo Cruise song, Dick
would brag about how he knew Pablo (Bright indeed knew the band, but of
course there was no "Pablo Cruise"). Such explicit irony could not be
pulled off today.</p><p>Besides Bright, <a href="https://www.budeluv.com/whois.html">the front man for Dick Bright and The Highballs was "Bud E Luv." the <i>Nom Du Lounge</i> of Bob Vickers.</a>
Vickers was actually an excellent singer in a variety of styles, but he
somehow embodied the schmaltz of lounge singing with a fondness that
made his performance both a parody and a homage at the same time. Bud E
Luv would front the band, while Bright would act as a sort of foil and a
narrator. </p><p></p><p>[<i><b>update 16 February '23</b>: I was partially correct. <a href="https://archives.stanforddaily.com/1976/10/14?page=5&section=MODSMD_ARTICLE19">DKS found a review in the October 14 Stanford Daily</a>. Little Roger and The Goosebumps played an opening set, and the balance of the show was a parody of The Tonight Show with Dick Bright as Johnny Carson's "Guest Host." A version of this show had been put on at The Boarding House. Some of the Tonight Show schtick would also turn up in the Dick Bright and The Highballs lounge show. There was good reason to think that the Boarding House show was an influence on Martin Mull's Fernwood 2Night TV show</i>). <br /></p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Si7wOcytYtA/X3KX_86cQwI/AAAAAAAAHYA/RtML6SSV0r8ErhgdxnSzmDuhfukHZU5XACLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Imaginary%2BVoyage%2BJean%2BLuc%2BPonty%2B76%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Si7wOcytYtA/X3KX_86cQwI/AAAAAAAAHYA/RtML6SSV0r8ErhgdxnSzmDuhfukHZU5XACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Imaginary%2BVoyage%2BJean%2BLuc%2BPonty%2B76%2Blp.jpg" /></a></div><br />October 13-14, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Jean-Luc Ponty </b><i>(Wednesday-Thursday)</i><br /><b>Jean-Luc
Ponty</b> was a French, classically trained violinist who loved jazz, so he
switched to electric violin and embarked on a unique career starting
about 1967. In 1969, he had come to California to record and perform
with the George Duke Trio, and Frank Zappa heard Ponty (not to mention
George Duke). Ponty recorded and later performed with Zappa and The
Mothers of Invention off and on from 1969-73. <br /><p>In 1973, Ponty had
joined the premier "fusion" band, John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu
Orchestra. Mahavishnu was very high profile, and rightly so, and Ponty
became well-known in a genre were musical excellence was highly
regarded. Ponty recorded for Atlantic, and had a high profile as a band
leader as well. <i>Aurora</i>, on Atlantic, had been his third album, released in February '76. For this tour, although Ponty's new album <i>Imaginary</i> <i>Voyage</i>
would not be released until November, I assume he was touring with that
lineup. Ponty had a great band--Daryl Steurmer (later in Genesis) on
lead guitar, Zappa alumni Tom Fowler on bass, Alan Zavod (future Zappa
bandmember) on keyboards and Mark Craney on drums. <br /></p><b>October 15-16, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Country Joe McDonald</b><i> (Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Country
Joe McDonald</b>, of course, had been an anchor of the San Francisco
Fillmore scene in the 60s. In conjunction with his partner, Barry "The
Fish" Melton, Country Joe had led Berkeley's Country Joe and The Fish
band to psychedelic success, culminating in the famous "Fish Cheer" at
Woodstock. By 1975, however, like many Fillmore West stalwarts,
McDonald had gone solo and had a new, radio-friendly career. McDonald's
1975 Fantasy album <i>Paradise With An Ocean View</i> had some songs
that got huge play on FM radio. All Bay Area rock fans recognized "Save
The Whales," "Breakfast For Two" or "Oh Jamaica."<p>However, McDonald's 1976 follow-up, <i>Love Is A Fire,</i>
wasn't nearly so successful. Still, McDonald was a good choice to
headline a weekend in Palo Alto. There were old hippies who wanted to
hear "Section 43" again, and newer fans who liked his hit album. With no
other clubs in the South Bay, Sophie's was about the only choice.<br /></p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--78sw3-CzbQ/X3KYSAmKRLI/AAAAAAAAHYI/ptjNItm-Bz8QdNtkiB1OLQGQVra7j6GLQCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/Ace%2BNo%2BStrings%2Blp%2B1977%2B%2528Anchor%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="295" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--78sw3-CzbQ/X3KYSAmKRLI/AAAAAAAAHYI/ptjNItm-Bz8QdNtkiB1OLQGQVra7j6GLQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Ace%2BNo%2BStrings%2Blp%2B1977%2B%2528Anchor%2529.jpg" /></a></div><br />October 20, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Ace</b><i> (Wednesday)</i><br />Presumably,
on nights where I can find no listings, the usual local bands were
taking their turns at Sophie's, and the locals would show up to drink
beer and dance. Still, there were a few more bookings in October. On
this Wednesday, the headliner was the English band <b>Ace</b>, although by this
time the group had moved to Los Angeles<p>People of a certain age have
Ace's hit single "How Long" ("How long/Has this been going on") drilled
into their skull. The hit, from the band's debut album, was monstrously
huge. Ace was made up of guys who had been in other bands, so they were
pros, but "How Long" was simply too big to ever top. Ace, sharing
management with Yes, toured America and played big arenas back in '75,
but they never really recovered.</p><p>Their second album <i>Time For Another</i> had followed up their debut later in 1975. Ace would release their third album <i>No Strings</i>
in in early 1977 (all three albums had been on Anchor Records). The
author (and lead singer) of "How Long" was keyboard player Paul
Carrack, who would go on to other successes with Squeeze and Mike And
The Mechanics. "How Long," which appeared to be a song about a
girlfriend's infidelity, was actually inspired by Ace bass player Tex
Comer secretly rehearsing with another group. The line about "your
friends of a fancy persuasion" was a reference to that other band's
management. The other group (if you've read this far, you probably care)
was Sutherland Brothers And Quiver. Tex Comer, in fact, never left Ace
and would still have been in the band at this time.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGcTtkyfcQJkYAk7hGCHmdF6LU8xPL_AFxiJUVufsYaLe1tXCfJ2FsLOOVXH0sMEZtArUxN8Jlh7OfYRze-bqY-UpY88wfbh_867HJRbJqJxb3UEEhMTGfGWSWKVUT9I8Q1oOBLRiA3cFH8ZJEV9jfzfQ8rmUaHTOg2ztZXuzZI3WUaRbaVtLUnHXC/s624/Neil%20Young%20Bodega%2019761023%20Oct%2029%20Argus.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="624" data-original-width="546" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGcTtkyfcQJkYAk7hGCHmdF6LU8xPL_AFxiJUVufsYaLe1tXCfJ2FsLOOVXH0sMEZtArUxN8Jlh7OfYRze-bqY-UpY88wfbh_867HJRbJqJxb3UEEhMTGfGWSWKVUT9I8Q1oOBLRiA3cFH8ZJEV9jfzfQ8rmUaHTOg2ztZXuzZI3WUaRbaVtLUnHXC/s320/Neil%20Young%20Bodega%2019761023%20Oct%2029%20Argus.jpg" width="280" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>The October 29 Fremont Argus included a review of Neil Young and Crazy Horse at The Bodega in Campbell on the previous Saturday (Oct 23 '76). Ken Rominger owned both The Bodega and Sophie's<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>October 23, 1976 The Bodega, Campbell, CA: Neil Young and Crazy Horse <i>(Saturday)</i></b><br />While strictly speaking this show is out of scope, its relevant to the tale in a way. As noted, Ken Rominger's other club was The Bodega in suburban Campbell, about 20 miles South of Sophie's. It was basically a beer joint, although "name" bands played there on some weeknights. On this Saturday night, however, nearby resident Neil Young invited himself to the Bodega to play three electric sets, apparently to ensure that his voice was ready for upcoming concerts. The show was enthusiastically reviewed by Fremont <i>Argus</i> critics Kathi Staska and George Mangum (writing as "KG"). <p></p><p>Neil is Neil, however, so it's hard to always discern his motives. Nonetheless, there were very few South Bay club choices to try out Crazy Horse. Neil played three tiny Mountain joints (including the infamous Boots N Saddle in La Honda), then The Bodega and then the Catalyst in Santa Cruz (then at 833 Pacific Ave). <br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Swh9RKYpPEA/X3KYlkXSy7I/AAAAAAAAHYQ/n4poan58kg0KzJj7tPMBOuGqglrKWwXHQCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/maria%2Bmuldaur%2Bsweet%2Bharmony%2B76%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="205" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Swh9RKYpPEA/X3KYlkXSy7I/AAAAAAAAHYQ/n4poan58kg0KzJj7tPMBOuGqglrKWwXHQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/maria%2Bmuldaur%2Bsweet%2Bharmony%2B76%2Blp.jpg" /></a></b></div><b><br />October 28-30, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Maria Muldaur </b><i>(Thursday-Saturday)</i><br />A
sign of Freddie Herrera's hand in booking can be seen by <b>Maria Muldaur</b>
playing a weekend in October and weekdays in November at Sophie's.
Muldaur had succeeded with a huge hit with "Midnight At The Oasis" in
1974, which she would never top. She was a great performer, though, and
still very popular. With respect to Freddie Herrera and the Keystone,
however, Maria Muldaur's musical director was her boyfriend John Kahn.
Kahn didn't always play in her band, but he helped choose the musicians.<p></p><p>Kahn's
main gig, of course, was acting as Straw Boss for the Jerry Garcia
Band, where he was also musical director. Jerry had the final word, of
course, but it was Kahn who found his musicians. Even though Maria
Muldaur had a new record on Warner Brothers (<i>Sweet Harmony</i>), there was a direct link between Muldaur and Garcia in John Kahn, and <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/12/john-kahn-live-performance-history-1969.html">his links to Herrera went back to 1969 and the Keystone Korner</a>. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MLIbeuV_CMk/X2Z_U30eURI/AAAAAAAAHU8/QE-66Wz-nbUCNMmpuqk0byhZbtph1W8XgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1191/Sophie%2527s%2BCalendar%2BJGB%2B19761108.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1191" data-original-width="675" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MLIbeuV_CMk/X2Z_U30eURI/AAAAAAAAHU8/QE-66Wz-nbUCNMmpuqk0byhZbtph1W8XgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Sophie%2527s%2BCalendar%2BJGB%2B19761108.jpg" /></a></div><p><br /><b>November 8, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Jerry Garcia Band </b><i>(Monday)</i><br />In
November 1976, we see a rare"display ad" for Sophie's. I don't
actually know where the ad was run, but the fact that it exists was a
sign that the club was expanding beyond just being a watering hole for
local drinkers who wanted to dance. I presume all the regular local
bands were playing each night, but this ad was to entice regular rock
fans to take a look at who was playing Sophie's. Keep in mind, the Jerry
Garcia Band would pack the house on a Monday night, so what would have
been a dark night was now hugely profitable--such was the Garcia effect
on Bay Area nightclubs.</p><p>In 2016, the Jerry Garcia Estate released the double-cd <i><a href="http://www.deaddisc.com/disc/Garcia_Live_7.htm">Garcia Live: Volume Seven: November 8, 1976 Sophie's Palo Alto</a></i>. The album was a Betty Cantor-Jackson recording of the entire show. </p><b>November 10, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Spirit/Gasolin' </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br />The Stanford <i>Daily</i> reviewed this show, although they weren't precise about the date. <b>Spirit</b> was now a trio, with guitarist Randy California and drummer Ed Cassidy. <b>Gasolin</b>' was a Danish band on their first (and I believe only) American tour. They were popular in Denmark, and kind of sounded like Mott The Hoople, but in a more pop vein. <p><b>November 12-13, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Bo Diddley</b><i> (Friday-Saturday) </i><br /><b>Bo
Diddley</b> was on tour, and he played a weekend at Sophie's For drinking
and dancing, nothing is better than the Bo Diddley beat, so why not get
it from the source?<br /><br /><b>November 16, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Jerry Garcia Ban</b><i>d (Tuesday)</i><br />The Garcia Band returned on a Tuesday, another quiet night turning into a big moneymaker.<br /><br /><b>November 17-18, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Maria Muldaur </b><i>(Wednesday-Thursday)</i><br />Maria
Muldaur wouldn't have drawn like Garcia, but she would draw far more
paying customers than a local dance band. It looks like Herrera had his
big renovation coming up, and he was getting a little cash in the till
before he closed the club for a while.<br /><br /><b>November 19-20, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Snail </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Snail
were probably the regular weekend band, although they seem to have been
popular enough to mention in the ad. Maybe there was just an effort to
ensure that everyone understood the club was open each weekend.<br /><br /><b>November 26-27, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Soul Syndicate </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />The
ad says that <b>Soul Syndicate</b> were "from Kingston, Jamaica." I don't know
why it didn't say "Reggae Music." As near as I can tell, the Soul
Syndicate were sort of like a Booker T and The MGs for Jamaican reggae
sessions. The band members backed numerous well known reggae singers,
even if they weren't well known themselves.</p><p>There are no other listings in the <i>Examiner</i>
for Sophie's until early 1977, when the club re-opened as The Keystone in Palo
Alto. I know that Freddie Herrera and some partners undertook a $70,000
renovation to Sophie's--that's $70K in 1976 money, mind you--but I don't know for sure if Sophie's was closed for any of that time. </p><b>December 31, 1976 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Courtial </b><i>(Friday)</i><br /><b>Courtial</b> featured ex-Vince Guaraldi guitarist Bill Courtial, along with ex-Azteca singer Erroll Knowles. The <i>Times</i> described them as a blend of jazz, blues and funk. They had released the album <i>It's About Time </i>on Pipeline Records.<b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9xSu2-IspvhwHAypuR9cmbccN-t8RCdzxG0ecLUG2muz2AaCOnskwltH8rnW_fucW8iEc1i53dETeyDQ_tkfPfO4itV-0ke1cta-98fWW6oX1Px4k4DVyYXpHlKam2z4LHtZ17CgpnW8vMU7_7kDfMopvisCnHRdyzwhgDHI2PJYMrwjn-Ayd-qfW/s1496/Sophie's%20Snail%2019770107%20Daily.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1496" data-original-width="1100" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9xSu2-IspvhwHAypuR9cmbccN-t8RCdzxG0ecLUG2muz2AaCOnskwltH8rnW_fucW8iEc1i53dETeyDQ_tkfPfO4itV-0ke1cta-98fWW6oX1Px4k4DVyYXpHlKam2z4LHtZ17CgpnW8vMU7_7kDfMopvisCnHRdyzwhgDHI2PJYMrwjn-Ayd-qfW/s320/Sophie's%20Snail%2019770107%20Daily.jpg" width="235" /></a></div><br />January 7-8, 1977 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Snail </b><i>(Fri-Sat)</i><br /><b>January 12-13, 1977 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: John Stewart </b><i>(Wed-Thur)</i><br /><b>January 14-15, 1977 Sophie's, Palo Alto, CA: Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen </b><i>(Fri-Sat)</i><br />Nonetheless, in January of 1977 there was an ad in the Stanford <i>Daily</i>. All of these acts were local (Stewart lived in Marin County). It seems to have been a sort of "soft opening," waiting to replace the sign until the official opening weekend. <br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YpRBCy1sZnQ/X0mEvi7ROiI/AAAAAAAAHKU/uGCHG84E7B01OwKpLUQiNmT6PMVTsOiyACLcBGAsYHQ/s800/Keystone%2BPA%2B1st%2Bcalendar%2BJanuary%2B1977.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="622" data-original-width="800" height="249" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YpRBCy1sZnQ/X0mEvi7ROiI/AAAAAAAAHKU/uGCHG84E7B01OwKpLUQiNmT6PMVTsOiyACLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h249/Keystone%2BPA%2B1st%2Bcalendar%2BJanuary%2B1977.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The first Keystone Palo Alto calendar, from January 1977</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br />The
Keystone, newly-remodeled, opened on Thursday, January 20,
1977, with the local band <b>Sass</b>. At the time, its formal name was "The Keystone," and it did not take on the "Keystone Palo Alto" name until July 1977. John Lee Hooker followed on Friday, with
the Jerry Garcia Band officially christening the club on Sunday,
January 23. A subsequent post will cover the fascinating and surprisingly turbulent first six months of the Keystone Palo Alto in 1977.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB0kN3MUn7chAsxjCXYPBJyID0F3LlhOjYb1oEXwp-jL_YEPeXXmKVE0DO1I1CUFPl1ibeEE3dpYQ_TthULcglvt0CzsSNqjJxrUldA5Fs1y2hhJY9xGMFaNBnjPYhbfeqtNemftweCwXU349-43kn_ddgQflHoPuVle3thNsp43mUEIWwa2PEzpma/s1528/Keystone%20Sophie's%20Transfer%20PAT%2019770111.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1528" data-original-width="546" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB0kN3MUn7chAsxjCXYPBJyID0F3LlhOjYb1oEXwp-jL_YEPeXXmKVE0DO1I1CUFPl1ibeEE3dpYQ_TthULcglvt0CzsSNqjJxrUldA5Fs1y2hhJY9xGMFaNBnjPYhbfeqtNemftweCwXU349-43kn_ddgQflHoPuVle3thNsp43mUEIWwa2PEzpma/s320/Keystone%20Sophie's%20Transfer%20PAT%2019770111.jpg" width="114" /></a></div><p><br />The official transfer deed from the January 11, 1977 Palo Alto <i>Times</i>. The official transfer took place on January 21, 1977. The Keystone Leasing business address was 2119 University Avenue, location of the Keystone Berkeley. Signatory Robert Corona became Freddie Herrera's partner in the Palo Alto club (and later The Stone).</p><p><i>For the next post in the Palo Alto series, see</i> <b><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2023/04/the-keystone-palo-alto-260-south.html">Keystone Palo Alto, 260 South California Ave, Palo Alto, CA: Performers List January-July 1977 (Palo Alto VIII)</a></b><br /></p><p></p><p> <br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xDK25LBokpk/X0gyrsOGLOI/AAAAAAAAHKE/fVlYia3TGaEzYoCjiKm3oCttSEvRS38MQCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/260%2BS%2BCalifornia%2B20160920-2.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xDK25LBokpk/X0gyrsOGLOI/AAAAAAAAHKE/fVlYia3TGaEzYoCjiKm3oCttSEvRS38MQCLcBGAsYHQ/w240-h320/260%2BS%2BCalifornia%2B20160920-2.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>By September 2016, 260 South California Avenue was a condo complex<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /><i><a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2020/12/palo-alto-rock-history-landscape-and.html"><b>Palo Alto Rock History Landscape and Navigation</b></a></i></p><p><a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2021/04/60s-and-70s-rock-nightclub-history.html"><i><b>60s and 70s Rock Nightclubs Navigation and Tracker</b></i></a><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p>Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-2458832606542265192022-12-16T13:11:00.000-08:002022-12-16T13:11:25.972-08:00Keystone Berkeley, 2119 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA: Performance List January-April 1975 (Keystone '75 I)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y504UKJzF0Y/X8QQ20aXyUI/AAAAAAAAHxQ/cCBqRlkZoDUrx55CGlWqBg7ZQciRmozKACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Keystone%2BCalendar%2BJanuary%2B1975.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1251" data-original-width="1600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y504UKJzF0Y/X8QQ20aXyUI/AAAAAAAAHxQ/cCBqRlkZoDUrx55CGlWqBg7ZQciRmozKACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Keystone%2BCalendar%2BJanuary%2B1975.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><i><b>Keystone Berkeley, 2119 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA: Performance List January-April 1975</b></i><br /><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/11/keystone-berkeley-2119-university.html">The Keystone Berkeley had opened on March 1, 1972</a>, taking over the site of a club called The New Monk. With an experienced owner in Freddie Herrera, and a legal capacity of 476--probably exceeded regularly--Keystone Berkeley almost immediately became the second-best rock gig in the Bay Area. The premier booking, of course, for any band, was playing concerts for Bill Graham Presents. BGP booked all the big acts in the biggest halls, but that included every major touring act. Winterland shows still usually booked three band, but for the most parts there were fewer opening acts. A local band, even one with some albums under its belt, wasn't going to play often enough for Graham to stay afloat. Popular local bands could play the Keystone every month or two, and that would pay the rent.<p>Although the top local acts played the Keystone Berkeley, changes in the rock industry meant that there were fewer touring acts booked there by 1975. For one thing, thanks to the "Oil Shock," the economic downturn had reduced the number of band touring. For another, the record industry was throwing a lot of support to "singer/songwriters," and they were more appropriate for the Boarding House than the noisy Keystone. The Keystone was for fans who wanted to hang out and dance. Disco music, however, was indirectly cutting into that as well. It's not that Keystone Berkeley regulars liked disco music--they mostly probably didn't. But for couples who wanted to go out and dance--or singles who wanted to find someone to dance with--a disco was another alternative. So in 1975, the Keystone Berkeley was doing well, but the bookings weren't as diverse as when it had opened. Still, the Bay Area had a thriving rock scene, and plenty of local bands had established careers and put on great live shows.</p><p>Also, although Keystone Berkeley was in the center of the city, it was on the Northern edge of downtown, and their were plenty of potential patrons who lived within walking distance of the club. While the bigger acts were going to pull fans from all over the East Bay, and probably Marin or even parts of San Francisco, on weeknights the Keystone was just a local joint. When a band was playing Monday night for no cover, a lot of nearby residents probably dropped in for a beer. Thus the Keystone could advertise for bigger acts on weekends, but still have a modest, profitable night with local bands, a rare combination for a semi-suburban nightclub. </p><p><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/11/keystone-berkeley-2119-university.html">I have reviewed all the Keystone Berkeley performances for 1972, the first year the club was open</a>. I also <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/02/bay-area-rock-nightclub-survey-berkeley.html">zoomed in for a snapshot of the January, 1974 bookings</a>. This post will review the performers at the Keystone
Berkeley from January through April, 1975. </p><p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k9QRn6A6Tkg/X-t52JLqZ9I/AAAAAAAAH6k/cQjrbiuK6FMy4ZJN6leQDqtxZxe7Bf18gCLcBGAsYHQ/s591/OaklandTribune19741229.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="261" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k9QRn6A6Tkg/X-t52JLqZ9I/AAAAAAAAH6k/cQjrbiuK6FMy4ZJN6leQDqtxZxe7Bf18gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/OaklandTribune19741229.jpg" /></a></div><p><br /><i><b>Keystone Berkeley Performance List January-April 1975</b></i><br /><b>December 29, 1974 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Kingfish with Bob Weir and Dave Torbert </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br /><b>December 30, 1974 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Van Morrison with Soundhole/Elvin Bishop/John Lee Hooker </b><i>(Monday)</i><br /><b>December 31, 1974 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Lucky Strike </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />Keystone Berkeley had ended 1974 with some premier acts that any nightclub in the country would have been happy to book, and one "almost." </p><p>The Grateful Dead had "retired," sort of, after some Winterland shows in October 1974. A restless Bob Weir had visited a gig by his old friend Matt Kelly and his band Kingfish. Weir had asked to sit in, and it went so well that he joined the band. Also on board was ex-New Rider Dave Torbert. Lead guitarist Robbie Hoddinott and drummer Chris Herold filled out the band. Kelly played harmonica and guitar, and Torbert and Weir shared most of the lead vocals. <b>Kingfish</b> played blues and old rock and roll, with a few originals thrown in. They were a good rocking band, all the more so for restless Deadheads with no one else to see. The Sunday night Keystone show was probably Weir's 5th show with Kingfish, and likely the first one where he was advertised.<br /></p><p><a href="http://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2013/04/my-season-with-kingfish-part-2.html">A fellow blogger attended these shows, and gives a detailed account of Kingfish's performance</a>. At this time, Kingfish's repertoire was not set, and they played a few numbers that did not stay in their subsequent rotation. Also, although James And The Mercedes were booked, they did not open the show.<b><br /></b></p><p>On Monday night, December 30, V<b>an Morrison</b> was the headliner. Morrison lived in Fairfax, and liked to play local clubs. <b>Soundhole</b> was his Marin-based backing band. Three members of Soundhole would go on to Huey Lewis and The News (bassist Mario Cipollina, guitarist Johnny Colla and drummer Bill Gibson).</p><p><b>John Lee Hooker,</b> by now a resident of Redwood City, was a Keystone Berkeley regular. My guess is that Hooker just sat in with Van's group, rather than hiring his own band.</p><p><b>Elvin Bishop</b>, another Keystone regular, and friends to both headliners, was also on the bill. It's entirely possible that Bishop just sat in with Hooker and Van, rather than bringing his own group.</p><p>An early Keystone Berkeley ad listed Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders as "tentative" for New Year's Eve. In the end, Garcia chose not to play. Local band Lucky Strike filled in.<br /></p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sduobdu5dN8/YERxz1XUQoI/AAAAAAAAIR4/y5XtQ1dKawYSHcFjICtzlagYPBOZEQZOQCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Cold%2BBlood%2BLydia%2BWarners%2B74%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="595" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sduobdu5dN8/YERxz1XUQoI/AAAAAAAAIR4/y5XtQ1dKawYSHcFjICtzlagYPBOZEQZOQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Cold%2BBlood%2BLydia%2BWarners%2B74%2Blp.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Cold Blood's 1974 album on Reprise was Lydia, banking on the potential star power of lead singer Lydia Pense</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />January 3-4, 1975 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Cold Blood/Caledonia Express </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Cold Blood</b> is generally associated with the East Bay funk sound of bands like Tower Of Power. The East Bay association was appropriate musically, but in fact Cold Blood had its roots in the South Bay. Lead singer Lydia Pense, from San Mateo, and bassist Rod Ellicott had been in a Peninsula Band in 1966 called the New Invaders, who then evolved into The Generation. The Generation were known as the first Bay Area band to merge a horn section with a rock band. The Generation turned into Cold Blood, and they were signed to Bill Graham's San Francisco label (distributed by Atlantic). Cold Blood had released two albums on San Francisco, their self-titled debut (1969) and <i>Sisyphus</i> (1970), which spawned a modest local hit with a remake of "You Got Me Hummin'." Lydia Pense was a powerful singer, and Cold Blood was a tight band, so the group was very popular in night clubs and at local dances. In retrospect, however, they sound as if they were trying a bit too hard, instead of just playing the music they liked. <p>After Graham's labels folded, Cold Blood ended up on Reprise. In 1974, they had released <i>Lydia</i>, their fifth album. The album was produced by Steve Cropper, and various session heavies had played on it, along with members of the band. The great Oakland drummer Gaylord Birch was on the album, but I think he had left by this time (to become the Pointer Sisters bandleader). By calling the album <i>Lydia</i>, Reprise was clearly hoping to draw attention to Pense, the most recognizable member of the band. Still, while Cold Blood was good, but they didn't really stand out. Their James Brown-styled music was somewhat retro by 1975. That in itself wasn't bad, but it meant that they had to carve out their own sound, and Cold Blood never managed to rise to that level, despite being a popular club band.</p><p><b>Caledonia Express</b> is unknown to me. <br /></p><b>January 5-6 , 1975 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Lucky Strike/Peak </b><i>(Sunday-Monday) (Peak--Monday only)</i><br /><b>Lucky Strike</b> were an Alameda County Band that played original music, described as "danceable rock." I think they were from Hayward or Fremont. They were a popular club band and regularly played weeknights at Keystone Berkeley. I don't believe they ever released a record. <br /><p><b>Peak</b> is unknown to me. Keystone Berkeley used Monday nights to try out new bands. Locals would drop by for a beer and check them out, as there was usually no cover. <br /></p><b>January 9, 1975 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Snooky Flowers and Headhunters </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br /><b>Snooky Flowers </b>was baritone sax player who had been a regular on the rock scene for some years. He had played Woodstock as a member of Janis Joplin's Kozmic Blues Band, among other things. He had sat in with many local groups, and appeared on many albums. He was also a successful professional photographer, a profession he ultimately took up full time.<p><b>Headhunters</b> was the name of Flowers' band, but I don't know who was in it. Flowers recorded a demo album at Mickey Hart's Novato studio around this time, <a href="http://bigozine2.com/roio/?p=1795&__cf_chl_jschl_tk__=d123bb4fb4771fbb7aa11a01319c9fc6e475375d-1609334941-0-AZvKtKciHdsXXTAiQblPeXgwA-SGRxqKvWTVxXN8-MtKe81IUgClmhWVTr_4k7bunkGorAiy1n8wzEonTLXZjc6ax4Pvqe1BLwNNAYMh9e00ZJwS-mVnbW5jz80DYRipvikM3T4JzQv1iSDLLrPYWhl4nonCZS9VdoGwssMm9Swx51TUkePMQYcB_wwqYOCTbklDOk9R39ER0Cm4MiRm1ecV3KOd8qKWN9uDw9hcinmhIXZFLnw5YRd6KismU2OA4PlPviOHcSIuJVMJNw2fxj4wWBiJZwrYaYlNeVgWJTvFDapCFEdh7_k6Q3YKE53P1A">and the tape circulates</a>. <br /></p><p><b>January 10-11, 1975 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee/Dave Alexander </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Sonny Terry </b>(1911-1986) and <b>Brownie McGhee</b> (1915-1996) achieved some fame in the 50's and 60s' as traditional folk blues artists, but in fact both had already had extensive performing careers in a variety of musical genres prior to that. By the 1970s, they were generally associated with folk-style acoustic blues, and that appealed to mainly white audiences. There were few paying gigs anymore in white folk clubs, but since Keystone owner Freddie Herrera regularly booked blues acts, Keystone fans got the benefit of that.</p><p><b>Dave Alexander</b> was a mostly self-taught blues pianist. He had moved to Oakland in 1957, when he was in the US Navy. He had released two albums on Berkeley's Arhoolie Records. His most recent had been <i>The Dirt On The Ground</i>, from 1973. Alexander almost always played solo, a rarity for blues pianists in the 1970s. <br /></p><p><b>January 13, 1975 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Lucky Strike/Coal Train </b><i>(Monday)</i><br /><b>Coal Train</b> is unknown to me. <br /></p><p><b>January 16, 1975 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Earth Quake/Grayson Street </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br /><a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2021/03/2504-san-pablo-avenue-berkeley-ca-long.html">The Long Branch, at 2504 San Pablo Avenue (at Dwight Way) was just 2 miles South and West of Keystone Berkeley</a>. While the two clubs were of course in competition with each other, local bands had a symbiotic relationship with both. Keystone Berkeley was larger and nearer to campus, so it had bigger and more prestigious bookings. It also drew from a larger area, at least when there were higher profile bookings. </p><p>Still, the Long Branch had a capacity of up to 350, so it too could sell a lot of beer. The Long Branch draw from a younger, narrower base that lived nearer to the club. The Long Branch's audience was more oriented towards repeat business, however, so the same bands could play the Long Branch over and over, often every week. Bands that had established themselves at the Long Branch tried to move up to the Keystone Berkeley, and expand their audience. When they did this, however, their own Long Branch crowds remained loyal, so a successful band could play both clubs.<br /></p><p><b>Earth Quake</b> had formed at Berkeley High School in the 60s as
The Purple Earthquake. In 1972, they would release their second album on
A&M Records, <i>Why Don't You Try Me</i>. A&M would drop Earth
Quake by the end of that year. Earth Quake had refused to give up,
however. By 1974, the band had built up a huge following at the Long
Branch, regularly headlining Friday night shows. With their own fan
base, they had built a crowd at the Keystone Berkeley as
well. </p><p>Earth Quake played in a somewhat anachronistic "British Invasion"
style, but it would end up coming back into vogue when the "New Wave" surfaced. Earth Quake had
original material, but they also covered obscure hits from the 60s
(like "Fridays On My Mind," by the Australian band The Easybeats), so
they distinguished themselves from other bands. Earth Quake would
resuscitate their career in 1975 by releasing records on their own
label, Beserkely Records, presaging the punk/DIY movement by some years. </p><p><b>Grayson Street</b> were a sort of roots-rock band from the East Bay.
They
were co-led by harmonica player Rick Kellogg and tenor saxophonist Terry
Hanck, both of whom sang. Grayson Street never recorded, but many of
its members ended up working with Elvin Bishop, Coke Escovedo, Tower Of
Power, Santana and others. Lenny Pickett had been in Grayson Street,
prior to answering the call from Tower. Grayson Street had played regularly at the Keystone and the Long Branch for over 3 years. </p><p><b>January 17-18, 1975 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Grayson Street </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />While headlining both nights of the weekend was a good deal for Grayson Street, it was a sign that the Keystone Berkeley didn't really have any better bookings. Grayson Street was a local band, with a following, and surely deserved their chance. But they had played Thursday night with Earth Quake, and here on the weekend they had both nights. <br /></p><p><b>January 19-20, 1975 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Eddie Money/Third Rail</b><i> (Sunday-Monday)</i><br />Back when he was still Eddie Mahoney, a recently relocated police trainee from New York City, <b>Eddie Money</b> had been the lead singer of a band called The Rockets. The Rockets had been regulars at the Long Branch since early 1972. By 1974, they were headlining the club regularly, and they changed their name to Eddie Money and The Rockets, then the Eddie Money Band, and then just Eddie Money. At this time, Eddie Money was still just an East Bay act, but he was starting to get at least some attention from local writers. </p><p><b>Third Rail</b> was a local band. I don't really know anything about them, but I actually saw them around this period, opening a show at Winterland. If I recall correctly, they were a hard rocking power trio.<br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H6ihXtMzymU/X-5YqRJoc3I/AAAAAAAAH9g/ayieeBUkXygenA1QzCJ4stjzd_9hPK4OgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Merl%252BSaunders%252B%2526%252BJerry%252BGarcia%252B-%252BLive%252BAt%252BKeystone.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="319" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H6ihXtMzymU/X-5YqRJoc3I/AAAAAAAAH9g/ayieeBUkXygenA1QzCJ4stjzd_9hPK4OgCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Merl%252BSaunders%252B%2526%252BJerry%252BGarcia%252B-%252BLive%252BAt%252BKeystone.jpg" /></a></b></div><b><br />January 21-22, 1975 Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders/Paul Pena </b><i>(Tuesday-Wednesday)</i><br />Jerry Garcia had always been essential to the economic well-being of the Keystone Berkeley, but that was more true than ever in 1975. All told, Jerry Garcia played Keystone Berkeley 243 times (that we can confirm) over the course of 12 years, a number that dwarfs any other venue that Garcia played. I would guess that Garcia also played the Keystone Berkeley more than any other musician, although I can't prove that. <br /><br />Garcia's importance to Keystone Berkeley went well beyond the fact that he was a huge draw, which he certainly was. For one thing, Garcia often played weeknights, packing the house on nights when the club would either be dark or just have a few casual patrons with no cover charge. For another, the nature of Garcia's fans was that many of them arrived as soon as the doors opened around 8:00pm, to stake out the few seats or just to hang out. Lots and lots of extra beer was sold, even though they knew perfectly well that Garcia would not come on until 10:00.<p></p><p></p><p><b>Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders</b> had opened the Keystone Berkeley on March 1, 1972. They had even recorded a double album there, <i>Live At Keystone</i> (credited to Garcia/Saunders/Kahn/Vitt). It had been recorded in July 1973, and released on Fantasy Records in January 1974. The album gave the Keystone Berkeley a regional and national status not usually afforded to a beer joint near a college campus, yet another way in which Garcia was essential to the club's well-being.</p><p>In October 1974, the Grateful Dead had gone on hiatus and stopped touring. Up until that time, the Garcia-Saunders aggregation had not really been a band, as it didn't have a name, nor even a fixed membership. Bassist John Kahn was almost always present, but even he skipped a gig on occasion. The drum chair was fluid, and other players had come and gone, sometimes for a few months or just one show. At the end of 1974, however, Garcia made his side-trip into a formal band. Legion Of Mary, as they were called, was Garcia, Saunders, Kahn, drummer Ron Tutt and tenor saxophonist Martin Fierro. Garcia was insistent that the band be billed that way, and that the Grateful Dead were never mentioned in any advertisements.</p><p>Drummer Ron Tutt, however, not only drummed for Garcia but also for one Elvis Presley (think about this for a moment). If Tutt had a gig with Elvis, Garcia often still wanted to play, so the band would use a different drummer. If they used a different drummer, the group was booked as Garcia/Saunders, not Legion Of Mary. This wasn't widely understood at the time, but it was important to Garcia, and always honored by Freddie Herrera at the Keystone.</p><p>In the case of these Keystone dates, we know that both Ron Tutt and John Kahn were not present. The guest bassist was Tony Saunders, Merl's son, and a regular fill-in. <a href="http://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2012/02/gaylord-birch-drums.html">On drums was the great Gaylord Birch, one of Oakland's best drummers.</a> Birch was probably the band leader for the Pointer Sisters at this time. Later in his career, Birch would drum with Garcia in the band Reconstruction (around 1979). </p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi99MMj08nsEungLQGvfhKEe7h3rZ_HWeFYN7DcOI1xyKPZzluyI3avHRDWmemtrw49WPjzaSY6-xFNyYe32TY6eN8LYNj92e42HU6N_G5oRsRss1Fd8Zkcj5LUryUT8LBX8gQUEoxmXQhu3cNi-fqFHcTmxvCFKFW_JgdvKeGb8GjrgrfjzjrmmeMF/s600/Paul%20Pena%20Capitol%201971.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="592" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi99MMj08nsEungLQGvfhKEe7h3rZ_HWeFYN7DcOI1xyKPZzluyI3avHRDWmemtrw49WPjzaSY6-xFNyYe32TY6eN8LYNj92e42HU6N_G5oRsRss1Fd8Zkcj5LUryUT8LBX8gQUEoxmXQhu3cNi-fqFHcTmxvCFKFW_JgdvKeGb8GjrgrfjzjrmmeMF/s320/Paul%20Pena%20Capitol%201971.jpg" width="316" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Paul Pena's Capitol album, released in 1972</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />Paul Pena,</b> who was mostly blind due to a childhood condition, had led a blues band in Philadelphia that had opened for the Grateful Dead at the Electric Factory in February 1969. Pena became friendly with Garcia. He would move to the Bay Area in 1971. Almost entirely blind by that time, Pena called the Dead office, who helped him get work.<br /><br />Pena recorded two albums, both with a who's who of local SF players. His self-titled debut album had come out on Capitol in 1972. The followup, <i>New Train</i>, was recorded for Bearsville in 1973, but (like many Bearsville albums) was tied up in litigation for decades and not released until 2000. However, Steve Miller had heard a copy of <i>New Train</i>, and in 1977 he made a big hit of Pena's song "Jet Airliner," providing Pena with a solid income. Pena ended up living near Keystone Berkeley, so he played the club regularly <br /><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><b>January 23, 1975 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Frank Biner and Nite Shift </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br /><b>Frank Biner</b> was a popular local soul singer. Over the course of the 70s, Tower Of Power recorded a few of his songs, and Biner put out a few albums as a bandleader in the 90s, but back in '75 Biner was just another guy working the clubs with his band Nite Shift. Biner was originally from Chicago, where he had recorded a few singles, but he had moved to the East Bay in the late 60s. On occasion, some members of Tower Of Power would sit in with The Nite Shift.<br /></p><b>January 24, 1975 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Kingfish/Paul Pena</b><i> (Friday)</i><b><br />January 25, 1975 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Kingfish/James And The Mercedes</b><i> (Saturday)</i><br />Kingfish returned for a weekend of performances. Saturday night opener <b>James And The Mercedes</b> was led by guitarist James Ackroyd. Ackroyd had been in the Canadian group James And The Good Brothers, who had met the Dead on their infamous Canadian train tour. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/James-And-The-Good-Brothers-James-And-The-Good-Brothers/master/603323">The band had relocated to San Francisco for a while, and recorded an album for Columbia in 1971</a>. The Good Brothers ultimately returned to Canada and some success, while Ackroyd chose to remain in the Bay Area. One of the backing singers in his band was Frankie Weir, Bob's then-wife.<p><b>January 26, 1975 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Caledonia Express </b><i>(Sunday)</i></p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-43mTuTScphY/X-5buvOqEFI/AAAAAAAAH9s/sGdRzM2J5-k7W7a91a3LN0ovbXR-fyOwwCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Crackin%2527%2Blp%2B1975%2Bpolydor.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-43mTuTScphY/X-5buvOqEFI/AAAAAAAAH9s/sGdRzM2J5-k7W7a91a3LN0ovbXR-fyOwwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Crackin%2527%2Blp%2B1975%2Bpolydor.jpg" /></a></div><br />January 27, 1975 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Crackin'/Amber </b><i>(Monday)</i><br /><b>Crackin</b>' was an R&B band from San Mateo. They released an album on Polydor in 1975. They also played my High School graduation dance later in the year.<p><b>Amber</b> is unknown to me. <br /></p><b>January 28-29, 1975 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Eddie Palmieri/Pete & Coke Escovedo and Azteca </b><i>(Tuesday-Wednesday)</i><br /><b>Eddie Palmieri</b> was a Latin bandleader from New York, who seemed to be based in the Bay Area at this time. In the late 50s, Latin dance music had been very popular, and leaders like Palmieri added some jazz to make the music sophisticated, while still danceable. In the early 70s, however, Latin music was at a low ebb in the Bay Area. Palmieri seems to have been getting some weeknight gigs at Keystone Berkeley simply because there were few other options. Palmieri's current album was <i>The Sun Of Latin Music</i> (on Coco Records). <br /><p><b>Pete and Coke Escovedo</b> had been established musicians on the San Francisco Latin Jazz scene since the 1960s, when that music was popular in North Beach and Broadway. In the 1970s, the Escovedos had worked with Carlos Santana, and had also formed Azteca. <b>Azteca</b> was a remarkable group, playing progressive jazz with a Latin twist, with contemporary lyrics layered above it. Azteca had up to 15 members, including 3 or 4 vocalists and a horn section. They had put out two albums on Columbia (in 1971 and '73). The records got incredible reviews, but there was no way they could break through to sell enough records to break even. At this point, I think any band the Escovedos fronted was called Azteca--which wasn't invalid--but it's unlikely to have been the All-Star ensemble of prior years.<br /></p><p><b>January 30, 1975 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Delta Wires (</b><i>Thursday)</i><br /><b>Delta Wires </b>were a hard-working band from Oakland. They had formed in 1970 at the California College of Arts and Crafts (on Broadway Terrace), and had been gigging ever since. They had a bluesy sound with a 3-piece horn section. They played East Bay clubs for many years, and developed a local following, but never graduated beyond the East Bay. </p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EO5e3qVvN4I/YERyY62gP8I/AAAAAAAAISA/Ap7RuLyEvQ4zLMYqd8-ghRVFjqeSUfb0wCLcBGAsYHQ/s550/Booker%2BT%2BEvergreen%2BLP%2BEpic%2B1974.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="550" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EO5e3qVvN4I/YERyY62gP8I/AAAAAAAAISA/Ap7RuLyEvQ4zLMYqd8-ghRVFjqeSUfb0wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Booker%2BT%2BEvergreen%2BLP%2BEpic%2B1974.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />January 31, 1975 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Booker T/Howard Wales </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />While <b>Booker T</b> Jones was nationally famous from leading Booker T and The MGs, he in fact lived in the Bay Area at this time. He had left Stax Records and the MGs, and had been living in the North Bay with his wife, Priscilla Coolidge (Rita's sister). Booker T and Priscilla had put out two albums on A&M in 1972 and '73. In 1974, Booker T made a solo album for Epic under his own name. <i>Evergreen</i> had been recorded at the Record Plant in Sausalito, but with heavyweight session men from LA and Memphis (Michael Utley, David T. Walker, Jim Keltner, Bobbye Hall, Bob Glaub). Booker T's band featured Bay Area players: Fred Burton on guitar (ex-Southern Comfort), Doug Kilmer on bass and Pete Melios on drums. <br /><p></p><p><b>Howard Wales</b> was a veteran organ player. He had played with Lonnie Mack and others in the 60s, and then moved out to San Francisco in 1968. He had joined a group called AB Skhy, and then left them. Wales had been Jerry Garcia's initial jamming partner at the Matrix, and Garcia had been inspired by Wales sophisticated, free-form approach to improvisation. Garcia cited Wales as a big influence on his playing. Wales and Garcia had recorded the <i>Hooteroll?</i> album for Douglas Records (a Columbia imprint), released in 1971. Wales, however, did not like the spotlight, so he had stopped playing with Garcia.</p><p>Periodically, however, Wales would resurface in the local clubs. This was one of those periods. His band featured guitarist Jim Vincent, a Chicago transplant, who had played with Wales earlier. Wales' group didn't play songs, but rather would just jam. <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WfjmWvUMpEQ/X8Ui2Eo0aMI/AAAAAAAAHxo/oBIb9DvlKu8mEL3L_Oy1Vil_MxppjP4ogCLcBGAsYHQ/s977/Keystone%2BCalendar%2BFebruary%2B1975%2Bearly.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="977" data-original-width="383" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WfjmWvUMpEQ/X8Ui2Eo0aMI/AAAAAAAAHxo/oBIb9DvlKu8mEL3L_Oy1Vil_MxppjP4ogCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Keystone%2BCalendar%2BFebruary%2B1975%2Bearly.jpg" /></a></div><p><b>February 1-2, 1975 Sons Of Champlin/Howard Wales </b><i>(Saturday-Sunday)</i><br />The <b>Sons Of Champlin</b> had been together in some form or other since 1966. They had released three albums on Capitol, then broken up, kind of, changed their name (to Yogi Phlegm), changed it back, released an album in 1973 and then got dropped by Columbia. The band kept on plugging, however. By 1975, still a popular club act, the Sons decided to record and release their own album. This radical strategy would soon be adopted by the rest of the record industry later in the 1970s. In the meantime, steady gigs at places like Keystone Berkeley had kept the Sons afloat.<br /></p><p>The core of the Sons had been the same since 1971: namesake Bill Champlin on lead vocals, organ and guitar, Terry Haggerty on lead guitar, Geoff Palmer on keyboards and vibes, David Schallock on bass and Jim Preston on drums. They had since added a horn section, Mark Isham on trumpet and Phil Woods on saxophone. It was this lineup that would record their independent album a few months later. <br /></p><p></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_0qr7vMMvr_arHTo0wdEsYND9Xs2Z0kOJzZUPo51R-zk3_1Tzq3ljfbjBxraDs38gWvvkxy58UL0RvxeiedhX2M9QZ-7G4oMOEy9Yw0TqSbM49OiMNyYuYtSd8h6ETS2ZexNpaG0AgRQVGI7ipmc4BYeuedcd-kT0mCk3k9qaLrxSIWGBBvT5gV0s/s599/Frankie%20Beverly%20Raw%20Soul%20ca%2070s.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="472" data-original-width="599" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_0qr7vMMvr_arHTo0wdEsYND9Xs2Z0kOJzZUPo51R-zk3_1Tzq3ljfbjBxraDs38gWvvkxy58UL0RvxeiedhX2M9QZ-7G4oMOEy9Yw0TqSbM49OiMNyYuYtSd8h6ETS2ZexNpaG0AgRQVGI7ipmc4BYeuedcd-kT0mCk3k9qaLrxSIWGBBvT5gV0s/s320/Frankie%20Beverly%20Raw%20Soul%20ca%2070s.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Frankie Beverly and Raw Soul, ca mid-70s</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />February 3, 1975 Frankie Beverly's Raw Soul</b><i> (Monday)</i><br />Frankie Beverly was from Philadelphia, and he had recorded some singles in the 60s as part of The Butlers. In 1970, he had gotten signed by ace producer Kenny Gamble, and had formed a group called <b>Raw Soul</b>. Raw Soul recorded a few singles, but wasn't right for the smooth sound created by Gamble, however. Somehow, Raw Soul had gotten support from Marvin Gaye, and they ended up relocating to San Francisco. Raw Soul toured around with Gaye, who suggested they change their name to Maze. Maze would release their first album in 1977, and the band remains a huge success, still touring in the present day. <p></p><p>Frankie Beverly and his band playing a "no-cover" Monday night is one of those bookings that makes looking back at old Keystone billings historic. <br /></p><p><b>February 6-7, 1975 Keystone Berkeley, CA: California </b><i>(Thursday-Friday)</i><br /><b>California</b> were refugees from the Monterey Peninsula College jazz band. They were a six-piece band with horns, who played in the style of Chicago (with the appropriate name). California was led by songwriter and vocalist Brad Stewart, who also played lead guitar. California played Keystone Berkeley regularly. I saw California a few months later, when they played my high school graduation dance (along with Crackin').</p><p><b>February 8, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Butch Whacks and The Glass Packs </b><i>(Saturday) </i><br /><b>Butch Whacks and His Glass Packs</b> were a 15-piece rock and roll band dedicated to performing old style rock and roll hits from the 50s and early 60s. The band got their start as students at St. Mary’s College in Moraga playing frat parties, and eventually morphed into a very popular bay area club and theater act.<br /></p><p><b>February 9, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Cold Blood/Eddie Money </b><i>(Sunday)</i></p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Tf4-jY6jRXo/YERyth-AaeI/AAAAAAAAISI/IX83ZxZZ0yE8ROw_KJGQsE_5dY0sOyXSgCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Elvin%2BBishop%2BLet%2BIf%2BFlow%2BLP%2B1974%2BCapricorn.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Tf4-jY6jRXo/YERyth-AaeI/AAAAAAAAISI/IX83ZxZZ0yE8ROw_KJGQsE_5dY0sOyXSgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Elvin%2BBishop%2BLet%2BIf%2BFlow%2BLP%2B1974%2BCapricorn.jpg" /></a></div><br />February 10, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Elvin Bishop Group/Lucky Strike </b><i>(Monday) Benefit</i><br />This show was advertised as a benefit, while being coy about the name of the headliner. Local writers effectively indicated that it was Elvin Bishop. Presumably, Bishop had an advertised gig that would prevent him from playing a publicly identified show at Keystone Berkeley.<p>Elvin Bishop had moved to the Bay Area in late 1968. When he formed the <b>Elvin Bishop Group</b> in 1969, Freddie Herrera had booked him regularly at the Keystone Korner. When Herrera had opened the Keystone Berkeley, Bishop was booked there regularly as well. Bishop and Herrera were loyal to each other, although that relationship would ultimately fray.</p><p>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. His May 1974 album, <i>Let It Flow</i>, was had certainly been his most successful nationally to date. <br /></p><p><b>February 11, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Suntar </b><i>(Tuesday)</i><br /><b>Suntar</b> is unknown to me.</p><p><b>February 12-13, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Bo Diddley/John Lee Hooker </b><i>(Wednesday-Thursday)</i><br /><b>Bo Diddley</b> and John Lee Hooker had gotten booked at the Fillmores and college campuses when white college kids were re-discovering the blues and the roots of rock and roll. Tastes had moved on, however. Freddie Herrera still regularly booked those acts, however, keeping the blues alive and providing an opportunity for them to be heard.</p><p><b>February 14-15, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Kingfish/Grayson Street </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i></p><b>February 17, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Eli/Mosaic Band </b><i>(Monday)</i><br />I actually saw <b>Eli</b> once, opening a show at Winterland around this time. I don't remember them, however. The <b>Mosaic Band</b> is unknown to me. <br /><p><b>February 18-19, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Eddie Palmieri (Tuesday-Wednesday)</b></p><p><b>February 21, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Earth Quake/Eddie Money </b><i>(Friday)</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FtYImwI4uJg/X8UiFNgkMeI/AAAAAAAAHxg/W-OoC06ZFDw896RQM4x1wnmnRu6Q8M6UgCLcBGAsYHQ/s977/Keystone%2BCalendar%2BFebruary%2B1975.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="977" data-original-width="401" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FtYImwI4uJg/X8UiFNgkMeI/AAAAAAAAHxg/W-OoC06ZFDw896RQM4x1wnmnRu6Q8M6UgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Keystone%2BCalendar%2BFebruary%2B1975.jpg" /></a></div><br /><b>February 22-23, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Frank Biner & The Night Shift </b><i>(Saturday-Sunday)</i><p></p><p><b>February 24, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Soundhole </b><i>(Monday)</i><br /><b>Soundhole</b> was a Marin County band that had formed around 1973. <a href="http://www.bay-area-bands.com/bab00018.htm">In
1974, Soundhole had hired on as Van Morrison's backing band, so they
had a certain status around the Bay Area, even if they had never made an
album</a>. Soundhole played rock with some jazz and soul edges,
appropriately enough in the style of mid-70s Van Morrison. Soundhole
never did make an album (<a href="https://youtu.be/ejeo2YLIpbQ">you can find a Nov 26 '74 Winterland tape if you poke around Wolfgang's Vault</a>),
but most of the band members went on to bigger things. Guitarist Brian
Marnell was in SVT, with Jack Casady, organist John Farey was in Zero,
and saxophonist Johnny Colla, bassist Mario Cipollina and drummer Bill
Gibson would go on to Huey Lewis and The News (tenor saxophonist Brian
Hogan was the other member). Soundhole were good, if not well-known.
University and Shattuck was just an hour from San Rafael, so it would have been worth the trip for the band to cross the Richmond bridge.<br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IzMU0niqAJg/X_JZVD5CNSI/AAAAAAAAH_w/j1hrtvIwmvcBxetil1KTHoiQH2W6TOnBgCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/Good%2BOld%2BBoys%2BDrink%2BUp%2BAnd%2BGo%2BHome%2Bcd.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IzMU0niqAJg/X_JZVD5CNSI/AAAAAAAAH_w/j1hrtvIwmvcBxetil1KTHoiQH2W6TOnBgCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Good%2BOld%2BBoys%2BDrink%2BUp%2BAnd%2BGo%2BHome%2Bcd.jpg" /></a></b></div><b><br />February 25, 1975 </b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b>Good Old Boys/Soundhole </b><i>"Country Rock Dance" (Tuesday)</i><br />Tuesday night was more intriguing, and for those curious folks who showed up, it was the kind of event that gave the Keystone its cachet. The <b>Good Old Boys</b> were a group of bluegrass legends, who had just made a record produced by Jerry Garcia. No one knew that yet, since the record would not be released until a year later (<i>Pistol Packin' Mama</i>, by the Good Old Boys). The album had featured mandolinist Frank Wakefield, fiddler Chubby Wise and Don Reno on banjo. All were certifiable bluegrass legends. New Riders guitarist David Nelson was also on board, as well as bassist Pat Campbell. They had recorded the album at the end of January. <p></p><p>Wise and Reno had departed the Bay Area, but Wakefield was still around. Jerry Garcia, who had not played on the album sessions, worked up his banjo chops, and the Good Old Boys had played on Friday and Saturday at a nightclub in Santa Cruz. <a href="https://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2012/06/jerry-garcia-and-his-banjo-in-santa.html">Fellow blogger CryptDev was an eyewitness</a>. The band for the Santa Cruz shows was Wakefield (mandolin), Garcia (banjo), Nelson (guitar), Campbell (bass) and Brantley Kearns (fiddle). Conveniently, the long-dormant tapes were released in 2019. </p><p>It seems, however, that Garcia wasn't going to practice banjo just for a weekend. The Good Old Boys played a stealth gig at Keystone Berkeley. On an otherwise empty Tuesday night (see the advance calendar above), the Tuesday afternoon SF <i>Examiner</i> listed "Country Rock Dance with Good Old Boys and Soundhole." The Good Old Boys would have been thoroughly unknown, and Garcia was sensitive about his name being used when he wasn't the frontman. The underground telegraph would have gotten to work, however, and saying "Country Rock Dance" was a tip to those who might have heard a rumor. Old And In The Way, Garcia's bluegrass ensemble, had played the Keystone Berkeley many times, as had the Great American String Band, so Garcia playing banjo at Keystone would have been well understood.</p><p>Whether Soundhole actually stayed over and played another night isn't clear. <a href="https://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2020/11/febraury-25-1975-berkeley-or-fairfax.html ">I have discussed the peculiar history of this event in even greater detail elsewhere.</a> Still, after Garcia played, word must have been around--hey, Jerry played at Keystone Tuesday night!.<br /></p><p><b>February 26, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> (<i>Man with Deke Leonard</i>)/Earth Quake <i>(Wednesday)</i></b><br />Man, a great Welsh band that was popular on Bay Area FM radio, was advertised for February. Guitarist Deke Leonard's solo albums were getting airplay, as well, so when he rejoined Man his name had a little heft in the Bay Area. Man was on tour, however (they played Toronto, ON on February 25), so I'm sure they didn't play. Earth Quake probably played.<br /></p><p>Man would return in March, when their tour reached San Francisco (see March 23-24 below). <br /></p><p><b>February 27, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Alice Stuart and Snake </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br /><b>Alice Stuart </b>was a fine blues guitarist and singer. Although she
was from Seattle, she had been playing in the Bay Area since about 1964.
Stuart had performed and recorded in a variety of solo and group
settings. Since 1971, she had been leading an elecrtric trio or quartet
named Snake, and they
had released the album <i>Believing</i> on Fantasy Records in 1972.
Stuart was still grinding it out in the clubs, and generally
well-regarded, but Snake was treading water.</p><p><b>February 28, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Kingfish </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />Kingfish returned. With Garcia headlining on Saturday and Sunday, it was a full Deadhead weekend.</p><p><b>March 1-2, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Legion Of Mary/Paul Pena </b><i>(Saturday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Legion Of Mary</b> was Jerry Garcia's "official" group, with John Kahn on bass and Ron Tutt on drums. <br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SVD85v7UIX4/YERzL_Z6qmI/AAAAAAAAISQ/g_7lRh9hzbsn_tA3PqO6_bhoiadxcqRtwCLcBGAsYHQ/s230/Tower%2BOf%2BPower%2BUrban%2BRenewal%2BLP%2BWarners%2B75.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="230" data-original-width="219" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SVD85v7UIX4/YERzL_Z6qmI/AAAAAAAAISQ/g_7lRh9hzbsn_tA3PqO6_bhoiadxcqRtwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Tower%2BOf%2BPower%2BUrban%2BRenewal%2BLP%2BWarners%2B75.jpg" /></a></b></div><b><br />March 5-6, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Tower Of Power/Frank Biner and The Night Shift </b><i>(Wednesday-Thursday)</i><br />Although not on the calendar, the Monday (March 3) <i>Examiner</i> listed Tower Of Power with Frank Biner on Wednesday and Thursday. <b>Tower Of Power </b>was an established National band by this time, and they had played Keystone Berkeley many times, and had largely graduated. In this case, however, they had a National tour coming up and they had a new lead singer. Tower had released their <i>Urban Renewal</i> album on Warners in January, with Lenny Williams on vocals. But Williams had departed, and Hubert Tubbs was replacing him, so Tower chose to break him at the friendly Keystone prior to the tour.<p></p><p>SF <i>Chronicle</i> rock critic Joel Selvin described the event in his March 16 column. Tower killed it, of course, making it easy for Tubbs to get a good reception. Even though the Keystone Berkeley mostly only had Bay Area bands, they regularly got appearances by major Bay Area stars, and this was just another example. <br /></p><p><b>March 7-9, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Bobby Blue Bland/Lucky Strike </b><i>(Friday-Sunday) </i><br /><b>Bobby "Blue" Bland</b> was a legendary blues singer, and it was thanks to the Keystone Berkeley that he still had a good gig in the Bay Area. African-American clubs had moved well past the blues, and, generally speaking, white hippies preferred their blues from guitar players. Bland was hugely influential, but only other musicians really knew that. His current album was probably <i>Dreamer</i>, which had been released the previous year on ABC-Dunhill. Bland had been backed by ace LA session players (like Wilton Felder, Michael O'Martian and Larry Carlton), with legendary pop producer Steve Barri.</p><p><b>March 11-12, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Etta James/Frank Biner and The Nite Shift </b><i>(Tuesday-Wednesday)</i><br /><b>Etta James</b> (1938-2012, born Jamezetta Hawkins) was a legendary talent, but her career had been beset by numerous health issues. At this time, her most recent album would have been <i>Come A Little Closer</i>, which had been released in 1974 on Chess Records. She had recorded the album in conjunction with a trip to drug rehab, and it was a tribute to her talent that everyone got it done. It was produced by Gabe Mekler (from Steppenwolf), and had included contributions from the likes of Lowell George, Chuck Rainey and Larry Nash. I suspect that Frank Biner and The Nite Shift were James' backing band, but I don't actually know that.</p><b>March 13-14, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Delta Wires </b><i>(Thursday-Friday)</i><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QXJ1rPgooXc/X8UlWG3qxyI/AAAAAAAAHx0/AoPi2tFFBL4jL8zaTGmeQ32RJ1SBsQZUwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1161/Keystone%2BCalendar%2BAd%2B19750316%2B16%2BMar%2B1975%252C%2B155%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1161" data-original-width="576" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QXJ1rPgooXc/X8UlWG3qxyI/AAAAAAAAHx0/AoPi2tFFBL4jL8zaTGmeQ32RJ1SBsQZUwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Keystone%2BCalendar%2BAd%2B19750316%2B16%2BMar%2B1975%252C%2B155%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" /></a></div><p><b>March 15, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Legion Of Mary/Delta Wires </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />The March 15 <i>Examiner</i> listing described Legion Of Mary as a "Jazz Rock Blues Dance." This was quite accurate--everyone would be up and dancing, but the music was pretty funky, with a lot of solos. If anyone thought it was just Garcia only playing Dylan songs (he would play them, certainly), the Keystone didn't want to mislead anyone. </p><p>I believe that Delta Wires were booked for the whole weekend, just in case Garcia canceled. Since he didn't, Delta Wires became the opening act. Even though Keystone Berkeley advertised advance tickets through a computerized service (BASS), those tickets were not available for Garcia shows. This allowed Garcia to add or cancel shows at will (and also explains why no Keystone Berkeley ticket stubs exist for Garcia shows there). <br /></p><p><b>March 16, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Hoodoo Rhythm Devils </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />The Hoodoo Rhythm Devils were a funky rock band from San Francisco. They were apparently great live, and much beloved by their fans, but they never got over the top. In the early 70s, they were led by singer Joe Crane and lead guitarist John Rewind. The band released an album for Capitol in 1971, and two for Blue Thumb in '72 and '73, and then broke up by 1974. </p><p>By 1975, the band had gotten back together. They would record an album in 1975 that did not get released, before releasing two more albums on Fantasy in '76 and '78, and then breaking up again. I'm not precisely certain who was in the band at this time, other than Joe Crane.<br /></p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf_G-w4lLWZhiDhVwxwo5i7bEpPDc6CmHe6nBRJlPA40dd0SWijwBQK_agFxgQuFP2QJYVsw5CQG3kw9zAf0Pt2jDXMcmXqmxwDwHvFV3Fhw-zOzJuYi635HtKMgtFg1snwAE6idAgLAWMGb_PSw-kzgPhQL8Hdnm6-4_PIvERc2fXTnVXl-cRlgIm/s600/Greg%20Kihn%20Beserkeley%201976.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="600" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf_G-w4lLWZhiDhVwxwo5i7bEpPDc6CmHe6nBRJlPA40dd0SWijwBQK_agFxgQuFP2QJYVsw5CQG3kw9zAf0Pt2jDXMcmXqmxwDwHvFV3Fhw-zOzJuYi635HtKMgtFg1snwAE6idAgLAWMGb_PSw-kzgPhQL8Hdnm6-4_PIvERc2fXTnVXl-cRlgIm/s320/Greg%20Kihn%20Beserkeley%201976.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>In 1976, Beserkely Records would release Greg Kihn's debut album. Kihn was mostly backed by label-mates Earth Quake. The cover showed Kihn in front of his then-employer, Rather Ripped Records in Berkeley (Northside, on Euclid and Hearst)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b><b><br />March 17, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Rubinoos/Greg Kihn </b><i>(Monday)</i><br />Even if the Keystone Berkeley was a little lower on the rock pecking order than they had been a few years earlier, there was a lot going on in Berkeley, and Keystone managed to be in the middle of it.<p>The group Earth Quake were a popular local band, and they had put out two albums on A&M before they were dropped. They passed on any other offers. Following the direction of their manager, Matthew "King" Kaufman, they released the occasional single on his DIY label "Beserkeley." Singles played no real part in the hip record industry at the time, and they were cult items that acted as promos, and maybe keepsakes for fans of the band. The singles were probably only available through the band or at a few hip record stores in Berkeley.</p><p>Still, something was brewing. Berkeley has a knack for being ahead of the curve. Not everyone liked long guitar solos that aspired to jazz, not everyone liked "progressive rock" that aspired to pseudo-classical music, not everyone like elaborately orchestrated pop that required a huge stereo system. There was room for catchy pop music, with a rocking beat yet simply recorded, maybe with some nice harmonies and a catchy hook. But record companies weren't signing those kinds of bands. </p><p>Later in 1975, Kaufman would release an album of some tracks recorded by Beserkely acts, including some tracks that hadn't even been released as singles. The album, comically, was called <i>Beserkeley Chartbusters</i>. It featured a couple of tracks from a few different artists, and the members of Earth Quake were the backing band for most of the tracks. The artists were Earth Quake (4 tracks), Johnathan Richman (4 tracks), Greg Kihn (2 tracks) and The Rubinoos (1 track). Album tracks got played on local FM radio, and the artists got heard. Beserkeley would go on to release albums, and Richman ("Roadrunner" ['76 UK] and "Egyptian Reggae" ['77 UK]) and Kihn ("Breakup Song"[in '81] and "Jeopardy" ['83]) had big hits. </p><p>But all that was in the future. For this Monday night, I don't believe <i>Beserkeley Chartbusters</i> had even been released yet, and Kihn and the Rubinoos were unknown. <b>The Rubinoos</b>, with lead singer Jon Rubin and guitarist Tommy Dunbar (brother of Earth Quake guitarist Robbie Dunbar), played intentionally retro 60s-styled pop. <b>Greg Kihn</b> had moved from Baltimore in 1974, and besides playing in coffee houses, had found a job at Rather Ripped Records, Berkeley's coolest record store (Hearst at Euclid, on Northside near the Sather Gate and Cloyne Court). Although Kihn's music was sincere and simple, he knew his music history (all Rather Ripped employees had PhD's in Record Collecting), so he would have been conscious of the pop styles he was evoking.</p><p>I don't know if Kihn had a band. Most likely, Kihn played some songs on his own, then the Rubinoos would have played, and I'll bet Kihn joined them for a few numbers (if anyone actually knows, please mention it in the Comments). In 1975 and '76, Beserkeley Records devotion to independently released albums of short, catchy pop songs seemed like a fey Berkeley pose. <a href="http://www.bsnpubs.com/elektra/beserkley.html">A year later, with rockin' punk and New Wave bands releasing their own primitively recorded records on their own labels, Beserkely Records seemed positively prescient. </a></p><b>March 18-19, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Azteca/Sapo </b><i>(Tuesday-Wednesday)</i><br />Azteca had been a groundbreaking group, fusing a Latin orchestra with jazz, rock and multiple vocalists. Azteca had released two albums on Columbia, their debut album (1972) and <i>Pyramids Of The Moon</i> (1973). Although the albums and the band received universally positive notices, neither record sold well. Since Azteca toured with around 15 members, they weren't going to make money on the road without a succesful record. The band subsquently disintegrated. I believe that for a period of time, Pete & Coke Escovedo called their live band Azteca, and not unreasonably, but it wasn't the main track of the band.<p><b>Sapo</b> is unknown to me, but based on various listings, they seem to have been a Latin-styled jazz or rock ensemble. <br /></p><b>March 20-21, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Soundhole </b><i>(Thursday-Friday)</i><br />The Keystone advertisement (above) has Kingfish and Soundhole for these dates, but the March 20 SF <i>Examiner</i> just listed Soundhole. Kingfish seems to have gone to Los Angeles to play a weekend at the Pitschel Players Cabaret (at 8162 Melrose Avenue). Freddie Herrera had a unique relationship with the Grateful Dead organization, and gigs were often tentatively booked, advertised, canceled or added at the last minute. Since there were no advance tickets (that I am aware of), and the Dead members often booked weeknights, it was a comfortable arrangement. Kingfish would return to Keystone Berkeley in May, so clearly the cancellation was well within the realm of the expected.<p><b>March 22, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Bo Diddley and Lady Bo </b><i>(Saturday)</i></p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WNKo2WCozEE/YERzuRUgcDI/AAAAAAAAISY/boqkwcInBbg9wvYzEu4Jdu3ja9osmLW6QCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/Slow%2BMotion%2BLP%2BMan%2BUA%2B1975.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WNKo2WCozEE/YERzuRUgcDI/AAAAAAAAISY/boqkwcInBbg9wvYzEu4Jdu3ja9osmLW6QCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Slow%2BMotion%2BLP%2BMan%2BUA%2B1975.jpg" /></a></div><br />March 23-24, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Man/Earth Quake </b><i>(Sunday-Monday)</i><br />In the early 70s, even though large-market FM stations were often owned by corporate chains, individual djs had a lot of freedom to choose records. Welshman <b>Deke Leonard</b> had been a guitarist in the group Man from 1968-71, but he had left the group to release his first solo album, <i>Iceberg</i> in 1972. Leonard had an insistent, engaging voice, catchy songs, and driving guitars in the style of Quicksilver Messenger Service. <i>Iceberg</i> started getting airplay on KSJO-fm in San Jose, and then KSAN in San Francisco. His second album, <i>Kamikaze</i> (both on UA) also got played. Leonard rejoined Man in1974 for their next album, <i>Rhinos, Winos and Lunatics,</i> and by that time, Man had their own section in Bay Area record stores.<p>By 1975, <b>Man</b> had released a new album <i>Slow Motion</i>. They got regular play on Bay Area FM rock stations. It was appropriate, since they were proudly carrying on the bluesy psychedelic tradition of the Fillmore, but with a Welsh twist. They had played Berkeley once before (opening for Hawkwind in 1974), but this time through they had a lot more attention. Man was booked for Friday and Saturday night at Winterland (March 21-22), second on the bill to Peter Frampton. Frampton was another act who was popular in San Francisco but few other places, which was why his <i>Frampton Comes Alive</i> album would be recorded at Winterland a few months later (in May '75).</p><p>Not surprisingly, Man did great at Winterland. I'm not speculating--I saw the Friday night show, and Man's reception by the crowd was enthusiastic. They had plenty of partisans in the crowd, there to see them (although I should add that Peter Frampton was great, too). So it wasn't surprising that the Keystone Berkeley booked them for some additional dates on the following nights. At this time, Man was a quartet, with Deke Leonard and Mickey Jones on guitars and vocals, the great Terry Williams on drums (later in Rockpile and Dire Straits) and bassist Ken Whaley.<br /></p><p>Phil Elwood of the <i>Examiner</i> reviewed Man's Monday night show (March 25 paper), and he gave enthusiastic approval. He also referred to them as "Man with Deke Leonard," which is how they had been booked in February. The Bay Area was probably the only market in the US where Deke Leonard had a following that was parallel to Man, since his albums hadn't done well elsewhere. </p><p>The 2008 cd re-release of <i>Slow Motion</i> on Esoteric Recordings included four tracks recorded at Keystone Berkeley, listed as April 1975. They must be from these March shows, however. For those who are familiar with the Man saga, the Monday night Keystone show was the last one with Ken Whaley on bass. He left for personal reasons. Man had numerous other Bay Area gigs booked, so old friend and former bandmember Martin Ace was flown out from Wales for some quick rehearsal. Man would return to San Francisco and the Keystone Berkeley in 1976, right before they broke up (although, of course, they got back together again).<br /></p><p><b>March 27, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Hot Ice <i>(Thursday) </i><br />Hot Ice </b>is unknown to me.</p><p><b>March 28-29, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Sons Of Champlin/Crackin'</b><i> (Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Crackin' broadly sounded like the Sons, albeit with more emphasis on funk. As a point of trivia, the Sons Of Champlin broke up in 1977, and then reformed in 1980 without Champlin, calling themelves The New Sons. Bill Champlin, with a successful career as a session man in Los Angeles, was fully on board with this, and sat in with The New Sons on occasion. The New Sons needed to have a lead vocalist, however, so they used Les Smith, who had been in Crackin' (who had also broken up by that time). <br /></p><p><b>March 30, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Crackin' </b><i>(Sunday)</i></p><p><b>March 31, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Eddie Money</b><i> (Monday) </i></p><b>April 1, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Yesterday & Today/Alexis </b><i>(Tuesday)</i><br /><b>Yesterday & Today</b>, later famous in the 80s as Y&T, were a hard rock band from Oakland. For whatever reasons, they are always associated with Hayward, but they were actually founded in Oakland. When Y&T hit it big in the 80s, they were somewhat lumped in with Heavy Metal--I saw them at Heavy Metal Day On The Green with Motley Crue and Poison, for example--but they actually preceded the genre. <br /><p>Yesterday & Today had been formed in Oakland in 1972, as a cover band. At some point, guitarist Dave Meniketti joined, and they started playing original material. The band's name happened to be the record on the turntable at the time (a 60s US Beatles album). Yesterday & Today sounded more or less in the vein of Humble Pie, loud and rocking, with high energy vocals, but still playing within a song structure. At the time, the band did not fall into the cliche of playing elaborate little hooks that were sort of "pseudo-prog" (one of the marks of latter metal bands). </p><p>Yesterday and Today played all over the Bay Area. On the Sunday before (March 30), they had been third on the bill at Winterland, below headliners Queen. Queen was on their first trip to San Francisco, and this was before <i>A Night At The Opera</i> and "Bohemian Rhapsody." Queen was presented as a sort of Led Zeppelin with better harmonies, and a lot of guitar solos and dry ice. Second on the bill was Mahogany Rush. The show was pitched as a Sunday-night special for $3.00, and while the show wasn't sold out, there was a hefty crowd there. Yesterday & Today weren't Queen, of course, but they acquitted themselves well (I was there, so I'm not guessing). </p><p>The band would open for numerous Winterland concerts in the next several years, even though they did not rise to success until the 80s. In the meantime, Yesterday & Today slugged it out at the Keystone Berkeley, paying the bills. Their first album would be released on London Records in 1976. Ultimately they changed their name to Y&T when they signed with A&M in 1980. They finally hit it big with their sixth album, <i>In Rock We Trust.<br /></i></p><p><b>Alexis</b> is unknown to me.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2LzJraMjS_g/X8QQ8IYb1UI/AAAAAAAAHxU/La-kbB00zYwGXo6fT88JMISRrtDoKbbqACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Keystone%2BCalendar%2BApril%2B1975.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1187" data-original-width="1600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2LzJraMjS_g/X8QQ8IYb1UI/AAAAAAAAHxU/La-kbB00zYwGXo6fT88JMISRrtDoKbbqACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Keystone%2BCalendar%2BApril%2B1975.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><b>April 3, 1975 </b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b>Delta Wires/Kid Kohoutek and The Shooting Stars</b><i> (Thursday)</i><br />I don't know anything about <b>Kid Kohoutek and The Shooting Stars</b>. <a href="December 73 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Kohoutek">The Comet Kahoutek had been hyped as the most amazing celestial event in, like, 150,000 years, but when it arrived in December 1973, it was not so.</a> </p><p><b>April 4, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Cold Blood/Richard Torrance and Eureka </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />Richard Torrance was a guitarist and songwriter from the Midwest, but he was based in Los Angeles. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Richard-Torrance-Eureka/master/64312">In 1974 he had released his debut album, <i>Eureka</i>, for Leon Russell's Shelter Records label</a>. In 1975, he would release <i>Belle Of The Ball</i>, by<b> Richard Torrance and Eureka</b> (I'm not sure if that album had been released by April). Eureka played in a bit of a Southern Rock style, anchored by the twin guitars of Torrance and Gary Rowles (ex-Love). Although Eureka never hit it big, <a href="http://www.richardtorrance.com/bio.html">Torrance went on to have a steadily successful music career.</a></p><b>April 5, 1975 </b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b>Butch Whacks and The Glass Packs/Richard Torrance and Eureka </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />Richard Torrance and Eureka played three nights at the Keystone Berkeley, opening for two established local bands with completely different sounds (and likely audiences), and holding down the fort themselves on Sunday night. From the point of view of the record company, who was probably supporting the tour financially, this was well worth it, since it diversified the band's exposure. <br /><p><b>April 6, 1975 </b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b>Richard Torrance and Eureka </b><i>(Sunday)</i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-75YU92C9XdY/X_j9c_gRvpI/AAAAAAAAIBk/F0FZCcAntVYj2lZp1DN7yqB5DgL_euAOQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Kevin%2BMcKernan.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1489" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-75YU92C9XdY/X_j9c_gRvpI/AAAAAAAAIBk/F0FZCcAntVYj2lZp1DN7yqB5DgL_euAOQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Kevin%2BMcKernan.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Kevin McKernan stepping up to sing one for Osiris, ca. 1974-75</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /><b>April 7, 1975 </b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b>The Skins/Osiris </b><i>(Monday)</i><br /><b>The Skins </b>are unknown to me. <b>Osiris</b> was a Palo Alto band, who played in a Grateful Dead style. Their organ player was Kevin "Mickey" McKernan, Pigpen's younger brother. He apparently killed it on "Turn On Your Lovelight." Osiris got some help from the Dead office, and in 1974 and '75 opened a few shows for Kingfish, Garcia/Saunders and Keith and Donna. <a href="http://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2011/07/december-31-1974-stanford-music-hall.html">I wrote about Osiris in some detail when I discussed their New Year's Eve '74 gig in Palo Alto, opening for Kingfish (as always, check out the CommentsThread)</a>.<b> <br /></b></p><p><b>April 8, 1975 </b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b>Chango/Alexis</b><i> (Tuesday)</i><br /><b>Chango</b> is unknown to me. Note that Alexis has returned for another Tuesday night. <br /></p><b>April 10-12, 1975 </b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b>Hugh Masakela/Pharaoh's Whistle <i>(with Patti Santos)</i></b><i> (Thursday-Saturday)</i><br />Trumpeter <b>Hugh Masakela</b> was a pioneering South African jazz musician, playing jazz with a nice helping of rhythm and blues along with some African beats. Masakela had a profile beyond his standing as a jazz musician. Masakela had added a little trumpet blast to The Byrds hit "So You Wanna Be A Rock And Roll Star," and he had played the Monterey Pop Festival, too. He had a genuine hit in 1968 with the catchy instrumental "Grazing In The Grass" (better known from the later version, with lyrics, by The Friends Of Distinction). <p>At this time, Masakela's last album would have been<i> I Am Not Afraid</i>, released in March, 1974 on Blue Thumb. It was a nice mixture of jazz, soul and funk, so Masekela would fit right into a rowdy joint like the Keystone Berkeley. Masakela's next album would be released in June, 1975 on his new label, Casablanca. <i>The Boy's Doin' It</i> mixed Masakela's sounds with the newly-arising Afro-Beat style of Fela Ransome- Kuti. </p><p><b>Patti Santos</b> (1949-89) had been the lead singer for San Francisco's It's A Beautiful Day. Everybody recognized her voice from "White Bird." When IABD broke up, she sang with various ensembles. I don't know anything about <b>Pharaoh's Whistle</b>. Sadly, Patti Santos died in an auto accident in Mendocino County.<br /></p><b>April 13-14, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Axis/Earth Quake </b><i>(Sunday-Monday)</i><br /><b>Axis</b> was a group featuring former Stephen Stills (and CSNY) bassist Calvin "Fuzzy" Samuels, and 60s English pop star PP Arnold. In a mark of the newly transatlantic nature of the 70s record industry, <a href="https://www.calvinfuzzsamuel.com/bio">Samuels was a London Jamaican, who had come to America when he hooked up with Stills in England</a>. Patricia "PP" Arnold was an African-American from Los Angeles. She had joined the Ike & Tina Turner Revue as an Ikette in 1965, but left them after an English tour in order to go solo. Arnold had signed with Immediate Records, and had a number of hits like "Here Comes The Nice." Keith Emerson was part of her backing band at one point (and his first ensemble, not coincidentally, was called The Nice).<br /><p><a href="http://www.leonrubenhold.com/writings/writings.html">By 1974, Samuels and Arnold had teamed up in LA with guitarist Leon Rubenhold. Lowell George had produced an album for them, intended for Atlantic Records, but it was never released</a>. I assume these oddball weeknight dates were a tryout for a tour that never came. </p><p>It is telling that this period of the Keystone Berkeley only has touring acts with record company support on weeknights, and usually pretty obscure bands at that. There were plenty of Bay Area bands, some of them quite established, who played the Keystone regularly. But record companies were only putting their bands in the club when they seemingly had no other choices. I suspect the biggest factor was not money, nor the club itself--bands were apparently treated well, and the crowds were usually lively. Since Keystone Berkeley was largely a beer joint, with just a few tables, shows didn't get reviewed much there. Local rock critics and radio people preferred the Boarding House or the Great American Music Hall, where they could get a table and drinks. As rock music focused towards FM radio play, that affected where touring acts were booked.<br /></p><p><b>April 15-16, 1975 </b><b><b>Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> </b><i>"Blockbuster Show" call for details (Tuesday-Wednesday)</i><br />I don't know who might have played these nights, but "stealth" shows at Keystone Berkeley tended to be the Usual Suspects. Since we know that Garcia didn't play, and Tower Of Power had done some stealth shows the month before, the most likely suspects would be Elvin Bishop or Van Morrison. Now that Bishop had a more substantial recording career, casual club gigs may have upset his management or booking agency, so a lower profile may have been in order. Van was just Van, of course, and couldn't be predicted anyway.<b><br /></b></p><p><b>April 17, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Hoodoo Rhythm Devils/Waterbaby </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br /><b>Waterbaby</b> is unknown to me.</p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4Bt1Ye0iXj0/YER0XVL0lNI/AAAAAAAAISg/UyIHd019ABEePTaVKR6rirkatleZRIlOgCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Kathi%2Bmcdonald%2Binsane%2Basylum%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4Bt1Ye0iXj0/YER0XVL0lNI/AAAAAAAAISg/UyIHd019ABEePTaVKR6rirkatleZRIlOgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Kathi%2Bmcdonald%2Binsane%2Basylum%2Blp.jpg" /></a></div><br />April 18-19, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Kathi McDonald/Eddie Money </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Kathi McDonald</b> (1948-2012) had sung with 60s bands in the Pacific Northwest like the Unusuals and Fat Jack, and they had opened for all the touring San Francisco groups. McDonald moved to San Francisco in the late 60s, and ended up a member of the Ikettes (even though she was blonde), and then toured with Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen. By 1971, she had joined Big Brother and The Holding Company, participating in the album <i>How Hard It Is</i>. McDonald had the unenviable task of singing Janis Joplin's iconic songs for a few years.<p>In February 1974, McDonald had released <i>Insane Asylum</i> on Capitol. It was produced by David Briggs (of Neil Young fame) and pianist Pete Sears, and the record had an All-Star cast. Still, the album didn't really go anywhere. McDonald sang with various ensembles, and sometimes fronted them. I'm not sure who was in her band at this time. <br /></p><p><b>April 20, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Eddie Money </b><i>(Sunday)</i></p><p><b>April 21, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> James And The Mercedes/Cisum </b><i>(Monday)</i><br /><b>Cisum</b> is unknown to me, although I recognize the name from numerous club listings. </p><p>The March Keystone ad (above) lists Leo Sayer playing on this Monday, but he did not. He was then advertised for the next week (April 28), but didn't play then, either. This was one of those signs that Sayer, then a rising star, got better bookings and didn't need to play Keystone Berkeley on an off-night.<br /></p><p><b>April 24, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Alice Stuart </b><i>(Thursday)</i></p><p><b>April 25-27, 1975</b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b> Willie Dixon/Frank Biner and the Nite Shift</b><i> (Friday-Sunday)</i><br />Bassist <b>Willie Dixon</b> (1915-1992) was a blues legend, but in the early 70s he was better known as a songwriter and Chess Records producer. By the time he started touring outside of Chicago, many of his songs had already been made famous by English rock bands: "Little Red Rooster," "Hoochie Coochie Man," 'Spoonful," "Back Door Man" and others. Dixon only released his own albums intermittently. His most recent would have been Catalyst, released on Ovation in 1973.<br /></p><p><b>April 28, 1975 </b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b>Holly Penfield/Spectrum </b><i>(Monday)</i><br /><b>Holly Penfield</b> has been a singing star in London and Europe for over 25 years, known for her sophisticated jazz styles. Penfield was a native of San Francisco, however, and back in the 1970s, she was writing her own songs and accompanying herself on piano. At this time, of course, Carole King was one of the most popular recording artists in the world, and the singer/songwriter track was a viable one. <a href="https://www.hollypenfield.com/heres-to-life">Penfield played many club gigs around the Bay Area, but did not thrive until she went to London and re-invented herself in the 1980s.</a></p><p><b>Spectrum</b> was a disco-styled dance band. My guess is that Penfield played a set for the after-work crowd, and then the tables were cleared out for Spectrum and dancing. There were few, if any, places to dance in downtown Berkeley, so the Keystone Berkeley once again found a way to fill in a variety of gaps in the neighborhood entertainment.</p><p>Leo Sayer had been advertised for this night (with Penfield), but Spectrum was added instead.<br /></p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G85kgf3fZE8/YER0qwOkEwI/AAAAAAAAISo/SfoUY9X6pLIX_9hG1Rjpg-QoSGVmyB-SgCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/Yankee%2BReggae%2BLP%2BThe%2BShakers%2B75.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="297" data-original-width="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G85kgf3fZE8/YER0qwOkEwI/AAAAAAAAISo/SfoUY9X6pLIX_9hG1Rjpg-QoSGVmyB-SgCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Yankee%2BReggae%2BLP%2BThe%2BShakers%2B75.jpg" /></a></div><br />April 29, 1975 </b><b><b> Keystone Berkeley, CA: </b>The Shakers </b><i>(Tuesday)</i><br />Berkeley was always different than everywhere else in the United States, and exceedingly proud of it. When was smoking banned in restaurants in your town? In Berkeley it was 1971. Against the Vietnam War? The Berkeley City Council officially declared in 1972 that they were not at war with North Vietnam. Drugs? Berkeley was years ahead of every other town for any drug, for better or worse. Music? Whether it was bluegrass, psychedelic rock or punk, Berkeley got on the train the first.<p>A byproduct of Berkeley being Berkeley, however, was that some things caught on in Berkeley that didn't make it far past the city limits. One of those things was Reggae-Rock (sometimes called "Yankee Reggae," or something similar). In the mid-70s, numerous bands of mostly white rock musicians played original rock with a reggae beat. They wrote their own songs, they had some sophisticated jamming, but everyone could dance to it. <b>The Shakers</b> the first of those groups, and there were a few others like the Tasmanian Devils and The Edge. In some cases, the musicians lived in Marin or wherever, but the prime stomping ground was Berkeley. The Shakers got their break at The Long Branch, so now they were getting introduced at the Keystone Berkeley.<br /></p><p><a href="http://marcoonthebass.blogspot.com/2009/08/american-reggae-of-1970s-80s-shakers.html">The Shakers were likely the first white reggae band, and recorded the album <i>Yankee Reggae</i> for Elektra/Asylum in 1975. Thanks to Elektra, the Shakers got to open for many great reggae acts on their first (or early) American tours</a>. But it wasn't to be, and the band faded away. None of the other white reggae acts got much traction beyond Berkeley, either.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p>Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-84693996958396694782022-11-17T15:57:00.001-08:002022-11-26T15:14:54.159-08:00Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Concert History 1972-74 (Stadium Concerts I)<p> </p><p><i><b></b></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaDu0gE50a0gPpVfhg93h8T1k0tPpJnLBtpeAEhX4uJJksCTGZjKLNSQpyoGoOZKIw6aCpPNZygT8WHkQO416hfZrBfjlSLudTe306KaSsjUrHp6mkIozwqq0PRUpNjx-YYrHkTvAyJF_Ve3nQ8IGqRy1dBqaLoXoDodStJLGkQTaPnqbo778fWwXE/s630/GD%2019720718%2070672gardenstate2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="630" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaDu0gE50a0gPpVfhg93h8T1k0tPpJnLBtpeAEhX4uJJksCTGZjKLNSQpyoGoOZKIw6aCpPNZygT8WHkQO416hfZrBfjlSLudTe306KaSsjUrHp6mkIozwqq0PRUpNjx-YYrHkTvAyJF_Ve3nQ8IGqRy1dBqaLoXoDodStJLGkQTaPnqbo778fWwXE/s320/GD%2019720718%2070672gardenstate2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>John Scher and Al Hayward presented the Garden State Music Fair in the Summer of 1972, with shows at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, the Capitol Theater in Passaic and the New Jersey State Fairgrounds in Hamilton. All of the venues were in Northern New Jersey, accessible to the whole state but not too far from New York City Metro.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b></b></i></div><p></p><p>Jersey City, New Jersey is just across the Hudson River from Manhattan. The Statue Of Liberty and Ellis Island are just off of Jersey City, directly across from the World Trade Center, but JC gets no respect from New York. For most of the last 150 years, Jersey City was just a railroad town, as several major railroad lines brought freight and passengers into the Port of New York from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and points South and West. Jersey City was a noisy, working mini-metropolis, with little cultural heritage, unhip and full of immigrants.</p><p>And yet in the Summer of '72, the crumbling Roosevelt Stadium in decaying Jersey City was the first place in the United States where "stadium rock" got traction. Live rock music had gotten bigger than ever at the turn of the 70s, with band after band headlining basketball arenas with able to fit 15,000 or more patrons. Yet could rock get bigger? The idea of "Rock Festivals" was bankrupt by 1972. Too many fans, too many promoters and too many communities had been burned by hundreds of thousands of young hippies going to some muddy field that didn't really have the facilities to handle them. </p><p>By 1972, however, sound systems had improved, and the rock market had gotten even bigger. Roosevelt Stadium was just across the Hudson River from Manhattan, so whatever happened there got noticed, even if Manhattanites pretended they paid no attention. It turned out that rock fans would turn out for stadium concerts, and just to see one band. They would show up, pay their admission, buy a lot of Pepsi and hot dogs, have a great time, and come back for more another day. It was a revelation in the rock concert industry. </p><p>Roosevelt Stadium did not have a minor league baseball team after 1961,
so it was free all Summer. Roosevelt was the first stadium in the country to be regularly used for touring rock bands. The
music industry was anchored in New York and Los Angeles, so Jersey City was in the mix. Within a few
years, major rock shows were being booked at stadiums all over the
country. But Roosevelt Stadium was first, back in '72. This post will review the rock concerts at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, NJ, from 1972 through 1974, at the dawn of the stadium rock era.<br /></p><p><i><b></b></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyci62rlqCLjpkTNnvzOjM3WuEY7yryN7VkLi7SSmVV7HAAgdKBN5p8rsieG7BKMOju4HaXkNWZ0AHXdHNB6fN2i2mP_GkoXRQuyEoztjIMHlJTINK-khVxBJZ9OXcOND6vljDita5esRhZRgVK33xG6CF7CxblLVIa_8uUIsNgsiewSuEWBcKDu8s/s600/New_York_City_Railroads_ca_1900.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyci62rlqCLjpkTNnvzOjM3WuEY7yryN7VkLi7SSmVV7HAAgdKBN5p8rsieG7BKMOju4HaXkNWZ0AHXdHNB6fN2i2mP_GkoXRQuyEoztjIMHlJTINK-khVxBJZ9OXcOND6vljDita5esRhZRgVK33xG6CF7CxblLVIa_8uUIsNgsiewSuEWBcKDu8s/s320/New_York_City_Railroads_ca_1900.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New York City railroad map ca. 1900<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><i><b><br />Jersey City, NJ</b></i><br />
Jersey City is a world away from Manhattan, but still right next door.
Jersey City and its nearby sister, Hoboken, are on a Peninsula bounded
by the Hudson and Hackensack Rivers. Newark is just across the
Hackensack, a few miles to the West. In 1908, a subway tunnel was built
from Jersey City to Manhattan. The Hudson Tube is now the backbone of
the PATH (Port Authority Trans Hudson) Train lines. With direct trains
to the World Trade Center, Greenwich Village and Penn Station, commuting
to and from Jersey City is like living in a lost New York Borough, even
though that is never acknowledged by New Yorkers.<br />
<br />
Jersey City is also home to the Holland Tunnel, which opened in 1929, so
Jersey City's connection to Manhattan has been fluid and intimate since
long before World War 2. At the same time, although it was stuck out on a
narrow strip of land, by the 1960s Jersey City became far more
accessible to the rest of New Jersey thanks to the New Jersey Turnpike.
Thus Jersey City was near Manhattan, with its own subway access, yet was
still accessible to much of the population of suburban New Jersey.
Jersey City had seen its commercial peak come and go by the 1960s, and
it was definitely on the downward slide. What that meant, however, was
that existing venues were available for rent, even to dubious hippie
endeavors.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-b7iZ2OzTRfY/UcXzugpSaqI/AAAAAAAACsE/V_mOI0dxNkc/s1600/Roosevelt_stadium.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-b7iZ2OzTRfY/UcXzugpSaqI/AAAAAAAACsE/V_mOI0dxNkc/s320/Roosevelt_stadium.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<i><b>Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ (1937-82)</b></i><br />
Roosevelt Stadium had been built in 1937 at Droyer's Point, on the edge
of Jersey City that was farthest from Manhattan. It had a baseball
capacity of 24,000. From 1937-50 it was home to the highest level New
York Giants farm team, the Jersey Giants of the International (AAA)
League. Jackie Robinson's "professional" (white organized baseball)
debut was on April 18, 1946, when the Brooklyn Dodgers top farm team,
the Montreal Royals, opened their season on the road against the Jersey
Giants. Over the years, Roosevelt Stadium had hosted heavyweight fights,
high school and college football games and other events, along with
minor league baseball.<br />
<br />
However, minor league baseball had declined after the 1950s, and Roosevelt
Stadium did not have a minor league team after 1961. Once fans could
watch New York major league baseball teams on TV, the appeal of a minor
league team shrank. There were occasional special events, such as NASL
soccer games, but by and large the stadium was unused during the Summer.
Roosevelt Stadium was a civic facility, so I presume that by 1972 they
were pleased when John Scher came along and offered to book a series of
concerts throughout the Summer.<br />
<br />
John Scher himself was only in his 20s, but once Bill Graham had closed the
Fillmore East, it became possible to book groups in New Jersey. Initially, Scher had been booking shows at the Sunshine Inn in Asbury Park, as well as a couple of concerts at a tiny racetrack in Belmar (Wall Stadium). By the end of 1971, Scher
had moved up, booking shows at the Capitol Theater in Passaic, not
far from Jersey City. The John Scher story is a great rock story, but
too long to tell here. Although in his0 early 20s in 1971, <a href="http://www.nj.com/entertainment/music/index.ssf/2012/01/john_scher_four_decades_of_bri.html">Scher had recognized his moment:</a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Decisiveness has been a hallmark of Scher’s career and one of the
cornerstones of his success. The Fillmore closed in June ’71; by
December, Scher began his 18-year run at the Capitol Theatre. The
3,000-seat former vaudeville house in downtown Passaic — which was
showing porn flicks before Scher and partner Al Hayward took it over —
became a near-mandatory stop for touring acts, and demonstrated that New
Jersey could stand on its own as a major pop market.</blockquote><p>Roosevelt Stadium was old and crumbling, but that also meant that Jersey City was presumably unconcerned about what a bunch of hippies might do to it. Roosevelt Stadium had a capacity of 24,000 for baseball. Initially, shows at Roosevelt were entirely reserved seats--I think this included folding chairs in the outfield--so the capacity was around 20,000. By 1973, shows were all General Admission, including the playing field. Per a 1973 article, the official capacity was around 30,000. Of course, one of the many attractions of "Festival Seating" for promoters was that the venue could be oversold, and it was conveniently deniable to the Fire Department, the tax man and in some cases the bands themselves. So the total capacity had to be in
the range of 35-40,000 for rock shows. </p><p>From the point
of view of a concert promoter, this meant that a successful booking
could sell a lot of tickets, a far different situation than the fixed
profit/loss ratio of a theater with reserved seats. Roosevelt was far
larger than any venue that the Grateful Dead, for example, had headlined in the New
York metro area. Furthermore, its size meant that everybody who wanted
to go could not only get a ticket, they could bring their brother, their
girlfriend and their roommate as well. Other bands rapidly followed the Dead. If there was a lot of interest, then ticket sales weren't capped by the size of an arena. If a band was getting a lot of airplay on FM radio, and the weather was nice on the day of the show, a lot of last minute tickets could get sold. </p><p><br />
</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlKtImmmda6X9lrOo8fhbmvz3MJGgRegb3QPStXzSB8AjClw-V5bYdYoy3fno2IX680eDmk0K3XcxeW2n3qD3fltSTQ7Ls-bGVpfhrX0Yk4bom7A5gmL2CKi__m6qQ_qG1t6l3ckXgpqwkj5_5VFoRZAE9oermirl7n50glkVqLBsdD4foGFJxHMCy/s630/GD%2019720718%2070672gardenstate2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="630" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlKtImmmda6X9lrOo8fhbmvz3MJGgRegb3QPStXzSB8AjClw-V5bYdYoy3fno2IX680eDmk0K3XcxeW2n3qD3fltSTQ7Ls-bGVpfhrX0Yk4bom7A5gmL2CKi__m6qQ_qG1t6l3ckXgpqwkj5_5VFoRZAE9oermirl7n50glkVqLBsdD4foGFJxHMCy/s320/GD%2019720718%2070672gardenstate2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><i><b>Summer '72: The Garden State Music Fair</b></i><br />In the Summer of 1972, John Scher and Al Hayward advertised what they called "The Garden State Music Fair." It was a series of shows with major acts, in three venues in Northern New Jersey, all within easy driving distance of Manhattan. There were two shows at the Capitol in Passaic (Deep Purple on August 22 and Ginger Baker on September 7), three more at the State Fairgrounds (the Beach Boys on August 19, the Allman Brothers on September 2 and Partridge Family teen idol David Cassidy on September 3) and four at Roosevelt Stadium. </p><p>Conventional as this advertisement may seem, it was a subtle revolution. Nine shows of major touring rock bands, appealing to different fans, but all popular primarily with just teenagers and young adults. In the 1960s, rock music of course appealed to the young, but hip live rock was in bohemian urban neighborhoods, like Greenwich Village or the Haight-Ashbury, or in college towns. FM radio and <i>Rolling Stone</i>, however, had expanded rock out into the suburbs. Kids out in the 'burbs couldn't necessarily get into downtown, or the college campus: they couldn't get tickets, they didn't have a car, or their parents wouldn't let them take the family station wagon into a drug-infested enclave in the coolest district in the nearest big city. </p><p>But who was buying the albums played on WNEW or KSAN or WBCN? There weren't that many free-thinking bohemians downtown--it was kids in some postwar suburban development, spending their allowance money on <i>American Beauty</i>, <i>Allman Brothers Live At Fillmore East</i> or <i>Yessongs</i>. John Scher came along, putting on the cool bands not in Manhattan, but in suburban New Jersey. The Capitol, the Trenton fairgrounds and Roosevelt Stadium were near enough to Manhattan to include New York Metro, but more importantly they were easy pickings for the New Jersey suburbs. That was where rock fans were in the early 70s, not in cities, but out in the 'burbs. Roosevelt Stadium foretold the concert business of the 1970s, where live rock moved from downtown to the outskirts of cities, in big arenas and stadium where directions were simple and parking was easy. </p><b><i>Transit</i></b><br />To understand the transformation of the live concert market in the 1970s moving from downtown to the suburbs, we have to consider how accessible concert venues were. There's few better examples than Manhattan. The Fillmore East was in Greenwich Village. If you lived outside New York, driving there was all but out of the question--certainly if you were a teenager, your parents weren't likely to let you borrow the car to drive to the Village. Now, they might have let you drive to the local train station. NYC commuter trains (NJ Transit, LIRR and Metro North) only served certain places, however, and there weren't really trains after midnight. So assuming a teenager's parents would even let them go into Manhattan, they had to live near a train line and could only see a Fillmore East early show. <br /><p>Roosevelt Stadium would have been an entirely different proposition. Despite the fact that Roosevelt Stadium was a rundown facility in a city that was in decline, it had two things that set it apart from metropolitan venues: it was near two major New Jersey roads and it had 10,000 parking spaces. Roosevelt Stadium was at the intersection of New Jersey Route 440 (formerly NJ Route 1) and Danforth Avenue. NJ440 links the New Jersey Turnpike Extension (Exits 14-14C) to the Pulaski Skwyay. The Pulaski Skyway has been immortalized in the opening credits of <i>The Sopranos</i>, but it dates back to 1932. The Skyway links US Routes 1 and 9 to the Holland Tunnel, and was thus a key transit point linking New Jersey and Manhattan by automobile. Pretty much all of the populated parts of New Jersey have easy access to the Turnpike, Route 1 or Route 9, so getting to Roosevelt Stadium would have been a breeze.<br /><br />Even today, in the era of GPS and Google Maps, many people will not attend an event where the directions are not easy and the parking is not straightforward. This was doubly true when navigation was just off of a gas station map. Then add in the fact that many of the people attending the Roosevelt Stadium were teenagers or college students driving family cars who needed explicit or implicit permission for the trip. The reality that directions to Roosevelt Stadium from anywhere in New Jersey were easy had to have made a big difference. The ease of parking must have been reassuring too, not least because Jersey City had a "dangerous" (read: predominantly poor and black) reputation, and a large parking lot suggested no unpleasant circulating in sketchy neighborhoods, looking for parking.<br /><br />As for Manhattanites, they too would generally have had to drive to Roosevelt Stadium. The PATH Train did not go anywhere near the stadium, although I suppose many people could have taken the train over to the Summit Avenue station (now Journal Square station) and tried to hitchhike (in 1973, Scher would have shuttle buses from PATH). In any case, the journey from Manhattan to Roosevelt Stadium would have been short, so cramming as many people as possible into a VW Microbus would not have been a big deal.</p><p>Although the commuter dynamics varied from city to city, the basic pattern did not. "Multi-use" stadiums and basketball arenas were always on the edge of the city, or an actual suburb--for land use reasons, usually--on a major freeway and with a huge parking lot. You didn't have to, say, take the Golden Gate Bridge split off the US-101 freeway to South Van Ness and turn left on Fell (or Geary) and then right on Steiner, and begin looking for street parking there, in the dark and in city traffic (which were the directions to San Francisco's Winterland). At a big arena or stadium, you just drove the proper direction on the highway, and pulled into the giant parking lot when the freeway sign said "Coliseum Exit-next right." The simple directions were hugely significant, and allowed the entire suburban teen rock audience to attend concerts throughout the 1970s. But John Scher was the first to figure that out, at Roosevelt Stadium.<br /></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpO_zUh4PxGLXuo0vB-NV997yln6xs_WCkrx8lnxAG0bGC6si8vOGEBXklX5-kpq4Udijqzf7CuJVFLOF7--K69io29BlaVCGy66JpLzLy1QcsELWi6xOL2q37zo89URH3DPTRu6p3wCCxfrNMCflLvAYC4rrprzB9C2uR4xEFXZ-UF-1CeqHlZQR5/s600/Chicago%20V%20lp%201972.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpO_zUh4PxGLXuo0vB-NV997yln6xs_WCkrx8lnxAG0bGC6si8vOGEBXklX5-kpq4Udijqzf7CuJVFLOF7--K69io29BlaVCGy66JpLzLy1QcsELWi6xOL2q37zo89URH3DPTRu6p3wCCxfrNMCflLvAYC4rrprzB9C2uR4xEFXZ-UF-1CeqHlZQR5/s320/Chicago%20V%20lp%201972.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Chicago V, released 1972 on Columbia Records</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />July 13, 1972 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Chicago </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br />John Scher's first booking at Roosevelt Stadium was headlined by the group <b>Chicago</b>. I'm not sure if there was an opening act, although their probably was one. At this time, Columbia had just released <i>Chicago V</i>. It was the band's first single album, having previously released three double albums (<i>Chicago I, II and III</i>) and the four-lp set <i>Live At Carnegie Hall</i>. Since the band's 1969 debut (as Chicago Transit Authority), the group had scored numerous hit singles. <i>Chicago V</i> would be no exception, as it included "Saturday In The Park," which would reach #3 on <i>Billboard</i>. The album would reach #3 as well. By any standard, Chicago was a hugely popular group. <p></p><p>I'm sure this concert drew alright, as Chicago was a popular act, particularly in the New Jersey suburbs. But Chicago wasn't the biggest drawing act, even at the height of their popularity. The inference I draw is that while a lot of people bought Chicago records--that's a fact--they weren't a "destination" concert act. Squads full of teenagers did not get a parental station wagon and make an expedition to the venue. A significant identifier of the '70s was a split between high record sales and enthusiastic concertgoers. Black Sabbath, Ten Years After, ELP, the Allman Brothers and the Grateful Dead, for example, all drew fans well beyond the scope of their record sales. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX2Rj8XwFT8BBN-qVftqrpQ3vi8jvY3AEpHM5BoUvKnNxKJXkTbALKLyc7r8CimgamNZwv2bWu06mNfU0d46ZVqUXMQDJPiALnaMoGi7YHHfuZZ7vmXJlJD7yLp2NyNkTvVk0Tn1I5wwCkIe79BceriTNage1LxOTtbUxtkUhovk1UshRRxy4bK6wV/s600/GD%20reserved%20ticket%20JC%2019720718.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="516" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX2Rj8XwFT8BBN-qVftqrpQ3vi8jvY3AEpHM5BoUvKnNxKJXkTbALKLyc7r8CimgamNZwv2bWu06mNfU0d46ZVqUXMQDJPiALnaMoGi7YHHfuZZ7vmXJlJD7yLp2NyNkTvVk0Tn1I5wwCkIe79BceriTNage1LxOTtbUxtkUhovk1UshRRxy4bK6wV/s320/GD%20reserved%20ticket%20JC%2019720718.jpg" width="275" /></a></div><br /><b>July 18, 1972 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Grateful Dead </b><i>(Tuesday)</i><br />The rubber hit the road the next week, when the <b>Grateful Dead</b> played on a Tuesday night at Roosevelt Stadium. The Grateful Dead were definitely popular on FM radio, as they had scored three gold albums in a row (<i>Workingman's Dead</i>, <i>American Beauty</i> and <i>"Skull & Roses"</i>). Yet the biggest outdoor place they had played in New York Metro was Gaelic Park in the Bronx, back on August 26, 1971. It probably had a capacity of about 15,000. Gaelic Park was accessible by subway, however, while Jersey City was the gateway to the 'burbs. In these early days, all the seats were reserved. Per a review (below), the stage was around second base.<br /><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiaJ-lJ8vBGf-Kpe-lcYEjfDyVTgezAXHOPHwd0sMJ4a7nJxNvfmnysN2co3E-wHEnYfHfIRRBxP9L6MXy4z1NLUsrrnic63d8fKOoq1PIXs2peyij_QzE3Ey1qfhI8vLUYr2WZMKO1ZdppnprHo0SsIYklRybzmPMGAeVqLRwgu-kVLuyiOqKJnhD/s4453/GD%2019720718%20Asbury%20Park%20Press%20Clip%20Jul%2020.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4453" data-original-width="1172" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiaJ-lJ8vBGf-Kpe-lcYEjfDyVTgezAXHOPHwd0sMJ4a7nJxNvfmnysN2co3E-wHEnYfHfIRRBxP9L6MXy4z1NLUsrrnic63d8fKOoq1PIXs2peyij_QzE3Ey1qfhI8vLUYr2WZMKO1ZdppnprHo0SsIYklRybzmPMGAeVqLRwgu-kVLuyiOqKJnhD/s320/GD%2019720718%20Asbury%20Park%20Press%20Clip%20Jul%2020.jpg" width="84" /></a></div><br />Marty Packin's review of the Grateful Dead at Roosevelt Stadium on July 18, 1972 (July 20 '72 Asbury Park Press) "Marathon Concert By Grateful Dead Crams Ball Park"<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>The concert was a roaring success. Marty Packin's review in the Asbury Park <i>Press</i> on Thursday (excerpted above) was enthusiastic. There were 19,000 fans, and in an indicator of things to come, Packin describes "the immense parking lot filled with all kinds of hawkers" selling Grateful Dead t-shirts. All these t-shirts would have been home-made jobs, by the way, as neither the Dead nor other bands had yet figured out how much money there was in merchandise. John Scher (described in Packin's review as "22-year old Johnny Scher") made sure to have a substantial fireworks display during the Dead's show, too. Apparently, once the Dead kicked off at 7:45 with "Bertha," and a blast of fireworks, the crowd went and surrounded the stage in the outfield. The reserved seat sales would be gone by 1973.<br /></p><p>This wasn't happening entirely in a vacuum. The Grateful Dead had played the Sunday before at another suburban, minor league stadium, Dillon Stadium in Hartford, CT (on July 16). Dillon was a minor league football stadium, rather than multi-use, but comparable to Roosevelt. That show, too, had a packed house in the range of 15-20,000. Some members of the Allman Brothers (Dickey Betts, Berry Oakley and Jaimoe) had showed up to jam with the Dead. On the next night, (Monday July 17), the Allman Brothers were playing Gaelic Park, and Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir came onstage for "Mountain Jam." So the success at Roosevelt wasn't entirely an outlier--bands like the Dead and the Allmans didn't have hit singles, and yet they could draw big crowds. </p><p>More importantly, the fans were coming just to see one band, not an all-day "Festival." Now, granted, both the Dead and the Allmans played long, multi-set shows, but there weren't even opening acts. Here was the Dead and the Allmans drawing crowds comparable to acts like Elton John, who had sold way more records. There's no way the music industry didn't notice.<br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh-EvS-TUKGghQ1xsjUCjN1WKFStb2Ar6kMb1d9SW78HZ9lYUMNubGYUf50Mgnrt2wmIF7GdOWgOOd2urf7UY3n-ZuifXsTwk1QKjOeLbd6OutvdOHS9L6dsSTRvSWrbVOLU-axjQcMPcb-5ePs9RPPpLVebSoBIM7xgfmZr6_6txfUsoJfkfqGA9A/s500/Alice%20Cooper%20Schools%20Out%20June%201972%20Warners.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="483" data-original-width="500" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh-EvS-TUKGghQ1xsjUCjN1WKFStb2Ar6kMb1d9SW78HZ9lYUMNubGYUf50Mgnrt2wmIF7GdOWgOOd2urf7UY3n-ZuifXsTwk1QKjOeLbd6OutvdOHS9L6dsSTRvSWrbVOLU-axjQcMPcb-5ePs9RPPpLVebSoBIM7xgfmZr6_6txfUsoJfkfqGA9A/s320/Alice%20Cooper%20Schools%20Out%20June%201972%20Warners.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />August 10, 1972 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Alice Cooper/J. Geils Band/Flash </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br />The next show at Roosevelt was headlined by <b>Alice Cooper</b>. Cooper had just scored a big hit with "School's Out," from the June 1972 Warner Brothers album of the same name. The band had put out a few albums before this, but the single and album were what made them a national phenomenon. This original version of Alice Cooper was still a band with roots in Arizona. Lead singer Vincent Furnier was not yet exclusively associated with his alter ego. The <i>Village Voice</i> alluded to large crowds for Alice Cooper. <p></p><p>The message from Alice Cooper's success for the rock industry was a subtle one. Alice Cooper had a hit, so he deserved to be booked as a headliner, but by the concert date he was busting out. Unlike a smaller arena, however, Roosevelt Stadium had a lot of capacity and a lot more tickets could be sold. This allowed both concert promoters and the bands to profit on a hot record, instead of being stuck in a smaller venue. In formal terms, a stadium allowed the concert to capture upside volatility while managing risk. It's another way to say that it left room for everyone to make more money when they could. </p><p>Alice Cooper's audience at the time was pretty young. Think about it: a song about "School's Out Forever" is going to really hit the mark with 14-year olds. Young North Jersey teenagers weren't going to be allowed to go into Manhattan, but getting your older brother to borrow the family car to go to a nearby football stadium? That was probably something you could talk your parents into. <br /></p><p>Opening the show was Boston's <b>J Geils Band</b>. They had released two albums on Atlantic, the most recent of which was October 1971's <i>The Morning After</i>. J Geils weren't particularly popular or well-known, but they were a disciplined, exciting live band. They knew how to take a crowd that didn't really know their music yet and make it exciting, so they would have put on a good show even if the crowd had never heard of them.</p><p>Opening act <b>Flash</b> was a progressive rock quartet that featured ex-Yes lead guitarist Peter Banks. </p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_4948RRFRXAGtY2FCfUKpYD_1A3weltZffHfKNEmVp8Kt4L4H3XGODQIoW5FnrGF19O-keoylnb2-1rA187Xn9wSEqMKuGLLcr5lvkePFdhU9jJHdC3rpPW9O80CC2gL2MW73e5gtBxvdih1mFSySL_Emt4a-nEE392FJ4nhCt-RMzRTkpiqHZ-O-/s600/Joe%20Cocker%20album%20A&M%20Nov%2072.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="600" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_4948RRFRXAGtY2FCfUKpYD_1A3weltZffHfKNEmVp8Kt4L4H3XGODQIoW5FnrGF19O-keoylnb2-1rA187Xn9wSEqMKuGLLcr5lvkePFdhU9jJHdC3rpPW9O80CC2gL2MW73e5gtBxvdih1mFSySL_Emt4a-nEE392FJ4nhCt-RMzRTkpiqHZ-O-/s320/Joe%20Cocker%20album%20A&M%20Nov%2072.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Joe Cocker's third studio album, recorded by his '72 road band, was released in November '72 (it was released in the UK as Something To Say)<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />September 6 1972 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Joe Cocker with the Chris Stainton Band/Mark Almond/Patto </b><i>(Wednesday) </i><br /><b>Joe Cocker</b>'s show was booked at Roosevelt in the middle of the Summer and added to the schedule. Cocker was hugely popular, but musically and personally he was not in a good place. Cocker had toured America relentlessly in 1969 and '70, and had some huge hit albums to show for it. The burned-out Cocker had simply decided to move in with his mother in Sheffield, however, and he was mostly out of sight for a year and half. In the meantime, however, he performed in two high profile movies, <i>Woodstock</i> and <i>Mad Dogs and Englishmen,</i> and became bigger than ever. Cocker's situation was complicated enormously by managerial and record company machinations that ensured Cocker saw little of the money he was making for everyone else.<p></p><p>Chris Stainton, who had played organ at Woodstock with the Grease Band, and had been the only Greasebander to join the Mad Dogs tour, had put together a funky little band. Although formed in England, they had rehearsed in Connecticut. In a messy, complicated saga (described admirably by Mike Stax in <i>Ugly Things</i> #22), Cocker ended up fronting the Stainton band. The band was talented, with guitarist Neil Hubbard and bassist Alan Spenner, drummer Conrad Isidore and American pedal steel guitar player Glenn Ross Campbell (ex-Misunderstood, ex-Juicy Lucy), and also horns and a conga player (Flaco Falcon). Mid-tour, Jim Keltner had been added as a second drummer, and Jim Gordon had replaced Isidore. </p><p>By this final leg of the tour, Cocker and the Stainton band were running on fumes. Glenn Ross Campbell had left, Alan White had replaced one of the drummers, and no one was happy. Cocker was a huge draw, however, and sold a lot of concert tickets. Everyone but Cocker made money off Joe. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGEk70KDrHPXvALv5P4uudovpislLE2MkqIYwyFLAcYF_cT6IoSsuEqOWtu35yIn7gz97t7BbXJGE437bFMvT-PbiB_qFRJheoBq1OLOtUk-oN4-7L4jQUuY6bvv4HWYWQZWCuJQ4iIu8GQoyFIg6edYOqEulOiasYdFPWRUfm43THIpbB78ajJxJg/s465/Roll%20Em%20Smoke%20Em%20Patto%20Island%201972.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="450" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGEk70KDrHPXvALv5P4uudovpislLE2MkqIYwyFLAcYF_cT6IoSsuEqOWtu35yIn7gz97t7BbXJGE437bFMvT-PbiB_qFRJheoBq1OLOtUk-oN4-7L4jQUuY6bvv4HWYWQZWCuJQ4iIu8GQoyFIg6edYOqEulOiasYdFPWRUfm43THIpbB78ajJxJg/s320/Roll%20Em%20Smoke%20Em%20Patto%20Island%201972.jpg" width="310" /></a></div><br />This show was advertised, but not reviewed in any of the New Jersey papers. <b>Mark-Almond</b> was an intriguing jazz-rock band featuring two former members of John Mayall's <i>Turning Point</i> band. Cool as they were--I saw them live in '73, so I'm not guessing--their semi-acoustic jazz-rock wasn't really the right fit for a stadium. <b>Patto</b> was a fascinating band with singer Mike Patto and the great guitarist Ollie Halsall. They put out quirky, powerful albums, and could have gone over well, but absolutely no one in the crowd would have heard of them. Patto's current album would have been their first on Island, produced by Muff Winwood, <i>Roll 'Em Smoke Em, Put Another Line Out</i>. <p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRssHJKSwoR0tcXWHQhkv2sM_NJT6_10bzyDPag5nNdRXShTkK2oP51XpT46RQ8RezmOE3JwYgaS_w9m246LsdI7ojdaDMpzhhLP66WAJORjYq3MzTHjJkNqdOtREV2dSP4C8dbtHTKaJV55PpCsybWDYBxPw50D_2HrgAFjQAu5w2w1-uORNik5v_/s400/Leon%20Live%20Shelter%2073.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="392" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRssHJKSwoR0tcXWHQhkv2sM_NJT6_10bzyDPag5nNdRXShTkK2oP51XpT46RQ8RezmOE3JwYgaS_w9m246LsdI7ojdaDMpzhhLP66WAJORjYq3MzTHjJkNqdOtREV2dSP4C8dbtHTKaJV55PpCsybWDYBxPw50D_2HrgAFjQAu5w2w1-uORNik5v_/s320/Leon%20Live%20Shelter%2073.jpg" width="314" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Leon Russell's 1972 live show was captured (in Long Beach) on the Shelter triple-album Leon Live, released in 1973</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />September 17, 1972 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Leon Russell/Captain Beyond </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br /><b>Leon Russell</b> had been a producer, arranger and Hollywood session musician in the 1960s, but the 70s gave him a chance to shine. Russell didn't have an obvious singer's voice, but he was expressive in a Bob Dylan kind of way. After producing for Joe Cocker and Eric Clapton, he had stepped out on his own. <i>Carney</i>, his third album for his own Shelter Records, had been released earlier in 1972. The album was huge, and would reach #2 on the <i>Billboard</i> charts. He even had a two-sided hit single with "Tight Rope" and 'Masquerade" ("Masquerade" would go on to be an even bigger hit for George Benson). <p></p><p>For his stage show, Russell combined elements of old-time rock and roll with Southern gospel music, which was one of the key sources for old rock and roll in any case. He merged that with his own fine songs and a disciplined stage band. His group always featured crack Hollywood session musicians: in this case Carl Radle (bass), Chuck Blackwell (drums), Joey Cooper and Don Preston (guitars), Jon Gallie (organ) and Ambrose Campbell (congas). Russell himself played piano and guitar, with the Reverend Patrick Henderson and a gospel quartet providing musical support along with his rock band. </p><p>Russell had an energetic, exciting show, described in detail in Enid-Joan Parker's review in the Asbury Park <i>Press</i> (September 21). Although Leon's show appeared frenetic, in fact it was carefully arranged and presented, befitting an experienced producer like himself. Parker's enthusiastic description of the show tracks exactly with the album <i>Leon Live</i>, released in '73 and recorded a few weeks earlier (August 28) in Long Beach. Russell knew how to bring it, but he didn't leave anything to chance.</p><p>Opening the show was <b>Captain Beyond</b>, an interesting band on Capricorn Records. Despite some Southern members and their presence on the Allman Brothers label, they sounded more like an English band than an American one. </p><p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhobD_SR8e77aiaaCjtPyqePG-RyK0wyig66W3KewmLeYStm1y8GIkBwq2xjD8YgFTIDun7qkiIZO861BavsGg8dJ0u54f2R5aiKhcrQ-Qt1NN6E4ljK5-fRwH6MJLukgKapUWSUIErWHxccCSZfiCQ_61WxPAP5khrCXRuL7QE-WDIR3yzsVgcrhb0/s1200/GD%20ticket%2019720919.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="377" data-original-width="1200" height="101" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhobD_SR8e77aiaaCjtPyqePG-RyK0wyig66W3KewmLeYStm1y8GIkBwq2xjD8YgFTIDun7qkiIZO861BavsGg8dJ0u54f2R5aiKhcrQ-Qt1NN6E4ljK5-fRwH6MJLukgKapUWSUIErWHxccCSZfiCQ_61WxPAP5khrCXRuL7QE-WDIR3yzsVgcrhb0/s320/GD%20ticket%2019720919.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><b>September 19, 1972 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Grateful Dead/New Riders of The Purple Sage </b><i>(Tuesday)</i><br />We don't have to guess how well the Grateful Dead concert at Roosevelt Stadium in July had gone. The Dead returned on Tuesday, September 19. This show would have had to have been booked as soon as the July show happened, so the success must have been self-evident. This time, the <b>New Riders of The Purple Sage</b> were along for the ride. A "Special Guest" was promoted, too, but that turned out to be a "Swami" on a bed of nails. <br /></p><p>Patrick Carr described the show in the <i>Village Voice</i> (<a href="http://deadsources.blogspot.com/2014/09/july-18-1972-dylan-stalks-dead.html"><i>thanks to the indispensable Dead Sources</i></a>). Carr mentions that Bob Dylan was backstage, and wonders why 23,000 fans would show up for the Dead, even in the rain (he also alludes to the big pre-teen crowd for Alice Cooper). Carr's Manhattan contempt for being forced to go out to Jersey City is palpable, but live rock music was moving to the suburbs. </p><p>Another innovation can be discerned from the September Dead ticket (above). There weren't reserved seats--just General Admission. This pattern would remain in force at stadium rock concerts until the 1980s. Carloads of teenagers from high schools and college dorms wanted to meet up with other carloads, and having to plan in advance with reserved seats didn't fit the model. If it was catch-as-catch-can, however, one ticket was good as another. Also, conveniently, a smart promoter could sell a few more tickets than the fire department really wanted them to, yet another attraction for general admission stadium shows. <br /></p><p>The High School and College Football season began on the weekend
following the Grateful Dead show. Roosevelt Stadium was taken over by
various local football teams, and in any case the weather in the
Northeast became daunting for booking outdoor shows. There was no
question, however, that the shows at Roosevelt Stadium had drawn well,
and made a profit for all concerned. Since Roosevelt Stadium was a Civic
establishment, Jersey City had to be pleased at the chance for summer
revenue.</p><p>As part of the 1972 Garden State Music Fair, John Scher and Al Hayward also promoted some shows at the New Jersey State Fairgounds in Hamilton, near Trenton. These will be the subject of a post in their own right, but a few comments are in order. The State Fairgounds were, in fact, private property. While I think music had been part of events at the Fairgrounds for some time, Scher seems to have been the first to book long-haired FM rock and roll at the venue. There may have been a music pavilion of some sort, but the major rock concerts were held at the grounds of the Trenton Speedway, an "Indianapolis-style" auto racing facility on the Fairgrounds site.</p><p>Rock concerts at the Trenton Speedway, few as they were, are a subject of great interest to me, as the opportunity to use auto racing facilities near major population centers were very rare. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2009/10/august-24-1975-trenton-speedway-new.html">There were only a few such events at the Trenton Speedway, and the final one (August 24, 1975, with Aerosmith and Kingfish) was a debacle of legendary proportions</a>. Nonetheless, Scher and Hayward's first effort, the Beach Boys, The Kinks and Looking Glass ("Brandy") drew 9138 on August 19, 1972. The second concert was canceled (the Allman Brothers on September 2, listed above as "Surprise Group"). Teen idol and Partridge Family star David Cassidy was booked for September 3, but I don't know if that occurred. </p><p>The rock industry was clearly intrigued by a series of rock concerts in a stadium with great suburban access. Trenton Speedway was not something found in most cities, but just about every city had stadium on the edge of town, easy to reach by freeway from the suburbs, with a big parking lot. If that stadium was owned by the City or County--most 60s stadiums were--they were looking for revenue. The Roosevelt Stadium model could be repeated. Indeed, within a few years, suburban stadium rock concerts were the biggest event on every region's calendar.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgId3GE0GpxXTwtpIkPosur05D0BnCvn7O8B6CVREKijprG3v-qJhRfh-QZXVH8p-KMSTB7J7XJcxY96FE4YDVOY3P5MSsYuV6ZcmOUiDgeKvu7A_ABZSMtkJBbNQ8395xSPsqKAwvQEl9l3OBsKCoYP7BPSzMrjEAjBeluqbMB_IvsiCuNhOtAbEIK/s2416/GD%20Yale%20Bowl%2019710731.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2416" data-original-width="1848" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgId3GE0GpxXTwtpIkPosur05D0BnCvn7O8B6CVREKijprG3v-qJhRfh-QZXVH8p-KMSTB7J7XJcxY96FE4YDVOY3P5MSsYuV6ZcmOUiDgeKvu7A_ABZSMtkJBbNQ8395xSPsqKAwvQEl9l3OBsKCoYP7BPSzMrjEAjBeluqbMB_IvsiCuNhOtAbEIK/s320/GD%20Yale%20Bowl%2019710731.jpg" width="245" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>The Grateful Dead at the Yale Bowl, New Haven, CT, on July 31, 1971. Things did not go well.</i></b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><i>Parrallel Developments</i></b><br />The concert series at Roosevelt Stadium hadn't happened in a vacuum. The live rock market had exploded, and numerous concerts had been held in football stadiums around the country, particularly on the Eastern Seaboard. Most of these were on college campuses, and most of those were not at schools that had particularly large football stadiums. In the Summer of '69, promoters were looking for places to stage rock festivals, all-day events with numerous acts, and stadiums were tried a few times. One of the issues was that the largest and most accessible stadiums, typically baseball venues in larger cities, did not want to allow crowds on the playing fields. In any case, the typical model was a full day's booking of acts, many of them minor, and a stadiums did not seem to represent the "freedom" that made otherwise spartan accommodations at rock festivals appealing. <p></p><p>Here and there, a few single act events at large stadiums took place. The Grateful Dead had been booked at the Yale Bowl on July 31, 1971, as part of a series of concerts. They were the sole act. Way too many people showed up, however, and fought with the cops because they thought "music should be free," and Yale canceled future bookings at the Yale Bowl. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_bvG-qRkThU2pYqabFyruiBLy6S-GFKYxwNG2eS5unYL6RpDMTgjhECmfIsOI9H9pSMMvidw7PXLuKNL635poKBuo5cSfW7m_btqw7jWmabnWQs5ZsU6836buvGuJg7w95cyGficUs6jCt2ImEXPUSW4Uy8wMMEAvzDNmHi2MxMM2bQNaF_-zQepw/s888/Berlin%20Airlift%20Allmans%2019700725.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="888" data-original-width="591" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_bvG-qRkThU2pYqabFyruiBLy6S-GFKYxwNG2eS5unYL6RpDMTgjhECmfIsOI9H9pSMMvidw7PXLuKNL635poKBuo5cSfW7m_btqw7jWmabnWQs5ZsU6836buvGuJg7w95cyGficUs6jCt2ImEXPUSW4Uy8wMMEAvzDNmHi2MxMM2bQNaF_-zQepw/s320/Berlin%20Airlift%20Allmans%2019700725.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><b>July 25, 1970 <i>Berlin Airlift Festival, West of Ocean City, MD</i>: Steppenwolf/Allman Brothers/others </b><i>(Sunday) canceled</i><br />1969 had been the Summer of rock festivals, good or bad, and 1970 was the Summer of mostly canceled rock festivals. A rock festival had been scheduled for an empty field near Berlin, Maryland, not far from the coastal resort town of Ocean City. The all-day festival was at some farm, and featured various acts. A judge's injunction stopped the show. This was common throughout 1970. Unlike almost all of these events, however, the Berlin Airlift festival was moved to a stadium, and took place, albeit with a different headliner.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0vtjjr2kjDJdrnwZCNaLBUV0qohP3hQShmWfMHV1xAWdaxd_hQ9tJNFPbe9Bx7TeixxsseiKhHGhjv6kuZkBr3G-SrV5l__XzGivq0l-mXxXBmpvnbqrNMkgruBFO0qw8E-n1xIaKY_1x_h-y9h3XxOmKGOkRqlwAOGUHLlsw4sohDPsPDb9chg_0/s660/Berlin%20Airlift%20DC%2019700920.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="660" data-original-width="615" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0vtjjr2kjDJdrnwZCNaLBUV0qohP3hQShmWfMHV1xAWdaxd_hQ9tJNFPbe9Bx7TeixxsseiKhHGhjv6kuZkBr3G-SrV5l__XzGivq0l-mXxXBmpvnbqrNMkgruBFO0qw8E-n1xIaKY_1x_h-y9h3XxOmKGOkRqlwAOGUHLlsw4sohDPsPDb9chg_0/s320/Berlin%20Airlift%20DC%2019700920.jpg" width="298" /></a></div><b>September 20, 1970 RFK Stadium, Washington, DC: Grand Funk Railroad/Pacific Gas & Electric/Allman Brothers Band/Crow/Crank/Sageoworth/Tractor <i>(Sunday) Berlin Airlift festival</i></b><br />The revised Berlin Airlift was headlined by Grand Funk Railroad, then an absolutely huge band. Also booked were two bands with albums (P,G&E and the Allman Brothers) and some local groups. The show is only recalled because the Allman Brothers performed (<a href="https://www.duaneallman.info/chronologypart3.htm">I learned about it from the great Duane Allman site</a>). Although a tremendous live act, the Brothers had not even released their second album, and only had a real following in the Southeast. <p></p><p>Apparently, though, something like 35,000 showed up to see Grand Funk. At this time, RFK was the home of the Washington Senators baseball team, but they had just departed for Arlington, TX (to become the Texas Rangers). Things did not go terribly, and there was no longer a baseball tenant, so when there was an opportunity for a stadium concert in 1972, the offer wasn't rejected. <br /><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2eldDef5jfRn7ZQ_x7d1UTNNOuPGSh4MESXqyjOaQdibQ8UeZLXtr5miVRZwS8CE4hAfZdPQxliXS8d1-TRvNc1_1CctQbGEo18kdptPRjBb0Pp3Ff5Vc2eGY6olPaEocBdUaDzn137Uda9_8fuKjoBqK9ju3H0sTmQBPA2ZmdWzqL3YGfbaj4mfS/s332/Rolling%20Stones%20DC%2019720704%20ticket.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="152" data-original-width="332" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2eldDef5jfRn7ZQ_x7d1UTNNOuPGSh4MESXqyjOaQdibQ8UeZLXtr5miVRZwS8CE4hAfZdPQxliXS8d1-TRvNc1_1CctQbGEo18kdptPRjBb0Pp3Ff5Vc2eGY6olPaEocBdUaDzn137Uda9_8fuKjoBqK9ju3H0sTmQBPA2ZmdWzqL3YGfbaj4mfS/s320/Rolling%20Stones%20DC%2019720704%20ticket.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><b>July 4, 1972 RFK Stadium, Washington, DC: Rolling Stones/Stevie Wonder </b><i>(Tuesday) Electric Factory Presents </i><br />In a parallel development to Scher's presentations at Roosevelt Stadium, the Philadelphia-based Electric Factory presented the Rolling Stones at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC. The concert was general admission, but the stage was at second base, and no fans were allowed in the outfield. Around 40,000 tickets were sold. There was pressure for tickets, and cops ended up firing off tear gas outside the gates and it blew back into the stadium. The atmosphere wasn't great (even if the music was) and there were no more concerts at RFK until the next Summer, when the Dead and Allman Brothers shared the weekend on June 9-10, 1973. <br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3OCpQqb7Q4Dcye9qOcxU3QIbn8xSvFccAKdgmw9TJE-FFcBJu3cXg4DLs2s6xSc67bceZAiGLtTOAZp2gzQjy59Ys_NjVBlwC75kYBxa-sc0QF7rK8qAyVmys053oq65S6dM2H4U7iSSScwwbMq04mEAYNsA9IcOouET86VckrWG9hzDUzpJpE0dt/s1333/Roosevelt%2019730726.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1333" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3OCpQqb7Q4Dcye9qOcxU3QIbn8xSvFccAKdgmw9TJE-FFcBJu3cXg4DLs2s6xSc67bceZAiGLtTOAZp2gzQjy59Ys_NjVBlwC75kYBxa-sc0QF7rK8qAyVmys053oq65S6dM2H4U7iSSScwwbMq04mEAYNsA9IcOouET86VckrWG9hzDUzpJpE0dt/s320/Roosevelt%2019730726.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p><br /><i><b>Roosevelt Stadium Rock Concerts, 1973</b></i><br />Rock concerts at Roosevelt Stadium had been been a big success in the Summer of '72. It was no surprise that John Scher was back with a regular series of shows at Roosevelt in the Summer of '73. General admission stadium concerts were starting to catch on around the country, but Scher was far ahead of other promoters. Nationwide, there were a few Led Zeppelin concerts (Tampa and Atlanta on May 4 and 5, and San Francisco on June 1) and a few Grateful Dead concerts (San Francisco on May 26 and RFK in DC on June 9-10), and Pink Floyd had a stadium show in Tampa (June 29), but only Jersey City had an entire series of stadium shows all Summer long. <br /></p><p>In 1973, all tickets were general admission. Al Hayward was no longer Scher's partner, pretty heady stuff for the 20-something Scher. The fine print in the ad for the summer series (from the <i>Village Voice</i>) says "leave your car at home--take PATH from the World Trade Center of 33rd Street and 6th Avenue to Journal Square [Station]...Shuttle Busses direct to the stadium from there." Scher had figured out how to get the largely car-less NYC Metro rock audience to the stadium. Thus Roosevelt captured both the suburban audience from New Jersey (and probably Philadelphia) and the city audience as well. </p><p>The planned schedule was:</p><p><b></b></p><blockquote><p><b>June 16, 1973 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Pink Floyd</b><i> (Saturday)</i></p><p><b>July 26, 1973 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Three Dog Night/T Rex </b><i>(Thursday)</i><b><br /></b></p><p><b>July 30-August 1, 1973 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Grateful Dead/The Band </b><i>(Monday-Wednesday)</i><b><br /></b></p><p><b>August 12, 1973 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Santana/Tower of Power </b><i>(Sunday)</i><b><br /></b></p><p><b>August 18, 1973 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Grand Funk Railroad/Blue Oyster Cult/Lee Michaels </b><i>(Saturday)</i><b><br /></b></p><p><b>August 25, 1973 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Beach Boys/Poco </b><i>(Saturday)</i><b><br /></b></p><p><b>August 31, 1973 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Allman Brothers Band/Grinderswitch</b><i> (Friday)</i></p></blockquote><p><i></i></p><p>The Summer concert series at Roosevelt was a big success, but the shows didn't quite work out the way they were booked. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh544P_vzoy8M3Gf0SLCXx73vdtS55-7CgKp_lzUDIaTt1cjb40WCcB6J86w_izRJvs91LDb5hE-SzRvArf3LGI0qwmmcya7g48zCfWUwJbm1AwFYLpuK8JqoiMB2vfzCrzb2wf1ee5cJf9MO8g2w3d0a8IgE-eXYwZll27gvK5C3KnTXu1VO-8Kocs/s1200/Roosevelt%20Schedule%2019750713.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="974" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh544P_vzoy8M3Gf0SLCXx73vdtS55-7CgKp_lzUDIaTt1cjb40WCcB6J86w_izRJvs91LDb5hE-SzRvArf3LGI0qwmmcya7g48zCfWUwJbm1AwFYLpuK8JqoiMB2vfzCrzb2wf1ee5cJf9MO8g2w3d0a8IgE-eXYwZll27gvK5C3KnTXu1VO-8Kocs/s320/Roosevelt%20Schedule%2019750713.jpg" width="260" /></a></div><p><b>June 18, 1973 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Pink Floyd </b><i>(Monday) </i><i>rescheduled from June 16</i><br />The June 16 <b>Pink Floyd</b> concert was rained out. The crowd had been allowed into the stadium, but the rain continued to pour. Eventually the performance was canceled, and Pink Floyd was rescheduled for Monday night (June 18, two days later). In between, the Floyd had played Saratoga Springs Performing Arts Center (SPAC) in upstate New York (Sunday June 17). The crowd had returned to Roosevelt on Monday night, and the concert was a big success. The show had been sold out in advance, as <i>Dark Side Of The Moon </i>was a gigantic hit, so this was a premiere event for every teenager with a ticket. Unlike almost all 1970s touring bands, Pink Floyd had an actual stage presentation, with lights and props, and a quadrophonic sound system. It wasn't as elaborate as what would come a few years later, but it was in distinct contrast to the jazz ethos of bands who just stared at their guitars and smoked cigarettes during their performances. <br /></p><p>The big fear about an outdoor concert for a promoter was a rain-out. Almost all concert promoters worked show-to-show, and lacked the capital (or insurance) to refund a huge sold-out show. While the ticket no doubt included rain-out provisions (like every baseball game ticket), a promoter had to be scared that fear of a rain-out would discourage advance sales. The Pink Floyd rain-out showed how much the rock market had changed, and how different the dynamics of a stadium concert were from a rock festival. </p><p>At a rock festival, tens of thousands of patrons traveled long distances, expecting to camp out for days. If a show, or even a headline act, got canceled, the promoter had big problems. But a stadium concert was just an event. Everyone had planned to sleep at home anyway. When they were sent home on Saturday, the kids just got in their cars and came back a few days later. That couldn't have happened at a projected rock festival. The "rain-date" was played, the promoter didn't have to refund any money and the band got paid. Pink Floyd's '73 Roosevelt show seems to have been the first rain-delayed rock concert--certainly the first high-profile one--and it went off fine. You better believe the entire concert promotion industry noticed. A stadium show had weather risk that could be safely hedged with a rain date. <br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjETUkqPWzzBFDme_bzz1-F7V0-UOalxjiPYpEDpkNHvgkj9ytUQsOiYTd3R5Ol864FAB2npVCiCmwsZ8xwO4yOXeH4YvPFrqvAdFDnOUARVYjXhE6cGHZNrsDh5snpMNfKZFs5tH4FYdqIxTqhPUhZ6ZbkQw1wZBSn5XEgEXdq4XWheS2L1s_mwVYR/s600/Around%20The%20World%20w%203%20Dog%20Night%20Feb%2073%20ABC.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjETUkqPWzzBFDme_bzz1-F7V0-UOalxjiPYpEDpkNHvgkj9ytUQsOiYTd3R5Ol864FAB2npVCiCmwsZ8xwO4yOXeH4YvPFrqvAdFDnOUARVYjXhE6cGHZNrsDh5snpMNfKZFs5tH4FYdqIxTqhPUhZ6ZbkQw1wZBSn5XEgEXdq4XWheS2L1s_mwVYR/s320/Around%20The%20World%20w%203%20Dog%20Night%20Feb%2073%20ABC.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />July 26, 1973 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Three Dog Night/T Rex </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br />In 1973, live rock music was recognized as culture worthy of note in newspapers, even suburban dailies. Even so, reviews in any daily paper were limited, and tended to focus on artists who seemed to have the most status. For rock bands, that meant that acts preferred by <i>Rolling Stone</i> magazine got critical attention, while bands that were merely popular were dismissed as mere entertainment. <p></p><p><b>Three Dog Night</b> had formed in 1968, full of unknown Hollywood musicians who all had plenty of experience in struggling bands. Three Dog Night's angle was that they did high quality cover versions of contemporary songs, rocked up and well-produced. The band had scored huge hits with songs by the likes of Harry Nillson ("One" 1969) and Laura Nyro ("Eli's Coming" 1969) and Randy Newman ("Mama Told Me Not To Come" 1970).<br /><br />By 1973, Three Dog Night had scored 15 Top 20 singles, including three #1's ("Mama Told Me Not To Come," "Joy To The World" and "Black And White"). Their albums (six studio and two live) were huge as well. Their second live album, the double <i>Around The World With Three Dog Night</i> had been released in February 1973 on ABC-Dunhill, and had already achieved gold record status. They had also scored yet another hit single, "Shambala", which had been released in May. It would reach #15, and would come out on the next studio album, <i>Cyan</i>, released in October.</p><p>Three Dog Night had had numerous gold albums, #1 hit singles, sold truckloads of records and were a really popular live act. They got no respect. <i>Rolling Stone</i> and its readers dismissed them. Since they didn't write their own material, they were dismissed as inauthentic, and "just Hollywood." Whether you think that was fair or not, the net result is that while I assume the Three Dog Night concert at Roosevelt Stadium came off successfully, it wasn't reviewed or alluded to in the local press. In fact, Three Dog Night was at their peak at this point, and various problems would break up the band soon after. Various combinations of the original membership have toured as Three Dog Night over the ensuing decades--there was three lead singers, so that helped--but as 70s phenomenons go, it's like the band never existed.</p><p><b>T. Rex</b> was the English "Glam Rock" band led by guitarist and singer (and songwriter) Marc Bolan. T Rex had been huge in the UK and Europe since 1970. T Rex had scored a pretty big US hit with the catchy "Bang A Gong" in 1971, but the follow-ups were all but unnoticed in America. T. Rex's current album would have been <i>Tanx</i>, on Reprise Records (EMI in the UK), released in March 1973. Marc Bolan was an important figure in rock, primarily in the UK, but to Americans in the 1970s he was just a fading one-hit wonder. <br /></p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_w8jg1WPVO4pH3cv7qw3znwrFbEjv0JUtzTt6aK3LJOzy-Kzu2l2wSZ_1XWiGtna6cgHZF9g2cZn0SFszn4iDUOhWaBxgPe8WgF2I4-QvTbvw3O32Orm91-3KF6VnDqvl8U3qlZx0JZ5rlbk94G9l4d8kQ5ZZrXIObmMtipxeJgVfOxA3Rz_VZEB7/s455/Rock%20Of%20Ages%20The%20Band.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="455" data-original-width="455" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_w8jg1WPVO4pH3cv7qw3znwrFbEjv0JUtzTt6aK3LJOzy-Kzu2l2wSZ_1XWiGtna6cgHZF9g2cZn0SFszn4iDUOhWaBxgPe8WgF2I4-QvTbvw3O32Orm91-3KF6VnDqvl8U3qlZx0JZ5rlbk94G9l4d8kQ5ZZrXIObmMtipxeJgVfOxA3Rz_VZEB7/s320/Rock%20Of%20Ages%20The%20Band.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>In 1972, Capitol had released the great double live lp Rock Of Ages, recorded by The Band the week of New Year's Eve at the Academy of Music in Manhattan</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b><b><br />July 31-August 1, 1973 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Grateful Dead/The Band </b><i>(Tuesday-Wednesday)</i><br />The two 1973 Grateful Dead concerts at Roosevelt Stadium with the Band are rightly legendary in Deadhead circles, so I needn't revisit them as musical performances. With respect to this chronicle, however, the significant factor was that the Dead, the Band and the Allman Brothers had just played Watkins Glen Grand Prix Racecourse the previous weekend (Saturday July 28) for no less than 600,000 fans. While the Glen was 4 hours Northwest of Manhattan, surely some Metro fans had made the journey. Yet here were two of the bands, headlining a football stadium on two weeknights. <br /><p>Both shows were packed. Now, of course, we take for granted that Deadheads would see the band as many times as was physically possible, but this week was one of the indicators that showed the music industry that the Grateful Dead in a stadium had a kind of infinite appeal. It's true that the bands were originally booked for Monday night as well (July 30), but I suspect that night was canceled just out of concern over the logistics of getting the bands and their equipment over to New Jersey. <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSsfUMMZmeHK5wlWTZndxsN4PD9KHxBYS60ziaxY46DVrHOVBsE6fHW5A4pFhwSQ4Rusu73NGdRiErjPgEHMgxINH7hSE-EwHay2Cm_pBoyTkF218FQk7ojJ22y9pEUKYoXKQpvFnepJvcjb_OZmQft5RxmyIEYcpvB6wWeryTOAFUzAVMGad10UuE/s640/Santana%20Roosevelt%2019730812.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="429" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSsfUMMZmeHK5wlWTZndxsN4PD9KHxBYS60ziaxY46DVrHOVBsE6fHW5A4pFhwSQ4Rusu73NGdRiErjPgEHMgxINH7hSE-EwHay2Cm_pBoyTkF218FQk7ojJ22y9pEUKYoXKQpvFnepJvcjb_OZmQft5RxmyIEYcpvB6wWeryTOAFUzAVMGad10UuE/s320/Santana%20Roosevelt%2019730812.jpg" width="215" /></a></div><b>August 12, 1973 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Santana/Tower of Power </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br /><b>Santana</b> had become huge thanks to the <i>Woodstock</i> movie and some memorable hit singles. By 1973, however, the band had changed somewhat, and Carlos Santana was playing much more daring music. It was a risky thing to do, but it cemented the band's place as an important rock group, not just a 60s hitmaker. Santana was popular and important enough in the States, but in the rest of the world they were huge. Their mostly-instrumental music, with worldwide roots, catchy and danceable, but still sophisticated, translated well to other continents. From June through August of 1973, Santana had toured Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. <p></p><p>Santana's most recent album was <i>Caranvserai</i>, their fourth on Columbia. It was all-instrumental, and while it still included some members of the Woodstock lineup on some tracks, the membership was starting to evolve. <a href="https://santanamigos.pagesperso-orange.fr/1973.htm">By the time of their '73 tour, the new Santana lineup was</a><br /></p><p></p><blockquote><b>Leon Thomas </b>(vocals), <b>Tom Coster</b> (organ), <b>Michael Shrieve </b>(drums), <b>Richard Kermode</b> (keyboards), <b>Jose "Chepito" Areas</b> (timbales), <b>Armando Peraza</b> (congas), <b>Carlos Santana</b> (guitar), <b>Douglas Rauch</b> (bass) </blockquote><p></p><p>Only Carlos Santana, Shrieve and Chepito had been at Woodstock.</p><p>Santana, unlike Three Dog Night, were considered "serious" music. The Paterson <i>News</i>, for example, gave a glowing review of their Roosevelt Stadium performance in the August 15 (Wednesday) edition. </p><p><b>Tower of Power </b>were a rising group from Oakland. Thanks to their knockout horn section, the band would have an impact beyond just their own hits. The group had been together in some form since the mid-60s, but by1973, they were busting out all over. Warners had just released their third album (<i>Tower Of Power</i>) in May, with the classic track "What Is Hip." Tower Of Power had played with Santana many times, and no doubt killed the crowd, whether they had heard of them before not. <br /></p><p> <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3LC88UUh9S7x_gVRaUKDvjfYZrLp1rRtCEm5JszHcgFCK-jujXZtj9COFQ_YO5XzWy7Ea8PRQ9oaIz6czKV-IXu8IWI-ZN72F18fSsyz63CQxA8hhNE9KX_LKEZCAUs8lSn8jzjOpSmucz6Vx7KQEyj0TI_wxLI3hBC7CYD5_aFnVGsdgc5T9v-fZ/s1058/Hackensack%20Record%20Aug%205%20ABB%2019730831.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1058" data-original-width="296" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3LC88UUh9S7x_gVRaUKDvjfYZrLp1rRtCEm5JszHcgFCK-jujXZtj9COFQ_YO5XzWy7Ea8PRQ9oaIz6czKV-IXu8IWI-ZN72F18fSsyz63CQxA8hhNE9KX_LKEZCAUs8lSn8jzjOpSmucz6Vx7KQEyj0TI_wxLI3hBC7CYD5_aFnVGsdgc5T9v-fZ/s320/Hackensack%20Record%20Aug%205%20ABB%2019730831.jpg" width="90" /></a></div><br /><b>August 18, 1973 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Grand Funk Railroad/Lee Michaels </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />In contrast to Santana, <b>Grand Funk Railroad</b> was considered a sort of joke, popular with long-haired boys who would wind up working in a gas station. Nonetheless, the band sold lots and lots of albums, despite the lack of any really recognizable songs. In mid-73, Grand Funk had seemed a bit tired, but in fact, teamed with new producer Todd Rundgren, they had released their biggest album ever in July. The title track, the dumb-but-unforgettable "We're An American Band," was a huge AM hit. The show was probably packed, and the crowd of long-haired boys probably went nuts. We don't know that, however--none of the daily papers nor the <i>Village Voice</i> would deign to acknowledge a Grand Funk concert as worthy of review.<p></p><p>Blue Oyster Cult, from Long Island, had been booked, <a href="http://www.hotrails.co.uk/history/1973.htm#Aug">but seems to have played Tampa, FL instead</a>. <b> </b></p><p><b>Lee Michaels</b>, an interesting performer from the Bay Area, had been booked to open the show. Michaels had gotten known for performing with just his Hammond organ and a drummer. He could absolutely yell the blues, he was a great organ player, and "kicked bass" with his feet. Michaels was famously, earsplittingly loud. Michaels had scored a reasonably popular hits with "Heighty-Hi" (1969) and "Do You Know What I Mean," but Michaels was treading water himself. His 1973 album was the disappointing <i>Nice Day For Something</i>. In '73, Michaels was still only accompanied by a drummer (Keith Knudsen), but he played electric piano (really loud) instead of organ. I, personally, found that configuration pretty interesting, but it didn't go over that well. After 1973, Michaels took a break from touring and recording for a few years.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0el5QZo4mRGrhz_AjtDq7OA8qxkKGSDuVwHGoXwWeo-0seeU33jxcy0sSN_8y36gs3kupRjflUJWCy4-xEk-lGy1nWXXRbjjL5get5Q86P4ff3gGDFQrkEhbiMY-SnlZ609ycXhp9mBxBr6T8BEejFOK8_MWRy7kaceQ8DwJ2I6aHWXw4UPPMd_xx/s382/Beach%20Boys%20Holland%201973%20lp.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="382" data-original-width="382" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0el5QZo4mRGrhz_AjtDq7OA8qxkKGSDuVwHGoXwWeo-0seeU33jxcy0sSN_8y36gs3kupRjflUJWCy4-xEk-lGy1nWXXRbjjL5get5Q86P4ff3gGDFQrkEhbiMY-SnlZ609ycXhp9mBxBr6T8BEejFOK8_MWRy7kaceQ8DwJ2I6aHWXw4UPPMd_xx/s320/Beach%20Boys%20Holland%201973%20lp.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />August 25, 1973 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Beach Boys/Poco/Stanky Brown </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />The August 25 show appealed to a different audience than the rest of the Summer's Roosevelt shows. T<b>he Beach Boys</b> were still hugely popular, thanks to the constant play of their classic 60s hits on AM radio. The band had struggled to remain viable in the 1970s. Their most recent album, <i>Holland</i>, had been released in 1973 on their own Warner/Reprise imprint, Brother Records. <i>Holland</i> is generally seen as the last "classic" Beach Boys album. The song "Sail On Sailor" got good airplay on FM radio. Brian Wilson had participated in the recording of the album (some of it in the Netherlands), but he no longer toured with the band.<p></p><p>The touring Beach Boys still had Mike Love on lead vocals, along with Carl Wilson (guitar), Dennis Wilson (drums), Al Jardine (guitar), Blondie Chaplin (lead guitar) and Ricky Fataar (drums). Jardine and the Wilsons provided the vocal blend that made the Beach Boys so special. The group was supported by Daryl Dragon on keyboards (later "The Captain," of The Captain and Tennille), Ed Carter on bass, Billy Hinsche (ex-Dino, Desi and Billy) on guitar and keyboards. This lineup was memorialized by the late '73 album <i>The Beach Boys In Concert</i> (released by Brother/Reprise in November '73).</p><p>The significance of the Beach Boys booking was that many of the Roosevelt shows had appealed to long-haired teenage boys who wanted to get rowdy. Whether it was the relative sophistication of the largely college-educated (or college-bound) Grateful Dead crowd, or the proudly working-class appeal of Grand Funk Railroad, Roosevelt was selling tickets to boys who liked it loud and long. The Beach Boys would have appealed to a mellower crowd, including a lot of girls--you have no idea how male the 1973 Grateful Dead audience was, take my word for it--and it was their turn to caravan to the stadium in the family station wagon. Concerts like this one helped revive the Beach Boys as a massive touring act, even though they had not had a "real" hit since the 1960s. In many ways, this dynamic would prefigure hugely popular stadium acts of the 80s and 90s who had not had a really popular album since the 1970s. </p><p>Opening act <b>Poco</b> were country-rock pioneers, having formed from the ashes of the Buffalo Springfield in 1968. They were associated with some other substantial acts through their management (then Lookout Management, later Hartmann-Goodman). At this time, Poco still featured ex-Buffalo Springfield singer Richie Furay, along with future Eagle, bassist Tim Schmidt. Their current album would have been <i>A Good Feelin' To Know</i>, released in September 1972 on Columbia. In September '73, Poco would release <i>Crazy Eyes</i>, their sixth album on Columbia. Poco was a great live band at this time (I saw them this month headlining at Winterland, so I'm not guessing). Furay would leave soon after.<br /></p><p><b>Stanky Brown</b>, then an unsigned band, were managed by promoter John Scher. Unappealing as it may sound at a distance, if only 10% of the audience were around for the opening act, that was still a far bigger audience than would have seen the band in any night club. From the point of view of the promoter, a lot of fans were going to get there early, so having a band to keep them entertained kept everyone entertained. If people didn't like the band, they would go buy popcorn or soda, and that was good for business too.<br /></p><b>August 31, 1973 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Allman Brothers Band/Grinderswitch </b><i>(Friday) canceled</i><br />The Allman Brothers Band had been booked for a Friday night show at Roosevelt, just a month after Watkins Glen. The concert was canceled on August 29 when drummer Butch Trucks' suffered a hand injury in an auto accident.<br /><br /><p></p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJB4V8WZ6gyrVUuqR-k1hBRX_9m_IiSG5lHl7jP2gp3hFkSZQHlMtICF85sJLwvz4IV2IKtwSm8aKZHahsXHkeBk2QvJ9gRLrveNU8KMuUCdqiQmqSTBOms1dFG-JmC1DVA5FYP023XigQhjU6o0J-fbcOaOcsFFMKP3d59kMTH9NdnNABky3c1aUL/s1200/ABB%20Trenton%2019731007%20Princetonian.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="812" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJB4V8WZ6gyrVUuqR-k1hBRX_9m_IiSG5lHl7jP2gp3hFkSZQHlMtICF85sJLwvz4IV2IKtwSm8aKZHahsXHkeBk2QvJ9gRLrveNU8KMuUCdqiQmqSTBOms1dFG-JmC1DVA5FYP023XigQhjU6o0J-fbcOaOcsFFMKP3d59kMTH9NdnNABky3c1aUL/s320/ABB%20Trenton%2019731007%20Princetonian.jpg" width="217" /></a></div><p><b>October 7, 1973 Trenton Speedway, New Jersey State Fairgrounds, Hamilton, NJ: Allman Brothers Band/James Montgomery Band </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />When the season-ending Allman Brothers show had to be rescheduled, John Scher was not free to re-book the show at Roosevelt. Roosevelt, like all municipal stadiums, had a variety of clients, and rock concerts had to be booked around them. This theme would be played out at stadiums throughout the area, as promoters navigated the conflicting obligations of different sports teams. </p><p>The New York Football Giants had played at Yankee Stadium since 1956. After the 1973 baseball season, however, the crumbling 50-year old stadium ("The House That Ruth Built" had opened in 1923) was closed for re-modeling. The Yankees would play in Shea Stadium for the 1973 and '74 baseball seasons, and the Giants played football home games at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, CT. The Football Giants, however, had rented Roosevelt Stadium as their home practice field after September 1. So the Giants had control of the facility in September, and were not going to share it for a rock concert.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsZxJFdSIZVhmDKaqnXEGNG3hDc-eFZGICeG3BGbVgYCHGC2htDAVuRMYprxlimZud4dWebiSqMkx4zmFmZ7TXfBc-8uVhVyb0TGfE5xa1QED57LzW5xNCZPmOoUAu0jknNifsCt5vHX_T93FSuxAPPkU1O8RjKXX5LeQDnK2syasMeNTOdYNdooHH/s262/Trenton%20Speedway%20aerial%20view.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="192" data-original-width="262" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsZxJFdSIZVhmDKaqnXEGNG3hDc-eFZGICeG3BGbVgYCHGC2htDAVuRMYprxlimZud4dWebiSqMkx4zmFmZ7TXfBc-8uVhVyb0TGfE5xa1QED57LzW5xNCZPmOoUAu0jknNifsCt5vHX_T93FSuxAPPkU1O8RjKXX5LeQDnK2syasMeNTOdYNdooHH/s1600/Trenton%20Speedway%20aerial%20view.jpg" width="262" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>An aerial view of the Trenton Speedway, at the New Jersey State Fairgrounds in Hamilton, NJ. The track had a unique 1.5 mile "kidney bean oval" shape. The big events were for USAC "Indy Cars" and the NASCAR "Northern 300."</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Scher re-scheduled the Allman Brothers for the New Jersey State Fairgounds in Hamilton, near Trenton. The core of the planned performance space was the Trenton Speedway, a 1.5 mile tri-oval race track used for NASCAR and IndyCar racing. The most recent major race had been on September 23, 1973, when Gordon Johncock had won in an Eagle-Offy. The Trenton Speedway was on Route 33, just East of US-1, so it was easy to get to, just like Roosevelt. Also, many teenagers had been to the State Fairgrounds, and it wouldn't have been hard to get approval from parents for a Sunday trip to the Fairgrounds.<p></p><p>The Watkins Glen show with the Allmans, the Dead and the Band had been the biggest rock concert in American history. With an estimated 600,000 present, it was perhaps twice the size of Woodstock. Everyone forgets that at the time of the Glen (July 28 '73) the Allmans had not even released their massively popular <i>Brothers And Sisters</i> album, with the massive summer hit "Rambling Man." Those records came out in August, so by October the Allmans were even bigger than they had been for the Glen show. </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG0q6r6b9cShT2UVd1IYxPRGqVsol5KExUxz1MdCAqtvDXe-dlAVBqDsN8p7ggWC516YyBGT2niUB4tZnGwYCvCb83aDs4Ee7yBbM3RBFtqakrR0MvZa0MMgMBjFDr6C9-JJa27O6siWEk1MGGItHy6IPkgeOltCaf-6bz6jJU5T_A1Ukl6upkCzfR/s375/Trenton%20Speedway%20Allmans%2019731007.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="357" data-original-width="375" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG0q6r6b9cShT2UVd1IYxPRGqVsol5KExUxz1MdCAqtvDXe-dlAVBqDsN8p7ggWC516YyBGT2niUB4tZnGwYCvCb83aDs4Ee7yBbM3RBFtqakrR0MvZa0MMgMBjFDr6C9-JJa27O6siWEk1MGGItHy6IPkgeOltCaf-6bz6jJU5T_A1Ukl6upkCzfR/s320/Trenton%20Speedway%20Allmans%2019731007.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Monday's edition of the main Trenton paper had a shot of the crowd at the Allman Brothers concert at Trenton Speedway. The stage looks back towards on the main grandstands.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Scher had promoted shows the previous year at the Fairgounds. Details are scant, but we know that the Beach Boys and The Kinks had drawn over 9,000 in August, 1972. From pictures and memories on the web, the layout for the Allmans show seems to have been to build a stage on pit row, with the built-in grandstands facing them, along with a huge area on the infield for additional fans. The <b>James Montgomery Band </b>was another Capricorn act. Capricorn's strategy in this era was to ensure that all the Allman Brothers shows were opened by other Capricorn acts. Many of their bands built good followings this way.<br /><p></p><p>Was the Allmans show a success? It depends on how you looked at. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1973/10/08/archives/38000-attend-concert-at-state-fairgrounds.html">UPI reported (on Sunday night) on the show.</a><br /></p><p></p><p></p><blockquote><i>TRENTON, Oct. 7 (UPI)—More than 38,000 people paid $5.50 each to hear the Allman Brothers in concert today at the New Jersey State Fairgrounds.<br /><br />The Allman Brothers, who arrived in two helicopters, appeared on a 25‐foot high bandstand built especially for the four‐hour concert.<br /><br />The concert, promoted by Monarch Entertainment Bureau Inc. of Passaic, also featured the James Montgomery band.<br /><br />The audience was very orderly, according to the police. The police said the crowd did cause heavy traffic backups from the New Jersey Turnpike to the fairgrounds.</i></blockquote>Web memories paint a somewhat wilder picture. While UPI reported that 38,000 people paid $5.50 each to hear the Allman Brothers, something like 50,000 or 60,000 fans showed up. Teenagers who had been to the Fairgrounds many times certainly knew all the ways to sneak in, and they did. It was a hot day, and there was plenty of madness. Everyone remembers the show fondly, except for the epic traffic jam. There weren't any more shows at the Trenton Fairgrounds until 1975 (and <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2009/10/august-24-1975-trenton-speedway-new.html">that one, headlined by Aerosmith, was an even bigger debacle</a>). <p></p><p><i><b>1974 New York Metro Sports Landscapes</b></i><br />The Trenton Speedway had only been in play because Roosevelt Stadium was booked by the New York Giants as a practice field. One characteristic concern for stadium concerts in every region in the mid-70s was the status of the various local sports teams. At the time, rock fans and sports fans were somewhat different universes, and the conflicts were not always readily apparent. For the purpose of this post, I will illustrate why Roosevelt Stadium was still the best choice for stadium rock concerts in New York Metro in 1974, even though these details are unique to the region. The important point, however, was that each region had similar conflicts or concerns. </p><p><i><b>Roosevelt Stadium</b></i>: Roosevelt Stadium was accessible by car to the New Jersey suburbs, with a big parking lot. It was also somewhat accessible to NY Metro by PATH, since John Scher provided shuttle buses from the Journal Square Station. Still, crumbling old Roosevelt only had an official capacity of 30,000. Scher probably sold more tickets than that--I mean, c'mon'--but compared to NFL/MLB stadiums, it wasn't a huge number. The fact was, however, in 1974 there weren't going to be bigger, better choices in the NYC Metro area.<br /></p><p><i><b>Yankee Stadium</b></i>: Yankee Stadium was under the control of the Yankees, but the 50-year old venue was a crumbling mess. The Yankees had played their last game their on September 30, 1973 (and the Football Giants on September 23), and the stadium was closed for two years for remodeling. The Giants, as noted, had moved to the Yale Bowl, and the Yankees played the 1974 and '75 at Shea Stadium. The Mets probably hadn't wanted the Yankees at Shea, but Shea was a city-owned facility. When Mayor John Lindsay approved city funds to fix Yankee Stadium, he also mandated that they Yanks would share the baseball season at Shea.<br /></p><p><i><b>Shea Stadium</b></i>: Shea Stadium was in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens. It had been built by the city of New York and completed in 1964, with a baseball capacity of 57,000. The regular tenants were the Mets and the AFL (later AFC) New York Jets. There had been a few rock concerts in Shea, most famously the Beatles on August 15, 1965. There had also been a "Summer Festival For Peace" on August 6, 1970, with Janis Joplin, Creedence Clearwater Revival and other major acts. Grand Funk Railroad and Humble Pie had played Shea in 1971, but there hadn't been any other shows. In any case, since Shea had a baseball team and a football team as a tenant, there weren't a lot of free weekends. In 1974 and '75, the Yankees were added to the mix, and in 1975 the New York (Football) Giants played in Shea as well, so the stadium was simply unavailable for any rock promotions.<br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih7xUN7J4YwHY6TrvdR404iTSMPnW6pVSAcCRtxfp_2Y8NPBKsVHsTVSjuIJ_qLGg5RnBsifySlb06C4LXA_dBhOxSmnCNYtCeNIt9my3Xv1GHGNRfRZ06kbcGaK1F5sM_hX-EfuRR0IFpFZXjYMes-pchCbo9giL7yrUd9QLhjFt-3Tu-Atmef7Tj/s882/Santana%20Tampa%2019730324.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="882" data-original-width="550" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih7xUN7J4YwHY6TrvdR404iTSMPnW6pVSAcCRtxfp_2Y8NPBKsVHsTVSjuIJ_qLGg5RnBsifySlb06C4LXA_dBhOxSmnCNYtCeNIt9my3Xv1GHGNRfRZ06kbcGaK1F5sM_hX-EfuRR0IFpFZXjYMes-pchCbo9giL7yrUd9QLhjFt-3Tu-Atmef7Tj/s320/Santana%20Tampa%2019730324.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Concerts West had promoted Santana (with Bobby Womack) at Tampa Stadium on March 24, 1973</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><i><b>United States Stadium Rock, 1974</b></i><br />Roosevelt Stadium, despite its comparatively modest size, had been the first such venue in the country to book a slate of rock shows. Yet a few other promoters and venues were starting to catch on. Tampa Stadium, another municipally-owned stadium, had been built in 1967 with a capacity of about 46,000. The city had tried to attract a pro football franchise, but would not succeed until 1974. In the meantime, the city was looking for revenue, of course, and without a regular tenant the stadium was available for booking. The first instance I can find in the US of a single headline act playing a single-day concert at a a "major league" football or baseball stadium, was at Tampa. Santana headlined at Tampa on March 24, 1973.<p></p><p><a href="https://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2022/03/may-27-1973-ontario-motor-speedway.html ">In California, Bill Graham booked the Grateful Dead at the former San Francisco 49ers home field, Kezar Stadium, on April 26, 1973. Graham booked Led Zeppelin at Kezar on June 2, 1973, and sold 60,000 tickets.</a> In between that time, however, Led Zeppelin had packed Tampa Stadium on May 4 and Fulton County Stadium on May 5. Thus Zep began and ended their '73 American tour with stadium shows (at Tampa and Kezar), foretelling what was to come. Pink Floyd also played Tampa Stadium that summer (June 29, 1973), the band's only other stadium show besides Roosevelt. <br /></p><p>Graham had some neighborhood problems with the Led Zeppelin show at Kezar, and for his third stadium show of the Summer of '73, he moved to Oakland Coliseum. On August 5, 1973, Leon Russell and Loggins and Messina headlined the "Day On The Green" there. Such promotions would be booked every summer at the Oakland Coliseum for the next two decades. Roosevelt had been first, but stadium rock was coming. It started to arrive nationwide in the Summer of 1974. <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb8erIO7g489LIdltypIDX-2XvfvzwRu_301venwdTWzDLaFRT1Mk77tqQ6c606Z61FyOED0EaRGSM9WJ6T_je85wm2R7AGhJKaWw_KqLIml4QcrQdcX0Wik1KQo65tU3kGg2mc2V5clGCYIwMmF-E0HuwcvEsWDHU5pvee6t_HVTifczDR1Ho1Ztu/s1320/Roosevelt%20ELP%2019740817.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1320" data-original-width="864" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb8erIO7g489LIdltypIDX-2XvfvzwRu_301venwdTWzDLaFRT1Mk77tqQ6c606Z61FyOED0EaRGSM9WJ6T_je85wm2R7AGhJKaWw_KqLIml4QcrQdcX0Wik1KQo65tU3kGg2mc2V5clGCYIwMmF-E0HuwcvEsWDHU5pvee6t_HVTifczDR1Ho1Ztu/s320/Roosevelt%20ELP%2019740817.jpg" width="209" /></a></div><p><i><b>John Scher Presents The 1974 Garden State Summer Music Fair</b></i><br />John Scher returned with a "Garden State Summer Music Fair" in 1974, but this time it was all at Roosevelt Stadium. Throughout the latter 70s, other cities would have a series of big shows at sports stadiums. For many teenagers, these huge events were memorable episodes of their college or high school summers, with whole carloads of back-in-the-day best friends and girlfriends spending a sun-drenched (or occasionally rain-drenched) afternoon hearing future Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame bands with 50,000 or more fellow travelers. But Roosevelt was the first stadium to have an entire slate throughout the whole summer, way back in '74.</p><p><b>June 7-8, 1974 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Allman Brothers Band/Grinderswitch </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Paradoxically, the <b>Allman Brothers Band</b> had gone from being sort-of-popular to hugely popular after leader Duane Allman died on October 29, 1971. FM radio had discovered the <i>Live At Fillmore East</i> album, the band had released the engaging <i>Eat A Peach</i> and then the somewhat out-of-date "Layla" single (released 18 months earlier) had become a hit in Summer '72. The Allmans had headlined the biggest rock concert ever (at Watkins Glen) before their next album even came out. <i>Brothers And Sisters</i> had been released in August of 1973, and driven by "Ramblin' Man," it took the Allmans from hugely popular to Mega-Popular, as only a 70s rock band could be. </p><p>The Allman Brothers Band was the first group to tour football stadiums throughout the country. Led Zeppelin had played the first stadium concerts in 1973, but Zep didn't tour again until 1975. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young had the first high profile tour in the Summer of 1974 that was almost all stadiums, grossing a then-incredible $7 million. The Allmans, however, had been regularly playing football stadiums since late '73, and played them throughout the Summer of '74, long before the CSNY tour got underway. Whether civilians noticed this isn't clear, but other concert promoters and rock band managers were surely seeing that the Allmans could headline a stadium without a co-headliner and pack the place, and they could do it all over the country. </p><p>The weekend before this Roosevelt booking, the Allmans would play Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta (Saturday June 1), and in following weekends they would play Royals Stadium in Kansas City (Friday June 14), Mile High Stadium in Denver (Sunday June 23) and Jeppesen Stadium in Houston (Sunday June 30). They may have played Texas Stadium in Dallas (Friday June 28), too. By and large, the Allmans headlined these places with other aspiring bands on their label as opening acts, The one exception was Houston, where the Eagles opened (along with Commander Cody), but the Allmans showed that they could draw a big crowd by themselves. </p><p>The Allmans played two shows at Roosevelt, not just because NY Metro was a big area, but because Roosevelt was distinctly smaller than the NFL/MLB stadiums they were playing around the country. <b>Grinderswitch</b> was another Capricorn Records band, formed by former Allman roadie Joe Dan Petty. The band had just released their debut album <i>Honest To Goodness</i>. Capricorn used the Allmans' huge drawing power to ensure that Allman fans heard all the label's other acts, an approach that was instrumental in the early success of Marshal Tucker Band (for example, teenage-me saw Tucker open for the Allmans in Oakland in '73, and was very impressed). Other managers took note, and the opening acts for headline tours by mid-70s heavyweights like Peter Frampton and Yes were often driven by shared representation. <br /></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuleNTsZd1n6OjjOQc7dy4qVfE-2j-uR3I7YWtlnvBwYGCUQ5XNFifjrkZqdSN6JKgPG6acWHehm5i2GV-S3Pm3sYx_FfZu1TRaBJGYYpFQVFCVOtakKJi4r-jvKjBJqleE0DUi9ewEikvwo_TaGY_4zOHnUFn1UcTEbzUEUXoe7JuBwUpW8ZB2MJi/s601/Seals%20&%20Crofts%20Summer%20Breeze%20Warners%20Sep%2072.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuleNTsZd1n6OjjOQc7dy4qVfE-2j-uR3I7YWtlnvBwYGCUQ5XNFifjrkZqdSN6JKgPG6acWHehm5i2GV-S3Pm3sYx_FfZu1TRaBJGYYpFQVFCVOtakKJi4r-jvKjBJqleE0DUi9ewEikvwo_TaGY_4zOHnUFn1UcTEbzUEUXoe7JuBwUpW8ZB2MJi/s320/Seals%20&%20Crofts%20Summer%20Breeze%20Warners%20Sep%2072.jpg" width="319" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Seals & Crofts 1972 Warners album Summer Breeze, with two giant hits (the other was "Hummingbird") made the soft-rock duo into stars</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />June 30, 1974 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Seals & Crofts/America /Maria Muldaur/Souther Hillman Furay Band/England Dan and John Ford Coley </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />This Sunday booking was distinct from other Roosevelt shows in a number of ways. For one thing, there was no single "must-see" headliner. Seals and Crofts were very popular, and had a new album (which, in fact, ended up not doing that well), and America was also popular. All of the acts had a certain amount of status--Maria Muldaur had just had a big hit and Souther Hillman Furay were brand new and getting the full treatment from the likes of <i>Rolling Stone</i>. This lineup encouraged fans to come for the whole day, not just to see the blockbuster headline act.<p></p><p>More importantly, however, in the parlance of the time, all the acts were "mellow." Other Roosevelt Stadium bookings in this period were directly aimed at a male audience. This booking appealed to girls. Now, sure, carloads of kids came from high school and college, but for this show there would have been a lot more girls in the car. Also--this is an important demographic point--not all of them would have been with their boyfriends. For a lot of bands at General Admission concerts, almost every woman at the show was "with somebody." Even in a comparatively benign crowd, like the Grateful Dead audience, the scene was defiantly male, so "unaffiliated" girls and women were going to attract an awful lot of attention. If they didn't want that attention, better for them to stay away.</p><p>Jim<b> </b>Seals<b> </b>(1942-2022) and<b> </b>Darrell "Dash"<b> </b>Crofts (b.1938) were both long-time professional
musicians from Texas. Both of them had been in The Champs, albeit
touring some time after "Tequila" had been a smash hit in 1958. Both of
them had also backed Glenn Campbell in Van Nuys nightclub, back in the
early 60s, when Campbell was an established session musician but not yet
a recording star. After various ins and outs, they ended up as a
singer/songwriter duo signed to TA Records. <b>Seals & Crofts</b>' self-titled
debut came out in 1969, and their follow-up <i>Down Home</i> would come
out in September 1970. They would not see big success until after they
signed with Warner Brothers in 1971. By '72, they had huge hits with
"Hummingbird" and "Summer Breeze," and the <i>Summer Breeze</i> album
from September was equally giant. "Diamond Girl," from April 1973, was
equally huge. The album would reach #4, and the title single would
release #6.<br /></p><p>Seals & Crofts' newest album was <i>Unborn Child</i>.
It had been released in February 1974. Warner Brothers had warned the
duo that the subject of abortion in the title track was not going to be
commercially popular, and they were correct. The album would only reach
#18 on <i>Billboard</i>, with no hit singles, and the duo's popularity
crested after this album. On stage, the pair were usually backed by a
small combo.</p><p><b>America</b> was a soft-rock trio on Warner Brothers. In June, they had just released their fourth album <i>Holiday</i>. The group was best known for the worldwide 1972 hit "A Horse With No Name," but they had scored other hits as well, most notably 1973's "Ventura Highway." Right around this concert America released "Tin Man," another huge hit. While America was built around a trio of singers playing acoustic guitar (Dan Peek, Gerry Buckley and Dewey Bunnell), they usually had some supporting musicians on tour. </p><p><b>Maria Muldaur</b> had been a Greenwich Village folkie as a teenager, recording with the Even Dozen Jug Band (1964) and then the Jim Kweskin Jug Band (1965-68). After some duet albums with her husband Geoff Muldaur, Maria had gone solo. Her self-titled debut album on Reprise had been released in August 1973. It included the iconic hit "Midnight At The Oasis," The single peaked at #6 on Billboard, and the album made it to #3. By May of '74, <i>Maria Muldaur</i> was certified Gold. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/release/2222250-Maria-Muldaur-Waitress-In-A-Donut-Shop">Her second album, <i>Waitress In A Donut Shop</i>, had been released in mid-74.</a> It was a terrific album, although it would not reach the success of the debut.<br /></p><p>The <b>Souther-Hillman-Furay Band</b>, meanwhile, was a "supergroup" put together by Eagles/CSNY manager David Geffen. By this time, Geffen had given up management to start Asylum Records. JD Souther had written songs for the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt, Chris Hillman had been in the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers and Richie Furay had been in Buffalo Springfield and Poco. They all sang and played well, and had some very heavy Hollywood players in the band (steel guitarist Al Perkins, organist Paul Harris, drummer Jim Gordon and percussionist Joe Lala), all with stellar resumes. SHF had just released their debut album, and they seemed destined for stardom (although that in fact did not occur). </p><p><b>England Dan and John Ford Coley</b> were a soft rock duo, like Seals & Crofts. "England Dan," in fact, was the
younger brother of Jim Seals. The duo had gotten together as classmates
in a Dallas High School. They had been in a psychedelic rock band called
Southwest FOB. Dan Seals was given the nickname "England Dan" by his
older brother Jim, since he liked the Beatles so much. By 1970, Dan and
Coley had moved to LA, and they got signed by A&M as a folk duo.
They had put out two albums on A&M, <a href="https://www.discogs.com/release/3907245-England-Dan-John-Ford-Coley-Fables ">but were dropped after their 1972 album <i>Fables</i></a>.
England Dan and John Ford Coley kept plugging away, however, and would
finally release another album in 1976. They would hit it big with the
single "I'd Really Love To See You Tonight," which would reach #2.</p><p>The Seals & Crofts/America show had a coherent package for their audience. It's important to note, however, the links between the bands. Seals and Crofts, America and Maria Muldaur were on Warners, and SHF were on Asylum, and Warners and Asylum shared distribution. The managers of America were former partners with David Geffen, who had left to start a record label. England Dan and John Ford Coley were without a label, but of course Dan Seals' brother was the headliner.</p><p>There's nothing sinister about these arrangements, nor secret, and the booking made a lot of sense. One of the characteristics of multi-act stadium shows, however, was that it created the conditions for such packages. If a promoter wanted to book a hot headliner, he likely had to take some other acts with it. In this case, it made for a good afternoon, but that wasn't always the case. Many headline acts were supported by utterly forgettable bands who shared management with them. <br /></p><p></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiN5uTZBssCtuuteSlLIFXyZS5gx8oKrwlJCgax760TzP7DTd7UEUiuMQbZTYKdOWtBbOQnWTydvqNU7U9Xj7AgXH4WCeqAlJ4u2mnQLn2niVFESPP2bLjzjCuHJdxav4swBzSt4dYfCeXDn5RUOx_krY3CxYCHW7emVvHVh0GPNrdgztk-USz78IW/s600/461%20Ocean%20Blvd%20Clapton%20RSO%201974.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiN5uTZBssCtuuteSlLIFXyZS5gx8oKrwlJCgax760TzP7DTd7UEUiuMQbZTYKdOWtBbOQnWTydvqNU7U9Xj7AgXH4WCeqAlJ4u2mnQLn2niVFESPP2bLjzjCuHJdxav4swBzSt4dYfCeXDn5RUOx_krY3CxYCHW7emVvHVh0GPNrdgztk-USz78IW/s320/461%20Ocean%20Blvd%20Clapton%20RSO%201974.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />July 7, 1974 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Eric Clapton/Ross</b><i> (Sunday)</i><br />After some well-publicized drug problems, <b>Eric Clapton</b> had released a new album and returned to the road. <i>461 Ocean Boulevard</i> wasn't that great an album, and there weren't a lot of hot guitar solos, but it didn't matter: Eric was back. Clapton has been a recording and performing fixture for so many decades that we forget what a big deal he was in 1974. Clapton would have a huge hit with "I Shot The Sheriff," and Clapton would have a big part in making the rock world aware of Bob Marley. <p></p><p>Clapton's 1974 touring band featured the musicians from the album:</p><p></p><blockquote><b>Eric Clapton-</b>guitar, vocals<br /><b>George Terry</b>-guitar<br /><b>Yvonne Elliman</b>-vocals<br /><b>Dick Simms</b>-organ, keyboards<br /><b>Carl Radle</b>-bass<br /><b>Jamie Oldaker</b>-drums</blockquote><p></p><p>Old pal Carl Radle, from Derek and The Dominoes, had invited Clapton to play with Simms and Oldaker, all from Tulsa. Florida guitarist Terry and singer Elliman (she had been in <i>Jesus Christ Superstar</i>) were added during recording.</p><p>Opening act Ross was led by guitarist and songwriter Alan Ross, and were signed to RSO. <a href="http://badcatrecords.com/ROSS.htm ">Ross had played with John Entwhistle, and had released two albums</a>. Despite the opportunity offered by opening for Clapton, the band would break up in mid-tour (some sites also list Freddie King as an opening act). <br /></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlLcKvAbha8-JxVO2XdG5s8bjrLOOhr5GEv7U2vOA0WwLU2YREtg4hn-ubzxGixaao8QT2E_cSGkfa9nA4s-9K5gP8GpzhsN6NuvMTmG2-p85qpXeqZHgBi-Jo2KvMGy3CEuCY-vDCy9agIDWV3jY_FHUSd7akgngyrSIBWJZvQt-ZJV18woCbz9h1/s800/GD%20Roosevelt%20Ticket%2019740806.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="800" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlLcKvAbha8-JxVO2XdG5s8bjrLOOhr5GEv7U2vOA0WwLU2YREtg4hn-ubzxGixaao8QT2E_cSGkfa9nA4s-9K5gP8GpzhsN6NuvMTmG2-p85qpXeqZHgBi-Jo2KvMGy3CEuCY-vDCy9agIDWV3jY_FHUSd7akgngyrSIBWJZvQt-ZJV18woCbz9h1/s320/GD%20Roosevelt%20Ticket%2019740806.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>A ticket for the Grateful Dead concert at Roosevelt Stadium on August 2, 1974. Note that despite the "Rain or Shine" admonition, the concert was rained out and re-scheduled for August 6. Note also that the ticket says "Rt 440" which would actually have been sufficient directions.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />August 6, 1974 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Grateful Dead </b><i>(Tuesday) rescheduled from Aug 2</i><br />The Grateful Dead returned to Roosevelt Stadium for their sixth time in three years. By this time Deadheads probably considered it tradition. Unfortunately, the show had been booked for Friday, August 2, and there was a torrential downpour. At around 10:00pm, the show was officially canceled and rescheduled for Tuesday, August 6. In between, the Dead played two shows in Philadelphia (<a href="http://deadsources.blogspot.com/2022/02/august-2-6-1974-roosevelt-stadium.html ">read a newspaper description of the grim weather on Friday night in the indispensable <i>Deadsources</i></a>).<p></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwINGp0OFV3a_KTQXh7WsMfYRzt2bdHpw68RXxv-_6NeOUGniKVjvhBFAnd3S2H4Hqhleu4O71zRq3ow5l4NB-1DJ8gLME3SyC--2gN9RRfdrpuvX44oE-MZfuxd3nqxJfeWwNb4OT96k23gm13oEVXCp1oDK6PLNrNDrR4IZ4HRHlNZBlD7tDK4QE/s394/New%20York%20Times%20Nixon%20Resigns%2019740808.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="394" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwINGp0OFV3a_KTQXh7WsMfYRzt2bdHpw68RXxv-_6NeOUGniKVjvhBFAnd3S2H4Hqhleu4O71zRq3ow5l4NB-1DJ8gLME3SyC--2gN9RRfdrpuvX44oE-MZfuxd3nqxJfeWwNb4OT96k23gm13oEVXCp1oDK6PLNrNDrR4IZ4HRHlNZBlD7tDK4QE/s320/New%20York%20Times%20Nixon%20Resigns%2019740808.png" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />August 8, 1974 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br />Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young were surely the most popular American group. Only Led Zeppelin would have been a bigger live attraction. CSNY had been working on an album to follow up their massive <i>Deja Vu</i> album, released back in 1970. The usual clash of personalities and musical differences left any new album in the can, but the tour scheduled in support of it happened anyway. Although the tour was relatively short (about 30 dates), it was booked mostly at stadiums and other huge outdoor venues, far bigger than just basketball arenas. The Allman Brothers had been playing football stadiums as part of their touring schedule, but the CSNY tour was the first tour that was exclusively organized around those giant venues. <br /><p></p><p>The four singers, ably supported by bassist Tim Drummond, drummer Russ Kunkel and percussionist Joe Lala, would play for over two hours. Their were CSNY songs, solo album songs, new songs, and plenty of great music. The tour would gross $7 million, a huge number. Expenses were out of control, and the band only showed a slight profit, but clearly rock touring had graduated to the big time. Two years earlier, Roosevelt Stadium had been considered a large venue. Now, compared to places like Cleveland Municipal Stadium (with a baseball capacity of 78,000), it wasn't so big. </p><p>At many stadiums, CSNY was supported by a slew of other acts, including Joe Walsh, The Band and others. Those shows were on a weekend, however, whereas the Roosevelt show was on a Thursday night. As far as I know, there was not an opening act for CSNY. The memorable moment was when Graham Nash announced to the crowd that Richard Nixon had just resigned as US President. David Crosby then launched into "Long Time Gone."</p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtyReadwZSSOC33Y3IL1PgXjpxfxJ3BE_-OaG9_43r1_iw9h9yakRHb3gzAMYLE6Sd2tWHKFG9FQqpI3HbcRhNTZ_mXBAcoMGyy-6t5mro6MwX2sdSvz0NXXThYXQzCU1NPjfOmu17wLPe9ReKmsSdoFrgJDXIdx60YakijpKJXZRrCvQtr1QVkx5S/s600/Brain%20Salad%20Surgery%20ELP%20Manticore%20Jan%2074.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="573" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtyReadwZSSOC33Y3IL1PgXjpxfxJ3BE_-OaG9_43r1_iw9h9yakRHb3gzAMYLE6Sd2tWHKFG9FQqpI3HbcRhNTZ_mXBAcoMGyy-6t5mro6MwX2sdSvz0NXXThYXQzCU1NPjfOmu17wLPe9ReKmsSdoFrgJDXIdx60YakijpKJXZRrCvQtr1QVkx5S/s320/Brain%20Salad%20Surgery%20ELP%20Manticore%20Jan%2074.jpg" width="306" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Emerson, Lake & Palmer's January 1974 album Brain Salad Surgery, on their own Manticore label</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />August 20, 1974 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Emerson Lake & Palmer </b><i>(Tuesday) rescheduled from August 17</i><br />Emerson, Lake and Palmer had been booked for Saturday, August 17, but they got rained out. The band's next show (August 19 at Saratoga Springs) was canceled, since Keith Emerson's Moog had been damaged in the storm. The Moog was repaired over the weekend, however, and ELP returned to play New Jersey on Tuesday night (August 20). <b><br /><br />Emerson, Lake and Palmer</b> had released their fifth album <i>Brain Salad Surgery</i>, back in January. After the trio's previous album, <i>Trilogy</i>
(on Island) had reached #5, ELP (as they were known) had signed with
Atlantic. Atlantic had given them their own "Imprint" label, Manticore
Records. <i>Brain Salad Surgery</i> would reach #11. ELP were dramatic
live performers, playing surprisingly difficult music in an energetic
way. Back in 1970, they had had a modest hit single with "Lucky Man,"
but they were an album band, famous for Keith Emerson's prodigious
keyboard skills and Carl Palmer's powerhouse drumming.<p></p><p>ELP had
formed out of the ashes of Emerson's 60s trio, The Nice. The Nice were
progressive rock pioneers, featuring Emerson's formidable organ and
piano skills, augmented by odd time signatures and orchestral
accompaniment. Along with the difficult stuff, The Nice would do highly
musical covers of Bob Dylan songs and the like. They were very popular
in England. The Nice had ground to a halt by the end of 1969, and
Emerson and Greg Lake teamed up, finding Palmer in early 1970. Almost
from their inception, the band's merger of classically-themed pieces and
loud rock virtuosity made them a huge concert attraction. ELP was the
first really successful Progressive rock band, and they were a huge
concert draw. ELP showed that rowdy young men could get just as excited
about a 20-minute rock adaptation of a classical theme as they would for
a blues boogie. </p><b>August 23, 1974 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Beach Boys/Eagles </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />The Beach Boys were undergoing an unexpected popular renaissance, and the Eagles were getting bigger than ever. The rock audience had expanded massively since 1966, and there was a huge swath of younger fans who hadn't been radio listeners for the first wave of Beach Boys hit. In June 1974, Capitol Records released <i>Endless Summer</i>, a double album of their classic hits. Old Beach Boys hits were played on AM radio, and the band was bigger than ever, but with a younger group of fans. The Beach Boys had headlined Roosevelt the previous Summer, and returned in 1974 even bigger than before.<br /><p><b>The Eagles</b> had just released <i>On The Border</i>, their third album for Asylum Records, in March 1974. The album would ultimately reach #17 on the <i>Billboard</i>
charts and sell two million copies (double platinum). The record would
have three huge, memorable singles: "Already Gone" (released April 19
'74), "James Dean" and "Best Of My Love." The Eagles were already really
big, but they were going to get much, much bigger. </p><b><i><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVpnwVSUeFT9awgKiF2AS-lwI3TQJPcmEMZh_e59nvKcaJsTNTJ4QXW48YpWrIH-S-J2ZuNzJU0oa14goghOuE2qqqVeKgT7U71u2ISiLVTYnWjYdW-rSg3_CsTkVhVageVc1jfo_-nqTlbd_F5EY_dX1yvneNyuath8PzrKpztbLeCaxOZQktjJsi/s280/GD%20Roosevelt%20WOS%2019740806.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="180" data-original-width="280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVpnwVSUeFT9awgKiF2AS-lwI3TQJPcmEMZh_e59nvKcaJsTNTJ4QXW48YpWrIH-S-J2ZuNzJU0oa14goghOuE2qqqVeKgT7U71u2ISiLVTYnWjYdW-rSg3_CsTkVhVageVc1jfo_-nqTlbd_F5EY_dX1yvneNyuath8PzrKpztbLeCaxOZQktjJsi/s1600/GD%20Roosevelt%20WOS%2019740806.jpg" width="280" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>The Grateful Dead at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, NJ, supported by the Wall Of Sound, on August 6, 1974</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></i></b><b><i><br />Aftermath: Stadium Concerts After 1974 </i></b><br />In 1972, when John Scher had started booking rock concerts at Roosevelt Stadium, he was one the first to regularly book rock concerts at a sports stadium. By 1974, there were more and more rock concerts at football and baseball stadiums. After the Allmans and CSNY showed it was possible, the live rock concert industry expanded its horizons. From 1975 onwards, stadium concerts were a regular part of the Summer season, all over the country. Roosevelt was just another stop on the tour, and in that respect it was much smaller than other national venues. Initially, however, there weren't other choices in the NY Metro area. Still, many Roosevelt shows were on weekdays, since more lucrative bookings could be had at NFL stadiums on weekends.<p>John Scher booked rock concerts at Roosevelt Stadium in the Summers of 1975 and '76 (see the Appendix below). By 1976, however, Yankee Stadium had re-opened, and the Yankees and Giants moved out of Shea Stadium. The first rock concert at Shea in many years was headlined by Jethro Tull on July 23, 1976 (supported by Robin Trower and Rory Gallagher). The show was recalled as "Tull vs Boeing," as jets landing at La Guardia interfered with the concert sound. Still, airport aside, Shea was in the mix as a venue, and it had a capacity twice that of Roosevelt. </p><p>In any case, Roosevelt Stadium was a municipal facility, and the AA Eastern League moved a franchise to Jersey City (in 1977 for the Indians, and in '78 for the Oakland A's). With a baseball franchise, the stadium wasn't available for concerts. John Scher booked the Dead at Englishtown Raceway in 1977--for 109,000 paid--and then the brand-new Giants Stadium in 1978. Time marched beyond Roosevelt Stadium, but it had been the venue that proved to the entire industry that stadium concerts could work.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSR5LSqPK37JQR7fFHdX0earAp7SA1cGMKUjCPQFyoty1AcJcrzZFJsxbPfjiVk17gfF4wxczgkGPOsRpCHbM37at4WOvFJSL4WBLnDBRTtJHfP6vLHXybFvAl5nHqxANMX5PrReDwuMbCVxfxjWSNBgraQWlX6_G8hv1D2A7YQhEZYGTx6mw4NsOC/s1200/Roosevelt%20Schedule%2019750713.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="974" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSR5LSqPK37JQR7fFHdX0earAp7SA1cGMKUjCPQFyoty1AcJcrzZFJsxbPfjiVk17gfF4wxczgkGPOsRpCHbM37at4WOvFJSL4WBLnDBRTtJHfP6vLHXybFvAl5nHqxANMX5PrReDwuMbCVxfxjWSNBgraQWlX6_G8hv1D2A7YQhEZYGTx6mw4NsOC/s320/Roosevelt%20Schedule%2019750713.jpg" width="260" /></a></div><p><i><b>Appendix: Roosevelt Stadium Concerts, 1975-76 </b></i><br /></p><p><b>June 14, 1975 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Pink Floyd (Saturday) </b><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2x_000ugKPxaFqeX30GZ5rs_GeHXgEI8F4TreLAVyelYiEwwpwV79sAE_J1cHWQkkPv759odZa53SaF3Jc9SCDOHW8I0CgLoQJUEQ5KuRdDxCBLt4ZawJd7Epo4GnXJ8EBzOdUWU2UZPxqDsWJay_m9s4C6AMa1tEdHp9CymeN4yjkWVDjydj0H58/s1200/Roosevelt%20Alice%20Cooper%2019750706.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1106" data-original-width="1200" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2x_000ugKPxaFqeX30GZ5rs_GeHXgEI8F4TreLAVyelYiEwwpwV79sAE_J1cHWQkkPv759odZa53SaF3Jc9SCDOHW8I0CgLoQJUEQ5KuRdDxCBLt4ZawJd7Epo4GnXJ8EBzOdUWU2UZPxqDsWJay_m9s4C6AMa1tEdHp9CymeN4yjkWVDjydj0H58/s320/Roosevelt%20Alice%20Cooper%2019750706.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>July 6, 1975 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Alice Cooper/Johnny Winter/Leslie West with Corky Laing/James Gang </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br /><p></p><p><b>July 13, 1975 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Yes/Ace </b><i>(Sunday) </i><br /></p><p><b>July 19, 1975 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: The Eagles / Seals & Crofts </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br /></p><p><b>August 22, 1975 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Rod Stewart & The Faces/Ten Years After/Lynyrd Skynrd </b><i>(Friday)</i><br /></p><p><b>August 31, 1975 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Doobie Brothers/The Outlaws/New Riders of The Purple Sage </b><i> (Sunday) </i></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMMF4TGjtFRVaaJ-tLiaVAFFx4lvaOu0UnUOTvL-nFhhTRe7NcZAEEyLKagSjujvZmBKMkHGCLGG3TTtC4GKdH2dIx5VAgkFHEUQMTqSKPuIFnhtPstCYcN7dOgtM8jzwLjndzi3WqVblpCHqxweIRmJ0RGk0Wi4IMWG9e0Zx6wz1E71F5mHszJ-Ow/s556/Roosevelt%2019760710.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="556" data-original-width="209" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMMF4TGjtFRVaaJ-tLiaVAFFx4lvaOu0UnUOTvL-nFhhTRe7NcZAEEyLKagSjujvZmBKMkHGCLGG3TTtC4GKdH2dIx5VAgkFHEUQMTqSKPuIFnhtPstCYcN7dOgtM8jzwLjndzi3WqVblpCHqxweIRmJ0RGk0Wi4IMWG9e0Zx6wz1E71F5mHszJ-Ow/s320/Roosevelt%2019760710.jpg" width="120" /></a></div><p> </p><p><b>June 17, 1976 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Yes/Pousette-Dart Band </b><i>(Thursday) </i><br /></p><p><b>July 10, 1976 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Kiss/J Geils Band/Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band/Point Blank </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br /></p><p></p><p><b>July 29, 1976 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Eagles/Boz Scaggs </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br /></p><p><b>August 4, 1976 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Grateful Dead </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br /></p><p><b>August 28, 1976 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Beach Boys/Richie Furay Band </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br /></p><p><b>September 4, 1976 Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, NJ: Chicago </b>(Saturday)<b><i><br /></i></b>John Scher had begun his series of rock concerts at Roosevelt Stadium with Chicago on July 13, 1972, and by accident or design he ended with them as well. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQaZkYVVyHebBaCyGqFMMBCJhqPt-YNdbaOb9htFl-5_wSIiOm269OeJ9nWh5WHUFksVH244KgCvifqJMMgE4eEFgyH34bLr_phMbQ8A4xSqnV_gyqphZ_gB2D0Xtuzt1FzmLPOGbpycghaEe2t7uidh27zODpzbnF8TpeR_D03JN9wif_5eSt-7ls/s640/stadium%20pizza%20jersey%20city%2020120930.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQaZkYVVyHebBaCyGqFMMBCJhqPt-YNdbaOb9htFl-5_wSIiOm269OeJ9nWh5WHUFksVH244KgCvifqJMMgE4eEFgyH34bLr_phMbQ8A4xSqnV_gyqphZ_gB2D0Xtuzt1FzmLPOGbpycghaEe2t7uidh27zODpzbnF8TpeR_D03JN9wif_5eSt-7ls/s320/stadium%20pizza%20jersey%20city%2020120930.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>In 2012, Stadium Pizza in the mall parking lot was the only trace of Roosevelt Stadium<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p><i></i></p><p>Roosevelt Stadium, old and tired, was torn down in 1982. It was replaced by a housing development called Society Hill. The parking lot was turned into a mall. The incongruously named Stadium Pizza is the only hint that Jackie Robinson and Jerry Garcia trod there in past times. <br /></p><p><br /></p>Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-69519940735418534962022-09-02T11:18:00.004-07:002023-10-17T11:13:50.425-07:00Palo Alto Rock Concerts 1970-73 (Palo Alto VI)<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiccH4qso9Ea4HGWsRTVBK0NtC0O-CRBrRQklCaOAwVtHfQ4azE29aOnTg40odIVnMnyM0iT-JAawfzjAkRhja3cZj0eD991ET1lNtbNGkFarHImELcT_AVAezKPaIQeFFHOFlwksLOFTCRAHI2DOe2RbQ6vhDxEtM2zL8pQ6yyP6kh9VHn-1_y0Dvk/s1920/Frost%20Amphitheatre%20empty.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiccH4qso9Ea4HGWsRTVBK0NtC0O-CRBrRQklCaOAwVtHfQ4azE29aOnTg40odIVnMnyM0iT-JAawfzjAkRhja3cZj0eD991ET1lNtbNGkFarHImELcT_AVAezKPaIQeFFHOFlwksLOFTCRAHI2DOe2RbQ6vhDxEtM2zL8pQ6yyP6kh9VHn-1_y0Dvk/s320/Frost%20Amphitheatre%20empty.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The terraced lawn of Frost Amphitheatre, at Stanford University</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Palo
Alto, CA 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 '60s 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. <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/11/palo-alto-psychedelic-rock-shows-july.html">The
free concerts were chased away, ultimately to Stanford's Frost
Amphitheatre, and the Poppycock got no love. It would close by
mid-1970</a>. </span></font></span></p><p><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>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 once 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 in Mountain View,
the next town South, because actual live rock music was noisy. Hey, Palo
Alto never changes.</span></font></span></p><p><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>There
was an interregnum, however, in the 1970s. There were no thriving
original rock clubs, no permanent rock concert venues, 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
1970 through 1973, when it seemed like Palo Alto's tendency to avoid
excitement of any sort would nearly chase rock out of town. </span></font></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times";"><i><b></b></i></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXI-9_PHEfGwsKScsKiNf5psv1rhElvWM2o8aRgrRLwHA_-TSE-uRqFaOR3MZKDWlxRrIIamNfhdCVucIekcLF2ZECZsAA04pYU3GMhvXhlRYBN96sV2moTMObbfXaOmt1Cgqw_xQWjF__wuFgGsDdo3VhYiXgeGuhznbXTm-9V5ToXiCdzfs3Ehnl/s836/Poppycock--19691108%20flyer.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="836" data-original-width="616" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXI-9_PHEfGwsKScsKiNf5psv1rhElvWM2o8aRgrRLwHA_-TSE-uRqFaOR3MZKDWlxRrIIamNfhdCVucIekcLF2ZECZsAA04pYU3GMhvXhlRYBN96sV2moTMObbfXaOmt1Cgqw_xQWjF__wuFgGsDdo3VhYiXgeGuhznbXTm-9V5ToXiCdzfs3Ehnl/s320/Poppycock--19691108%20flyer.jpg" width="236" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>A November, 1969 flyer for the Poppycock club at 135 University Avenue in Palo Alto. It was open from Spring 1967 until mid-1970. It would re-open as In Your Ear in May, 1971, but it burned down on New Year's Eve 1972. </i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times";"><i><b>Palo Alto Rock and Roll Status Report, 1970: An Audience, But No Venues</b></i><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Palo Alto, California, is only a town of about 60,000, about 35 miles South of San Francisco, and yet it looms large in the world, far out of proportion to its modest size. Palo Alto residents, like the residents of most small towns, think the world revolves around itself. The principal difference between Palo Alto and other towns is its tendency to invent or encourage institutions that redound to the importance of Palo Alto--Stanford University, Hewlett-Packard, The Stanford Shopping Center, Acid Tests, The Grateful Dead, Mapquest and Google, for example, just to name a few. All of these institutions re-write history in Palo-centric ways that reaffirms the town's importance. Residents of neighboring communities find Palo Altans self absorbed and self-important, which we probably are, but our next innovation will just reconfigure the past in a way that justifies our own narrative. And so it was with psychedelic rock and roll in the 1960s.</span><br /><br />In 1970, Palo Alto's population was about 56,000, which it always is. There were plenty of teenagers. Stanford University was right next door. Palo Alto was famously liberal, and Palo Alto's firmly anti-war parents had no problem with long hair and rock music, even if they didn't find it interesting themselves. Palo Alto wasn't rich yet--that would come later--but it certainly wasn't poor. Live rock music was centered around Bill Graham Presents shows in San Francisco, at the Fillmore West or Winterland. Graham and other promoters also regularly booked shows at the Berkeley Community Theater. Really big bands, like the Rolling Stones, would play the Oakland Coliseum basketball arena. Palo Alto rock fans, whether Stanford students or not, had to drive to San Francisco or Berkeley. Granted, in those days, outside of rush hour, it was no more than an hour drive to either city.<br /><br />San Jose was growing in population, and wasn't far away, but Palo Alto and Stanford paid no attention to San Jose. Everyone in Palo Alto read the San Francisco <i>Chronicle</i> and looked to see what was doing in the City and Berkeley, not San Jose. There were periodic rock concerts in San Jose, sure, but Bill Graham didn't book shows there, and Palo Altans looked North, not South. There was plenty of interest in live rock music in Palo Alto, but no one was booking it. <i><b><br /></b></i></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times";">Palo
Alto and Stanford actually had plausible venues. El Camino Park in Palo
Alto was right downtown and next to a shopping center, and <a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2020/07/july-28-1968-frost-amphitheatre.html">had been used plenty of times in the 60s</a>. There were other possibilities under
the control of the city, as well. Stanford had plenty of venues. Yet
neither Palo Alto nor Stanford wanted to book rock concerts, and
Stanford only did so grudgingly. Inevitably, too many people showed up,
and the University usually regretted it. Neither Stanford nor Palo Alto needed
the money that might have come from successful rock concerts, and both
entities saw rock concerts as a sort of necessary evil to placate the
local teenagers. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times";">The
Poppycock had been an initial success, drawing long haired hippies to downtown
on weekend nights, much to the dismay of the town. By 1970, however, rock music
was getting bigger and bigger, and the 250-capacity Poppycock was having
a hard time booking popular acts. Downtown Palo Alto had no bars--I kid
you not--and clubs could only sell beer and wine if they sold food (The
Poppycock was a Fish 'N' Chips take-out), yet another barrier to
competing venues. <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/11/palo-alto-psychedelic-rock-shows-july.html">Palo Alto had managed to squeeze out the one thriving
rock nightclub in downtown Palo Alto history, and the city didn't regret it.</a> The Poppycock was next to an abandoned storefront that was a hangout for assorted speedfreaks, and the city used that as an excuse to threaten the club's beer license. By April 1970, the Poppycock had closed. <br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times";">That left Stanford University, and Stanford wasn't any more rock-and-roll-positive than Palo Alto.<br /></span></span></p><div><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>January
30, 1970 Dinkelspiel Auditorium, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Big Brother
and The Holding Company/Charlie Musselwhite (Friday) </span></font></span></b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><i>KZSU and The Poppycock present </i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>The
solitary indoor live rock presentation in Stanford or Palo Alto during Winter 1970 that featured a
professional band who had actually made a record was on Friday, January
30. <a href="https://stanfordjazz.org/more-info/dinkelspiel-auditorium/">The show was at the 710-seat Dinkelspiel Auditorium on the Stanford campue (at 471 Lagunita Drive)</a>.
Dinkelspiel was used almost exclusively for classical and "serious"
music. There wasn't even folk performers at Dinkelspiel. The last
electric performer at the venue had been Buddy Guy, back on October 15,
1967. </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Somehow, campus radio station KZSU and the Poppycock had teamed up to present <b>Big Brother and The Holding Company</b> at Dinkelspiel. Opening act <b>Charlie Musselwhite</b> was a regular headliner at the Poppycock, and had released a few albums on Vanguard (his most recent would have been <i>Tennessee Woman</i>).
KZSU's participation probably allowed the Poppycock team to rent out
the hall. Big Brother was just getting back together. They were a
much-beloved 60s San Francisco group, of course, but fans knew them for
Janis Joplin, and she had left the band. Yes, Big Brother had existed
before Janis, and in fact they were an interesting group, but it wasn't
what people wanted to hear. The show was enthusiastically previewed in
the January 30 Stanford <i>Daily</i>, the student newspaper, but I could find
no trace of it afterwards, nor were there more rock shows at
Dinkelspiel. It must have bombed. <br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> <br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjmOeygmOCrDkBBiwzogduG1aEaObRthZzNIBzJAoXyuhNNwJJIM68oSVA7BgNwnHCslqHHoRKb2omw_BiEC2wfZSCtNt9YZJjZhUHkmMpY_yl93XUIgEbwRt_cJjYF5b4-BdU4NK86sPdGApbzenGZHIlU9X86xA4LSkh8V01L2gaJ7ZyhPWqevytrQ/s1098/Cold%20Blood%20Frost%2019700412.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1098" data-original-width="672" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjmOeygmOCrDkBBiwzogduG1aEaObRthZzNIBzJAoXyuhNNwJJIM68oSVA7BgNwnHCslqHHoRKb2omw_BiEC2wfZSCtNt9YZJjZhUHkmMpY_yl93XUIgEbwRt_cJjYF5b4-BdU4NK86sPdGApbzenGZHIlU9X86xA4LSkh8V01L2gaJ7ZyhPWqevytrQ/s320/Cold%20Blood%20Frost%2019700412.jpg" width="196" /></a></div><br /><b>April
12, 1970 Frost Amphitheatre, </b></span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Stanford University, </span></font></span></b>Palo Alto, CA: Cold
Blood/Elvin Bishop/Aum/Lamb/Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks/Jon Buckley </b><i>(Sunday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>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 this time,
Fillmore West had a capacity of around 2500, and Frost was over four times that), but that was starting to change. </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Once
Palo Alto had forced free concerts out of El Camino Park, and <a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2020/07/august-2-1969-baylands-athletic-center.html">after an intriguing failure West of the freeway in August 1969</a>, Stanford
University allowed a series of benefit concerts at Frost Amphitheatre in
August and October 1969. These events were paid, not free, but the
general assumption was that there would be plenty of room for everyone
to hang out and dance, since Frost was so large.</span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Even before the Benefits, <a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2020/07/july-28-1968-frost-amphitheatre.html">first in July 1968</a>
and then in June of 1969, Stanford had allowed multi-act events at
Frost. Country Joe McDonald and Dan Hicks and The Hot Licks, among
others, had played on June 29, 1969. It seems that all the acts were
acoustic, or mostly so. The event had been billed as "The Festival Of Growing
Grass." </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>This
Spring 1970 event was billed as the "2nd Annual Green Grass and Blue Sky
Frolic." Dan Hicks And His Hot Licks were acoustic, and Lamb, if
somewhat electric, was more about songs than rocking out. But there wasn't
any doubt about Cold Blood, Elvin Bishop or Aum. All of them were
Fillmore West regulars, ready to rock it loud and hard. All three were
booked by Bill Graham's Millard Agency, whose strategy was to bring
third-on-the-bill Fillmore West acts to the suburbs. </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Elvin Bishop,</b>
from Tulsa by way of Chicago, had joined the Butterfield Blues Band in
the early 60s. Bishop had initially shared guitar duties with Michael
Bloomfield on the band's first album. Bishop had graduated from wingman
to lead soloist for two albums (1967's <i>Resurrection Of Pigboy Crabshaw</i> and '68's <i>In My Own Dream</i>),
and then left the Butterfield band to move to the San Francisco in
1968. He had been leading his own group in the Bay Area since early
1969. In mid-69, Bishop had released his debut album <i>The Elvin Bishop Group</i> on Bill Graham's Fillmore label, distributed by CBS. </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Cold Blood</b>
had evolved out of a Peninsula band called The New Invaders (and at one
point, The Generation). Lead singer Lydia Pense (Woodside High School)
and lead guitarist Larry Field were both from Redwood City. The New
Invaders had been one of the first bands on the Peninsula to mix rock
guitar with an R&B horn section. Lead singer Pense, though under 5
feet tall, could absolutely belt it out--she had won a talent contest
for best singer at the 1965 Teenage Fair held in Redwood City.<br /><br />While
Cold Blood shared some horn players with Tower Of Power over the years,
and is generally seen as an East Bay band (because of their sound), in
fact they were a true Peninsula band. Cold Blood was signed to Bill
Graham's other label, San Francisco Records (distributed by Atlantic).
They had also released their debut album in mid-1969, and got a lot of
local FM play with their cover of Sam & Dave's "You Got Me Hummin'."</span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /></span></font></span></div><div><a href="https://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2013/03/april-6-1969-avalon-ballroom-grateful.html"><b>AUM</b> (pronounced "ohm") were a Bill Graham-sponsored power trio who had released two albums in 1969 on Sire</a>.
Lead guitar, harmonica and vocals were provided by Wayne "The Harp"
Ceballos, along with Ken Newell on bass and Larry Martin on drums. Their
albums weren't bad, given the typical 60s exuberance. By 1970, however,
the band's moment had kind of passed. Still, they were an energetic live band. </div><div><b> </b></div><div><b>Lamb</b> was a songwriting duo featuring Barbara Mauritz (piano) and
Bob Swanson (guitar). They were managed by Bill Graham's organization,
and they would release their debut album <i>A Sign Of Change</i> on
Graham's Fillmore Records label (distributed by Columbia) later in
1970. By this time, Lamb probably had a bass player and maybe even a
drummer.</div><div> </div><div>The opening act <b>Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks</b> was mostly acoustic, but not precisely mellow. Hicks had been around
the San Francisco scene as long as there had been one. He had been the
drummer in the Charlatans, the band that started the psychedelic
ballroom revolution in Virginia City, NV. Later he had switched to
guitar, so he could sing more. The Charlatans played loud, psychedelic
blues, however, and Hicks had other interests. He formed a "side group"
with local violinist David LaFlamme to play a sort of modified swing
music. When LaFlamme left to form It's A Beautiful Day, Hicks left the
Charlatans and formed Dan Hicks And His Hot Licks. </div><div> </div><div>The band had released an album in 1969 on Epic, <i>Original Recordings</i>.
The group wore Edwardian clothes, and it looked like a repackage of an
old album. While the band played acoustic swing music, kind of, Hicks'
wry, cynical lyrics were a striking contrast to the music. The album
included future Hicks' classics like "How Can I Miss You When You Won't
Go Away" and "I Scare Myself." Nobody sounded like Dan Hicks and His Hot
Licks. The band in Spring 1970 was probably Hicks on lead vocals and
guitar, Jon Weber on lead guitar, Sid Page on
violin and Jaime Leopold on bass. "The Hot Licks" personnel varied
sometimes, but at this time I believe it was Maryann Price and Naomi
Ruth Eisenberg. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Jon Buckley</b> was a local blues and folk singer (no connection to Jeff Buckley).<br /></div><div> </div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM5SJMzIxhZhL-dEsZuaFaEK2PwOEcWOQr-v4b7vRH73KOqmxhaDkcnauXYqCs-w6ceGbGqyyV28nS8j_hYmkB4OQ5xWmIxybT8HC3AxuTy2ZG6AfO7E9cf4xcfQpYK4inWKOp3D9-fZcDu-fUIQ7AYdx_XvP-cteiiK4W60570Vj9LHMYcFr2Ntv2FA/s1876/SFC%2019700426%20CJ%20Burdon%20Frost.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="304" data-original-width="1876" height="52" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM5SJMzIxhZhL-dEsZuaFaEK2PwOEcWOQr-v4b7vRH73KOqmxhaDkcnauXYqCs-w6ceGbGqyyV28nS8j_hYmkB4OQ5xWmIxybT8HC3AxuTy2ZG6AfO7E9cf4xcfQpYK4inWKOp3D9-fZcDu-fUIQ7AYdx_XvP-cteiiK4W60570Vj9LHMYcFr2Ntv2FA/s320/SFC%2019700426%20CJ%20Burdon%20Frost.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>April
26 1970, Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA:
Country Joe and The Fish/Eric Burdon & War/Joy of Cooking/Tower of
Power </b><i>(Sunday) </i></div><div>The second Spring show at Frost
featured genuine Fillmore West headliners. There was no mention of the
show in the Stanford <i>Daily</i>, so while it must have been approved by the
University, to a large extent it seems to have been put on by outside
promoters. Country Joe and The Fish were established local stars, having
headlined the Fillmore, Fillmore West and Avalon many times. Eric
Burdon, meanwhile, had been a star even longer than Joe and Barry. He
had a new album and a new band.</div><div><br /></div><div>Unlike many Stanford rock concerts from this era, we have a lot of information about this show. <a href=" http://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2011/10/frost-1970-country-joe-and-quicksilver.html">Esteemed
rock scholar CryptDev attended the show, and besides his detailed
recollections, he posted amazing photos. If you want to flashback to
April 26, 1970, he's your ticket</a>. On top of that, an audience tape
of both headliners circulates in the usual places. It's not particularly
high-fidelity, but it's listenable as an historical document. So we
know the length and breadth of both Joe and the Fish and Eric Burdon and
War. </div><div><br /></div><div><b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZiOryW5-50vcC7u51UBPVoJXLRD8Gdli9xIciZezDRjGXc3LtA-arvlFJkLyRKlM-ekZyp6b00ZtQntpTyJyjxfHF-mAiUq3LJVgN1j46Kx7ciTG_cw1JXr-BJ7SnT3kMKA8AcvmUnGt7Fl0H5Ta3Nmh0XviS7b9F1klVoEddZft50zpoPC4o9CCI_w/s300/Eric%20Burdon%20Declares%20War%20lp%201970.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="296" data-original-width="300" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZiOryW5-50vcC7u51UBPVoJXLRD8Gdli9xIciZezDRjGXc3LtA-arvlFJkLyRKlM-ekZyp6b00ZtQntpTyJyjxfHF-mAiUq3LJVgN1j46Kx7ciTG_cw1JXr-BJ7SnT3kMKA8AcvmUnGt7Fl0H5Ta3Nmh0XviS7b9F1klVoEddZft50zpoPC4o9CCI_w/s1600/Eric%20Burdon%20Declares%20War%20lp%201970.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />Eric Burdon Declares War</b></div><div>Eric
Burdon had become hugely popular as the lead singer of The Animals,
leading the harder-edged salient of the British Invasion. The Animals
made white America aware of the likes of John Lee Hooker. Uniquely,
Burdon threw it all over, and after an August '66 trip to San Francisco,
dumped his band and "went psychedelic." Ultimately, Eric Burdon and The
Animals (as Mark 2 was known) would move to Los Angeles, and they too
were successful, with songs like "San Franciscan Nights," "Monterey,"
and "Sky Pilot." It's easy to see Burdon as histrionic and dated now,
but he was a powerful singer with a great band, and he earned his
success. <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Eric%20Burdon.htm">I
have detailed the history of the latterday Animals elsewhere, but
suffice to say that by the end of '68 they, too, had run their course</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>After a brief stint in USC Film School, Burdon ended up fronting a Los Angeles band called War.<br /></div><div>War
was a six-piece jazz band, all African-American. They were playing some
bluesy jazz, with a nice groove you could dance to, but still
interesting to hear. Today, we take the intersection of jazz and blues
into funk for granted, but that wasn't the case in 1969. I think a lot
of musicians were doing this in nightclubs, particularly late at night,
but Burdon and War brought this out in the open. By some combination of
events I haven't figured out, Burdon and War added harmonica player Lee
Oskar (originally based in Sonoma County), and Oskar's harp increased
the blues edge of the band.<br /><br />As for Burdon, he was a well-known
singer with many hits under his belt, and he did exactly none of them
with War. In fact, he sang in a jazzy style that was different than
either the John Lee Hooker-inspired vocalizing of the original Animals
or the more rock-oriented style of the Fillmore lineup. On the live tape
from Frost, War grooves along with Burdon inserting vocals here and
there, often outside of any exact song structure. Some of his lyrics
appear to just be improvised, sort of proto-raps (albeit not
rhythmically). It was a daring thing to do for a star without a band.</div><div></div><div> </div><div><a href=" http://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2011/10/frost-1970-country-joe-and-quicksilver.html">CryptDev recalls the Frost set:</a></div><div><i><blockquote>[Burdon's
set was] a loose, open ended affair with lots of extended instrumental
jamming. The centerpiece of the set was a fully formed version of “Spill
the Wine,” which went on to be the group’s biggest hit. They also
played a highly stylized interpretation of the Stones tune “Paint it
Black,” and wound things up with a bluesy version of “Mystery Train.”
Onstage, Burdon epitomized the ‘long haired leaping gnome’ image with
which he self-identified in “Spill the Wine” while his bandmates showed
the formidable instrumental chops that served them well for decades
after parting company with Burdon in 1972.</blockquote></i>Producer Jerry Goldstein had taken <b>Eric Burdon and War</b>
into Wally Heider Studios in San Francisco in January 1970. Burdon and
War had played around live a little bit, and I think Lee Oskar had got
into the band around this point. <i>Eric Burdon Declares War</i> was
released on MGM in April 1970. Thanks to Burdon's vocals, the album
hasn't aged well, but in fact it was way ahead of its time. It has a
nice groove, and you can dance to it, but you can listen to it, too. It
wasn't exactly jazz, but it was way above pop music and more complex
than the blues. The fact that it was a popular album opened the ears of
the music industry to much more diverse and talented artists doing
interesting things in soul, jazz and rock. Burdon, whatever you think
now, helped kick that door open. <br /><br />Of course, all anyone remembers
now about <i>Eric Burdon Declares War</i> was the unlikely hit single "Spill
The Wine." The song highlighted one of Burdon's rambling grooves, and
devoid of context it seems like a parody. Heard in the context of an
hour-long set, it made sense, but as a stand alone song it was dopey.
War, fortunately for them, went on to have many popular hits afterwards,
and everyone just blames "Spill The Wine" on Burdon. Hindsight is easy,
but Eric Burdon and War were an interesting band that were ahead of
their time.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Country Joe and The Fish</b>,
meanwhile, much as I love them, were kind of at their sell-by date, and
I think both Joe McDonald and Barry Melton were aware of that. The band
would release <i>CJ Fish</i> in May 70, their 5th album on Vanguard.
The Frost show was a prelude to the group's final national tour. The end
of the line came in mid-June.</div><div><br /></div><div>OK--not really.
Joe and Barry would get back together, and reform periodically, and even
released an album in the late 70s. But the first, historic run of
Country Joe and The Fish was grinding to a halt. The Frost show featured
the Woodstock lineup with Mark Kapner on organ, Doug Metzner on bass
and Greg Dewey on drums. <a href="http://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2011/10/frost-1970-country-joe-and-quicksilver.html">They were solid live, as CryptDev recalled, but it wasn't particularly memorable</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Berkeley's <b>Joy Of Cooking</b>,
a swinging rock band led by two women (guitarist Terry Garthwaite and
pianist Toni Brown) opened the show. Tower Of Power was booked, although
CryptDev does not recall them. Maybe he missed them, or maybe they
didn't play. One odd characteristic of Frost shows from the 1969-70 era
was that the opening acts on the poster were often not the bands who
actually played. <br /></div><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD-pywhSryzEMeRa4CQjchGxAizsgRENjGchQQil58F4z9y0dwD34SzJ1rk1BRxU7cynJNaWfWUv7lVsB5N_sLSQNo9YiXixwA7zCRwD0zwcuOEbEKrVqyTLiaNEyk07jTNR_ka8oQb8KL54f4HbZU3pYJJV4c7A3N-z1n_jJ3Uc-YNJQWzv82ncO2wA/s1969/Miles%20Davis%20Frost%2019700712.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1969" data-original-width="1296" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD-pywhSryzEMeRa4CQjchGxAizsgRENjGchQQil58F4z9y0dwD34SzJ1rk1BRxU7cynJNaWfWUv7lVsB5N_sLSQNo9YiXixwA7zCRwD0zwcuOEbEKrVqyTLiaNEyk07jTNR_ka8oQb8KL54f4HbZU3pYJJV4c7A3N-z1n_jJ3Uc-YNJQWzv82ncO2wA/s320/Miles%20Davis%20Frost%2019700712.jpg" width="211" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Miles Davis at Frost, July 12, 1970. Produced by Bob "Cully" Cullenbine</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b>July 12 1970 Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Miles Davis Quintet/Cold Blood/Victoria </b><i>(Sunday) Benefit for Stanford Community Children's Center-Produced by Bob Cully Cullenbine</i><br />The
Summer of 1970 featured four Sunday afternoon rock concerts at Frost
Amphitheatre. All four shows were benefits for the Stanford Community
Children's Center and "Legal Defense." Per the July 12 poster (above),
the producer of the first show--and likely all of them--was local figure
Bob "Cully" Cullenbine. At the time, concerts at a Not-For-Profit
Institution had to be benefits. Keep in mind, however, that this would
have only applied to any profits--the bands, the promoter and the
University were all getting pre-determined fees. This oddity is why
college concerts of the era always have tiny print explaining that they
were a "benefit' for some organization. It does not mean any money was
transferred to the charity. </div><div><br /></div><div>Bob "Cully"
Cullenbine (1938-2018) was a typical 60s Palo Alto character. Apparently well-educated, he had been a Merry Prankster in the early
60s, and in the later 60s <a href="http://midpeninsulafreeu.com/images/25.pdf ">had been one of the key figures in the MidPeninsula Free University</a>.
The MPFU, or "Free You" as it was known, was founded in Palo Alto in
1967 as an alternative to "straight" education of the sort taught at
Stanford. The MPFU was the driving force behind the Be-Ins and free
concerts at El Camino Park. MFPU taught classes downtown. If you've ever
wondered where the 60s cliche of classes in "Underwater Basket Weaving"
came from, it was the Free You. Thanks, Palo Alto! The Sunday afternoon
Frost shows seemed to have stemmed from the 1969 Frost shows that
replaced the free Be-Ins (<a href="https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/mercurynews/name/robert-cullenbine-obituary?id=14969947">Cullenbine lived a long life on the Peninsula)</a>.<br /></div><p><b>Miles Davis</b>
wasn't exactly rock, of course, but by 1970 he was playing the Fillmore
West and had a fully electric band. The lineup in July 1970 would have
been<span id="lblMusicians">: Miles Davis (tpt); Steve Grossman (ss);
Chick
Corea (el-p); Keith Jarrett (org); Dave Holland (el-b); Jack De Johnette
(d) and Airto Moreira (perc). His current album would have been the
amazing <i>Bitches Brew</i>, though the music he played at Frost would have been
similar to <i>Miles Davis At Fillmore</i> (recorded Fillmore East June 17-20,
1970, released October 1970). </span></p><p><span id="lblMusicians">Cold Blood was back, giving everyone something to dance to--Miles wasn't really for dancing. </span><b>Victoria</b> (Victoria Domagalski) was a singer-songwriter, also part of the Bill Graham stable. Her debut album, <i>Secret Of The Bloom</i>, would be released on Graham's San Francisco Records label (distributed by Atlantic) sometime in 1970. <br /> <br /></p><div> </div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrnK-yN85tfPkj4bm_fNExoKmCI7MCo2SCw7hC4D2N6GjTc3VfdkO8WcXYxspGnUu6fmDLHTPgNd0B8m2kAdzTn4yburOcVsQfir0AITUdqYKfTKC4FrRFNPIdvBHnAm6-LtvxeEYYzFJ4uvaGWOgT0HPo5VGXMo2nrrhKawxuvfmGIKxdStQgN2YJ1g/s438/19700726%20Frost%20July%2024%20Barb.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="152" data-original-width="438" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrnK-yN85tfPkj4bm_fNExoKmCI7MCo2SCw7hC4D2N6GjTc3VfdkO8WcXYxspGnUu6fmDLHTPgNd0B8m2kAdzTn4yburOcVsQfir0AITUdqYKfTKC4FrRFNPIdvBHnAm6-LtvxeEYYzFJ4uvaGWOgT0HPo5VGXMo2nrrhKawxuvfmGIKxdStQgN2YJ1g/s320/19700726%20Frost%20July%2024%20Barb.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>July 26 1970 Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Boz
Scaggs/Elvin Bishop Group/Fast Eddie/Mad Dog </b><i>Benefit for Stanford
Children's Community Center and Legal Defense </i><i>(Sunday)</i></div><div><b>Boz
Scaggs</b> was another Fillmore West regular. He had just released his
debut album on Atlantic, but it only got airplay in the Bay Area. Elvin
Bishop was back, too. <b>Fast Eddie</b> was a Peninsula band. When the Poppycock
would briefly re-opened in Fall 1970 as Mom's, Fast Eddy was one of the house bands. <b>Mad Dog</b> is unknown to me [<i><b>update</b>: <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2022/09/palo-alto-rock-concerts-1970-73-palo.html?showComment=1662750678580#c310076775562007095">our Italian Commenter notes</a> that Mad Dog featured Palo Alto guitarist Mike Shapiro. Shapiro, along with drummer Ron Cox and bassist Steve Leidenthal, had all been in the William Penn Five</i>).<br /></div><div> </div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5om_ymiv8_JduMZe8KDrZNyPwGzDZhlSVQuqTIJknOkwHTiYBz6PAQe6WSaFqcQoZSxCMsd2pacL7SRH-DkPMyklo7Ry332BKTYPDl6DEv_6Mg-UXB4SrnIVfOqesn_9rsFLRBenFwB9IVUwcUcAItc90CC1_5bw7Rh7lw8mFACbPOeBsMNxu0mBU9Q/s476/QMS%20Frost%2019700809%20Barb%20Aug%207.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="166" data-original-width="476" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5om_ymiv8_JduMZe8KDrZNyPwGzDZhlSVQuqTIJknOkwHTiYBz6PAQe6WSaFqcQoZSxCMsd2pacL7SRH-DkPMyklo7Ry332BKTYPDl6DEv_6Mg-UXB4SrnIVfOqesn_9rsFLRBenFwB9IVUwcUcAItc90CC1_5bw7Rh7lw8mFACbPOeBsMNxu0mBU9Q/s320/QMS%20Frost%2019700809%20Barb%20Aug%207.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>August 9 1970 Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: QMS/AB Skhy/Beggar's Opera/ Robert Savage Group </b><i>(Sunday) Benefit for Stanford Children's Community Center </i></div><div>The last Frost concert of the Summer featured the re-organized <b>Quicksilver Messenger Service</b>.
Quicksilver had nearly broken up in late 1968, when guitarist Gary
Duncan had left the band to form a group with folk singer Dino Valenti.
When the Quick's second album <i>Happy Trails</i> had been released in early '69,
Duncan was already gone. The album, however, had been a huge hit on FM
radio. English pianist Nicky Hopkins had joined the band in his place,
and the band put out the thin and unsatisfactory <i>Shady Grove</i> ablum later in
1969. </div><div><br /></div><div>Duncan and Valenti had returned to the
fold in early 1970, however, and Quicksilver Messenger Service looked to
be on firm footing. The twin guitars of Duncan and John Cippolina mixed
beautifully with Hopkins' piano, and Valenti brought some songs and
charisma to the stage. It didn't last, however. By August, Hopkins had
left the band, and while Quicksilver had released a new album, <i>Just For Love</i>,
the band was more focused on Valenti. There was sort of a
hit--Valenti's "Fresh Air"--but old QMS fans were restless. CryptDev
attended this show, and reported an enjoyable show tempered by
frustration that the old Quick were no longer the same.</div><div><a href="http://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2011/10/frost-1970-country-joe-and-quicksilver.html"> </a></div><div><a href="http://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2011/10/frost-1970-country-joe-and-quicksilver.html">Per CryptDev, AB Skhy and Beggar's Opera did not perform</a>. The opening act was the <b>Robert Savage Group</b>, a trio led by former Leaves guitarist Bobby Arlin. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaE77HJ1SxAL4VRcgBx-ZQ1j1TF75wngqept9E45DdX1w8mAQHkaX3irIdU3VRzf-sCnnOZcoT2MkTLvEiemc6FADZPwbe198pA4TpebDF3rKgrrE8KjjRSDN47ecF64FKZhUdopryoy-q1E27k-lh4isgwJ8r3bFcBplKzx_RBKzrp-Xw-iw-k2830o0/s819/Autumnal%20Gunn%2019700912%20Sep%2011%20Times.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="819" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaE77HJ1SxAL4VRcgBx-ZQ1j1TF75wngqept9E45DdX1w8mAQHkaX3irIdU3VRzf-sCnnOZcoT2MkTLvEiemc6FADZPwbe198pA4TpebDF3rKgrrE8KjjRSDN47ecF64FKZhUdopryoy-q1E27k-lh4isgwJ8r3bFcBplKzx_RBKzrp-Xw-iw-k2830o0/s320/Autumnal%20Gunn%2019700912%20Sep%2011%20Times.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>September 12, 1970 Gunn High School Football Field, Palo Alto, CA: Elvin Bishop Group/Aum/Tower of Power/Fast Eddie/Nevada</b> <i>(Saturday) noon-5pm Autumnal</i></div><div>[<b><i>update 19 June 2023</i></b>] The September 11 Palo Alto <i>Times</i> reported that the Palo Alto Jaycess and the Youth Advisory Committee were presenting an outdoor rock concert at Gunn High School from noon to 5pm. Up to 5,000 fans were expected. The headliners were all from Bill Graham's Millard Agency, with the Elvin Bishop Group, Aum and Oakland's <b>Tower Of Power</b>. Tower, out of Fremont but based in Oakland, were newly-signed to Bill Graham's booking agency. The <i>Times</i> reported that this was the first live appearance by <b>Nevada</b>.</div><div><br /></div><div>This concert was a peculiar admission by the city that their own teenagers needed some rock and roll. There weren't really any local concerts, and Stanford wasn't that inclined, and the only alternative was for Palo Alto teens go to big, bad San Francisco. There was also an "Autumnal 2" (November 15 below). <br /></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg9Onk7uqb6YN_NfTF3UOm1Xka9Y_1Q05vX2yG7pEk28W7GSxzFKN5u70j8SvPQB_tlQLUAqnqpJbOVRah1IrKZwox_cNrWhlvgoFUE6bTzbV7Xp_j5qUYCcJ8eCU9YXN5iwx3eyWAxwEWm_2e9yEsO6nFAHhHNLusTulZ0FWsh3DHSfyPDeqYYuVKgw/s656/Sly%20Frost%2019701009.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="656" data-original-width="520" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg9Onk7uqb6YN_NfTF3UOm1Xka9Y_1Q05vX2yG7pEk28W7GSxzFKN5u70j8SvPQB_tlQLUAqnqpJbOVRah1IrKZwox_cNrWhlvgoFUE6bTzbV7Xp_j5qUYCcJ8eCU9YXN5iwx3eyWAxwEWm_2e9yEsO6nFAHhHNLusTulZ0FWsh3DHSfyPDeqYYuVKgw/s320/Sly%20Frost%2019701009.jpg" width="254" /></a></div><p><b>October 9 1970 Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Sly and The Family Stone/Carp </b><i>(Friday) 8 pm</i><br />Stanford
tried something different for the Fall Quarter. <b>Sly and The Family
Stone</b>, one of the biggest live acts in the country, headlined a Friday
evening concert at Frost. This was really different. Unlike some of the
other acts who had played there, Sly was a genuine star who could really
sell out Frost. On top of that, there had not been an evening rock
concert at Frost, save for one Youngbloods' performance in May, 1968. On
Saturday, there was a high-profile football game with powerful USC
visiting Stanford stadium. Friday night at Frost with a full-fledged
star was new territory for Stanford University. <br /></p><p>Sly and The
Family Stone were apparently epic, as they usually were in those days.
The group still had the classic lineup that had made the first several
albums. The house was packed--too packed in fact. The university felt
that this was not an event they wanted to repeat, and decided against
future night-time concerts at Frost. </p><p>We forget how Sly and The
Family Stone were not only groundbreaking, but gigantic as well. In
October, 1970, they had not released an album since <i>There's A Riot Going
On </i>in May, 1969. Yet in between they still had released two giant hits, "Hot Fun In The
Summertime" and "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)." Both of
those would come out on the November 1970 <i>Greatest Hits</i> compilation.
Meanwhile, songs like "Dance To The Music" and "Everyday People" were
already classics. Sly had torn it up in the <i>Woodstock</i> movie, too,
with "I Wanna Take You Higher." As if that wasn't enough, Sly and The
Family Stone was one of the few live acts that attracted both black and
white audiences. Everybody loved Sly, and everybody wanted to see him. </p><p>Of
course, any Sly and The Family Stone concert in those days came with
all sorts of baggage. For one thing, Sly was notorious for not showing
up on time, or maybe not showing up at all. Even in the era before
social media or even cable tv, it was widely known that Sly was
unreliable (if you're interested in this topic, check out <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/797915.Sly_and_the_Family_Stone">Joel Selvin's 1998 book <i>Sly And The Family Stone: An Oral History</i></a>). The undertone was that Sly was totally stoned out.</p><p>The
real flash point for Sly and The Family Stone, however, was not
actually his responsibility. Sly was a massive hit artist, by any
standard. Numerous songs off his albums (and additional singles) were
played on numerous different stations. They were funky, you could hum
their memorable choruses, they could stretch it out, and you could dance
to them. Plus the lyrics were timely, and they looked psychedelic cool.
Thus Sly drew a substantial audience of both black and white fans. Much
of the tension surrounding his concerts came from an unstated but very
real tension from powers-that-be over possible "troubles."</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr2CiH5Yt6pHd1oJYGlU69V1EPrXK6t7KTfnKbyN_qXW8indDTvhT_hK-1FnfuUk2MGxXve9PaLeHjFVD5k214ElZ8ohGdcHbD846YJTeZuZuvGAh4HSAtz-PD1iSI2dWLTLjCfX6gKxD0gQ2KVrN3vbQUPlUpmdzcStw2rJIyp-S90A4-Ky9irRib4w/s1308/Sly%20review%20Frost%2019701009%20Daily%20Oct%2012.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1308" data-original-width="624" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr2CiH5Yt6pHd1oJYGlU69V1EPrXK6t7KTfnKbyN_qXW8indDTvhT_hK-1FnfuUk2MGxXve9PaLeHjFVD5k214ElZ8ohGdcHbD846YJTeZuZuvGAh4HSAtz-PD1iSI2dWLTLjCfX6gKxD0gQ2KVrN3vbQUPlUpmdzcStw2rJIyp-S90A4-Ky9irRib4w/s320/Sly%20review%20Frost%2019701009%20Daily%20Oct%2012.jpg" width="153" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Stanford Daily reported on Sly and The Family Stone at Frost (October 9) on Monday, October 12.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />I
think, generally speaking, kids in the audience usually got along fine.
Any differences were easily forgotten once a few joints were passed
around. Security teams and cops were not going to treat black and white
fans the same, however, and I think this subtext contributed to the
endlessly peculiar official reactions to any Sly and The Family Stone
concert. Stanford was no exception. <a href="https://archives.stanforddaily.com/1970/10/12?page=1 ">Look at the description of the show
in Monday's Stanford </a><i><a href="https://archives.stanforddaily.com/1970/10/12?page=1 ">Daily</a> (highlights mine)</i>.<br /><blockquote><i><b>Sly and Family Stone Play To Full House</b> (by Don Lindemann, Stanford Daily Monday October 12 1970)<br />Sly
was satisfied, the police were pleased, the organizers were happy and
receipts were ample from almost 9,000 paying customers, insuring future
rock concerts on campus. <b>But crowd confusion and security problems at
the concert with Sly and The Family Stone Friday night in Frost
amphitheater here dimmed prospects for a future outdoor evening concert.</b></i><p><i>Sly will collect more than $17,500 for the ASSU-sponsored concert, a financial success <b>despite some 2,000 freeloaders in attendance</b>.<br /><br /><b>The
gates were opened to everyone at 8:30pm following repeated charges on
the fence by a crowd variously estimated from 75 to 300 persons.</b> However, most of those with tickets were already seated by this time after waiting in long lines for up to an hour. <br /><br /><b>Gates Opened</b><br />According to Mark Randolph, one of the concert organizers, the gates were opened for two reasons.<br /><br /><b>"First,
if we hadn't, there would have been sufficient disruption to stop the
concert and we didn't think that would be fair to those who paid,"</b> and Randolph. <b>"Secondly, we didn't want people to get hurt trying to climb over the fence."</b><br /><br />Adam
Levin, member of the ASSU Council of Presidents, was pleased with the
concert, but said, "I think it's doubtful we will have another concert
of this kind in Frost Amphitheater." He emphasized that a similar
program could be held in a facility with fewer security problems, such
as Maples Pavilion.<br /><br />"I'd like to make it clear that nobody ripped
down any fence," said Levin. He felt the problems were handled smoothly
by security forces, which included 50 deputy sheriffs from Santa Clara
County and some 75 student police.<br /><br />Levin said the Sheriff's department "told us it was the best organized rock concert they've ever policed."<br /><br />Levin
and Randolph both <b>praised Leo Bazile, former chairman of the BSU</b> [Black
Student Union], and the BSU for help in marshaling and ushering. Levin
added that t<b>he student police, formed by several fraternities, "performed magnificently."</b></i></p><p><i>According
to observers, the disruptions started about 8:15 p.m. when a crash was
heard from the fence area to the left of the main gate. Following cries
of "Let's get the fence," part of the crowd rushed up the slope and
began pulling at the six-foot chain-link fence. <br /><br />Several officers
reportedly tried to clear the area by raking the fence from the inside
with nightsticks. The crowd remained, some throwing dirt, until several
other officers ran up from behind and cleared the hill.<br /><br />The
crowd, many shouting obscenities, made several other changes near the
main gate before the organizers threw open the entrances.<br /><br />Financial figures for the concert were incomplete at press time but organizers indicated that it probably made a profit.<br /><br /><b>Sly Pleased</b><br />Sly
though it was great, according to Randolph, who talked to him
afterwards. "He was very pleased with the crowd and the way it reacted
to him," said Randolph.<br /><br />Levin complimented Randlolph for his role
in the concert preparation. "Mark has been through hell," said Levin.
"I'm proud of him and everyone involved in this. Student groups really
responded. The believed the time had come when Stanford could have
first-class entertainment."<br /><br />Levin himself received praise from
Bob Grant, another member of the Council of Presidents. "He worked his
tail off," said Grant, "and deserves a lot of the credit."</i></p></blockquote><p>I
do not know exactly what happened. My suspicion is that it was white
hippies who wanted to get in for free, since the organizers were
concerned that "people might hurt themselves climbing over the fence."
The former chairman of the Black Student Union "helped with the
ushering," but several fraternities formed a "student police" force. Do
you think there had been a "student police" force for Quicksilver or
Country Joe and The Fish earlier in the year? Official tension was so
high that up to 2000 fans outside were let into an already-sold out
venue. The fear factor had to be off the charts, and I would ascribe
that to the irrational fear that a "mixed' crowd could only lead to
"trouble." <br /></p><p>In the end, as the article makes clear, night
concerts at Frost Amphitheatre were off limits. Another, unstated
subtext was that acts who would bring African-American fans who wanted
to dance would not be playing Stanford. Aretha Franklin? Sure (November 5
1971). Miles Davis? Of course (October 1, 1972). The Isley Brothers, or
Earth Wind & Fire? Nada.<br /></p><p>Stanford beat USC 24-14, behind Jim Plunkett. The "country-gospel" group <b>Carp</b> opened the show.<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnrjvd4oouWunpoblp4VTmzpnTAtaGO-wp5MKr9D-PWXBNqBp0GIOYuWqq29OUbVUzs6h0hKewMZ-xmWRyivSaz7tIEjYeR3z_EZO3oW3jUrT_Z4EPK0Fq5xhT485lyebPUqQN99MsmJlNKQVAwaaAVQ-u9uMjdu3uwjBKCC-PWlFJ6BMtVnruB0vP_w/s480/NYRRE%20Mem%20Aud%2019701030.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="282" data-original-width="480" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnrjvd4oouWunpoblp4VTmzpnTAtaGO-wp5MKr9D-PWXBNqBp0GIOYuWqq29OUbVUzs6h0hKewMZ-xmWRyivSaz7tIEjYeR3z_EZO3oW3jUrT_Z4EPK0Fq5xhT485lyebPUqQN99MsmJlNKQVAwaaAVQ-u9uMjdu3uwjBKCC-PWlFJ6BMtVnruB0vP_w/s320/NYRRE%20Mem%20Aud%2019701030.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><b>October 30, 1970 Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: New York Rock and Roll Ensemble </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />The <b>New York Rock and Roll Ensemble</b>
was a rock group featuring classically trained musicians. They toured
around and performed with local symphonies in each region. The group had
played Stanford various times before. This sort of hybrid hasn't aged
particularly well. The main force in the NYRRE was keyboard player
Michael Kamen, who would play with David Bowie in the mid-70s, and later
was very successful creating film scores. Unlike the Electric Light
Orchestra, the New York Rock and Roll Ensemble didn't have any memorable
songs. </span><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span></span></span></span><br /></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHbj19QJNQuhTym-rI0VXIjQnCChMgpRdalRYQS6sAdvChutFYJDRVOejoTwp5kDg8qxbYjbSRAr3nspobiI5V0dasrhjd364uQF2GY1tA-xaBtVLSIXavuJKSbuYMEh5NYDWt2eoauZDNclBNBd2xQUTZTrcd4-nlRuGC8BbxZYl9yixWCbWWwEJD1A/s820/Tower%20Baylands%20PA%201970115.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="820" data-original-width="776" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHbj19QJNQuhTym-rI0VXIjQnCChMgpRdalRYQS6sAdvChutFYJDRVOejoTwp5kDg8qxbYjbSRAr3nspobiI5V0dasrhjd364uQF2GY1tA-xaBtVLSIXavuJKSbuYMEh5NYDWt2eoauZDNclBNBd2xQUTZTrcd4-nlRuGC8BbxZYl9yixWCbWWwEJD1A/s320/Tower%20Baylands%20PA%201970115.jpg" width="303" /></a></div><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7bwMAM3UOiFp3LWL6aIfHP6dzcw7bfMeuUCKB1CjL91VojfPnznnBo069YoBSdk_DxR9TP-y__LKdk_QXDjP1bEMpC4aBBJ-RCCakvMvN4KQgDdhxzVD0sWMxIC06OwS7kWYfu5rSseR6SOMzoSLFSnEb8ExzwFAc2xvuWc0LqEP6Cc6D4-1rI3dN/s960/Baylands%2019701115.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="609" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7bwMAM3UOiFp3LWL6aIfHP6dzcw7bfMeuUCKB1CjL91VojfPnznnBo069YoBSdk_DxR9TP-y__LKdk_QXDjP1bEMpC4aBBJ-RCCakvMvN4KQgDdhxzVD0sWMxIC06OwS7kWYfu5rSseR6SOMzoSLFSnEb8ExzwFAc2xvuWc0LqEP6Cc6D4-1rI3dN/s320/Baylands%2019701115.jpg" width="203" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>This November 15, 1970 concert was held at the Baylands softball complex on the Eastern shore of Palo Alto, near the dump and the harbor. It was not repeated<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />November
15, 1970 Baylands Park, Palo Alto, CA: Big Brother and The Holding
Company/AUM/Tower of Power/Nevada </b><i>(Sunday) Autumnal 2</i><br />By the end of
1970, live original rock music had been all but extinguished in Palo
Alto. The Poppycock briefly re-opened around this time as Mom's, but
they featured two house bands that played covers (Fast Eddie was one,
and the other was The Sheiks). There didn't seem to be any plausible
venues in the area, despite the potential audience. There was one
intriguing experiment, but it didn't really go anywhere.<p></p><p>Palo Alto
actually extended Eastward on Embarcadero Road, across the 101 freeway,
all the way to the San Francisco Bay. Way back in the 1950s, Palo Alto
had created a little harbor (locally known as the "Yacht Harbor"), some
landfill ("the dump"), an airport, a duck pond and a wetlands preserve.
In 1969, Palo Alto took some of the leftover land and had created a
softball complex, with lights. To settle the El Camino Park Be-In issue,
the city had offered the newly-opened softball complex for the Be-In in
August of '69, but the concert was a flop. By the next year, the
softball complex was in full-time use during the summer (which remains
the case). </p><p>In November, 1970, Palo Alto tried again, with the
"Autumnal 2" concert. I don't know what or where "Autumnal 1" might have
been [<i><b>update 23 May 2023</b>: Autumnal 1 had been produced at Gunn HS on September 12, produced by the Palo Alto Jaycees and the Youth Advisory Council</i>]. Big Brother had replaced Boz Scaggs, and AUM and Tower of Power
at least had local followings. <a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2020/07/august-2-1969-baylands-athletic-center.html">I speculated about this concert at some
length elsewhere, but I don't have any details beyond the flyer.</a> This
concert was a prelude to Shoreline Amphitheatre. The venue was just across the
freeway, easy access, good parking, US 101 acting as an implicit buffer
to the noise--all the pieces were in place. It just took another 15
years to make it happen. <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN8f_EWnNAZfnSCPK6m20kn1v0oXgC0jvA3fHzevvZ9GC1382aPRG97sxBDpjUzsPoQoDCUfV2Ea1X2VngMCbKqOQY1zCZ8NazVIkIih8MYvVBwJpsc8v6DhjucPCXmPVUsYaoazM3YWrIShB2TO0PPOOr78IZokNVG8fCNVQC1RDuQ-d79J1j2kAE2A/s742/Moody%20Blues%20Trapeze%20Maples%2019701203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="498" data-original-width="742" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN8f_EWnNAZfnSCPK6m20kn1v0oXgC0jvA3fHzevvZ9GC1382aPRG97sxBDpjUzsPoQoDCUfV2Ea1X2VngMCbKqOQY1zCZ8NazVIkIih8MYvVBwJpsc8v6DhjucPCXmPVUsYaoazM3YWrIShB2TO0PPOOr78IZokNVG8fCNVQC1RDuQ-d79J1j2kAE2A/s320/Moody%20Blues%20Trapeze%20Maples%2019701203.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><b>December
3, 1970 Maples Pavilion, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Moody
Blues/Elvin Bishop Group </b><i>[replacing Trapeze] (Thursday)</i><br />Maples
Pavilion was Stanford's new basketball arena, which had opened in
January, 1969. It had a basketball capacity of 7,392. The pavilion
(named for alumni Roscoe Maples, an Oregon lumber magnate) was at 655
Campus Drive, so it was between central campus and El Camino Real in
Palo Alto. Access from the Peninsula was very easy, making it easy for
off-campus fans to attend games. Ray Charles had played at Maples in
April, 1969, but there had been no concerts at the pavilion since
then. </p><p>The hugely popular <b>Moody Blues </b>headlined Maples in
December. This event was the true christening of Maples as a concert
venue. Although Stanford would have a contested relationship with live
rock music throughout the 1970s, Maples Pavilion was clearly intended to
be the primary rock concert facility on campus. The Moody Blues were
appropriately high profile for the venue debut. The Moodies had formed
in England in 1964, and by 1970 they were gigantic. They had scored
numerous hits, like "Nights In White Satin," "Tuesday Afternoon," "Ride
My See-Saw" and "Questions." Their current album was <i>A Question Of
Balance</i>, which had been released in August of 1970. It would reach #3 in
the US. The <i>Daily</i> reported that 8300 fans attended the Maples' show,
which must have been maximum capacity. The English band Trapeze was
supposed to open, but they had visa problems, so the Elvin Bishop Group
appeared instead.<br /></p><p></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHbSITvTe-RoSFnjk_oYyaTB_mU2D2w-nQLJ-QG6rBgkvjbdU0yzLF3k1vodWSKEXklrQqnk1vjusoa2or-wUGm1WPUjssvdD3fh3_2qEIgBx1hqxpU2nVaFifoOqxLNLLbM1qMqlbuiC3wh-nwKRTUPt32tHGwXRRPiD-YTfiJU79rCQPhfnSkLW2XA/s954/Moody%20Blues%20Maples%2019701203%20review%20Dec%204%20Daily.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="488" data-original-width="954" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHbSITvTe-RoSFnjk_oYyaTB_mU2D2w-nQLJ-QG6rBgkvjbdU0yzLF3k1vodWSKEXklrQqnk1vjusoa2or-wUGm1WPUjssvdD3fh3_2qEIgBx1hqxpU2nVaFifoOqxLNLLbM1qMqlbuiC3wh-nwKRTUPt32tHGwXRRPiD-YTfiJU79rCQPhfnSkLW2XA/s320/Moody%20Blues%20Maples%2019701203%20review%20Dec%204%20Daily.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p>Bob
Litterman gave a glowing review in the Monday Stanford <i>Daily</i>. His
comments also showed how the Sly concert was still first and foremost in
Stanford University's calculation<br /><blockquote><i>The concert was the
first one ever in Maples, which according to Public Events Director Tom
Bachetti was lent with "fear and trepidation" by the athletic
department.</i> <br /></blockquote><blockquote><i>Outfitted with $50,000
dollars worth of new sound absorbing fixtures, the pavilion turned out
to be quite suitable for the event. Not only were the acoustics good,
but the special floor which rests on springs and bounced with the music
added an extra dimension to the hundreds of spectators who were allowed
to sit, stand, dance and freak out on tarps which served to protect the
basketball floor. </i></blockquote><p>Just in case anyone missed the
subtext of the Athletic Department's "fear and trepidation" at using
their new arena for a rock concert, Litterman added that "Security
arrangements for the concert were not nearly as extensive as those
earlier this year at the Sly and the Family Stone concert in Frost
Amphitheatre." The fact that Stanford had paid $50K for improved sound
was a sign that the school intended Maples to be a "multi-use" arena,
not just a sports facility. In fact, Maples was a pretty good concert
venue, even if the University only used it grudgingly. </p><i><b>Palo Alto Rock and Roll Status Report: End of 1970</b></i><br />There
was an eager audience for live rock in Palo Alto, but few
opportunities. There were no nightclubs that booked original music
anywhere on the Peninsula. Stanford was grudging in its use of Frost
Amphitheatre, and uncomfortable when a popular act succeeded there.
Maples Pavilion was new and upgraded, however, and seemed promising. For
the time being, however, Palo Alto and Stanford rock fans still needed to
go to San Francisco or Berkeley for live music. <br /><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8odsiMpMEcqPVMuBSQQ1ySJ2_djqIxKtmMmAGT7Y8L9vuK8OmOX7CQNqD01x9DjTQkQtRbub4uJnEj04Cq1zzRFKiLlq_jQc-DOwFoJeBpiRupuwQjdLxvHM7OAqZK8ZEVG-nEmtdjP7p5YD8sae7vgaPSeozsWJbKw-137mfwQkZTGV4MtQdIYtO-g/s1148/Firesign%20Theater%20Mem%20Aud%2019710205.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1148" data-original-width="1054" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8odsiMpMEcqPVMuBSQQ1ySJ2_djqIxKtmMmAGT7Y8L9vuK8OmOX7CQNqD01x9DjTQkQtRbub4uJnEj04Cq1zzRFKiLlq_jQc-DOwFoJeBpiRupuwQjdLxvHM7OAqZK8ZEVG-nEmtdjP7p5YD8sae7vgaPSeozsWJbKw-137mfwQkZTGV4MtQdIYtO-g/s320/Firesign%20Theater%20Mem%20Aud%2019710205.jpg" width="294" /></a></div><p><br /><b>February 5, 1971 Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Firesign Theatre </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />The <b>Firesign Theatre</b>
was a comedy quartet, not a rock band, but this was 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 <i>Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers</i>,
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 radios throughout the country. </p><p><b>April 2, 1971 Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Sha-Na-Na </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />Sha
Na Na had been formed by Columbia University as in intentionally retro
50s/60s rock act, complete with choreography and 50s gear. They had been
booked at the Woodstock Festival because they were popular in the New
York area. Many of the members of Sha Na Na were still Columbia students
at the time. They were part of the <i>Woodstock</i> movie (released March 1970) and
became a popular National act. By 1971, Sha Na Na was touring around,
booked at both Fillmores and playing all over. The Stanford <i>Daily</i>
reviewed the show on Tuesday (April 6), and noted that while the
performance was very fun, it was basically the same showbiz act that the
band had done at Woodstock. <br /></p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkdn11Dx9H9CY3DzHMAApkQO5L0g9oV-Gme182edsqjZdh8qpdZL5dvoOorCBJihvSUcTnoQ-0ELyb5Zk4HeteYxCrs6R7L0xeTt-pvJhH4b-ujBOmwxAfY-jFPzvBIpfReRb3HibMo5s-EVlkxm4raEqsF0l_MKJ_4K-j6vH0NYpylgaHGioa0g4d/s600/Laura%20Nyro%20Christmas%20and%20The%20Beads%20of%20Sweat%20CBS%201970.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkdn11Dx9H9CY3DzHMAApkQO5L0g9oV-Gme182edsqjZdh8qpdZL5dvoOorCBJihvSUcTnoQ-0ELyb5Zk4HeteYxCrs6R7L0xeTt-pvJhH4b-ujBOmwxAfY-jFPzvBIpfReRb3HibMo5s-EVlkxm4raEqsF0l_MKJ_4K-j6vH0NYpylgaHGioa0g4d/s320/Laura%20Nyro%20Christmas%20and%20The%20Beads%20of%20Sweat%20CBS%201970.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Laura Nyro's Christmas and The Beads of Sweat, her 4th album, released on Columbia in November 1970</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />April 4, 1971 Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Laura Nyro/Don Cooper </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />In contrast to the slickness of Sha Na Na, Laura Nyro epitomized the sincere performer who played her own music from the heart. <b>Laura Nyro</b>
(1947-1997) had been born in the Bronx. Her songs merged the popular
Brill Building sound with soul music, so her songs were catchy, deep and
danceable--a formidable combination. Her 60s hit songs are familiar to
everyone of a certain age: "Wedding Bell Blues" and "Stoned Soul Picnic"
(both Fifth Dimension), "And When I Die" (Blood, Sweat and Tears),
"Eli's Coming" (Three Dog Night) and "Stoney End" (Barbara Streisand)
are just the most prominent. <br /><p>Her actual recording career was more checkered. <i>More Than A New Discovery</i>,
her debut, had been released by Verve Folkways in February 1967. Nyro
had then appeared at the Monterey Pop Festival in July, but her soul
sound did not go over as well as the more feedback-heavy acts. David
Geffen then took over as her manager, and managed to void her previous
contracts on the grounds that she had signed them as a minor. Nyro went
to Columbia, where she had released <i>Eli and The 13th Confession</i> in 1968. It was followed by <i>New York Tendaberry</i>
in Fall 1969. By 1970, Geffen and Nyro had sold her publishing (through
Tuna Fish Music) for $4.5 million, a huge number. They split the money,
and Nyro was then free of having to worry about her next hit.</p><p>As a
result, Nyro did not perform much. Thus, her concerts were more like
special events. At this time, her most recent album was her fourth,
<i>Christmas and The Beads of Sweat</i>, released on Columbia in November 1970.
<i> Daily</i> reviewer Jane Corrigan could not say enough nice things about
Nyro (April 6), who held the crowd rapt while accompanying herself on
piano. Corrigan only regretted that Nyro never acknowledged the
enthusiastic packed house. </p><p>Singer/songwriter <b>Don Cooper</b> opened the show. <br /></p><p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZqL3n5QNinAqetIVme_9woAtV-QlTMCvikwTmxcALGWdEyBn4SzDC8WXAjCi7K90VxPtvWQM3vKhTcGeVRxy4LigSu_dWApO-OaUZvrm94JE04_-u1LqP43y9BaXG-DoVAo8m8UjAPgenAzZ-QoDO6QBZaIcWTV7CY0AaEIbPTZB0BILqzjyXLS2AGg/s790/Chicago%20Maples%2019700416.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="602" data-original-width="790" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZqL3n5QNinAqetIVme_9woAtV-QlTMCvikwTmxcALGWdEyBn4SzDC8WXAjCi7K90VxPtvWQM3vKhTcGeVRxy4LigSu_dWApO-OaUZvrm94JE04_-u1LqP43y9BaXG-DoVAo8m8UjAPgenAzZ-QoDO6QBZaIcWTV7CY0AaEIbPTZB0BILqzjyXLS2AGg/s320/Chicago%20Maples%2019700416.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><b>April 16, 1971 Maples Pavilion, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Chicago/Madura </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />Rock music returned to Maples Pavilion with <b>Chicago</b>. <i>Daily</i>
reviewer "Captain Hornsby" (in the April 20 paper) reported a huge
crowd, but poor sound. Chicago has just released their third album
(<i>Chicago III</i>) in January, which would reach #2. The band had a string of
huge AM hits, the most recent of which was "Does Anybody Really Know
What Time It Is," which had reached #7 in October 1970. <br /></p><p><b>Madura</b>
was another Chicago-area band on Columbia (just as Chicago themselves
were). The guitar/organ/drums trio configuration wasn't uncommon in the 60s. <br /></p><p><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>On
May 20, 1971, the site at 135 University Avenue reopened as a music club
called In Your Ear. Nominally, it was a jazz club, much more in the
comfort zone of Palo Alto. <a href="https://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2020/07/tales-from-in-your-ear-live-music-in.html">Intriguingly,
the club had a booking policy similar to the future-version of the
Great American Music Hall: not just jazz, but blues, folk and thoughtful
(though not rowdy) rock.</a> It was much more the Palo Alto style. I
don't know what the economic prospects of the club might ultimately have
been, but a fire in the pizza oven burned the club down on New Year's
Eve, 1972-73. <br /></span></span></span></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhslXgPt2pgFC12NZS6niDYwsTU3nLnLCTRJHfU9Tqx1JGUzZmvTgtoeiHqHJN-l795CmdxF0ByrmIWK9i5IMzYlXls1U2XoqbaZ8K6yaJiP9-wzZBSJRFFEOrSFQqAwty1PoF5Imqqx9S5iRukJzPe3TtXBM4l6aUHLnqvlEKkt1xn9BR-DqqXeJbF2A/s730/Tower%20of%20Power%20Frost%2019710523.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="494" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhslXgPt2pgFC12NZS6niDYwsTU3nLnLCTRJHfU9Tqx1JGUzZmvTgtoeiHqHJN-l795CmdxF0ByrmIWK9i5IMzYlXls1U2XoqbaZ8K6yaJiP9-wzZBSJRFFEOrSFQqAwty1PoF5Imqqx9S5iRukJzPe3TtXBM4l6aUHLnqvlEKkt1xn9BR-DqqXeJbF2A/s320/Tower%20of%20Power%20Frost%2019710523.jpg" width="217" /></a></div><br /><b><br />May 23, 1971 Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Tower Of Power/Country Weather/Stoneground/Blue Mountain </b><i>(Sunday) afternoon show</i><br />Rock
music returned to Frost Amphitheatre, for the first time since the Sly
debacle in October. This time it was the familiar Sunday afternoon
booking (1:00-5:30pm), with much smaller acts. All the groups had local
followings, and the headliner had even released an album, but they
weren't major acts. <p></p><p>Tower of Power had released their debut album <i>East Bay Grease</i> on
Graham's San Francisco Records label (distributed by Atlantic). Tower's
horn section was show-stopping from the beginning, and even the early
version of Tower was a knockout live.</p><p><b>Country Weather </b>was
out of Contra Costa County and featured guitarist Gregg Douglass. They,
too, were booked by Bill Graham's Millard Agency. Despite some efforts,
Country Weather did not release an album while they were still together,
but they had played Fillmore West and other halls many times, so they
were well known around the Bay Area.</p><p><b>Stoneground</b> had been put together by KSAN impresario Tom Donahue in 1970 for an intended movie about a "traveling Woodstock" called <i>Medicine Ball Caravan</i>.
The Grateful Dead were booked for the movie, but backed out at the last
minute. Stoneground would release their self-titled debut album on
Warner Brothers later in the Summer of '71.
Among the key members of Stoneground were singers Sal Valentino, Lynne
Hughes, Annie Sampson and Deirdre LaPorte. Guitarist Tim Barnes also
sang. Pete Sears had been the pianist for the album, although he might
have been replaced by Palo Alto's own Cory Lerios by this time.</p><p><b>Blue Mountain</b> was a 10-piece Palo Alto band. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiihDYRMWSICufWnofaJ9bdNPJIyacTgCorfPgRVz74IhjOReA-Npglvpe3tmUzZgE6jdUlmoXGaLqemy2b2H4hDGcg_jlgjcUAd4LkRE3rMRw4l6nc3xY3WiFCXmpV1Vs35lMmDtoXvG3sshbaufAtYq6RbrMYFY7DsElF1rwvQFLthxEOeSavxBwAxg/s670/Cold%20Blood%20Frost%2019710718.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="670" data-original-width="484" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiihDYRMWSICufWnofaJ9bdNPJIyacTgCorfPgRVz74IhjOReA-Npglvpe3tmUzZgE6jdUlmoXGaLqemy2b2H4hDGcg_jlgjcUAd4LkRE3rMRw4l6nc3xY3WiFCXmpV1Vs35lMmDtoXvG3sshbaufAtYq6RbrMYFY7DsElF1rwvQFLthxEOeSavxBwAxg/s320/Cold%20Blood%20Frost%2019710718.jpg" width="231" /></a></div><p><br /><b>July 18, 1971 Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Cold Blood/Elvin Bishop Group/Lamb/Sopwith Camel </b><i>(Sunday) 1 pm</i><br />Rock
music returned again to Frost with a Sunday afternoon concert in July. What
should have been a pleasant little event turned into a debacle. On the
heels of the Sly concert, Stanford ultimately found an excuse to ban rock music from
Frost Amphitheatre, a ban that would officially last four years. </p><p>To
some extent, the event was similar to the May event. Three of the four booked acts were part of the Bill Graham stable, and all of them had played
Stanford many times before. All three of them had two albums under their
belt. <b>Sopwith Camel </b>had been an original Fillmore band back in '66, and
had some success with the hit single "Hello Hello." They had broken up, but
had just reformed again in Spring 1971. All of these groups had some
following, and between them could have attracted a decent size crowd
that would have been easily accomodated by Frost. </p><p>The problem at
Frost was that numerous people showed up and demanded to be let in for
free. Remember, this "strategy" had worked at the Sly concert. Also,
it's little remembered that most of the year, the gates to Frost were
un-locked and the locals treated it like a public park (as a child, my
father would regularly bring us there to walk around in the hopes of
tiring us out). It also meant that the locals knew exactly where it
would be easy to sneak in. Thus there was a running drama of hippies
trying to sneak in, security trying to stop them, and sporadic violence.
Various people got bloody from thrown bottles and the like. It was not a
good scene.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT4q25bJ3igkDWGgqDKWA-k80zMJlfaNxXKobG-2zcOcpxNwCDvDTtIcEcg4B4B_DLG0ITp-thMDUS7_vGVoA7oc5xSSr5BJm9_dDZzVdVuihKez-m5EnP7512n9UDhaswA7bnz90u0RxEaXFLsjbHFfWcyDblsX7zoPccGbGjLn2izy_QNWfrnFw4vg/s320/Frost%20Amph%20Schon%20and%20Santana%2019710718.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="320" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT4q25bJ3igkDWGgqDKWA-k80zMJlfaNxXKobG-2zcOcpxNwCDvDTtIcEcg4B4B_DLG0ITp-thMDUS7_vGVoA7oc5xSSr5BJm9_dDZzVdVuihKez-m5EnP7512n9UDhaswA7bnz90u0RxEaXFLsjbHFfWcyDblsX7zoPccGbGjLn2izy_QNWfrnFw4vg/s1600/Frost%20Amph%20Schon%20and%20Santana%2019710718.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Carlos
Santana and new band recruit Neal Schon on stage at Frost Amphitheatre
in Stanford on July 18, 1971. The Santana band was not advertised, but
debuted their new lineup.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Another
long-forgotten factor was that there was a surprise guest appearance at
the concert. <b>Santana</b>, a major band if there ever was one, used this
Frost show to make an un-announced appearance by their newest lineup,
feauturing Redwood City's own Neal Schon sharing lead guitar duties with
Carlos Santana. An event that featured all Bill Graham acts seemed like
the perfect place for the Bill Graham-managed Santana band to debut,
without creating unrealistic expectations. I assume that everyone
figured that Frost had enough excess capacity to handle any additional
ticket sales.<p></p><p>However many people knew about Santana's impending
guest appearance, it would have added to the pressure on the security,
who was probably expecting a smaller, more casual crowd. Santana was
closer to Sly, a hugely popular act with a broad (spell that "not all
White") audience. Add in the business that hippies expected that "music
should be free" and trouble followed. After this show, Stanford University decided to ban
rock bands from Frost Amphitheatre. <br /></p><p><b>July 24, 1971 Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford U., Palo Alto, CA: Joan Baez </b><i>(Saturday) 3pm</i><br />Joan
Baez played to a packed house at Frost, but of course while her
audience was broadly "rock," as in young people, she didn't play rock
music nor inspire people to dance. </p>The August 10, 1971 Stanford <i>Daily</i> gave the lay of the land (<i><a href="http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2010/06/jgms-october-3-1971-frost-ampitheater.html?showComment=1436076384559#c857486442374459191">LightIntoAshes via JGMF Comment Thread</a></i>):<br /><blockquote><i>Violence
and other trouble at a July 18th concert in Frost Ampitheater has
apparently expedited a moratorium on rock concerts in the ampitheater.
The moratorium has evidently been contemplated for quite awhile, but the
final decision by Director of Public Events Tom Bacchetti to impose it
was speeded by problems at last month’s Cold Blood-Elvin Bishop concert.</i> <br /></blockquote><blockquote><i>Non-rock
events such as the Joan Baez and Arthur Fiedler concerts will not be
affected, nor will rock concerts in other locations, such as Maples
Pavilion. But no rock events will be staged in Frost until after an
investigation is made by the Committee of Public Events this fall. [ . .
. ]</i> <br /></blockquote><blockquote><i>At the Cold Blood show, a
number of problems arose including the burglary of a concession truck,
the collapse of a tree limb filled with people and fighting, which
flared up throughout the later stages of the afternoon.</i> <br /></blockquote><blockquote><i>The
fighting involved only a few of the greater than 12,000 people in
attendance, but what did occur was bloody and violent. No one was
seriously injured, but a few people had to be treated at Stanford
Hospital. [ . . . ]</i> <br /></blockquote><blockquote><i>No concerts had
been scheduled for the rest of the summer but a rumored Stanford Legal
Defense concert featuring the Grateful Dead, which was being considered
for September 26th, will apparently have to be postponed or cancelled
since Bacchetti says that no rock shows will be presented until the
committee has studied the situation this fall.</i> <br /></blockquote><blockquote><i>Bacchetti
said that he had been approached by a potential promoter of the Dead
show who had wanted to know if the show could be presented if the Dead
performed "folk" music. Bacchetti said that he considered the chances
"very slim" and added that the promoters would "have to do a lot of
convincing.""<br />(Don Tollefson, “Moratorium Set On Frost Rock Concerts,” Stanford Daily 8/10/71) </i></blockquote><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidGHRckdx0V6IFue93rE3ElnIB2t1YR6ZwtZ0FhZ9Y3RyCPvgGXpsxkJ-Zei3VW6SIZqV5ukFMhSe7_BE0QxZqkTWASPRXvCKgh4ak7g6MrGZas3No4z_PNLHmvMCBiu4u1HeeUlu-oHk6OsVRmKdBE_7a4OKghMJbxaOFgsSHfd0auy-4iztlLRrR/s546/Elvin%20Bishop%20Flint%2019710904.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="476" data-original-width="546" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidGHRckdx0V6IFue93rE3ElnIB2t1YR6ZwtZ0FhZ9Y3RyCPvgGXpsxkJ-Zei3VW6SIZqV5ukFMhSe7_BE0QxZqkTWASPRXvCKgh4ak7g6MrGZas3No4z_PNLHmvMCBiu4u1HeeUlu-oHk6OsVRmKdBE_7a4OKghMJbxaOFgsSHfd0auy-4iztlLRrR/s320/Elvin%20Bishop%20Flint%2019710904.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />September 4, 1971 Flint Center, De Anza College, Cupertino, CA: Elvin Bishop Group/Boz Scaggs/Blue Mountain <i>(Saturday)</i></b><br />In the early 70s, there weren't any ongoing rock venues in the Palo Alto area, but Stanford wasn't the only place to consider. A community college district had been formed in the Palo Alto in 1957, and by now it had two full college campuses. Foothill College was in Los Altos Hills, just above Palo Alto, and further south was De Anza College, in Cupertino. The Foothill campus had opened in 1961, and De Anza in 1967. Los Altos and Cupertino were on the Northern and Southern ends of Santa Clara County. In 1971, De Anza opened the Flint Center, a 2400 seat auditorium at 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd (named after Chancellor Calvin Flint). The Elvin Bishop/Boz Scaggs booking seems to be the first use of Flint as a rock concert venue.<p><b>October
3, 1971 Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Harold
Land and Bobby Hutcherson/Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders </b><i>(Sunday) afternoon-Pamoja Sunday Jazz Series</i><br />Frost
Amphitheatre was still used regularly for performances, just not rock
ones. There was a jazz series, and the first event was held at Frost,
featuring West Coast jazz stalwarts <b>Harold Land</b> (tenor sax) and <b>Bobby
Hutcherson</b> (vibes), supported by...<b>Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders</b>. Now,
sure, Garcia and Saunders played jazz, sometimes, but would Land and
Hutcherson (fine as their music was) be headlining Frost without Jerry?
Peculiarities like this were a reminder of how detached the University
administration was from what was really going on. </p><p>The Stanford <i>Daily</i> commented on this, with an utterly straight face (<i><a href="http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2010/06/jgms-october-3-1971-frost-ampitheater.html?showComment=1435535142513#c4797561663779254633 ">Daily via JGMF</a></i>)<br /></p><blockquote><i>This first concert [in the Pamoja Sunday jazz series at Stanford] will not be affected by the University's current moratorium on rock concerts in Frost, imposed after violence marred a summer Cold Blood-Elvin Bishop concert there. A Grateful Dead concert that had been tentatively planned for this week has been indefinitely postponed until the Committee of Public Events studies the situation this fall. There is a slight possibility the Dead will play in Maples Pavilion this fall.</i> </blockquote><blockquote><i>The student sponsors of the Sunday jazz concerts have taken the Swahili name Pamoja Na Nafase, which means 'together with opportunity'. Their aim is to provide a steady source of funds for minority scholarships through a string of concerts and a night club for black artists in the campus Women's Clubhouse."<br /></i></blockquote><blockquote><i>"Everyone should bring blankets, a picnic lunch, and be ready to enjoy a rewarding afternoon of authentic up-to-date black jazz from the finest artists available", said one principal. </i></blockquote>Jerry Garcia had just started playing around the Bay
Area with his "club band," which hitherto had only played the Matrix and
then Keystone Korner. This Stanford show was Garcia's first in the
South Bay, and I believe his first outside of a bar. Merl Saunders
played organ, former Creedence member Tom Fogerty played rhythm guitar,
and John Kahn (bass) and Bill Vitt (drums) were the rhythm section. <a href="http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2010/06/jgms-october-3-1971-frost-ampitheater.html ">Per a Stanford Daily review (and eyewitness CryptDev), Garcia and Saunders played about an hour</a>. There were only two vocals from Garcia (<a href="https://jerrybase.com/events/19711003-01">"One Kind
Favor" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"</a>), so the premise that
they were a "jazz" band could be maintained. <br /><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfm6M8Natq1GBT8n6ee2l0AJVFIbV1wY6Ls7eQI58AUnkLnU3t_JlJyuml6bM4RSNIBjOSwevRhfoTxeWHk3azf-DH9HSw36fXLyf8tnGaBkN4X2_HGfjipwk_XVzg26ljVqkf3oY5H2usExzElpBkgqtlbIjz9llqhabaQddtsAorl0i3hZtqLgvU-Q/s662/Country%20Joe%20Mem%20Aud%2019711008.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="662" data-original-width="482" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfm6M8Natq1GBT8n6ee2l0AJVFIbV1wY6Ls7eQI58AUnkLnU3t_JlJyuml6bM4RSNIBjOSwevRhfoTxeWHk3azf-DH9HSw36fXLyf8tnGaBkN4X2_HGfjipwk_XVzg26ljVqkf3oY5H2usExzElpBkgqtlbIjz9llqhabaQddtsAorl0i3hZtqLgvU-Q/s320/Country%20Joe%20Mem%20Aud%2019711008.jpg" width="233" /></a></div><br /><b>October 8, 1971 Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Country Joe McDonald/Dan Hicks and The Hot Licks </b><i>(Friday) </i><i>-canceled</i><br />This
scheduled show was canceled, fairly close to the show date. I have to
assume that lack of ticket sales was the reasons, since none other was
given. Country Joe and The Fish had broken up (not for the first or
last time) over the Summer.<br /><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLuK9CqBwT7qEDlwANGq4WuJh1oxtMwg65c1EbalzB4_MuESOUSaX0gOM27GzQu4Pd725CAHAZTVXpuh1JbcnrHenhUXCk-t5FI3RmZVWJHF0fF5PZemTaoAlzY-MZWPbpHOzGzYrYLYQEC86djiuYJDdNKwliugeymWdc-8oLt-UHaHtMzAleWXR1gg/s702/Crosby%20Nash%20Flint%2019711017.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="702" data-original-width="412" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLuK9CqBwT7qEDlwANGq4WuJh1oxtMwg65c1EbalzB4_MuESOUSaX0gOM27GzQu4Pd725CAHAZTVXpuh1JbcnrHenhUXCk-t5FI3RmZVWJHF0fF5PZemTaoAlzY-MZWPbpHOzGzYrYLYQEC86djiuYJDdNKwliugeymWdc-8oLt-UHaHtMzAleWXR1gg/s320/Crosby%20Nash%20Flint%2019711017.jpg" width="188" /></a></div><b>October 17, 1971 Flint Center, De Anza College, Cupertino, CA: David Crosby & Graham Nash/Judee Sill <i>(Sunday) Pacific Presentations</i><i> </i></b><br />The <b>David Crosby & Graham Nash</b> show was (as far as I can tell) the first major popular music event at Flint Center, and it was a fairly major booking. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young were one of the biggest rock acts in the country. Both Crosby and Nash had released solo albums on Atlantic Records earlier in the year, Crosby's <i>If I Could Only Remember My Name</i> (February '71) and Nash's <i>Songs For Beginners</i> (May '71), and now the pair were playing some shows as an acoustic duo. They would go on to release an album together in April '72, which would peak at #4. While Stephen Stills and Neil Young were better known than Crosby or Nash, the latter two were still huge rock stars by any accounting. <br /><p>Crosby and Nash
were playing two nights at Berkeley Community Theater on Thursday and
Friday (August 14-15), so playing another show on Sunday night made good
sense. On the first night in Berkeley, Neil Young had dropped in to sing along. I
don't think Neil showed up for Cupertino, but in fact I don't know
anything about this show. <i><b>Update</b>: Wrong! <a href="http://cryptdev.blogspot.com/">Fellow scholar CryptDev</a> attended this show. Neil came over and played in the second set. He recalls "Heart Of Gold," "Old Man" and "Ohio," among others, besides helping out on "Teach Your Children." Sounds like a great night. </i><br /></p><p><b>Judee Sill </b>was friends with Graham Nash, and she had been signed as one of the first acts on manager David Geffen's Asylum Records. Her debut (with one track produced by Nash) had been released in September. </p><p>The most intriguing detail about this show was the fact that it was promoted by Pacific Presentations. Pacific Presentations was run out of Los Angeles by Sepp Donahower, who had been a key figure in the Pinnacle team that had promoted shows at the Shrine Exposition Hall in the 60s. Pacific specialized in putting on shows throughout the country in secondary markets. So although Bill Graham had booked Crosby and Nash at Berkeley, here was an out-of-town competitor booking them just 50 miles to the South. Pacific Presentations were sharp--if they were booking shows in Cupertino, there was a market. </p><p>Although Flint Center was a nice hall, and was heavily used by both De Anza College and others--Steve Jobs unveiled the first Mac computer there in 1984--it was used for relatively few concerts. Flint's importance as a local hall was broad, and rock concerts were only occasional over the years. Flint Center was finally closed permanently by De Anza in 2021.<br /></p><p></p><p><b>November 5, 1971 Maples Pavilion, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Aretha Franklin/King Curtis and The Kingpins/Tower of Power </b><i>(Friday) </i><br />Live electric music returned to Stanford University, although this time it was the Queen of Soul, <b>Aretha Franklin</b>. She was backed by <b>King Curtis and The Kingpins,</b> who also did their own set. Tower of Power opened the show, appropriately enough. Aretha was as revered then as she is today, but she wasn't a huge draw at Stanford. Per the <i>Daily</i> reviewer (Monday November 8), there were about 4500 at the Maples concert. The reviewer said she was "disappointing," only playing flat a 40-minute set. Fortunately, however, she rose to the occasion with a great encore.</p><p><i><b>Palo Alto Rock and Roll Status Report: End of 1971</b></i><br />Live rock music was more popular than ever in 1971, and there were plenty of young adults and students to attend shows in the Palo Alto area. They had access to cars, and Palo Alto parents were not particularly concerned with the pernicious influence of rock music. Still, there were very few opportunities for bands to perform. The only rock nightclub was In Your Ear (at 135 University), which mostly booked jazz and blues, with just the occasional rock band. Stanford had the good venues, but no incentive to put on concerts.</p><p>The December 2, 1971 Stanford <i>Daily</i> reported that a committee would review Frost concerts, with an eye to considering them, but it didn't look hopeful. Maples Pavilion was a viable venue, but it needed acts big enough to bring a crowd, and in any case concerts would have been second to any basketball games. There were a few other venues around, including Flint Center, but no promoter seemed to be in place to take a stab at filling the needs of the local rock audience. Palo Alto and Stanford rock fans still expected to go to Berkeley or San Francisco to see live rock music.<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEFzVg2zPFdYe0533m76iWSfPiCFGRxcz9ugDJaQ76Foq5r_zs1VUMYu1cLcAstDY8ahc8gEfh4rHYWheLTUrOCCq-IJY_KTApEY91yjZIKxoHkaUgSSA9LbIjMsENMwnVQDrzOYZPcBjjuTpxYHnhFcw-3iMVdDVs9Js30998IbmdoB8CCSpqsN7BoQ/s498/Doc%20Watson%20Gunn%2019720123.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="382" data-original-width="498" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEFzVg2zPFdYe0533m76iWSfPiCFGRxcz9ugDJaQ76Foq5r_zs1VUMYu1cLcAstDY8ahc8gEfh4rHYWheLTUrOCCq-IJY_KTApEY91yjZIKxoHkaUgSSA9LbIjMsENMwnVQDrzOYZPcBjjuTpxYHnhFcw-3iMVdDVs9Js30998IbmdoB8CCSpqsN7BoQ/s320/Doc%20Watson%20Gunn%2019720123.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><b>January 23, 1972 Spangenberg Auditorium, Gunn High School, Palo Alto, CA: Doc Watson <i>(Sunday)</i></b><br />Gunn High School had been Palo Alto's 3rd and most recent High School, opened in 1964 in South Palo Alto (at 780 Arastradero) to account for the constantly expanding student population. Country Joe and The Fish had played the Gunn gym in the Summer of '67, but by and large there hadn't been any popular music there. Nonetheless Doc Watson was booked for a Sunday night at the 925-seat Spangenberg Theater, the main auditorium at the school. I'm not sure why this unique exception was made. It does show, however, that there was no lack of places to put on shows in Palo Alto, just some resistance to actually putting them on. <br /></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkfJI_eUr95yMevDQ6UHFOdXSYyivysUzNsl2vig6zgrPN2c_4Qzy3QCRpfNhXpL3QRtaU5ReNs89hRjbxbbhfBb71xDGDtKPAJWofn9jmKmXnvCZLDyVh4IyHeoHnc2EVvRs6DB3HBa8gTan6P7_hUSY2bKsKsLp5y6VhcDm3mm7FOvwdm1wIpqTu5g/s826/Cold%20Blood%20Stanford%20Pavilion%2019720129.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="826" data-original-width="288" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkfJI_eUr95yMevDQ6UHFOdXSYyivysUzNsl2vig6zgrPN2c_4Qzy3QCRpfNhXpL3QRtaU5ReNs89hRjbxbbhfBb71xDGDtKPAJWofn9jmKmXnvCZLDyVh4IyHeoHnc2EVvRs6DB3HBa8gTan6P7_hUSY2bKsKsLp5y6VhcDm3mm7FOvwdm1wIpqTu5g/s320/Cold%20Blood%20Stanford%20Pavilion%2019720129.jpg" width="112" /></a></div><p><b>January 29, 1972 Old Pavilion, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Cold Blood/Stoneground/Blue Mountain/Great Nameless Wonder Band </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />Before NCAA Basketball became a proverbial ‘big deal’, the Stanford basketball team had played in a 1200-seat auditorium built in 1921, at 615 Serra Street (at Galvez Drive). Maples Pavilion had opened in 1969 to replace it. There had been one previous rock concert that I know of in the building. On October 6, 1966, the day LSD had been made illegal in California, the Grateful Dead had played for free in the Panhandle. <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2017/07/palo-alto-psychedelic-rock-shows-1965.html">That night, the Butterfield Blues Band and Jefferson Airplane had played the basketball Pavilion (with Jerry Garcia supposedly in the front row).</a> There hadn't been a concert there since. Musta been a great time.</p><p>By 1972, the Old Pavilion was the home of various other Stanford sports teams. The location was much nearer El Camino Real, far more accessible to Palo Alto and elsewhere than Memorial Auditorium at the center of campus. Cold Blood, Stoneground and Blue Mountain had all played around Stanford and the South Bay and were well known locally. The <b>Great Nameless Wonder Band</b> are unknown to me. <br /></p><p></p><b>April 1, 1972 Gym, Foothill College, Los Altos, CA: Chuck Berry/Copperhead/Robben Ford </b><i>(Saturday) </i><br />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.<p>Nonetheless, rock legend <b>Chuck Berr</b>y headlined the Foothill Gym on Saturday, April 1. The event was even noted in the Friday (March 31) Stanford <i>Daily</i>, which did not normally note any events at Foothill. Opening act <b>Copperhead</b> was a newly-formed group featuring former Quicksilver Messenger Service guitarist John Cippolina. Ukiah, CA guitarist <b>Robben Ford</b> had played with Charlie Musselwhite around 1970 and '71, and had gone on to lead the Charles Ford Blues Band with his brothers. Mark Ford played harmonica and sang, and Pat Ford was the drummer (Charles Ford was their father). They had released an excellent album on Arhoolie. I'm not quite sure if the "Robben Ford" billing indicated something different. Whoever might have been in Robben Ford's band, they were probably all backing Chuck Berry, since he never toured with a band. Berry figured--reasonably enough--that all rock bands could play Chuck Berry music, and required the promoters to hire a local band.<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2G4UYhp16ZPGrp54zsReMXWNdIrdok9VdPu4KXb-pFTl_586r3gb1fubN_4ipiDQFbiyi5ChNJ5k0zXQ-Tl-Fq1XtZ2fedN0cgiX9GSKmMnLykET-hFsoLwe0-w_yh7eyjkxr7BCMEbVanIsGXUkIQeUSvU5o-rKCtkU1g3SdzKoOhO4HpmKqnoo-kg/s1070/Van%20Morrison%20Stanford%2019720422.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1070" data-original-width="736" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2G4UYhp16ZPGrp54zsReMXWNdIrdok9VdPu4KXb-pFTl_586r3gb1fubN_4ipiDQFbiyi5ChNJ5k0zXQ-Tl-Fq1XtZ2fedN0cgiX9GSKmMnLykET-hFsoLwe0-w_yh7eyjkxr7BCMEbVanIsGXUkIQeUSvU5o-rKCtkU1g3SdzKoOhO4HpmKqnoo-kg/s320/Van%20Morrison%20Stanford%2019720422.jpg" width="220" /></a></div><b>April 22, 1972 Old Pavilion, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Van Morrison/Delta Wires </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />In the Spring, <b>Van Morrison</b> headlined the Old Pavilion. Van Morrison had only moved from Woodstock, NY to Marin County the previous year. Morrison's most recent album had been released on Warners in October. It was the hugely popular <i>Tupelo Honey</i>, a monster hit on both FM and AM. Van could easily have played a much larger hall than the Old Pavilion, but he preferred smaller, more low-key gigs. Starting around 1970, Mike Bloomfield, Jorma Kaukonen and Jerry Garcia regularly played tiny local gigs, despite being big stars themselves. Van had immediately followed their lead, and would regularly play modest shows around the Bay Area for decades. <b>Delta Wires</b> was a bluesy band from the East Bay.<br /><p>The Old Pavilion show was reviewed in the Stanford <i>Daily</i>. The reviewer complained that a sullen, insular Van sang beautifully but failed to communicate with the audience. This was a typical complaint him at the time. Still, the show was sold out and the venue seemed fine. To my knowledge, however, there was never another rock concert at the Old Pavilion. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnham_Pavilion_(Stanford_University)">It is still in active athletic use as Burhham Pavilion</a>.<br /></p><p>Starting in April, a club called Isidore's started advertising in the Stanford <i>Daily</i>. Isidore's was at 3803 Stevens Creek Boulevard in San Jose, not that near to Palo Alto really, but there were no competing clubs in the area. On April 23 and 24, Isidore's was presenting the Chambers Brothers. I think the club mostly booked dance bands, but they would occasionally book bands with albums, and advertise them in the <i>Daily</i>. <br /></p><p><b>April 30, 1972 Gym, Foothill College, Los Altos, CA: Mimi Farina &Tom Jans/Taj Mahal/The Committee </b><i>(Sunday) Benefit Air War Vote </i><br />There was another event at the Foothill Gym, this time a Sunday night show with <b>Mimi Farina, Taj Mahal </b>and<b> The Committee</b>. This event also got mentioned in the Stanford <i>Daily</i>. </p><p><b>May 6, 1972 Flint Center, De Anza College, Cupertino, CA: Buffy Ste Marie </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />Folk singer <b>Buffy Ste. Marie</b> headlined the Flint Center on Saturday, May 6, near the end of the term. After this Spring, however, popular music events at Foothill and Flint all but disappeared for some years. <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjIMJxHEwDCuLDe3g9WwAuDN_z3OomgJXKjPIfaIRchjk46dloS7mf4gUOlS-H0RmAX_hZFtJvmjK6BB7WzsGv1lmw0_sNY427WBOolpdgOJp9M_9SIMTmBdygAGnAtY166A75ab9X-jYUcYXPwWs5c7y-E69hujpf_wY4dq3ece4jrDmBPiIFlSx-yA/s1709/Sons%20Mayfield%20School%20PA%2019720604.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1709" data-original-width="1116" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjIMJxHEwDCuLDe3g9WwAuDN_z3OomgJXKjPIfaIRchjk46dloS7mf4gUOlS-H0RmAX_hZFtJvmjK6BB7WzsGv1lmw0_sNY427WBOolpdgOJp9M_9SIMTmBdygAGnAtY166A75ab9X-jYUcYXPwWs5c7y-E69hujpf_wY4dq3ece4jrDmBPiIFlSx-yA/s320/Sons%20Mayfield%20School%20PA%2019720604.jpg" width="209" /></a></div><p><br /><b>June 4, 1972 Mayfield School, Palo Alto, CA: The Sons/Blue Mountain/Clover </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />Palo Alto itself was not without potential concert venues, but the town had little interest in using them. Mayfield School, for example, actually predated Palo Alto itself (the first school on the site was erected in 1855). The town of Mayfield, prior to its merger with Palo Alto, had built Mayfield School as a Grammar School in 1923. In 1925, Palo Alto and Mayfield merged. Over the decades, Mayfield School had served various educational functions. By 1972, it was the "Continuation School" for Palo Alto high school students who were not succeeding (I was at Paly during this period--when a fellow student disappeared from class, we would ask each other "did his family move, or has he gone to Mayfield?").</p><p>Mayfield School was at 250 El Camino Real, at the corner of El Camino and Page Mill Road. It was very centrally located and easy to get to, important for a prospective rock venue. In the Summer of '72, a concert was held on the athletic field (or playground) of Mayfield School. The show was a benefit for The Connection, which the poster said was "a new Coffee House, Theatre, Music and Craft Centre for High School Students." Although I do not recall The Connection, and it may never have been opened, it has the sound of a "space" (to use a modern term) for High School students who were otherwise likely to get in trouble. </p><p>I have seen references to the event on Facebook Palo Alto groups, so it occurred. The headliners were <b>The Sons</b>, from Marin County, <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/11/sons-of-champlin-performance-list-july.html">who had previously been known as The Sons of Champlin, and were sometimes booked under the name Yogi Phlegm</a>. The band had changed from a sort of horn-driven rock in the 60s to a more free-flowing fusion jazz sound, and had changed their name, but "Yogi Phlegm" was widely hated. most significantly by Bill Graham, so promoters often booked them as The Sons. The core of the group, with Bill Champlin (vocals, guitar, organ), Terry Haggerty (lead guitar) and Geoff Palmer (keyboards) was still intact, along with a cooking rhythm section (Bill Vitt on drums and David Schallock on bass). The band's record contract with Capitol had lapsed, however, but the Sons were soldiering on. </p><p><b>Clover</b>, another Marin County band who no longer had a record contract (after 1970 and '71 albums on Fantasy), apparently did not show up. Intriguing as this booking was, there were no other public rock events at Mayfield School to my knowledge. The school was demolished for seismic reasons in 1982.<br /></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB_OiBkZDAGmKT7UGPgBR4BYDoz4zy-qGZ8nIzyHT0TzZ_lYeC_aGTKrzUf2RF2A7l3UXrbPjqxDYc2ey13d6UbvvMy0XdemASyNbAv30edZeyyAP4iiIK6T2tll4mw10HZUpTj4v7S_j1kf9eileGMUnSOb7L3jOMdRBlZXanYaNsmIn14IznAlQGvw/s848/Cheech%20and%20Chong%20Elvin%20Bishop%20Stanford%2019720623.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="848" data-original-width="616" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB_OiBkZDAGmKT7UGPgBR4BYDoz4zy-qGZ8nIzyHT0TzZ_lYeC_aGTKrzUf2RF2A7l3UXrbPjqxDYc2ey13d6UbvvMy0XdemASyNbAv30edZeyyAP4iiIK6T2tll4mw10HZUpTj4v7S_j1kf9eileGMUnSOb7L3jOMdRBlZXanYaNsmIn14IznAlQGvw/s320/Cheech%20and%20Chong%20Elvin%20Bishop%20Stanford%2019720623.jpg" width="232" /></a></div><p><b>June 23, 1972 Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Cheech & Chong/Elvin Bishop Group </b><i>(Friday) 7:30 and 10:00</i><br />Similar to the Firesign Theater booking that had started Winter Quarter the previous year, this end-of-Spring booking of <b>Cheech & Chong</b> was 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 had just released their hit second album <i>Big Bambu</i>, designed like a giant package of rolling papers, with an LP-sized rolling paper inside (raise your hand if one of your friends tried to roll a j with it). </p><p>The presence of the Elvin Bishop Group shows us definitively that this was rock event, but note that Cheech and Chong came on as the headliners.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5C_qSXS1JceKHS9icsb0_dQqFVUhNqv52Gpo7XCMkvo2L9FwDhbuvmefa9uXhgMlq9-VLx6MuLejWq3h1s6S-dJKhrULI52uRZD97OJ-4GX8r99RKmoA5t363bZaKdZQT7PodVJn1UxOtxgu1zkgp3Q0BVl6fBEdRNRyqD3utetOGUq1TekDyGd7MIQ/s1380/El%20Camino%20Park%20PA%20Clover%2019720702%20copy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="1380" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5C_qSXS1JceKHS9icsb0_dQqFVUhNqv52Gpo7XCMkvo2L9FwDhbuvmefa9uXhgMlq9-VLx6MuLejWq3h1s6S-dJKhrULI52uRZD97OJ-4GX8r99RKmoA5t363bZaKdZQT7PodVJn1UxOtxgu1zkgp3Q0BVl6fBEdRNRyqD3utetOGUq1TekDyGd7MIQ/s320/El%20Camino%20Park%20PA%20Clover%2019720702%20copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><b>July 2, 1972 El Camino Park, Palo Alto, CA: Blue Mountain/Gold/Clover/Mose </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />This ticket for a benefit concert at El Camino Park is fascinating and mysterious. <a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2020/07/august-2-1969-baylands-athletic-center.html">Palo Alto had blocked Be-In concerts at El Camino Park in 1969, by enforcing a noise ordance</a>. There had never been a paid concert at the Park, but the neighbors would have had just as many complaints. Still, Blue Mountain, <b>Gold</b> (from Berkeley), Clover and <b>Mose</b> (a Santa Cruz mountain band that would later change their name to Timber Creek) seemed to have been booked for an event. I don't know if it happened. <br /></p><p>There was one other concert event in El Camino Park this year (see October 1 '72, below). Whatever temporary loosening of El Camino Park may have been happening in the Summer of '72, however, it did not persist. <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE387lqbyusE1j7tnr6KoetVzuF9a3D1yeRhjuqO57ze2iQB2vzRG0PzYhUerb-9L3iK4pXXE512XN7moB7n3_5bjbyHbf_WKdMU52nTnV3e3nXMybd1lvROxxDZpK-sr2WYLXHuvQ_rMorNWtTMZH860YQRha4Hv6FMDrIFv3EsavTMl5VwW0mokXxg/s1174/Elvin%20Bishop%20Clover%20Marine%20World%2019720729.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1174" data-original-width="914" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE387lqbyusE1j7tnr6KoetVzuF9a3D1yeRhjuqO57ze2iQB2vzRG0PzYhUerb-9L3iK4pXXE512XN7moB7n3_5bjbyHbf_WKdMU52nTnV3e3nXMybd1lvROxxDZpK-sr2WYLXHuvQ_rMorNWtTMZH860YQRha4Hv6FMDrIFv3EsavTMl5VwW0mokXxg/s320/Elvin%20Bishop%20Clover%20Marine%20World%2019720729.jpg" width="249" /></a></div><p><b>July 29, 1972 Jungle Theater, Marine World Africa USA, Redwood City, CA: Elvin Bishop/Clover <i>(Saturday) </i></b><br />The pent-up interest in live rock and the lack of venues on the Peninsula hadn't gone completely unnoticed. 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.</p><p>One of Marine World Africa USA's features was music shows at The Jungle Theater, capacity about 3800. On some Saturday nights, 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. The shows were booked by Roy Dubrow, who would go on to manage Morning Sun Productions, one of the few Bay Area promoters to compete with Bill Graham Presents. <br /></p><b>July 30, 1972 Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Hot Tuna </b><i>(Sunday) -canceled</i><br />The July 18 Stanford <i>Daily</i> reported that Stanford Public Events director Tom Bachetti had given permission for a "Blues Concert" on July 30. The Daily reported that headliner Hot Tuna--featuring two members of the Jefferson Airplane--was actually a rock band. It's funny to laugh at this student subterfuge now, but it wasn't really a good faith booking. A very bitter July 21 <i>Daily</i> editorial published a photo of a bloody student injured in the July '71 Frost debacle. Once the cat was out of the bag, the Hot Tuna concert was canceled. There were no rock concerts in Frost for at least two years (depending on how you count). <p><b>September 30, 1972 Jungle Theater,
Marine World Africa USA, Redwood City, CA: Commander Cody and His Lost
Planet Airmen/Asleep At The Wheel </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzzxTbxZYzzmiP-G91Vojy1aDcFuqxDHwkY_kAMAI83Os25W4YvM98FTdxr5Z8YwpJlhzYRzGzBw_NJFjffIAIAxthQJF6HRBLJb-sIIDl9Jbwvlwgh3UnUiSzA1nMAlDAp8uc3oKlxh2lTc8PFLxLnHb2vDBY800-zTTC2jArqFdEAMjrfXhbhW446Q/s988/Miles%20Davis%20NRPS%20Frost%2019721001.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="988" data-original-width="840" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzzxTbxZYzzmiP-G91Vojy1aDcFuqxDHwkY_kAMAI83Os25W4YvM98FTdxr5Z8YwpJlhzYRzGzBw_NJFjffIAIAxthQJF6HRBLJb-sIIDl9Jbwvlwgh3UnUiSzA1nMAlDAp8uc3oKlxh2lTc8PFLxLnHb2vDBY800-zTTC2jArqFdEAMjrfXhbhW446Q/s320/Miles%20Davis%20NRPS%20Frost%2019721001.jpg" width="272" /></a></div><b><br />October 1, 1972 Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Miles Davis/New Riders of The Purple Sage </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />For all of Stanford's stout assertions that rock concerts were banned from Frost Amphitheatre, the school consistently undercut their own policies. Miles Davis was the headliner on this Sunday, and Miles' 9-piece band was probably as loud as any rock band, although I don't think you could dance to it. <a href="http://www.plosin.com/MilesAhead/Sessions.aspx?s=721001">Per an excellent site, Miles' band had</a><p><span id="lblMusicians"></span></p><blockquote>Miles Davis (tpt, org); Carlos Garnett (ss);
Reggie Lucas (g); Khalil Balakrishna (sitar); Cedric Lawson (keyb);
Michael Henderson (el-b); Al Foster (d); Badal Roy (tabla); James Mtume
Forman (cga, perc)</blockquote><p></p><p><span id="lblMusicians">and played a 67-minute set. We know the length because the show was broadcast on Stanford radio station KZSU-fm, which had been broadcasting live rock concerts since 1968 (and folk music before that). </span></p><p><span id="lblMusicians">Opening the show were the New Riders of The Purple Sage. </span>Both
Miles and the Riders were on Columbia, which probably explains the
connection, but it's still an odd booking. The New Riders were the country-rock offspring of the Grateful Dead, having released two albums already. <a href="https://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2022/02/new-riders-of-purple-sage-tour-history.html">Jerry Garcia, the original pedal steel guitarist, had been replaced by Canadian Buddy Cage, so the band could now tour full time.</a> The New Riders were a rock band if anyone was, but somehow because they were opening for a jazz icon, the show didn't apparently "count" as a rock concert. </p><p><span id="lblMusicians">So what happened?<a href="http://www.plosin.com/MilesAhead/Sessions.aspx?s=721001"> </a><a href="http://www.plosin.com/MilesAhead/Sessions.aspx?s=721001">Same old, same old</a>:<br /></span></p><p><span id="lblNotes"><i></i></span></p><blockquote><span id="lblNotes"><i>Fistfights and gate crashing marred the performace of Miles Davis and the New Riders
of the Purple Sage yesterday at Frost Amphithetare. ASSU organizers opened the gates
at 4 pm after a crown of 300 outside the amphitheater repeatedly rushed the gate
and threw rocks at Santa Clara County Sheriff's deputies hired to provide security. </i></span></blockquote><p></p><p></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfCw8wnnSsHAIpoxk11H_v3d7oBdvF4R1HkQndOqw7G9UHtft4SqflyzaExX5IqwC2GEZdp9x5nfW_lIpNRTVDiFeDBqTqAmEU0TRIwLKJnAOJxNOvlSCbHkHfzfMB0BJHzoONQiPXX0XxnGmnMzTu1HCURz2OuD6f98QtZ9ou-PhKIkSQoDPd-vme/s960/Ali%20Akhbar%20Khan%20PA%2019721001.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="651" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfCw8wnnSsHAIpoxk11H_v3d7oBdvF4R1HkQndOqw7G9UHtft4SqflyzaExX5IqwC2GEZdp9x5nfW_lIpNRTVDiFeDBqTqAmEU0TRIwLKJnAOJxNOvlSCbHkHfzfMB0BJHzoONQiPXX0XxnGmnMzTu1HCURz2OuD6f98QtZ9ou-PhKIkSQoDPd-vme/s320/Ali%20Akhbar%20Khan%20PA%2019721001.jpg" width="217" /></a></b></div><b><br />October 1, 1972 El Camino Park, Palo Alto, CA: Ali Akbar Khan/New Maihar Band/Shanit/Talvadyan Rhythm Band/<i>others</i> </b><i>(Sunday) Benefit for the Ali Akhbar Khan School of Music</i><br />El Camino Park's second paying event (see July 2 above) was a benefit for the Ali Akbar Khan School of Music, and also a sort of Indian festival. Ali Akbar Khan himself was the headliner. Support acts included an Indian/Rock fusion band called Shanti, who had released an album on Atlantic. Shanti featured Zakir Hussain, the son of Alla Rakha, who had only moved to California in 1969 (replacing Shankar Gosh). Zakir became good friends and a musical collaborator with Mickey Hart. The Talvadyan Rhythm Band was a "world music" percussion ensemble. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2016/05/may-30-1975-speedway-meadows-golden.html">When Hart joined them, they would change their name to the Diga Rhythm Band</a>. <br /><p></p><p>The Ali Akbar College Of Music had been established in Oakland in 1967.
Mickey Hart started studying at the school with tabla master Shankar
Gosh in 1968, taking what he learned in the school back to Bill
Kreutzmann and hence to the Grateful Dead. T<a href="http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2012/09/05/rest_your_head_where_the_grateful_dead_once_partied.php">he College was based in a house in the Oakland hills, at 6024 Ascot Drive</a>.
The school outgrew the house however, and thanks to the timely
intervention of Rhoney Stanley, the lease was taken over by Owsley
Stanley, and the house passed into Grateful Dead legend. <a href="http://www.aacm.org/contact_location.html">The Ali Akbar College Of Music then moved to San Rafael, where it remains today.</a> </p><p>I don't know anything else about this event, even whether actually occurred. To my knowledge, there was only one more paying event at El Camino Park, when Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir would play there on June 8, 1975. Otherwise, Palo Alto refused to let out the park for concerts, whether free or paid. <br /></p><p><b>October 6, 1972 Jungle Theater, Marine World Africa USA, Redwood City, CA: Dr Hook and The Medicine Show/Tea Lautrec</b><i> (Friday) </i></p><p><b>October 14, 1972 Jungle Theater, Marine World Africa USA, Redwood City, CA:Elvin Bishop Group/Lamb </b><i>(Saturday) </i><br /></p><p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSQyU5wFsvKWVS4-8mTAehjGWly7xNnYXYT7riPoqEu-ubVO4NnyCCmk72972jBndOCHbeGQ0QU_QJDq3pd98208gieUZ0gUkoqgwJ_dznBeeC990YD_K6Aw6SkK4a03hgCiMFHqsr_BOAqrET6iIe3KFAhI3RAv8FaSyduAm6xq2Jjge0BRB9hNf5PA/s600/Manassas%20Maples%2019721108.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="386" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSQyU5wFsvKWVS4-8mTAehjGWly7xNnYXYT7riPoqEu-ubVO4NnyCCmk72972jBndOCHbeGQ0QU_QJDq3pd98208gieUZ0gUkoqgwJ_dznBeeC990YD_K6Aw6SkK4a03hgCiMFHqsr_BOAqrET6iIe3KFAhI3RAv8FaSyduAm6xq2Jjge0BRB9hNf5PA/s320/Manassas%20Maples%2019721108.jpg" width="206" /></a></div><p><br /><b>November 8, 1972 Maples Pavilion, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Stephen Stills' Manassas </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br />At this time, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young were perhaps the biggest act in the country, even if they were sort of broken up, and Stephen Stills had a hugely successful solo career himself. He had just released the double album <i>Manassas</i>, and was touring with a group of the same name. The album was Stills' best solo work by a huge margin, and the diverse 7-piece band <b>Manassas</b> band always put on a great 2-hour show, ranging across electric, acoustic, blues and Latin music with ease. Chris Hillman (ex-Byrds, ex-Burritos) supported Stills with his own songs and harmony vocals, and Al Perkins was a great soloist on lead and pedal steel guitar. The show was well-attended and positively reviewed by the <i>Daily</i>. </p><i><b>Palo Alto Rock and Roll Status Report: End of 1972</b></i><br />Live rock and roll was bigger than ever by the end of 1972, but Palo Alto and Stanford had little to show for it. All the good rock shows were in San Francisco, Berkeley or Oakland. The best venue in the area was Frost Amphitheatre, and Stanford had banned rock concerts there. Occasional rock events at Maples and elsewhere around campus were welcome, but hardly fulfilling. Summer Saturday nights at an animal-themed amusement park wasn't exactly the cutting edge of hipness. <br /><p>There were only two real rock clubs in Palo Alto, and both had closed by year's end. In Your Ear, the intriguing jazz and blues club that had replaced the Poppycock, sometimes booked rock bands. Sadly, however, there was a fire in the pizza oven on New Year' Eve '72, and the club closed for good as a music venue. Another club, only barely legal, had opened near downtown, called Homer's Warehouse. It was an old quonset Warehouse on the opposite side of the railroad tracks. It sold beer, and the owners hadn't even told the landlord that they had opened a club. Reality had caught up with Homer's Warehouse, the owners had given up their lease in November of '72. So there wasn't anywhere off campus to see original live rock. The rock future of Palo Alto didn't seem bright. <br /></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWcfM5v4DD2SFO9wDItQiRRdX4Ee5NyI2a89ODJja6xptLzlSAlw-bL615qdgu0XLdx76d0gGMR1-IjnvByBgKExrFoBXU5sKXsm0zPWi3sjeC5aTtl4SPIjRyo8o0yMzCiA8OMf4SslbPoF16Bshyg9dgIv0YInC3kpxD_9ojZTzfx03GEt6Yr8WWPw/s1094/Taj%20Mahal%20JOC%20Stanford%2019730122.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1094" data-original-width="1006" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWcfM5v4DD2SFO9wDItQiRRdX4Ee5NyI2a89ODJja6xptLzlSAlw-bL615qdgu0XLdx76d0gGMR1-IjnvByBgKExrFoBXU5sKXsm0zPWi3sjeC5aTtl4SPIjRyo8o0yMzCiA8OMf4SslbPoF16Bshyg9dgIv0YInC3kpxD_9ojZTzfx03GEt6Yr8WWPw/s320/Taj%20Mahal%20JOC%20Stanford%2019730122.jpg" width="294" /></a></div><p><b>January 22, 1973 Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Taj Mahal/Joy Of Cooking </b><i>(Monday)</i><br />By early '73, rock acts at Memorial Auditorium were a regular thing, but they weren't an event. Both Taj Mahal and Joy Of Cooking had played campus very times. Both acts had record contracts (Taj on Columbia and Joy on Capitol) but they weren't major acts. <br /></p><p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_wPLhFtbIE1XYyIJX7DPDxb4pMnLksNJfijAOFfxTORI_Rh8dLO1dHEB_I2EN0EGGOQabjeaMRmCVFhq80y99NJzi24P2EDN95yCK7FCGIEEh_m17jdi-0AJSJAQOA28W9TIeXIDmZvvZqw2uxSwG8vwm9_UU0Fwyb0BApWvqAz78x25Z-KxrJ-74ZQ/s580/GD%20Maples%2019730209%20Daily%20Jan%2030.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="544" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_wPLhFtbIE1XYyIJX7DPDxb4pMnLksNJfijAOFfxTORI_Rh8dLO1dHEB_I2EN0EGGOQabjeaMRmCVFhq80y99NJzi24P2EDN95yCK7FCGIEEh_m17jdi-0AJSJAQOA28W9TIeXIDmZvvZqw2uxSwG8vwm9_UU0Fwyb0BApWvqAz78x25Z-KxrJ-74ZQ/s320/GD%20Maples%2019730209%20Daily%20Jan%2030.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The January 30, 1973 Stanford Daily had a tiny display ad for the upcoming February 9 concert</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>February 9, 1973 Roscoe Maples Pavilion, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Grateful Dead </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />In the midst of a very bleak period for Palo Alto and Stanford live rock music, the Grateful Dead arrived to perform a concert epic for the Palo Alto area, epic for Stanford and, on its own terms, a legendary show in Deadhead <i>annales</i>. </p><p>By the end of '72, the <b>Grateful Dead</b> had released four Gold albums in a row, and they could sell out Winterland or Berkeley Community Theatre for multiple nights, even it wasn't a weekend. Palo Alto was acutely conscious of the Dead as the town's leading rock export, and Palo Alto was full of people who remembered, or claimed to remember, Jerry Garcia or the rest of them. Everyone insisted that their older brother or sister had seen them for free in the park. <a href="https://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2015/06/july-2-1967-el-camino-park-palo-alto-ca.html">This was probably true--the Grateful Dead had played for free in El Camino Park on July 2, 1967.</a> But they hadn't played a paying gig in Palo Alto or Stanford since. Their last paying gig in Palo Alto had been at Tressider Union on October 14, 1966, after which concerts at Tressider Union seemed to have been banned. Musta been a good time indeed.</p><p>So here were the Grateful Dead playing on a Friday night at Maples Pavilion. I believe there was one ad in the SF Sunday <i>Chronicle</i> and one in the Stanford <i>Daily</i> (above). I persuaded my cousin to take my friend and me, and then I myself rode my bike over to Tressider and got three tickets, as I recall. In any case, the show sold out quick. Hometown boys, making good. <br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtECmj06ke9ztJtznw3CwiEwOQX7UZZnXnzzRxrDIOzAuFlT-UN4TK1tzgyfTIHtLdM_PGMLPDuOUrlM6gudcFv4yZN0L9zyly_RShOlpQP6qZ4usN5logAk9VTkMxdFDSQyMJwCI6nELVq_BFi0NhTEbrD-u4EnRw0LAqaDqWadWKihsXQsR8LagxYg/s854/Maples%20Security%20article%20Daily%2019730209.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="620" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtECmj06ke9ztJtznw3CwiEwOQX7UZZnXnzzRxrDIOzAuFlT-UN4TK1tzgyfTIHtLdM_PGMLPDuOUrlM6gudcFv4yZN0L9zyly_RShOlpQP6qZ4usN5logAk9VTkMxdFDSQyMJwCI6nELVq_BFi0NhTEbrD-u4EnRw0LAqaDqWadWKihsXQsR8LagxYg/s320/Maples%20Security%20article%20Daily%2019730209.jpg" width="232" /></a></div><p></p><p>On the Friday of the concert, the Stanford <i>Daily</i> published a cryptic article about security plans at the Grateful Dead concert. Specifically, the school announced that Santa Clara County Sheriff's Deputies would not handle security for the Dead concert at Maples. The fights at Frost in 71 (Cold Blood) and 72 (Miles Davis) had pitched the Sheriffs against gate crashers. But the Maples concert with Stephen Stills had been trouble-free, and Stanford announced that the security contract with the County Sheriff had not been renewed. All security would be handled by about 20 Stanford police officers, mostly doing traffic control outside the concert. </p><p>There were a number of messages being delivered in this article. The first, and most important to Stanford undergraduates, was that "no cops will be inside Maples busting you for smoking weed," a critical question at any Grateful Dead concert. There was a subtler message, probably not lost on the undergraduates either, that mellow, stony acts like Stephen Stills or the Dead didn't have "those people" as an audience, so they didn't expect trouble. <br /></p><p>As for the concert itself, it was the stuff of legend. The Dead rocked hard, so hard that the entire stage bounced up and down on the springy floor during the uptempo numbers. Keith Godchaux had to adjust his hand position on the grand piano because his instrument was in motion. The Dead, in their 1973 prime, did two epic sets The show stands out in Deadhead history for a few reasons:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The Maples show was the debut of what would become the band's world-beating Wall Of Sound, a vast tower of amps behind the band. The Dead blew all the fuses in their vocal monitors after the first number.</li><li>The Dead had actually been rehearsing--very rare--<a href="https://jerrybase.com/events/19730209-01">and on this night they debuted seven new, original numbers live, a total never achieved before or since</a></li><li>It was the last night for at least a dozen years when the Dead would have a Fillmore-style light show playing behind them</li></ul><p>Maples was sold out. The Grateful Dead returned to their birthplace in triumph. The concert was epic. According to various later sources, the Grateful Dead were unofficially banned from campus. Same as it ever was. <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQMe2xKY61Qu2FwasCGavYvZK5wNCbrq0O9uMIQroIF8hp3oaJc0-eyMo2aES8uy03Xk6C0gmmomh_AfXfWcz7W-8NFug_-gpGo8PQ02ct_8e0FwlYfuqY34XEOqglLBrRcym7ISbOlfLvf4LmoDkUme1mOq7oenb9iV_KaPIS2u-IjIWPGIuH3gkg/s766/OAITW%20Homers%2019730304%20(Daily%20Feb%2027).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="738" data-original-width="766" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQMe2xKY61Qu2FwasCGavYvZK5wNCbrq0O9uMIQroIF8hp3oaJc0-eyMo2aES8uy03Xk6C0gmmomh_AfXfWcz7W-8NFug_-gpGo8PQ02ct_8e0FwlYfuqY34XEOqglLBrRcym7ISbOlfLvf4LmoDkUme1mOq7oenb9iV_KaPIS2u-IjIWPGIuH3gkg/s320/OAITW%20Homers%2019730304%20(Daily%20Feb%2027).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b>March 4, 1973 Homer's Warehouse, Palo Alto, CA: Old and In The Way/Rowan Brothers </b><i>(Sunday) 3pm and 9 pm</i><br />Just across from campus, rock and roll was stirring again. Downtown Palo Alto had made it clear that rock and roll was too noisy--the Poppycock was closed, In Your Ear had burned down and there was no appetite for rock concerts in El Camino Park. But there had been a tiny, slightly illicit club just across the railroad track. Homer's Warehouse was in a Quonset warehouse on Homer Avenue, on the opposite side of the tracks from downtown (for those who know the area, it was behind Town and Country Village and Hubbard & Johnson Lumber, now a parking lot for the Palo Alto Medical Center). As noted, club owner Bill Giussie had rented it from and 82-year old landlady, and did not tell her he was starting a rock club. He sold beer, probably illegally. Local bands--including a new San Jose band called the Doobie Brothers--played some shows. The place was popular with bikers. The cops just barely tolerated it.<br /><p></p><p>After the club had closed in November 1972, the lease was taken over by two local entrepreneurs, Rollie Grogan and Andrew Bernstein. They had been running a local light show (Crimson Madness), but there wasn't really a market for that. They had put on a few local concerts, too, and figured they could make a go of Homer's Warehouse. They explained to the landlady what they were actually doing--she grudgingly approved--got their permits, and made sure the cops were cool. In February 1973, they opened for business with Stoneground. <a href="https://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2020/07/live-music-in-palo-alto1971-73-across.html">Fellow scholar CryptDev has the detailed history of Homer's Warehouse, from 1971 through its demise at the end of 1973</a>.</p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/California-Slim-Music-Magic-Madness/dp/1479770450">Proprietor Andrew Bernstein told many colorful tales about Homer's Warehouse in his 2012 memoir </a><i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/California-Slim-Music-Magic-Madness/dp/1479770450">California Slim: The Music, The Madness, The Magic</a>.</i> Bernstein had grown up in Palo Alto, had taken some banjo lessons from Jerry Garcia, and knew Garcia and Pigpen from the early days. He hadn't been in touch with the Dead since they left Palo Alto, but he had far more of an inside track than any other club owner would. Thus it's no surprise that Garcia played Homer's Warehouse a number of times. In this case, Homer's had one of the very earliest appearances by Jerry Garcia's bluegrass band <b>Old And In The Way</b>.<br /></p><p>The ad (above) from the February 27 <i>Daily</i> was one of the few for Homer's Warehouse in the paper, as the club mostly promoted itself through hand-drawn flyers posted around town. The ad exposed the club to the undergraduate community. Since the club served beer, it limited underclassmen from attending (fake ID aside), but they were part of the audience. Note that David Grisman is called by his <i>Nom Du Rock</i> "David Diadem" (<a href="https://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2020/07/live-music-in-palo-alto1971-73-across.html">for a complete list of shows at Homer's, see CryptDev's blog</a>). <br /></p><br /><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaXzATviDo3TIw2woVzP3T8QxSB2kXJEzJO3qyzDbCaZrprRnOIsUe9UoX89l9-yKExtVfwF_Ccv4-F2LtCPuv0lVZRxfherQj0RPztm9xFFg1JuCNF2K1Wi5TlTYk0g8_72tOoYMm7_djLUQru_O_oCjythVAHyMG1ReK-7xfZj6qpSsk5naISBfsuQ/s536/Bishop%2019730317%20Mayall%2019730406%20Stanford.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="536" data-original-width="514" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaXzATviDo3TIw2woVzP3T8QxSB2kXJEzJO3qyzDbCaZrprRnOIsUe9UoX89l9-yKExtVfwF_Ccv4-F2LtCPuv0lVZRxfherQj0RPztm9xFFg1JuCNF2K1Wi5TlTYk0g8_72tOoYMm7_djLUQru_O_oCjythVAHyMG1ReK-7xfZj6qpSsk5naISBfsuQ/s320/Bishop%2019730317%20Mayall%2019730406%20Stanford.jpg" width="307" /></a></div><p><b>March 17, 1973 Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Elvin Bishop Group/Mendocino All-Stars </b><i>(Saturday) Spring Break</i><br />Although Elvin Bishop was a popular live act in the Bay Area, and certainly in the South Bay and at Stanford, his recording career had stagnated. Bishop had released his third album <i>Rock My Soul</i> on Epic in 1972, but they were on the verge of dropping him. Ultimately, Bishop would be signed by Capricorn in 1974, and his career would take off. At this time, however, the Elvin Bishop Group still featured organist Stephen Miller and singer Jo Baker, who had been with the band on <i>Rock My Soul</i>. <br /></p><p>The <b>Mendocino All-Stars</b> were an outgrowth of a band called Cat Mother and The All-Night Newsboys. Cat Mother had been a Greenwich Village band who had come out to record their second album in San Francisco in 1970, and ultimately decided to move to the Bay Area. After some personnel changes, the band had reconstituted itself as the Mencocino All-Stars. </p><p>Stanford was in between Winter and Spring quarters. It was "Spring Break," but Stanford students had no tradition of rushing off to warmer climates, since Palo Alto had better weather than most tourist destinations.<br /></p><p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzsTMuDa7jWmkPN9t_2ERhuRlv896iwXbmfNGotY50yAx4OVdubFI5JLK1guJtZGv8C_JTQGTWW87wDfKBo3XLP-2INVh508G0QdU3hXBn06ojbFoBQZe6-pkaw1H7anerh2B28AvmO16ZAKEO_xbdJafpVrIUujLnTu0FLzDLBICxeVNpZ7abmBmMTg/s1078/Mayall%20Mark-Almond%20Maples%2019730406.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1078" data-original-width="936" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzsTMuDa7jWmkPN9t_2ERhuRlv896iwXbmfNGotY50yAx4OVdubFI5JLK1guJtZGv8C_JTQGTWW87wDfKBo3XLP-2INVh508G0QdU3hXBn06ojbFoBQZe6-pkaw1H7anerh2B28AvmO16ZAKEO_xbdJafpVrIUujLnTu0FLzDLBICxeVNpZ7abmBmMTg/s320/Mayall%20Mark-Almond%20Maples%2019730406.jpg" width="278" /></a></div><p><b>April 6, 1973 Maples Pavilion, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: John Mayall/Mark-Almond </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />The beginning of Stanford's Spring Quarter began with a Maples show featuring John Mayall and the Mark-Almond band. <b>John Mayall</b> was a big name to any knowledgeable rock fan, as his 60s Bluesbreakers had featured Eric Clapton, then Peter Green and then the Rolling Stones' Mick Taylor on lead guitar. Numerous other English blues and rock players familiar from the backs of albums had come through his bands as well. Nonetheless, by 1973, Mayall's albums were no longer prominent on FM radio, and the players in his band weren't going on to stardom.</p><p>Ironically enough, Mayall's band in the 1972-73 period was one of his most talented bands. Live tapes, and archival live albums, show that they played terrific music. Mayall, however, was more in an improvised jazz/blues bag, not playing the modified Chicago blues that he had played with his famous guitarists in the 1960s, nor did he have any well-known songs. So young college students had all heard of Mayall, but he wasn't really an appealing draw. For those undergraduates who went, they would have heard a great band, probably with Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Victor Gaskin on bass, Keef Hartley on drums, Freddie Robinson on guitar and Red Holloway on alto, absolutely swinging the blues. It's not clear, however, if fans were ready for Mayall's '73 music. His current album would have been <i>Ten Years Are Gone</i>, on Polydor. </p><p>After Mick Taylor had left Mayall for the Stones in 1969, Mayall had formed a unique, drumless lineup featuring acoustic guitarist Jon Mark and sax/flute player John Almond. They had released the <i>Turning Point</i> album in 1970, with the great song "Room To Move," which got heavily played on FM radio. Mark and Almond moved on however, as all Mayall players did, and formed their own band. Mark-Almond played a unique style of folk-jazz-rock, very hard to describe but really excellent. </p><p>Mark-Almond's current album would have been <i>Mark-Almond '73</i> on Columbia. Their killer live band included ex-Mingus drummer Dannie Richmond (a jazz legend), bassist Wolfgang Melz (ex-Gabor Szabo), <i>conguero</i> Bobby Torres (ex-Joe Cocker) and trumpeter Geoff Condon (ex-Zoot Money, as was Almond). Guitarist Alun Davies, Cat Stevens' running mate, had shared vocals and acoustic guitar duties with Mark on the album, but I'm not sure if he was touring with them.</p><p>Mark-Almond were great live--I saw them a few months later at Winterland, I'm not guessing--but they, too were an acquired taste. I have to guess that Almond came out to blow some blues with the Mayall band. I don't know, however, if the 1973 Stanford audience was ready for these two bands. <br /></p><p></p><p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKkDoj0yhPoZ6VWCIxQ-lrE0WOAUxjZ5UEe2v3Q2c855HzcM3mSHgFHJWguVpK_dcsoP6rAfn8YGUyX75GswFMkmJgnjuOSR-EJzpoYSZXZG2OrTIhKtyT3ZbsNj9uGtXcOQXFiCLCA-qOwpuyWwK44dVMnoBrltQ9QydrKqAFC_MkiaaLNbfB32Ap4w/s1010/Dan%20Hicks%20Stanford%2019730607.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1010" data-original-width="834" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKkDoj0yhPoZ6VWCIxQ-lrE0WOAUxjZ5UEe2v3Q2c855HzcM3mSHgFHJWguVpK_dcsoP6rAfn8YGUyX75GswFMkmJgnjuOSR-EJzpoYSZXZG2OrTIhKtyT3ZbsNj9uGtXcOQXFiCLCA-qOwpuyWwK44dVMnoBrltQ9QydrKqAFC_MkiaaLNbfB32Ap4w/s320/Dan%20Hicks%20Stanford%2019730607.jpg" width="264" /></a></div><p><b>June 7, 1973 Memorial Auditorium, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks/Pure Food and Drug with Harvey Mandel </b><i>(Thurs) 6 and 9 pm-canceled</i><br />This concert was canceled. <b>Harvey Mandel </b>was a Bay Area guitarist who had played with Canned Heat and John Mayall (right after Mark and Almond), and he had a new jazz-rock band. I assume the show was canceled due to lack of ticket sales. One characteristic of the rock market, in Palo Alto as everywhere, rock fans were less interested in smaller concerts. They either wanted to see a band in a club and buy a beer, or they wanted to see a major act, even at a larger place for a higher ticket price. <br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_1Yg651hm5kYOsw6P4IhqZ5iXyqxZeaMLqXTtaHqkR20fFafXD4auZLMw9XiXzXSnUwPB0GXGDadoWWJcoc8oM_7R6sH_FVl2srtot2OGIOLqP1EIYy11BHFnDxNc5UkUWCnYNhx_5m2DiLsr6I0ihDcPxyQy14ZZmJvw9YonwS74Fss7t3mLJgBUvg/s762/Marine%20World%20concerts%2019730630.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="762" data-original-width="494" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_1Yg651hm5kYOsw6P4IhqZ5iXyqxZeaMLqXTtaHqkR20fFafXD4auZLMw9XiXzXSnUwPB0GXGDadoWWJcoc8oM_7R6sH_FVl2srtot2OGIOLqP1EIYy11BHFnDxNc5UkUWCnYNhx_5m2DiLsr6I0ihDcPxyQy14ZZmJvw9YonwS74Fss7t3mLJgBUvg/s320/Marine%20World%20concerts%2019730630.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><p><br /><b>June 30, 1973 Jungle Theater, Marine World Africa USA, Redwood City, CA: Jesse Colin Young/Joy Of Cooking</b><i> (Saturday) </i><b><br /></b>Stanford University was not booking any rock shows in the Summer, and there were no venues in Palo Alto save for Homer's Warehouse. Marine World Africa USA, cheesy as it might have been, was the only rock and roll option for the Summer. The <i>Daily</i> reviewed this show (July 6), and mentioned that Toni Brown wasn't playing with Joy Of Cooking. The band would break up soon after this. <b><br /><br />July 7, 1973 Jungle Theater, Marine World Africa USA, Redwood City, CA: Crusaders/Randy Crawford and Temperance</b> <i>(Saturday)</i><br /></p><p><b>July 14, 1973 Jungle Theater, Marine World Africa USA, Redwood City, CA: Elvin Bishop Group/Stoneground </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br /></p><p><b>July 21, 1973 Jungle Theater, Marine World Africa USA, Redwood City, CA: Donny Hathaway/Taj Mahal </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br /></p><p><b>July 28, 1973 Jungle Theater, Marine World Africa USA, Redwood City, CA: Cold Blood/El Roacho </b><i>(Saturday)</i></p><p><b>August 4, 1973 Jungle Theater, Marine World Africa USA, Redwood City, CA: Dr Hook and The Medicine Show/Sons of Champlin</b><i> (Saturday)</i></p><p><b>August 11, 1973 Jungle Theater, Marine World Africa USA, Redwood City, CA: Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen/Waylon Jennings </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br /><b>Waylon Jennings </b>was a popular country artist, but had just started playing rock gigs. He had opened for the Grateful Dead back in March, at Kezar Stadium. This double-bill is surprising, although if Cody and Waylon played on the same show, it must have been some fun. <br /></p><p><b>August 25-26, 1973 Jungle Theater, Marine World Africa USA, Redwood City, CA: Tower of Power/California </b><i>(Saturday-Sunday)</i><br />Note that Tower of Power had enough heft to headline two nights. <b>California</b> was a six-piece band with a horn section, somewhat in the style of Chicago. They had formed at Monterey Peninsula College. <b> </b></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2VnJQXC7apz3d03jRdQJfWeoa88-QCULIP5HXFIGG1Bp-U_enslhOd_iSmHVcKOUVwZ9HZQCIkIu2we9vr3Agt0K_vYKyOwwci5XZBniUPUCRJeFUYjnWuEUw11-LHzQVhJPKZhlaJgG2d-0C0RFHCQHKaCTQP0gfWeCaTMFaAJNCwlHYGE0scfYR/s300/Gideon%20&%20Power%20I%20Gotta%20Be%20Me%20Bell%201972.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2VnJQXC7apz3d03jRdQJfWeoa88-QCULIP5HXFIGG1Bp-U_enslhOd_iSmHVcKOUVwZ9HZQCIkIu2we9vr3Agt0K_vYKyOwwci5XZBniUPUCRJeFUYjnWuEUw11-LHzQVhJPKZhlaJgG2d-0C0RFHCQHKaCTQP0gfWeCaTMFaAJNCwlHYGE0scfYR/s1600/Gideon%20&%20Power%20I%20Gotta%20Be%20Me%20Bell%201972.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Gideon & Power's 1972 album on Bell (I Gotta Be Me) was recorded at the Keystone Korner, and included members of the Elvin Bishop Group (Stephen Miller and Bill Meeker)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />September 8, 1973 Jungle Theater, Marine World Africa USA, Redwood City, CA: Boz Scaggs/Gideon & Power </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />By 1973, Boz Scaggs had released four albums. His most recent, on Columbia, was <i>My Time</i>, released back in Fall '72. He was popular locally, and got some FM airplay, but he hadn't yet broken out. <i> </i>Per the Palo Alto Times<i> (on September 6)</i>, Boz' band included Les Dudek on lead guitar<i>, </i>along with Tom Salisbury on keyboards, Rick Schlosser on drums and Gene Santine on bass.<i></i><p></p><p>Opening act <b>Gideon & Power</b> featured lead singer Gideon Daniels. They had released a 1972 album on Bell. They played in a sort of Gospel-Rock style. Varioius fine musicians went through Gideon & Power, including Mickey Thomas and Melvin Seals, who would join the Elvin Bishop Group (and Seals would go on to spend 15 years with Jerry Garcia. Power currently included ex-Cold Blood guitarist Michael Sasaki and organist Jymm Young. <i></i></p><p><b>September 15, 1973 Marine World/Africa USA, Redwood City, CA: Sons of Champlin/New Stoneground </b><i>(Saturday)</i><i><br /></i></p><b>September 30, 1973 Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford U., Palo Alto, CA: Joan Baez </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />By this time, Joan Baez headlining Frost was practically a tradition. Note that it was the only remotely "popular music" type event at the Amphitheatre in 1973. <br /><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3aNw8NgHxfh5LMmlYjWC7x-d5UuG-lhh_xhWlEIz1mFnNKnY5DAtlEA7wWZHRxou7zpyP1m5UfeX_6uRn-hpR0VTjaoM-JvEtFBao-Un2UekltC3Rz2dwwPayxIjQiae7dn8Mw9--DqON8h2jZFFKNmnUhey2pxy9QLwg9NHIUc0Wx7kqu3gmDrZ03Q/s660/Hot%20Tuna%20Maples%2019731201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="660" data-original-width="510" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3aNw8NgHxfh5LMmlYjWC7x-d5UuG-lhh_xhWlEIz1mFnNKnY5DAtlEA7wWZHRxou7zpyP1m5UfeX_6uRn-hpR0VTjaoM-JvEtFBao-Un2UekltC3Rz2dwwPayxIjQiae7dn8Mw9--DqON8h2jZFFKNmnUhey2pxy9QLwg9NHIUc0Wx7kqu3gmDrZ03Q/s320/Hot%20Tuna%20Maples%2019731201.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><p><b>December 1, 1973 Maples Pavilion, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA: Hot Tuna/Albert King Review/Mike Bloomfield-Mark Naftalin </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />The last rock event of the Fall '73 quarter had <b>Hot Tuna </b>headlining at Maples over Albert King and Mike Bloomfield. Why the Mike Bloomfield/Mark Naftalin band was added at the last minute doesn't make sense to me, since Hot Tuna was famous for playing marathon shows. In any case the December 6 <i>Daily</i> gave a fairly desultory review. The concert was thinly attended, at most a few thousand in an 8000-seat venue. Hot Tuna weren't the Airplane, and although they had three albums by this time, none of them were any kind of hits. Per the reveiwer, Tuna's linep was Jorma, Jack and drummer Sammy Piazza. Hot Tuna had played at least an hour when the reviewer left (there's no telling how long they might have actually played).</p><p><b>Albert King</b> was probably really good, but while most white college rock fans recognized Albert from Eric Clapton albums and the like, he wasn't any kind of headliner like he had been at Fillmore West. And <b>Mike Bloomfield,</b> while usually enjoyable, played all over the Bay Area, so there wasn't much special about seeing him. Other than the <i>Daily</i> reviewer, the people who went to this show probably enjoyed it, but the problem was that it wasn't a major attraction. </p><p>Note that the ad (above) says "Reserved Seat Loges Available" at the Tressider Box Office. I suspect this option was meant to encourage Stanford student on dates, with the idea that a young man wouldn't have to force his girlfriend to wallow about on the floor. I'm not sure how often this option would be available in the future.<i><b><br /></b></i></p><i><b>Palo Alto Rock and Roll Status Report: End of 1973</b></i><br />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. <br /><p>Stanford, meanwhile, had banned rock music from its biggest, most appealing venue, at exactly the time when live rock had expanded enough that major acts could fill Frost Amphitheatre. Maples Pavilion was an ok 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, and in any case Stanford didn't care. </p><p>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 a place where rock and rollers were From. </p><p><b><i>Appendix: Additonal Palo Alto Links</i></b><br /></p><p><i><a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2020/12/palo-alto-rock-history-landscape-and.html">For a broad list of Palo Alto performance listings, bands and venues from the 1960s and 70s, see here</a><br /></i></p><p><i>For the next post in the Palo Alto series, see here</i> <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2023/02/sophies-260-south-california-avenue.html"><b>Sophie's, 260 S. California Ave, Palo Alto, CA: 1976 Performers List (Palo Alto VII-Keystone Palo Alto Origins</b></a> <br /></p><p><i>For the previous post in the series</i> <b><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/11/palo-alto-psychedelic-rock-shows-july.html ">(Palo Alto Psychedelic Rock Shows July-December 1969 [Palo Alto V]), see here</a></b><br /></p><p><i><a href="https://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2014/09/palo-alto-menlo-park-and-stanford.html ">For Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Stanford Rock Landmarks, see here</a> <br /></i></p><p><i><a href="https://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2020/07/tales-from-in-your-ear-live-music-in.html">For complete performance listings of In Your Ear from May 1971 through December 1972, see here</a><br /></i></p><p><i><a href="https://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2020/07/live-music-in-palo-alto1971-73-across.html">For the best history of Homer's Warehouse performances (1971-73), see here</a></i><br /></p><p><br /></p><div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div></div>Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-59819748566509864772022-07-22T08:52:00.000-07:002022-07-22T08:55:47.778-07:00November 2, 1972 Hofstra Playhouse, Hempstead, NY: ABC In Concert with Allman Brothers/Alice Cooper/others (A New World Beckons)<b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTLhV2C3buqVKsS1YqU4CYEKq3Up-eUh5oddgAfnpNkSY22cVN4YW-4V6SMA6pd4MzijsEM8iWVcd3vw4bUnPq4NKZNI14uzJjWkUTrp7RbMbSPSuK7KICu3b_0TCpxO6D9q_s17W5mGJjJZ0oIY9ibPfwOBWHT1ElAlb5HMgqtk35Oxdq7oPVq0kP=s735" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="735" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgTLhV2C3buqVKsS1YqU4CYEKq3Up-eUh5oddgAfnpNkSY22cVN4YW-4V6SMA6pd4MzijsEM8iWVcd3vw4bUnPq4NKZNI14uzJjWkUTrp7RbMbSPSuK7KICu3b_0TCpxO6D9q_s17W5mGJjJZ0oIY9ibPfwOBWHT1ElAlb5HMgqtk35Oxdq7oPVq0kP=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Gregg Allman and Berry Oakley on stage at Hofstra U, filming ABC In Concert, on November 3 1972</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />November 2, 1972 Hofstra Playhouse, Hempstead, NY: <i>ABC In Concert </i></b><i>with</i><b> Allman Brothers Band/Alice Cooper/Poco/Seals and Crofts/Chuck Berry/Bo Diddley/Blood, Sweat & Tears/Curtis Mayfield</b><br />Back in 1972, television was a fixed landscape, pretty much the same throughout the entire country. There were three national television broadcast networks and one publicly funded "educational" network (PBS). Most cities or regions had an "independent" station, and a few larger cities had two. The networks broadcast the same shows to the entire country during the morning (usually game shows), afternoon (soap operas and talk shows) and "Prime Time" from 7:30-11:00. In between, the network broadcasts the local stations broadcast the news, local shows and syndicated re-runs. The local independent stations showed old movies and re-runs. That was it. Three networks, a local station and the "educational" network. Nothing else. Sure, there, were a few UHF stations on the fringes of some cities, but there were only 12 channels and less than half were in use in any given area. It had been like that since the 1950s.<p>Still, the landscape was
starting to change in '72, however slowly. The networks were figuring
out that there were some untapped markets late at night. It may seem
obvious to us now, but it wasn't then. Some stations went off the air
after the 11:00pm news. Some networks ran talk shows, like NBC's <i>Tonight
Show</i>, and a few stations showed "late movies." But all stations were
off the air by 1:00am, if not before. The channel would display a
static design, usually called a "Test Pattern", until early morning
broadcasting began at 5:00 or 6:00am. </p><p>Yet the Networks were starting to
figure something out. There were people up after 11:30, particularly on
weekends. Younger people, single people, couples without kids, married
people who'd put their toddlers to bed--the <i>Tonight Show</i> wasn't really
for them, and you could only watch the late night monster movie so many
times. By the late 70s, we would be on to <i>Fernwood Tonight, SCTV,
Saturday Night Live, Late Night With David Letterman, the Tomorrow Show</i>
and some other innovative shows. But it took a while for the networks to
get there. Somewhat unexpectedly, the first sign of a change in network
weather was live rock and roll, and the instigator was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Concert_(American_TV_series) "><i>ABC In Concert</i>, a 90-minute show of live rock and roll broadcast almost every other every Friday night</a>.</p><p><i>ABC In Concert</i> debuted with two highly-promoted shows on
November 24 and December 8, 1972. Both 90-minute episodes were selected
from a 16-hour live event at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY,
in Long Island. The Hofstra concert had been held on November 2, 1972, and
featured eight acts. And guess what--the Grateful Dead were supposed
to be on the bill, and would have been part of the of the <i>In Concert</i>
debut in Fall '72, but they backed out at the last minute. This post
will review what happened at the concert recording, and the staggering yet
forgotten importance of <i>In Concert</i>.</p><i><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgUBUycEEg-cgIj1QoZdxFTDLCP3tapegkp95rAxmVivEMcTbjTM-_3P47BRCG9tYX-cTvO6LlnsFtjPgZNyL1ZV5Za0otjj7S36oblNXI3J4_JCAaE88OwsnS9qp0hKAzS28_m61GShA6Lqi1Jd065obBocHi39nThcFgU9apYaN5gez1ihzpDdnAg=s735" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="735" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgUBUycEEg-cgIj1QoZdxFTDLCP3tapegkp95rAxmVivEMcTbjTM-_3P47BRCG9tYX-cTvO6LlnsFtjPgZNyL1ZV5Za0otjj7S36oblNXI3J4_JCAaE88OwsnS9qp0hKAzS28_m61GShA6Lqi1Jd065obBocHi39nThcFgU9apYaN5gez1ihzpDdnAg=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>CSNY appeared on ABC's This Is Tom Jones in September '69 (Recorded Sep 6). Jones sang a verse of "Long Time Gone" (L-R: Stills [organ], Jones, Crosby, Nash)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b></i><i><b><br />Status Report: Live Rock and Roll on Network TV, ca 1972</b></i><br />In the late 1960s and early 1970s, most rock "performances" on TV were lip-synched, like on <i>American Bandstand</i>. Once FM radio became a force in 1968, a lot of bands would refuse to lip-synch for shows, so they never got on TV. Here and there bands would perform on public television shows, almost always taped, but even public TV wasn't very rock-friendly. All the networks had "variety shows" that featured mixtures of comedy, music and novelty acts, but they had a more Las Vegas-style orientation. <i>The Ed Sullivan Show</i>, Sunday Nights on CBS, was the most famous of these. Bands actually played live, but they would generally play a single song in a sparse stage set-up. Other variety shows, such as the <i>Lawrence Welk Show</i>, would have singers performing live, but with the house orchestra.<p>A few variety shows had genuine rock acts playing live, but actual rock performers didn't appear every week. We are familiar from YouTube with clips from the <i>Smothers Brothers</i>, <i>This Is Tom Jones</i>, the <i>Johnny Cash Show</i> and the <i>Glenn Campbell Goodtime Hour.</i> Some cool rock bands played those shows, but such appearances were rare and brief. There were also syndicated and regional talk shows (like Mike Douglas or Dinah Shore), and occasionally rock bands played on them, but that too was rare. <br /></p><p>By 1972, however, even the networks must have realized there was an under-served market. NBC, CBS and ABC all had national radio networks, all AM, and FM rock radio was dominating the ratings in major cities. Any sensible executive could see that there had to be a TV market for rock fans, and it could be a lucrative one. The doors started to open. On weeknights at 11:30, after the local news, most ABC affiliates broadcast the <i>Dick Cavett Show</i>. Cavett was an erudite New Yorker, and was conceived as "the thinking man's talk show host," in contrast to the more casual, Hollywood-oriented Johnny Carson. For the debut of <i>In Concert</i>, ABC replaced the Cavett show with the two 90 minute <i>In Concert </i>Specials. Their ratings would more than double the average rating of <i>The Dick Cavett Show</i> and even topped NBC's <i>The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson</i> in some markets and among viewers under the age of 35. <br /></p><p><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/vintagerocktv/usa/abc-in-concert"><i>In Concert</i> became a bi-weekly series in January 1973</a>. "Right now, we
have more artists than we know what to do with," producer Don Kirshner's music
director Wally Gold told <i>The Washington Post </i>late in 1972. "We pay them
scale to appear, which is way below what they usually get for a concert,
but they know that the publicity is well worth it. So everyone wants to
be on. We're getting hundreds of calls. At first, we had to beg the
artists to appear. Now they're begging us."</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Midnight_Special_(TV_series) ">Back on Saturday, August 19, 1972 NBC had broadcast the pilot of a show called <i>The Midnight Special</i>. It was presented as a 90-minute special encouraging young people to vote in the upcoming Presidential election</a>. It had a variety show presentation, not like a concert, and it was only rock oriented compared to network variety shows. John Denver was the host, singing three songs (one a duet with Cass Elliott) and introducing the acts. The only real rock act was the English band Argent ("Hold Your Head Up,' "Tragedy"). The Isley Brothers ("Pop That Thang") and War ("Slipping Into Darkness") kept the show from being exclusively white. Linda Ronstadt sang two ("Long Long Time," and "The Fast One"), but photogenic Linda, through no fault of her own, was what you expected from network television. There was a lot of AM radio schlock, too: Harry Chapin, Helen Reddy, David Clayton-Thomas (ex Blood, Sweat & Tears).</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgiNA72mIUt1TGX2QwQl9Opvhx1Vuqx6JOnvDu1Aq7QM0DX7_qFC_LrDowgZR6IgHRXmRhrdlHeF5A1ue9EOzXDo7oF91mZzRKRDR1uqogl8_vRQfisbGMQh6thxqmyMlQLhqjU9KPs1D2kuy42Rd2D72W4xz8VpX9fqKUHBRsAiIYrSabX8aGgT8in=s2048" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1658" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgiNA72mIUt1TGX2QwQl9Opvhx1Vuqx6JOnvDu1Aq7QM0DX7_qFC_LrDowgZR6IgHRXmRhrdlHeF5A1ue9EOzXDo7oF91mZzRKRDR1uqogl8_vRQfisbGMQh6thxqmyMlQLhqjU9KPs1D2kuy42Rd2D72W4xz8VpX9fqKUHBRsAiIYrSabX8aGgT8in=s320" width="259" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Writer Robert Christgau wrote about the 1972 In Concert filming in some detail in the Newsday Nassau County edition on Friday, November 3<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />November 2, 1972 Hofstra Playhouse, Hempstead, NY: <i>ABC In Concert Filming </i></b><i>with </i><b>
Allman Brothers Band/Alice Cooper/Poco/Seals and Crofts/Chuck Berry/Bo
Diddley/Blood, Sweat & Tears/Curtis Mayfield/ (Thursday)</b><br />The innovation of <i>ABC In Concert</i> was to film an actual rock concert, instead of merely presenting a rock group on a sound stage. Of course, the budget didn't really allow them to film numerous rock concerts and edit them down, so the producers chose to present 8 groups in a single day, playing limited sets, and film them all. It was an ambitious idea. It sort of worked. <a href="https://www.hofstra.edu/playhouse/about.html">The show was booked for a Thursday night at the 1105 seat Hofstra University Playhouse, on the Hofstra campus in Hempstead, NY</a>. Hofstra is a private college that was founded in 1935. It currently has about 10,000 students, although I don't know if it had that many in 1972. Since the school was located in Long Island, it was near enough to network facilities in Manhattan to be convenient for TV production.<p></p><p>Robert Christgau wrote about the concert in some detail in the Friday Nassau County edition of <i>Newsday (<a href="http://www.jessejarnow.com/about/">thanks to fellow scholar Jesse Jarnow for the heads-up on Christgau</a>).</i> The concert had been planned for at least a month, apparently, but no official word had been given. On Wednesday, November 1, flyers started to appear around campus. Tickets seem to have been sold at a nominal rate (and scalped for $6, per Christgau). Initially it seems that there was going to be an early and a late show, although Christgau is a bit unclear if the event was really divided into two. </p><p>Needless to say, things did not exactly go as planned. For one thing, since it was television, the stage had to be brightly lit. Secondly, since concert recording was still in its infancy, there were issues syncing up the sound between the the stage and the recording equipment. This led to numerous delays. On top of that, with eight acts, there had to have been numerous set changes, after relatively brief sets. The first concert was supposed to begin at noon, but did not begin until 12:30. After two half hour sets of music, the concert was already three hours behind. The delays were also mentioned in <i>Rolling Stone</i>, and the concert did not end until far later than originally anticipated. Apparently, the event ended around 4am, so that made for a 16-hour concert, much of which was apparently spent resolving technical issues, not bands performing.<br /></p><p>Another issue that Christgau alludes to is the breadth of the acts. Eight acts sounds like a great idea, unless you're the one actually sitting through them. Allman Brothers fans, at the time, did not like Blood, Sweat & Tears (who were decidedly unhip), and I doubt those who looked forward to Seals & Crofts were eager to hear the Allmans or Alice Cooper. Still, all eight acts eventually performed and were filmed, and they all appeared on the first two 90-minute episodes of In Concert. </p><b><i><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgCEfZytG0ydzNwsTXDv4Q-8SIT6ItmwjjUhL56c5jBipTiwQ0KBXzhZeAwrq2g_xs9RQCQL37lEJ6odxuEEj-iWHz7v5PaPdcv0A7zvvZFDnYS6Ptrp6xg_o4gvufvpPcB4F2VQourhCEKCb4hoJJUSY5GydzsTi_l4NXAXh0vf5VMbv2fJeN2GHLY=s599" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="599" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgCEfZytG0ydzNwsTXDv4Q-8SIT6ItmwjjUhL56c5jBipTiwQ0KBXzhZeAwrq2g_xs9RQCQL37lEJ6odxuEEj-iWHz7v5PaPdcv0A7zvvZFDnYS6Ptrp6xg_o4gvufvpPcB4F2VQourhCEKCb4hoJJUSY5GydzsTi_l4NXAXh0vf5VMbv2fJeN2GHLY=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Curtis Mayfield's soundtrack to the movie Superfly had been released on his own Curtom label in July 1972. The album had numerous hit singles and was a huge influence on popular music as well.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></i></b><b><i><br />In The Suburbs</i></b><br />When ABC <i>In Concert</i> was broadcast, I took a little TV and probably my FM radio out to the garage, where I could be as noisy as I wanted. <i>In Concert</i> was simulcast on some FM station, itself remarkable for a network broadcast, so the sound was better than on the little black and white TV. I watched the entire 90 minutes of both shows raptly. I had not yet been to a live rock concert. My debut would be just days later (<a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/10/december-10-12-1972-winterland-grateful.html">December 12, 1972, seeing the Grateful Dead at Winterland</a>), but at least I had some hint of what it would be like and how I was supposed to act. These things matter when you are 14.<p>The first episode didn't really feature acts I cared about, but it didn't matter. I was so happy to see anything resembling live rock and roll in my sleepy suburb, so it was still the highlight of my week. Sure, I was already too old for Alice Cooper, and Seals & Crofts were too saccharine. I understood that Bo Diddley was "historic" but I didn't care. I was struck by how Curtis Mayfield and his bands were funky players, not just guys dancing in suits--which was what a lot of soul acts were like at the time--but I wasn't ready for him yet.</p><p>Oh but the second episode, in that little garage: I know I wasn't the only teenager in the suburbs saying, "yeah, I know where I need to be." The Allman Brothers Band played a brand new song--"Ramblin' Man"--that hadn't even been released yet. On the crawl, they dedicated the show to Berry Oakley, who had just died. Hofstra had been his last performance. I still remember Poco performing during the credits, and absolutely ripping through "Go And Say Goodbye," and thinking "I want some more of that!" I had seen what was to come, however faintly, on network TV on a Friday night. </p><b><i>The Grateful Dead--Almost</i></b><br />According to Christgau, the Dead were originally booked for the Hofstra show. They were just ending the leg of a tour (October 30 in Detroit), and could have fit it in. The Dead were also promoting their new album, <i>Europe '72</i>, and they were on Warner Brothers, as were most of the other acts. The Grateful Dead were my favorite band at this time (and, I should add, still are). I would have melted down to see them on TV in my garage (even though I was going to see them in person just two weeks later).<p>Per Christgau, the Dead ultimately refused the booking because they wouldn't have been allowed to mix their own music. ABC only allowed union engineers. Probably all for the best. The Dead would have played a 25-minute set, and they would barely have gotten warmed up. In any case, the show went 16 hours as it was, and if Owsley had been involved it would have been another 16 hours. Still, it nearly happened. The Grateful Dead would finally appear on <i>Saturday Night Live </i>in 1978, but they had almost appeared live on a Friday night several years earlier. </p><b><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhEplG75DsCguDpJ6d16htJOy67hpjSWe97fA7xjbOPQDpZyqoouVcJLJguiq90BeqJBNkEwjB_YwqTnkzOicfyP-SKIHixKOfkHsOLcmksZaXUoEM6ja0eqP6KizCnKRE_Ka-2v3G2d1CWF1WosJ4AURriAADHfa5qnJhgJZATWHSmiZSuCOaIlN6S=s598" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="347" data-original-width="598" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhEplG75DsCguDpJ6d16htJOy67hpjSWe97fA7xjbOPQDpZyqoouVcJLJguiq90BeqJBNkEwjB_YwqTnkzOicfyP-SKIHixKOfkHsOLcmksZaXUoEM6ja0eqP6KizCnKRE_Ka-2v3G2d1CWF1WosJ4AURriAADHfa5qnJhgJZATWHSmiZSuCOaIlN6S=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br />Live Rock on Late Night Network TV</i></b><br /><i>Midnight Special</i>, on NBC back in August of '72, but it hadn't attracted a lot of notice.<i> ABC's In Concert,</i> however, was a huge success. <i>In Concert</i> was on the air at 11:30 on Friday nights every other week or so, for the next several years. <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/vintagerocktv/usa/midnight-special"><i>The Midnight Special</i>, meanwhile, became a weekly series on February 4, 1973</a>. The show's original time slot was Friday night from 1:00–2:30 a.m. in the Eastern and Pacific time zones (Midnight to 1:30 a.m. Central and Mountain), following the Tonight Show. Within eight months of its premiere, <i>The Midnight Special</i> had proven that programming in the later time period was viable, and NBC would expand its programming in the time slot to five days a week with the addition of the talk show <i>Tomorrow</i>, hosted by Tom Snyder, the other four nights.<p><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/vintagerocktv/usa/don-kirshner-rock-concert">By September, 1973 <i>In Concert</i> producer Don Kirshner, who
had created the Monkees and the Archies, among others, had split from
the show and created his own syndicated competitor, <i>Don Kirshner's Rock
Concert</i></a>. It too had the "Variety Show" format of <i>Midnight Special</i>, but
with the uncharismatic Kirshner as the host. Thus for teenagers like
me, from 1973 through 1975--conveniently when I was still in High School, and
yet allowed to stay up late--there were three 90-minute rock concert
shows each weekend. Sure, there were some blank weeks and some re-runs,
but even I got invited to a party once in a while, so I was happy for
the re-runs. As a result, although I had no car, no money and was stuck
in the suburbs, I at least got a glimpse of all the bands touring the
United States during that period. It was like an underground river in
the desert, keeping me hydrated until I could get directly to the
source.</p><u><b><i><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6buiM6kLRsfC2fXhPrD_iEaX68PrLWhdbReE_tq3ReHYVpyrV9IuKZl7E6YxnRuZRHfky-LS3dRvvmS2Ek74BtIIPG9eloWFKgx3I1w2CalR6zztdWraeuiRMfaywj4F-vJ8iFkz6-VnmwQvFpjZwGLA9enG1sEX9z9wYeR1pQ5S-QHFe4V2hj9f1=s500" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="483" data-original-width="500" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6buiM6kLRsfC2fXhPrD_iEaX68PrLWhdbReE_tq3ReHYVpyrV9IuKZl7E6YxnRuZRHfky-LS3dRvvmS2Ek74BtIIPG9eloWFKgx3I1w2CalR6zztdWraeuiRMfaywj4F-vJ8iFkz6-VnmwQvFpjZwGLA9enG1sEX9z9wYeR1pQ5S-QHFe4V2hj9f1=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Alice Cooper's School's Out had been released on Warner Brothers in June, 1972</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Notes On The TV Broadcasts</i></b></u><br /><i><b>ABC</b></i> <b><i>In Concert</i></b> November 24, 1972 (Episode 1)<i><br /></i><b>Alice Cooper</b><i><b> </b>- Eighteen/Gutter Cats vs. the Jets/School's Out <br /></i><b>Curtis Mayfield</b><i> - Freddie's Dead/Pusherman<br /></i><b>Bo Diddley</b><i> - Bo Diddley/Diddley-itis<br /></i><b>Seals & Crofts</b><i><b> </b>- Hummingbird/Summer Breeze</i><p><i>[Wikipedia claims that the first episode was recorded at Hofstra on September 21, 1972, not November 2. No evidence supports this, but the error is repeated throughout the internet]</i></p><p>All of the acts listed played brief live sets. I believe the sets were broadcast in their entirety. Bands may have played a soundcheck number or two, but these aren't "excerpts" from the concerts, they are the complete videotapes to my knowledge. <br /></p><p><b>Alice Cooper </b>had just scored a big hit with "School's Out," from the June 1972 Warner Brothers album of the same name. <br /></p><p> <b>Alice Cooper </b>– vocals<br /> <b> Glen Buxton</b> – lead guitar<br /> <b>Michael Bruce</b> – rhythm guitar, keyboards, backing vocals<br /> <b>Dennis Dunaway</b> – bass guitar, backing vocals<br /> <b>Neal Smith</b> – drums, backing vocals <br /></p><p><b>Curtis Mayfield</b>, the former leader of the hit Chicago soul group The Impressions, had released the soundtrack album to the movie <i>Superfly</i>. <a href="https://youtu.be/9XQ8qKfruZw ">Mayfield played funky rhythm & blues, but they were a self-contained band wearing hip fashions, not a group of vocalists in suits with an unnamed backing band. I'm not sure who was in Mayfield's band.</a></p><p>The <i>Superfly</i> soundtrack had been released on Mayfield's own label, Curtom Records, in July, 1972. The movie was a big hit, and the soundtrack was not only a big hit but influential as well. It still sounds great today. <br /></p><p>Rock and roll pioneer <b>Bo Diddley</b> was back on Chess Records. His latest album was appropriately titled <i>Where It All Began</i>. <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhT2jusY9AY0NlJo-a0qEGC3Pz80uRviMB8Ta8ShAbB3l0ehwWavxBR6UQJZYMrAY9EBtAh-zh_EsWaNOO5zZ2y-mgU_ldFBlsQAME9-ghjdCVQftYEG4BiFJn0eDAJ4y6vbGF5h5EdYs9LgRnQo1JTZuGdwME2GQkSYtzsr6MaZGnXRFTwmErTpz55=s601" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhT2jusY9AY0NlJo-a0qEGC3Pz80uRviMB8Ta8ShAbB3l0ehwWavxBR6UQJZYMrAY9EBtAh-zh_EsWaNOO5zZ2y-mgU_ldFBlsQAME9-ghjdCVQftYEG4BiFJn0eDAJ4y6vbGF5h5EdYs9LgRnQo1JTZuGdwME2GQkSYtzsr6MaZGnXRFTwmErTpz55=s320" width="319" /></a></div><br />Dash<b> Seals and </b>Jim<b> Crofts</b> were both long-time professional
musicians from Texas. Both of them had been in The Champs, albeit touring some time after "Tequila" had been a smash hit in 1958. Both of
them had also backed Glenn Campbell in Van Nuys nightclub, back in the
early 60s, when Campbell was an established session musician but not yet
a recording star. After various ins and outs, they ended up as a
singer/songwriter duo signed to TA Records. Seals and Crofts self-titled
debut came out in 1969, and their follow-up <i>Down Home</i> would come out in September 1970. They would not see big success until after they signed with Warner Brothers in 1971. By '72, they had huge hits with "Hummingbird" and "Summer Breeze," and the <i>Summer Breeze</i> album from September was equally giant. On In Concert, I think they were just backed by a bass player.<p></p><p>Of the four acts on the first episode of <i>In Concert,</i> two of them were on Warner Brothers Records (Alice Cooper plus Seals & Crofts), and the other two were on labels distributed by Warners (WEA, their distribution arm). This would not have been a coincidence. <br /></p><p><i><b></b></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiwSaCOjxSVmaNHb7Zmpg-PC9UYvUdxZ8ADohC3roL38WdDIyK9gf9fYh2Qiu8CyN1M6DNy2uAqbjhgf22olklDU2kIxBnqMu7_bKJQlBIOWHUTkNim6tMV99eYMS3uxvVCCACtSidBN4H24owewcaUfO8KMw_FkDI9UM126Qc1hv29DTRtX4DANwm5=s600" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiwSaCOjxSVmaNHb7Zmpg-PC9UYvUdxZ8ADohC3roL38WdDIyK9gf9fYh2Qiu8CyN1M6DNy2uAqbjhgf22olklDU2kIxBnqMu7_bKJQlBIOWHUTkNim6tMV99eYMS3uxvVCCACtSidBN4H24owewcaUfO8KMw_FkDI9UM126Qc1hv29DTRtX4DANwm5=s320" width="320" /></a></b></i></div><i><b><br />ABC</b></i> <b><i>In Concert</i></b> December 8, 1972 (Episode 2)<br /><b>Allman Brothers</b><i> - One Way Out/Ramblin' Man/Whipping Post<br /></i><b>Blood Sweat and Tears</b><i> - Snow Queen/And When I Die<br /></i><b>Chuck Berry </b><i>- My Ding-a-Ling/Roll Over Beethove</i>n<br /><b>Poco -</b> <i>Go and Say Goodbye/And Settlin' Down</i><p></p>The Allman Brothers Band had been breaking out just as their leader Duane Allman died in October, 1971. Their subsequent album <i>Eat A Peach</i> (released on Capricorn in February 1972) was a monster hit, and the Allmans were a bigger concert attraction than ever. The Allmans were the premier attraction of the second episode. Bassist Berry Oakley would die a few days after the Hofstra show, and I believe this was his last performance. One of the three songs performed had not yet been released yet, which is remarkable by modern standards. When "Ramblin' Man" finally came out on <i>Brothers And Sisters</i> in August 1973, I could smugly say "oh, yeah, I heard that a long time ago."<a href="https://youtu.be/J5IcEGo6uPw"> Pianist Chuck Leavell had just joined the band, as the group understandably did not want to put another guitarist in the shadow of Duane</a>.<p></p><blockquote><b>Dickey Betts</b>-guitar, vocals<br /><b>Gregg Allman</b>-organ, vocals<br /><b>Chuck Leavell</b>-piano<br /><b>Berry Oakley</b>-electric bass<br /><b>Butch Trucks</b>-drums<br /><b>Jaimoe</b>-drums</blockquote><p></p><p><b>Blood, Sweat & Tears</b> were a hugely popular, best-selling band, but they had gone from a hip synthesis of jazz and rock to a Middle-Of-The-Road schlock band. Whether this was a fair judgement or not, they were starting to play Las Vegas-type venues at a time when that was anathema to any cool rock band back then. Long-time lead singer David Clayton-Thomas, who had fronted all their hits, had left the band, replaced by Jerry Fisher. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Blood_(Blood,_Sweat_%26_Tears_album)#Personnel">Their current Columbia album <i>New Blood</i> had the original rhythm section of Steve Katz (guitar), Jim Felder (bass) and Bobby Columby (drums), but the rest of the band were relatively recent arrivals</a>. <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgfoZHD36_flJBCoU0c03Vkj9M1KEp1TFOzy-iJ3rsPmDDY77gMryhuqfgrGkoG3dBu2yNUr3MXqJ63XhncvvA1iOeQdnOvL7A5Sa19iH6x_aF8jBlkonPzFsCbDxlkMbtLUN_iXZr3zY9MsQ46KNwpy0S_ucYQB2y3dsOknnqQ0I2gROcgdrIh2Dsw=s599" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="589" data-original-width="599" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgfoZHD36_flJBCoU0c03Vkj9M1KEp1TFOzy-iJ3rsPmDDY77gMryhuqfgrGkoG3dBu2yNUr3MXqJ63XhncvvA1iOeQdnOvL7A5Sa19iH6x_aF8jBlkonPzFsCbDxlkMbtLUN_iXZr3zY9MsQ46KNwpy0S_ucYQB2y3dsOknnqQ0I2gROcgdrIh2Dsw=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br />Rock legend <b>Chuck Berry</b> was also back on Chess, after some years at Mercury. Remarkably, his June '72 album <i>London Chuck Berry Sessions</i> had given him a #1 hit. Berry had been performing "My Ding-A-Ling," a silly novelty song from 1952, since at least the mid-60s (possibly before), but he had only been able to release it in the more permissive 70s. Released as a single in July, it was a huge AM hit--I was already deathly tired of it. I don't know who backed Berry for this show. <p></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_aVvtVgKzJDIxB3EkXAcZqMpPCYaiu4KrV4Kfs8d_A7ex4cg3olz_PaKVCfAyGRoehMZBzbgRZ5ePjI-IZlCpNA9n7xnpIfnQBeAABo_WzBOEPtRbP0CyRhZpnN2gY5NIiAEjaYBtveyqmPVLcNyGhOu2EXRoHRgoxQnUn2-nlaSo748E3La78W4b=s600" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="596" data-original-width="600" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi_aVvtVgKzJDIxB3EkXAcZqMpPCYaiu4KrV4Kfs8d_A7ex4cg3olz_PaKVCfAyGRoehMZBzbgRZ5ePjI-IZlCpNA9n7xnpIfnQBeAABo_WzBOEPtRbP0CyRhZpnN2gY5NIiAEjaYBtveyqmPVLcNyGhOu2EXRoHRgoxQnUn2-nlaSo748E3La78W4b=s320" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />Poco</b> had just released their fifth album on Epic, <i>A Good Feelin' To Know,</i> on November 25. Poco had always gotten great reviews, and had always been "just about" to hit it big. In fact, many members of Poco would go on to great success, but the first few iterations of the band never sold as many records as they should have. With great 4-part harmonies and three guitars, including the unique sound of Rusty Young's pedal steel run through a Lesley amplifier (typically used for Hammond organs), Poco stood out on stage (I would see this lineup in August of 1973, and they were just fantastic). On <i>In Concert</i>, they played as the credits ran at nearly 1:00am. I stayed up, in any case, and was duly impressed.<br /><p></p><p></p><blockquote><b>Rusty Young</b>-pedal steel guitar<br /><b>Paul Cotton</b>-guitar, vocals<br /><b>Richie Furay</b>-guitar, vocals<br /><b>Tim Schmidt</b>-bass, vocals<br /><b>George Grantham</b>-drums, vocals</blockquote> <p></p><p>For the second episode, two of the bands were distributed by WEA/Warners (the Allmans and Chuck Berry) and two distributed by Columbia (BS&T and Poco). Note that six of the eight acts on the first two weekends were distributed by Warners, a mark of the corporate institutions behind the music. </p><p></p><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuNaqVvfqMgCnXZtoITfk7fs67jBp8LCiKaLXWuKn55fVLNpAVHPIjOCyeJ-ujmOUf_NGLtlbMruBeEaiHtPohaYPwqRRzy-ROMZ3H8rP3evWd1PtsxZVBUTCQOVkDu8bBD2ArPDDZnvR2Vq5wpPtn0qkQvUnnFHgutI1oawnSvC1_hqJwJPl_izWk/s870/BB%20King%20ABC%20In%20Concert%2019730302.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="870" data-original-width="548" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuNaqVvfqMgCnXZtoITfk7fs67jBp8LCiKaLXWuKn55fVLNpAVHPIjOCyeJ-ujmOUf_NGLtlbMruBeEaiHtPohaYPwqRRzy-ROMZ3H8rP3evWd1PtsxZVBUTCQOVkDu8bBD2ArPDDZnvR2Vq5wpPtn0qkQvUnnFHgutI1oawnSvC1_hqJwJPl_izWk/s320/BB%20King%20ABC%20In%20Concert%2019730302.jpg" width="202" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>The March 2, 1973 Stanford Daily advertised that night's In Concert broadcast on TV (KGO Channel 7) and simulcast on FM radio (KSFX 104)<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-80333602778062238552022-06-02T23:01:00.004-07:002023-06-29T09:32:58.495-07:00Boston Psychedelic Rock Concert Chronology, July-December 1967 (Boston II)<p><i><b></b></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yMhmataT_g4/YR7b2y7mFFI/AAAAAAAAJWU/F7mWn0cJchMjNT5blEzhcazwYnJ0C7bcQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1134/Peanut%2BButter%2BConspiracy%2B19670714%2BBoston%2BTea%2BParty%2BRev%2B56%2Bpdf.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1134" data-original-width="996" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yMhmataT_g4/YR7b2y7mFFI/AAAAAAAAJWU/F7mWn0cJchMjNT5blEzhcazwYnJ0C7bcQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Peanut%2BButter%2BConspiracy%2B19670714%2BBoston%2BTea%2BParty%2BRev%2B56%2Bpdf.png" width="281" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>A poster for the Peanut Butter Conspiracy and the 90th Congress at the Boston Tea Party, July 14-15, 1967 (from the FB Boston Tea Party compilation)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><i><b><br />Boston Psychedelic Rock Concert Chronology 1967 </b></i><br />The
history of underground psychedelic rock in the 60s in Boston was
different than in any other major American city. Broadly speaking, there
were two main paths for most cities. The first, and most famous path,
was the San Francisco one: dissatisfied long haired youth provides an
audience for local bands influenced by jazz, BB King and <i>Revolver</i>,
congregating in underused downtown venues in a fading part of town.
Before anyone knew it, particularly in the West there would be a Fillmore or
an Avalon (or the <a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/04/crystal-ballroom-1332-w-burnside_09.html">Crystal in Portland</a>,
the Family Dog in Denver, Vulcan Gas in Austin or Eagles Ballroom in
Seattle), and even if the venues didn't persist, the audiences did.
Bands like the Grateful Dead or Canned Heat would come through town and
help create a new underground economy. <br /><p></p><p>The other
trend was the negative version of the first one. Some local promoters
would try and book some long-haired bands, but it didn't lead to much.
The cops might be against it, there wasn't a promising part of town, or
the promoters didn't have it together. The Dead, or Canned Heat, or Iron
Butterfly might have passed through, but to the extent they played
those cities, they were grudgingly absorbed into the regular Civic
Auditorium-type gigs, just like Top 40 bands or country stars. The only
real exception to this dichotomy was New York City, whose history has to
be dissected by Borough or Neighborhood, which you will find generally
fall into the two main paradigms, but distributed throughout the city
itself.</p><p>Boston rock had a different history. Cambridge, Massachusetts, just across the Charles River from Boston, was
one of the principal birthplaces of the “Folk Boom” of the early 1960s.
Fueled by students from the many colleges in Cambridge, students who
were serious about music as art rather than just entertainment flocked
to places like Club 47, at 47 Mt Auburn Street. Club 47 was originally a
jazz club, but on Tuesday nights they had a sort of "hoot night," and
in Fall '58 a Boston University student named Joan Baez showed up.
Things happened. Cambridge and Greenwich Village were the twin anchors
of a rising interest in folk music that wasn't just decontextualized
re-tellings of old folk songs (it is notable that Joan Baez was from
Palo Alto, and that the Kingston Trio got their start there, but that's another saga). </p><p>Boston and Cambridge was one of the first outposts
for the stirrings of what would become "the counterculture." It wasn't
just Joan Baez. The Jim Kweskin Jug Band introduced jug band music to
America, and they would have been hugely influential even if they
weren't important to Jerry Garcia's idea of how music should be
performed--but they were, and he saw them in Berkeley in March, 1964.
That wasn't all. Two Harvard Assistant Professors had shared experiments on something called "LSD-25" with students as early as 1962, and while Tim Leary wasn't
Owsley, Cambridge and Boston weren't naive a few years later, unlike
pretty much everywhere else.</p><p>When the Beatles and the British
Invasion came in, New England jumped in with both feet, from Boston to
Nantucket and in every suburb. Nearer the Charles River, however, the
response was sophisticated, if no less enthusiastic. The Charles River
Valley Boys, for example, played bluegrass versions of Beatles songs, a
sort of second order joke that wouldn't have flown in a lot of towns. So
on one hand, downtown Boston and Cambridge were absolutely ready for
the rock explosion that would follow, as "folk-rock" followed the
Beatles (via The Byrds, The Lovin' Spoonful and others) and the local
bands who formed in their wake. Yet on the other hand, Boston's predisposition to the
oncoming music revolution had some unexpected consequences.</p><p>In
downtown Boston, there were plenty of venues, serving the student and
faculty populations of all the colleges and universities. Sure, many of
them mostly had theater and symphony productions, but they had no
restrictions on having folk acts or other kind of music on off nights.
Local Boston promoters had been booking "long-haired" folk acts since
the early 60s, so booking black blues bands from Chicago or somewhat
longer-haired musicians with pop hits was no problem. What that meant,
paradoxically, was that the hot touring acts who played the West Coast
ballrooms for hippie promoters--Butterfield Blues Band or Jefferson
Airplane--were playing for better capitalized promoters in Boston as
part of the regular entertainment scene. There were well-paying weekend
gigs at college gyms, and Sunday nights when the Symphonies weren't
using their halls. </p>So the "psychedelic" underground in Boston was
really underground, not at all part of the record companies mainstream.
All those bands were playing Boston, at colleges or other events, and
Boston college students and local hippies were fully tuned in, but there
was no Fillmore (or <a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/06/kinetic-playground-4812-n-clark-st.html">Chicago's Electric Ballroom</a>, or Eagles like
Seattle) that was one-stop shopping for the local hipsters. The Boston
venues had entirely different arcs. Those arcs had begun with the Boston Tea Party in January, 1967.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rjJw_wuFOZc/YLu4a1R_MVI/AAAAAAAAI7k/jrXAZUb9VpYDYJO2ZX5lhufVunx6kY7_gCLcBGAsYHQ/s2040/Boston%2BTea%2BParty%2B53%2BBerekeley%2B21st%2Bc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1362" data-original-width="2040" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rjJw_wuFOZc/YLu4a1R_MVI/AAAAAAAAI7k/jrXAZUb9VpYDYJO2ZX5lhufVunx6kY7_gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Boston%2BTea%2BParty%2B53%2BBerekeley%2B21st%2Bc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://vanyaland.com/2018/08/30/boston-gone-the-sites-of-rock-clubs-and-music-venues-no-longer-with-us/">53 Berkeley Street in Boston, as it appeared in the 21st century</a>. There is now a 7-11 on the ground floor.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /><i><b>Boston Tea Party, 1967</b></i><br />The
Boston Tea Party, at 53 Berkeley Street, had opened on January 20, 1967.
Ray Riepen and David Hahn were the founding partners, supposedly
opening with a capitalization of a mere $850, and dependent on a lot of
volunteer labor. The site had previously been a synagogue, and then a
coffee shop called The Moondial. Riepen had come to Harvard Law School from Kansas City
for a Masters Program in Fall '66. The club was opened as an underground
concert venue, like the Fillmore. The legal capacity of the Boston Tea
Party was 550, and only increased to 720 in 1968 when they had added another fire
escape. Whether exceeded or not, that made it half the size of the
Fillmore. Thus no matter what, the Tea Party wasn't going to compete directly
with the local promoters booking shows at colleges, arenas and concert
halls. </p><p>The Boston Tea Party of 1967-68 is most remembered--on the web,
at least--for being the home-away-from-home for the Velvet Underground.
Scholarship on the Velvets is epic, and the pinnacle of it is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072HFN64G/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1">Richie
Unterburger's chronology <i>White Light, White Heat</i></a>. Without VU scholars,
we would know surprisingly little about the Boston Tea Party. While VU
were famous for the adage that "not many people bought their record, but
everyone who did formed a band," it's important to remember that
Boston Tea Party was an underground hipster joint, and not many people
in Boston had heard the Velvet Underground. If more people had heard
them, however, the band wouldn't have been any more popular. They weren't that
kind of band.</p><p>A Boston Tea Party Facebook Group (<i>Do You Remember The Boston Tea Party
1967-70</i>) has produced a remarkable compilation of posters, flyers and
other ephemera from the beginning to the end of the venue (it can be
downloaded at the Facebook page). It's an amazing snapshot into the
past, and highly recommended. This post will take the Tea Party saga and wrap it into the larger story of the emerging Boston rock scene in the late 60s.<br /></p><p><b><i></i></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pt_JODVQvBo/YR7oncRaTII/AAAAAAAAJW8/AFkKVW942gw4jMHDdoN9qExGKYFNT6GjgCLcBGAsYHQ/s521/Paupers%2B19670728%2BBoston%2BTea%2BParty%2BRev%2B56%2Bpdf.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="521" data-original-width="422" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pt_JODVQvBo/YR7oncRaTII/AAAAAAAAJW8/AFkKVW942gw4jMHDdoN9qExGKYFNT6GjgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Paupers%2B19670728%2BBoston%2BTea%2BParty%2BRev%2B56%2Bpdf.png" width="259" /></a></i></b></div><b><i><br />Boston Psychedelic Rock Status Report, July-December 1967</i></b><br />In the summer of 1967, there was a thriving rock concert industry in Boston, particularly near the Charles River and the major Universities. In contrast to other big cities, however, the most prominent concerts were at the college auditoriums and gyms. By 1967 standards, there was a large, sophisticated audience who that knew and liked folk, blues and jazz music along with the new psychedelic rock and roll.<p></p><p>At the same
time, the little Boston Tea Party was thriving as an underground club.
The Tea Party had built a solid core of bands that could play the club
repeatedly: the Hallucinations, the Beacon Street Union, the Bagatelle,
Lothar and The Hand People and others. Boston rock fans could decide to check out the psychedelic underground or bands that
were popular on the radio. The hit bands played the colleges, and there
was underground music at the Tea Party, and it was all pretty much in
one area. Most cities had one or the other, but Boston seemed to have it
all the pieces for something big to happen.</p><p><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/10/boston-psychedelic-rock-concert.html">In my previous post, I reviewed Boston rock concerts in the first half of 1967, including the founding of the Boston Tea Part</a>y. In the second half of
1967, this trend would only continue. A competing underground club
would open, but the Tea Party would continue to thrive, and all the
colleges kept booking shows. This post will look at Boston rock concerts from July through December 1967.<br /></p><p><i><b>Boston Rock Chronology, July-December 1967 (Boston Rock II)</b></i><br />The booming Boston Metro rock market was built around college students. The major colleges and universities in Boston, Cambridge and nearby suburbs provided a ready-made market for live rock music, and a market that did not require permission from their parents. The extensive transportation network of a big city also ensured that access to concerts was far less of a problem than it was in some places. </p><p>In the Summer, however, many of the college students were out of town. As a result, there were few promotions at local symphony halls and college gyms, featuring popular touring acts. The Boston Tea Party remained open, however, and it did not have to compete with the bigger halls. Richie Unterberger, in his exceptional Velvet Underground chronology <i>White Light/White Hea</i>t, noted that some fans say that many people went to the Tea Party regardless of who was playing. Since the capacity of the Tea Party was only around 500, so it was an intimate place. In any case, if you liked live rock music, there wasn't much competition, either. </p><p><b>July 7-8, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA The Ragamuffins/Street Choir </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>The Ragamuffins</b> and the <b>Street Choir </b>were presumably local or regional bands. I know nothing about either of them.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YSpm7J5IsGg/YR7d0kDidDI/AAAAAAAAJWc/UZqTrJHdsMY1m4p6QYCNNHkDeOFpktogQCLcBGAsYHQ/s616/Peanut%2BButter%2BConspiracy%2BIs%2BSpreading%2BColumbia%2BMarch%2B67.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YSpm7J5IsGg/YR7d0kDidDI/AAAAAAAAJWc/UZqTrJHdsMY1m4p6QYCNNHkDeOFpktogQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Peanut%2BButter%2BConspiracy%2BIs%2BSpreading%2BColumbia%2BMarch%2B67.jpg" width="312" /></a></b></div><b><br />July 14-15, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA Peanut Butter Conspiracy/90th Congress </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />The <b>Peanut Butter Conspiracy</b>, from Los Angeles, are now mainly remembered for their dated name, but they were a popular group at the time. They would release two albums in 1967, and had a hit of sorts with “It’s a Happening Thing.” The band was promoted along the lines of the Jefferson Airplane, with folk-rock harmonies, female lead singer Barbara Robison and a dumb, clever name. Their Columbia debut album <i>The Peanut Butter Conspiracy Is Spreading</i> had been released in March. While the name of the band has not aged well, in fact they weren't bad.<p></p><p>The <b>90th Congress</b> (besides being the US Legislative Body for 1967-68) was a band from Manchester, NH. They released one single in 1967 on Right Records, "The Sun Also Rises." <br /></p><p>The Newport Folk Festival, in Newport, RI, was held on the weekend of July 14-15. While Folk Music had peaked, the Festival itself was a huge destination. Much of the potential live rock audience, even in Boston, would have been 75 miles southwards, in Newport.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O_FgpdI4-ks/YNdSoZnX46I/AAAAAAAAJC0/PZzRRs2q7GYf8I30b9NSjSL9iKwtDRxZgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2040/Crosstown%2BBus%2B337%2BWashington%2BCreditJohnHutchings.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1362" data-original-width="2040" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O_FgpdI4-ks/YNdSoZnX46I/AAAAAAAAJC0/PZzRRs2q7GYf8I30b9NSjSL9iKwtDRxZgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Crosstown%2BBus%2B337%2BWashington%2BCreditJohnHutchings.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>337 Washington Street, Brighton (in Brighton Center), site of the Crosstown Bus in 1967, as it appeared around 2011.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZKE4KczqI3c/YNfj2vzEaHI/AAAAAAAAJDI/Pz2OoU_zLHIJQQQkWZns8mwNQZaEIOSmgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1079/CrosstownBus%2B19670714%2BNYRock%2BMandrakePoster.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1079" data-original-width="576" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZKE4KczqI3c/YNfj2vzEaHI/AAAAAAAAJDI/Pz2OoU_zLHIJQQQkWZns8mwNQZaEIOSmgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/CrosstownBus%2B19670714%2BNYRock%2BMandrakePoster.jpg" /></a></div><p><b>July 14-15, 1967 Crosstown Bus, Brighton, MA: Lothar and The Hand People/New York Rock and Roll Ensemble/Mandrake Memorial/Pink Oyster </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />The Crosstown Bus was at 337 Washington Street in the Brighton neighborhood. The Crosstown Bus was the first underground rock club that was a direct competitor to the Boston Tea Party. Brighton had once been a town on its own, but in 1820 it had agreed to be annexed to the city of Boston. <a href="https://vanyaland.com/2018/08/30/boston-gone-the-sites-of-rock-clubs-and-music-venues-no-longer-with-us/9/">The club was on the third floor of the commercial Warren Hall building in Brighton Center</a>, and probably wasn't any larger than the 500-capacity Tea Party. Warren Hall had been built in 1879. <a href="http://www.punkblowfish.com/CrosstownBus.html">Apparently, in the photo above, the Crosstown Bus was on the left side of the building on the third floor, and possibly not even the whole floor.</a></p><p><a href="http://www.bahistory.org/RockHistory.html">I have found one eyewitness description of the club's brief history, about seeing the Doors. Steve Morse of <i>Boston Magazine</i> said</a> “I slapped high-fives with crazed rock poet Jim Morrison of The Doors
as he zigzagged through a crowd at The Crosstown Bus in Brighton, where
hippie girls danced in go-go cages and tinfoil adorned the walls for a
psychedelic ambiance.” <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Whisky-A-Go-Go%20History.htm">The mention of the "cages" suggests it was modeled on West Hollywood's Whiskey-A-Go-Go</a>. Legendary as it was, however, <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2016/02/march-11-1967-whisky-go-go-san.html">the Whisky depended on a certain Sunset Strip ambiance that did not translate well to other cities</a>. So the Crosstown Bus may have been an anachronism as soon as it was founded.<br /></p><p>As for the opening weekend acts, the <b>New York Rock and Roll Ensemble</b> were conservatory-trained musicians who determined that there was more money in being in a rock group than a symphony. Keyboardist Michael Kamen would become a successful movie soundtrack composer some decades later. The group featured parts for oboe and cello, rare in a rock group. The Ensemble would release their first (of five) album on ATCO Records in 1968.</p><p><b>Mandrake Memorial</b> were from Philadelphia, and were <a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/06/2201-arch-street-philadelphia-pa.html">more or less the ‘house band’ at Philadelphia’s first psychedelic venue, The Trauma</a>. The group would release the first of their three albums on Poppy Records (an MGM subsidiary) in 1968. At this time, the underground rock market was so nascent that popular local bands from other cities could play in another, since underground buzz was the only currency available (this pre-internet phenomenon would surface in the punk era a decade later). <br /></p><p><b>Pink Oyster</b> is unknown to me.<br /></p><p><b>July 21-22, 1967 Crosstown Bus, Brighton, MA: Lothar and The Hand People </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Lothar and The Hand People</b> had been founded in Denver in 1965, but had migrated to New York sometime in 1966. Lothar was ostensibly the name of the Theremin that the band used, a sort of primitive synthesizer. Lothar and The Hand People would release some albums on Capitol starting in 1968. Thanks to "Lothar," the band was one of the first rock bands to tour and record with any kind of synthesizer. Lothar And The Hand People had already headlined four weekends at the Boston Tea Party (from March 17-18 '67 through June 30-July 1), so clearly the band had built some kind of local following.</p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P3LtlOmjTn4/YR7o8_y6LYI/AAAAAAAAJXE/7T1Aozgaidwh6s1GWrm5K5VVV4ayG7hswCLcBGAsYHQ/s518/Free%2BSpirits%2B19670721%2BBoston%2BTea%2BParty%2BRev%2B56%2Bpdf.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="518" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P3LtlOmjTn4/YR7o8_y6LYI/AAAAAAAAJXE/7T1Aozgaidwh6s1GWrm5K5VVV4ayG7hswCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Free%2BSpirits%2B19670721%2BBoston%2BTea%2BParty%2BRev%2B56%2Bpdf.png" width="247" /></a></div><br />July 21-22, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Free Spirits/The Shakers</b><i> (Friday-Saturday)</i><br />The <b>Free Spirits</b>, formed in 1966, had been one of the first true "jazz-rock" hybrids in New York. They had two guitarists, including the great Larry Coryell, drummer Bob Moses and saxophonist Jim Pepper (guitarist Chip Baker and bassist Chris Hills completed the band). The Free Spirits released a very interesting-but-not-actually-good debut album on ABC Records, <i>Out Of Sight And Sound</i>, in February 1967, produced by no less than Blue Note's Rudy Van Gelder.<br /><p>By July, Larry Coryell had already moved on to the groundbreaking Gary Burton Quartet, where Bob Moses would soon join him, so I don't really know who was in this lineup of the Free Spirits.<br /></p><p><b>The Shakers</b> had played the Boston Tea Party a few weeks earlier (June 30-July 1), but are otherwise unknown to me. </p><b>July 22, 1967 Back Bay Theater, Boston, MA: The Fugs </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />The Fugs were an underground folk group from Greenwich Village, formed by poets Ed Sanders and Tuli Kupferberg in 1964. By 1966, they had released their first album on the tiny ESP-Disk label. It was full of subversive songs like "Kill For Peace." By 1967, The Fugs singers were supported by other (better) musicians. Apparently the band played a week at the Back Bay Theater, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rFskFZgT08">but I only know of this date because there was a tape</a> (thanks @Bourgwick for finding this).<p>The Back Bay Theater was another aging venue available for rent by rock promoters, near all the colleges and public transport. <a href="http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/1938">The Back Bay, at 205 Massachusetts Avenue, opened on March 12, 1922 as a Loew’s State Theatre</a>.
Designed as a Vaudeville auditorium, it showed movies on opening night,
and was primarily a movie theatre for most of its life. In 1963 the
venue changed its name to the Back Bay Theatre (it was briefly called
Donnelly Theatre). It seated about 3500 and primarily presented opera
and performers like Judy Garland. The building was torn down around
June, 1968.<br /><br /><b>July 28-29, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: The Paupers/Bagatelle </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />The Paupers were Toronto's leading psychedelic export. The group had been popular in Toronto since 1965, but by early '67 they had been signed to Verve Records and were managed by the high-powered Albert Grossman, who was also Bob Dylan's manager. Grossman had gotten the Paupers to open for Jefferson Airplane when they had played the Cafe Au-Go-Go in Greenwich Village in February of 1967. The Paupers great performances got attention because they were opening for the red-hot Airplane.<br /><br />The Paupers were a quartet, featuring lead singer and rhythm guitarist Adam Mitchell, lead guitarist Chuck Beal, bassist Denny Gerrard and drummer Skip Prokop. Prokop and Mitchell were the main songwriters, and Gerrard's bass playing stood out. In mid-67, the Paupers had some underground status, but they only had released a few singles. Their debut album <i>Magic People </i>would not come out until November 1967, but the Paupers never lived up to their early underground buzz. Legend has it, however, that they were a tight, well-rehearsed group, which wasn't always the case with underground psychedelic bands in 1967. They probably sounded great at the Tea Party. Diane White of the <i>Globe</i> reviewed The Paupers (on Wednesday August 2, referring to the Saturday, July 29 show) and suggested that with Grossman's backing, they would be the Next Big Thing.<br /></p><p><b>The Bagatelle</b> featured Willie Alexander (formerly of The Lost). They would release an album in 1968 (<i>11 PM Saturday</i>, ABC Records)</p><p><b>August 4-5, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Peanut Butter Conspiracy/Bagatelle <i>(Friday-Saturday)</i></b><br />The Peanut Butter Conspiracy returned to the Tea Party a few weeks after their debut (July 14-15, above). On one hand, this speaks well of the band's performance a few weeks earlier. It's also important to recognize, however, that there weren't many psychedelic bands touring around in the East Coast summer, and there weren't many places to play, either, so a repeat booking made sense for both the Conspiracy and the Tea Party.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RWl-KMKHWrM/YNfjn10okAI/AAAAAAAAJDE/TJsOTGZBt8wP5GaiF5zhNduj9tWq0oc-gCLcBGAsYHQ/s480/Crosstown%2BBus%2B19670804%2BLothar_Lo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="398" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RWl-KMKHWrM/YNfjn10okAI/AAAAAAAAJDE/TJsOTGZBt8wP5GaiF5zhNduj9tWq0oc-gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Crosstown%2BBus%2B19670804%2BLothar_Lo.jpg" /></a></div><p><br /><b>August 4-5, 1967 Crosstown Boss, Brighton, MA: Lothar and The Hand People/The Street Choir </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V__LeGE9XSw/YNfi-8xJwKI/AAAAAAAAJC8/f_057OKbTSULFtWQhIso4YVh8kn0tRG7QCLcBGAsYHQ/s770/Crosstown%2BBus%2B19670810%2BDoors.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="770" data-original-width="576" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V__LeGE9XSw/YNfi-8xJwKI/AAAAAAAAJC8/f_057OKbTSULFtWQhIso4YVh8kn0tRG7QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Crosstown%2BBus%2B19670810%2BDoors.jpg" /></a></div><p><b>August 10-11, 1967 Crosstown Bus, Brighton, MA: The Doors/Ragamuffins </b><i> (Thursday-Friday: two shows each night)</i><br /><b>The Doors</b> played the Crosstown Bus on a Thursday and a Friday. At the time, the Doors were still an "underground" band. The band's debut album had been released in January of 1967. "Light My Fire" was released as a single in April, and it would spend three weeks at #1 on the <i>Billboard</i> charts as this show happened (it was #1 from July 29 through August 12). So The Doors played Crosstown Bus at the exact moment when they were crossing over--appropriately--from underground to mainstream pop success. There were double shows each night, a unique event in the brief history of the venue. The Doors were probably booked in April, and the Bus found themselves with a very high profile booking by the time the shows actually happened.</p><p>On Saturday, August 12, the Doors were booked at the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in Queens, which had a series of Saturday night concerts in the Summer called The Forest Hills Music Festival. The Doors were booked to open for Simon And Garfunkel. By the time the show happened, of course, the Doors could have headlined their own night. <br /></p><p></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J-K_U2L8__A/YR7poJNmh1I/AAAAAAAAJXM/prgFYgad1Xkxrra6MucCb0we_jsDBJ08gCLcBGAsYHQ/s518/VU%2B19670811%2BBoston%2BTea%2BParty%2BRev%2B56%2Bpdf.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="518" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J-K_U2L8__A/YR7poJNmh1I/AAAAAAAAJXM/prgFYgad1Xkxrra6MucCb0we_jsDBJ08gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/VU%2B19670811%2BBoston%2BTea%2BParty%2BRev%2B56%2Bpdf.png" width="247" /></a></b></div><b><br />August 11-12, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Velvet Underground/The Freeborne </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />In a perfect microcosm of the rock market in Boston, on the exact weekend that the Doors would break on through to the other side on the Crosstown Bus, the Velvet Underground were playing another weekend at the Boston Tea Party.<p></p><p>The <b>Velvet Underground</b>, by any standard, were an important, influential band. MGM/Verve had released the band's famous debut album <i>The Velvet Underground and Nico</i>
in March, 1967, even though the album had been finished by the end of 1966. Due to a lawsuit over an unauthorized cover photo, the
album was withdrawn and delayed until around June '67, undermining what
little commercial momentum the band might have had. The Velvets got no radio play, but at least by Summer curious fans could buy the album. In 1982, Brian Eno
famously said that while the album sold only 30,000 copies in its early
years, "everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band." <br /></p><p>The
Velvet Underground, despite their now-legendary status, were not
really a popular group anywhere except Boston. Steve Nelson, later the house
manager of The Tea Party booked the VU many times, and at one point
became manager of the group. It's important to note, however, that if
more people had heard the Velvets back in the 60s, almost none of them
would have liked the band. The band was brilliant, but not the sort of
brilliance that makes best-sellers. The group's counterintuitive
insistence in allowing no R&B influences made the group sound
strange, which was intentional, and the perfect setting for Lou Reed's
dark tales.</p><p>Despite the paucity of record sales, the Velvet Underground has been one of the most researched bands ever (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072HFN64G/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1">Richie Unterberger's <i>White Light, White Heat: The Velvet Underground Day-By-Day</i> </a>is
most highly recommended). Much of our admittedly limited information
about the Boston Tea Party comes from the Velvet Underground saga. </p><p>In order to compete with the Doors at the Crosstown Bus, the Tea Party made sure that Andy Warhol was present, and announced that he would be filming. There is a preserved, unseen 33-minute color film called <i>The Velvet Underground in Boston</i> that may be from these shows (Unterberger explains the mystery in some detail). By August 1967, the Velvets were a quartet, as singer Nico had left the band. Since she had been sort of stapled onto the band in the first place, it didn't really harm the group's fundamental appeal.<br /></p><p><a href="https://www.discogs.com/artist/2061798-The-Freeborne"><b>Freeborne</b> would release their only album <i>Peak Impressions</i> in 1968</a>, on Monitor Records.<br /><br /><b>August 18-19, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Hallucinations/Ultimate Spinach </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>The Hallucinations</b> had been one of the first bands to play the Boston Tea Party in early 1967. Singer Peter Wolf and drummer Stephen Jo Bladd would join up with the J. Geils Band later the next year and go on to fame and fortune, but for now they were another band trying to make it pay. <br /><br /><b>Ultimate Spinach</b> was a newly-formed Boston psychedelic band, led by keyboard player/songwriter Ian Bruce-Douglas. Douglas was the main lead singer, too, with support from singer Barbara Hudson. Ultimate Spinach was apparently pretty good in person, and their debut album was released in January 1968 and critical reception has held up fairly well.</p><p>Unfortunately for the Spinach, however, MGM producer Alan Lorber decided to take a lesson from San Francisco, and decided that the "next big scene" was in Boston. Maybe he could have been right. But since he signed a number of Boston underground bands, and MGM made a huge fuss about "The Bosstown Sound," hippies nationwide were suspicious of the hype. Ultimate Spinach (along with Beacon Street Union and Orpheus) were written off as record company put-ups, and "The Bosstown Sound" bombed. Ultimate Spinach was far better known as a record company hype than for any music they made. The debacle of The Bosstown Sound haunted the record industry well into the 90s. <br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HTZO0Q1W_rY/YR7f8CBbA6I/AAAAAAAAJWk/sG2FiVrcSnEmsY5eveiLZxR8ltrNkk8OwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1037/CJF%2B19670825%2BBoston%2BTea%2BParty%2BRev%2B56%2Bpdf.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1037" data-original-width="824" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HTZO0Q1W_rY/YR7f8CBbA6I/AAAAAAAAJWk/sG2FiVrcSnEmsY5eveiLZxR8ltrNkk8OwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/CJF%2B19670825%2BBoston%2BTea%2BParty%2BRev%2B56%2Bpdf.png" width="254" /></a></b></div><b><br />August 25-26, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Country Joe And The Fish </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />By late August, college students would have started returning to Boston. <b>Country Joe and The Fish</b>, one of San Francisco's biggest musical exports, had released their striking first album on Vanguard in May. <i>Electric Music For The Mind and Body</i>, unlike some psychedelic debuts, was a fully-realized album, and Country Joe and The Fish were a fine live band. At this time, there were very few underground venues outside of the West Coast for bands like Country Joe and The Fish. J. Klarfield reviewed them in the Boston <i>Globe</i> on Saturday August 26. <p></p><p>We know from the <a href="http://www.bahistory.org/RockHistory.html">Brighton-Allston Rock Music History page that Eden's Children, Beacon Street Union and the Hallucinations, among others, played the Crosstown Bus</a>. Logic tells us it was likely the end of August or early September, as we have no other evidence. Our only clue is that the last band was The Hallucinations. Peter Wolf recalls the band hustling its equipment out the back door while the sheriff was padlocking the front doors. The Bus was not in compliance with all sorts of codes, and was locked up, never to re-open, probably at the end of August.<br /></p><p><b>September 1-2, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Catharsis/The Mushroom </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Catharsis</b> and <b>The Mushroom</b> are unknown to me. Catharsis had played the Tea Party back on February 3-4. This was Labor Day weekend, and it's notable that the underground rock scene was not yet mature enough to add the "extra weekend night" for Sunday. It was still a local scene, not specifically directed at students.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hdRcjnOpVvU/YR7gcbIczEI/AAAAAAAAJWs/F7vExRkSKXQ-GBWfUDihTkAXJ6FBxzmTQCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Canned%2BHeat%2BLiberty%2BLP%2B1967.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="593" data-original-width="600" height="316" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hdRcjnOpVvU/YR7gcbIczEI/AAAAAAAAJWs/F7vExRkSKXQ-GBWfUDihTkAXJ6FBxzmTQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Canned%2BHeat%2BLiberty%2BLP%2B1967.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />September 8-9, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Canned Heat/90th Congress </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Canned Heat</b> were from Los Angeles, and were another band who helped pioneer the psychedelic touring circuit. There's a tendency to take Canned Heat for granted now, but they were an important group for any number of reasons. Initially, the group featured some record collectors who wanted to keep jug band music alive by playing ancient blues tunes they were familiar with. Singer Bob "The Bear" Hite teamed up with Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson, who had many connections to the early 60s Cambridge folk scene. Wilson was a fine singer and harmonica player as well as a good guitarist. A few other Los Angeles musicians played in early configurations of the band. The name came from a 1928 Tommy Johnson song "Canned Heat Blues," about an alcoholic taken to drinking Sterno. Mostly, the little ensemble gigged in a few Southern California record stores and folk clubs.<p></p><p>By 1966, the band had "gone electric." Henry Vestine, ex-Mothers of Invention, had joined on lead guitar, Frank Cook on drums, and by early 1967 Canned Heat had added Larry "The Mole" Taylor on bass. The group had a unique style, transposing a boogie-woogie style into twin guitars and a bass, and creating the rock sub-genre of "boogie" music (aka "Chooglin'") more or less single-handedly. After some early efforts, the band recorded their debut for Liberty Records in Spring '67, and their self-titled album had been released in July 1967. They also teamed up with managers Skip Taylor and John Hartmann, who were ambitious and had big schemes. <a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/04/6230-sunset-boulevard-hollywood-ca.html">Canned Heat's management had no less of a plan than to open their own Fillmore-style venue in Los Angeles, called the Kaleidoscope</a>. Their initial forays in 1967, however, had met with resistance. </p><p>Canned Heat was one of the first underground bands to really get out and go around the country, playing wherever they could, bringing their inimitable boogie to any place that would have them. Right after the Boston Tea Party show, <a href="http://rockprosopography102.blogspot.com/2010/03/canned-heat-performance-list-work-in.html">Canned Heat would play two weeks (September 12-24) at the Cafe Au-Go-Go in Greenwich Village</a>. At this time, Canned Heat's line-up would have been</p><blockquote><b>Bob Hite-</b>vocals<br /><b>Henry Vestine</b>-lead guitar<br /><b>Alan Wilson</b>-guitar, harmonica, vocals<br /><b>Larry Taylor</b>-bass<br /><b>Frank Cook</b>-drums</blockquote><p><i><b> >September 8, 1967 Crosstown Bus, Brighton, MA: Cream-</b>canceled</i><br />The Crosstown Bus booked another underground sensation for the weekend of September 8 and following, namely Cream. <a href="https://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2020/05/august-19-september-5-1967-axis.html">Cream had just played a breakthrough engagement at the Fillmore, and the word was out about them</a>. At the time the Bus had booked the show, likely back in June, probably no one had heard of Cream and the bandwould have received few booking offers. Thus the tiny Crosstown Bus could have garnered the booking. By September, however, Cream were a big deal. Unfortunately, the Crosstown Bus had closed. <br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6xnbHjgW-No/YNflo68IJXI/AAAAAAAAJDU/mYiYBmumOwAUqlY-FWVBkGhZvSYxzSX8gCLcBGAsYHQ/s540/19670910%2BCream-Psychedelic-Supermarket-Small.webp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="386" data-original-width="540" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6xnbHjgW-No/YNflo68IJXI/AAAAAAAAJDU/mYiYBmumOwAUqlY-FWVBkGhZvSYxzSX8gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/19670910%2BCream-Psychedelic-Supermarket-Small.webp" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>A photo of Cream at the Psychedelic Supermarket in Boston, September 1967. Photo by the girlfriend of the guitarist (Ken Melville) in the opening act </i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>September 10-16, 1967 Psychedelic Supermarket, Boston, MA: Cream <i>(Sunday-Saturday)</i></b><br />"Underground" rock music was turning into a big thing, for those operators who had their ear to the ground. Cream had killed it in San Francisco, and was booked for Boston, but the Crosstown Bus had folded. Promoter George Popadopolis (sometimes spelled various ways) had run a popular folk club called The Unicorn since the early 60s. By the mid-60s, The Unicorn and other folk clubs were booking electric blues bands and the like. The "rock underground" had distinct links to folk music, in contrast to the kind of popular dance music that was often played on Top 40. So Popadopolis seemed to have heard that Cream was a success in San Francisco and had a week of open dates canceled in Boston. Papadopolis opened a new venue, just to accommodate Cream. The venue wasn't ready, but Boston was ready for Cream, and he wasn't going to wait.</p><p>T<a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2009/11/psychedelic-supermarket-boston-ma-1967.html">he
Psychedelic Supermarket was a converted parking garage, with grim
acoustics to match. The official address was 590 Commonwealth Avenue,
near Kenmore Square, but the actual location was in an alley backing on
to Boston University</a>. Since Papadopolis had run The Unicorn, he was a more experienced operator than the hippie-ish Tea
Party team. Papadopolis apparently had been
planning to convert the parking garage into a venue anyway, but he sped up his timetable to accommodate the Cream booking. The Psychedelic Supermarket
had great bookings, but it's not remembered fondly by fans or patrons:
the sound was lousy, the room uninviting, and Papadopolis had no
reputation for generosity.</p><p>Lawrence Azrin, a former Boston disc jockey, <a href="http://punkblowfish.com/BostonClubsSixties.html">has some biting reflections on the Psychedelic Supermarket</a></p><blockquote><i>The
Psychedelic Supermarket (located where Kix and the Nickelodeon Cinema
in Kenmore Square are now) was a blatant attempt by George Popadopolis
to cash in on a trend. He had run the Unicorn, a Boston folk club, for
some years before deciding to expand in early 1968. Seating of 300 was
in the lower tier of a garage that was completely concrete, except for
the stage. Cream played a memorable gig there in February '68 [sic] not
to mention Janis Joplin and the Holding Company. Stories of Popadopolis'
financial finagling are a legend.. . groups would cancel contracts and
leave because they would be paid less for long stands. The exposure was
supposed to make up for the lesser pay!! One out of two bands would
leave a gig after one set for various reasons and regular club-goers
remember him raising ticket prices from $4.50 to $5.50 when he knew that
a show was going to sell out. </i></blockquote><a href="http://www.thetrickismusic.com/?p=881">Another Boston music fan has equally dour memories:</a><br /><blockquote><i>The club, well there wasn’t anything psychedelic about it and it had nothing in common with a supermarket. We paid probably something in the vicinity of $3 to get in. It was, in fact, the basement of an old manufacturing building, the type of building in New York that became popular for some of the first lofts in the ’60s and ’70s, which were large open areas converted into living spaces. It was a long room, all concrete, floor and pillars, with a stage at the far end, behind which was a plaster board wall that separated the club from the dressing room.<br /><br />There were probably no more than about 200 people in the club. No chairs, we sat cross-legged on the floor not more than 20 feet from the stage slightly on the left hand side of it, opposite Jack Bruce and his Marshall rig. Cream came out dressed in flowered shirts, much like the fare you would find on King’s Road at Granny Takes A Trip in London (there was one in New York a little later on the upper East side), with tight jeans and moccasin-style boots with fringe. Clapton wearing the tallest with his pants tucked in. </i></blockquote><p>There was nothing like Cream, however, despite the uninviting confines of the Psychedelic Supermarket. At the Fillmore, with the unexpected obligation to play two one-hour sets, and lacking any material, Cream had simply jammed. They jammed out the blues, Coltrane-style, with their Marshall Stax amplifiers turned up high (and Ginger Baker letting it rip), and San Francisco flipped out. Suddenly the template for live rock music was different, really different, and it didn't matter if you saw Cream at the beautiful old Fillmore or a concrete parking lot in Boston. </p><p>It's a little bit unclear how soon the Psychedelic Supermarket booked shows after Cream. There were no memorable posters, only occasional flyers, and Popadopolis didn't seem to spend much, if anything on ads. So we only have occasional sightings of Supermarket shows through 1969. Nonetheless, it seems that the venue was open regularly, possibly every weekend and often several nights a week. There are numerous references to bands having played the Psychedelic Supermarket with no corresponding listing or flyer, so we are missing a lot of events at the venue. <br /></p><p><b>September 15-16, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Wildflower/The Bagatelle </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />The <b>Wildflower</b> were another band from San Francisco’s Fillmore scene. <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Wildflower.htm">The band had actually been founded at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland in late 1965. Guitarist Stephen Ehret was from suburban Belmont, CA (near the SF Aiport), and had been part of the folk scene with Peter Albin, Jerry Garcia and others.</a> Ehret went electric at the same time his friends did, which is why the Wildflower played so many of the early underground gigs at places like the Matrix and the Avalon. Noted Beat poet Michael McClure was an English instructor at CCAC, and he wrote the lyrics for a few Wildflower songs.</p><p>In 1967, after a few changes, the Wildflower had an East Coast tour, when San Francisco bands were still a novelty. In 1966, The Wildflower had released a single on Mainstream Records, a Chicago label that had also signed Big Brother. They also had four tracks on a 1967 Mainstream "sampler" album called <i>A Pot Of Flowers</i>. After the Eastern tour, however, the Wildflower kind of ground to a halt. The band did not fully break up until 1968, but the '67 Eastern tour was more or less their high water mark. In 2008, the re-formed Wildflower released a cd of songs they had performed in the 60s, but never recorded. <br /><br /><b>September 22-23, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: The Mushroom/The Hallucinations </b><i>(F</i><b>riday-Saturday)</b><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wmdSnxPdsTw/YOYs33OD_zI/AAAAAAAAJGo/TBZNzIf23fo5vCGgpjoOTaX1be5qCdQFQCLcBGAsYHQ/s246/VU%2BSavoy%2BBoston%2B19670922.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="246" data-original-width="138" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wmdSnxPdsTw/YOYs33OD_zI/AAAAAAAAJGo/TBZNzIf23fo5vCGgpjoOTaX1be5qCdQFQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/VU%2BSavoy%2BBoston%2B19670922.jpg" /></a></div><p><b>September 21-24, 1967 Savoy Theatre, Boston, MA: Velvet Underground </b><i>(Thursday-Sunday)</i><br />One of the unique features of the Boston rock concert market was that there were numerous venues available for rent, all near the college-age audience and accessible by public transport. On top of that, those venues had been available to rent for many years, so the latest iteration--long-haired rock dudes playing loud electric music--was no threat to public order. In this case, the Velvet Underground put on a "Happening"--what today might be called a Multi-Media event--for three nights at an old Vaudeville house. These sorts of things didn't happen in other cities, but they happened all the time in 1967 Boston.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HlTU_bWOcEQ/YO9y2hyMyVI/AAAAAAAAJJE/FjZrSJyIIWwtsTnKfG4mupjwrAlmqi4NgCLcBGAsYHQ/s678/Savoy%2BTheater%2BBoston%2B163%2BTremont.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="545" data-original-width="678" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HlTU_bWOcEQ/YO9y2hyMyVI/AAAAAAAAJJE/FjZrSJyIIWwtsTnKfG4mupjwrAlmqi4NgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Savoy%2BTheater%2BBoston%2B163%2BTremont.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Not
your typical 60s Velvet Underground venue (Savoy Theater, 163 Tremont
St, Boston, now the Boston Opera House at 539 Washington--as restored)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The Savoy Theater had been built in 1928 as a Vaudeville house and movie theater. <a href="http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2012/06/opera-house-539-washington-street.html">Capacity was around 2600 and it had a complicated ownership history</a>. The address was listed as 163 Tremont Street, although the current entrance is 539 Washington. In 1965, the theatre was re-named the Savoy Theater, and mostly showed movies (in the 70s, it became the Savoy I and II). <a href="https://www.bostonoperahouse.com/history/ ">After many more gyrations, the restored building became the Citizens Bank Opera House.</a><p></p><p>Velvet Underground showed there New York art-scene roots with this event. The idea was that the Velvets would play behind a light show, and then show the movie "The Happening," starring Anthony Quinn. Although the show was billed as starting on Friday, September 22, a review in that day's <i>Globe</i> indicates that there was a performance the night before (Thursday September 21), possibly mainly for reviewers. Richie Unterberger describes the event in detail. This sort of special event was Boston-only--other cities were not equipped for a downtown happening in an art-deco theater.</p><b>September 29-30, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Children of Paradise/Beacon Street Union </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Children Of Paradise</b> are unknown to me.<p>The <b>Beacon Street Union</b> (per <i>Wikipedia</i>) was composed of four Boston University
students: singer John Lincoln Wright (September 23, 1947 - December 4,
2011), guitarist/singer Paul Tartachny, bassist/singer Wayne Ulaky,
keyboardist Robert Rhodes and drummer Richard Weisberg. With the
exception of a few rock standards, their diverse music was composed by
members of the band, primarily Wright and Ulaky. <br />In 1968, the
band's
label, MGM Records, would promote them as part of the so-called Bosstown
Sound
(along with the bands Ultimate Spinach and Orpheus), shepherded by the
record producer Alan Lorber. </p><p>Since the national "underground" was suspicious
of any hip music promoted by "The Man," and thus the Boss-town bands would meet
with little nationwide
success. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Beacon-Street-Union-The-Eyes-Of-The-Beacon-Street-Union/master/176248">Their debut album, <i>The Eyes of the Beacon Street Union</i>, was released around </a>April 1968. When the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosstown_Sound">"Bosstown Sound"</a> promotion
bombed, the record industry was spooked for the next few decades.
Whenever bands started to break out en masse from a city--such as
Seattle in the early 90s--record companies would let journalists talk
about such trends, rather than make a catchphrase in their ads, fearing a
repeat of the Bosstown Sound debacle. The Beacon Street Union were well-established at the Tea Party, having played weekends in February, May and June.</p><p><b>October 6-7, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Canned Heat/Ultimate Spinach</b><i> (Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Canned Heat and Ultimate Spinach were both returning shortly after their initial weekends (September 8-9 and August 18-19, respectively).</p><p><b>October 7, 1967 Back Bay Theatre, Boston, MA: Donovan/Janis Ian/Midnight String Quartet </b><i>(Saturday two shows 7 and 10pm)</i> </p><p>Scottish singer <b>Donovan</b> (b. Donovan Leitch 1946) was both a pop star and a rock star. He was hip, initially compared to Bob Dylan as a singer and writer, yet having huge psychedelic pop hits to his name. "Sunshine Superman" had reached #1 in 1966, followed by "Mellow Yellow," which made it to #2. By Fall '67, Donovan's fifth album had been released by Epic as a double-lp in April 1967, <i>A Gift From A Flower To A Garden</i>. His single "First There Is A Mountain" (the melody of which would become even more famous as an Allman Brothers theme) was released in August and had reached #11. So Donovan was a huge touring act. Also, it's worth noting that unlike many long-haired rock acts, this was a proverbial "date" show: you might not take a nice girl to the grungy Boston Tea Party to see some arty New York band, but girls liked Donovan, and the seats were reserved. There were two shows (7pm and 10pm), a sign that Donovan was a huge draw.</p><p>Despite the implication that Donovan was a pop lightweight, his music has held up far better over the decades than some of his contemporaries. His live band at these shows was probably the same one used on his 1968 double-album <i>Donovan In Concert</i>, which itself was recorded in September 1967. Donovan is a better guitar player than people realize, and he was ably supported by British jazz flautist Harold McNair and drummer Tony Carr (on the live album, the band was rounded out by pianist Loren Newkirk, bassist David Troncoso and John Carr on bongos, but I'm not sure if they were always part of his touring ensemble). </p><p><b>Janis Ian </b>(b.1951) had written the hit folk song "Society's Child" in 1965 and released it in 1966. It had gone to #14, and #1 in some cities. In 1967, however, she was seen as a one-hit wonder folk singer. Verve had released her debut album earlier in 1967. Ian's career would sputter for a few years, before she re-appeared as a mature and successful singer-songwriter in the mid-70s.</p><p>The <b>Midnight Quartet </b>are unknown to me. It's possible they were a string section hired to support Donovan.<br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gnAbzz-OELY/YPIPEGMjGdI/AAAAAAAAJJM/Clz6pQ_KBVMyuP8KJdAVXss0cOQBqHOjwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2568/2017_Kresge_Auditorium_%2528MIT_Building_W16%2529%252C_48_Massachusetts_Avenue%252C_Cambridge%252C_Massachusetts_1_front1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1225" data-original-width="2568" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gnAbzz-OELY/YPIPEGMjGdI/AAAAAAAAJJM/Clz6pQ_KBVMyuP8KJdAVXss0cOQBqHOjwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/2017_Kresge_Auditorium_%2528MIT_Building_W16%2529%252C_48_Massachusetts_Avenue%252C_Cambridge%252C_Massachusetts_1_front1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Kresge Auditorium, at 48 Massachussetts Avenue on the MIT campus, built 1955 (photo ca 2017)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>October 7, 1967 Kresge Auditorium, MIT, Cambridge, MA: Ian & Sylvia <i>(Saturday)</i></b><br />The Kresge Auditorium was a unique structure at 48 Massachussets Avenue, on the MIT campus. The concert hall seats 1266, and was opened in 1955. Ian & Sylvia were a popular folk duo, and while they weren't a rock act--although they would shortly become one--broadly speaking they appealed to the same college-age audience. Canadians Ian and Sylvia Tyson had scored a huge hit at home with Ian's song "Four Strong Winds" in 1964. In 1965, a San Francisco band called The We Five had a huge US hit with the Sylvia Tyson song "You Were On My Mind." Ian and Sylvia's career had been fairly successful in the mid-60s, but folk music was sounding a bit passe by '67. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Ian-Sylvia-Lovin-Sound/release/2457251">Their current album would have been <i>Lovin' Sound</i> on MGM</a>. The next year, the Tysons would record a country-rock album in Nashville, one of the ensembles that started the migration to "country-rock."<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--fsRvpXjW08/YPLaoRK_cPI/AAAAAAAAJJY/6kePMdkQUmU_ZXny0fZbG4xa-WP8VU3igCLcBGAsYHQ/s1152/The%2BTech%2B19671010%2BIan%2Band%2BSylvia%2B2021-07-17%2Bat%2B09-20-16%2BV87-N35%2Bpdf.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="416" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--fsRvpXjW08/YPLaoRK_cPI/AAAAAAAAJJY/6kePMdkQUmU_ZXny0fZbG4xa-WP8VU3igCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/The%2BTech%2B19671010%2BIan%2Band%2BSylvia%2B2021-07-17%2Bat%2B09-20-16%2BV87-N35%2Bpdf.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Tech (Tuesday Oct 10 '67) describes how a freshman MIT student saved the Ian & Sylvia concert</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />An article in the Tuesday edition (Oct 10 '67) of <i>The Tech</i>, the MIT student newspaper, described Ian & Sylvia's dissatisfaction with the sound system. The Tysons were touring with an electric bassist and lead guitarist, beginning their evolution towards country rock. The PA system at the Auditorium was for public speaking, not music. Per <i>The Tech</i>, eager student engineer Alvin Sellers ('70) rushed to their aid. Clearly Sellers knew every rock musician on campus, and rapidly rounded of proper gear. The theme of clever MIT students solving amplification problems on the spot came up in <i>The Tech</i> more than once in 1967. It also tells a more serious story, however, about how the electrification of rock music was the province of the young, similar to how computers would befuddle older people some decades later. <br /><p></p><p><b>October 13-14, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: The Luvs/The Grass Menagerie </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>The Luvs</b> are unknown to me. <b>The Grass Menagerie</b> had played the Tea Party in June, but are otherwise unknown to me.<br /></p><p></p><b></b><p></p><p></p><b>October 20-21, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Phluph/The Clouds </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Phluph</b> was a psychedelic band from Boston. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Phluph-Phluph/master/166192">They would release an album on MGM/Verve in 1968</a>. It wasn't particularly well-received, but since they were on MGM, Phluph was lumped in with the Bosstown Sound debacle, and would not have been likely to get a fair hearing.<p><b>The Clouds</b> were regulars at Boston Tea Party, but I don't know much about them. I do know that at one point they included singer Jo Baker, who would move to San Francisco by early 1970 and take over the lead vocal duties of the Elvin Bishop Group. <br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U9bOX4y8TP8/YPNAFTrAKJI/AAAAAAAAJJw/1H5gpNCsuEEfaz8xr1G2jAJJVtIYg5nPACLcBGAsYHQ/s1004/Boston%2BSupermarket%2BBerry%2B19671024%2BScreenshot%2B2021-07-17%2Bat%2B16-36-58%2BV87-N39%2Bpdf.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="794" data-original-width="1004" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U9bOX4y8TP8/YPNAFTrAKJI/AAAAAAAAJJw/1H5gpNCsuEEfaz8xr1G2jAJJVtIYg5nPACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Boston%2BSupermarket%2BBerry%2B19671024%2BScreenshot%2B2021-07-17%2Bat%2B16-36-58%2BV87-N39%2Bpdf.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>An ad for the Psychedelic Supermarket in The Tech (the MIT newspaper) from October 24, 1967</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>October 24-29, 1967 Psychedelic Supermarket, Boston, MA: Chuck Berry </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br />The Psychedelic Supermarket advertised a week of Chuck Berry shows in The Tech. This booking was the first sign of the Supermarket that I have found since the Cream concerts in early September. While I think the Supermarket opened early to accommodate Cream, had they been dormant the entire time? I don't think so. But as to who else had been booked in late September and the rest of October. I can't find a trace. <p></p><p>The most cryptical part of the ad is the notation "for benefit of Multiple Sclerosis." I assure you, benefit or not, Chuck Berry got paid in cash for each show as soon as he pulled up in his Cadillac, as he always did. So why was the show a benefit? It was common for campus events to share any profits with a charity, but this wasn't on campus. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YVeZyObgJCU/YPM8YEXcpdI/AAAAAAAAJJo/HPLj9oYWnxsJtI9t3V4Vt9cVWuNR3xCBgCLcBGAsYHQ/s316/Chuck_Berry_-_Live_At_The_Fillmore_Auditorium.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="316" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YVeZyObgJCU/YPM8YEXcpdI/AAAAAAAAJJo/HPLj9oYWnxsJtI9t3V4Vt9cVWuNR3xCBgCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Chuck_Berry_-_Live_At_The_Fillmore_Auditorium.jpg" /></a><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Chuck
Berry with the [Steve] Miller Band Live At The Fillmore Auditorium,
released by Mercury in September '67. Recorded at Fillmore June 27-July 2
'67, Chuck backed by Miller, Curley Cooke (gtr), Jim Peterman (organ),
Lonnie Turner (bs) and Tim Davis (drums)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>Chuck Berry</b> was a legend of course, and his blues guitar
sounds made for a comfortable enough transition into the electric
underground rock world. Berry's label, Mercury Records, was alert to
that: at this time, his current album was <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Chuck-Berry-With-The-Miller-Band-Live-At-The-Fillmore-Auditorium-San-Francisco/release/4007870 "><i>Chuck Berry With The Miller Band Live At The Fillmore Auditorium</i>, released in September 1967</a>.
Chuck never toured with a band, figuring--with good reason--than any
and all rock bands could and should play Chuck Berry music. Thus the
promoter of a Chuck Berry concert always hired a local band to back him,
usually the opening act. </p><p>At the Fillmore in June (June 27-July 2
'67), the opening act backing Chuck had been a rising local act, the
Steve Miller Blues Band. Mercury figured out that the Miller Band were going places, and
included their names on the album. Thus the first released recording of
the Steve Miller Band was with Chuck Berry, as their own album would
not be released until mid-'68. Berry is a difficult character, but his
musical ability had never been in question. Ably backed by the Miller
Band, on the Fillmore album Berry is alternately bluesy, swinging and
rocking. Chuck Berry could have easily taken the road to being a
Fillmore-era guitar hero, but that was not who he chose to be.</p><p><b>October 27, 1967 Jordan Hall, Boston, MA: The Barbarians/The Hallucinations/The Cloud </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />Jordan Hall, at 30 Gainsborough Street, was the 1,051-seat performance hall of The New England Conservatory, and was across the street from the Symphony Hall. It was regularly rented out for folk, blues or rock concerts. According to a brief article in <i>The Tech </i>(Oct 20 '67), the show is billed as “The surfacing of underground music scene in our town.” </p><p>The Barbarians, from Provincetown, RI, had been a famous New England garage band. They had a legendary hit "Are You A Boy Or Are You A Girl" in 1965. They were also known as Moulty And The Barbarians, after their infamous one-handed drummer Victor "Moulty" Moulton (his other hand had a hook, really it did). By 1967, the Barbarians were about to fold up. Some members would move to San Francisco and form the group Black Pearl.<br /><br /><b>October 27, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: The Bagatelle/Sidewinders </b><i>(Friday)</i><b><br />October 28, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: The Hallucinations/Sidewinders </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />The <b>Sidewinders</b> are unknown to me.</p><p><b>October 30, 1967 Psychedelic Supermarket, Boston, MA: Procol Harum </b><i>(Monday)</i><br />The Psychedelic Supermarket had a one-night booking for Procol Harum, on their first American tour. This was surely an empty night on their trip, and for a UK band, however little money you made an off-night, it was more than not playing. The band was touring behind their classic debut album and single "A Whiter Shade Of Pale," with their classic lineup (Gary Brooker, Matthew Fisher, Robin Trower, BJ Wilson and bassist David Knights). <br /></p><p><b>October 31-November 12, 1967 Psychedelic Supermarket, Boston, MA: Electric Flag/Blues Children/The Illuminations </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br />Although Supermarket promoter George Papadopolis has a reputation for being a shady operator who didn't always treat his bands well (<a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2009/11/psychedelic-supermarket-boston-ma-1967.html">see this amazing Comment Thread--10 years long and still running--about the Supermarket, where everyone has a story about Papadopolis</a>), he definitely had a knack for figuring out which bands were happening. Papadopolis was the first to book Jefferson Airplane in Boston, at his Unicorn folk club (in April of 1967). He had opened the Supermarket just to book Cream, and his timing was perfect. For his next major booking, he booked Mike Bloomfield's Electric Flag for two weeks.</p><p>Mike Bloomfield had been America's first sixties guitar hero with the Butterfield Blues Band. Back in 1966, they had torn up the Fillmore and everywhere else they played, inspiring a legion of guitar players when he led jams over twenty minutes on the classic "East-West." The mercurial Bloomfield had left Butter in early '67, fed up with management, and had moved to San Francisco. Their Bloomfield put together the Electric Flag, a group designed to play all kinds of American music: rock, blues, jazz, soul and even country. With seven or eight great musicians, they were versatile and experienced. The <b>Electric Flag </b>were underground legends before they had even released an album, which is how they came to headline two weeks at the Supermarket. Their Columbia debut album, <i>A Long Time Comin'</i>, would not even be released until March 1968. The Flag had hardly played live, so they were an attraction solely on the buzz of Mike Bloomfield's new band. </p>At this time, the Electric Flag would have been<br /><blockquote><b>Nick Gravenites</b>-vocals, guitar<br /><b>Mike Bloomfield</b>-lead guitar<br /><b>Peter Strazza</b>-tenor sax<br /><b>Herbie Rich</b>-baritone sax, organ<br /><b>Marcus Doubleday</b>-trumpet<br /><b>Barry Goldberg</b>-piano, organ<br /><b>Harvey Brooks</b>-bass<br /><b>Buddy Miles-</b>drums, vocals</blockquote>The Flag was notoriously inconsistent, but when they were firing on all cylinders, they really could play all kinds of American music really, really well. They must have nailed it at least one night out of a dozen. A tape survives of one these nights, supposedly a Grade Z collectors-only audience tape.<p><b>Blues Children</b> and <b>The Illuminations</b> are unknown to me, <br /><br /><b>November 3-4, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: The Bagatelle/Mandrake Memorial </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><b><br /></b><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f3z92Z2lFF8/YPLcUztV-YI/AAAAAAAAJJg/67julA4GMPMaXUd7AdiIil-S0xvvGK3yACLcBGAsYHQ/s1324/The%2BTech%2B19671010%2BProm%2B19671014%2B%2B2021-07-17%2Bat%2B09-28-20%2BV87-N35%2Bpdf.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="896" data-original-width="1324" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f3z92Z2lFF8/YPLcUztV-YI/AAAAAAAAJJg/67julA4GMPMaXUd7AdiIil-S0xvvGK3yACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/The%2BTech%2B19671010%2BProm%2B19671014%2B%2B2021-07-17%2Bat%2B09-28-20%2BV87-N35%2Bpdf.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Tech reported on the 1967 MIT Junior Prom on October 10<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>November 4, 1967 Back Bay Theater, Boston, MA: Lovin' Spoonful/Jerry Shane </b><i>(Saturday 2-5pm). MIT Junior Prom</i><br />In
the 1960s, most colleges had formal dances of some kind, just like high
schools. For the bigger schools, the featured bands had recording
contracts and were not just local nobodies. The geography of Boston and
Cambridge, however, meant that such campus events took place right in
town and had an impact on the live rock market itself. The weekend of November 3-4 had the MIT "Junior Prom," which featured a formal dance
on Friday night at the Sheraton Boston Grand Ballroom, an outdoor event on Saturday morning, a Boston concert
on Saturday afternoon and a dance and "beer bash" on Saturday night. The
assumption was that the largely male MIT student body would invite
their dates, likely from one of the nearby 'Seven Sisters" women's
colleges (Wellesley, Vassar, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, etc), to the city for
the weekend. </p><p>At this time, the <b>Lovin’ Spoonful</b> were a
hugely popular group. The Lovin' Spoonful's current single was "Six
O'Clock" which would reach #12. This was just the latest in a long
string of hugely popular, catchy hits starting in late 1965: "Do You
Believe In Magic," (reached #9),"You Didn't Have To Be So Nice," (#10)
"Daydream," (#2) "Summer In The City" (#1), "Nashville Cats" (#8) and
"Darling, Be Home Soon" (#15) still resonate today. The Spoonful were
essential in making folk-rock music popular and commercially viable. The
quartet was also a good live band, not true of many 60s pop artists.
The Back Bay Theater was one of the larger available rock venues, but
once again this was a show for MIT students to take their dates, and the
Spoonful was appealing without being too disreputable. Jerry Shane was a
comedian.</p><p><b>November 4, 1967 DuPont Gym, MIT, Cambridge, MA: Chuck Berry/Ill Wind <i>(Saturday) MIT Junior Prom</i></b><br />On Saturday night, there was a rock dance in the MIT gym. The formal dance had been held the night before. <i>The Tech</i> carefully reported </p><blockquote><i>Chuck
Berry and Ill Wind will be in DuPont at 8 for the beer blast; entrance
will be through the back door of the athletic center only. No liquor may
be brought, although refreshments will be available in large
quantities. Dress will be informal, but no one wearing a sweatshirt will
be admitted. </i></blockquote><p>I assume that Berry was backed by the opening act, Ill Wind. The <b>Ill Wind </b>had been formed by MIT students. Their lead
guitarist, Ken Frankel, had played mandolin in a bluegrass group (The
Wildwood Boys) with Jerry Garcia in summer 1963. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Ill-Wind-Flashes/master/278140">The group would release an album called <i>Flashes</i> on ABC in 1968</a>. Ken Frankel is thus one of the few musicians to have played on stage with both Jerry Garcia and Chuck Berry (Steve Miller and <a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2021/01/loading-zone-performance-list-1970.html">Loading Zone drummer George Marsh</a> are the others I know of). </p><p><i>The Tech</i> reported that the Junior Prom was a huge success. 1100 couples bought tickets for Lovin Spoonful at the Back Bay (capacity 2600), and 1200 couples bought tickets for the Saturday night beer bash. The Junior Prom Queen was Miss Linda Kilburn of Wellesley. The Spoonful complained about the sound system, but eager MIT engineers once again saved the day, per <i>The Tech</i>.<br /></p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EXbhp5v2K-0/YR7jxoHFOrI/AAAAAAAAJW0/93Rk7_8asmUY46nQQi6KPOah5TKIKzSaQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1037/Sun%2BRa%2B19671110%2BBoston%2BTea%2BParty%2BRev%2B56%2Bpdf.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1037" data-original-width="824" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EXbhp5v2K-0/YR7jxoHFOrI/AAAAAAAAJW0/93Rk7_8asmUY46nQQi6KPOah5TKIKzSaQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Sun%2BRa%2B19671110%2BBoston%2BTea%2BParty%2BRev%2B56%2Bpdf.png" width="254" /></a></div><br />November 10-11, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Sun Ra And His Myth Science Arkestra/The Hallucinations </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Sun Ra (born Herman "Sonny" Blount 1915-1993) is too much of a story for any blog post. Educated in Birmingham, AL, Sun Ra had a successful career as an arranger for big band leader Fletcher Henderson in Chicago in the 1940s. Ra discovered Afro-Futurism, and his music transformed as well, and he formed his own band. At times the Arkestra had over 20 members, including dancers and singers. <b>Sun Ra and His Arkestra</b> moved to New York City in 1961, where they lived communally and rehearsed constantly. The Arkestra is very hard to describe, but as a friend of mine told me in 1976, "imagine if the Duke Ellington Orchestra and The Grateful Dead were the same group." By 1967, regular appearances at Slug's Saloon in New York had made the Arkestra an undergound item all across the musical spectrum.<p>The Hallucinations were present to provide some regular order to the proceedings. <br /></p><b>November 15-16, 1967 Psychedelic Supermarket, Boston, MA: The Yardbirds </b><i>(Wednesday-Thursday)</i><br />Jimmy Page and the Yardbirds were booked for two nights, but canceled. It is unclear who was at the Supermarket between the Electric Flag (booking ended November 12) and the Mothers (starting November 24), and I don't think the club was just closed. If anyone has any clues about which bands played the Supermarket during that period (or any time), please put them in the comments.<br /><p><b>November 17-18, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Butter/Bo Grumpus/Salvation </b><i>(Friday-Saturday) </i><br /><a href=" http://www.thecoolgroove.com/bogrumps.html"><b>Bo Grumpus</b> was formed out of a duo called Two Guys From Boston</a> (Eddie Mottau and Joe Hutchinson). They started performing ragtime-styled rock in Boston under the name The Bait Shop. They contacted their friend Felix Pappalardi, then in the process of producing Cream. Pappalardi moved the group to New York, where he got them a regular gig at Greenwich Village’s Café Wha. He also got the group a deal with Atco, but persuaded them to change their name to Bo Grumpus, based on a drawing by his artist wife Gail Collins. The band would released a Pappalardi-produced album on Atco in 1968. They would later change their name to Jolliver Arkansas and release another album on Bell in 1969.</p><p><b>Butter</b> and <b>Salvation</b> are unknown to me. <br /><br /><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zJtJtzrYf4I/YR-qx1X8_qI/AAAAAAAAJXk/xH5Nk-dbdfkjkfMlaakG2k-rofFYk6RNACLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Smiley%2BSmile%2BBeach%2BBoys%2BBrother%2BSep%2B67.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="600" height="319" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zJtJtzrYf4I/YR-qx1X8_qI/AAAAAAAAJXk/xH5Nk-dbdfkjkfMlaakG2k-rofFYk6RNACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Smiley%2BSmile%2BBeach%2BBoys%2BBrother%2BSep%2B67.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />November 23, 1967 Back Bay Theatre, Boston, MA: Beach Boys/Buffalo Springfield/Soul Survivors/Strawberry Alarm Clock/Pickle Brothers </b><i>Beach Boys Fifth Annual Thanksgiving Tour (Thursday)</i><br />The Beach Boys had an annual "Thanksgiving Tour," supported by other popular acts. We now think about Buffalo Springfield as the springboard for the careers of Stephen Stills and Neil Young, but at the time the industry saw them as another teenybopper act. This 9-day tour was not at all on the Fillmore model. The bill played two or three shows a day, playing brief sets. Now, it would be surprising to have a rock concert on the Thursday of Thanskgiving, but it wasn't uncommon in the 60s. <br /><p></p><p>The <b>Beach Boys</b> were a hugely popular touring and recording act, but even they knew that rock music was passing them by. The Beach Boys had scored a #1 hit with "Good Vibrations" in October, 1966, but rock music was moving from a singles market to an album market. Brian Wilson had been working on his <i>Smile</i> album, as a sort of answer to the Beatles'<i> Sgt Pepper </i>album, but it had been stalled. Instead, the Beach Boys had released the unsatisfying <i>Smiley Smile</i> album in September 1967. Critical reflection on the Beach Boys in recent decades has been pretty favorable, but in late '67 the rock underground dismissed the Beach Boys as an uncool teenybopper band. </p><p>On tour, the core Beach Boys' lineup was Mike Love, Carl Wilson (lead guitar), Al Jardine (guitar), Bruce Johnston (keyboards) and Dennis Wilson (drums), all singing their beautiful harmonies. Brian had long since left the road. For this tour, the Beach Boys also had Daryl Dragon on keyboards (later famous as "The Captain" with his partner Toni Tenille) and bassist Ron Brown. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Beach-Boys-Definitive-Americas-Greatest/dp/0879308184/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=beach+boys+history&qid=1629414512&s=books&sr=1-3">Per Keith Badman's exceptional Beach Boys' chronology, the band also recorded their performance at the Back Bay for their archives</a>.</p><p><b>Buffalo Springfield</b>, meanwhile, although they personally identified with the Fillmore scene and would have preferred to play a more underground venue, found themselves on a package tour playing brief sets. In June, the band had recently released the single "Bluebird" backed by "Mr Soul," both songs now classics. At the time, thought, it was just a modest hit. The band's new album <i>Buffalo Springfield Again</i> had just been released in October.</p><p>As a footnote, when Stephen Stills and Neil Young played Boston Gardens
on June 26, 1976, Neil dedicated a song to those who saw Stills and
Young at the Back Bay Theatre.</p><p>The <b>Strawberry Alarm Clock</b> were from Glendale, CA, and had released their hit "Incense and Peppermints in May 1967 (on Uni Records). It would reach #1 for one week. The band continued on for several years, and had occasional reunions, but never touched their initial high-water mark. As a peculiar footnote, Alarm Clock lead guitarist Ed King would join Lynyrd Skynyrd a few years later as their bass player. <br /></p><p>The <b>Soul Survivors</b> were a soul trio from Philadelphia, produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. They had a big hit with "Expressway To Your Heart," released in 1967 and reaching #4 on the <i>Billboard</i> chart. The <b>Pickle Brothers</b> were a comedy duo.<b> <br /></b></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mdN-OwnRKG0/YR7qnH3ILgI/AAAAAAAAJXU/9zx_tWKn54orrHs3QdVfC8CcUFSG8tN-QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1037/Baul%2BSingers%2B19671124%2BBoston%2BTea%2BParty%2BRev%2B56%2Bpdf.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1037" data-original-width="824" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mdN-OwnRKG0/YR7qnH3ILgI/AAAAAAAAJXU/9zx_tWKn54orrHs3QdVfC8CcUFSG8tN-QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Baul%2BSingers%2B19671124%2BBoston%2BTea%2BParty%2BRev%2B56%2Bpdf.png" width="254" /></a></b></div><b><br />November 24-25, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Ultimate Spinach/The Baul Singers & Dancers of Bengal </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Ultimate Spinach returned to the Boston Tea Party for yet another weekend. Clearly they were developing an audience, and they were probably signed by Alan Lorber and MGM around this time. <br /><br /><b>The Baul Singers</b> included the two odd looking gentlemen on the cover of Bob Dylan’s 1968 <i>John Wesley Harding</i> album. <br /><p></p><b>November 24-25, 1967 Psychedelic Supermarket, Boston, MA: Mothers of Invention </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Today, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Big-Note-Guide-Recordings-Frank/dp/1554201462">thanks to modern scholarship by Charles Ulrich and others, we have a good picture of Frank Zappa's complex activities</a>. In November 1967, Zappa and the Mothers had finished recording <i>Uncle Meat</i>, and were mostly playing that sort of material live. Yet to fans, this was all unknown. The most recent Mothers Of Invention album was <i>Absolutely Free!,</i> which had been released back in April of 1967, and recorded well before that--several eons in Zappalogical terms. Zappa had released his solo album <i>Lumpy Gravy</i> on MGM in August 67, but few people had heard it.<p>The Mothers lineup would have been Ray Collins (vocals), Ian Underwood (alto sax and keyboards), Don Preston (keyboards), Bunk Gardner and Motorhead (saxophones), Don Preston (keyboards), Roy Estrada (bass and vocals), Jimmy Carl Black (drums and vocals) and either Artie Tripp or Billy Mundi (drums). Much of the material played by the Mothers, possibly almost all of it, would have had nothing to do with any of the three albums he had released. Still, Zappa was Zappa, and it didn't really matter--either you were overwhelmed or you found the Mothers annoying, and Frank was OK with either result. </p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hJZlz8UoRjs/YPYJZaUifhI/AAAAAAAAJKU/-bd3r2rAXr8HfPJMwTZpstHLwje6QuWKACLcBGAsYHQ/s170/Side%2BTrips%2BCover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="170" data-original-width="170" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hJZlz8UoRjs/YPYJZaUifhI/AAAAAAAAJKU/-bd3r2rAXr8HfPJMwTZpstHLwje6QuWKACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Side%2BTrips%2BCover.jpg" /></a></b></div><b><br />December 1-2, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Kaleidoscope/Chain Reaction </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />By December, most of the colleges (and many surrounding high schools) would have been in finals week, so there were fewer rock shows around town. The forbidding New England weather in December would not have been any inducement, either. Since the Tea Party was more of an underground joint, however, they were less dependent on college students for attendance, and had a full schedule throughout the month.<p></p><p>The <b>Kaleidoscope </b>had been founded in Los Angeles in 1966. There was pretty much nothing like them, as they all but single-handedly invented "World Music" a few decades before anyone was ready for it. Their debut album <i>Side Trips</i> was released on Epic in June, 1967. The band members were</p><blockquote><b>David Lindley</b>-guitar, harp guitar, violin, banjo, mandolin, vocals<br /><b>Solomon Feldthouse</b>-saz, bouzoukie, violin, more, vocals<br /><b>Chester Crill</b>-organ, piano, harmonica, violin<br /><b>Chris Darrow</b>-bass, violin<br /><b>John Vidican</b>-drums</blockquote><p>The Kaleidoscope not only played electrified versions of diverse instruments, but they integrated musical styles from the Middle East and elsewhere into more typical rock settings. David Lindley said later that their approach immediately appealed to every musician, but audiences simply weren't ready for the diversity. The band was astonishing live, with all the members (save the drummer) casually switching instruments with aplomb. </p><p>The <b>Chain Reaction</b> is unknown to me.<br /></p><p><b>December 2, 1967 Back Bay Theater, Boston, MA: Jefferson Airplane </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />The Back Bay Theater, slated for tear-down in June of 1968, had become a regular site for larger rock concerts. Jefferson Airplane had appeared in April (at the Unicorn and also at MIT), but by December they were genuine rock stars. After their big hit album <i>Surrealistic Pillow</i> had been released in February, with hits like 'White Rabbit" and "Somebody To Love," the band had followed up with <i>After Bathing At Baxters</i>. Even without a hit, the album would peak at #17. Jefferson Airplane were full-on rock stars when they returned to Boston in December.</p><p>Appropriately, the Back Bay Theater show was promoted by Bill Graham, who played a big part in booking the Airplane around the country. The band played two sets on Saturday night, with their own light show, in the Fillmore style. The show was reviewed in <i>The Tech</i> on December 5, 1967. Reviewer Steve Grant enthused "the Airplane really flew--to unprecedented heights--in two sets at Back Bay Theatre." He did add <a href="http://tech.mit.edu/V87/PDF/V87-N50.pdf">"the audience seemed a bit baffled by the lack of familiar songs, particularly in the second set. The Airplane, as a growing group of musicians, have deserted their popular straight style for something they consider better."</a> Like it or not, Grant has captured what was happening with serious rock bands in the 60s.<br /><br /> <br /><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VmwVagLnsII/YPcnk12W1_I/AAAAAAAAJKs/nnj5kFt9njABGyxNptTH5_nTi-N6eTIWQCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Clear%2BLight%2Blp%2BElektra%2B1967.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VmwVagLnsII/YPcnk12W1_I/AAAAAAAAJKs/nnj5kFt9njABGyxNptTH5_nTi-N6eTIWQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Clear%2BLight%2Blp%2BElektra%2B1967.jpg" /></a></b></div><b><br />December 8-9, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Clear Light/Street Choir </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Clear Light</b> had formed in Los Angeles in 1966, and had released an album on Elektra in 1967. They were an interesting band with two drummers, and were an important band in the bubbling Los Angeles hippie underground. Unfortunately, the band would break up in 1968. Drummer Dallas Taylor would go on to play with Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. <p></p><p>The <b>Street Choir</b> is unknown to me.<br /><br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vQKYIO42i0M/YPYNu44tr1I/AAAAAAAAJKc/UNsDm2ceaaMpltOIoFqF85X_ZiYQ_yE4wCLcBGAsYHQ/s626/GD%2BSupermarket%2B19671208.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="626" data-original-width="477" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vQKYIO42i0M/YPYNu44tr1I/AAAAAAAAJKc/UNsDm2ceaaMpltOIoFqF85X_ZiYQ_yE4wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/GD%2BSupermarket%2B19671208.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>This flyer for the Grateful Dead at the Psychedelic Supermarket appears to be a "blank" where the venue would fill in the upcoming acts, with a picture. The Supermarket did not have interesting, collectable posters, as most of them look like this one (with a different band and date)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b>December 8-9, 1967 Psychedelic Supermarket, Boston, MA: Grateful Dead</b><i> (Friday-Saturday)</i><br />The Grateful Dead finally debuted in Boston with a weekend at the Psychedelic Supermarket. George Papadopolis had a consistent knack for booking bands just as a buzz was surrounding them. In fact, the Dead's debut album had been a bust, realistically speaking, but the Grateful Dead were somehow underground heroes anyway, even if very few fans had ever actually heard them. <p></p><p>According to Grateful Dead biographer Dennis McNally (pp. 231-235), in December '67 the band had been recording in New York at the Olmstead Studios on 48th Street, with Dave Hassinger as the engineer. Ramrod (a roadie), (drummer) Bill Kreutzmann and (soundman) Bob Matthews had driven the equipment truck cross country, and the band was in the Chelsea Hotel and then at a house in Englewood, New Jersey. Given the Dead's always precarious financial condition, it made sense that they would play a few weekend gigs while recording, because they would have needed the money.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HBHHZpx86EM/YPcepauA0KI/AAAAAAAAJKk/pwZUaho1P_sfEMhzbVeIW8tX2Vy7xfuDgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1880/TheTech%2B%2528MIT%2529%2B19671212.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1880" data-original-width="703" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HBHHZpx86EM/YPcepauA0KI/AAAAAAAAJKk/pwZUaho1P_sfEMhzbVeIW8tX2Vy7xfuDgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/TheTech%2B%2528MIT%2529%2B19671212.jpg" /></a></div><br />The Grateful Dead were booked for Friday and Saturday night at the Supermarket, and also for a Saturday afternoon show at Clark University in Worcester, MA, just an hour West from Boston (<a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/03/atwood-hall-clark-university-worcester.html">in fact, the Worcester show was a debacle, so much so that Garcia publicly apologized when the band returned to Clark University in 1969</a>). <a href="http://deadsources.blogspot.com/2013/01/december-8-1967-psychedelic-supermarket.html">The Supermarket show was reviewed in <i>The Tech</i> the next week (December 12), including comments from Jerry Garcia</a>.<br /><br /><b>December 15-16, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Richie Havens/The Bagatelle </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Richie Havens</b> (1941-2013) had a distinct style, somewhere between folk and jazz. He did not sing folk songs, <i>per se</i>, and while he was grounded comfortably in the blues he was not remotely a singer of traditional blues. He did jazzed up versions of blues songs, some of his own songs, and a few pop covers (like "Eleanor Rigby"). Havens wasn't a jazz singer, either, although he regularly played extended versions of songs in concert. His debut album, appropriately titled <i>Mixed Bag</i>, had been released on Verve back in July 1966. His follow-up, <i>Something Else Again</i>, would only come out in January 1968, a long time between albums for the era. Havens probably played with a small combo. Although he was--sort of--a folk act, he would have been at home in an underground rock club like the Tea Party.<br /><br /><b>December 22-23, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Lothar and The Hand People/Beacon Street Union </b><i>(Friday-Saturday) </i><br /><p></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jJpRa_xnM24/YR-qNBf6kiI/AAAAAAAAJXc/iiRuDc86wgAhW-pJvz-OasXkBqzqQhjbACLcBGAsYHQ/s1060/Hallucinations%2B19671229%2BBoston%2BTea%2BParty%2BRev%2B56%2Bpdf.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1060" data-original-width="824" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jJpRa_xnM24/YR-qNBf6kiI/AAAAAAAAJXc/iiRuDc86wgAhW-pJvz-OasXkBqzqQhjbACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Hallucinations%2B19671229%2BBoston%2BTea%2BParty%2BRev%2B56%2Bpdf.png" width="249" /></a></b></div><b><br />December 29-30, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: The Hallucinations/Children of God </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Peter Wolf and The Hallucinations had played the Boston Tea Party in January, the second weekend the club was open. They closed out the year as well. The Tea Party did not have a New Year's Eve concert, as this rock tradition had not started yet.<br /><br />The <b>Children of God</b> are unknown to me (I wonder if they were a re-named Children Of Paradise, who had already played the Tea Party?)<p></p><b>December 29-30, 1967 Psychedelic Supermarket, Boston, MA: Grateful Dead </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />The Grateful Dead appear to have returned to the Psychedelic Supermarket for the final weekend of the year, but did not play New Year's Eve in Boston or anywhere else. I say "appear to have returned" to the Supermarket, since there is no hard evidence that they played Boston or anywhere else that weekend. McNally and others allude to the band returning to San Francisco on December 31, anticipating jamming with Quicksilver at the Fillmore (they are foiled by some delicious brownies, and fall asleep). Everyone seems to assume they played the Supermarket, and the dates have appeared on lists since forever, but there is no confirmation. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2009/11/december-8-9-1967-psychedelic.html">Until I uncovered the article in The Tech some years ago, the flyer for December 8-9 had been thought to be canceled, and rescheduled for December 29-30.</a><br /><p>The Psychedelic Supermarket had very little in the way of flyers, nor did they advertise much. What little press coverage and advertising there was for the venue was in college papers like <i>The Tech</i>, and they did not publish around New Years, since school was out. So we have no ads, no review, no eyewitness accounts, and just a general assumption that the band played the Psychedelic Supermarket. But since they returned to SF on December 31, it seems likely the band played somewhere that weekend, and there weren't many venues for psychedelic rock bands with one unsuccessful album under their belt. Hopefully the Internet can work it's magic and someone will find a reference to the Dead at the Supermarket for the last weekend of the year.<br /></p><p><b>Boston Psychedelic Rock, 1967</b><br />Unlike almost every other American city, save for perhaps Greenwich Village, Boston had come into the year with a thriving concert market for rock, folk and blues music that appealed to young people. The part of Boston centered around the colleges and universities had been absorbing the folk boom, not to mention the British Invasion, for some years. The numerous schools provided plenty of hip entertainment, not just music but theater and all other performing arts. </p><p>Still, Boston got its first truly "underground" psychedelic venue in January, 1967. The tiny Boston Tea Party was run on a shoestring, with mostly volunteer labor, yet it managed to stay open and even thrive throughout the year. The simple proof that the Tea Party thrived was that competition arose, first the Crosstown Bus and then the Psychedelic Supermarket. Bands were forming, some of them were good, and they had some places to perform. Something was happening next to the Charles River, even if no one was exactly sure what it was yet.<br /></p><p><br /></p>Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-35296272484248560522022-05-12T08:28:00.000-07:002024-02-01T19:00:02.068-08:00April 6, 1974 Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, CA: Emerson Lake & Palmer/Deep Purple/Eagles (California Jam)<p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh4mNSlLRKJbuvIceeM_x237tGj0QKPRnbGDMtO2gg4kARbI9zhkI2s-q8CRYU5yrE5oI6HASpFAE-0AKYVITQykg26j9yqTkwFzzBE2hYgmODYfqohBHCIxDM4EC773A2dl24XFo1jacSFhyldtlw715x8QmEXylLsZQY6Py7P-lxt9G__3p6GIaIG=s720" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="720" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh4mNSlLRKJbuvIceeM_x237tGj0QKPRnbGDMtO2gg4kARbI9zhkI2s-q8CRYU5yrE5oI6HASpFAE-0AKYVITQykg26j9yqTkwFzzBE2hYgmODYfqohBHCIxDM4EC773A2dl24XFo1jacSFhyldtlw715x8QmEXylLsZQY6Py7P-lxt9G__3p6GIaIG=s320" width="320" /></a></div><p><b>April 6, 1974 Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, CA: Emerson Lake & Palmer/Deep Purple/Black Sabbath/Black Oak Arkansas/Seals & Crofts/Eagles/Earth Wind & Fire/Rare Earth </b><i>(Saturday) California Jam</i><br />The Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, CA, 35 miles East of Los Angeles, is largely forgotten today, as was the major rock concert held at the Speedway on April 6, 1974. Yet the "California Jam," as it was called, had great economic significance in the history of rock concerts, in that it had the highest paid attendance of any rock concert up until that time. The paid attendance record was only known to have been eclipsed one time--at the successor concert at Ontario Speedway on March 18, 1978, known as "California Jam II". The 168,000 paid attendance--out of probably 200,000 in total--at the 1974 show make it an important event, yet rock history has put it aside. This post will look at the 1974 California Jam concert at Ontario Motor Speedway in its proper context, and reflect on how it was both influential, profitable and yet repeated only a single time. <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPzkQoPinJ6EUDxxoKd6aJ5GqkZJmNH-hFUXaFz2asVoGm2XomaKQUYfedwe875oWmVfQNFXXSvXqpOsvDjaJsvx0wrdfyi811jQEetGAmaWHw0e-yIIOOl60P3FW-ZIaztEOoylxz_YsdAq6fIqdIT-iIo7HGAXuGUWOdW5hFDUhduUwDdXQJndwj=s500" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPzkQoPinJ6EUDxxoKd6aJ5GqkZJmNH-hFUXaFz2asVoGm2XomaKQUYfedwe875oWmVfQNFXXSvXqpOsvDjaJsvx0wrdfyi811jQEetGAmaWHw0e-yIIOOl60P3FW-ZIaztEOoylxz_YsdAq6fIqdIT-iIo7HGAXuGUWOdW5hFDUhduUwDdXQJndwj=s320" width="213" /></a></div><br /><i><b>Rock Festivals and Major Rock Venues: Status Report, Early 1974</b></i><br />Rock Festivals were a product of the 1960s. <a href="https://www.uipress.uiowa.edu/books/9781609386085/half-a-million-strong">Gina Arnold's excellent book <i>Half A Million Strong</i> (2018 U of Iowa Press)</a> tracks how "free shows in the park" evolved into "giant multi-day events in some farmer's muddy field" over the course of a few years (yes, she's my sister, but you should read it). By the time of the biggest festivals of 1969 and 1970, most famously Woodstock, hundreds of thousands of people would come to some outlying area and camp out for several days, while live rock music blasted 24/7. Legendary as these events were, most fans did not attend more than one giant event, and most communities that had endured a huge rock festival did not tolerate a second one. <br /><p></p><p>Live rock music got bigger every year, and various efforts were tried to find a way to have "festival" events on a large scale. Multi-act events were appealing to promoters because they inherently hedged risk in a volatile music market. Since shows had to be planned many months in advance, and it was hard to anticipate how one band might have a breakout hit, and how another may have become over the hill, or even broken up, in the few short months between booking the show and playing it. In early 1969, for example, <a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2009/12/convocation-center-ohio-university.html">Led Zeppelin found themselves playing tiny auditoriums, sometimes as the opening act, with their debut album roaring up the charts</a>, while Vanilla Fudge found themselves no longer the draw they had been the year before. A rock festival, with dozens of acts over a few days, could more easily absorb the hits and misses. Promoters continued to search for a way to book multiple acts profitably. </p><p></p><b><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgEBsg67zsqn823rrE4hfGESeRLFvhgi5aHRTYSXI99aSRUVIWs5IeSaT-cLzGbfDZbqdXLGpMAYriggDVrloW_mf-thlbIdCU2Yn0EEm8vp5kWRJjOJ1J8Qi7oLyHFZ3ap_JlxcNrwY5uNGqUPwg6HbelUr1E4lbyanuyxEVb4eHuWSydW3kdPltAd=s428" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="341" data-original-width="428" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgEBsg67zsqn823rrE4hfGESeRLFvhgi5aHRTYSXI99aSRUVIWs5IeSaT-cLzGbfDZbqdXLGpMAYriggDVrloW_mf-thlbIdCU2Yn0EEm8vp5kWRJjOJ1J8Qi7oLyHFZ3ap_JlxcNrwY5uNGqUPwg6HbelUr1E4lbyanuyxEVb4eHuWSydW3kdPltAd=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br />Rock Concerts at Auto Racing Tracks</i></b><br />The immediate and vast popularity of rock festivals posed a very specific land-use problem. Places like Indian Reservations and farms were not really viable for major, multi-day events, since too many things could go wrong. Equally importantly, despite or because of the increasing crowds, it was all but inevitable that rock festivals would become "free concerts." Liberating as this may have seemed at the time, it ensured that the events could not make enough money to provide a safe, repeatable event for bands, patrons and host communities. The financial opportunities of rock festivals were huge, however, and since nothing says "rock and roll" like "land use," over the years there was a concerted effort in the concert industry to find spaces that could successfully and profitably host occasional, loud outdoor events with giant crowds.<p>One of the intriguing solutions for hosting giant rock festivals was to use facilities designed for auto racing. Race tracks were usually somewhat removed from urban areas while still being near enough to civilization to attract a crowd. Auto races themselves were noisy, and major race events tended to occur just a few times a year and last an entire weekend, just like a rock festival. Since race tracks were permanent facilities, they generally had fences, bathrooms, water, power and parking, so in many ways they would seem like ideal venues for huge rock events. Indeed, some of the major rock events of the 1969 and the 1970s were held at race tracks. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiubgiCD9Z0LhpOSNQWwqeFxkkuq7KBa7OJZ1Ome_gd4ZaFAJUu_SUT6I7oTbBbJ2P4XIS6rz5Fl3MlHJ7LFbw2l1TuQGYAFTq0-ik_GDbH5nRu8ldFcDLl0yxpI4MXmaoRJpjAobmOL-WG5fcA-QsZxCZ0sy9wqeqrcH1CxadNmiUDjBZ8JAvG-jmK=s400" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="186" data-original-width="400" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiubgiCD9Z0LhpOSNQWwqeFxkkuq7KBa7OJZ1Ome_gd4ZaFAJUu_SUT6I7oTbBbJ2P4XIS6rz5Fl3MlHJ7LFbw2l1TuQGYAFTq0-ik_GDbH5nRu8ldFcDLl0yxpI4MXmaoRJpjAobmOL-WG5fcA-QsZxCZ0sy9wqeqrcH1CxadNmiUDjBZ8JAvG-jmK=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br />Two of the most successful rock festivals were held at Texas Speedway and Atlanta Speedway, both organized in 1969 by promoter Alex Cooley. Both Speedways were NASCAR ovals. The Rolling Stones' debacle at tiny Altamont Speedway might have had a very different outcome had it been held at its original site, <a href="https://www.sonomaraceway.com/">the newly-opened Sonoma Raceway, a Road Racing course in rural Sonoma County</a>, near the San Francisco Bay. <p></p><p><a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2013/07/grateful-dead-performances-at-race.html">I looked at some of the history and economic dynamics of Auto Racing tracks as Rock Concert sites in another post, although for purposes of scale I focused on the Grateful Dead</a>. Generally speaking, while auto racing had been popular since the
invention of the automobile, horse racing had been hugely popular in
cities and county fairs throughout the United States long before cars
were invented. However, after WW2, when the GIs returned and economy
boomed, America moved from its rural roots to a more urban and suburban
universe, and the automobile became a more important part of everyone's
life. A national boom in the popularity of auto racing corresponded with
a slow decline in the popularity of horse racing. </p><p>By the early 1960s, numerous custom-built facilities served the thriving auto racing industry, with oval tracks (for NASCAR and "Indianapolis" cars in the South and Midwest), road courses (for sports cars on both coasts) and dragstrips (nationwide). These facilities were ready made for rock concerts, but there were some huge cultural divides. With a middle-class family audience for auto races, with their Dow Industrials sponsorship from major companies, racetrack promoters were neither tuned in to nor inclined towards sponsoring long-haired outlaw rock concert events flaunting nudity and drugs. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhHHT4yfGnLVvrJD2XRD6RtACByaZ2YYjwdv4JjdQ0u75g_ATHTms4ZhHvKDb5P725Mh3JnTovZCJvYKSqEVv5wKBF_mWRa14j9MTwTrBV_tDKsFR08wiIAbSeH5SB9HzROfGF1tV0x9aZcSwZTKqiCDKnPYJryFmfUy_8EovfS-IUtiNW8HI329W0W=s450" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="272" data-original-width="450" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhHHT4yfGnLVvrJD2XRD6RtACByaZ2YYjwdv4JjdQ0u75g_ATHTms4ZhHvKDb5P725Mh3JnTovZCJvYKSqEVv5wKBF_mWRa14j9MTwTrBV_tDKsFR08wiIAbSeH5SB9HzROfGF1tV0x9aZcSwZTKqiCDKnPYJryFmfUy_8EovfS-IUtiNW8HI329W0W=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br />The most important 1970s rock concert event at an auto racing track was the infamous "Summer Jam" at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Racecourse, on July 28, 1973. Officially, it was just a single day event with only three groups: the Allman Brothers Band, the Grateful Dead and The Band. Watkins Glen was in upstate New York, 250 miles Northwest of Manhattan, and 200 miles West of Woodstock. Watkins Glen Racecourse was the site of the annual Formula 1 United States Grand Prix, and huge crowds in the 50-100,000 range convened there annually for Grand Prix weekend. It seemed like a perfect spot for a rock festival. <p></p><p>Of course, although many tickets were sold, apparently as many as 150,000 (at $10 per), 600,000 or more fans actually showed up and the concert rapidly became free. The Dead played a set at soundcheck the day before (July 27), as did the other bands. In the end, the weather was good, nothing went wrong, a good time was had by all, the promoters seem to have made money and no one wanted to do it again. With that many people, something was eventually going to go wrong. Ironically, if the Dead had played Watkins Glen with less dramatic support (just the New Riders and The Sons, for example), maybe only 50,000 would have showed up, and it would have become an annual event. But any willingness to support this sort of event in the heavily populated Northeast disappeared forever at midnight as members of all three bands rocked through "Not Fade Away" and "Mountain Jam" for half a million fans as they closed the concert.</p><p>The California Jam, at Ontario Motor Speedway, would follow the next Summer, with a very different configuration. It's another forgotten fact, however, that both the Dead and the Allman Brothers were booked at Ontario Motor Speedway on May 27, 1973, just two months before Watkins Glen. The largest rock concert in American history nearly had a preview, between Los Angeles and San Bernardino.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjgOq4CqJLr0p9xVFvn5xNxD2GvHw0kgfkcH_8HEUgbnFdlbDCd90wY2z6LRQdxhxkxv_dKVu3HTu2DQxhbrhigAwVY-n5tdOKiNnqGCEKZsrWgQKnv3tDpSM6pRd7U12v3Bgh6Rks453PDklCKPNbrXYVM8XdMUoMXkBdzw2Wuf2J7jDX_VKE_FDtI=s335" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="335" data-original-width="235" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjgOq4CqJLr0p9xVFvn5xNxD2GvHw0kgfkcH_8HEUgbnFdlbDCd90wY2z6LRQdxhxkxv_dKVu3HTu2DQxhbrhigAwVY-n5tdOKiNnqGCEKZsrWgQKnv3tDpSM6pRd7U12v3Bgh6Rks453PDklCKPNbrXYVM8XdMUoMXkBdzw2Wuf2J7jDX_VKE_FDtI=s320" width="224" /></a></div><p></p><b>May 27, 1973 Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, CA: Grateful Dead/Allman Brothers Band/Waylon Jennings/Jerry Jeff Walker </b><i>(Sunday) Bill Graham Presents-Canceled</i><br /><a href="https://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2022/03/may-27-1973-ontario-motor-speedway.html">I recently discussed the history of the concert scheduled for Sunday, May 27, 1973, featuring the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers and Waylon Jennings.</a> The concert was booked and advertised, but ultimately it was canceled with a week to go. The stated reason was that the local police wanted the show to end by nightfall, but it's more likely that ticket sales were insufficient. If Bill Graham had sold 150,000 tickets, as he had hoped, he would have found a way to assuage any concerns--if they were real at all--about performing at night, with extra lights, added security or whatever it took. I think that the Allman Brothers and the Grateful Dead, while both popular bands, were not a destination concert for 1973 Southern California fans. Old San Francisco or Georgia hippie stuff just wasn't ringing bells in Los Angeles, and every high school student for 100 miles around wasn't going to drive to Ontario for that. So the concert was canceled. <br /><p>There were some other subplots at play this weekend. May 27 '73 was the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, which was the day of the Indianapolis 500. The Ontario Motor Speedway was not going to try and draw racing fans during the biggest televised auto racing event of the year, so they would have been ripe for another event. After the grand opening of the Speedway in August 1970 (discussed in more detail below), the Speedway had under-performed. Bill Graham, meanwhile, although the King of the San Francisco concert scene, had only occasionally put on shows in LA. There was no dominant promoter in Southern California, so it was just like Graham to identify a new and willing partner and introduce himself with a huge bang. Prudence won out, however, and the '73 Dead/Allman show at Ontario was canceled. Yet the same pair, plus The Band, were the attractions at the largest rock concert in American history just 2 months later at Watkins Glen. So Graham was onto something, but he was off by 2 months and 3000 miles. It turns out, he was also right about Ontario Motor Speedway, but that would take another year.</p><p><i><b></b></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0yQtCBeY_jwSE-OtW4BZzbDqOFa5zxTPt-SnT18h9hh3-DyCxip67YJZ-43x2rQnjl7GgsDUkybKpqoeGCjxzmoUrgZGo9BvH1iXS8dQTJAJ8UWW5JuiHRuPLbGb6z1bK-k_vJuD_sd37Ic2Az-rq8cZ2liJWcA7_nhLhxM6p_SQ6qqgJ9W332yv4__M/s552/Leon%20Russell%2019730728%20Long%20Beach%20Jul%2026.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="226" data-original-width="552" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0yQtCBeY_jwSE-OtW4BZzbDqOFa5zxTPt-SnT18h9hh3-DyCxip67YJZ-43x2rQnjl7GgsDUkybKpqoeGCjxzmoUrgZGo9BvH1iXS8dQTJAJ8UWW5JuiHRuPLbGb6z1bK-k_vJuD_sd37Ic2Az-rq8cZ2liJWcA7_nhLhxM6p_SQ6qqgJ9W332yv4__M/s320/Leon%20Russell%2019730728%20Long%20Beach%20Jul%2026.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></i></div><i><b><br />update 20240201</b></i>: <i>it turns out a Leon Russell concert
was indeed held at Ontario Motor Speedway, on Sunday, July 29, 1973.
This was the first rock concert at the Speedway. Leon had just released
his monster hit triple album Leon Live. Per the July 31 Times, around
30,000 showed up, but Bill Graham was expecting 80,000. In a strange bit
of symmetry, this was the same weekend as the Dead/Allmans blowout at
the Glen, and Leon had originally been booked there. The Dead and the
Allmans had preferred The Band, and Leon was bought out of the gig</i>. <p></p><p><br /></p><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhamVwMBHRUvzn5m_3Hz8JsSgVaVA3cl4KZR52_IcFJSPTXBzpIxgtDHaPUR9ifn2S5PA59Qtc0RYJ7MWOeNNNinYKZvB1YaCmSTz44sxswavi_3646x7Pe1HhrmbmdJKwpoLbK_uC2iMxynF0LGi_Hf0LGWom-w6m_RvsY5dVZ3_j1vclDEcQBGMQ4=s346" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="346" data-original-width="276" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhamVwMBHRUvzn5m_3Hz8JsSgVaVA3cl4KZR52_IcFJSPTXBzpIxgtDHaPUR9ifn2S5PA59Qtc0RYJ7MWOeNNNinYKZvB1YaCmSTz44sxswavi_3646x7Pe1HhrmbmdJKwpoLbK_uC2iMxynF0LGi_Hf0LGWom-w6m_RvsY5dVZ3_j1vclDEcQBGMQ4=s320" width="255" /></a></div><p><b>November 24, 1973 Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, CA: Three Dog Night/Guess Who/Chuck Berry/Canned Heat/Blues Image/Azteca/Mag Wheel & The Lugnuts/Tower of Power </b><i>(Saturday) November Jam</i><br />Between the canceled Dead/Allmans show in May '73,<i> [and the July Leon Russell show]</i> and the epic California Jam in April of 1974, there was one other event, utterly forgotten. The "November Jam," on Saturday, November 24 was attended by less than 50,000. It never rains in Southern California, as we know, except when Three Dog Night was your headliner. LA <i>Times</i> rock critic Dennis Hunt reviewed the grim proceedings on Monday (November 26):<br /><br /><br /><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEitUNbTbd_yF7pvqfoZsPvq-7WN4u_SfHuB1s4LEsK40j2FWLVnqc58WkIFbyJAaHPNKeILtd85D1eiZ2QVz7WxHU50KZEViWZvgpcK6PkwhZb4mfIlJ5gsfo-y2OuvqVDo4foYX6cZtQi8y5WQb0wBsjhv6uPM3FsKr46U0jTl4IAvr1uLEZESnmnG=s1384" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="1384" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEitUNbTbd_yF7pvqfoZsPvq-7WN4u_SfHuB1s4LEsK40j2FWLVnqc58WkIFbyJAaHPNKeILtd85D1eiZ2QVz7WxHU50KZEViWZvgpcK6PkwhZb4mfIlJ5gsfo-y2OuvqVDo4foYX6cZtQi8y5WQb0wBsjhv6uPM3FsKr46U0jTl4IAvr1uLEZESnmnG=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p><i><b></b></i></p><blockquote><p><i><b>A Cold Concert In Ontario (Dawn To Dusk Rock)</b><br />A cold, windy drizzly day is lethal to a marathon outdoor rock concert. Hours of exposure to bad weather is no fun. Unfortunately, it was damp and chilly on Saturday at Ontario Motor Speedway. The dawn to dusk concert there was not as enjoyable or well attended as it might have been on a warm, sunny day.<br />Under the circumstances, the crowd was fairly large. The security guards estimated that between 10-15,000 were present when the gates opened at 6:15 am and that, by afternoon, there were between 20-25,000. <br /></i></p><p><i>...I arrived in the afternoon and endured a long, awful set by Three Dog Night and part of the Guess Who set. Chuck Berry was scheduled to close the show, but late in the afternoon the announcer reported that he had never arrived. When the Guess Who appeared, it was dark and drizzling steadily. Most of the crowed left after the Three Dog Night. Many who stayed to see the Guess Who perform departed after the first few numbers since it was evident that the group, understandably, was not in good form. </i></p></blockquote><p>While this show was forgettably bad, and not much fun, it does mean that a successful rock concert was held at the Ontario Motor Speedway. Some lessons must have been learned, whatever they were, and a bigger event with major acts, at a more favorable time of year, must have seemed viable. Remember, April in Los Angeles is generally beautiful, and it really doesn't rain in LA in the Spring. So a big Spring rock festival type event at Ontario Speedway must have seemed very plausible indeed.<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiF4UpyxqZm72sQoluYNN0bLjc7rSDlymERrxcvlyAW9pRDPScgfP3mbzfxn716CDFtoa9vQF46PiwKQqLXQfXjzVDS9EoDc-FQUtUU3uTztSXnnGNHpcsM7v8GscRjmTBXho8DdfMc_ErYoKPLsL0GBYuiF1lLuI6blyeBUIxYiyQk2zDGRaFFSMvg=s480" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="314" data-original-width="480" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiF4UpyxqZm72sQoluYNN0bLjc7rSDlymERrxcvlyAW9pRDPScgfP3mbzfxn716CDFtoa9vQF46PiwKQqLXQfXjzVDS9EoDc-FQUtUU3uTztSXnnGNHpcsM7v8GscRjmTBXho8DdfMc_ErYoKPLsL0GBYuiF1lLuI6blyeBUIxYiyQk2zDGRaFFSMvg=s320" width="320" /></a></div>In the summer of 1973, live rock was starting to flex its muscles. Major bands had been headlining basketball arenas since the late 1960s. In 1973, bands started to headline football stadiums. Led Zeppelin, perhaps the best drawing band in the country, had begun their spring '73 tour by headlining stadiums in Tampa (May 4) and Atlanta (Fulton County Stadium, May 5). At both shows, they were the only performers, and sold upwards of 40,000 tickets, setting records for the time. Zeppelin ended their '73 tour headlining for Bill Graham at Kezar Stadium on June 2, apparently selling 60,000 tickets. Rock was getting big. The only problem for promoters was finding venues that were willing, a market in place and no conflicts with other (usually sports) tenants. <br /><p></p><p>The Ontario Motor Speedway was an innovative and newly
constructed auto racing track that had only opened for full-time racing
in Summer 1970. Ontario, CA, had been founded in 1891, named by
transplanted Canadians. Ontario is 35 miles East of Los Angeles, and 23
miles South of San Bernardino. Part of San Bernardino County, it is on
the Western Edge of the so-called Inland Empire. Ontario had been the
site of a World War 2 Army Air Force Base, which remained an Air
National Guard base (and would remain so through 1995). The airport had
also been established for civilian use in 1946 as Ontario International
Airport. The Airport was joined to LAX in 1967, and jet flights had
begun at the airport in 1968. Although Ontario only had a population of
64,118 in the 1970 census, as a result of the airport and the airbase it
was at the nexus of a substantial freeway network. I-10 and I-15 met at
Ontario Airport, so all of Southern California could get there easily.<br /></p><p>Auto
racing was booming in the 1960s, and Los Angeles was under-served by
facilities. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverside_International_Raceway">Yes, there was the epic Riverside Raceway, another 25 miles East</a>, but that made it even farther from LA proper. More importantly,
Riverside was just a road racing facility--albeit a great one--and that
limited the types of major events that could be held there. Ontario
Motor Speedway was conceived as a full-service answer to every auto
racing sector in the Los Angeles area, in a location even nearer to the city.
The airport location was crucial, too, since major auto racing teams
barnstormed around the country like touring rock bands, and drivers and
even their race cars were always flying directly from track to track. </p><p>Ontario
Motor Speedway was custom built to provide first class facilities for
all the major types of racing: an oval for NASCAR and Indianapolis cars,
a road course (that included part of the oval) for road racing and a
dragstrip. Besides advanced pit facilities, OMS also pioneered what we
now call "clubhouses" and "luxury suites" for sponsors. It was a
well thought-out endeavor. The plan was to have not only top level
NASCAR and USAC (Indy Car) 500-mile races, but Formula 1 and NHRA Drag
racing. The inaugural race was the (Indy Car) California 500 on
September 6, 1970, with paid attendance of 178,000, a huge crowd even by
auto racing standards. <a href="http://www.champcarstats.com/races/197012.htm ">Jim McElreath beat out an All-Star field of drivers that included Mario Andretti, A. J. Foyt, Dan Gurney and the Unser brothers.</a></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjICZruk4m0ryVBJRgGEgz34ygHr_zJXKHJrpu80P-ociEUlctEEBVG29dNWKyjZ8NWyghYPUJL38a04wq7_lU3GnZQ-U55ltKZ7uuJKCqnHf8iwvuAjsIb0aQXEszBsrlCwE3mh_TdY1ZAO4kxomHA5O1MfK9Pn7VP2oyExcnygFKjdu85nmB5Gm_U=s2100" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1400" data-original-width="2100" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjICZruk4m0ryVBJRgGEgz34ygHr_zJXKHJrpu80P-ociEUlctEEBVG29dNWKyjZ8NWyghYPUJL38a04wq7_lU3GnZQ-U55ltKZ7uuJKCqnHf8iwvuAjsIb0aQXEszBsrlCwE3mh_TdY1ZAO4kxomHA5O1MfK9Pn7VP2oyExcnygFKjdu85nmB5Gm_U=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Mario Andretti (#5) in his Ferrari 312B coming to lap Mark Donohue (#26) in a Lola T192-Chevy F5000 car at the Questor Grand Prix at Ontario Speedway on March 28, 1971. Andretti would win the only F1 race at Ontario, followed by Jackie Stewart (Tyrell), Denis Hulme (McLaren) and Chris Amon (Matra)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />After
a hugely successful opening, however, Ontario Motor Speedway had a
number of events in 1971 and '72 that did not live up to financial
expectations. The racing was great--it was the early 70s--but after the
September '70 opening, the Speedway didn't catch LA like it should. The
big plan was that Ontario would host a 2nd United States Grand Prix,
which hitherto had been the exclusive province of Watkins Glen in New
York. As a prelude, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_Questor_Grand_Prix">Ontario Motor Speedway held a non-Championship Formula 1 race, the Questor Grand Prix, on March 28, 1971, won by Mario Andretti in a Ferrari 312B</a>. The event was a financial bust, however, and
Formula 1 cars never ran at Ontario again (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Grand_Prix_West">ultimately Long Beach, CA, would get the second US, Grand Prix</a>). Although 1971 went alright, the
1972 Ontario attendance--despite great racing--were a financial letdown.
Thus by 1973, Ontario Motor Speedway would have been open to the
possibility of different promotions. <p></p><p><b><i>Southern California Stadiums</i></b><br />There
were plenty of stadiums in Southern California, but none of them were
particularly ripe for rock concert promoters. Dodger Stadium was under
the full control of the Dodgers, and they didn't share it. Anyway, it was baseball season. The Los
Angeles Coliseum was old (opened 1921) and in and "undesirable" (read:
"too African-American") neighborhood. The Rose Bowl, in Pasadena, had
access and parking issues. That left Anaheim Stadium, in Orange County.
But it was just across the road from Disneyland, and The Mouse would not
want weekend parking disrupted by hordes of young rock fans. In the end,
starting around 1976, Anaheim Stadium would become the primary home of
stadium rock concerts in Southern California, with the full cooperation
of Disneyland, but that was a few years away. </p><p>Ontario Motor Speedway was a different matter.
It had been well-conceived and well-financed, but after initial
excitement attention had died down--same as it ever was for LA--it
was going to need additional sources of revenue. </p>What did the Ontario Motor Speedway offer as a rock concert venue?<br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Its
location (35 miles E of LA, 23 miles Southwest of San Bernardino) put
it in close proximity to tens of thousands of potential rock fans</li><li>The
convergence of the I-10 and I-15 freeways meant that an even larger
pool of rock fans could drive to the Speedway fairly easily, from either
San Diego (on I-15) or nearer the Pacific Coast (I-10). Ontario was
just outside of Central LA, so the majority of potential fans could
circumnavigate the often brutal traffic jams that the region was
infamous for.</li><li>In Southern California, it's always sunny and it never rains, so weather wasn't a consideration.</li><li>The
racing facility had parking for 50,000 cars, and apparently there were
satellite lots as well. No need to worry about cars abandoned by the
side of the road on some farm road (although that would turn out just the same as at Woodstock, even if it didn't initially seem so)<br /></li><li>The grandstands featured
95,000 seats, with 40,000 "bleacher" seats in temporary grandstands, and
a substantial crowd could fit on the infield. It was plausible to
imagine 200,000 or more fans at a rock concert (178,000 had attended the
inaugural California 500 race). This was double the capacity of even
the enormous LA Coliseum.</li><li>Ontario Motor Speedway had debt to
service and was looking for other sources of revenue, so they would be
eager to work with any well-financed partners </li><li>Most importantly,
the huge grandstands around the track, and hence around the whole facility,
ensured that the facility was cordoned off. That meant it was plausible
to ensure that only those with tickets would get into the show. At giant
rock festivals, the economic issue was always gate-crashing, but that
was usually in some giant, muddy field. The Speedway itself acted as fence, and
entry was through controlled tunnels under the grandstands. Gary Stromberg, a publicist for Bill Graham, had commented on this the previous year (LA <i>Times</i> May 5 '73), saying "the Speedway has high fences and special tunnel
entrances that were built specifically to deter would-be gate-crashers." So this was no afterthought.<br /></li></ul><i><b>ABC In Concert</b></i><br />In November 1972, ABC quietly began a revolution in late night television when it broadcast two 90-minute <i>In Concert</i> shows. The first one (November 24) had featured Alice Cooper, Curtis Mayfield, Bo Diddley and Seals & Crofts, while the second (December 8) had showcased the Allman Brothers (with bassist Berry Oakley's last performance), Blood, Sweat & Tears, Chuck Berry and Poco. All the acts had been filmed live at Hofstra University on November 2, 1972, rather than in a sterile TV studio. <br /><p><i>ABC In Concert</i> had gotten tremendous ratings, and ABC had made it a regular bi-weekly show. NBC had followed with the <i>Midnight Special</i>, and that in turn was followed by the syndicated <i>Don Kirshner's Rock Concert</i>. So for young teenagers like myself, the weekend was full of actual rock bands playing actual live rock and roll, sometimes simulcast on FM radio. It was our first opportunity to see what some of these bands looked like on stage. Not only were the shows successful in their own right, but they helped teach networks that there was a TV audience for late at night, particularly for young people. Shows like <i>Tom Snyder's Tomorrow</i>, <i>Saturday Night Live</i> and <i>Fernwood 2Nite </i>would soon come. </p><p>The California Jam concert was produced by veteran promoters Sandy Feldman and Leonard Stogel. The bands were booked by Pacific Presentations, a Los Angeles-based agency with a national profile, who worked with just about every touring act in the country ABC had made the decision, however, to videotape all of the California Jam, and <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/vintagerocktv/usa/abc-in-concert">broadcast highlights of it in four shows between May 24 and June 21</a>. For one thing, the TV broadcast made the band's appearances even more high profile. I do not know the financial terms of the broadcast, but ABC helped underwrite Cal Jam in some way, adding to the financial stability of the event. </p><p><i><b>California Jam: The Bands</b></i><br />The California Jam show was only a single day of performances, but it was scheduled to go for about twelve hours. There were eight performers. All of the bands were popular, but none of them were a singular attraction that was going to provided the bulk of the drawing power. It's important to remember that the rock audience was still pretty young at the time. Someone who had first heard the Beatles in 1964 at, say, age 11, would only have been 22 by 1974. Much of the audience would have been even younger than that. People in High School or College tend to travel in packs. The goal for the Cal Jam booking was to provide something for a wide spectrum of young white Southern California rock fans. That meant that for a carful of teenagers, everyone had something they were looking forward to.</p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhXrE8gmMXaR6IJHvUxlWiSxXj8nw7r3aKiHbAqZBBa-kxcIIWQ9Ab3Hp0XPBRGo1uQFcuW9QxUmODjkBcdrzQqgVD7YcocYYtKKbOUDfv6Ziw13PHpg1GHKgdY0NqBtmjusF0JwU8eSpj7RQEEkghXsWSFE2m8_MnPmLomPEQxsbMaF-YfwHISFOIL=s600" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="573" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhXrE8gmMXaR6IJHvUxlWiSxXj8nw7r3aKiHbAqZBBa-kxcIIWQ9Ab3Hp0XPBRGo1uQFcuW9QxUmODjkBcdrzQqgVD7YcocYYtKKbOUDfv6Ziw13PHpg1GHKgdY0NqBtmjusF0JwU8eSpj7RQEEkghXsWSFE2m8_MnPmLomPEQxsbMaF-YfwHISFOIL=s320" width="306" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Brain Salad Surgery, ELP's 5th album (first on Manticore/Atlantic) released in January 1974</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />Emerson, Lake and Palmer</b> were the headliners, booked to close the show after nightfall. They had just released their fifth album <i>Brain Salad Surgery</i>, in January. After the trio's previous album, <i>Trilogy</i> (on Island) had reached #5, ELP (as they were known) had signed with Atlantic. Atlantic had given them their own "Imprint" label, Manticore Records. <i>Brain Salad Surgery</i> would reach #11. ELP were dramatic live performers, playing surprisingly difficult music in an energetic way. Back in 1970, they had had a modest hit single with "Lucky Man," but they were an album band, famous for Keith Emerson's prodigious keyboard skills and Carl Palmer's powerhouse drumming.<p></p><p>ELP had formed out of the ashes of Emerson's 60s trio, The Nice. The Nice were progressive rock pioneers, featuring Emerson's formidable organ and piano skills, augmented by odd time signatures and orchestral accompaniment. Along with the difficult stuff, The Nice would do highly musical covers of Bob Dylan songs and the like. They were very popular in England. The Nice had ground to a halt by the end of 1969, and Emerson and Greg Lake teamed up, finding Palmer in early 1970. Almost from their inception, the band's merger of classically-themed pieces and loud rock virtuosity made them a huge concert attraction. ELP was the first really successful Progressive rock band, and they were a huge concert draw. ELP showed that rowdy young men could get just as excited about a 20-minute rock adaptation of a classical theme as they would for a blues boogie. <br /></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjUJbWIHaTEp7b5I4zhwNBvG992uHW4CBoinFoKMg4qM746c0LYIgOc33DQoGwYacdzzyb63851a2PXrq30a2KF2Upt4cofB4mlos5acX9_cHeHFwByOuDPp6Pd7lOJsjhlJkaEk3uhFks6_4WJTzyVKtZfuz9gZNn1Cf0S_FmYoZW4CeYNBzNZ-M3W=s600" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjUJbWIHaTEp7b5I4zhwNBvG992uHW4CBoinFoKMg4qM746c0LYIgOc33DQoGwYacdzzyb63851a2PXrq30a2KF2Upt4cofB4mlos5acX9_cHeHFwByOuDPp6Pd7lOJsjhlJkaEk3uhFks6_4WJTzyVKtZfuz9gZNn1Cf0S_FmYoZW4CeYNBzNZ-M3W=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Deep Purple's Burn, released February 1974. The first album by Deep Purple Mk. III</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />Deep Purple</b> had been around since the 1960s, but had only skyrocketed to popularity with the live album <i>Made In Japan</i>. <i>Made In Japan</i> had been released in April 1973, even though it had been recorded prior to the release of the studio album <i>Who Do We Think We Are?</i>, which had been released in January of 1973. Thanks to the live album, EMI released the two-year old "Smoke On The Water" (from 1972's <i>Machine Head</i>) as a single in May, 1973. It would reach #2 and became Deep Purple's signature song. Deep Purple straddled the line between hard rock and somewhat more serious music. EMI had given Deep Purple their own imprint, Purple Records, just as Atco had done with ELP. <br /><p></p><p><i>Machine Head</i> ('72), "Smoke On The Water," <i>Made In Japan</i> and <i>Who Do We Think We Are?</i> were all produced by the "classic" Deep Purple lineup (now known colloquially as Deep Purple Mk 2), which had been together since late 1969:<br /></p><blockquote><b>Ian Gillan</b>-vocals<br /><b>Ritchie Blackmore</b>-lead guitar<br /><b>Jon Lord</b>-organ, keyboards<br /><b>Roger Glover</b>-bass<br /><b>Ian Paice</b>-drums </blockquote><p></p><p>By the time of Cal Jam, however, Gillan and Glover had left Deep Purple. They had been replaced by lead singer David Coverdale and bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes (ex-Trapeze). The new lineup (known informally as Mk 3) had just released <i>Burn</i> in February '74. <i>Burn</i> was a big success, and would reach #9 on the <i>Billboard</i> album charts. </p><p>The members of ELP and Deep Purple had been slogging around the English rock scene in the '60s, playing in a variety of good and bad bands, some known and some obscure. Now here they were, after nearly a decade, at the top of the bill at a giant venue in Southern California, with their new albums racing up the charts. </p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh4wH_uN4V8VhPTDqrGEz1UZsrLlM33h83tACWJ38rLZz-uF6sqlifcc9nD4S0eUJ_gsuIQKIewXuSyFJBHxLqB46P9A8nvs9TBeptDj5f89oom1LJk9N-j7nxlJ-SeG1BQO_sc-BIOPyw6_4q6Ah1oUbAy0aQQj7wBR24ZoCHJ4bKSEtQpF4SimfnZ=s600" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh4wH_uN4V8VhPTDqrGEz1UZsrLlM33h83tACWJ38rLZz-uF6sqlifcc9nD4S0eUJ_gsuIQKIewXuSyFJBHxLqB46P9A8nvs9TBeptDj5f89oom1LJk9N-j7nxlJ-SeG1BQO_sc-BIOPyw6_4q6Ah1oUbAy0aQQj7wBR24ZoCHJ4bKSEtQpF4SimfnZ=s320" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />The Eagles</b> had just released <i>On The Border</i>, their third album for Asylum Records in March 1974. The album would ultimately reach #17 on the <i>Billboard</i> charts and sell two million copies (double platinum). The record would have three huge, memorable singles: "Already Gone" (released April 19 '74), "James Dean" and "Best Of My Love." The Eagles were already really big, but they were going to get much, much bigger. The Eagles rocked a little bit, but they were much mellower than ELP or Deep Purple. When you realize that the booking concept of Cal Jam was to bring carloads of teenagers, you can see how while ELP or Purple appealed to many young men, the Eagles and Seals & Crofts were going to be more interesting to their girlfriends. <p></p><p>The Eagles had recently expanded to a quintet, with guitarist Don Felder joining the band. While the Eagles were on tour (it had started on March 26) Felder's wife was having a baby. The Eagles were not going to cancel a high profile concert, planned for TV broadcast, but they weren't apparently comfortable playing in front of a huge crowd in quartet format. Thus they drafted Glenn Frey's former housemate, one Jackson Browne, to be a "guest member" for California Jam. Browne played piano and guitar, and sang along on "Take It Easy" and some other numbers. <br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj5TgopInl22zA5tILOaUKFIVtNdXPBSdUr-EwMQ75I9naYHeEZLC01TUycW1LC0lB7ZJnbeVKM2U39NHedcceDLGGUck1xxt02nI4b11Mj8AvEkK5_UbeNYJENkB5I8k5bhQh7M_5l9g3_gZm1nnuHOxZPK8xDfArdyrZ15f1_PYB9SpiiWUqBQKMi=s600" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj5TgopInl22zA5tILOaUKFIVtNdXPBSdUr-EwMQ75I9naYHeEZLC01TUycW1LC0lB7ZJnbeVKM2U39NHedcceDLGGUck1xxt02nI4b11Mj8AvEkK5_UbeNYJENkB5I8k5bhQh7M_5l9g3_gZm1nnuHOxZPK8xDfArdyrZ15f1_PYB9SpiiWUqBQKMi=s320" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />Black Sabbath</b> of course had no radio hits, nor much in the way of FM airplay. Nonetheless they were hugely popular. In December, 1973, they had released their fifth album <i>Sabbath Bloody Sabbath</i>. Released on Warner Brothers in the US (Vertigo in the UK), it would reach #11 on <i>Billboard</i>. Black Sabbath's lineup was still the original, classic lineup with Tony Iommi on guitar, Geezer Butler on bass, Bill Ward on drums and of course Ozzy Osbourne on lead vocals. <p></p><p><b>Black Oak Arkansas</b>, a Southern boogie quintet that really was from Black Oak, AK, had just released their fifth album on Atco, <i>High On The Hog</i>. The album would be the high water mark for the band, reaching #52 on <i>Billboard</i>. The album included the single "Jim Dandy," which itself went to #55. Black Oak Arkansas were amongst the initial wave of Southern rockers, even though they sounded quite a bit different than the somewhat jazz-and-R&B influenced Allman Brothers. Black Oak Arkansas' twin guitar attack was pretty much straight boogie. It's actually harder to play high-speed shuffles than it appears, so the band may have been better than they were given credit for, but they did not have the reputation for musical virtousity like the Allmans and their peers. Black Oak was another band that were popular with rowdy young men, like Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. <br /></p><p>Dash<b> Seals and </b>Jim<b> Crofts</b> were both long-time professional
musicians from Texas. Both of them had been in The Champs, albeit
touring some time after "Tequila" had been a smash hit in 1958. Both of
them had also backed Glenn Campbell in Van Nuys nightclub, back in the
early 60s, when Campbell was an established session musician but not yet
a recording star. After various ins and outs, they ended up as a
singer/songwriter duo signed to TA Records. Seals and Crofts self-titled
debut came out in 1969, and their follow-up <i>Down Home</i> would come
out in September 1970. They would not see big success until after they
signed with Warner Brothers in 1971. By '72, they had huge hits with
"Hummingbird" and "Summer Breeze," and the <i>Summer Breeze</i> album from September was equally giant. "Diamond Girl," from April 1973, was equally huge. The album would reach #4, and the title single would release #6.<br /></p><p>Seals & Crofts' newest album was <i>Unborn Child</i>. It had been released in February 1974. Warner Brothers had warned the duo that the subject of abortion in the title track was not going to be commercially popular, and they were correct. The album would only reach #18 on <i>Billboard</i>, with no hit singles, and the duo's popularity crested after this album. On stage, the pair were usually backed by a small combo. Once again, it's clear that Seals & Crofts filled out the bill to provide some contrast to the many loud, hard-rocking acts on the show. While the pair sometimes performed just as a duo, at Cal Jam they were supported by a full band, with drums, bass and percussion. <br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgpgb6_wIwqXPHQHTBhXIE8Rqpe_TnoW4E6xOGY1OQYGCuO2icc77wWxqm1Sjr3Tju-3AFrCn7SNbnhWPWyf4teX4BjFpLeqOP5cn25PRU2frK-Mh7V7ECULDGFpAaCo6mXgr_HhmXXqiOJG_yBMoksejpCXDggHhcrQeyDJKsC8sNklrD2mxPy0iah=s599" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="592" data-original-width="599" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgpgb6_wIwqXPHQHTBhXIE8Rqpe_TnoW4E6xOGY1OQYGCuO2icc77wWxqm1Sjr3Tju-3AFrCn7SNbnhWPWyf4teX4BjFpLeqOP5cn25PRU2frK-Mh7V7ECULDGFpAaCo6mXgr_HhmXXqiOJG_yBMoksejpCXDggHhcrQeyDJKsC8sNklrD2mxPy0iah=s320" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />Earth, Wind & Fire</b> are soul legends to this day, and rightly so. Yet it may seem strange that they appeared at one of the biggest rock festival events of all time, seventh on the bill below loud, long-haired bands like ELP, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. There are two main point to reflect upon.<p></p><p>Firstly, while Earth, Wind & Fire was already extremely popular, their sound in 1974 was pretty different than when they would become absolutely huge a few years later. Founder Maurice White had been a jazz and studio drummer in the 1960s, playing with the Ramsey Lewis Trio, among others. When he founded Earth, Wind & Fire, while there was a healthy serving of soul and dance music, there was a lot of jazz and funk, too, with a nice overlay of African sounds ("World Music" wasn't a thing yet). EWF was a large ensemble, and they played a wide variety of music in concert, with a lot of soloing. Their current album was <i>Open Our Eyes</i>, their fifth album and third on Columbia. It went to #1 on the Soul charts and #15 on the Billboard pop charts. They often performed on tour with white rock bands. As a teenager, I would have compared them to War, if somewhat more uptempo. I saw them (in October 1973) opening for Rod Stewart & The Faces, so this rock festival appearance was within their regular universe.</p><p>Secondly, it's important to remember that the goal of the Cal Jam booking was to make sure that every carload of friends from a High School had a band that they liked. Even if long-haired boys were the primary market, hopping into their parents' station wagons to catch Purple or Ozzy, lots of other tastes were accounted for. The Eagles were catchy, Seals & Crofts were thoughtful, and Earth, Wind & Fire was funky. Plenty of white teenagers liked EWF, or any popular soul band, so their booking wasn't some attempt to attract an African-American crowd. The idea was that if your girlfriend thought ELP was pretentious and boring--as, I assure you, many a 1974 girlfriend did--they could look forward to funking out with EWF instead. </p><p><b>Rare Earth</b> had the odd distinction of being the first all-white band to have a hit on Motown Records. Rare Earth were a self-contained band from Detroit, who had been signed to Motown's fledgling rock label, also called Rare Earth (after the band). Rare Earth were great singers, and in 1969 they had a huge, memorable hit with "Get Ready," which would reach #4. In 1970, they would have another big hit with "Celebrate" which reached #7.</p><p>By 1974, Rare Earth had released six albums. There most recent album had been <i>Ma</i>, released on Motown back in April 1973. Produced by Norman Whitfield, it was apparently pretty good, but it didn't sell. So by the time of Cal Jam, everybody would have recognized Rare Earth and their big hits, but they wouldn't have been a big attraction. Similar to Earth, Wind & Fire, however, they would have been generally popular without being identical to some of the other bands on the bill. <br /></p><p>Since the entire event would be broadcast later on ABC-TV, it's not surprising that a popular former LA DJ with a national profile was hired to be the MC. It is startling to realize, at this distant remove, that the DJ was Don Imus. Imus had practically invented the "Shock Jock" genre in Southern California, and by 1974 was the morning Drive Time dj on WABC 660 AM in New York City. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjXpZb67A0-GsWKPymtN2AwH9-OYkY8PBQ6tB5YFVmm_NqoqVvKHy7qIKowzo0JboRkkRSMb5QcOFSJmEJuNBJ1lXhx_q-D3q1slqM9O39y0I6O5dr0udbrSs6x9F9ZEqFGU__TJ2kPYMaKjWq1c3xLKYl2bkOFG2KiwM02araj3xHOEYHKed6Eo2cE=s480" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjXpZb67A0-GsWKPymtN2AwH9-OYkY8PBQ6tB5YFVmm_NqoqVvKHy7qIKowzo0JboRkkRSMb5QcOFSJmEJuNBJ1lXhx_q-D3q1slqM9O39y0I6O5dr0udbrSs6x9F9ZEqFGU__TJ2kPYMaKjWq1c3xLKYl2bkOFG2KiwM02araj3xHOEYHKed6Eo2cE=s320" width="320" /></a></div><i><b>Come The Day</b></i><br />Remember the goal. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Jam">Have an all-day rock festival with somewhat broad appeal, in order to draw 15-25 year olds from all over Southern California</a>. More importantly, the goal was to ensure that admission was controlled, so that each member of the hopefully vast crowd would have to have paid for a ticket to get in, and that the event was orderly and under control. Ontario Motor Speedway was all but custom designed to meet each of these goals. <br /><p>It almost worked.</p><p>Before we address the concert itself, we have to address the Achilles Heel of every major rock festival, which is ticket sales, parking and crowd control prior to the concert, particularly the day before. Ontario Motor Speedway may as well have been ideal, but it was still madness. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/californiajamfanclub/ ">The best description of the run-up to the show comes from the Facebook Cal Jam Fansite</a>. It has lots of great posts and links, and if you've read this far I highly recommend clicking on it (you can access most of it without FB membership). For the purposes of this blog post, I have excerpted some highlights from the FB page Admin. I have left some entertaining details out, since I am focused on parking and crowd control. The description is from Allen Pamplin, then a 15-year old High School student in Northridge, CA.</p><p>Read it and smile, or weep--they don't allow this anymore, nor probably should they. <a href="https://youtu.be/KJ-CMPqvzQU">You should probably put on "Burn" (the live version) and crank it up high while you read</a> (emphasis mine):<br /></p><p></p><blockquote><p><i>Hello, my name is allen pamplin,<br />The California Jam - on April 6th, 1974, was a large concert event held at the Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario California. It was my first professional rock and roll concert I had ever been to. I was 15 years old at this time, in ninth grade going to Nobel Junior High in Northridge California. Prior to the concert, I didn't know anything about the event, or even knew I was going until 3:00 pm Friday April 5th, 1974. That's about 19 hours before the concert started. I don't remember why I didn't know anything about the concert. I found out later that all my friends knew about the event before it took place...<br /><br />I don't remember much about the drive. We drove to Ontario from San Fernando Valley in separate vehicles. My brother Karey and I drove in a Ford Country Squire, and Bill and Dave in a Van. I'm amazed we managed to stay together during the drive. We arrived at the speedway parking-lot (west end) at about 11:00 pm. I don't remember it being that difficult to park, plenty of body traffic here and there at the time. Later I understand it was impossible to park in either speedway lots because of inadequate parking-personnel. But at 11:00 pm you could still get a parking spot, even though there were thousands of cars and bodies already there. I would estimate about a quarter of the entire audience was there in the speedway parking-lots the night before. I wouldn't say we were exactly an audience at that point. We appeared to be more like a mob of lost travelers that migrated to this remote party in the middle of nowhere.<br /></i></p><p><i>The parking-lot was indeed a scene to behold, people everywhere. I've been to a lot of the San Fernando Valley parties in those days, but nothing quite compared to this. I'm in the West end parking-lot, and everything I'm seeing here is also going on at the East end of the speedway just one mile down the road on the opposite side of the speedway. <b>Essentially, each lot is about 175 acres of dirt-grass field with a potential of about 25,000 cars</b>. I started to walk around the parking lot and check the place out. It was a little overwhelming walking between poorly lit rows of cars, along with people in the thousands. It looked more like field-party with drugs everywhere. You could buy drugs from almost anyone there, and use it right out in the open. I can see drug exchanges going on all over the parking-lot with people partying out of cars, trucks and in backs of vans. Some vehicles had "drugs for sale" signs posted on their vehicles. Wow, just imagine the biggest street party that you have ever been to in the 70's, and multiply that by 1000. No kidding, at least a thousand. <br /></i></p><p><i>When I reached the first bon fire... and I'm not talking about some small campfire. When I say bon fire, I mean BON FIRE. I mean this particular bon fire had at least a couple of trees in it. I became more relaxed when I joined the first circle of fifty or so people around the fire waiting for the speedway to open. Seemed like a bunch of friendly mellow people, excited and wanting to have a good time...<br />The gates opened around 1:00 am, and everyone started migrating toward the entrance. Hell, who knew were that was? It was dark and all you did was be a cow and follow the person in front of you; and god only knows what state-of-mind they're in. <b>Somehow we were in a tunnel and into the infield of the speedway. There was no line, a guy looked at my ticket, tore it, and in I go, into this well-lit big open infield.</b></i></p><p><i>From far away I could see the rainbow on the stage [the stage was bracketed by a neon-lighted rainbow]. That was the first thing I remember focusing on as I walked across the vast open field. I was amazed, in a dream-like state in all that space. My brother kept saying, "Come on, we got to catch up with those guys!"... <br /></i></p><p><i>We finally caught up with them behind the mixing tower that is slightly left of the stage. Now the decision from here is to go right or left of the tower. We went left, and around in front of the mixing tower, and up next to the fence at the press enclosure. The fence had brown canvas tied to it that obscured some of the view near the stage. We stood and looked around and said, "Yeah, this looks good", and sat down. <b>It's now about 2:30 am</b> with the stage in front, the camera crane to the right, and the mixing tower behind us with a shitload of people all around relaxing, partying and waiting for the show to begin. <b>This is where I held my ground for the entire concert,</b> twenty-one hours before my next piss break. </i></p></blockquote><p></p><p><a href="https://www.dailybulletin.com/2014/04/04/california-jam-festival-rocked-ontario-in-1974/">Ace San Bernardino reporter David Allen looked back on the Cal Jam festival in a 2014 article in the <i>Daily Sun</i>, with the benefit of hindsight (his whole article is worth reading), but he highlighted some of the practical difficulties with such a giant crowd.</a><br /></p><p></p><blockquote><p><i>Parking was nightmarish for many. The 42,000-car lot filled up and traffic backed up for 13 miles at times on both the 10 and 60 freeways.<br /><br />The CHP closed the off-ramps nearest the speedway and directed motorists to surface streets. Frustrated fans began parking in surrounding vineyards and vacant land. Some abandoned their cars three- and four-deep along the 10 Freeway’s shoulders and walked as far as four miles, according to contemporary accounts.<br /><br />Afterward, many returned to their vehicles to find they’d been either ticketed or towed. Bummer.</i></p><p><i>Even from a vantage point 40 feet above the stage, the sea of humanity stretched as far as the eye could see,” David Shaw wrote in the Los Angeles Times. “With temperatures hovering near 85, bikinis, shorts and bare chests were plen</i>tiful, <i>and the scene at times looked more like a Sunday afternoon at the beach than a rock festival.”</i><br /><i><br />Bands stayed at a Holiday Inn whose marquee sign read “Welcome Western States Police Officers Assn.” to scare off fans. Band members were transported to the concert by helicopter.<br /><br />Two stages were mounted on a temporary railroad track. When one stage was in use, the other was being prepped for the next band, ensuring no downtime between acts. The setup was so efficient, the first act went on 15 minutes early. </i></p></blockquote><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjcaruXypRaW_0T_Mp0TnDn2j6DBuA55hDjmvHmvRXgjU98FT4NffS9e0hKEXBYFMw8ESAjXoZheLG-jV9L9zMepYO5tPSqhUPY_rcELv4QdOe_SsDHdtWRcgvlalEw2dEXgIXa2-5JPysrmNEzSE6Eqxr43bogLH_UvWHbT-rJsMGnzmcbUYEnUjhb=s1200" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="784" data-original-width="1200" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjcaruXypRaW_0T_Mp0TnDn2j6DBuA55hDjmvHmvRXgjU98FT4NffS9e0hKEXBYFMw8ESAjXoZheLG-jV9L9zMepYO5tPSqhUPY_rcELv4QdOe_SsDHdtWRcgvlalEw2dEXgIXa2-5JPysrmNEzSE6Eqxr43bogLH_UvWHbT-rJsMGnzmcbUYEnUjhb=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Deep Purple on stage at Cal Jam, Ontario Motor Speedway, April 6, 1974 as the sun sets behind the rainbow stage. David Coverdale-vocals, with (l-r) Jon Lord, Glenn Hughes, Ian Paice and Ritchie Blackmore.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b><b><br />Live On Stage</b><br />Since highlights from every set were broadcast on <i>ABC In Concert</i> over the next few months, we have an excellent idea of what each band sounded like (see the <i>In Concert </i>episode list below). Still, the California Jam was different than almost every rock festival that came before it. For one thing, the show actually ran according to schedule, probably thanks to the double stage and the railroad tracks. All the lessons learned from previous mega-shows had been assimilated, and bands got on and off the stage in timely fashion. The weather co-operated, with a perfect 85 degree day and only mild smog. <br /><p>There was an unexpected subplot to the timely show. Deep Purple, one of the principal attractions, had it in their contract that they would appear at twilight, just as the sun was going down. Purple was up next-to-last, with Emerson, Lake & Palmer set to close the show. Deep Purple was nominally scheduled for something like 5:00pm, with the assumption that the show would be running behind anyway. When the show actually ran on time, Deep Purple refused to come on stage since it was not twilight. They had a signed contract, after all. Still, with 200,000 or more fans waiting in the hot sun, it wasn't a great moment for a delay. At other festivals, there might have been trouble, but not in Ontario. No major trouble ensued--fortunately--and Deep Purple kicked it off when the sun went down (on the <i>ABC In Concert</i> segment, you can hear Purple asking "where's the sunset?" only to see that it's behind them). <br /></p><p>Deep Purple's delay, however. meant that ELP went on late as well, and the show ran somewhat later than had been originally intended. Fellow organists Jon Lord and Keith Emerson, old pals from tiny clubs on the English R&B circuit in the mid-60s, found their bands at odds over a contractual disagreement at a gigantic racetrack with more people than had seen either band at every concert in the 60s combined. </p><b><i>How Many People Were There, And How Many Paid?</i></b><br />According to <i>Circus</i> Magazine, there was a paid attendance of 168,000, at $10.00. I assume this information came from <i>Pollstar</i>, or another industry magazine. This would make California Jam the rock concert with the largest paid attendance in history up until this time, as Watkins Glen apparently only had 150,000. Casual press accounts suggest that over 200,00 were attended, while <i>ABC In Concert</i> said that 300,000 were there. Obviously, no one knows. Many people must have gotten it without a ticket, but was it 25,000 extra or 100,000? Review the crowd shots and decide for yourself. I have no idea how many people came late or left early. Allen Pamplin (from the FB fansite) was there from 2:30am until nearly midnight, as many must have been, but it probably wasn't everyone. <br /><p>Still, the gate was at least $1.68 million, serious money for 1974. <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/vintagerocktv/usa/abc-in-concert"><i>ABC In Concert</i> was directly or indirectly providing financial support for the show, whether up front or after the fact</a>. ABC would have either helped with production costs in return for airing the show, or else paid a fee once the episodes were aired. Either way, money would have gone to the promoters. No one died. There wasn't a riot. It was a sunny day. By and large, many of the fans had the time of their lives. Why not do it again, and soon?<br /></p><p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXIjEWOvT3Y1ILfKvS8z7SVCN3yIbVTwhpYuEovIKHGY1mttpoTNTvqyRS7gLPcRIMlw45rjs0Eu5wOpA0Ma7q1cFi1XZ6hr2a4lm57kYMgHVTvRRVTsqPjud3gVWngBR_ysxG3c8P3bQrxUUkXfgkUd7Z3hzNGKmxNRpjoFgVu_H94bthIExcQ04r=s258" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="258" data-original-width="195" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXIjEWOvT3Y1ILfKvS8z7SVCN3yIbVTwhpYuEovIKHGY1mttpoTNTvqyRS7gLPcRIMlw45rjs0Eu5wOpA0Ma7q1cFi1XZ6hr2a4lm57kYMgHVTvRRVTsqPjud3gVWngBR_ysxG3c8P3bQrxUUkXfgkUd7Z3hzNGKmxNRpjoFgVu_H94bthIExcQ04r" width="195" /></a></div><p><b>August 3, 1974 Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, CA: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young/Beach Boys/Joe Walsh/Jesse Colin Young/The Band </b><i>Shelly Finkel and Jim Koplik in Association with Bill Graham Presents "Summer Jam West" (Saturday) <b>canceled</b></i><br />There were two big stadium-level acts touring in the Summer of '74. One was the Allman Brothers, and the other was the reunited Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Both of them were booked to headline different racetrack shows in August, but only one of the shows actually happened. </p><p>Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young had stopped recording and performing in the middle of 1970, at the height of their popularity. They spent the next few years releasing individual solo albums with a fair amount of success, and making surprise guest appearances at each other's concerts. Ultimately, all four of the principals played a sloppy but well-received acoustic set at a Stephen Stills' Manassas concert in San Francisco (October 4, 1973 at Winterland), and the path seemed clear for a much-anticipated reunion. Nothing came easy for them, and no album was completed at the time. Nonetheless, CSNY did get together for a national tour, a massive one, headlining huge outdoor facilities, mostly football stadiums. In Southern California, however, they were booked at Ontario Motor Speedway. CSNY could probably draw an infinite number of ticket buyers, and Ontario seemed a plausible venue. </p><p>The show was promoted by Shelly Finkel and Jim Koplik in Association with Bill Graham Presents. Bill Graham was organizing the entire CSNY tour. Finkel and Koplik were based in New England, and had promoted the Summer Jam at Watkins Glen where 600,000 had come to see the Allman Brothers, the Grateful Dead and The Band. Graham had provided a sound system at the Glen, so although the promoters were fundamentally rivals this event was big enough to share the booking. A lot of money was at risk for such a huge event, a huge outlay that could lead to a huge win, so its not surprising that the risk and opportunity was shared. <br /></p><p></p><p>Graham, Finkel and Koplik were all invading the territory of other Southern California promoters. Since Ontario Motor Speedway had rarely been used as a concert venue--only two concerts had actually been produced there--no other promoter had any exclusive contract to it. This had clearly been the strategy Graham had been planning on when he had attempted to book the Allmans and the Dead in May '73, but ticket sales (most likely) thwarted him. Here was trying again with an even bigger act, and the same team that had pulled off the Dead and the Allmans at the Glen. </p><p>Supporting CSNY was The Band, who had just completed their own legendary tour with Bob Dylan earlier in the year, along with the Beach Boys, Joe Walsh and Jesse Colin Young. Although Walsh could rock a little bit, at this time he was seen as more of a mellow Colorado dude than the hard-charging leader of the ear-splitting James Gang. The entire booking was directed towards a mellower crowd, very far from the audience of rowdy boys who had wanted to rock out to ELP, Deep Purple and Sabbath. </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiWZ2D5sbydl-71BMLyzJBEV3sw027HAB0tfWzEQFyu1BdYuFaQ1n-g_kmIUu-77ECTgdaT4HqIEZfCq9rUg5ujKUv9IzZKXOVwVZ7M_NLsSeEAxiLkyXm8Ts6V96n7NpK1EfNbQyqNifS3fGx7jD3X3Md7ntdiZ_xxSGqL7IefhZe5YjsELP4z1PHK=s800" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="581" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiWZ2D5sbydl-71BMLyzJBEV3sw027HAB0tfWzEQFyu1BdYuFaQ1n-g_kmIUu-77ECTgdaT4HqIEZfCq9rUg5ujKUv9IzZKXOVwVZ7M_NLsSeEAxiLkyXm8Ts6V96n7NpK1EfNbQyqNifS3fGx7jD3X3Md7ntdiZ_xxSGqL7IefhZe5YjsELP4z1PHK=s320" width="232" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i><a href="http://www.insidesocal.com/davidallen/2014/04/page/3/">Thanks to ace reporter David Allen of the San Bernardino Sun</a>, we know that Richard Nunez of Pomona, CA not only has his ticket to CSNY at Ontario Motor Speedway for August 3, 1974, he's got the receipt</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The all-day Saturday event wasn't just a rumor, as tickets actually went
on sale. The cost was $12.50 per, a 25% raise over the Cal Jam charge. <a href="http://www.insidesocal.com/davidallen/2014/04/page/3/">San Bernardino <i>Sun</i> reporter David Allen even found someone who still has a ticket</a> (note the mere 75-cent service charge--good times!). But the show was canceled. CSNY played a number of stadium dates around the country, but they did not play the Los Angeles area. My suspicion--unprovable--is that the somewhat mellower, older crowd (older as in "mid-20s") had heard about the madhouse at Cal Jam and thought "that's not for me." The corollary to this assertion was "my girlfriend would never put up with it." This was no small thing. Just about every rock fan in Southern California must have known someone who attended Cal Jam, and there didn't seem to be a desire to repeat it. So "Summer Jam West" never happened. <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjje3JpGp8X3GqxZZ21MS27CCT32D-xZ-PUveH1FaNnw6R1YGvLkzJ4n-obw32C137G0DxIHbOE8OcecAUhEG7phbAESDu5gZ9d3mwxdCWm69TgGEfP1csIlQy7rLOoqQNuLqp4-IlAPRIM-41S3f5YVD9Q4olF4teIIS4Gn9pFuGozlZVptsemmORO=s733" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="507" data-original-width="733" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjje3JpGp8X3GqxZZ21MS27CCT32D-xZ-PUveH1FaNnw6R1YGvLkzJ4n-obw32C137G0DxIHbOE8OcecAUhEG7phbAESDu5gZ9d3mwxdCWm69TgGEfP1csIlQy7rLOoqQNuLqp4-IlAPRIM-41S3f5YVD9Q4olF4teIIS4Gn9pFuGozlZVptsemmORO=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>August 10 1974 Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, NC: Allman Brothers Band/Emerson, Lake & Palmer/B/Eagles/Foghat/Marshal Tucker Band/Ozark Mountain Daredevils/Grinderswith/PFM </b><i>(Saturday) "August Jam" Kaleidoscope Productions Wolfman Jack MC (Eagles cxld)</i><br />There was a sequel of sorts to Cal Jam, however. The Charlotte Motor Speedway held its only rock concert on August 10, 1974. The Allman Brothers headlined, ELP was there, and the Eagles were booked, although they canceled in the end. In Charlotte, or even in the Greater Southeast, fans would have seen Cal Jam on <i>ABC In Concert</i>, but most kids wouldn't have known anyone who went. In any case, with the Allmans and ELP, the crowd was much more aimed at rowdy long-haired boys, rather than the mellower fans of CSNY and The Beach Boys booked for Ontario. The August Jam happened, and something like 200,000 fans showed up. Many of them paid. Charlotte Motor Speedway is still open, and still thriving but has never held a rock concert again. <br /><p></p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi5eYdN4RukDeldtWzK82PBez0oxVENYEc0NuRQfkMAQqFO0IqNwj3x4FhdxdGneBpAwAbNhCCMFSFqoPoAR3eJ8LCk6JfClN3wdvZw_wkrYgVbG396yp6qFrOaYTMb0tA08Orevikw9V6xeYGoOvcVNDpUbgVrsrbANqFfDxDRsyXbEEoFV8CEvfxe=s500" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="337" data-original-width="500" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi5eYdN4RukDeldtWzK82PBez0oxVENYEc0NuRQfkMAQqFO0IqNwj3x4FhdxdGneBpAwAbNhCCMFSFqoPoAR3eJ8LCk6JfClN3wdvZw_wkrYgVbG396yp6qFrOaYTMb0tA08Orevikw9V6xeYGoOvcVNDpUbgVrsrbANqFfDxDRsyXbEEoFV8CEvfxe=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A crowd shot from the grandstands at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the August Jam (August 10, 1974)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>The Charlotte Motor Speedway had opened in 1962, and had been fairly successful from a racing perspective, despite many financial difficulties. The Speedway was in a suburb (Concord, NC) about 25 miles East of downtown Charlotte. The biggest annual event was the NASCAR World 600, which had drawn 90,000 fans the year before. The August Jam drew at least twice that, with attendance of at least 200,000. The fence got rushed by rock fans, however, and probably half of the fans got in for free. <br /><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhRgNo1UbS-jamstxTxjU2sdAHkPtJ0kiYzwr1LLyjQCjooKjtacvyD5i0RQarDQU4QUNInQWqGoWaAZaLCYU-m79C-0OF6GIIb13ri1irm_EwikVzQOclg3lccnrds2n-DkKOELQ0XhyxxCxFl9p7DlpZZIoBt1kZzkkmo4qEV2nRBATD4YAa8m3da=s1070" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1070" data-original-width="1026" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhRgNo1UbS-jamstxTxjU2sdAHkPtJ0kiYzwr1LLyjQCjooKjtacvyD5i0RQarDQU4QUNInQWqGoWaAZaLCYU-m79C-0OF6GIIb13ri1irm_EwikVzQOclg3lccnrds2n-DkKOELQ0XhyxxCxFl9p7DlpZZIoBt1kZzkkmo4qEV2nRBATD4YAa8m3da=s320" width="307" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Charlotte Observer (Monday August 12, 1974) focused on the debris-strewn infield of the Charlotte Motor Speedway after the Saturday (August 10) August Jam concert headlined by the Allman Brothers</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Jam">The August Jam had all the typical problems of rock festivals in some farmer's fields: huge traffic jams, lack of crowd control, too many gatechrashers</a>. The coverage in the Charlotte <i>Observer</i> treated it like the aftermath of a natural disaster, like a hurricane. There have been no more rock concerts at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Now, part of that was a change of track ownership in January 1976 (Bruton Smith regained control and put Humpy Wheeler in charge, for those who know their NASCAR), and there was a renewed interest in racing. Still, there was no appetite for any kind of big outdoor rock event. The Allman Brothers Band were in their prime of popularity, and a huge draw in the Southeast, and it seems to have created an event that was too big to risk repeating. In that respect, it was the NASCAR replay of Watkins Glen. <br /></p><i><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEioCl1ediDQtfr1Z7xBVPn1LLZ0Ob6qMAVK16LklOFl0kmyuXADFgvR50NTrIs3fTKmaLsPuSIe21HpoWBG6WjK1id3Jny7MkbBoNbVUwI8Z-70MGQkIbQS_PAcYdTx93MLp5ny4cyOJK6tL91CDvRjbESbifRorelvuTUTu_JYeTRpAIfGs3pPoh1f=s267" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="189" data-original-width="267" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEioCl1ediDQtfr1Z7xBVPn1LLZ0Ob6qMAVK16LklOFl0kmyuXADFgvR50NTrIs3fTKmaLsPuSIe21HpoWBG6WjK1id3Jny7MkbBoNbVUwI8Z-70MGQkIbQS_PAcYdTx93MLp5ny4cyOJK6tL91CDvRjbESbifRorelvuTUTu_JYeTRpAIfGs3pPoh1f" width="267" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Anaheim Stadium, ca. 1973</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Anaheim Stadium, 2000 Gene Autry Way, Anaheim, CA</b></i><br />Anaheim Stadium, home of the California Angels, had been built in 1967. It was essentially across the street from Disneyland. At first, they had resisted concerts, not least because the rock market wasn't big enough to fill a stadium. The Disney Company, in any case, would not have wanted a horde of teenagers causing a traffic jam that created a Disneyland access problem. By 1975, this had changed. Stadium concerts were common throughout the country, and Southern California wasn't going to be left behind. Anaheim Stadium was a city-owned facility, so they weren't going to pass up significant paydays that huge rock concerts would generate.<br /><p>Initially, Anaheim Stadium held some concerts with less hard rocking bookings--the Beach Boys and Chicago on May 23, 1975, and The Eagles, Jackson Browne and Linda Ronstadt on September 28, 1975. By 1976, Anaheim Stadium was booking The Who (March 21), Yes and Peter Frampton (July 6, 1976) and then a slew of hard rock headliners for the balance of the summer (ZZ Top, the Winter brothers, and so on). With Anaheim Stadium as a willing home for stadium tours, there wasn't an incentive to make a stab at having a rock concert at Ontario Speedway again, however big it had been.<br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHExyLjfOskHFRYh4jY6JpCFctWpVWDq2mGw8jDrby3dsf4qeC-UnEI2lcjLXAd8-kwKyL4WhChVEuIbZa588Jn05Vwg1zasVRBtBs9qQHlfunuzZurq9hWVbHlrv3cYgwO97_zoTdmRVFYu6X5kQukq2ZW5Vv6DlWr6olPSUesuJ6pIPS66fUE8qR=s654" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="654" data-original-width="531" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHExyLjfOskHFRYh4jY6JpCFctWpVWDq2mGw8jDrby3dsf4qeC-UnEI2lcjLXAd8-kwKyL4WhChVEuIbZa588Jn05Vwg1zasVRBtBs9qQHlfunuzZurq9hWVbHlrv3cYgwO97_zoTdmRVFYu6X5kQukq2ZW5Vv6DlWr6olPSUesuJ6pIPS66fUE8qR=s320" width="260" /></a></div><b>March 18, 1978 Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, CA: Aerosmith/Foreigner/Heart/Dave Mason/Ted Nugent/Santana/Bob Welch/Jean-Michel Jarre/Rubicon/Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush </b><i>(Saturday) California Jam II Wolf & Rissmiller Presents</i><br />Nonetheless, there's no way the venue that held the highest paid attendance rock concert ever could not have an encore. On March 18, 1978, Ontario Motor Speedway hosted "California Jam II." Guess what? Cal Jam 2 had even bigger paid attendance than the first Cal Jam. I don't think it was coincidental that it was a full four years between Ontario Motor Speedway events. After 1974, the freshman in every high school and college would still have been in school the next few years, telling everyone how cool Cal Jam had been, and how they had gotten sunburned and lost the car and couldn't see the bands, and all the other things that happened at every rock festival ever. By 1978, however, those underclassmen had moved on, and so the lure of Cal Jam II would have had fewer seniors (in college or High School) offering cautionary tales. <p></p><p>Cal Jam 2 was promoted by perhaps the largest Southern California concert promoter at the time, Wolf & Rismiller Presents. Jim Rismiller and Stephen Wolf had been promotional partners since the 60s, eventually selling their company to Filmways, although they continued to run it. <a href="https://www.pollstar.com/article/southern-california-promoter-jim-rissmiller-dies-137696 ">Sadly, Stephen Wolf had been killed in a home burglary in 1977, but Rissmiller kept the business thriving for many years, keeping his old friend's name on the company</a>. </p><p>The show appeared to have a similar funding structure to Cal Jam, in that it was backed by TV and Record Company money. The entire concert was filmed for an ABC Television special, and Columbia Records released a double-lp of Cal Jam 2 highlights. Almost all of the acts were on Columbia. The only two that were not on Columbia--Foreigner and Bob Welch--were not on the double album. The three smaller acts who were not on the poster (Jean-Michel Jarre, Rubicon and Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush) were all Columbia acts, and they all had tracks on the double-lp. </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjofH67f6EBkEG9uF711fsqRzLq2cQlt9KfrNvWFqLqG0lWj5SEiPSbD0p3oCz0ZMo3TTAK_PLXFmJz_pgBC1lYzw9npNFo_mhAX1LE6JU0igRb9ejV21MxwwBw9F4KQRUenKvtHsS5U9pSoI0QQNiK625bYma2N61IB1FmmBaXJhXSzz4q8cO2fLJX=s640" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="507" data-original-width="640" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjofH67f6EBkEG9uF711fsqRzLq2cQlt9KfrNvWFqLqG0lWj5SEiPSbD0p3oCz0ZMo3TTAK_PLXFmJz_pgBC1lYzw9npNFo_mhAX1LE6JU0igRb9ejV21MxwwBw9F4KQRUenKvtHsS5U9pSoI0QQNiK625bYma2N61IB1FmmBaXJhXSzz4q8cO2fLJX=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Stevie Nicks joined Bob Welch on stage at Cal Jam 2 (Ontario Motor Speedway March 18, 1978)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The two non-Columbia acts were critical to the concert. Foreigner (on Atlantic) had released their debut album the previous year, and had scored with two massive singles "Feels Like The First Time" (which would reach #4 on <i>Billboard</i>) and then "Cold As Ice" (which was released in July '77). Guitarist Bob Welch had left Fleetwood Mac in 1974, right before Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined to make the band huge. Yet his September 1977 Capitol album <i>French Kiss </i>included Buckingham, Christine McVie and Mick Fleetwood and went double platinum (helped by his remake of his old Mac tune "Sentimental Lady"). At Cal Jam 2, Welch was joined on stage by Stevie Nicks, so he bought a lot of star power to the event. <p></p><p>Cal Jam 2 went off reasonably well. Supposedly there were as many as 300,000 in attendance. How many paid? I have read different numbers. At least, it seems there were more paid than at the first one. Since tickets were $12.50 in advance ($17.00 at the door), the total gate would have been massive. If 200,000 tickets had been sold, than the gate was $2.5million, and that's not counting revenue from the TV special. Could there have been a Cal Jam 3? Maybe. But only if there was an Ontario Motor Speedway.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjVGYWWoP5cRDUJTPzHQRLtRQ1kymYKURoBUPbB6hSUg0DKN_VAMJMJsy-MQOj0Ya_n-_p22GixGOsVu96Yw3y70GpXDNhaCSS0FK2Eu7w_jK-_mcPE2xzfQHRD8wYIhN8TrKaetary6C9r6v9DsLES2NjknK-_7eSeDPEqQk58R6_t804l59Y06LnW=s1600" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1162" data-original-width="1600" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjVGYWWoP5cRDUJTPzHQRLtRQ1kymYKURoBUPbB6hSUg0DKN_VAMJMJsy-MQOj0Ya_n-_p22GixGOsVu96Yw3y70GpXDNhaCSS0FK2Eu7w_jK-_mcPE2xzfQHRD8wYIhN8TrKaetary6C9r6v9DsLES2NjknK-_7eSeDPEqQk58R6_t804l59Y06LnW=s320" width="320" /></a></div><p><i><b>Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario, CA: August 1970-December 1980</b></i><br />The Ontario Motor Speedway had been imaginatively conceived, a custom-designed motor sports facility decades ahead of its time. The racing was great throughout the 1970s. Los Angeles is Los Angeles, however, and the track never drew the crowds it had expected. In the later 1970s, auto racing's popularity had flattened somewhat, and that didn't help either. Ontario's appeal had been that it was so near to greater Los Angeles, but that it was also its downfall. The track was losing money, or perhaps barely breaking even. LA was expanding, however, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario_Motor_Speedway">so the land underneath the racetrack was more valuable than the facility itself: </a><br /></p><p></p><blockquote>By
1980, the Ontario Motor Speedway bonds were selling at approximately
$0.30 on the dollar. Generally unknown and unrealized by the
bond-holding public, the 800 acres (3.2 km2) of land originally
purchased at an average price of $7,500 per acre, had now risen to a
value of $150,000 per acre. Chevron Land Company, a division of Chevron
Corporation recognized the opportunity to acquire the bonds and
effectively foreclosed on the real estate. For approximately $10
million, Chevron acquired land which had a commercial real estate
development value of $120 million, without regard to the historic
significance or future potential of the speedway. </blockquote><p></p><p>After just a decade, Ontario Motor Speedway closed in December, 1980. The racing was still great--at the final California 500 Indy Car race (August 31 '80), after 200 laps and 500 miles of racing, Bobby Unser (in a Penske PC9) only beat out Johnny Rutherford (Chapparal 2K) by just 8 seconds. In the final Los Angeles <i>Times</i> 500 at the Speedway (Nov 15 '80), Benny Parsons had just edged out Neil Bonnet, Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison and Dale Earnhardt, all of whom were on the same lap. The great racing didn't matter--Ontario Motor Speedway was sold to developers and the track was closed. It was a sad moment in Southern California motor sport history, but the rock concert potential of the Speedway disappeared as well. <br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHxp47cFBCPA6GAeLkkT1c9Qa5ZxTf720k0CZRiKERt1AiwBPNOuxF3qMERQso6wCFQ4rTmPq_vGLJO3eDUkQrtnQ1a9IlP4W4bQnhEhu7SLuQNFOpMRawrF5Zco8_svxp1kBWgRJkR3HPGh5CpGpcKhqt4QEmDe-GkINIExN67tzpOa3RERuvMESI=s300" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHxp47cFBCPA6GAeLkkT1c9Qa5ZxTf720k0CZRiKERt1AiwBPNOuxF3qMERQso6wCFQ4rTmPq_vGLJO3eDUkQrtnQ1a9IlP4W4bQnhEhu7SLuQNFOpMRawrF5Zco8_svxp1kBWgRJkR3HPGh5CpGpcKhqt4QEmDe-GkINIExN67tzpOa3RERuvMESI" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Belgian
LeMans legend Jacky Icyx (4) in an F1 Ferrari 312B coming up to lap AJ
Foyt (10) in an F5000 McLaren M10B-Chevy, during the Ontario Motor
Speedway Questor Gramd Prix on March 28, 1971. This was Foyt's only
participation in an F1 race, even though he drove an F5000 car. <br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b><i>Aftermath</i></b><br />Riverside Raceway, the great road course that had preceded Ontario, was also sold to developers and closed in 1988. Yet, in 1995, ground had been broken for a new speedway in Fontana built on the OMS model. The California Speedway--today Auto Club Speedway--opened for racing in 1997. The track is just a few miles from the site of the Ontario Motor Speedway. Although owned and operated by NASCAR, Auto Club Speedway has been a hugely successful track, with all kinds of racing. No rock concerts, though. </p><p><a href="https://www.dailybulletin.com/2014/04/04/california-jam-festival-rocked-ontario-in-1974/">David Allen (of the <i>Press-Bulletin</i>, above) described the status of California Jam and Ontario Motor Speedway in the memories of Inland Empire rock fans, as it was recalled in 2014</a>:</p><p></p><blockquote><i>Ontario
now has Citizens Business Bank Arena, a concert and sports venue on a
portion of the old speedway property. Two walls of the concourse are
devoted to California Jam photos and text, including a 2002 article by
yours truly [David Allen] blown up to cover a wall.<br /><br />“My husband hitched a ride
here for California Jam,” said Sue Oxarart, the arena’s marketing
director. “The crowd was so large, he got up, went to the restroom, came
back and never could find his friends. This was before cellphones. So
you’d just find a new spot and make new friends.”<br /><br />Two of the
eight acts from the 1974 festival, the Eagles and Earth, Wind and Fire,
have performed at the arena, as has Foreigner, one of the 1978 bands.
All three made reference to the festival either onstage or backstage,
Oxarart said.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>A warm, sunny Spring day in Southern California. Twelve hours of music. 168,000-plus paid. The stuff dreams are made of. <b><i><br /></i></b></p><b><i>Appendix 1: <a href="https://www.insidetheie.com/where-was-ontario-motor-speedway">Where Was Ontario Motor Speedway?</a></i></b><br /><blockquote><i>The speedway was bordered on the north by 4th Avenue (then referred to as San Bernardino Avenue), on the south by Interstate 10, the west by Haven Avenue, and the east by Milliken Avenue, which still has the eastward curve needed to make room for turn 1 and turn 2 of the racetrack. Milliken Avenue is one of (maybe the only) street with curves like this in the entire city. </i></blockquote><blockquote><i>Contrary to those news reports about the Ontario Mills Mall being built inside the old racetrack, this is not the case. Ontario Mills Mall lies across the street, due-east of what was the racetrack, on the east side of Milliken Avenue. When the Speedway was still in existence, the future home of Ontario Mills Mall was either empty fields, or parking areas, depending on the year. </i></blockquote><blockquote><i>Even though virtually nothing remains of the race track, other than some of the raised-berms that made turn number 3 at the corner of 4th and Haven Avenues, The City Of Ontario has retained some of the history and heritage of the racetrack by building Ontario Motor Speedway Park a few blocks west of the racetrack site and by using auto racing inspired street names in and around the old speedway. Let’s give Ontario some credit for these street names! (Jaguar Way, Corvette Dr, etc)<span> </span></i></blockquote><span></span><p><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ontario,+CA/@34.075839,-117.573956,439m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x80c334dbeadd627b:0x703e35af9583190!8m2!3d34.0633443!4d-117.6508876?hl=en">The telltale remnants of turn 3 can be viewed here.</a><br /></p><a href="https://sites.google.com/site/vintagerocktv/usa/abc-in-concert"><i><b>Appendix 2: California Jam on ABC In Concert </b></i></a><br /><b><i>Show 37: May 10, 1974 [California Jam part 1]</i></b><br /><blockquote>Emerson Lake and Palmer - Pictures at an Exhibition<br />Deep Purple - Space Truckin'<br />Eagles - Take it Easy<br />Seals and Crofts-Summer Breeze<br />Rare Earth - I Just Want to Celebrate<br />Black Oak Arkansas - Hot 'n' Nasty<br />Earth Wind and Fire - Come On Children<br />Black Sabbath - Children Of The Grave</blockquote><p><b><i>Show 38: May 24, 1974 [California Jam part 2]</i></b><br /></p><blockquote>Deep Purple - Smoke On the Water, Burn, Might Just Take Your Life, Mistreated<br />Black Sabbath - War Pigs, Sabra Cadabra<br />Rare Earth - Hey Big Brother</blockquote><b><i>Show 39: June 7, 1974 [California Jam part 3]</i></b><br /><blockquote>Emerson Lake and Palmer - Karn Evil 9 Impressions 1 and 3, Lucky Man, Still You Turn Me On, Take a Pebble<br />Black Oak Arkansas - Hot 'n' Nasty, Dixie, Mutants of the Monster</blockquote><i><b>Show 40: June 21, 1974 [California Jam part 4]</b></i><br /><blockquote>Seals and Crofts - Hummingbird, We May Never Pass This Way Again, Diamond Girl<br />Eagles - Witchy Woman, Peaceful Easy Feeling, Already Gone, On the Border<br />Earth Wind and Fire - Power, Keep Your Head to the Sky </blockquote><p></p><p>Deep Purple's set was officially released in 1996 as <i>California Jamming</i>. The ELP set was released on cd in 2012. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjgrAhCfM2RMnGZMGwu42clldw2gFhVPYec-BYS8n4pq0dO6Q0Yw8f9O4Bspno0gLect_oQDy8rvX7GF9at0QuyEvybr_MGqi6gJfFkeuEBefbQjj1F9pW51hC513SdZybG-uJj9lGHLZqtYCEJZbuvQruM-w4ArqNvZ_uPjBlbmRPJ9rExlYX59Xh8=s600" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="600" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjgrAhCfM2RMnGZMGwu42clldw2gFhVPYec-BYS8n4pq0dO6Q0Yw8f9O4Bspno0gLect_oQDy8rvX7GF9at0QuyEvybr_MGqi6gJfFkeuEBefbQjj1F9pW51hC513SdZybG-uJj9lGHLZqtYCEJZbuvQruM-w4ArqNvZ_uPjBlbmRPJ9rExlYX59Xh8=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Columbia released a double-lp of California Jam 2 later in 1978. Foreigner and Bob Welch (nor Stevie Nicks) were not on the record, since they weren't Columbia acts.<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p></p><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhLRuCBrc4vN16hVj5OlFBVpzC2IqaEhCjv_DcUVJqAWlroZVDBHYoDE_-evWfnJsZ1AmAi0LbzCh-_lB-rWRuqLlmtWKyf1L8ATPs1sFdajCbNjKkUT4Bln9NnzAtcFlidwfV7RfQ8nW8pT5cCFjTMKUy-bbJ0QXVbgOw1OfaCKsOIRKSZi9jc6HI6=s640" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="640" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhLRuCBrc4vN16hVj5OlFBVpzC2IqaEhCjv_DcUVJqAWlroZVDBHYoDE_-evWfnJsZ1AmAi0LbzCh-_lB-rWRuqLlmtWKyf1L8ATPs1sFdajCbNjKkUT4Bln9NnzAtcFlidwfV7RfQ8nW8pT5cCFjTMKUy-bbJ0QXVbgOw1OfaCKsOIRKSZi9jc6HI6=s320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>NASCAR Grid ready for the green flag at Ontario Motor Speedway, probably at the 1971 race (won by AJ Foyt for the Wood Brothers)<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-61012354576448466382022-02-11T11:33:00.001-08:002022-02-11T11:33:52.962-08:00Bay Area Rock Nightclub Survey: San Francisco, May-September 1974 ('74 Nightclubs II)<p> </p><p><i><b></b></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UaLaE0WtyjY/YDQvy4xE75I/AAAAAAAAINk/GYBA59Jg3SUiqnxADTaOmZqjm1b9l3pzwCLcBGAsYHQ/s789/GAMH%2B859%2BO%2BFarrell%2BSF.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="789" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UaLaE0WtyjY/YDQvy4xE75I/AAAAAAAAINk/GYBA59Jg3SUiqnxADTaOmZqjm1b9l3pzwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/GAMH%2B859%2BO%2BFarrell%2BSF.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Great American Music Hall, at 859 O'Farrell Street in San Francisco</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><i><b><br />1974 Bay Area Rock Nightclub Survey-May to September 1974</b></i><br />As
part of my program of unpacking the economics of original rock music in
San Francisco Bay Area nightclubs in the 1970s, I have looked at the
histories of a few different clubs. <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-matrix-3138-fillmore-st-san.html">The Matrix had been San Francisco's
original hippie rock nightclub, and although it was no longer
economically important in 1970, it had still played an important role in
incubating rock bands</a>. In contrast, <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/11/keystone-berkeley-2119-university.html">the Keystone Berkeley had opened in March, 1972, and rapidly became the best paying night club booking the Bay Area</a>. I reviewed the history of performers at both the Matrix and
Keystone Berkeley at great length.<p></p><p>By 1974, the rock
nightclub market in Berkeley and San Francisco had matured somewhat.
There were a number of clubs that booked original music, sharing some
bands but each with their own slice of the market. Rather than repeat
myself too often, I have chosen to look at 1974 by looking at a single
month's booking for a variety of individual clubs. We will learn enough
about the dynamics of each club, while still reviewing just about all
the acts playing the Bay Area. <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/02/bay-area-rock-nightclub-survey-berkeley.html">My previous post looked at early 1974 bookings for three main Berkeley clubs: the Keystone Berkeley, the Long Branch and the Freight And Salvage.</a> For contrast, we also looked at a
month of bookings for Bill Graham Presents, to provide some perspective
on the rock market as a whole. </p><p>For this post, we will focus on the three main San Francisco clubs featuring original rock, along with other kinds of music: The Great American Music Hall, The Boarding House and The Orphanage. To keep the post manageable, I am just looking at a single month's booking for each club. For contrast, I will also look at a month of bookings for the original rock clubs in Sonoma County (Inn Of The Beginning) and Marin County (The Lion's Share). In 1974, there were no original rock clubs in the Peninsula or South Bay. Some bands played the occasional San Jose beer joint, but original rock was confined to San Francisco, Berkeley and the North Bay.</p><i><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vU2qQb_qZN8/YDQwypu3ZXI/AAAAAAAAINs/dl8jyzqUUTw2PEwZCzf35MhM6IsxTk8LwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Winterland%2BPost%2Band%2BSteiner.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1348" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vU2qQb_qZN8/YDQwypu3ZXI/AAAAAAAAINs/dl8jyzqUUTw2PEwZCzf35MhM6IsxTk8LwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Winterland%2BPost%2Band%2BSteiner.jpg" width="320" /></a>A</td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Winterland Ballroom, at Post and Steiner in San Francisco, some time in the late '70s</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Bay Area Live Rock Music Landscape, 1974<br /></b></i><b>Bill Graham Presents</b><i><b><br />Bill Graham Presents: Winterland Ballroom, 2000 Post St, San Francisco, CA<br />Bill Graham Presents: Cow Palace, 2600 Geneva Ave, Daly City, CA<br />Bill Graham Presents: Berkeley Community Theater, 1980 Allston Ave, Berkeley, CA<br />Bill Graham Presents: Paramount Theater, 2025 Broadway, Oakland, CA<br />Bill Graham Presents: Oakland Coliseum Arena, 7000 Coliseum Way, Oakland, CA<br /></b></i>Rock
promoter Bill Graham, already a legend by 1974, dominated the Bay Area
concert business with his firm Bill Graham Presents. Graham booked just
about every major rock act that came through San Francisco, which was
all of them. His principal venue was the Winterland ballroom, an aging
ice rink that had opened in 1928. Graham had converted the building to a
music-only venue in 1971, the same year that he had closed the
Fillmores East and West. Winterland wasn't a nightclub, of course, but
for rock fans, BGP and Winterland defined the rock market, so any rock
nightclub in Berkeley or San Francisco was indirectly competing with
Bill Graham for patronage.<p>For just about anyone under 30--and some
people older than that--rock music represented the most important form
of entertainment, whether live or on record. When major acts came to the
Bay Area, they were major events. Bill Graham Presents always booked
the major acts. When The Who had begun their <i>Quadrophenia</i> tour at
The Cow Palace on November 20, 1973, it had been a major event. When
Bob Dylan and The Band had played two shows at the Oakland Coliseum
Arena on February 11, 1974, it had been an even bigger event. Rock fans
lucky enough to get tickets had circled their calendars weeks in
advance.</p><p>Bill Graham Presents booked a concert at
Winterland just about every weekend. Most bills featured two or three
bands, somewhat like the Fillmore West days. The headline bands weren't
arena-level, but any act headlining the 5400 seat hall had albums that
got heavy airplay on FM radio. Any rock fan considering their weekend
live music options was going to compare a local club offering to whoever
was booked at Winterland. So in that sense, every nightclub was
competing against Bill Graham and Winterland each weekend. For acts whose audience expected their own seat, there was the 3500-seat Berkeley Community Theater. Bigger acts were booked at the Cow Palace or Oakland Coliseum Arena. Occasionally, other venues were used as well. Every nightclub was implicitly competing against any of these shows.<br /></p><p>Younger
rock fans had little choice, of course. If a fan was under 21, and had
access to a car, Winterland was more viable than trying to get a fake ID
and get into a club. The "festival-style" seating meant that it didn't
matter if you got tickets later, or if a friend wanted to come, as it
favored a group of friends, or loose multiple groups of friends, hanging
out together.</p><p>Rock fans weren't all under 21, however. If you
didn't want to hang with a bunch of people, or you were on a date, the
huge Winterland floor wasn't so appealing. If you wanted a beer, or some
food, a club was way more attractive. And Winterland was in a sketchy
(spelled "African-American") neighborhood, far from any convenient
bridge off-ramp. For many rock fans, a night at the local rock club had a
lot of appeal. The question was always the same--who was playing?</p><p>Rock
and roll's economy had exploded in the early 70s, and successful bands
made more money than ever. For the rank and file bands, however, touring
was not a prevalent as it had been. The "Oil Shock" of 1973 had made
the economy more difficult. While fans would always find money for Bob
Dylan or The Who, they weren't as ready to go out every week. Also, in
the Fillmore days, a lot of fans just went to "the Fillmore" to see
whoever was playing there. Winterland did not have that cachet. Fans
knew more, and were more selective, so BGP no longer booked as many
shows each month as they had when Fillmore West was open. If Winterland
wasn't an appropriate venue, than BGP used other halls around the Bay
Area, but the "concert dollar" (as it was called) seemed to be finite.</p><p>In the previous post, <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/02/bay-area-rock-nightclub-survey-berkeley.html">I looked at the different BGP bookings for Winterland, Berkeley Community Theater, the Cow Palace and The Paramount for March, 1974</a>. There weren't any tours big enough for the Oakland Coliseum Arena or the Oakland Coliseum Stadium that month, but they too were part of the mix for major BGP shows.<br /></p><p>In the East Bay, there were three main nightclubs that booked original music:<br /></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yGwiXw3oYpo/YDQxdxCe54I/AAAAAAAAIN0/gj7p89wCjW0dA5xYxijPLdrXJWCb4sDEACLcBGAsYHQ/s604/keystone%2Bberkeley%2B1982%2Bapprox.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="604" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yGwiXw3oYpo/YDQxdxCe54I/AAAAAAAAIN0/gj7p89wCjW0dA5xYxijPLdrXJWCb4sDEACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/keystone%2Bberkeley%2B1982%2Bapprox.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>This photo of the Keystone Berkeley is from about 1982, but it didn't change much</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />Keystone Berkeley, 2119 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA</b><br />The Keystone Berkeley was downtown, right near the UC Campus and easy to find. Parking was reasonably easy to find, and largely free. <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/11/keystone-berkeley-2119-university.html">The Keystone had opened in March, 1972, and had an official capacity of 476, widely believed to be regularly exceeded</a>. There were a few tables and a little bit of food, but mostly there was room to drink beer and dance. Keystone Berkeley favored bands who were up at it, lots of jamming, lots of long guitar solos and a beat you could dance to. It was the second best paying gig in the Bay Area for rock bands, behind only playing for Bill Graham Presents. Jerry Garcia, Elvin Bishop and Tower Of Power regularly played the Keystone Berkeley. Touring acts, particularly blues musicians, were a regular part of the bookings.<p></p><p><b>Long Branch Saloon, 2504 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA</b><br /><a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2021/03/2504-san-pablo-avenue-berkeley-ca-long.html">Two miles West and South of Keystone Berkeley, the Long Branch was the latest incarnation of a long-time club on San Pablo Avenue and Dwight Way. It had opened in May 1971, and had a capacity of about 350.</a> The Long Branch was sort of like Keystone Berkeley, loud and rocking, but a bit younger and a bit more local. Many East Bay bands played both clubs.</p><p><b>Freight And Salvage, 1827 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA</b><br />The Freight And Salvage was a unique institution. <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Freight%20and%20Salvage.htm">Founded in 1968, the 87-seat coffee house booked traditional folk music of all types, not just bluegrass and "old-time."</a> No one was allowed to smoke, and they didn't sell beer, because clinking glasses interfered with listening. Miraculously, the club stayed open--<a href="https://thefreight.org/about/">it's still open</a>--providing an outlet for really serious musicians playing for small but appreciative audiences.</p><p><i><b>The Peninsula and The South Bay</b></i><br />In mid-1974, there weren't any nightclubs that primarily booked original rock music. Palo Alto had had a few: <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/07/palo-alto-psychedelic-rock-shows-1969.html">there was the Poppycock, open from 1967 to 1970, but at around 250 people it had simply gotten too small</a>. By 1971, the venue (at 135 University Avenue) had evolved into the eclectic In Your Ear. <a href="https://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2020/07/tales-from-in-your-ear-live-music-in.html">In Your Ear featured jazz, but also some blues and creative rock, a thoughtful music club for a college town</a>. A New Year's Eve '72 fire in a pizza oven put an end to it. <a href="https://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2020/07/live-music-in-palo-alto1971-73-across.html">Not far away from downtown was the raucous Homer's Warehouse, more like the Keystone Berkeley but in an old quonset hut, but it too had closed by the end of '73.</a></p><p>The Peninsula and South Bay, from Daly City to San Jose, just had some dance joints. Sure, sometimes a funky band like the Sons Of Champlin or Elvin Bishop played one of those clubs, but they were just being a dance band for the night. The Peninsula was still a hotbed of social rest, and interesting music was only happening in San Francisco and Berkeley, with a few outliers in the North. <br /></p><p><i><b>San Francisco and North Bay Rock Music Club Survey, May-September 1974</b></i><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hge7dbXYq_w/X6nLrNI649I/AAAAAAAAHrI/8J9n3cg_f98LnuM9_rDvnd-M1lVWk9QUgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1038/Screenshot_2020-11-09%2B28%2BApr%2B1974%252C%2B230%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1038" data-original-width="916" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hge7dbXYq_w/X6nLrNI649I/AAAAAAAAHrI/8J9n3cg_f98LnuM9_rDvnd-M1lVWk9QUgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screenshot_2020-11-09%2B28%2BApr%2B1974%252C%2B230%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" /></a></div><p><br /><b>Great American Music Hall, 859 O'Farrell Street (near Van Ness), San Francisco, CA</b><br /><a href="https://www.slimspresents.com/great-american-music-hall/">The Great American Music Hall, at 859 O'Farrell</a>, was a club in a beautiful old building in a very sleazy part of San Francisco. The establishment was built in 1907. It was initially a nightclub, restaurant and house of ill-repute called Blanco's, until 1933 and the end of Prohibition. The infamous Sally Rand ran the place as a sort of burlesque dance hall called The Music Box from 1936 to '46. It went through various incarnations in the next few decades, reopening as a jazz club called Blanco's in '48, and then taken over by members of The Moose Lodge. The building was nearly condemned, but at the last second the building was refurbished around 1970 as a short-lived French restaurant called Charles, after its proprietor.<br /><br />
Finally, in 1972, Tom and Jeannie Bradshaw opened the Great American
Music Hall. The club featured jazz, and its full capacity was supposedly
about 600, although I actually think far fewer than that were present,
even for sold out shows. For the most part, there were tables on the
floor and the balconies, although the room was occasionally cleared of
the tables to create a dance floor. Unlike many Bay Area rock clubs,
there was a full bar and a kitchen, so in that respect the Great
American Music Hall was a true nightclub, <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/12/2119-university-avenue-berkeley-ca.html">rather than a beer soaked dance joint like the Keystone Berkeley.</a><br />
<br />
Initially, the Great American Music Hall was focused on jazz bookings.
This was timely, as the older jazz clubs in San Francisco had closed or
were on their last legs. Elsewhere in San Francisco, there was also still the Keystone Korner, of course, but
it did not have a liquor license (I think they did sell beer, but I'm
not sure). The Great American location was appropriate, too, as it was not too far from
main streets and downtown, halfway between the Fillmore West and the
old Fillmore, at the edge of a very seedy old neighborhood called The
Tenderloin. However, inside the refurbished bordello it was quite
beautiful, and the sound was wonderful: elegant sounds in a seedy
neighborhood is the essence of jazz in many ways.<br />
<br />
Very quickly, however, the "Great American Music" name took on a broader
significance. There were plenty of rock nightclubs in the Bay Area, but
with folk music no longer viable, there were plenty of artists who
didn't really have a place to play. Thus the Great American became a
stopping point for great American musicians like Vassar Clements or John
Fahey, working in a variety of musical traditions in a mostly acoustic
style, but with an appropriate seriousness that put them on the level of
the jazz musicians who also played there. Sitting down at a table with a
drink was a far better way to hear Doc Watson or Howard Roberts than
some noisy place that was better suited for rockin' out.<br />
<br />
The Great American Music Hall was just two doors down from a truly
notorious San Francisco institution, called The O'Farrell Theater. The
O'Farrell Theater, at 895 O'Farrell (at Polk), formerly a Pontiac
dealership, <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2013/01/grateful-dead-rehearsal-spaces-1965-1995.html">had actually briefly been a former Grateful Dead rehearsal hall in early 1967</a>. L<a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/05/895-ofarrell-street-at-polk-san.html">ater in 1967 it became a rock venue called The Western Front</a>,
but there were various problems, and since they were never able to book high
profile bands, the venue closed. Near the end of The Western Front,
in late 1967, it was taken over by two brothers from Antioch named Jim
and Artie Mitchell. The truly infamous Mitchell Brothers gave up putting
on rock shows and instead used the venue to show the movies they had
made, changing the name to The O'Farrell Theater.<br />
<br />
There is quite a lot more to the Mitchell Brothers story, although I
strongly advise you not to google it at work. By 1974, although the
Mitchell Brothers had made some very lucrative movies--Mitchell Brothers
lawsuits are responsible for those FBI warnings you see prior to
watching a video--the O'Farrell Theater was primarily focused on live
performance, albeit not of a kind that competed directly with the
Great American Music Hall.</p><p>In May 1974, the Great American Music Hall was still primarily a jazz club, but they had widened their scope. In the 60s, "jazz fans" were some years older than rock fans, but by the '70s the audiences had merged somewhat. There were older jazz fans, sure, but there were also rock fans whose tastes had broadened as well. Also, listeners were more aware that American musical styles had evolved in different ways, and bluegrass, for example, wasn't necessarily so far from be-bop as you might think. The Great American Music Hall played a critical role in reminding the Bay Area that different strains of American music, from rock to jazz to bluegrass and beyond, had more in common than not. Since this is a rock blog, for this post I will only summarize the different jazz and folk acts, rather than go into complete detail, or the post will never end. </p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2WXIl0Y6g4A/YDQydRpqRaI/AAAAAAAAIN8/f27ilC8_QcoRppukjnfkr_BMJz6XkXezQCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Red%2BLanta%2BArt%2BLande%2BECM%2B1974.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2WXIl0Y6g4A/YDQydRpqRaI/AAAAAAAAIN8/f27ilC8_QcoRppukjnfkr_BMJz6XkXezQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Red%2BLanta%2BArt%2BLande%2BECM%2B1974.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Great American Music Hall Performance Listings, May 1974</b><br /><b>May 2, 1974 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA: Art Lande's Rubisa Patrol and Light Year </b><i>[space-rock]</i><b> </b><i>Free</i><b> </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br />In May, 1974, The Great American Music Hall was generally open on Thursday through Monday nights. Some weeks there were shows on Tuesday or Wednesday, but only for touring acts. On some Thursdays and Mondays, there would be jazz performers and no admission charge. The Great American had a bar and a kitchen, so they were not as dependent on ticket sales.<br /><br />Pianist <b>Art Lande</b> (b.1947) had moved from New York to San Francisco in 1969. His band <b>Rubisa Patrol</b> played very sophisticated jazz, but it was quiet and reflective, rather than loud or electric. In November 1974, Lande would release the album <i>Red Lanta</i> on ECM Records. <i>Red Lanta</i> was an album of duets between Lande and saxophonist Jan Garbarek. <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubisa_Patrol ">The Rubisa Patrol featured trumpeter Mark Isham, bassist Bill Douglass and drummer Glenn Cronkhite</a>. The quartet would release a well-regarded album in ECM in 1976. The Rubisa Patrol wasn't loud, but they didn't play easy listening music, either.<br /><p>The band <b>Light Year</b> was advertised as "Space-Rock." The implication from this and various other bookings around town was that Light Year played some sort of progressive rock. This, too, was revealing, suggesting that the same sort of listeners liked advanced jazz and advanced rock. Of course, with no admission charge, the goal might also have been to capture small audiences for both bands, too.<br /></p><b>May 3, 1974 California Hall, San Francisco, CA: Mongo Santamaria and His Orchestra/Luis Gasca Group/Cal Tjader/Chepito Areas </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />Latin Jazz had always had a large footprint in San Francisco, and thanks to Carlos Santana, it had a much broader audience. The Great American Music Hall were the promoters for a big Latin jazz concert at California Hall (at 625 Polk Street, at Turk). The ads said "The Great American Music Hall Presents." Clearly the club felt they could draw more than their own house could hold. The California Hall was a 2000-capacity hall for rent, occasionally used for rock concerts over the years.<br /><p><b>Mongo Santamaria</b> (1917-2003) was a Cuban <i>conguero</i> and bandleader, who spent most of his professional career in the United States. He had recorded big "crossover" Latin jazz hits with the songs "Afro-Blue" and Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man." <b>Luis Gasca</b> was an experienced trumpeter who had many associations with Santana, Malo and other Latin rockers. San Francisco's own <b>Cal Tjader </b>(1925-82), from San Francisco, was a Godfather of Latin jazz, despite being of Swedish descent. <b>Chepito Areas</b> had been the timbalero in the classic Santana lineup, and was now leading his own band.<br /></p><b>May 3-4, 1974 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA: Butch Whacks and His Glass Packs </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />In the meantime, however, the Great American was still open. Shrewdly, they booked an act who would draw almost no crossover with Mongo Santamaria. <b>Butch Whacks and His Glass Packs</b> were a 15-piece rock and roll band dedicated to performing old style rock and roll hits from the 50s and early 60s. The band got their start as students at St. Mary’s College in Moraga playing frat parties, and eventually morphed into a very popular bay area club and theater act.<p>For jazz acts, there were tables on the main floor, very appealing for those who wanted to come early for dinner and a drink. I'm pretty sure that for a dance band like this, the tables were cleared from the main floor. There still would have been plenty of tables in the balcony or around the rim of the floor for those who wanted a seat. <br /></p><b>May 5 and 7, 1974 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA: Hassilev, Settle and Guard/Reilly & Maloney </b><i>(Sunday and Tuesday)</i><br />For Sunday and Tuesday night, the Great American hosted a touring folk revival act. In the late 50s and early 60s, <b>Alex Hassilev, Mike Settle and Dave Guard</b> had been in the Limeliters, the First Edition and the Kingston Trio, respectively. All of those groups had gotten popular with the college crowd, singing catchy old folk tunes devoid of any of the context. It was entertaining, but exactly the sort of approach that serious young musicians like Jerry Garcia or David Grisman objected to about those sort of folkies.<p>Per an SF <i>Examiner</i> review by Phil Elwood, the trio was well-received by a crowd of the age of those who would have liked it 10 or 15 years earlier. Keep in mind, many of those fans had gotten to love jazz at the same time, as well, so this booking isn't the outlier it seems. Still, Elwood pointed out that the music hadn't aged that well, and nobody younger was playing this kind of music anymore.</p><p><b>Reilly & Maloney</b> were a folk duo who performed their own songs. Ginny Reilly and David Maloney would release five albums from 1976 to 1983.<br /></p><p><b>May 6, 1974 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA: Free Jazz w/Scratch Ensemble Big Band </b><i>(Monday)</i><br />On Monday nights, the Great American Music Hall had a big band, and admission was free. Now, the listings were slightly misleading, since the Scratch Ensemble didn't play "Free Jazz," but probably anyone thinking of going already knew that. Jazz musicians often love big band jazz for the discipline and camaraderie, and many of them played in such groups in school. But big band music, even--or particularly--modern variants, was no longer popular music. In any case, a 12-or-more-piece jazz band made no economic sense. So many jazz clubs had a Monday night big band, with the local heavies showing up to play and hang out. Jazz musicians don't usually have gigs on a Monday, so they were all available. Since big bands have charts, it didn't exactly matter how often the players had showed up, since they were reading anyway. The music was probably great, and thoroughly lost over time. I believe saxophonist Vince Denham was one of the anchors of the Monday night band. <br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U3lnVIdMiog/YDQykuMrzXI/AAAAAAAAIOA/ec8cuxPFcF8L0P32ZntmHHsjEAE9p57AQCLcBGAsYHQ/s316/Soaring%2BDon%2BEllis%2B1973%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="316" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U3lnVIdMiog/YDQykuMrzXI/AAAAAAAAIOA/ec8cuxPFcF8L0P32ZntmHHsjEAE9p57AQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Soaring%2BDon%2BEllis%2B1973%2Blp.jpg" /></a></b></div><b><br />May 10-11, 1974 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA: Don Ellis and his Electrophonic Orchestra </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Trumpeter <b>Don Ellis </b>(1934-78) had led a remarkable big band since the 60s. The Don Ellis Orchestra had been founded in Los Angeles in the late 60s as an attempt to fuse Indian rhythms with big band instrumentation. As an added bonus, the Orchestra featured many electric instruments, then fairly rare in jazz. Playing big band charts in times like 19/4 was incredibly difficult, and thus hugely attractive to LA studio musicians that were making bank on film sessions, but longing to play serious jazz. The first Don Ellis Orchestra, <i>Live In 3 2/3/4 Time,</i> had been recorded at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1966. They had released numerous albums since, played the Fillmore West and other rock venues, but had always been a part-time ensemble. <br /><p></p><p>For most music fans, their only contact with Don Ellis' music was the soundtrack to the <i>French Connection</i> movie (with Gene Hackman), particularly the amazing car-chase sequence. I don't know how many people attended this weekend's concerts, but every Ellis lineup featured heavy session players showing they could still jazz it up, no matter how hard the chart. At this time, Ellis' most recent album would have been <i>Soaring</i>, released on MPS in 1973. The lineup included a string section, but I have no idea if that was part of Ellis '74 touring band. Sadly, Ellis passed away from various ailments in 1978. <br /></p><b>May 12, 1974 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA: Rosalie Sorrells/Mike Seeger </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br /><b>Rosalie Sorrels</b> (1933-2009) and <b>Mike Seeger </b>(1933-2009) were both established folk artists. Mike Seeger (half-brother of Pete) had formed the groundbreaking New Lost City Ramblers in 1958, who were essential in returning authentic folk music to the fore, wresting the genre away from the likes of the Kingston Trio. Rosalie Sorrels had not really started her music career until the 1960s, by which time she was already married with a family. Both of these singers fit into the Great American rubric of presenting important American music, without direct concern over genre. Although both singers could (and did) play the Freight And Salvage in Berkeley, there wasn't really another good venue for them in San Francisco.<p><b>May 13, 1974 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA: Free Jazz w Scratch Ensemble Big Band </b><i>(Monday)</i></p><p><b>May 16, 1974 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA: Bo Diddley </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br />If <b>Bo Diddley</b> isn't great American music, who is? The Keystone Berkeley regularly booked Bo, but there weren't really any other gigs for him in San Francisco or the Bay Area.</p><b>May 17, 1974 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA: Moby Grape/Sutro Sympathy Orchestra </b><i>(Friday)</i><br /><b>Moby Grape</b> had been the Great-Almost of the Fillmore, a band of 5 talented, handsome musicians with a killer debut album in Summer '67 on a major label who should have rolled on to huge success. But Columbia pushed them too hard, and the rock underground was suspicious of the Grape's sudden arrival. In fact, they were a great band, really good on stage and with infinite potential, but they never got over the hype of their debut. By 1974, Moby Grape was on their third reunion. <br /><p>But guess what? Moby Grape was still really good. This configuration of the band had original members Jerry Miller, Peter Lewis (guitars) and Bob Mosley (bass), along with South Bay guitarist Jeff Blackburn (taking the Skip Spence slot) and Santa Cruz drummer John Craviotta. Tapes show us that this Moby Grape were a really good band. Blackburn would go on to write "My My Hey Hey" with Neil Young, a few years later, when he was in The Ducks (along with Craviotta and Mosley). For the Great American, the marker here was that a Friday night booking of some old Fillmore stalwarts fit broadly into their universe. There wasn't a meaningful distinction between a "rock" or a "jazz" club.</p><p><b>Sutro Sympathy Orchestra</b> was a rock band from Reno that regularly played San Francisco.<br /></p><p><b>May
18, 1974 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA: Hassilev, Settle
and Guard </b><i>(Saturday)</i></p><p><b>May 20, 1974 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA: Free Jazz w/ Scratch Ensemble Big Band </b><i>(Monday)</i></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mk0vPPJOD9s/YDQypYR2mpI/AAAAAAAAIOE/Jhhh7UHa2fYrAm3CHrBBqoKR7nWEgMiWwCLcBGAsYHQ/s466/MF%2BHorn%2B4%2Band%2B5%2BFerguson%2B1974.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="466" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mk0vPPJOD9s/YDQypYR2mpI/AAAAAAAAIOE/Jhhh7UHa2fYrAm3CHrBBqoKR7nWEgMiWwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/MF%2BHorn%2B4%2Band%2B5%2BFerguson%2B1974.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />May 21-22, 1974 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA: Maynard Ferguson and his Orchestra </b><i>(Tuesday-Wednesday)</i><br />Trumpeter <b>Maynard Ferguson</b> (1928-2006), from Montreal, had been part of many big bands in the 1950s, and he had formed his own in the early 60s. When big bands declined in the mid-60s, Ferguson moved on to England. By 1971, his new big band was touring North America, merging jazz and rock in a big band context. By 1973, Ferguson had relocated to New York, and his band was mostly American, but with just 12 members. His current album would have been <i>M.F. Horn 4&5, Live At Jimmy's</i>, a double album recorded July 10, 1973 and released by Columbia in 1974. <br /><p></p><p><b>May 23, 1974 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA: Art Lande Rubisa Patrol </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br /><b>May 24-25, 1974 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA: Morgana King with Art Lande Trio </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Singer Morgana King<b> </b>held down the weekend, backed by the Art Lande Trio (Rubisa Patrol without trumpeter Mark Isham). Rubisa Patrol held down the Thursday night slot. </p><p><b>Morgana King</b> (1930-2018) was from Pleasantville, NY, and had been a jazz singer since the 1950s. She was also an actress, and had appeared in the original <i>Godfather</i> movie (as Don Vito Corleone's wife)<br /></p><p><b>May 27, 1974 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA: Free Jazz w/ Scratch Ensemble Big Band </b><i>(Monday)</i></p><p><b>May 30, 1974 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders and friends </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br />The Great American Music Hall was open on Thursdays, and on this Thursday the great American music was provided by <b>Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders</b>. The concept of "Great American Music" was perfect for Garcia, since he cut across all sorts of styles. Although Garcia's home base was the Keystone Berkeley, the Great American had a mellower feel to it, and Garcia responded accordingly. E.W. Wainwright played drums this night, along with Saunders on keyboards, Martin Fierro on tenor sax and flute and the perennial John Kahn on bass (<a href=" https://jerrybase.com/events/19740530-01">yes, of course there's a tape, and we know what Jerry played</a>). </p><p>Garcia's critical importance to Bay Area nightclubs wasn't just that he was a major star willing to play clubs. It was that he would play on weeknights. If you look at just this month, the Great American had some free nights of jazz (or perhaps $1.00 at the door), and the no-longer-current Bo Diddley. When Garcia played on a Thursday night, he would pack the place on a night when the club was normally thin, leaving the weekend free for a regular booking. And, let's face it, we know about Deadheads--they came early, stayed for two sets, danced happily on a (no-doubt) cleared out dance-floor and got plenty thirsty. Garcia's economic importance in the Bay Area nightclub ecosystem cannot be overstated.<br /></p><p><b>May 31-June 1, 1974 Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA: Taj Mahal </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Taj Mahal </b>(b. 1942 Henry St. Clair Fredericks) came from a musical family, so he grew up with a far broader understanding of different musical styles than most '60s musicians. After college (UMass-Amherst), Fredericks had moved to Santa Monica in 1964. He started playing electric blues in a racially mixed band, not a recipe for commercial success, but well ahead of his time. Although the Rising Sons (with Ry Cooder, Gary Marker and others) ultimately came to naught, Fredericks was signed to Columbia as "Taj Mahal." With the help of Ry Cooder, Jesse Ed Davis and others, Taj put out some seminal 60s electric blues albums.</p><p>By the 1970s, the world had caught up somewhat, and Taj Mahal did not stand out as much. He was still ahead of the curve, though--at one point he had toured with a band featuring 4 tubas, for example. His 1974 album was his 8th on Columbia, <i>Mo' Roots</i>. It featured reggae piano from Ashton "Family Man" Barrett, and some covers of reggae songs ("Johnny Too Bad" and Bob Marley's "Slave Driver"), along with the presence of local musicians like Merl Saunders, guitarist Hoshal Wright and bassist Billy Rich. In 1974, this was way ahead of its time.<br /></p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WQXFrg7be3Y/YCrTQd1TJCI/AAAAAAAAIJo/jSqubW6Ni98tKjrMTv_-BtDFaAL-eUg9QCLcBGAsYHQ/s891/960%2BBush%2BSt%2BBoarding%2BHouse.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="891" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WQXFrg7be3Y/YCrTQd1TJCI/AAAAAAAAIJo/jSqubW6Ni98tKjrMTv_-BtDFaAL-eUg9QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/960%2BBush%2BSt%2BBoarding%2BHouse.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The entrance to the Boarding House, at 960 Bush Street (near Taylor) sometime in the 1970s</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The Boarding House, 960 Bush Street (near Taylor), San Francisco, CA</b><br />960 Bush Street, the home of the Boarding House, had a lengthy history. Throughout the century, it had been a nightclub, or a restaurant, and even a recording studio at various times. In 1970, the building had been bought by Doug Weston, the proprietor of West Hollywood's legendary Troubadour club. Weston's plan was to open a San Francisco Troubadour, that would include recording and television studios, and spark an empire for Weston. <a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-troubadour-west-hollywood-and-san.html">The SF Troubadour had opened in August 1970, but it hadn't gone well</a>. The Troubadour was too straight for San Francisco, and too freaky for the Nob Hill Fairmont crowd. The club had closed by Halloween.<p><a href="http://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2021/09/960-bush-street-downstairs-san.html">In March, 1971, Weston's house manager David Allen (who had also been the manager at the Hungry i in North Beach), had reopened 960 Bush Street as The Boarding House, focusing on acoustic music.</a> By mid-72, the original venue had moved upstairs to what was then called The Boarding House Theater. The venue, the former Coast Recorders studio (still at 960 Bush Street, but on the second floor), was lovely little bowl-shaped room. It seated up to 300, with great sightlines and nice sound. The Boarding House rapidly became the most appealing room in the city for breaking new acts.</p><p>Despite its appeal, however, the Boarding House still had financial problems. For one thing, although the club was a restaurant and served dinner at every show, it had no liquor license, and could only serve beer and wine. For another, the location was in a hilly part of the city, several blocks from downtown, and it wasn't going to pick up casual walking traffic like a Broadway or North Beach club. Finally, parking wasn't that easy, and thus the club would be daunting for suburbanites. Actually being inside the Boarding House was great--I saw some bands there, and I can vouch for that--but it had some barriers to success. It was small, so it was hard to have a big win. It had no liquor license, so it didn't make as much money on slow nights. And it got no casual traffic, so it had a hard time building up regular acts. If the act wasn't "hot," the Boarding House didn't do that well. Local acts did play the Boarding House, but generally only when they had record company backing.<br /></p><p>Still, until the rise of the Old Waldorf club in 1977, the Boarding House was the preferred place for record companies to showcase their acts for critics, radio and record industry people, and so the acts were always interesting.<br /></p><p><i><b></b></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cQRgm9H7bQI/YDQzDukv7nI/AAAAAAAAIOQ/Et4ot3WHTXkUZ4LoK1RKM5Z5boldgv6DwCLcBGAsYHQ/s601/David%2BBromberg%2BWanted%2BDead%2BOr%2BAlive%2BFantasy%2B1974.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cQRgm9H7bQI/YDQzDukv7nI/AAAAAAAAIOQ/Et4ot3WHTXkUZ4LoK1RKM5Z5boldgv6DwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/David%2BBromberg%2BWanted%2BDead%2BOr%2BAlive%2BFantasy%2B1974.jpg" /></a></b></i></div><i><b><br />The Boarding House Performance Listings, June 1974</b></i><br /><b>May 28-June 2, 1974 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: David Bromberg/Lisa Kindred and Ascension </b><i>(Wednesday-Sunday)</i><br />Guitarist <b>David Bromberg</b>, from Tarrytown, NY, had dropped out of Columbia University to become a professional musician. Bromberg had played numerous sessions, for folk, rock, soul and country artists. He excelled at both electric and acoustic guitar, and his knowledge of different blues and folk styles was encyclopedic. Rock fans mostly recognized his name from the back of some Bob Dylan albums, as he had played on <i>Self Portrait</i> and <i>New Morning</i>. Bromberg had released his debut Columbia album in 1972.<br /><br />Bromberg was a brilliant musician--still is--and his albums were remarkably eclectic. This probably didn't help him commercially. Bromberg's voice wasn't that pop-friendly, either, but his sardonic delivery was appealing to over-educated teenagers (take it from me). Around 1973, Bromberg had moved to Marin County. His current album was his third, <i>Wanted: Dead Or Alive</i>. One side of the album was live, and the other side had been recorded with members of the Grateful Dead (on June 17, 1972, with additional overdubs later). Bromberg was based locally, but he was signed to a major record label, and in that sense this booking was typical of the Boarding House.<p></p><p>Bromberg performed with an amazing band, always with at least seven members. Dick Fegy played guitars, mandolin and other stringed instruments, Hugh McDonald played bass, Steve Mosley on drums, Jay Ungar or Brantley Kearns on fiddle, and a horn section of John Firmin (saxophones), Curt Lindberg (trombone) and Peter Ecklund (trumpet). Most of the band switched instruments constantly to accommodate the varying arrangements (<a href="http://tela.sugarmegs.org/_asxtela/asxcards/DavidBromberg1974KSANRecordPlantSausalitoCA.html ">for a contemporary tape, see here</a>).<br /></p><p><b>Ascension</b> was a sophisticated rock band featuring guitarist <b>Lisa Kindred</b>. Kindred, from Buffalo, NY, had released an album of fingerpicking blues on Vanguard back in 1965 (<i>I Like It That Way</i>), but had nothing but bad luck afterwards with record companies. Around 1970, Kindred had moved to the Bay Area, and only played locally for the balance of her career. Mostly she played solo, but in Ascension she teemed up with lead guitarist Debbie Olcese, Malcolm Rockwell on keyboards, Chuck Bernstein on drums and either Gary Nelson or "Maus" on bass. Ascension never recorded to my knowledge.<br /></p><b>June 3-4, 1974 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band/Steve Martin/ guests </b><i>tv taping (Tuesday-Wednesday)</i><br />This weekday booking was advertised as an event taped for television, with unnamed special guests. Most likely, well-known country musicians would sit in with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. The configuration of the Boarding House stage was very well-suited for filming. Since both the Dirt Band and Steve Martin had the same manager, the pairing made sense.<p>The <b>Nitty Gritty Dirt Band</b> had been founded in 1966 in Long
Beach, CA, and had released five albums by 1969. Initially somewhat
successful, in a country-folk vein, they "went electric" but did not
thrive. At the end of 1968, after appearing in the musical <i>Paint Your
Wagon</i>, they temporarily broke up. Late in 1969, the band had
reformulated itself. Their 1970 album on Liberty had been <i>Uncle Charlie and
His Dog Teddy</i>. The album would be fairly successful. The band would make
a pop hit out of Jerry Jeff Walker's ballad "Mr. Bojangles," which
would reach #9 on the Billboard pop charts. In April of 1971, they would
also have a modest hit (it reached #53) with their cover of Kenny
Loggins' "House At Pooh Corner" ("Winnie The Pooh/Doesn't know what to
do"), although the song is now associated with Loggins And Messina.</p><p>Manager Bill McEuen had renegotiated their contract,
giving the group more artistic control. The band now emphasized a more
pronounced country/bluegrass style, shying away from straight pop music.
The band still featured Jeff Hanna as primary vocalist, Jimmie Fadden
and Jimmy Ibbotson on guitars, John McEuen (Bill's brother) on banjo and
various stringed instruments, and Les Thompson on bass. Most of the
group sang, and between them they played a wide spread of instruments. In 1972, Bill McEuen had arranged for the Dirt Band to record and release a triple album featuring country music pioneers like Mother Maybelle Carter, Merle Travis, Roy Acuff, Earl Scruggs, Vassar Clements and Doc Watson. 1973's <i>Will The Circle Be Unbroken</i> (United Artists) remains a timeless document of the history of country music.<br /></p><p>The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's current album was <i>Stars And Stripes Forever</i> (UA, 1974). It was a mostly live double album. <br /></p><p>Comedian <b>Steve Martin</b>
had been a High School classmate of the McEuen brothers in Orange
County. Bill McEuen managed Martin as well as the Dirt Band. At one
point in the late 60s, he had shared a house with the Dirt Band. Martin
had been a writer for the <i>Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour</i>, until the
popular, yet controversial, show had been canceled by CBS in early 1970. Martin now had a rising career as a comedian, although his banjo playing was part of the act. <br /></p><p><b>June 5-9, 1974 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: Mary Travers/ Ed Bluestone </b><i>(Thursday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Mary Travers</b> had been part of Peter, Paul and Mary in the 60s, and had since gone on to a solo career. He current album was <i>Circles</i>, on Warner Brothers. It was her 4th solo album, and included covers of songs like "Goin' Back" and "House At Pooh Corner." Phil Elwood reviewed the show and was modestly positive, but he noted that Travers' act was more suited for a Las Vegas nightclub. His comment signifies the view of hip San Francisco at the time, namely that rock, jazz and folk music was more authentic than the mere entertainment seen on TV or in a casino. Comedian <i>Ed Bluestone </i>opened the shows. <br /></p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T36uhYeJuLQ/YDQzJ-Ta5KI/AAAAAAAAIOU/GT1qck_la4kky4newzTzkD0r8e10LZ83gCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Wendy%2BWaldman%2BGypsy%2BSymphony%2B1974%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="589" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T36uhYeJuLQ/YDQzJ-Ta5KI/AAAAAAAAIOU/GT1qck_la4kky4newzTzkD0r8e10LZ83gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Wendy%2BWaldman%2BGypsy%2BSymphony%2B1974%2Blp.jpg" /></a></div><br />June 11-15, 1974 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: John Stewart/Wendy Waldman </b><i>(Wednesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>John Stewart</b> (1939-2008) had been a member of The Kingston Trio from 1961 to 1967. The group had been very popular, but they had been passed by when the likes of The Beach Boys and The Beatles came along. Stewart had gone solo, and released a variety of well-received albums, such as 1969's <i>California Bloodlines</i>. Although he had written a hit for The Monkees ("Daydream Believer"), and he was well known at this time. yet was not particularly successful. His most recent album would probably have been <i>The Phoenix Concerts</i>, a live double album released by RCA in 1974. On the album, Stewart was backed by a crack band that included Jim Gordon (drums), Loren Newkirk (piano) and Dan Dugmore (pedal steel guitar), along with his wife Buffy Ford Stewart on vocals.<p>By 1974, Stewart had moved to Marin. Similar to Bromberg, although he lived locally, he was on a National label. I don't know if he had a small combo or just accompanied himself on guitar. <br /></p><p></p><p><b>Wendy Waldman</b> had been in group called Bryndle, with Karla Bonoff, Kenny Edwards and Andrew Gold. Bryndle had released one album in 1970, but all the band members went on to solo careers. In 1974, Waldman released her second album, <i>Gypsy Symphony</i>, on Warner Brothers, had been recorded in Muscle Shoals. Waldman's recording and performing career was minor, but she was hugely successful over the years as a songwriter.<br /><br /><b>June 16, 1974 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: MaryMcCreary/Wendy Waldman </b><i>(Monday)</i><br />This Monday night booking was probably sponsored by a record company, in order to invite radio and other industry people to see Mary McReary. For music professionals, any weeknight was a worknight, so the fact that civilians couldn't always attend Monday night show wouldn't have mattered.<br /><br /><b>Mary McReary</b> had initially been in a Berkeley gospel group called The Heavenly Tones, when she was in High School. One of the members was Vet Stewart, who was Sly Stone's younger sister. The Heavenly Tones evolved into an R&B group called Little Sister, who had released a single under Sly's imprint. McCreary became a backup singer for The Family Stone, until she left to go solo in 1972. <i>Jezebel</i>, McCreary's current album, was her second album on Shelter Records. Shelter owners Leon Russell and Denny Cordell co-produced the album (McCreary would marry Russell a few years later). Jezebel had A-list players on the record, including Russell's band members, the Tower Of Power horns and Chuck Rainey.<br /></p><p><b>June 19-22, 1974 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: Livingston Taylor</b><i> (Wednesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Livingston Taylor</b> was two years younger than his brother James, but he
had been a folk singer in the Boston area since 1966. Livingston was also a songwriter,
but he played in a bluesier style than James. Livingston had been one of
the first signings on Capricorn records, the Macon, GA label founded by
former Otis Redding manager Phil Walden. Walden and Capricorn's
flagship was the Allman Brothers Band, of course, but they had various
other acts as well. Taylor's current album was <i>Over The Rainbow</i>, which had been released on Capricorn in 1973. On the album, Taylor was backed by some Capricorn regulars like Chuck Leavell, Jimmy Nalls and Tommy Talton. I assume he played solo in person.<br /></p><p><b>June 25-30, 1974 Boarding House, San Francisco, CA: Etta James/Dave Alexander </b><i>(Wednesday-Monday)</i><br /><b>Etta James</b> (1938-2012, born Jamezetta Hawkins) was a legendary talent, but her career had been beset by numerous health issues. At this time, her most recent album would have been <i>Come A Little Closer,</i> which had been released in 1974 on Chess Records. She had recorded the album in conjunction with a trip to drug rehab, and it was a tribute to her talent that everyone got it done. It was produced by Gabe Mekler (from Steppenwolf), and had included contributions from the likes of Lowell George, Chuck Rainey and Larry Nash. <br /></p><p>Oakland-based blues pianist <b>Dave Alexander</b> was actually from Shreveport, LA. He had moved to Oakland in 1957, after a stint in the US Navy. He was a largely self-taught piano player, although he had played with many blues artists. Mostly Alexander played solo, itself a rarity on the local blues scene. In 1973, he had released his second solo album on Berkeley's Arhoolie Records, <i>Dirt On The Ground</i>.<br /><br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iaeKx9WoNK0/YAMMoVNL59I/AAAAAAAAICA/LH5mFRvBSgo5kg-knxjQ9e7IbHiR57-xQCLcBGAsYHQ/s790/Orphanage%2B19740714%2B14%2BJul%2B1974%252C%2B149%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="472" data-original-width="790" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iaeKx9WoNK0/YAMMoVNL59I/AAAAAAAAICA/LH5mFRvBSgo5kg-knxjQ9e7IbHiR57-xQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Orphanage%2B19740714%2B14%2BJul%2B1974%252C%2B149%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>A Chronicle ad for The Orphanage, at 807 Montgomery Street in San Francisco, for the week of July 14, 1974. Unlike most rock clubs, they served lunch.<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><b>The Orphanage, 807 Montgomery Street (near Columbus), San Francico, CA</b><br />The Orphanage, at 807 Montgomery Street in San Francisco, had opened about 1973. In the 60s, the site had been a topless joint called The Roaring 20s. <a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2010/01/807-montgomery-san-francisco-roaring.html">Roaring 20s featured psychedelic blues bands (like The Charlatans or The Salvation Army Banned), and also a topless girl on a swing</a>. The location, near Columbus and Broadway, was at the nexus of groovy North Beach, sexy topless Broadway and the downtown Financial District. The Orphanage featured original rock, but it was a bit second tier, usually groups on the way up or past their prime. Still, the club had its moments: in 1973, one of the regular bands had been Graham Central Station, featuring former Sly and The Family Stone bassist Larry Graham, and they had gone on to big success. <br /></p><p>I'm not really sure of the size of the Orphanage, but based on the bookings I think it was about 300 or so. The Orphanage, however, was different than the other rock clubs in this chronicle because it had a different business model, shown by the ad above. For one thing, The Orphanage served lunch from 11am, and they also offered catering. Most California nightclubs served a little food, for licensing reasons, but it was usually just burgers or fried chicken. The Orphanage appears to have been an actual functioning restaurant. Also, not only was the Orphanage a rock nightclub, they had "Troubadours Extraordinaire" from 5-7pm almost every night of the week. I assume these were acoustic solos, probably singing popular covers, but that meant that the Orphanage had business at lunch, happy hour and evenings on every weeknight. This was very different than music-focused clubs like Keystone Berkeley or Great American Music Hall. </p><p>The key to the Orphanage's business model was its location. Because it was on the edge of the Financial District, there was an opportunity for lunch business, and post 5pm Happy Hour, too. All those workers could take off their ties and stop by for a drink, and they didn't have to be young rock and rollers. But if they were younger, they could stick around, or even go to dinner somewhere else and catch the evening's live show. So the Orphanage catered (literally) to the Financial District in the afternoon and rock fans at night, absorbing whatever crossover there might have been. At the same time, 807 Montgomery was near enough to North Beach and Broadway to absorb some evening crossover from those districts as well.</p><p>With respect to the Financial District, keep in mind that in those days the New York Stock Exchange was only open from 10:00am to 3:00pm New York time, so in San Francisco that was 7:00am to noon. So all the stock traders were "Done For The Day" (in the lingo) shortly after noon. The considerably less automated marketplace had far more order clerks and phone operators than today, so there were lots of people downtown whose workday was ending when most people were finishing lunch hour. Take it from me--those people were ready for a drink or two at 1:00pm (and, let me add, this was before the Options Floor opened in 1976...). So the Orphanage could be a Financial District watering hole in the afternoon and early evening, and a rock club at night.<br /></p><p><i><b></b></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-leCDbyUB0q0/YDQzqP1GQII/AAAAAAAAIOg/AXT8ts-mgbkkmkTJnOII29SXL8Mt5uTVgCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Big%2BJoe%2BTurner%2BCount%2BBasie%2BThe%2BBosses%2Blp%2B1973.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-leCDbyUB0q0/YDQzqP1GQII/AAAAAAAAIOg/AXT8ts-mgbkkmkTJnOII29SXL8Mt5uTVgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Big%2BJoe%2BTurner%2BCount%2BBasie%2BThe%2BBosses%2Blp%2B1973.jpg" /></a></b></i></div><i><b><br />The Orphanage Performance Listings, July 1974</b></i><br /><b>July 3, 1974 The Orphanage, San Francisco, CA: Big Joe Turner </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br /><b>Big Joe Turner </b>(1911-85) was a legendary singer before there was even rock and roll. Known as "The Boss Of The Blues," he had gotten his start singing in Kansas City nightclubs in the 1920s. In the 1930s and 40s he had sung with the Count Basie Orchestra. Big Joe had had the original hit with "Shake, Rattle and Roll" in 1954, a few years before Bill Haley (a local band must have backed Turner--I'd love to know who it was). By this time, the world had somewhat caught up to Turner's importance. His most recent album would have been <i>The Bosses</i>, with Count Basie, which had been released on Pablo Records in 1973.<p></p><p><b>July 4-6, 1974 The Orphanage, San Francisco, CA: Grayson Street </b><i>(Thursday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Grayson Street</b> were a sort of roots rock band from the East Bay. They were co-led by harmonica player Rick Kellogg and tenor saxophonist Terry Hanck, both of whom sang. Grayson Street never recorded, but many of its members ended up working with Elvin Bishop, Coke Escovedo, Tower Of Power, Santana and others. Lenny Pickett had been in Grayson Street, prior to answering the call from Tower. The actual Grayson Street was in West Berkeley, pretty near the Long Branch. Needless to say, Grayson Street was one of the regular bands at the club near its namesake, but they played all over the Bay Area.<br /></p><p><b>July 7-8, 1974 The Orphanage, San Francisco, CA: Delta Wires </b><i>(Sunday-Monday)</i><br /><b>Delta Wires</b> were a hard-working band from Oakland. They had formed in 1970 at the California College of Arts and Crafts (on Broadway Terrace), and had been gigging ever since. They had a bluesy sound with a 3-piece horn section. Delta Wires played East Bay clubs for many years, and developed a local following, but never graduated beyond the East Bay. </p><b>July 9-10, 1974 The Orphanage, San Francisco, CA: Stoneground </b><i>(Tuesday-Wednesday)</i><br /><b>Stoneground</b> had originally formed in 1970, as the "house band" for Tom Donahue's <i>Medicine Ball Caravan</i> adventure. They had released a few albums, and had built a sort of following, but they had broken up in early 1973. In 1974, the core members re-formed the group. This time, instead of 5 lead singers, there was just one, and (I think) there were only four band members, fronted by lead guitarist/singer Tim Barnes and organist Fred Webb. Although I'm sure they did some of the same songs, the new Stoneground would have only been vaguely similar to the earlier incarnation. At some point in 1975, Stoneground added two female lead singers (Annie Sampson and Jo Baker), but I'm not sure when they joined. <br /><p>The characteristic booking at the Orphanage was a danceable
soul/rock crossover. Graham Central Station, while leaning heavily on
the funk, had found that nice sweet spot between rock and soul. Bands
like Delta Wires, Grayson Street and Stoneground were also trying to straddle that
line. <br /></p><p><b>July 11-13, 1974 The Orphanage, San Francisco, CA: Sahara </b><i>(Thursday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Sahara</b> is unknown to me. Note that in contrast to many other rock clubs in the Bay Area at the time, the Orphanage didn't have their best acts on weekends. That tells us, implicitly, that much of the Orphanage's crowd came from downtown offices, or people who served them (like waiters or bartenders at Financial District restaurants). The Financial District was a ghost town on weekends, so the Orphanage didn't book the bigger acts then.</p><p><b>July 17, 1974 The Orphanage, San Francisco, CA: Coasters </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br /><b>The Coasters</b> had been a successful recording act since 1955. Everybody recognized their hit songs, like "Searchin'," "Youngblood," 'Poison Ivy" or "Yakety Yak." Throughout the 60s, the Coasters continued to tour with different members, replaying their old hits for nostalgia, or people too young to have seen them earlier. Many rock fans looked down their noses at the 60s and 70s Coasters for being an "inauthentic" copy band with only one original member (if that), trading on nostalgia. Probably those same rock fans went to Indian Bingo Casinos in the 90s to see the retread versions of their favorite teenage bands, with just an aging lead singer or a drummer as the sole connection to a storied past.</p><p><b>July 15-18, 1974 The July 15-18, 1974 The Orphanage, San Francisco, CA: Sapo/Bittersweet </b><i>(Monday-Thursday)</i><br /><b>Sapo</b> is unknown to me, but they may have been a Latin rock band.</p><p><b>Bittersweet</b> was a rock band from Chico, CA, who moved to the East Bay. <a href="http://brunoceriotti.weebly.com/bittersweet.html">Rock historian Bruno Cerriotti has a detailed history of their adventures. </a></p><p><b>July 19-20, 1974 The Orphanage, San Francisco, CA: Cisium </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Cisium</b> is unknown to me.</p><p><b>July 21, 1974 The Orphanage, San Francisco, CA: Holly Penfield </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br /><b>Holly Penfield </b>has been a singing star in London and Europe for over 25 years, known for her sophisticated jazz styles.Penfield was a
native of San Francisco, however, and back in the 1970s, she was writing
her own songs and accompanying herself on piano. At this time, of
course, Carole King was one of the most popular recording artists in the
world, and the singer/songwriter track was a viable one. <a href="https://www.hollypenfield.com/heres-to-life">Penfield
played many club gigs around the Bay Area, but did not thrive until she
went to London and re-invented herself in the 1980s.</a></p><p>Note that Penfield isn't really dance-oriented, atypical for the Orphanage. But on a Sunday night, the club wouldn't have had a liquored-up after work crowd from the offices, so a mellower evening would have worked just fine. <br /></p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IAH0J3tkRdY/YDRS1AyyvpI/AAAAAAAAIPQ/aaWe7nCAQLk7fzJLo4sHdcP38eZmXWHAwCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/The%2BRubinoos%2Bmid-70s.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="302" data-original-width="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IAH0J3tkRdY/YDRS1AyyvpI/AAAAAAAAIPQ/aaWe7nCAQLk7fzJLo4sHdcP38eZmXWHAwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/The%2BRubinoos%2Bmid-70s.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Rubinoos, from Berkeley, some time in the mid-to-late 1970s</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />July 22, 1974 The Orphanage, San Francisco, CA: Earth Quake/Rubinoos </b><i>(Monday)</i><br /><b>Earth Quake</b> had formed at Berkeley High School in the 60s as The Purple Earthquake. In 1972, they would release their second album on
A&M Records, <i>Why Don't You Try Me</i>. A&M would drop Earth
Quake by the end of that year. Earth Quake had refused to give up,
however. By 1974, the band had built up a huge following at the Long
Branch, regularly headlining Friday night shows. They had built a crowd at the Keystone Berkeley as
well. <p>Earth Quake played in a somewhat anachronistic "British Invasion"
style, but it would end up coming back into vogue when the "New Wave" surfaced. Earth Quake had
original material, but they also covered obscure hits from the 60s
(like "Fridays On My Mind," by the Australian band The Easybeats), so
they distinguished themselves from other bands. Earth Quake would
resuscitate their career in 1975 by releasing records on their own
label, Beserkely Records, presaging the punk/DIY movement by some years.</p><p><b>The Rubinoos </b>were another Berkeley band, featuring singer Jon Rubin and lead guitarist Tommy Dunbar, the younger brother of Earth Quake's Robbie. The Rubinoos played intentionally retro styled 60s pop. The Rubinoos were in the process of building an audience, following Earth Quake's path. In the middle of 1975, Earth Quake, the Rubinoos and some other acts associated with them would self-release an album called <i>Beserkely Chartbusters</i>. That album brought Johnathan Richman and Greg Kihn some well-deserved attention, and anticipated the Punk and New-Wave DIY ethos by a few years.<br /></p><p><b>July 23-24, 1974 The Orphanage, San Francisco, CA: Earth Quake <i>(Tuesday-Wednesday)</i> </b><br /></p><p><b>July 25-27, 1974 The Orphanage, San Francisco, CA: Grayson Street </b><i>(Thursday-Saturday) </i><br /></p><p><b>July 28, 1974 The Orphanage, San Francisco, CA: Azteca </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br /><b>Azteca</b> had been founded by brothers Pete and Coke Escovedo, well-known in Latin jazz circles in San Francisco, and fellow travelers with Santana and Malo, among others. Azteca was a remarkable group, playing progressive jazz with a Latin twist, with contemporary lyrics layered above it. Azteca had up to
15 members, including 3 or 4 vocalists and a horn section. They had put
out two albums on Columbia (in 1971 and '73)and got incredible reviews . Yet there was no way they could break through to sell enough records to
break even. At this point, I think any band the Escovedos fronted was
called Azteca--which wasn't invalid--but it's unlikely to have been the
All-Star ensemble of prior years. <br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h86esl9LGSQ/YDQzy7XlUkI/AAAAAAAAIOk/mbtDDO4eRu0O5tG2HqGaaJUjIuta3TswgCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/Van%2BMorrison%2BIts%2BToo%2BLate%2BTo%2BStop%2BNow%2B1974%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="299" data-original-width="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h86esl9LGSQ/YDQzy7XlUkI/AAAAAAAAIOk/mbtDDO4eRu0O5tG2HqGaaJUjIuta3TswgCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Van%2BMorrison%2BIts%2BToo%2BLate%2BTo%2BStop%2BNow%2B1974%2Blp.jpg" /></a></b></div><b><br />July 29-30, 1974 The Orphanage, San Francisco, CA: Van Morrison </b><i>(Monday-Tuesday) 7:30 & 11:00 </i><br /><b>Van Morrison</b> made a guest appearance at the Orphanage on a Monday and a Tuesday--note the early and late shows. Probably the early shows were for the Financial District office crowd, and the later shows for fans who had gotten off work at the restaurants.<p></p><p>At this time, Van's current album was the double-live <i>It's Too Late To Stop Now</i>, released in February 1974 on Warner Brothers. His next album, <i>Veedon Fleece,</i> had already been recorded, but would not be released until November. Why Morrison felt the need to play these nights is unknown, as were most things related to Van. In any case, assuming he was in the mood--always a tricky question--Van would have taken his crack band and absolutely killed it in a club like the Orphanage. <br /></p><b>July 31, 1974 The Orphanage, San Francisco, CA: Sisuin</b><br />I have never heard of <b>Sisuin</b>, but I have a feeling that the booking was actually Cisium (see July 19-20). I don't know anything about Cisium, either, but at least I recognize their names from listings.<br /><br /><br /><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YwTV7n4RtVs/YANRz52cBGI/AAAAAAAAICM/hroSLEddlhopLO4pTRtrbQXQedGotJcsACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Inn%2BOf%2BThe%2BBeginning%2B20100712-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YwTV7n4RtVs/YANRz52cBGI/AAAAAAAAICM/hroSLEddlhopLO4pTRtrbQXQedGotJcsACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Inn%2BOf%2BThe%2BBeginning%2B20100712-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>The site of The Inn Of The Beginning, at 8201 Old Redwood Highway in Cotati, CA, as it appeared in July 2010 (the IOTB logo is still visible)<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>Inn Of The Beginning, 8201 Old Redwood Highway, Cotati, CA</b><br />Cotati was a sleepy, iconoclastic community that dated back to the 19th century, and a generally interesting place, for a rural area. As development expanded beyond Santa Rosa, the largest city in the County, Cotati was in danger of being annexed by Rohnert Park, a growing suburb of Santa Rosa. As a result, the town incorporated as a city in 1963 to control its own destiny.<br /><br />
As part of the dramatic expansion of state-funded education in
California, Sonoma State College was founded in Santa Rosa in 1960
(taking the faculty, staff and facility of San Francisco State’s Santa
Rosa Center, founded in 1956). However, by 1966 the entire Sonoma State
campus had relocated to a new site in Rohnert Park. Calling the campus
and the county “bucolic” does it a cruel injustice; year-round balmy
weather and a beautiful setting made Sonoma State a desirable campus
immediately. Eccentric Cotati, just next to Rohnert Park, immediately
became the ‘college town’ associated with the Sonoma State campus.<br />
<br />
The free-thinking history of Cotati made it a nice fit with the newly
expanding Sonoma State campus. The Inn of The Beginning was founded in
1968 as a coffee shop and bar that provided both a watering hole for the local wildlife and a
venue for local groups. The opening night band on September 28, 1968 was
Bronze Hog, featuring guitarist Frank Hayhurst. Hayhurst, at one point,
became co-operator of the Inn, and later owned a music store in Cotati.
The Bronze Hog played The Inn Of The Beginning in all its incarnations
for decades, and the band still plays around the city periodically, and
that sums up Cotati in a nutshell (for more on Cotati in the 1960s, see <a href="http://www.ci.cotati.ca.us/sections/about/history5.cfm">here</a>).<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Inn%20of%20The%20Beginning.htm">Cotati’s friendly atmosphere and convenient location of The Inn made it an attractive place for the many world-class musicians who lived in Marin to use the Inn of The Beginning as a venue to work on new material or try out a new lineup.</a> Over the decades, the likes of Van Morrison
and Jerry Garcia played there many times, often with very little
publicity. Ironically, this has led to an expansion of the legend beyond
its actual width; <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/07/8201-old-redwood-highway-cotati-ca-inn.html">the New Riders of The Purple Sage played there in 1969</a>, but this has led to the unsustainable story that the Grateful Dead
used to play there “every Tuesday.” Janis Joplin is reputed to have
joined Big Brother there one night in 1970, and it is impossible to say
whether she did for certain. <p></p><p>By 1974, however, while Cotati retained its charms, the Inn Of The Beginning had been crowded aside by larger Bay Area clubs. Since the Inn held only about 200, it couldn't compete with clubs in Berkeley and San Francisco that held more. A survey of the clubs bookings over the years show more and more local bands playing each year. Now, in some cases, those locals were from Marin County and had some albums under their belt--<a href="https://jerrybase.com/venues/247">Jerry Garcia would play a gig there once in a while</a>--but the Inn Of The Beginning was definitely in the second tier. Some good bands played there, but Cotati wasn't a premier booking. <br /></p><p><i><b></b></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HbwKr4Rcg1Y/YDQ2L7nFELI/AAAAAAAAIPI/1SqBHEBIcvEWiNAj9fOEK_tXJ_uTUMHTACLcBGAsYHQ/s480/The%2BTubes%2BWinterland%2B1974.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HbwKr4Rcg1Y/YDQ2L7nFELI/AAAAAAAAIPI/1SqBHEBIcvEWiNAj9fOEK_tXJ_uTUMHTACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/The%2BTubes%2BWinterland%2B1974.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Fee Waybill of The Tubes on stage, ca 1974 (probably at Winterland)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><i><b><br />Inn Of The Beginning Performance Listings, August 1974</b></i><br />Any presumably local bands that I do not recognize are listed in italics.<p></p><p><b>August 1-3, 1974 Inn Of The Beginning, Cotati, CA: The Tubes/</b><i>Mike McFadden (Thursday-Saturday)</i><br />A popular Phoenix band called The Beans had moved from Phoenix to San Francisco in late 1970. The Beans had played around the Bay Area some, but their brand of blues-rock didn't stand out. When a couple of members quit, guitarist Bill Spooner, pianist Vince Welnick and bassist Rick Andersen had recruited two members of a newly-defunct Phoenix band. Guitarist Roger Steen and drummer Prairie Prince were added (formerly of The Red, White and Blues Band). Shrewdly, the musicians promoted roadie John Waybill to lead singer, although he used various names--initially Fee Cranson, later just Fee, and finally Fee Waybill. They started playing as <b>The Tubes</b> in early 1972.</p><p>Unlike every other San Francisco band, The Tubes played neither jamming blues nor funky soul, but rather a sort of progressive rock, albeit with some pop sensibility. More importantly, all of their songs featured Fee wearing different costumes and inhabiting different personas. In the early days, many of the props and costumes were just made out of cardboard, but The Tubes were genuinely theatrical in a way that was unlike any other San Francisco band. By 1974, with art-school friend Michael Cotten playing synthesizer (and acting as Art Director), they were getting noticed on the club circuit. The Tubes had opened for Led Zeppelin at Kezar Stadium in 1973, and in the Sunday <i>Chronicle</i> of July14, 1974 critic Joel Selvin had devoted a whole column to them. Selvin's column introduced the Tubes to the Bay Area music public at large--I had never heard of them before that--even though they had no recordings. The Tubes were soon signed by A&M, and would release their debut album in the Fall of 1975.<br /></p><p><b>August 4, 18, 25 1974 Inn Of The Beginning, Cotati, CA: </b><i>Folk Music (Sunday)</i><br />On most Sunday nights, the Inn advertised "Folk Music." Now, this really meant one or two singers with acoustic guitars. Maybe they played folk or blues, or maybe they played CSNY songs, or maybe they played their own music. In club listings, however, "Folk" meant "solo or duo acoustic." <br /></p><p><b>August 5, 12, 26 1974 Inn Of The Beginning, Cotati, CA: </b><i>Jazz Concert, Jam Session (Monday)</i><br />Most Mondays were "jazz night."</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QETyW3aP4tY/YANZS6EuP4I/AAAAAAAAICY/r9vJ3MSuzsMeFnx40WVGW9jp7lcQ4wPogCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Crackin%2527%2Blp%2B1975%2Bpolydor.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QETyW3aP4tY/YANZS6EuP4I/AAAAAAAAICY/r9vJ3MSuzsMeFnx40WVGW9jp7lcQ4wPogCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Crackin%2527%2Blp%2B1975%2Bpolydor.jpg" /></a></div><p><br /><b>August 7, 1974 Inn Of The Beginning, Cotati, CA: </b><i>Acme Music/Me</i><b>/Crackin' </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br /><b>Crackin</b>' was an R&B band from San Mateo. They sounded like The Sons Of Champlin, but with a consistently funkier edge. They would release an album on Polydor in 1975. They would also play my High School graduation dance that year. <br /></p><p><b>August 8, 1974 Inn Of The Beginning, Cotati, CA: Frankie Beverly's Maze </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br /><b>Frankie Beverly</b> was from Philadelphia, and he had recorded some singles in the 60s as part of The Butlers. In 1970, he had gotten signed by ace producer Kenny Gamble, and had formed a group called Raw Soul. Raw Soul recorded a few singles, but wasn't right for the smooth sound created by Gamble, however. Somehow, Raw Soul had gotten support from Marvin Gaye, and they ended up relocating to San Francisco. Raw Soul toured around with Gaye, who suggested they change their name to Maze. <b>Maze</b> would release their first album in 1977, and the band remains a huge success, still touring. <br /></p><p><b>August 9-10, 1974 Inn Of The Beginning, Cotati, CA: </b><i>Bob Ward & The Cigar Band/Stone Age Elegance </i><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />The Inn Of The Beginning seemed to have just local bands on weekends, a sign that groups could get better bookings in Berkeley or San Francisco, and saved Cotati for weeknights. <br /></p><p><b>August 11, 1974 Inn Of The Beginning, Cotati, CA: Clifton Chenier </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br /><b>Clifton Chenier</b> (1925-87) was one of the leading zydeco performers, but in the early 70s that was a pretty obscure form of music. Chenier had a distinctive style on the accordian, essentially playing blues accordian with a New Orleans beat. Chenier had been recording since at least 1954. In the 70s, he released albums on Berkeley's independent Arhoolie label. His current Arhoolie album was <i>Out West</i>, which included guitarist Elvin Bishop on four tracks.</p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pvIV34yHoSI/YDRUAWmfIsI/AAAAAAAAIPY/bIZvSYiOw8oVfmxoDCKnlvjkVkNCr3v4wCLcBGAsYHQ/s739/Little%2BRoger%2BStairway%2B45.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="739" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pvIV34yHoSI/YDRUAWmfIsI/AAAAAAAAIPY/bIZvSYiOw8oVfmxoDCKnlvjkVkNCr3v4wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Little%2BRoger%2BStairway%2B45.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>All bow down: as we wind on down the road for a 3-hour cruise</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />August 14, 1974 Inn Of The Beginning, Cotati, CA: </b><i>Fly</i><b>/Little Roger and The Goosebumps </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br /><b>Little Roger and The Goosebumps</b> were a poppy rock group with an arch sense of humor. They were led by guitarist and singer Roger Clark, and violinist Dick Bright. Their showstopper was a version of the theme song to the TV show
"Gilligan's Island," done to the tune of "Stairway To Heaven." I saw the
Goosebumps open at Winterland (for Thin Lizzy and Graham Parker), and
when they did "Stairway To Gilligan's Island" the house went batshit
crazy (<a href="https://youtu.be/K4MKQMTHplI">I can't link it, because the song was blocked for copyright reasons--but you gotta trust me</a>). The group had just formed at this time, and I don't think they were doing "Stairway" yet.<br /><p><b>August 15, 1974 Inn Of The Beginning, Cotati, CA: Soundhole/Crackin' </b><i>(Thursday) </i><br /><b>Soundhole</b> was a Marin County band that had formed around 1973. <a href="http://www.bay-area-bands.com/bab00018.htm">In
1974, Soundhole had hired on as Van Morrison's backing band, so they
had a certain status around the Bay Area, even if they had never made an
album</a>. Soundhole played rock with some jazz and soul edges,
appropriately enough in the style of mid-70s Van Morrison. Soundhole
never did make an album (<a href="https://youtu.be/ejeo2YLIpbQ">you can find a Nov 26 '74 Winterland tape if you poke around Wolfgang's Vault</a>),
but most of the band members went on to bigger things. Guitarist Brian
Marnell was in SVT, with Jack Casady, organist John Farey was in Zero,
and saxophonist Johnny Colla, bassist Mario Cipollina and drummer Bill
Gibson would go on to Huey Lewis and The News (tenor saxophonist Brian
Hogan was the other member). Soundhole were pretty good, if not well-known. <br /></p><b>August 16-17, 1974 Inn Of The Beginning, Cotati, CA: JR Weitz/Synergy </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Guitarist <b>J.R. Weitz</b> (1949-2012) had been in a band called Raven, from Buffalo, NY, along with drummer Gary Mallabar. They had released an album on Columbia in 1969, and had even opened for Led Zeppelin once at the Boston Tea Party (May 23-26 '69). Jimmy Page had been impressed enough to mention Weitz in an interview. In those days, however, musicians often ended up in California, and Weitz had moved to California in 1973 (Mallabar was already in Marin, as he had moved as part of Van Morrison's band). <br /><p>Weitz played fusion-jazz for about a decade, and I believe <b>Synergy</b> was his band at the time. Weitz' bands never really made it, but based on his obituary, he had an excellent career working for technology firms in the 1980s, so his trip West paid off.<br /></p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IphQuyzE0dA/YDQ0Lp-_FZI/AAAAAAAAIOw/j8Hyroq6ZDoUJCxgTAwRUG59PFgBZPaJgCLcBGAsYHQ/s599/Homestead%2BAct%2BGospel%2BSnake%2B1972%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="599" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IphQuyzE0dA/YDQ0Lp-_FZI/AAAAAAAAIOw/j8Hyroq6ZDoUJCxgTAwRUG59PFgBZPaJgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Homestead%2BAct%2BGospel%2BSnake%2B1972%2Blp.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />August 17, 1974 Inn Of The Beginning, Cotati, CA: Homestead Act/Skunk Cabbage/Carl Pagter </b><i>(Sunday afternoon, live KVRE-fm and am)</i><br />KVRE broadcast on both FM and AM frequencies from Santa Rosa (it was 95.9 fm). The radio station had just gone on the air in early 1974. In sound and spirit, KVRE was very similar to KFAT over in Gilroy. Laid back, regional, mixing rock with country and folk, and few rules. This show was a Sunday afternoon broadcast featuring local bluegrass bands. The show was <i>Tom Reed's Bluegrass Jamboree</i>, which I assume was a regular show on KVRE. I don't know how often they broadcast live. There was a lot of hip, well-played bluegrass all over the Bay Area at this time. <p>Elmo Shropshire was a Veterinarian from Kentucky who had moved to San Francisco in the early 1970s. <b>Homestead Act</b> was his bluegrass band, which included his wife Patsy. The band had privately released an album in 1972, <i>Gospel Snake</i>. Elmo and Patsy would later gain infamy for their 1979 recording of the song "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer." </p><p><b>Carl Pagter</b> founded the California Bluegrass Association, and may have been either a performer or a host. <b>Skunk Cabbage</b> was another Bay Area bluegrass band. <br /></p><p><b>August 19, 1974 Inn Of The Beginning, Cotati, CA: Bola Sete </b><i>(Monday)</i><br />Monday night was jazz night at The Inn, and on this Monday there was a real jazz headliner. <b>Bola Sete</b> (1923-1987, born Djalma de Andrade) was a Brazilian jazz guitarist who had been prominent in the 60s. Bola Sete (which means "Seven Ball"), after a substantial career in South America in the 1950s, had ended up playing at the Sheraton Hotel in San Francisco, where he captivated Dizzy Gillespie (it turned out that Gillespie's piano player, Argentinian Lalo Schifrin, had played with Bola Seta in Rio). Brazilian jazz was hot at the time, and Bola Sete had recorded and toured with both Gillespie and Vince Guaraldi. Guaraldi and Bola Sete had made some very popular albums for Fantasy Records in the mid-60s. After about 1968, however, Bola Sete had reduced his presence and largely stopped recording and performing, although he hadn't actually retired. Bola Sete did continue to play periodic Bay Area shows. </p><p>At this point, Bola Sete only released albums occasionally. His most recent album would have been <i>Goin' To Rio</i>, which apparently featured just his guitar, supported by a few string arrangements. It had been released on Columbia in 1973.<br /></p><p><b>August 21, 1974 Inn Of The Beginning, Cotati, CA:</b> <i>Four Skins/Blue</i> <i>(Wednesday)</i><br /></p><p><b>August 22, 1974 Inn Of The Beginning, Cotati, CA:</b> <i>Stone Age Elegance</i> <i>(Thursday)</i><br /></p><p><b>August 23-24, 1974 Inn Of The Beginning, Cotati, CA: </b><i>Billy Faier</i><b>/Skunk Cabbage </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i></p><b>August 28, 1974 Inn Of The Beginning, Cotati, CA: Lawrence Hammond and The Whiplash Band </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br />Lawrence Hammond had been in the absolutely legendary psychedelic band Mad River. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_River_(band)">Mad River, formed in Antioch College in Yellow Springs, OH in 1966. They had moved to Berkeley in early 1967</a>.
Even by the standards of the Avalon, Mad River had been out there.
Hammond played bass and was the primary songwriter. After an epic,
feedback-laden debut on Capitol in 1968 (even the band cannot tell if
the record was recorded at the wrong speed--what's that tell you?), Mad
River had unexpectedly released an album of country flavored songs
before they split up in Summer 1969.Hammond had stayed in the Bay
Area. He wrote country songs in a distinctly Western style, as opposed
to the Nashville sound of the time. Hammond, backed by his band, did release a hard-to-find solo album on Takoma Records in 1976 called <i>Coyote's Dream</i>. <p><b>August 29, 1974 Inn Of The Beginning, Cotati, CA: Stoneground/</b><i>Dirty Legs</i><b> </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br /></p><p><b>August 30-31, 1974 Inn Of The Beginning, Cotati, CA: David LaFlamme/Valley Boys </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Electric violinist <b>David LaFlamme</b> had moved to San Francisco in the mid-1960s. He was best known as the leader of the band It's A Beautiful Day, founded in 1968. The band's debut album had been released in 1969, and LaFlamme's song "White Bird" was widely played on FM radio. IABD had released four albums, but LaFlamme left the group primarily due to a serious dispute with manager Matthew Katz. LaFlamme was tied up in litigation for much of the 70s, so while he could play in clubs, he apparently was blocked from recording, exactly when his fame for "White Bird" would have been at its peak.</p><p>The <b>Valley Boys</b> were some kind of country rock band, and I think they came from the Fresno area, but I'm not certain of that.<br /></p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jQ_5fuuazz8/YCraKjU8eSI/AAAAAAAAIJ0/xQwUa7kv2eEdyj5is7T2Z2qdPelGOCImwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Lions%2BShare%2B60%2BRed%2BHill%2BAve%2BSan%2BAnselmo.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="178" data-original-width="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jQ_5fuuazz8/YCraKjU8eSI/AAAAAAAAIJ0/xQwUa7kv2eEdyj5is7T2Z2qdPelGOCImwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Lions%2BShare%2B60%2BRed%2BHill%2BAve%2BSan%2BAnselmo.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Lion's Share, at 60 Red Hill Avenue in San Anselmo, as it appeared in the mid-70s</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Lion's Share, 60 Red Hill Avenue, San Anselmo, CA</b><br />The Lion's Share, about 2 miles West of downtown San Rafael, had opened in 1969. It was Marin County's first permanent rock nightclub. By 1971, although the club only fit 250-300 patrons, the Lion's Share played a big part on the local rock scene. All the locals like Jerry Garcia and Van Morrison played there, and numerous touring acts picked up extra bookings by playing the club. <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/06/the-lions-share-60-red-hill-avenue-san.html">I wrote at great length about the range of bands playing the Lion's Share in 1971</a>. <br /><p>By 1974, while the Lion's Share hadn't changed much, the rock market had. Some competing nightclubs, like Keystone Berkeley or the Great American Music Hall, were bigger than the Lion's Share. Some clubs that were comparable in size to the Lion's Share had other advantages. The Boarding House was a particularly nice place to see a show, and the Orphanage was located near to a huge weeknight office population. The Lion's Share wasn't particularly attractive, and thinly-populated Marin didn't have as many casual club goers. While the Lion's Share occasionally had a drop-in from a world famous local resident, for the most part it was an afterthought on the rock scene. <br /></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CNkBsXsQtgI/YDQ0SSldzzI/AAAAAAAAIO0/VVH7VH2ISgg5Ajh1SHDZlKGsh5xLhqRdACLcBGAsYHQ/s800/Clover%2BForty%2BNiner%2Balbum.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CNkBsXsQtgI/YDQ0SSldzzI/AAAAAAAAIO0/VVH7VH2ISgg5Ajh1SHDZlKGsh5xLhqRdACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Clover%2BForty%2BNiner%2Balbum.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Clover's second album, Fourty-Niner, had been released by Fantasy in 1971. The band had since been dropped by the label, but they added two members and kept gigging steadily throughout the Bay Area</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />The Lion's Share Performance Listings, September 1974</b><br /><b>September 2, 1974 Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Clover </b><i>(Monday)</i><br /><b>Clover</b> was Marin band whose members were really from Marin. Clover had formed in late 1967, out of a band called The Tiny Hearing
Aid Company. Fantasy Records, flush with Creedence money, had signed
Clover. The band released two poorly-produced but pretty good albums,
their self-titled debut in 1970, followed by <i>Fourty-Niner</i> in
1971. Clover was a four-piece band, with lead and pedal steel guitarist
John McFee, lead singer and guitarist Alex Call, bassist John Ciambotti
and drummer Mitch Howie (McFee, Call and Howie had been in Tiny Hearing
Aid). Clover worked out of Mill Valley.<p></p><div><a href="http://www.clover-infopage.com/">By the
end of '71, Fantasy had dropped Clover. Paradoxically, the
band went and added two additional members, keyboardist Sean Hopper, who
joined in August '71, and singer and harmonica player Hugh Clegg (aka Huey Louis), who joined shortly after.</a> Eventually, Hugh
Clegg--today better known as Huey Lewis--and Sean Hopper finally scored
with The News, John McFee was in the Doobie Brothers and other hit
bands, and Alex Call wrote a big hit single for Tommy Tutone
("867-5309/Jenny"), but Clover ground it out for years, and it was
places like the Lion's Share had kept the dream alive. <br /></div><p><b>September 3, 1974 Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Fat Tuesday </b><i>(Tuesday)</i><br />I think <b>Fat Tuesday</b> was a local band, but maybe it was just a promotion, a sort of disco night. A lot of rock clubs had "disco nights" of one kind or another. Certainly a place like Marin wouldn't have had much in the way of dance clubs, compared to San Francisco or Oakland.</p><b>September 6-7, 1974 Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Sons Of Champlin </b><i>(Friday-Saturday) 8:30 and 11:30</i><br />The <b>Sons Of Champlin</b> were a Marin County band, and it too had been founded by Marin County residents. It's notable that the biggest acts playing the Lion's Share lived nearby. <a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/10/sons-of-champlin-performance-list-1966.html">Back
in 1966, Bill Champlin and Terry Haggerty had founded the group,
switching from an R&B dance band sound to more of a Beatles groove</a>.
By 1967, however, they had gone full psychedelic, and brought back the
horn section. Champlin was a powerful lead singer and a fine organ
player, and Haggerty was a hugely talented lead guitarist. Along with
pianist/multi-instrumentalist Geoff Palmer, <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/11/sons-of-champlin-performance-list-july.html">the band had made 3 sophisticated albums for Capitol before disintegrating in 1970</a>. <br /><p>The
Sons Of Champlin did not actually break up, however, and around 1971
they re-made themselves into a sort of fusion jazz/R&B ensemble
called Yogi Phlegm--a name popular with no one--before reconvening again
as the Sons Of Champlin. They had made a terrific album in 1973 for
Columbia, called <i>Welcome To The Dance</i>. It had sold poorly,
however, and The Sons had been cut from the label in the wake of Clive
Davis' departure. The Sons kept plugging away, however, touring
constantly. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/The-Sons-Of-Champlin-The-Sons-Of-Champlin/master/363561">By 1975, they would record and release their own album, without waiting for a record company to "discover" them</a>.</p><p>At
this time, the front line was still Bill Champlin (lead vocals, organ
and guitar), Terry Haggerty (lead guitar) and Geoff Palmer (piano,
organ, vibes, various). The rhythm section was David Schallock (bass)
and Jim Preston (drums), both veterans of many Marin ensembles. By this time, they probably had a horn section, too. Note that there are double shows each night, a sign both that the Sons were some kind of a draw, and also that this wasn't only a "fun gig" where they were inviting their friends to come hang out. <br /></p><p><b>September 8, 1974 Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Soundhole/Lizards </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />Soundhole was a Marin band as well. Most of the band members had gone to High School in Marin County.<b><br /></b></p><p><b>September 9, 1974 Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Clover/Great American String Band </b><i>(Monday)</i><br />The <b>Great American String Band</b> had been formed by David Grisman, guitarist David Nichtern and fiddler Richard Greene. Their goal was to play all styles of American music on acoustic instruments: bluegrass, old-time, swing, country and so on. They mostly only played the Great American Music Hall (hence the name). Depending on availability, different members joined them on stage. Sometimes Grisman's old pal Jerry Garcia would play banjo with the group, but Garcia happened to be in London this night. I don't know who exactly was in the band for this show.</p><p>By mid-1975, Grisman would expand the GASB concept to create his groundbreaking David Grisman Quintet, but at this time that was just an idea.</p><p><b>September 10, 1974 Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Fat Tuesday </b><i>(Tuesday)</i></p><b>September 12-15, 1974 Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Ramblin' Jack Elliott/James and The Mercedes and friends </b><i>(Thursday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Ramblin' Jack Elliott</b> was a legendary folk singer. He lived somewhere in the North Bay, so he was a local, too.<p><b>James and The Mercedes </b>was a new band led by James Ackroyd, formerly of James And The Good Brothers. One of the backup singers was Frankie Weir, Bob Weir's wife. <br /></p><p><b>September 16, 1974 Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Clover </b><i>(Monday)</i><br />We are missing a week's worth of bookings. It's a safe bet, however, that if there were touring bands or big local acts, the Lion's Share would have made sure that they were listed in the local papers. So, while I'm curious about missing dates, I don't think we are missing anything important.</p><p><b>September 22, 1974 Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: </b><i>Blue Bear Stomp</i><b> </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />The Blue Bear School Of Music was an attempt to provide a sort of "Trade School" for rock musicians. I can't remember where it was located. It got a lot of press coverage, but I don't know if much came out of it. I assume this was a show that was part of the cirriculum. I can't recall if anyone interesting actually got much from the Blue Bear School, but I think guitarist Chris Hayes, later of Huey Lewis and The News, had some involvement. <br /></p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lk2bDnGI2uA/YDQ1KAlremI/AAAAAAAAIPA/LoOmndeTwrMxEiOeCSKOBjB4Jjn0Qsf6ACLcBGAsYHQ/s500/The%2BRowans%2B1975%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lk2bDnGI2uA/YDQ1KAlremI/AAAAAAAAIPA/LoOmndeTwrMxEiOeCSKOBjB4Jjn0Qsf6ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/The%2BRowans%2B1975%2Blp.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Peter Rowan joined his brothers Chris and Lorin (this album was released in 1975)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />September 25, 1974 Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Spanky And Our Gang/Rowan Brothers </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br />Spanky And Our Gang had been a popular group in the mid-60s, more or less in the style of The Mamas and The Papas. They had reformed, but the music was fairly <i>passe</i>, and the reunion didn't lead to anything.<p>The Rowan Brothers would have likely been a newly-reformulated group featuring Peter Rowan (ex-Seatrain, ex-Old And In The Way) and his brothers Chris and Lorin (the ca. '72 "Rowan Brothers"). </p><b>September 26-28, 1974 Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Kenny Rankin/Peter Spelman and Clarice Jones/Terry McGovern </b><i>(Thursday-Saturday) </i><br />Jazzy singer/songwriter <b>Kenny Rankin </b>(1940-2009) had a following, but he was probably playing solo, so the tiny Lion's Share probably made sense. His current album would have been <i>Silver Morning</i>, on Little David Records.<br /><p><b>Peter Spelman and Clarice Jones</b> were local folksingers.</p><p><b>Terry McGovern</b> was a comedian, and later a popular morning disc jockey. <br /></p><b>September 29, 1974 Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Clover/Grayson Street </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />For whatever reasons, Clover was playing the Lion's Share on Sunday instead of Monday, and they were joined by Grayson Street.<br /><p><br /></p>Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-1335014713284976912021-12-10T15:10:00.003-08:002021-12-12T16:45:42.873-08:00The Matrix, 3138 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, CA: October-December 1970 Performers List (Matrix III)<p> </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZSp6UcGhQAQ/YJG8A6J591I/AAAAAAAAIuQ/uDTdNarS4Pg7iBJhHGlsjmhvW0pd8f6aACLcBGAsYHQ/s600/John%2BLee%2BHooker%2BI%2BFeel%2BGood%2BCarson%2Blp%2B1970.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZSp6UcGhQAQ/YJG8A6J591I/AAAAAAAAIuQ/uDTdNarS4Pg7iBJhHGlsjmhvW0pd8f6aACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/John%2BLee%2BHooker%2BI%2BFeel%2BGood%2BCarson%2Blp%2B1970.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>John Lee Hoooker's 1970 album I Feel Good, recorded one night in Paris in October, 1969, and released on Carson Records. Hooker played the Matrix regularly.<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The Matrix, at 3138 Fillmore Street in San Francisco's Marina District,
had quite literally been the first hippie nightclub. Originally opened
in August, 1965 by Jefferson Airplane lead singer Marty Balin's father
(along with some partners), the club not only housed the Airplane, but
it was the only hangout for most of the long-haired musicians. When the
Fillmore and Avalon started putting on shows in early 1966, pretty much
the only other steady hippie gig in the city was at The Matrix. <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Matrix%20Shows.htm">Many of the Fillmore bands, even the popular ones, put in time at the Matrix</a>. <p></p><p>The
Matrix was a tiny, rectangular club, a former pizza parlor with a beer
license. Maximum official capacity was 150. Patrons were not allowed to
dance--this was no joke, as the cops liked to bust hippies just to find
joints in their pocket--so the Matrix generally eschewed dance music.
Befitting the Fillmore, the Matrix favored noodly blues jamming,
presented in all seriousness like a jazz club. The owners of the Matrix
also tried to tape every show, a saga in its own right, which over the
years has left us far more of a history of music at the club than would
normally be available from such a small establishment.</p><p>By 1970, rock music was booming all over the Bay Area. There were rock clubs that booked original music in <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/New%20Orleans%20House.htm">Berkeley</a>, <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/07/palo-alto-psychedelic-rock-shows-1969.html">Palo Alto</a> and <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Inn%20of%20The%20Beginning.htm">Sonoma County</a>,
and shows in high school and college gyms on weekends. The Matrix was
no longer the only alternative if there was no Fillmore gig. The Matrix,
however, although hardly lucrative, still had some advantages over its
suburban competitors. For one thing, the Matrix was open six or seven
nights a week, so working bands with good gigs on the weekend still
booked at the Matrix during the week. Furthermore, the Matrix had an
expectation like a jazz club, with musicians playing serious music
without worrying about pleasing a crowd, very different than a rocking
high school gym. Thus weeknight bookings at the Matrix are often far
more intriguing in retrospect than the weekends, in contrast to most
nightclubs.</p><p>Although the Matrix was in decline by 1970, and no longer at
the center of the San Francisco rock scene, its unique status meant that
interesting musical events still happened there. Most famously, one
night in January when Boz Scaggs missed his show, an unknown band from New Jersey
played instead, and <i>Examiner</i> critic Phil Elwood became the first
of many to write a glowing review of Bruce Springsteen. Throughout the
Spring, the Monday night jam session evolved into the seeds of what
would become the hugely successful Jerry Garcia Band. In a prior post, <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-matrix-3138-fillmore-st-san.html">I reviewed all the performers at the Matrix from January to June, 1970</a>. In the following post, <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-matrix-3138-fillmore-street-san.html">I reviewed all the Matrix performers from July through September, 1970.</a><br /></p><p>This post will review all the performers at the Matrix from October through December, 1970. While Matrix shows were listed regularly
in San Francisco and
Berkeley newspapers, they were rarely reviewed, so some of the listings
have contradictions. I have made my best guess here, but not attempted
to resolve the murky differences between, say, the Berkeley <i>Barb</i> or the San Francisco <i>Examiner</i>
on a given weekend. I am confident that all the bands listed here
played the Matrix during the last quarter of 1970, even if here and there
the exact dates may vary slightly. While Bruce Springsteen had long since returned
to New Jersey, there was still interesting and excellent music played at
the Matrix in latter 1970. </p><p>Anyone with additional
information or insight into any of these bands, or with suggestions for
accurate dating, or missing groups, or just intriguing speculation, is
encouraged to enter them in the Comments.<i> </i> <br /></p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qFFnj2pQWK0/YJG6hrTWHjI/AAAAAAAAIuI/FI9W_8BV9lU53RCZdEHkcPpCqCGmiaLHgCLcBGAsYHQ/s800/jerry%2Band%2Bmerl%2Bsaunders%2Bphoto.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qFFnj2pQWK0/YJG6hrTWHjI/AAAAAAAAIuI/FI9W_8BV9lU53RCZdEHkcPpCqCGmiaLHgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/jerry%2Band%2Bmerl%2Bsaunders%2Bphoto.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders ca 1973. There are no photos of Garcia and Saunders at the Matrix (and for that matter, only one brief tape)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b><b><br />Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders at The Matrix</b><br />Throughout 1970, the Matrix was mainly a musician's hangout. By the end of 1970, it was mainly Jerry Garcia's hangout. In
retrospect, the most interesting story of this period is the emerging
collaboration between Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders. Garcia had already
played the Matrix many times, with the Grateful Dead, Mickey Hart and
The Hartbeats and at informal jams. In the first half of 1970, Garcia
had started jamming regularly on Monday nights with organist Howard
Wales and drummer Bill Vitt. Vitt had brought in bassist John Kahn.
Garcia enjoyed having regular jamming partners, and made time in his
schedule to ensure he got to jam at the Matrix.<p>When crowds started to
turn out for Garcia at the Matrix--remember, we are talking about 100
people on a Monday night--Howard Wales became uncomfortable with the
notoriety. In the Fall, Kahn brought along his friend Merl Saunders, and
he took over the Hammond at the Matrix jams with Garcia. While the jams
were musically informal, they were regular and scheduled. Ultimately, these jams
would lead to collaboration and recording by Jerry Garcia, John Kahn and
Merl Saunders (and Bill Vitt). In the end, Kahn and Garcia were musical
partners for the next 25 years, and it all began at The Matrix during
this period. Amongst all the performances at the Matrix in the second
part of 1970, the casual but real formation of Jerry Garcia's future as a
stand-alone performer had the most lasting impact. Garcia was booked
for 25 nights over the course of 1970 (plus dropping by for a few jams),
a remarkable number for a musician with two full-time rock bands at the
same time.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-niq0S5AAa5w/YJHE1uYPGiI/AAAAAAAAIuo/qVCqWMnVEk4c_b54nvWDSJuC8zOn2JKngCLcBGAsYHQ/s680/John%2BKahn%2Band%2BBill%2BVitt%2Bca%2B73%2B%2528Liebowitz%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="542" data-original-width="680" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-niq0S5AAa5w/YJHE1uYPGiI/AAAAAAAAIuo/qVCqWMnVEk4c_b54nvWDSJuC8zOn2JKngCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/John%2BKahn%2Band%2BBill%2BVitt%2Bca%2B73%2B%2528Liebowitz%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>John Kahn (l) and Bill Vitt, ca. 1973 from the Live At Keystone album (photo Annie Liebovitz)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Drummer <b>Bill Vitt</b>
(1943-2019) had gone to High School in Northern California (he was born in
Washington State), but had ended up as a studio musician in Los Angeles
around 1965. <a href="https://garagehangover.com/jackbedient/">Around '66, Vitt had joined Jack Bedient And The Chessmen, and he toured Nationally</a>,
even going to Hawaii for a residency. By 1969, however, Vitt had tired
of the road, and he preferred Northern California, so he quit The
Chessmen and moved to the Bay Area. Besides playing local gigs, Vitt was
soon in demand as a session drummer. There was a growing recording
scene in the Bay Area, and Vitt worked on many sessions for producer
Nick Gravenites. Another of Gravenites' first call players was bassist
John Kahn, and Vitt and Kahn had met when the drummer was invited to
play with Mike Bloomfield. Kahn lived near Vitt in the tiny Marin
community of Forest Knolls, and they worked many sessions together.<p>After
the initial bass player (classically trained Richard Favis) did not
work out, Bill Vitt had invited his Forest Knolls neighbor <b>John Kahn</b> (1947-96). Besides
being regular session players for Nick Gravenites (Kahn and Vitt were
the rhythm section for the Brewer And Shipley hit "One Toke Over The
Line," for example), the pair played together in the Mike Bloomfield
band. Nick Gravenites put together lineups to back Bloomfield, a genuine
rock star who liked to play small clubs and never rehearse--hey, does
this sound like a plan?--and would book whatever players were available.
John Kahn was always his first-call bassist, and <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/12/john-kahn-live-performance-history-1969.html">his first-call drummer was Kahn's best friend, Bob Jones</a>.
Jones had another band, however (Southern Comfort), so if Jones wasn't
available, Bill Vitt got the call (amusingly, Jones was Vitt's
landlord).</p><p>Kahn and Garcia hit it off, musically and personally.
They would become musical partners until Garcia's death, with
Garcia/Saunders, Jerry Garcia Band, Old And In The Way and a variety of
other ensembles. Kahn would organize the bands and deal with many of
the musical logistics. Garcia himself said that without Kahn, most of
his side-ensembles would not have existed. </p><p><a href="http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2010/11/when-did-jerry-garcia-and-merl-saunders.html">Somewhere around early September, probably Monday, September 7, 1970, Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders played at the Matrix with John Kahn and Bill Vitt</a>. While Garcia and Saunders
had met at Wally Heider's studio, through John Kahn, they had not played
together. When Garcia and Saunders plugged in the first night, neither
would have really known what to expect from the other. Saunders' music could not
have been a more striking contrast to Howard Wales, a fact commented on
by Garcia. Wales's music was far-out jamming, defying conventional
structures. Saunders, however, already had a decade of experience in
dance bands and organ trios, and knew all the popular songs and jazz
standards. Garcia had no direct experience of playing "The Great
American Song Book." Initially, from what tiny evidence we have, Garcia and Saunders just jammed, with no formal songs, but probably with more structure than the excursions with Howard Wales<br /></p><div>It is a common musical trope
that a musician will struggle for years playing popular music and
standards in bars, so that when he finally gets to play his own
compositions, they are infused with musical history. Other than folk
music, Garcia had no such background. Garcia had gone straight from
bluegrass to psychedelic improvisation at full volume. In a very unique
pattern, although he was already a genuine rock star, Garcia took time to go back
to the bars and find out what he missed. Wales provided the freedom,
and Saunders brought the standards. Garcia and the Grateful Dead's music
in the 1970s benefited enormously from both. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Merl
Saunders</b> (1934-2008) had formed a band at Lincoln High in San Francisco in 1948 (when he
was 14), and his singer was classmate Johnny Mathis. Saunders had
played music ever since, spending 4 years in the US Air Force Big Band,
playing in organ trios and learning from Jimmy Smith, and playing jazz
and popular music in San Francisco and Las Vegas. Merl had toured the
country, <a href="http://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2009/10/merl-saunders-trio-far-eastern-tour.html#comments">toured Vietnam</a>,
been musical director for a show that went to New York, had met Miles
Davis and played and hung out with many great jazz musicians (<a href="https://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2020/07/merl-saunders-late-60s-highlights.html">I have written about Saunders' diverse career here</a>). </div><div> </div><div>By
1970, Merl was back in San Francisco, writing commercial jingles,
holding down the organ job at Jack's On Sutter and playing sessions in
studios. At Wally Heider's, where the big San Francisco bands recorded,
he worked a lot for producer Nick Gravenites, as did John Kahn. Around
August 1970, Saunders and Kahn were working on demos for an album by
Kansas City folksinger Danny Cox (the album would ultimately be released
in 1971). Garcia, hanging out and playing on a Brewer And Shipley
session, was introduced to Saunders. A few weeks later, when Wales was
unwilling to come to the Matrix, Kahn recommended Saunders and Garcia
assented.</div><p><i><b></b></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5PrsuiDOxMw/YJHD1ZwdYfI/AAAAAAAAIug/bfjiQmbjSxsPWRN6f9kmfWfEJl7nrs5JQCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/Get%2BBack%2BHome%2BIn%2BThe%2BUSA%2BJohn%2BLee%2BHooker%2BBarclay%2B1970.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="199" data-original-width="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5PrsuiDOxMw/YJHD1ZwdYfI/AAAAAAAAIug/bfjiQmbjSxsPWRN6f9kmfWfEJl7nrs5JQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Get%2BBack%2BHome%2BIn%2BThe%2BUSA%2BJohn%2BLee%2BHooker%2BBarclay%2B1970.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Get Back Home In The USA, recorded by John Lee Hooker on November 30, 1969 in Pau, France, and released in 1970 on the French label Black and Blue Records</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><i><b><br />The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: October-December 1970 Performers List</b></i><br /><b>September 29-October 3, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: John Lee Hooker </b><i>(Tuesday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>John Lee Hooker</b> was a blues legend, of course. Hippies officially loved the blues--Eric Clapton played them, and so on--but in fact there weren't many bookings for veteran blues artists. They were out-of-date for R&B clubs, but not hip enough for white rock shows. In 1970, a variety of old Hooker recordings were being released by various companies, but Hooker didn't really have a current album. In the States, <a href="https://www.discogs.com/John-Lee-Hooker-I-Feel-Good/release/8379826">his most recent recording was <i>I Feel Good</i>, recorded in Paris, France in October 1969 and released on Carson Records</a>. In November, 1969, in Pau, France, <a href="https://www.discogs.com/John-Lee-Hooker-Get-Back-Home-In-The-USA/release/2715825">Hooker would record <i>Get Back Home In The USA</i>, but it was only released in France</a>. Somewhere around this time, Hooker would move to the hills behind Redwood City (where he would live for many decades), so he preferred playing in the Bay Area.<p></p><p>Phil Elwood of the <i>Examiner</i>,
perhaps the only writer in town who actually went to the Matrix,
reviewed Hooker's show there in the October 1 edition (probably a review
of the September 30 show). Elwood was very enthusiastic, and mentioned
that Hooker's band included Tim Kaihatsu on guitar, Geno Skaggs on bass
and Kenny Swank on drums.</p><div><b>October 5, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: <i>Monday Night Jam</i></b><br /></div><div>Jerry Garcia was a regular performer on Monday nights at the Matrix, but on this Monday night, the Grateful Dead were playing at Winterland. Presumably Bill Vitt led the jam, and we might guess that he invited John Kahn and Merl Saunders, but its important to remember that we have no idea.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kUmar5BZF2Y/YI8VnbEAmxI/AAAAAAAAIso/NeMyKqCrpUgMNCya6brVk-b2nJliC6sSQCLcBGAsYHQ/s500/Be%2BA%2BBrother%2Balbum%2Bcover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="498" data-original-width="500" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kUmar5BZF2Y/YI8VnbEAmxI/AAAAAAAAIso/NeMyKqCrpUgMNCya6brVk-b2nJliC6sSQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Be%2BA%2BBrother%2Balbum%2Bcover.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />October 6-7, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Big Brother and The Holding Company/Ray Bregante </b><i>(Tuesday-Wednesday)</i></div><div><div><b>Big Brother and The Holding Company</b> had disintegrated in December, 1968,
when Janis Joplin left the band for solo stardom. They got back
together in late 1969. starting to work on an album, and by 1970 they
were performing. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Big-Brother-And-The-Holding-Co-Be-A-Brother/release/1952124">The group would release the underrated <i>Be A Brother</i> later in the year, produced by Nick Gravenites. </a> </div><div> <br /></div><div>The
reconstituted Big Brother featured the four original (pre-Janis)
members, although James Gurley had switched to bass, and Peter Albin now
played guitar (plus Sam Andrews on guitar and Dave Getz on drums). They
had also added Dave Schallock on guitar, so they were a five-piece
band. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Ray Bregante</b> has been identified as the co-owner of the Matrix by 1971 (along with Peter Abram), but I don't know anything about him as a performer.<br /></div></div><div> </div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hqfmbxpwFS0/YI8IDCKz2wI/AAAAAAAAIsg/Dt23cTjpYwoJLcfAGuwwPWQYQOv3XQpIgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1517/JGMS%2BMatrix%2B19701012.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1454" data-original-width="1517" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hqfmbxpwFS0/YI8IDCKz2wI/AAAAAAAAIsg/Dt23cTjpYwoJLcfAGuwwPWQYQOv3XQpIgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/JGMS%2BMatrix%2B19701012.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>There were very few flyers for the Matrix. Note that only women ("chicks") under 21 are welcome. This was a common arrangement at the time.<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>October 8-10, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Vince Guaraldi Trio </b><i>(Thursday-Saturday)</i></div><div>Pianist <b>Vince Guaraldi</b> was San Francisco's best-known jazz export since Dave Brubeck. With the success of Guaraldi's <i>Peanuts</i> soundtrack, however, Guaraldi was free to perform as much as he wanted in the Bay Area without actually going on the road. <a href="http://www.fivecentsplease.org/dpb/VinceGuaralditimeline.html">Per
biographer Derrick Bang, Guaraldi's band, though uncertain, likely would have been saxophonist
Karl Denham, bassist Koji Kataoka and Oakland drummer Mike Clark</a>.
Clark, a phenomenal drummer, would later go on to well-deserved renown
as the drummer for Herbie Hancock's mid-70s ensemble, the Headhunters. A
little-known fact about Guaraldi was that he liked playing electric
keyboards, and he may have been in a more electric format at the Matrix
than his famous 60s sound might suggest. </div><div> </div><div><b>October 12, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders and friends </b><i>(Monday)</i></div><div>Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders were booked at the Matrix for this Monday night, but the Grateful Dead were playing at Paterson State College in Wayne, NJ. It's unknown whether the others played, or if the Matrix was just dark. Generally speaking during this period, we know nothing about the Matrix if Garcia did not appear. Shows weren't reviewed, and few enough people seem to have attended that recollections are non-existent.</div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>[a Commenter suggests that the October 12, 1970 Grateful Dead date is a phantom, essentially a repeat of the October 10 date, so Monday October 12 is plausible for Garcia playing the Matrix]</i><br /></div><div> </div><div><b>October 13-14, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders and friends </b><i>Rock Jazz</i><b><i> </i></b><i><b>(</b>Tuesday-Wednesday)</i><br /></div><div>The Grateful Dead had been performing in the New York Metro area over the weekend (Saturday October 10 at Queens College, and Sunday and Monday at Paterson State). But presumably Garcia got off the plane and went straight over to the Matrix. The listing in the San Francisco Examiner said "ROCK JAZZ." From what little we can discern--there is only one fragmentary Garcia-Saunders tape from the Matrix--Garcia and the crew just jammed. You have to assume that now and again Garcia sang a blues, but there would have been no rehearsing. The earliest substantial tape is from May, 1971 (at Keystone Korner), and it only features a few covers amidst a lot of jamming. So calling the night "Rock Jazz" was fair warning to any Garcia fans who thought they might be getting "Uncle John's Band."</div><div><br /></div><div>The fact that Garcia and Saunders had moved to take over both Tuesday and Wednesday was a sign of both Garcia's seriousness, and how little else was going on at the Matrix. The club was pretty much a last choice booking for successful local bands.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>October 15, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: James and The Good Brothers </b><i>(Thursday)</i></div><div>This night at the Matrix was the Bay Area debut of James and The Good Brothers. They had met and jammed with Jerry Garcia on the infamous Festival Express Train tour across Canada in July 1970, and Garcia had invited them to come out to the Bay Area. Guitarist James Ackroyd teamed up with brothers Brian and Bruce Good, and they sounded like a cross between Crosby, Stills and Nash and The Band. The acoustic trio played in a country style, but with Canadian accents instead of a Southern twang they came across differently than a Nashville group. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The trio had arrived in the Bay Area in October 1970, and were under the Dead's umbrella. Dead staff member Gail Hellund acted as their manager. Garcia's stature at the Matrix was such that a request by the Grateful
Dead office to book an unknown out-of-town band would be accepted on its
face. At the same time, it's worth noting that the Matrix wasn't
booking premier club acts in any case. The most intriguing thing about
the notation in the San Francisco Chronicle <i>Datebook</i> listings was
that James And The Good Brothers are noted as "Courtesy Of The Grateful
Dead." On one hand, this was unprecedented. On the other hand, the sort
of tuned-in hippie who went to the Matrix would have heard of the New
Riders, so they could probably guess a little about what was going on.</div><div> </div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BwpHS-9VH1s/YI8V7bKtWZI/AAAAAAAAIsw/-vBx37YsSQ4hZAiML0TRHusNE0Yat9oNgCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Jerry%2BHahn%2BBrotherhood.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="579" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BwpHS-9VH1s/YI8V7bKtWZI/AAAAAAAAIsw/-vBx37YsSQ4hZAiML0TRHusNE0Yat9oNgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Jerry%2BHahn%2BBrotherhood.jpg" /></a></div><br /><b>October 16-17, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Hahn Brotherhood </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i></div><div><b>The Jerry Hahn Brotherhood</b> was an only-in-San-Francisco band, and they had become regulars at the
Matrix. Peripheral evidence suggests that they must have been great
live, and jammed up a storm, but they were pretty far out, and the
Matrix is one of the places where audiences would have at least expected
that. </div><div>The band played the Matrix regularly throughout their only year of existence. <br /> </div><div>Jerry Hahn was a pretty serious jazz guitarist,
based in San Francisco, and he had played with John Handy and Gary
Burton, among others. As "jazz-rock" became a thing, Hahn seems to have
wanted to play in a more rock vein. Early in 1970, organist Mike Finnegan had been newly
arrived from Wichita, Kansas. He was not only a great Hammond player, he
was a terrific blues singer too (also, he was 6'6'' tall, and had gone
to U. of Kansas on a basketball scholarship, making him the Bruce
Hornsby of his era). Filling out the band were jazz musicians Mel Graves
on bass and George Marsh on drums. <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Loading%20Zone.htm">Marsh recently been in the Loading Zone, an interesting (if perpetually struggling) Oakland band</a>. </div><div> </div><div>Sometime in mid-1970, Jerry Hahn Brotherhood released their sole album on Columbia. While
it did not sell well, two songs ("Martha's Madman" and "Captain Bobby
Stout") were covered by Manfred Mann's Earth Band in the 1970s, so the
record had an after-life. <br /></div><div> </div><div><b>October 19, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders and friends </b><i>Rock Jam</i><b> </b><i>(Monday)</i></div><div>Bassist Mel Graves and drummer George Marsh were both members of the Jerry Hahn Brotherhood, and so played the Matrix regularly. Both of them mentioned separately that one night they backed Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders at the Matrix, although no one recalls exactly when (nor is there a tape). Graves and Marsh probably knew Merl Saunders from way back. Both of those players were fairly "outside," another indicator that Garcia and Saunders probably just jammed the night away in their early Matrix forays.<i> </i>John Kahn and Bill Vitt had busy enough studio schedules that they occasional substitute was to be expected (as it was throughout the history of the Garcia-Saunders pairing). <i></i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>In 1973, Merl Saunders would record the Jerry Hahn album <i>Moses</i>, with Mel Graves and George Marsh. The quartet recorded the music the week before that Garcia, Saunders, Kahn and Vitt played evenings at Keystone Berkeley. It makes for a nice comparison of Saunders' style (<i>Moses</i> was recorded Jan 8-11, '73, and JGMS played the Keystone Jan 12-13). <br /><i></i></div><div> </div><div><b>October 20, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Big Brother and The Holding Company </b><i>(Tuesday)</i><br /></div><div> </div><div><b>October 21, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: </b><i> Jam with Santana and Quicksilver</i><br /></div><div>A tape circulates with this date, and it is supposedly a jam between Carlos Santana and members of Quicksilver Messenger Service. There's no telling--no one was listed at the Matrix in the <i>Examiner</i>. It's certainly possible, but either the date or the attribution of the tape could be wrong.<br /></div><div> </div><div><br /><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w7bJuKH5mi4/YI8mWiBplgI/AAAAAAAAItA/vVf43iMIY6slLWAjJ5ocFdyfqvP1szRFACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Southwind%2BReady%2BTo%2BRide%2BBlue%2BThumb%2B1970.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w7bJuKH5mi4/YI8mWiBplgI/AAAAAAAAItA/vVf43iMIY6slLWAjJ5ocFdyfqvP1szRFACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Southwind%2BReady%2BTo%2BRide%2BBlue%2BThumb%2B1970.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Ready To Ride, by Southwind, released in 1970 on Blue Thumb Records</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />October 22-24, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Southwind </b><i>(Thursday-Saturday)</i></div><div>The members of <b>Southwind</b> had mostly been in an Oklahoma band
called The Disciples. By 1970, they had all moved out Los Angeles,
resurrected themselves as Southwind and had gotten signed to Blue Thumb.
The band played country rock with a kind of funky soul undertone. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Southwind-Ready-To-Ride/master/328592 ">I believe their current album would have been their second album (and first on Blue Thumb),<i> Ready To Ride</i></a>.
The principals were guitarists Jim Pulte and John "Moon" Martin. Moon
Martin would go on to some success as a songwriter in the latter 70s,
including "Bad Case Of Lovin' You."</div><div> </div><div><b>October 26, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia and friends </b><i>Rock Jam (Monday)</i></div><div>Janis Joplin had died on the night of October 4, and her will stipulated a wake, paid for by her estate. The wake was held at the Lion's Share club in San Anselmo. The Grateful Dead were there, and so was anybody who was anybody, so I'm sure the Matrix was dark. Garcia and the Dead flew back from the East Coast for the event.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>October 27-29, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Big Brother and The Holding Company </b><i>(Tuesday-Thursday)</i></div><div>I would be surprised if Big Brother was in any shape to perform on Tuesday night, right after Janis' wake. Presumably they played Wednesday and Thursday.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>October 30-31, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Heavy Turbulence with Merl Saunders </b><i>(Friday-Saturday) </i></div><div>With the Grateful Dead on tour this weekend (in Stony Brook, NY), Merl Saunders held down the weekend. I'm not sure who was in "Heavy Turbulence," but one presumes that John Kahn and Bill Vitt were along for the ride. Saunders had so many friends in the local music scene that there's no telling who else might have played with him.<br /></div><div> </div><div><div><b>November 2, 1970 Harding Theater, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia and Friends/Big Brother and The Holding Company/Cleveland Wrecking Company/Ice/Kwane and The Kwanditos </b><i>(Monday) Benefit</i></div><div>A "Monday Night jam" was listed for the Matrix on November 2, but I'll bet the club was dark. The Harding Theater, at 616 Divisadero, near the Haight-Ashbury, was briefly a sort of hippie rock band clubhouse. "Jerry Garcia and Friends" was presumably Garcia and Saunders. The sort of musicians who might play on a Monday at the Matrix, and the sort of hippies who would drop in there, were mostly likely at the Harding on this night. So I'm assuming the Matrix was closed.<br /></div><div> </div><div>I'm not sure what this show was a Benefit for. <a href="https://jerrybase.com/events/19701102-01">The San Francisco <i>Chronicle</i> noted "The Learning Place presents a rock concert."</a><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>November 3, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders and friends </b><i>ROCK JAZZ (Tuesday)</i></div><div>While Merl Saunders played with Jerry Garcia, John Kahn and Bill Vitt at the Matrix on Monday nights, Garcia was recording with Howard Wales. Columbia staff producer Alan Douglas had visited a Garcia/Wales show sometime in the summer, and persuaded Garcia to join Wales in the studio. Whatever Wales' reservations might have been about jamming in public with Garcia, there was seemingly no harm to their musical relationship. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2011/01/hooteroll-when-was-it-recorded.html?showComment=1316312836645#c6126716163550433386">Garcia mentioned in November that recording for the album that would become <i>Hooteroll</i>?</a> (released on Douglas, a subsidiary of Columbia, but not until mid-1971) was complete by October of 1970.</div><div> </div><div>As if it wasn't enough that Garcia played live with the Grateful Dead, the New Riders and Merl Saunders, and was recording with Howard Wales, he found time to record with his other friends too. On Tuesday, November 3, before he went over to the Matrix, <a href="https://jerrybase.com/events/19701103-01">he recorded the legendary "Cowboy Movie" over at Wally Heider's for David Crosby's forthcoming album.</a><br /></div><br /><div> </div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VY7rlR7vk9w/YJGa862GlGI/AAAAAAAAItw/-dejDUyBfmwZ70BrIG0XqOKUlaOyM8T-ACLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Robert%2BSavage%2B%2528inner%2Bsleeve%2B71%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VY7rlR7vk9w/YJGa862GlGI/AAAAAAAAItw/-dejDUyBfmwZ70BrIG0XqOKUlaOyM8T-ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Robert%2BSavage%2B%2528inner%2Bsleeve%2B71%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Robert Savage (Bobby Arlin), from the inner sleeve of the 1971 Paramount album The Adventures of Robert Savage (In the 60s, Arlin had been in the Leaves and later The Hook)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>November 4-5, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Robert Savage Group </b><i>(Wednesday-Thursday)</i></div><div>The <b>Robert Savage Group</b> was led by Bobby Arlin, formerly the lead guitarist for The Leaves, a Hollywood band who had had a hit with "Hey Joe" back in 1966. I believe Savage was based in the Bay Area at this time. His current trio had Don Parrish on bass and Tommy Richards on drums. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Robert-Savage-The-Adventures-Of-Robert-Savage-Vol-1/release/2621299">They would go on to release an album on Paramount in 1971, <i>The Adventures Of Robert Savage</i></a>. <br /></div><div> </div><div><b>November 6, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Hahn Brotherhood </b><i>(Friday)</i><br /></div><div> </div><div><b>November 7, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Vince Guaraldi Trio </b><i>(Saturday)</i></div><div> </div><div><b>November
9, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: John Lee Hoooker/Prince
Lasha-Sonny Simmons Firebirds/Holy Smoke </b><i>Benefit for KMPX Collective
(Monday)</i></div><div><b>Prince Lasha</b> and <b>Sonny Simmons</b> were both local alto sax players, and they had released a 1968 album on on Contemporary Records called <i>Firebirds</i>. It was probably pretty modern sounding, not likely easy listening. </div><div> </div><div><b>Holy Smoke</b> is unknown to me. <br /></div><div> </div><div>The KMPX Collective was a local organization trying to create a "People's Radio" station on the FM dial. They later changed their name to Airwaves, but I don't know much about the organization itself or exactly what they hoped for.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--pZHuFthKA4/YJLJfeepOxI/AAAAAAAAIu4/9I1Fy-vPco8aSgCBiITdAeoXw9j4OCOWwCLcBGAsYHQ/s473/Norman%2BGreenbaum%2BSpirit%2BIn%2BThe%2BSky%2BReprise%2B1969.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="471" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--pZHuFthKA4/YJLJfeepOxI/AAAAAAAAIu4/9I1Fy-vPco8aSgCBiITdAeoXw9j4OCOWwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Norman%2BGreenbaum%2BSpirit%2BIn%2BThe%2BSky%2BReprise%2B1969.jpg" /></a></div><br />November 10-14, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Norman Greenbaum </b><i>(Tuesday-Saturday)</i></div><div><b>Norman Greenbaum</b> was a bit of a paradox compared to the usual Matrix acts. Greenbaum
had been in a minor 60s Bay Area band (Dr
West's Medicine Show And Junk Band). Completely unexpectedly, he had a
massive hit with his 1969 single "Spirit In The Sky," which had reached #3 in
April 1970. The nature of AM radio at the time meant that a true hit was
massively familiar to everybody on a scale that cannot be contemplated today. Thanks to oldies stations and television commercials, the song is still recognizable now.<br /></div><div> </div><div>Greenbaum, who had a farm in Petaluma (in Northern Marin County), lived modestly
and didn't really have to work again. He only performed intermittently around the Bay Area. He still recorded, and even had a
local hit with the song "Canned Ham," from his 1970 Reprise album <i>Back Home Again</i>. Probably, Greenbaum played with a small combo, but I don't know who was in it. Since he was a big name by Matrix standards, however, playing an entire week made sense for him. <br /></div><div> </div><div><b>November 16, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: </b><i>Monday Night Jam </i></div><div>Jerry Garcia was at the Fillmore East with the Grateful Dead, so we don't know who, if anyone, played the Monday night jam.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>November 17-18, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: John Lee Hooker </b><i>(Tuesday-Wednesday)</i><br /></div><div> </div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-segSECaCHlA/YJGqcN5HdkI/AAAAAAAAIt4/uR_8pkoR2yEz2RBOQN8qlKZxSHeYmNrlwCLcBGAsYHQ/s596/Ramblin%2BOn%2BAB%2BSkhy%2BMGM%2B1970%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="596" data-original-width="589" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-segSECaCHlA/YJGqcN5HdkI/AAAAAAAAIt4/uR_8pkoR2yEz2RBOQN8qlKZxSHeYmNrlwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Ramblin%2BOn%2BAB%2BSkhy%2BMGM%2B1970%2Blp.jpg" /></a></div><br /><b>November 19, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: AB Skhy </b><i>(Thursday)</i></div><div>As near as I can tell, Howard Wales had left <b>AB Skhy</b> by 1970. I
think, based on scanty evidence, that the band now featured transplanted
Wisconsites Curley Cooke on guitar and vocals and Rick Jaeger on drums,
replacing Dennis Geyer and Terry Anderson. Possibly also Russ Dashiell
was on guitar, as well (Jim Marcotte still played bass). <a href="https://www.discogs.com/A-B-Skhy-Ramblin-On/release/5683343">That was more or less the lineup for AB Skhy's second MGM album <i>Ramblin' On</i></a>. <br /></div><div> </div><div><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y2ZPNN-C3pw/YJG9hLpLe8I/AAAAAAAAIuY/JN6X-DXr3VI1zksQfTzerTOvj_0PwE-JQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Ramblin%2BJack%2BBull%2BDurham%2BSacks%2Band%2BRailroad%2BTracks%2BReprise%2B1970.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y2ZPNN-C3pw/YJG9hLpLe8I/AAAAAAAAIuY/JN6X-DXr3VI1zksQfTzerTOvj_0PwE-JQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Ramblin%2BJack%2BBull%2BDurham%2BSacks%2Band%2BRailroad%2BTracks%2BReprise%2B1970.jpg" /></a></div><br />November 20-21, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Ramblin Jack Elliott </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i></div><div>Folk legend Ramblin' Jack Elliott was still a legend, but folk music wasn't as popular as it once was. Working rock bands could get better gigs than the Matrix on a weekend, so Ramblin' Jack could take the booking. At some point, Elliott would move the North Bay, but I don't know if he had already done so. </div><div> </div><div><a href="https://www.discogs.com/Ramblin-Jack-Elliott-Bull-Durham-Sacks-And-Railroad-Tracks/release/4689001">In 1970, Ramblin' Jack had released an album on Reprise called <i>Bull Durham Sacks and Railroad Tracks</i></a><i>,</i> produced by Nashville pro (and future star) Charlie Daniels. There were some contemporary songs by Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash, and "Me and Bobby McGee" plus some tracks labeled "Rapping and Rambling." It must have done poorly, since Reprise did not follow it up. <br /></div><div> </div><div><b>November 23, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: </b><i>Monday Night Jam </i></div><div>Jerry Garcia was playing a Hells Angels benefit concert with the Grateful Dead in Greenwich Village, so we don't know who, if anyone, played the Monday night jam. <br /></div><div> </div><div><b>November 24-25, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: John Lee Hooker </b><i>(Tuesday-Wednesday)</i></div><div>Hooker was playing weeknights regularly at the Matrix, which leads me to think he had moved to the Bay Area by this time. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>November 27-28, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Hahn Brotherhood </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i></div><div> </div><div><b>November 30, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: </b><i>Monday Night Jam </i></div><div>The Grateful Dead had played in Columbus, OH on Sunday night (November 29), and Garcia was booked at the Matrix the following two days. It's not totally impossible that Garcia got off the plane on Monday and just went over to the Matrix to jam with Merl and John.<br /></div><div> </div><div><div><b>December 1-2, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders & friends </b><i>(Tuesday-Wednesday)</i></div><div> </div><div><b>December 3-5, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Sandy Bull </b><i>(Thursday-Friday)</i></div><div><b>Sandy Bull </b>was a solo guitarist, a unique and remarkable
performer whose elaborate fingerpicking was enhanced by various
electronic looping effects. Although appealing to a rock audience, more
or less, Bull was the type of performer whose audience remained seated.
He had played the Matrix many times over the years. At the time, <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Sandy-Bull-E-Pluribus-Unum/release/1488317">his most recent album would have been <i>E Puribus Unum</i>, released on Vanguard the previous year</a>. Bull had played all the instruments himself, and the music was hardly rock. </div><div><div> </div><div><b>December 9, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders & friends (Wednesday)</b></div><div>Monday night was always the worst night for going out, which is why it was usually musicians' jam night. The fact that Garcia and Saunders were playing other weeknights was a sign that something real was going on. <b> <br /></b></div></div><div> </div><div><b>December 10-11, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: AB Skhy </b><i>(Thursday-Friday)</i></div><div>No act was booked for Saturday or Sunday (December 12-13), never the sign of a viable nightclub. <i><br /></i></div><div> </div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0d5-j3ewOOc/YJHHQc1QoJI/AAAAAAAAIuw/glpZGDxx3OE4cc8pbOYF7zVKBHSSlMAKgCLcBGAsYHQ/s540/Garcia%2BMatrix%2B1970121616%2BDec%2B1970%252C%2B63%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="236" data-original-width="540" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0d5-j3ewOOc/YJHHQc1QoJI/AAAAAAAAIuw/glpZGDxx3OE4cc8pbOYF7zVKBHSSlMAKgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Garcia%2BMatrix%2B1970121616%2BDec%2B1970%252C%2B63%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>December 15-17, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia and Friends </b><i>(Tuesday-Thursday)</i></div><div>During 1970, Jerry Garcia had played at the Matrix with Howard Wales, <a href="http://impressionsofvince.blogspot.com/2012/06/champlin-at-bit.html">Vince Guaraldi</a>, Merl Saunders and the New Riders. Yet in December, he played the Matrix with another partner, David Crosby. Garcia had been recording regularly with Crosby at Wally Heider's, most recently on Sunday, December 13, when they had worked on "Tamalpais High" and "Wall Song." For Tuesday through Thursday, the Matrix simply listed "Jerry Garcia and Friends." Garcia was always extremely careful about how he was billed in the Bay Area. In this case, Garcia was playing with Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann and Crosby. With two members of the Grateful Dead and a member of the most popular band in the country, this was a formidable booking for the tiny Matrix. Yet Garcia was careful to indicate that the shows did not include his regular partner Merl Saunders.</div><div><br /></div><div>Remarkably, we have a rehearsal tape from the Matrix, usually assumed to be the afternoon of Tuesday, December 15 (possibly Monday the 14th), and then the evening show. Crosby debuts some songs from his forthcoming album ("Cowboy Movie," "Wall Song" and "Laughing") as well as performing his song recorded by the Jefferson Airplane ("Triad"), the debut of a future Grateful Dead song ("Bertha") and two blues songs. As a joke, Garcia refers to the band as "David And The Dorks" and Crosby responds by calling them "Jerry And The Jerks," so these names are usually used, but that was just a casual joke. <a href="http://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2011/02/pepperland-then-and-now.html">The quartet would actually headline a show in Marin the next week</a>, and these three shows appear to be live rehearsals. The Matrix was only barely solvent as a commercial enterprise, but since it had become Jerry Garcia's clubhouse, remarkable musical events occurred there.<br /></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>(<b>Note</b>: the Grateful Dead did not play the Matrix on December 17. An in-house compilation of live Dead recordings was dated that way, but it does not refer to any performance).</i><br /></div><div> </div><div><b>December 18-19, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Hahn Brotherhood </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i></div><div> </div><div><b>December 26, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Vince Guaraldi Quartet </b><i>(Saturday)</i></div><div> </div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LZXUbUb3Ews/YJGrmK4dtHI/AAAAAAAAIuA/Uscm7-OlQqQwU63y0M848zu17zabpYcHQCLcBGAsYHQ/s413/My%2BFeeling%2BFor%2BThe%2BBlues%2BCotillion%2BLP%2B1970.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="399" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LZXUbUb3Ews/YJGrmK4dtHI/AAAAAAAAIuA/Uscm7-OlQqQwU63y0M848zu17zabpYcHQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/My%2BFeeling%2BFor%2BThe%2BBlues%2BCotillion%2BLP%2B1970.jpg" /></a></div><br /><b>December 29-31, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Freddie King </b><i>(Tuesday-Thursday)</i></div><div><b>Freddie King</b> (1934-76) had been a popular blues guitarist in the early 60s, recording for King Records out of Cincinnati. He was particularly known for instrumentals like "Hideaway" and "San Ho-Zay." His career had drifted somewhat, and he hadn't been part of the first wave of blues guitarists discovered by the Fillmore crowd. At this time, his most recent album was 1970s <i>My Feeling For The Blues,</i> produced by saxophonist King Curtis for Cotillion Records. </div><div> </div><div>In late 1970, there weren't a lot of clubs in the Bay Area booking straight blues acts, so Freddie King rung out the New Year in the tiny Matrix. In 1971, Freddie King was signed by Leon Russell's label Shelter Records. Under Russell's direction, some properly recorded music bought Freddie to some well-deserved fame in the rock world, prior to his untimely death in 1976. </div><div><br /></div><div><i><b>Aftermath</b></i></div><div><a href=" http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Matrix%20Shows.htm">The Matrix hung on until May of 1971</a>. Fewer and fewer gigs were publicized in the papers, although it is hard to say if it was only open intermittently or not. Jerry Garcia was the principal booking, and was probably the reason the club remained open from mid-1970 onward, but even his positive gravity ran up against the reality of a tiny club in a place that was difficult to park. After May, 1971, Garcia's home base moved to the Keystone Korner and <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/12/2119-university-avenue-berkeley-ca.html">then over to the Keystone Berkeley, which became the anchor of his alternative career.</a> Yet without the Matrix, not only Garcia but numerous other local acts like Boz Scaggs, Elvin Bishop, Jerry Hahn and others--even the visiting Bruce Springsteen--would not have had opportunities to move their careers forward<br /></div></div></div><p><br /></p>Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-21611916443461204172021-11-12T13:36:00.003-08:002023-10-17T11:16:42.925-07:00Palo Alto Psychedelic Rock Shows, July-December 1969 and Beyond (Palo Alto V)<div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-klWJnACBvyE/YGjHpRz-_hI/AAAAAAAAIek/Ve86mm8Kq04l1mfif3ly9tbtWc_nvNFcACLcBGAsYHQ/s836/Poppycock--19691108%2Bflyer.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="836" data-original-width="616" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-klWJnACBvyE/YGjHpRz-_hI/AAAAAAAAIek/Ve86mm8Kq04l1mfif3ly9tbtWc_nvNFcACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Poppycock--19691108%2Bflyer.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>A flyer for the Poppycock club in Palo Alto, at 135 University Avenue, featuring shows from November 8, 1969. Almost no flyers advertising the Poppycock have endured.<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table></span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br />Palo
Alto, California, is only a town of about 60,000, about 35 miles South
of San Francisco, and yet it looms large in the world, far out of
proportion to its modest size. Palo Alto residents, like the residents
of most small towns, think the world revolves around itself. The
principal difference between Palo Alto and other towns is its tendency
to invent or encourage institutions that redound to the importance of
Palo Alto--Stanford University, Hewlett-Packard, The Stanford Shopping
Center, Acid Tests, The Grateful Dead, Mapquest and Google, for example,
just to name a few. All of these institutions re-write history in
Palo-centric ways that reaffirms the town's importance. Residents of
neighboring communities find Palo Altans self absorbed and
self-important, which we probably are, but our next innovation will just
reconfigure the past in a way that justifies our own narrative. And so
it was with psychedelic rock and roll in the 1960s.<br /><br />Palo Alto, by
its own accounting, played a big part in 60s psychedelic rock and roll.
The history of the Fillmore and The Avalon always begins with Ken Kesey
at Stanford, and the parties and acid tests that followed. Of course,
Kesey's cottage was really next door in Menlo Park, but that sort of
detail never interfered with a Palo Alto story. At the same time, Jerry
Garcia and other bohemians were hanging out in downtown Palo Alto, <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/02/grateful-dead-and-menlo-park.html">even if they often lived in Menlo Park themselves</a>. Certainly, J<a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2016/12/jerry-garcia-live-on-kzsu-am-and-fm.html">erry Garcia started playing live in Stanford and Palo Alto</a>,
and he took acid for the first time in Palo Alto, and by the end of
1965 Garcia was the lead guitarist in an electric blues band. The
Warlocks--who debuted themselves in Menlo Park--became the Grateful
Dead, and the house band of The Merry Pranksters, and Palo Alto's place
in the rock revolution was secure.<br /><br /></span></font></span><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Yet
Palo Alto, as ground zero for the consciousness expansion of rock
music, has a rather scattered history of rock and roll events. While
some of this had to do with economics, some of it had to do with the
very peculiar circumstances of Palo Alto and Stanford, which both
favored and discouraged any kind of rock and roll underground. But this
peculiarity is perfectly Palo Alto--a story that applies to no other
town, which is just how Palo Alto likes it. <a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2017/07/palo-alto-psychedelic-rock-shows-1965.html">The
story began with my prior post and the two most seminal events in
Palo Alto rock history: August 31, 1965, the night the Beatles stayed at
the Cabana Hotel in Palo Alto, and December 18, 1965, the Palo Alto
Acid Test</a>. I told the whole psychedelic rock history of 1966 Palo
Alto, too, which is pretty interesting, but still pales in the shadow of
1965. The next post continued the story, reviewing <a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-poppycock-and-palo-alto-psychedelic.html">the psychedelic rock history of Palo Alto in 1967</a>, and <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/06/palo-alto-psychedelic-rock-shows-1968.html">then 1968, when the action moved downtown</a>. The last post <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/07/palo-alto-psychedelic-rock-shows-1969.html">looked at shows from January to June, 1969, the high water mark for downtown Palo Alto's rock history</a>. This post will look at shows for the balance of 1969. Although some memorable acts played the Poppycock (including the New Riders of The Purple Sage and very likely the Grateful Dead), the club was too small to thrive in the booming rock market, and Palo Alto wanted peace and quiet.<br /></span></font></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /></span></font></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-92NINLPZNkY/YG3aqK-lGAI/AAAAAAAAIg8/EQD6vVhsGXI5znxxWLUNuFhiCYy1Ey9yACLcBGAsYHQ/s940/High%2Band%2BUniversity%2Bsign%2BPalo%2BAlto%2B20160918.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="702" data-original-width="940" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-92NINLPZNkY/YG3aqK-lGAI/AAAAAAAAIg8/EQD6vVhsGXI5znxxWLUNuFhiCYy1Ey9yACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/High%2Band%2BUniversity%2Bsign%2BPalo%2BAlto%2B20160918.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>In the 1960s, all the music action in downtown Palo Alto was at the corner of University and High</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Downtown Palo Alto</b><br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>By
1968, loud rock and roll had become more mainstream, at
least in Northern California. Young people up and down the Peninsula
wanted to see bands full of long-haired guitarists playing their own
music. Palo Alto's downtown, having been gutted by the Stanford Shopping
Center in the 1950s, started to add shops selling lava lamps and
black light posters. There weren't any bars in Palo Alto yet--not until 1981--but
The Poppycock sold beer, and that was enough. The locus of rock music in
town had moved off the Stanford campus and over to the Poppycock.<br /><br />The
Poppycock was a Fish 'N' Chips shop at 135 University Avenue, on the
corner of University and High Street (hard to make this up). It was open
7 days a week for take-out from 11am, and there was a big room for
entertainment and, if you were old enough, to buy beer. The clearest picture
of the Poppycock come from a book by writer Ed McClanahan, an associate
of Ken Kesey’s. McClanahan was hired in to publish an underground
newspaper, The Free You, associated with <a href="http://midpeninsulafreeu.com/">MidPeninsula Free University</a> (of which more later). In his autobiography <i>Famous People I Have Known</i>, he writes about the Poppycock in 1968 and '69:<br /></span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><blockquote>In
the latter 1960s, on a corner of downtown Palo Alto scarcely a
brickbat’s throw from the Stanford campus, there stood an aged,
derelict, three-story brick office building, the first floor of which
was occupied by a fish ‘n’ chips ‘n’ rock-and-roll establishment called
The Poppycock (2003: University of Kentucky Press p.53).</blockquote></span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>McLanahan
writes of renting office space on the second floor, just above the
bandstand, for twenty five dollars a month from the “sweaty hatband
gents” who took over an office building originally leased to lawyers and
doctors and leased it instead to a younger and less savory bunch. Those
familiar with the today’s genteel and pricey Palo Alto, a “hotbed of
social rest” (to quote local writer Rob Morse), would hardly recognize
McLanahan’s description of the corner in 1969. <br /><blockquote>Beneath
my window, meanwhile, the beat went on day and night. The sidewalks
swarmed with rock and roll riffraff, adolescent acidheads and swiftly
aging speedsters, motorcycle madmen and wilted flower children, slightly
unhinged outpatients from the nearby VA hospital, spare changers and
affluent musicians and plainclothesmen and nouveau riche dealers, all
the myriad varieties of California white trash…The Poppycock corner was
where It was indisputably At in Palo Alto (pp. 53-54). </blockquote></span></font></span></div></div><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times";"><b><i></i></b></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MgrX-qtruV0/YG3aBKg9xGI/AAAAAAAAIg0/PaAoGO0bb5I1VHir_js14m06wBpNclNGgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1536/135%2BUniversity%2BAvenue%2Bfront%2BMarch%2B2006.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1536" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MgrX-qtruV0/YG3aBKg9xGI/AAAAAAAAIg0/PaAoGO0bb5I1VHir_js14m06wBpNclNGgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/135%2BUniversity%2BAvenue%2Bfront%2BMarch%2B2006.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>135 University Avenue in Palo Alto, site of the Poppycock, as it appeared in 2006 (at the time it was the Stanford Bookstore)<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times";"><b><i><br />Palo Alto Psychedelic Rock Performances, July-December 1969</i></b><br /><b>July 1-2, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Orion </b><i>(Wednesday-Thursday)</i><br /><b>Orion</b> is unknown to me, but they had been playing various weeknights at the Poppycock since April 1968.<br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b></b></span></font></span><p></p><b>July 3-4, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Loading Zone </b><i>(Thursday-Friday)</i><br /><b>The Loading Zone</b>, while obscure, are a uniquely important group in Bay Area music history.<br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times";"></span></span><p><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Loading%20Zone.htm">The Zone had a singly dizzying history. Loading Zone had initially been formed out of the ashes of a Berkeley group called The Marbles (who played the first Family Dog Longshoreman’s Hall Dance on October 16, 1965). </a>The two guitarists from The Marbles then joined with organist/vocalist Paul Fauerso (formerly of Oakland’s Tom Paul trio, a jazz combo) and played a hitherto unheard mixture of psychedelic blues and funky R&B.</span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></p><p><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Loading Zone were based out of Oakland (on East 14th Street), and while they had played the original Trips Festival and many dates at the Fillmore and Avalon, they also played many soul clubs in the East Bay. They added horns, and after some false starts, a powerhouse vocalist named Linda Tillery, and had released an under-rehearsed album on RCA in 1968. The band also had a brief national tour, and played all the clubs in the Bay Area. The Zone had played the Poppycock in December '68 and February '69.</span></font></span><br /></p><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>The Loading Zone thus laid the blueprint for the progressive soul music of Bay Area bands like Sly and The Family Stone and Tower of Power. Indeed, their roadie, high school student Steve Kupka, played baritone sax with the band’s horn section, when there was room on stage and he was allowed in the club. At one such gig, he met a Fremont band called The Motowns, and they joined forces to create Tower Of Power.<br /><br />By early 1969, however, lead singer Linda Tillery had been tempted to go solo by Columbia. Loading Zone soldiered on, with Paul Fauerso taking over all the vocal duties. </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gwHTgZW6T_c/YGjMc-gKyOI/AAAAAAAAIfU/Q0DHDINeq1kaUcV5k-C0FK0WfOAmIlBjgCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Sweet%2BLinda%2BDivine%2BTIllery%2B1969%2BCBS%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gwHTgZW6T_c/YGjMc-gKyOI/AAAAAAAAIfU/Q0DHDINeq1kaUcV5k-C0FK0WfOAmIlBjgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Sweet%2BLinda%2BDivine%2BTIllery%2B1969%2BCBS%2Blp.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />July 11-12, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Sweet Linda Divine (Friday-Saturday)</b><br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Sweet Linda Divine</b> was the stage name of former Loading Zone singer Linda Tillery, who had now gone solo. Al Kooper had produced a solo album for her on Columbia by that name (it has never been released on cd). Tillery was backed by a trio, headed by <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/08/david-nelson-and-new-delhi-river-band.html">ex-New Delhi River Band guitarist Pete Schultzbach</a>. I assume that Tillery sang in the same soulful style that she had done with Loading Zone, but I have never read a review. <br /><br /><b>July 13, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Phoenix </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br /><b>Phoenix</b> was yet another group that was handled by Ron Polte’s West-Pole management organization. <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Phoenix.htm">Phoenix has a complex interrelationship with other San Francisco bands, including The Vipers, Blue House Basement and Mt. Rushmore</a>. In 1968, three members of the band Mt. Rushmore had left that group and joined lead guitarist Stan Muther in Phoenix. By mid-1969, principal songwriter Warren Phillips had taken over the bass chair, as previous bassist Jef Jaisun had gone solo. Phillips, lead guitarist Stan Muther and drummer Ed Levin had all been in the Palo Alto group The Vipers. The Vipers had been formed at a house on High Street, just a few blocks from the Poppycock. <br /></span></font></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>No incarnation of Phoenix ever released any records. A South Bay songwriter named Chuck McCabe led a
group that released an ABC album entitled “Phoenix” in late 1969,
there was no connection between McCabe and the original Phoenix. </span></font></span></span></font></span></span></font></span><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /></span></font></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>July 15-16, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Transatlantic Railroad </span></font></span></b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><i>(Tuesday-Wednesday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Transatlantic Railroad </b>was a Marin County band.<br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /><b>July 17-19, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Earl Hooker’s Chicago Blues Band </b><i>(Thursday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Earl Hooker</b> (1929-70) was a blues slide guitarist from Chicago. Although not famous today, he was and is well regarded by Chicago blues aficionados. He had played the Poppycock in May, so obviously it had been a successful engagement.<br /><br /><b>July 22-24, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Magic Sam Blues Band/Sam Lay Chicago Blues Band </b><i>(Tuesday-Thursday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>"<b>Magic Sam</b>" Maghett (1937-Dec 1, 1969) had been an influential blues guitarist in Chicago since his debut in 1957. He had a little more success in the early 60s, particularly with his 1967 Delmark album <i>West Side Soul</i>, and he was highly regarded by other blues guitarists for his distinctive style. His current album would have been 1968's <i>Black Magic</i>, also on Delmark. Tragically, Maghett died of a heart attack later in 1969, just as he was developing a name for himself.<br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Sam Lay</b> had been a professional blues drummer since 1957, and had played in Chicago with Little Walter. Lay had been the drummer in the initial incarnation of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in 1965 and 66. He was also a singer (he sang "Got My Mojo Working" on the Butterfield debut album). <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Sam-Lay-Sam-Lay-In-Bluesland/release/3068005">In 1969, Lay had released his only solo album on Blue Thumb, <i>Sam Lay In Bluesland</i></a>. It had been produced by old pal Nick Gravenites, who was based in San Francisco.<br /><br /><b>July 25, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />Dan Hicks had been the drummer in the 1965 incarnation of The Charlatans, but by 1968 he had been playing guitar and fronting the band. The Charlatans never rehearsed or gigged much (in any incarnation), and Hicks had an interest in psychedelically modified Texas Swing music, so in 1968 he had formed <b>Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks</b>. Initially it was as a side project, to open for The Charlatans and occasionally play local clubs like The Matrix. The original configuration of the band featured David LaFlamme of It’s A Beautiful Day on violin.<br /> </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>By mid-1969, the last version of The Charlatans had ground to a halt, and Dan Hicks And His Hot Licks were a full-tiime proposition. The lineup at this point was likely Hicks (guitar and lead vocals), Jon Weber (lead guitar), Sid Page (violin), Jaime Leopold (bass) and Sherry Snow (of Blackburn and Snow) and Marianne Price joining Hicks on vocals. Its not clear if there was a drummer this early, and the configuration of female vocalists changed in the early days. Columbia released their debut <i>Original Recordings</i> in late 1969, which included some of Hicks’s classic songs, including immortals like “How Can I Miss You When You Won’t Go Away” and ‘I Scare Myself.” Hicks and His Hot Licks had considerably more success with their early 70s Blue Thumb albums (such as <i>Striking It Rich</i> and <i>Last Train To Hicksville</i>). <br /> </span></font></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>July 29-30, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Tongue and Groove </span></font></span></b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><i>(Tuesday-Wednesday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Tongue and Groove</b> was another band linked to the infamous Charlatans. Lead singer Lynne Hughes had always been a sort of adjunct member of that band, occasionally joining them onstage. Tongue and Groove was basically a trio, with Hughes backed by ex-Charlatans Michael Ferguson (piano) and Richard Olsen (bass). They had released an album on Fontana earlier in 1969, helped out by various LA session musicians. I assume they had a full band when they played, but I don't actually know. Hughes was an interesting, bluesy singer, and she would end up in Stoneground the next year. <br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>The SF <i>Examiner</i> and Berkeley <i>Tribe</i> have conflicting listings about whether Tongue and Groove or Frumious Bandersnatch played on different dates this week. <br /><br /><b>July 31, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Frumious Bandersnatch </b><i>(Thursday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Frumious Bandersnatch</b> was based in Lafayette (Contra Costa County). The group had formed in late 1967, featuring the best players of a number of Contra Costa teenage outfits. The early lineup fell apart when most of its equipment was stolen from their Oakland rehearsal space in late 1967. However, the group reconstituted itself in early 1968 at bassist Ross Valory’s parents' ranch in Lafayette. The new lineup featured twin lead guitarists (David Denny and Jimmy Warner), a dynamic lead singer who also played guitar (Bobby Winkelmann) and a solid rhythm section (bassist Valory and drummer Jack King). The band had played The Poppycock in 1968, and even broadcast their show live on KZSU-fm, the Stanford station (a tape survives--there's a chance that the May 31 broadcast was actually from 1969).<br /><br />In the style of many Berkeley bands, Frumious Bandersnatch also recorded and released their own 3-song EP. It did not sell many copies, but it served as an advertisement for the band (and became a significant collector’s item over the years). The EP was recorded in Berkeley in April and May of 68 and released soon after. For the balance of the year, Frumious was picked up by Bill Graham’s Millard Agency and received numerous bookings, where their free flowing guitars were well received in concert. However, due to management and other issues, the band passed on some record company offers and despite their local popularity, the EP was the only official release of the group. <br /><br />Frumious Bandersnatch’s component parts were far more successful than the original group. Most of the 1968 lineup ended up in the Steve Miller Band at various times in the next decade (Winkelmann, King, Valory and Denny). More importantly, bassist Ross Valory and guitarist George Tickner (who had been in the 1967 version) founded Journey, who sold millions of records in the 1970s and 80s, and the Journey empire was run by Frumious’s road manager and van driver Walter ‘Herbie’ Herbert. In 1996 Big Beat Records released a fine Frumious Bandersnatch cd called <i>A Young Man’s Song</i>, featuring a collection of studio and demo recordings from all lineups of the group.<br /><br /><b>August 1, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Elvin Bishop Group/Joy of Cooking </b><i>(Friday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>The San Mateo <i>Times</i> reported that Joy of Cooking would start at 9:30
pm, and Elvin Bishop would play two sets at 10:30 and 12:30 pm. Both bands had played the Poppycock before this.<br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span> </span></span></span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Elvin
Bishop had been a teenager in Tulsa, OK who fell in love with the blues
he heard over the radio. In 1960 Bishop got a National Merit
Scholarship to the University of Chicago, where educating himself about
the blues took precedence over book learning. Bishop was part of the
small cadre of young white musicians who learned Chicago blues from the
blues masters themselves. Bishop formed a group with Paul Butterfield
that included black and white members, and it became a sensation in
Chicago. Guitarist Mike Bloomfield had joined the group when they were
signed to Elektra Records, and by late 1965 the Butterfield Blues Band
were rolling over everything in their path. <br /></span></span></span></span></font></span><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Bloomfield
left the group in early 1967 and moved to the Bay Area. Bishop took
over the lead guitar chores for the next two Butterfield Blues Band
albums (<i>Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw</i> and <i>In My Own Dream</i>).
Bishop left Butterfield as well, however, and moved to the Bay Area in
mid-1968. The Butterfield Blues Band had been particularly successful
and popular in the Bay Area, and Chicago had a significant expatriate
community in the Bay Area.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>By
early 1969, Bishop had put a band together. The first <b>Elvin Bishop
Group</b> featured Elvin on guitar and vocals, Art Stavro on bass, John
Chambers on drums and fellow Chicagoan "Applejack” (Jack Walroth) on
harmonica and vocals. The group was signed to Bill Graham’s Millard
Agency in April 1969 and also to Fillmore Records (distributed by
Columbia), for whom the band recorded <i>The Elvin Bishop Group</i>, released
later in 1969. Organist Stephen Miller, from the band Linn County, played on the album and seems to have been a
sort of <i>ex-officio</i> member. When Linn County broke up in early 1970, Miller would join the Elvin Bishop Group permanently for the next few years.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Chambers
and Stavro were San Francisco musicians who had played with a variety
of local groups (Chambers, for example, had played with both The We Five
and The Loading Zone). For backup vocals, Bishop had a quartet of young
women who were experienced gospel singers. However, since they were all
in high school and their father was a preacher, they were limited as to
what nights they could play and what venues they could appear at, and I
do not know if The Poppycock met those standards. The Pointer Sisters
went on to considerable success later.</span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>The
<b>Joy of Cooking</b> had formed as a duo in Berkeley called Gourmet’s
Delight, featuring guitarist Terry Garthwaite and pianist Toni Brown.
Garthwaite was a veteran of the Berkeley folk and bluegrass scene, and
Brown was an artist as well as a musician. The group had expanded to
include conga player Ron Wilson, bassist David Garthwaite (Terry’s
brother) and drummer Fritz Kasten. They shared management with Country
Joe and The Fish.</span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Joy
of Cooking was a significant group on the Berkeley scene, because both
Garthwaite and Brown were accomplished musicians. Although both were
excellent singers as well, Joy of Cooking featured the same kind of
lengthy jamming popular at the time, rather than short and sensitive
neo-folk songs that were more typical of women singers of the era. The
group were ultimately signed to Capitol Records and released their first
of three Capitol albums in 1971.<br /></span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><br /></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Joy Of Cooking (named after a then-popular cookbook) had built a following by playing <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Mandrakes.htm">regular weeknight gigs at a Berkeley club called Mandrake’s (at 1048 University Avenue)</a>. During much of 1969, The Poppycock and Mandrake’s shared a lot of acts.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7ioxrC0pRNk/YGjKrSbHoDI/AAAAAAAAIe0/smbYLZKKI80To2aiH9JRTcwsZBFzjEaWACLcBGAsYHQ/s300/Cleanliness%2Band%2BGodliness%2BCGSB%2BVanguard%2B68%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="297" data-original-width="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7ioxrC0pRNk/YGjKrSbHoDI/AAAAAAAAIe0/smbYLZKKI80To2aiH9JRTcwsZBFzjEaWACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Cleanliness%2Band%2BGodliness%2BCGSB%2BVanguard%2B68%2Blp.jpg" /></a></div><br />August 2, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band/Joy of Cooking </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />On Saturday night, the headliners were Berkeley's <b>Cleanliness And Godliness Skiffle Band.</b> <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Cleanliness%20and%20Godliness.htm">The CGSB had formed out of the same community of musicians that had given rise to Country Joe and The Fish</a>. Initially, the CGSB did actually play skiffle music, which was a sort of New Orleans Jug Band style. By 1969, they were playing a sort of swinging country rock, no longer acoustic but not fully electrified either. They released one album in 1968 on Vanguard, The Cleanliness And Godliness Skiffle Band's Greatest Hits (back when such a title for a debut album was still clever).<br /><br />More infamously, the CGSB were the primary musicians for an album called The Masked Marauders. Two Rolling Stone writers had written an obviously fake review of a "Supergroup" album called Masked Marauders. When people started calling record stores, they rushed into a Berkeley studio, and the CGSB and some friends mimicked the review, with songs like the touching "I Can't Get No Nookie."</span></font></span><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jKMaUAtxy80/X--iTI2fNfI/AAAAAAAAH-8/uDyYHZSbWcQNBAGpsIQAEg96tJbQw81twCLcBGAsYHQ/s348/Berkeley%2BTribe%2B19690801-Baylands%2B.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="337" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jKMaUAtxy80/X--iTI2fNfI/AAAAAAAAH-8/uDyYHZSbWcQNBAGpsIQAEg96tJbQw81twCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Berkeley%2BTribe%2B19690801-Baylands%2B.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>An ad in the Berkeley Tribe (August 1, 1969) for the free concert at Palo Alto's Baylands Athletic Center. I assure you "Embarcadero Rd East" were sufficient directions in those days.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /><b>August 2, 1969
Baylands Athletic Center, Palo Alto, CA: Sunbear/Underwood Jug Band/Western
Addition/United Circus Band/Devine Madness/Magic/Cide Minder/Happy
Now/Blu/Kid Africa/Schon & Ice </b><i>(Saturday) Free Concert 11pm-11am</i><br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>In the latter 60s, progressive Palo Alto had been far more tolerant of Be-Ins and free concerts than many other cities. In 1967 and '68 there had been no less than five free concerts at El Camino Park, the main City park near downtown. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2015/06/july-2-1967-el-camino-park-palo-alto-ca.html">The most legendary one featured the return of the Grateful Dead, on July 2, 1967</a>. 1968 events were headlined by <a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2010/02/100-el-camino-real-palo-alto-ca-june-23.html">the Sons Of Champlin</a> and the <a href="http://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2010/09/mfu-be-in-el-camino-park-palo-alto.html">Steve Miller Band (with a Carlos Santana guest appearance)</a>. The Be-Ins were organized by and fundraisers for <a href="http://midpeninsulafreeu.com/">the Mid-Peninsula Free University (yet another only-in-Palo-Alto saga).</a><br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Palo Alto was fine with hippies and topless girls; what bothered the locals was noise. Attempts to hold a Be-In at El Camino Park on July 4, 1969 were thwarted by a noise ordance. Palo Alto was still Palo Alto, though. The city offered another city facility, a newly-constructed softball stadium across the freeway, next to the Bay. <a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2020/07/august-2-1969-baylands-athletic-center.html">So the last Palo Alto Be-In was a free 12-hour event with 11 bands. No one recalls it, and it would have passed entirely into history except for me. I attempted to reconstruct what I could of this peculiar event elsewhere. </a>The bands were all obscure, even by my standards, but I attempt to sort them out at the link. <br /><br /></span></font></span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>August 8-9, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: </span></font></span>Sanpaku/Terry Dolan </span></font></span></b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/07/sanpaku-performance-list-1968-69.html"><b>Sanpaku</b> were a Sacramento based band with a horn section, featuring guitarist Mark Pearson, later in the Nielson-Pearson Band</a>. Sanpaku were managed by Bill Graham's organization.</span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Terry Dolan</b> was a singer/songwriter newly-arrived from the Washington, DC area. He would go on to some local recognition in the mid-70s, but at this time he was unknown.<br /><br /><b>August 9, 1969 Memorial Auditorium, Stanford U., Palo Alto, CA: New York Rock and Roll Ensemble with The San Francisco Symphony </b><i>(Saturday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>The New York Rock and Roll Ensemble</b> was a rock group featuring classically trained musicians. They toured around and performed with local symphonies in each region. They were playing a series of shows with the San Francisco Symphony. Memorial Auditorium, known for generations as “MemAud,” was Stanford’s biggest indoor hall. It seated 1700 and had been built in 1937. It was rarely used for rock shows, but then this event wasn't actually a rock show. This sort of hybrid hasn't aged particularly well. The main force in the NYRRE was keyboard player Michael Kamen, who would play with David Bowie in the mid-70s, and later was very successful creating film scores.<br /> </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>August 12, 1969 Lytton Plaza, Palo Alto, CA: </b><i>free concert and “riot”</i><br />Lytton Plaza was a paved park, with benches and trees, on the corner of University and Emerson Street (at 202 Emerson). Local banker Bart Lytton, founder of Lytton Savings Bank, had built the park in 1964 on the former site of The American Savings and Trust Building, which was across the street from the bank’s headquarters. Although downtown and unfenced, the little park was actually on private property. During the previous Summer (1968), <a href="August 12, 1969 Lytton Plaza, Palo Alto, CA: free concert and “riot” Lytton Plaza was a paved park, with benches and trees, on the corner of University and Emerson Street (at 202 Emerson). Local banker Bart Lytton, founder of Lytton Savings Bank, had built the park in 1964 on the former site of The American Savings and Trust Building, which was across the street from the bank’s headquarters. Although downtown and unfenced, the little park was actually on private property. During the previous Summer (1968), the MidPeninsula Free University had taken advantage of the private status and held some rallies and impromptu concerts at the park.">the MidPeninsula Free University</a> had taken advantage of the private status and held some rallies and impromptu concerts at the park.</span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><br /><br />Since
the park was private property, the police were not legally able to
intervene, as trespassing laws did not apply in the absence of fences.
It is a credit to Palo Alto’s tolerance that even though downtown
merchants (and many residents) objected to the concerts, the police
followed the letter of the law and allowed the miniature Be-Ins to take
place. Local high school bands seemed to have provided the music.<br /></span></span></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><br /></span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>By
1969, in response to the MPFU having taken advantage of the private
status of Lytton Plaza to hold concerts downtown, Lytton Bank (who owned
the plaza) posted regulations that required assemblies of more than 25
people to have written approval from the bank. This requirement was
widely ignored. Free concerts supposedly occurred almost every Saturday
night in the Spring and Summer of '69, often organized by a group of
Paly High students using the name “Free People’s Free Music Company.”
The only specific rock group that I know played there was a group called
Hydraulic Banana, featuring future Stoneground and Pablo Cruise pianist
<a href="http://www.corylerios.com/">Cory Lerios</a> and guitarist Phil Scoma, who later joined the final lineup of San Jose’s finest, The Chocolate Watch Band. In issue #2 of <i>Cream Puff War</i>, Scoma recalled the scene:<br /><blockquote><i>The
[Hyrdraulic] Banana played the Lytton Plaza protests, a sort of
mini-Berkeley and the first hip thing to happen in Palo Atlo. We were on
a stage with wheels; whenever the police came and the truck started,
you held onto your amp and went down the road, and the cords were left
wherever they came out (interview by Alec Palao, CPW #2, p.57)</i></blockquote>The
concerts apparently became increasingly contentious, at least one of
them devolving into mayhem when members of a motorcycle gang got into a
series of fights with some high school hippies. August 12, 1969 seems to be the key date, but I haven't been able to precisely connect that with vaguely recalled events. Perhaps this was the day everything escalated. In any case, even tolerant Palo Alto was losing its patience.<br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span> </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Since the high school
students in the bands were probably well known—Palo Alto is a small
town—it may seem surprising that the police played cat and mouse with
the organizers rather than cracking down more severely, as would have
been typical in other plqces. Palo Alto policemen, however, were well
paid compared to their peers in surrounding towns, and the there was
almost no violent crime in Palo Alto. In return for their benign jobs,
Palo Alto policemen were very hesitant to arrest the children of Palo
Alto residents, a fact known by every high school student in Palo Alto.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /><b>August 12, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: </b></span></font></span><b>Horses (Tuesday)</b></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>There was a 1968 South Bay band called <b>Horses</b>, featuring Dave Torbert (later in the New Riders and Kingfish) and Matthew Kelly (of Kingfish). They had released an album in 1968, on White Whale. I believe Horses had broken up by this time, however, and this was some other group.<br /><br /><b>August 15-16, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Mississippi Fred McDowell/Contemporary Jazz Quartet </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /></span></font></span><div><span style="font-size: small;"><b>“Missisippi” Fred McDowell</b> was born in Rossville, TN
in 1906. After a time in Memphis, he moved to Como, MS by the 1930s
where he lived the rest of his life. Though mostly a farmer, he played
locally most weekends for decades. McDowell was discovered by folklorist
Alan Lomax, who recorded him in 1959 and released a few tracks as part
of an Atlantic Records compilation. Berkeley’s Chris Strachwitz,
proprietor of the Arhoolie record label, tracked McDowell down and
recorded McDowell for Arhoolie.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">
The success of the first two Arhoolie albums (in 1964 and 1966) made
Mississippi Fred McDowell a sudden hit—after 40 or so years of
incubation—on the folk and blues circuit. McDowell’s song “You Got To
Move” was recorded by The Rolling Stones on <i>Sticky Fingers</i>,
Bonnie Raitt was proud to cite Mississippi Fred McDowell as a
significant influence, and recorded a number of his songs, and Hot Tuna
made his “Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning” a staple of their
electric and acoustic live sets.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">I'm not sure who the <b>Contemporary Jazz Quartet</b> were. There were almost no paying jazz gigs for modern jazz in the Peninsula at the time, so touring jazz groups sometimes played the Poppycock anyway. <br /></span></div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"></font></span><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3">
<span><br /></span></font></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0UzG5k7tfdg/XxyqmBN_b8I/AAAAAAAAG7o/9Ss55uuqhSczcf12AFt0A6qwD8qa5E24gCLcBGAsYHQ/s718/Frost%2Bconcert%2Bschedule%2B19690817%2BAugust%2B15%252C%2B1969%2B-%2BStanford%2BDaily%2BArchives.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="274" data-original-width="718" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0UzG5k7tfdg/XxyqmBN_b8I/AAAAAAAAG7o/9Ss55uuqhSczcf12AFt0A6qwD8qa5E24gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Frost%2Bconcert%2Bschedule%2B19690817%2BAugust%2B15%252C%2B1969%2B-%2BStanford%2BDaily%2BArchives.png" width="320" /></a></div>August
17, 1969 Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford U. Palo Alto, CA: Sons Of
Champlin/Country Weather/Cold Blood/Old Davis/Fritz/Congress Of Wonders </span></font></span></b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><i>(Sunday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>After the City of Palo Alto froze the MPFU out of El Camino Park, Stanford provided a compromise that allowed them to use Frost Amphitheatre for benefit concerts. Ironically, the biggest issue was that the MPFU did not want to charge admission--a strange way to run a benefit--followed by an issue associated with what charities were eligible for Stanford student concerts, but ultimately those were resolved.</span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Frost Amphitheatre was a beautiful grassy bowl at the edge of campus, at Campus Drive and Galvez Street. Frost was somewhat between downtown Palo Alto and the Stanford Shopping Center. It had been built in 1937, to honor a student who had passed away. With a capacity of 6,900, it was mostly used for graduation, speeches and major events. For the most part, it was too large for the rock shows of the day (at this time, Fillmore West had a capacity of 2,500, so Frost was nearly three times that). Stanford was always uneasy about using Frost for rock concerts, <a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2020/07/july-28-1968-frost-amphitheatre.html">but there had been a successful event in the Summer of '68,</a> so the University was clearly willing to consider it again. The concert featured some regular acts from the Poppycock, who in turn were probably trying to build an audience for themselves. This was the usual formulation for free or benefit concerts in the Bay Area--bands didn't get paid, but they got heard, and hoped it would pay off later.</span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /></span></font></span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><b>The
Sons of Champlin</b> were a Marin County band that were booked by West Pole
(Quicksilver’s management team, who also booked Ace Of Cups, Freedom
Highway and others). The genesis of the group was a Mt. Tamalpais High
School R&B group called The Opposite Six. The group, very
successful on the ‘teen’ dance circuit, played tight rhythm and blues.
Lead singer Bill Champlin aspired to sing like James Brown or Lou Rawls
rather than like Bob Dylan. When the draft decimated the group, it
reformed at the College Of Marin in 1966. However, the Dean of Students
objected to their name—The Master Beats—and on a whim they changed their
name to The Sons of Father Champlin.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>The
Sons of Champlin played a kind of soulful rock with Beatles-like
harmonies, and were discovered at the Fillmore and signed by local
entrepreneur Frank Werber, who had produced the Kingston Trio. From late
1966 they mostly recorded and played to a teenage audiences. While a
single (“Sing Me A Rainbow”) had some play on local station KFRC-am, the
expanding consciousness of the group was at odds with Werber’s
pop-oriented production. In mid-1967, by mutual agreement, the group
struck out on their own. The Big Beat cd <i>Fat City </i>is a wonderful representation of this mostly unreleased period.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>By
early 1968 the Sons had a horn section and were playing their unique
brand of soul-and-jazz-inspired psychedelia. Unlike many other rock
bands that featured ex-folkies still learning to play electric, the Sons
were all superb musicians who could play many instruments. Lead singer
Champlin was a fine organist and guitarist, Terry Haggerty was one of
the best lead guitarists in the Bay Area, and newly arrived (since late
67) Geoff Palmer played piano, vibes, saxophone and pretty much
everything else spectacularly well. By early 1969, the group had been
signed to Capitol, and their first album, a self-titled double album,
came out around May of 1969. According to road manager Charlie Kelly,
the double lp consisted of most of their live set (save for the odd
cover). </span></span></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><b>Country
Weather</b> were a Walnut Creek (Contra Costa County) group, from just over
the Berkeley Hills. They had originally been called The Virtues, but
soon after lead guitarist Greg Douglass joined, they changed their name
to Country Weather. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Country
Weather never released a record when they were together from 1967-73.
Since the group was familiar from many posters from 1968 onward, Country
Weather became one of the great lost San Francisco groups of the
1960s. Ultimately, the group reformed in the 21st century and still
performs occasionally. RD Records released some of their 60s demos and
live performances, alonmg with some 21st century recordings. <br /></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span></span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Greg
Douglass became a successful guitarist in the Bay Area, best known for
co-writing “Jungle Love” for Steve Miller, with whom he played for many
years. Douglass was also a member of Hot Tuna for one brief, sensational
tour in Spring 1975. </span></span></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span><b>Cold
Blood</b> had evolved out of a Peninsula band called The New Invaders (and
at one point, The Generation). Lead singer Lydia Pense (Woodside High
School) and lead guitarist Larry Field were both from Redwood City. The
New Invaders had been one of the first bands on the Peninsula to mix
rock guitar with an R&B horn section. Lead singer Pense, though
under 5 feet tall, could absolutely belt it out--she had won a talent
contest for best singer at the 1965 Teenage Fair held in Redwood City. <br /></span></span></span></span><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span>Cold
Blood had opened at Fillmore West for a few weekends in 1968. The first
time had been August 23-25, 1968 (for Quicksilver and Spooky Tooth).
Cold Blood was booked by Bill Graham's Millard Agency. The Millard
Agency figured out that a band that had opened at Fillmore West had a
lot of credibility out in the suburbs, and they did. While Cold Blood
shared some horn players with Tower Of Power over the years, and is
generally seen as an East Bay band (because of their sound), in fact
they were a true Peninsula band. <br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span>Cold Blood was signed to Bill Graham's label, San Francisco Records (distributed by Atlantic). <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Cold-Blood-Cold-Blood/release/5144377">They would release their debut album in mid-1969</a>, and got a lot of local FM play with their cover of Sam & Dave's "You Got Me Hummin'."<a href="http://www.lydiapense.com/"> Lydia Pense--no taller, but still sounding great--is still out there, bringing the soul.<br /></a></span></span></span></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Old Davis</b> was a popular Redwood City band, although I think they mostly played covers. By 1970, their lead guitarist would be Peninsula teenage sensation Neal Schon, and in fact members of Santana would discover Schon when he played the Poppycock with Old Davis. Schon was not in the band at this time, however.<br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Fritz</b> had originally formed at Menlo-Atherton High School (in Menlo Park) in 1966. For a high school band, they were reasonably successful. In Summer '67, however, the lead singer and guitarist were going off to college. Bassist Lindsay Buckingham invited his girlfriend Stephanie "Stevie" Nicks to join the band as lead singer. Both Buckingham and Nicks were from the well-to-do Peninsula community of Atherton. <a href="https://riffipedia.fandom.com/wiki/Fritz">Other members were lead guitarist Brian Kane, keyboard player Javier Pacheco and drummer Bob Aguirre. Pacheco wrote most of the songs, and Buckingham and Nicks were the primary singers.</a> Fritz played all over the Peninsula from 1968-70, until Lindsay and Stevie left the band to go to LA in 1971.<br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><b><a href="http://www.thecongressofwonders.com/"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2aD9n-JVcJI/YVDgHf9tCXI/AAAAAAAAJoY/BIaktBTJ3WI_OsCiQnzJWnCerZTWq0ROwCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/Congress%2BOf%2BWonders%2BRevolting%2BLP.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2aD9n-JVcJI/YVDgHf9tCXI/AAAAAAAAJoY/BIaktBTJ3WI_OsCiQnzJWnCerZTWq0ROwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Congress%2BOf%2BWonders%2BRevolting%2BLP.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Congress Of Wonders would release their debut album Revolting on Fantasy in 1970<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Congress of Wonders</a></b> were a
comedy trio from Berkeley, initially from the UC Berkeley drama department and
later part of <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2009/09/open-theater-berkeley-ca-2976-college.html">Berkeley’s Open Theater on College Avenue, a prime spot for what were called “Happenings”</a> (now ‘Performance Art’). The group performed at the
Avalon and other rock venues.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times";"></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; punctuation-wrap: simple; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><br /></span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><div><div class="MsoNormal"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; punctuation-wrap: simple; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Ultimately a duo, Karl
Truckload (Howard Kerr) and Winslow Thrill (Richard Rollins) created two
Congress of Wonders albums on Fantasy Records (<i>Revolting</i> and <i>Sophomoric</i>). Their pieces
<a href="https://youtu.be/O53xUPqE4jw">“Pigeon Park”</a> and “Star Trip”, although charmingly dated now, were staples of
San Francisco underground radio at the time. For some photos of The
Congress of Wonders, see
<a href="http://www.thestraight.com/gallerycongress.html" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; text-underline: single;">
here</a> (Earl Pillow (actually Wesley Hind) was the original third member) and
<a href="http://www.thecongressofwonders.com/" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; text-underline: single;">
here</a>. </span></span></span></p></div></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; punctuation-wrap: simple; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><br /></span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>For some photos of The
Congress of Wonders, see
<a href="http://www.thestraight.com/gallerycongress.html" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; text-underline: single;">
here</a> (Earl Pillow [actually Wesley Hind] was the original third member) and
<a href="http://www.thecongressofwonders.com/" style="color: blue; text-decoration: underline; text-underline: single;">
here</a>. </span></span></span></p><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7TT90bkTTnw/YGjMjRbUIXI/AAAAAAAAIfY/hKPQ5wstEkk0K5ZxrI-ZgDw98rTZwA3rQCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Milestones%2BSRC%2BCapitol%2B69%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7TT90bkTTnw/YGjMjRbUIXI/AAAAAAAAIfY/hKPQ5wstEkk0K5ZxrI-ZgDw98rTZwA3rQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Milestones%2BSRC%2BCapitol%2B69%2Blp.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />August 20-21, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: SRC/Happy Now </span></font></span></b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><i>(Wednesday-Thursday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SRC_(band)"><b>SRC</b> was a Detroit band</a>. SRC was short for Scott Richard Case, a reference to lead singer Scott Richardson. SRC were regular performers at Detroit's legendary Grande Ballroom. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/SRC-Milestones/release/1955707">In 1969, SRC had released their second album on Capitol, <i>Milestones</i></a>. SRC had opened at Fillmore West on August 5-7, and seemed to be touring around the West Coast. Weeknight gigs at the Poppycock were the kind of thing that kept road bands afloat.</span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Happy Now</b> is unknown to me.<br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>August 22-23, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Southern Comfort/Old Davis </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Southern Comfort</b> was led by saxophonist and vocalist Ron Stallings, and drummer, vocalist Bob Jones. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/11/john-kahn-live-performance-list-1967-68.html">Jones and Stallings had been in the informal T&A Rhythm and Blues Band with John Kahn</a>, and Kahn, Jones and Stallings were among the musicians who intermittently backed Mike Bloomfield when he felt like playing a gig. Southern Comfort released an album in 1970 on Columbia, produced by Kahn and Nick Gravenites. The album mostly featured songs by Stallings and Jones, and also featured trumpeter Mike Wilmeth and guitarist Fred Burton, both part of the same crew of musicians who worked with Gravenites and Bloomfield in the studio and live. Other members were bassist Karl Sevareid and organist Steve Funk. (The album also features a number of bass players--Bob Huberman and Art Stavro, with Kahn at least in the room).</span></font></span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br />Old Davis was playing the Poppycock, no doubt hoping to capitalize on their Sunday appearance at Frost for the MPFU Benefit.<br /></span></font></span><br /></span></font></span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>August 24, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: </span></font></span>Maximum Speed Limit </span></font></span></b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><i>(Sunday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Maximum Speed Limit</b> was a Berkeley band, but I don't know much else about them.<br /><br /><b>August 24, 1969 Cubberley High School, Palo Alto, CA: Cubberley High Big Band </b><i>with special guest </i><b>Don Elli</b>s <i>(Sunday)</i><br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Cubberley High School had been Palo Alto's second High School, at 4100 Middlefield Road, well South of Palo Alto High. Cubberley had a well-deserved reputation for being edgier and more progressive than the notoriously self-absorbed Paly (I went to Paly--Cubberley was indeed edgier, but we are proud of our self-absorption). </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Don Ellis,</b> a cutting edge jazz big band leader straddling the middle ground of jazz and rock, was making a guest appearance with the Cubberley band.<br /></span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></span></font></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>August 26-27, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: </span></font></span>Gold/Sunnyland Special </span></font></span></b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><i>(27 only)</i></span></font></span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><i>(Tuesday-Wednesday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Gold</b> was a Berkeley band tied to Country Joe. Leader Ron Cabral was an old pal of Joe's from the US Navy. <b>Sunnyland Special</b> is unknown to me.<br /><br /></span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>August 28, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: </span></font></span>Orion </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br /><br /></span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>August 29-31, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: </span></font></span>Sweet Linda Devine </b><i>(Thursday-Sunday)</i><br /><br /><b>September 5-6, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Elvin Bishop Group/Fritz </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />The businesses in downtown Palo Alto had been decimated by the rise of Stanford Shopping Center in the mid-1950s. University Avenue had become fairly dormant. As a result, downtown Palo Alto was a good location for the kind of hippie businesses that wouldn't be in the Stanford Mall: head shops, stores that sold beads and posters, and clothing from South America. Local Peninsula hippies, or teenage wannabe hippies, hung out around University Avenue during the day. Palo Alto was tolerant, and there were stores to check out. Since Stevie Nicks is quite famous today, there are plenty of recollections of people who met her around downtown Palo Alto back in the 60s. <br /></span></font></span><br /><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YGsTtcnzTAo/YGjKybDTcAI/AAAAAAAAIe4/uLZAvr0AFn4fgmY3xF2iDuS1k56rDAc4QCLcBGAsYHQ/s500/Incredible%2BKaliedoscope%2B69%2Blp%2BEpic.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YGsTtcnzTAo/YGjKybDTcAI/AAAAAAAAIe4/uLZAvr0AFn4fgmY3xF2iDuS1k56rDAc4QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Incredible%2BKaliedoscope%2B69%2Blp%2BEpic.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Incredible! Kaleidoscope, released in June 1969 on Epic</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />September 9-11, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Kaleidoscope </b><i>(Tuesday-Thursday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Kaleidoscope</b>,
from Los Angeles, were one of the great bands of the 60s. They pretty
much invented "World Music," at least the electric kind. Unfortunately,
the band was about 20 years too early. They put out 4 albums between
1967 and '70, and despite some primitive recording techniques, they all
hold up wonderfully today. The most famous member was David Lindley, the
now-legendary multi-instrumentalist who supported Jackson Browne for so
many years, and also had his own career leading the band El Rayo X.
Lindley played "harp-guitar," (look it up), lead guitar, electric violin
and some other instruments.</span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Lindley
shared the front line with two other musical monsters, Solomon
Feldthouse and Chester Crill, both of who played numerous instruments
themselves. By 1969, the rhythm section was drummer Paul Lagos and
bassist Stuart Brotman (who had replaced Chris Darrow, who himself would become
an LA studio heavyweight). In June 1969, Kaleidoscope had released their
3rd album on Epic, <i>Incredible Kaleidoscope</i>, and indeed it was. It included their classic song "Seven-Ate Sweet."</span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Kaleidoscope
was hugely popular with musicians, and too far out for most rock fans.
They would do things like gather in a circle, with two band members
playing electric violin, and the others electric bass and guitar, and
toss the instruments around the circle, each member playing difficult
music on violin, bass or guitar as needed. It was a stunt for audiences,
but fellow musicians just about fell over backwards. Jimmy Page said
that when the Yardbirds had played the Fillmore in 1968 (May 23-25),
during their breaks between the early and late sets he walked 12 blocks
over to the Avalon just to see Kaleidoscope play there.</span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Now,
here was one of the great bands of the 60s playing weeknights in the
suburb, probably to modest crowds. One dynamic of late 1969 was that
rock bands could get good gigs on the weekend, and the 200-ish capacity
Poppycock could not compete. So the Poppycock got some really good
bands, like the Kaleidoscope, but they played on weeknights. This effect
became more pronounced throughout the year. </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> <br /></span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></span></font></span></div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>September 12-13, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Cleveland Wrecking Company/Freedom Highway </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Cleveland Wrecking Company</b> was an interesting band who had been playing Bay Area clubs since 1968. The band, a 7-piece with horns, and often a female singer, had a completely different business model than every other hippie rock band in the Bay Area. Other bands were interested in making albums, and only played dances and the like when they were starting out, just to make ends meet. Cleveland Wrecking Company had the opposite approach.</span></font></span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>A google search of Cleveland Wrecking Company will net you pictures and references to playing huge dances for teenagers and young adults on late '60s and early 70s weekends. There was clearly real money to be made, and we have to presume they played their share of covers. During the week, however, and on some weekends, Cleveland Wrecking Company played rock clubs like The Matrix, and opened concerts for the Grateful Dead and others, presumably emphasizing original material. Bandleaders Jim Lowe (organ) and Norman Beale (lead guitar), had made a demo, to help book gigs, but they had no interest in making a record. They were, in effect, a Dance Band that moonlighted as an original rock band, instead of the opposite. Cleveland Wrecking Company broke up in 1972.<br /></span></font></span></span></font></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span><b>Freedom
Highway</b> were a band from Mill Valley, and another group that was booked by Ron
Polte’s West-Pole organization. The band had formed straight out of High School, so the
group had been playing for a few years already. They had played Palo Alto before (at the Cubberley graduation on June 15, 1967, opening for
Quicksilver, and at The Poppycock on March 8-9, 1968). The band was as influenced by British groups as well as Fillmore
bands, but never released an album and broke up in 1970. However, a nice <a href="http://cdbaby.com/cd/freedomhighway">album of 60s demos</a> was released
in this century. </span></span></span></span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><span> </span></span></span></span></span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /></span></font></span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>September 14, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: </span></font></span>Ice </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Ice</b> was another band booked by Ron Polte’s West-Pole group, although I
know little else about them. It seems clear that bookings by popular
West-Pole groups like The Sons of Champlin opened the door for bookings
for second tier groups like Ice. <br /><br /></span></font></span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>September 17-18, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: </span></font></span>Mother Bear <i>(Wednesday-Thursday)</i></span></font></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Mother Bear</b> lead guitarist Roger Salloom and singer Robin Sinclair were originally from Texas. They moved to Chicago, where they recorded the 1968 album <i>Saloom Sinclair and The Mother Bear</i> (on Cadet Concept). Their second album, 1969’s Salloom-Sinclair, was recorded in Nashville and had more of a country rock sound. The group appears to have relocated to the Bay Area in 1969. They had played at another club in Palo Alto earlier in the year. It's possible that Salloom and Sinclair had left the group by this time, and that Mother Bear was led by lead guitarist Tom Davis. Ultimately Roger Salloom returned to Texas and Robin Sinclair became the lead singer of Gold in about 1971.<br /><br /></span></font></span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>September 19-20, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: </span></font></span>AUM/Marvin Gardens </span></font></span></b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><a href="https://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2013/03/april-6-1969-avalon-ballroom-grateful.html"><b>AUM</b> (pronounced "ohm") were a Bill Graham-sponsored power trio who had released two albums in 1969 on Sire</a>.
Lead guitar, harmonica and vocals were provided by Wayne "The Harp"
Ceballos, along with Ken Newell on bass and Larry Martin on drums. Their
albums weren't bad, given the typical 60s exuberance. AUM was booked by Bill Graham's Millard Agency, so they were often booked as an opener for other Millard clients, like the Grateful Dead or Santana. <br /></span></font></span></div><div><br /><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Marvin Gardens</b> was another band that had played all the hippie
clubs in the 60s, recording a few demos but never putting out a record
or getting high on the bill at the Fillmore. Apparently they sounded
somewhat like Big Brother and The Holding Company. <a href="http://gaycultureland.blogspot.com/2017/05/marvin-gardens.html">Lead singer Carol Duke apparently became a well-known figure in the LBGTQ community,</a> but that was not widely known at the time. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Marvin-Gardens-1968/release/9614188">A retrospective album of Marvin Gardens demos (entitled <i>1968</i>) was released in the 21st century</a>. The group broke up in mid-1970, as far as I know.<br /></span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></span></font></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>September 24-25, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: </span></font></span>Shag </span></font></span></b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><i>(Wednesday-Thursday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Shag</b> is unknown to me. They may have been a Fresno band.<br /><br /></span></font></span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LH5p60ccwfY/YGjMp1ByvYI/AAAAAAAAIfc/pGRSkI7Z3ssTlmQzPmrLtAyhrZOCg8mxACLcBGAsYHQ/s500/Linn%2BCounty%2BFever%2BShot%2B1969%2BMercury.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="494" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LH5p60ccwfY/YGjMp1ByvYI/AAAAAAAAIfc/pGRSkI7Z3ssTlmQzPmrLtAyhrZOCg8mxACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Linn%2BCounty%2BFever%2BShot%2B1969%2BMercury.jpg" /></a></div><br />September 26-27, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: </span></font></span>Linn County/AB Skhy </span></font></span></b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>It is possible, even likely, that each of these performers was headlining a different
night, as both had headlined the Poppycock before.<br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Linn County</b> were from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, by way of Madison, Wisconsin and Chicago. Known as The Prophets in Cedar Rapids, they had become the house band at a Chicago club called Mother Blues and changed their name to Linn County Blues Band (Cedar Rapids is in Linn County). The group was led by organistStephen Miller </span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>(the better known, guitar playing Steve Miller had long since graduated to headline status at the Fillmore and Avalon).</span></font></span>. </span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><a href="https://cibs.org/events-programs/iowa-blues-hall-of-fame/stephen-miller/">Stephen Miller (1942-2003) was the organ player and singer in Linn County, and later a mainstay of the original Elvin Bishop Group</a> . </span></font></span>They were signed by Chess Records and begun to record, but Mercury Records heard them, signed them away and moved them to San Francisco.</span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Linn County's debut album (<i>Proud Flesh Soothseer</i>) had been released in 1968. In 1969, the band would release two more albums, <i>Fever Shot</i> and <i>Til The Break Of Dawn</i>, but I don't know the exact release dates. The other band members were Fred Walk (guitar), Larry Easter (saxophones), Dino Long (bass) and Ray "Snake" McAndrew (drums). The album isn't bad, and they were probably a really good live band in a nightclub. Stephen Miller sat in with the Elvin Bishop Group when his schedule permitted, and would join them full-time when Linn County broke up in early 1970.<br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /><b>AB Skhy</b> were a progressive blues group from Milwaukee, WI where they had been known as The New Blues. In mid-1968, they moved to the Bay Area from Wisconsin, and were joined by organist Howard Wales, from Cincinnati via El Paso and Seattle. AB Skhy had played the Poppycock in December 1968, and then February 1969. The front man was guitarist/singer Dennis Geyer, but Wales was the standout soloist.<br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Sometime in 1969, the band released their first album on MGM Records. It was typically bluesy, but Howard Wales unique organ playing set them apart. (a second album, without Wales, would be released in 1970). I don't actually know when Howard Wales left AB Skhy, so I don't know if he was playing at the Poppycock this weekend.<br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /></span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>September 28, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: </span></font></span>Anonymous Artists of America </b><i>(Sunday)</i></span></font></span><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>The Anonymous Artists of America</b>
were a peculiar band, and like many peculiar bands they had deep roots
in Palo Alto. Initially, the band had formed around 1966 with some
like-minded souls, mostly dropouts from Stanford University. Founder
Lars Kampen came into a little inheritance, which he promptly spent on
new instruments. The band, mostly, couldn't play those instruments, but
their journey of self-discovery was part of their performance process.
They had debuted at a Wedding Ceremony held at the Fillmore Auditorium
on July 24, 1966. Some member of the Merry Pranksters crew had gotten
married, and the ceremony was held after the Quicksilver concert. Later,
on Halloween, the AAA had played Ken Kesey's infamous Acid Test
Graduation, described in detail by Tom Wolfe in the Electric Kool-Aid
Acid Test.</span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Throughout
1967, the AAA had done the true hippie thing. They had a primitive
synthesizer, known as a Buchla Box, inherited from the Merry Pranksters.
They played gigs like The Barn in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and outdoor
Be-Ins. They had played the San Jose Be-In, and the Palo Alto Be-In
with the Grateful Dead (on July 2, 1967). Initially, the group had lived
in a crumbling mansion in the Redwood City hills, but ultimately they
moved to Potrero Hill.</span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /></span></font></span></div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>By
1969, the AAA was somewhat more serious as a group. Some of the members
had dropped out, including Jerry Garcia's ex-wife (Sara Ruppenthal) and
her then-husband. While the band was more serious, they were hardly
mainstream--the Anonymous Artists of America are still mainly remembered
for the fact that bassist Trixie Merkin (surprise, not her real
name) almost always played topless. In the Fall of 1969, the band made a
stab at playing around like a real band (albeit with a topless
bassist). In 1970, most of the band members would move to Colorado and
form a commune.<br /></span></font></span><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /></span></font></span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>September 30-October 8, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Big Mama Thornton </b><i>(Tuesday-next Wednesday)</i><br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Big Mama Thornton</b> had been a popular and important blues singer since
the early 1950s. She originally recorded “Hound Dog” in 1952, years
before Elvis Presley, and her 1968 version of “Ball And Chain” was a
huge influence on Janis Joplin’s more famous cover version (as Janis was
the first to admit). However, Thornton’s successful records did not
lead to her own financial success, and despite being a fine performer
she was notoriously difficult to work with. Nonetheless, she seems to
have headlined for over a week at The Poppycock, so she
unquestionably had a following. While Thornton was not said to be
“reliable,” at her best she was apparently an exceptional singer. </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>The eight-day booking was rare for the Poppycock, and I suspect Big Mama may not have played on one or two of the weeknights.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G6GuIPXDP4U/X-pln8KqiLI/AAAAAAAAH6Y/tHGCMTA0A4QKiZW34w7rgulWztLOgImcwCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/sanpakuDogFrost19691005b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="242" data-original-width="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G6GuIPXDP4U/X-pln8KqiLI/AAAAAAAAH6Y/tHGCMTA0A4QKiZW34w7rgulWztLOgImcwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/sanpakuDogFrost19691005b.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Sanpaku's Bob Powell (organ), Mark Pearson (guitar), Duane 'Motor' Timme (kneeling) and Gary Larkey, plus an unnamed dog, at Stanford's Frost Amphitheatre on October 5, 1969 (photo by and thanks to Michael Parrish). <br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table></span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /><b>October 5, 1969
Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford U., Palo Alto, CA: It’s a Beautiful Day/Mike Bloomfield
& Mark Naftalin/Cold Blood/Southern Comfort/Sanpaku/Old Davis </b><i>Benefit for MPFU (Sunday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>The August 17 Free University benefit at Frost had been enough of a success to repeat the exercise. <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/05/frost-amphitheater-stanford-university.html ">Despite all my best efforts, however, I haven't been able to nail down exactly who actually played</a>. I think the practical reason was that many Palo Alto area teenagers dropped in and saw some bands, but many probably weren't there for the whole show (or were otherwise distracted).</span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /><b>It's A Beautiful Day</b> had released their debut album in June, 1969. The single from that album, "White Bird" was not only heavily played on FM radio, it had become an AM hit as well--rare for a Fillmore West band. The song would rise to #3 on the KYA-am chart. The song didn't break out as a National single, but "White Bird' has been a rock classic ever since. It's A Beautiful Day, with leader David LaFlamme's stately violin, and the shared vocals between LaFlamme and singer Patti Santos, seemed ticketed for a big career. For various reasons, not least a bitter dispute with manager Matthew Katz, 1969 was the band's high water mark. In October, however, this would have been a big deal in Palo Alto: a band with a hit single and Fillmore West credibility headlining Frost Amphitheatre.</span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>As far as I can tell, Mike Bloomfield did not show up. This wasn't uncommon. While I'm sure a few fans were disappointed, for all his name recognition, Bloomfield was a local act. Missing him wasn't like missing someone who only came through town once a year. </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Sanpaku</b> was a sophisticated eight-piece band with a horn section. They were managed by the Bill Graham organization, and booked by the Millard Agency. The Sanpaku story is pretty interesting, but I have covered it at length elsewhere. Palo Alto teenager Michael Parrish attended the Frost show, and took a few pictures of the band (one is above). Millard had booked both Cold Blood and Sanpaku for this show, part of their strategy of building audiences for their bands out in the suburbs and colleges.</span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Southern Comfort</b> had initially been a band of San Francisco studio players, but they had written some songs and started playing around. The lead singer and drummer was Bob Jones (ex-We Five), with Fred Burton on guitar, Steve Funk on keyboards and Ron Stallings on tenor sax and vocals (the bass chair was never really stable). Jones and Burton were first call players for producer Nick Gravenites, along with bassist John Kahn. They had played on records by Brewer And Shipley, Danny Cox and others. In 1970, Gravenites and John Kahn would co-produce Southern Comfort's only album for Columbia.</span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> <br /></span></font></span></div><p><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>By 1970, future Santana guitarist Neal Schon was a member of Old Davis, but I don't think he was in the band yet.</span></font></span><br /></p><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>October 6-8, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Chicago Blues Band </b><i>(Monday-Wednesday)</i><br />The San Francisco <i>Examiner</i> listed "Chicago Blues Band." Clearly they had left off a name (e.g. Luther Tucker's Chicago Blues Band, or something like that). <br /><br /></span></font></span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>October 9-11, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: </span></font></span>Chicago Blues All-Stars (Willie Dixon, Big Walter Horton, Johnny Shines)/Magic Theater </span></font></span></b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><i>(Thursday-Saturday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>As experienced Chicago blues musicians found a second career playing
for white hippies, more and more acts found it profitable to tour the
rock circuit. Willie Dixon was a Chess producer and songwriter as well
as a bassist and singer, composer of “Hoochie Coochie Man” and many
other blues classics. Harmonica player Walter “Shakey” Horton (born
1917) and guitarist Johnny Shines (born 1915) were older musicians, part
of the first wave of Southern musicians who migrated to Chicago to work
(Shines had even been Robert Johnson’s traveling partner for a time).
They had both been somewhat retired after the late 1950s, but the blues
revival of the late 1960s brought them back into the spotlight. </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><br /><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> This booking conflicts with
dates at Mandrake’s in Berkeley (where Dixon was scheduled from the 10th
to the 12th). Once again, I believe it is a case where both gigs were
advertised before the exact schedule had been worked out.</span></font></span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span> <br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Magic Theater were a hippie Berkeley performance troupe, founded by
director John Lion (1944-99) who presented plays in nontraditional
venues like rock clubs. The troupe moved to San Francisco in 1977, and
was still putting on plays in 2008.<br /><br /></span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--poPDatXLAY/YGjK7VESmBI/AAAAAAAAIfA/7wvj6QKfHg8_Z6HmqrjFR5Tq-QidcqJZgCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Charlie%2BMusselwhite%2BTennesse%2BWoman%2B1969.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--poPDatXLAY/YGjK7VESmBI/AAAAAAAAIfA/7wvj6QKfHg8_Z6HmqrjFR5Tq-QidcqJZgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Charlie%2BMusselwhite%2BTennesse%2BWoman%2B1969.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />October 12-14, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: </span></font></span>Charlie Musselwhite </b><i>(Sunday-Tuesday)</i><br /></span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>The Examiner has Musselwhite on October 9-11, also (instead of Willie Dixon), but</span></font></span> I’m not sure if Musselwhite would have played the whole week. Musselwhite had been a regular performer at the Poppycock for some time.<br /></span></font></span></div><div><br /><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><b>Charlie
Musselwhite</b> had been born in Mississippi and moved to Memphis, and then
ultimately to Chicago. He was one of a small number of white musicians
in Chicago (including Nick Gravenites, Paul Butterfield, Mike
Bloomfield, Elvin Bishop and a few others) who had stumbled onto the
blues scene by themselves. <br /></span></span></span></span></font></span><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>A Chicago club regular, Musselwhite eventually recorded an album for Vanguard in 1967 called <i>Stand Back</i>,
which started to receive airplay on San Francisco’s new underground FM
station, KMPX-fm. Friendly with the Chicago crowd who had moved to San
Francisco, his band was offered a month of work in San Francisco in
mid-1967, so Musselwhite took a month’s leave from his day job and
stayed for a couple of decades.</span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Musselwhite
released his second album on Vanguard, <i>Stone Blues</i>, in 1968. Sometime
in 1969, Vanguard released <i>Tennessee Woman</i>. Musselwhite was a regular on
the Bay Area club scene, and had played the Fillmore and Avalon as
well. In Chicago, Musselwhite was just one of many fine blues acts, but
in the Bay Area he stood out. </span></span></span></div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /><b>October 15-16, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Womb </b><i>(Wednesday-Thursday)</i><br /><b>Womb</b> was a local band. I think they were previously called Birth<br /><br /></span></font></span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>October 17-18, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: </span></font></span>Jesse Fuller/Ice </span></font></span></b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Jesse Fuller</b> was a "one-man band" who accompanied himself on guitar and a homemade percussion contraption called a Fotodella. Fuller wrote some songs that were known around the rock circuit, like "San Francisco Bay Blues" and "Beat It On Down The Line" (recorded by the Grateful Dead).</span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /><b>Ice</b> was a Marin band booked by Ron Polte, who managed Quicksilver Messenger Service.</span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /></span></font></span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>October 22-23, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: </span></font></span>Mendelbaum </span></font></span></b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><i>(Wednesday-Thursday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Mendelbaum</b>, formerly the Mendelbaum Blues Band, were newly arrived from Madison, WI. They had been pretty successful in Wisconsin, but they chose to relocate to San Francisco, since their favorite bands came from there. This story was pretty common in the 60s. A lot of bands would be killing it in their home territory, but knew they had to go somewhere to get noticed. The choices were usually New York, Los Angeles or San Francisco. </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Mendelbaum did better than a lot of bands. They played regularly at the Matrix and other clubs, and they ended up playing Fillmore West a few times. Still, by 1971 they seemed to have realized they weren't going to get over the hump and broke up. In 2002, the German label Shadoks released a double cd of live and studio recordings by Mendelbaum, from the Matrix, Fillmore West and Wally Heider's Studio. </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Mendelbaum guitarist Chris Michie (1948-2003) stayed in the Bay Area, and had a fairly successful career. He scored a lot of commercials, and toured for a while with Van Morrison (he also wrote an interesting 2001 autobiography, <i>Name Droppings</i>). Drummer Keith Knudsen (1948-2005) stayed too, and he would join Lee Michaels in 1971, and then was in the Doobie Brothers during their prime years from 1973-82, and also the band Southern Pacific from 1985-89.<br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /></span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>October 24, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: </span></font></span>Loading Zone </b><i>(Friday)</i><br /><br /></span></font></span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>October 25, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: </span></font></span>John Fahey/Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup </span></font></span></b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><i>(Saturday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>John Fahey</b> was an acoustic guitar pioneer, founder of both Takoma Records and a whole style of music. Fahey had been a regular performer on the Berkeley folk scene for several years by this time. </span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Fahey<b> </b>was
a unique, transcendent acoustic guitarist with unmatchable technique.
His music was difficult and not relaxing--like Fahey himself,
apparently--but he was a</span></font></span> significant influence on County Joe McDonald’s compositions, as well as the guitar playing of musicians like Leo Kottke and Robbie Basho.<br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br />R&B singer <b>Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup</b> had started recording for Ace Records back in the 1940s. He is best known outside of blues circles for having written "That's Alright, Mama" and "My Baby Left Me," both made famous by Elvis Presley.</span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /></span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>October 31-November 1, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Congress Of Wonders/Lamb/Terry Dolan/Eric The Magician</b> <i>(Friday-Saturday)</i> </span></font></span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Lamb</b> was the songwriting duo of pianist/singer Barbara Mauritz (1948-2014) and guitarist Bob Swanson. Ultimately they would get a rhythm section, but at this time they probably just had a bass player. <a href="https://homesweetjeromedrapaport.wordpress.com/2014/04/17/in-memorium-barbara-mauritz-of-lamb/">Lamb was managed by Diane Sward of the Bill Graham organization</a>. In 1970, Lamb would release their first of four albums for Columbia, <i>A Sign Of Change</i>.</span></font></span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Eric The Magician</b> is unknown to me. <br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b> </b></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>November 6, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Folk and Blues Workshop with Brian Day </b><i>(Thursday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>The Folk and Blues Workshop was usually held every Tuesday night, but it was rarely mentioned in the newspaper listings. In this case, it seems to have been noted because for this week it was on a Thursday instead.</span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br />Two doors down from the Poppycock was the Tangent, at 119 University. The Tangent loomed large in Palo Alto music history, even though it was basically just a deli and pizza parlor. In 1963, two restless Stanford Hospital doctors had rented an upstairs room there and started a folk club called The Top Of The Tangent. Among the performers were Jerry Garcia, Jorma Kaukonen, Bob Weir and Janis Joplin, along with many others who would take the stage at the Fillmore and Avalon a few years later. Music had gotten bigger, however, and the Tangent was pretty small, so by mid-67 the bands were all playing the Poppycock.</span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>The Tangent had not stopped presenting shows, however, They regularly had an improvisational comedy group (the Illegitimate Theater), and sometimes jazz and rock groups, although not well known ones. Their were still regular "hoots" at The Tangent, although the focus was more on original songwriting than folk music. </span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>The
Folk Blues Workshop was a kind of "Best Of The Hoots" ensemble that
played different clubs around the Bay Area. The best known graduate of
this process was folksinger Jim Page (no, not him), now based out of
Washington State.</span></font></span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><a href="http://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2010/02/135-university-avenue-palo-alto-ca.html?showComment=1455474872405#c6484697140205228369">The Folk Blues Workshop was run by an engineer named Chris Lunn, who was restless for something other than his work--a nice synergy with the restless doctors who had begun the Top Of The Tangent</a>. Ultimately, Lunn moved to Tacoma, WA, but <a href="http://www.victorymusic.org/">he has been inspring songwriters ever since with an organization called Victory Music</a>. <br /></span></font></span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> <br /></span></font></span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>November 7, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA:</span></font></span> Anonymous Artists of America </span></font></span></b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><i>(Friday)</i></span></font></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OLlD4d0NUM4/YGjJ5AAu4lI/AAAAAAAAIes/0z855l3lVuwkf6TBocxw55mKsl3J7IEEQCLcBGAsYHQ/s836/Poppycock--19691108%2Bflyer.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="836" data-original-width="616" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OLlD4d0NUM4/YGjJ5AAu4lI/AAAAAAAAIes/0z855l3lVuwkf6TBocxw55mKsl3J7IEEQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Poppycock--19691108%2Bflyer.jpg" /></a></div><br />November 8, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA:</span></font></span> John Fahey/Billy Joe Becoat</b><i> (Saturday)</i><br /><b>Billy Joe Becoat</b> is unknown to me.<br /><br /></span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>November 9, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Rhythm Dukes</b><i> (Sunday)</i><br />The <b>Rhythm Dukes </b>were a band based in Felton, in the Santa Cruz Mountains, even though its members all originally came from Marin. When Moby Grape disintegrated in mid-1969, songwriting partners Jerry Miller and Don Stevenson decided to form a new group, and teamed up with the remnants of a group called Boogie (bassist John "Fuzzy" Oxendine and drummer John Craviatto). Miller and Stevenson were the vocalists, and Miller played lead guitar. Stevenson had played drums in Moby Grape, but he played rhythm guitar in the Dukes. Bassist John Barrett and drummer Fuzzy Oxendine rounded out the group.<br /><br />The band had problems, not least because promoters kept billing them as Moby Grape. Stevenson left the group in mid-1969, leaving them a power trio. Ultimately guitarist Ned Torney and saxophonist Rick Henry were added to the group, although I'm not sure if they were in the band in November. These two in turn would be replaced by Bill Champlin, during a time in 1970 when the Sons were on hiatus. A demo recording of the Miller/Champlin lineup was released some decades later. The Rhythm Dukes would continue on until 1971 with various members. All of The Rhythm Dukes remained friends, and the group occasionally reformed for fun (<a href="http://brunoceriotti.weebly.com/the-rhythm-dukes.html">for a more complete history, see Italian historian Bruno Ceriotti's site</a>).</span></font></span></span></font></span><br /><br /></span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>November 10, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA:</span></font></span> </span></font></span></b><i>Auditions and Special Guests (Monday)</i><i><br /></i><br /></span></font></span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>November 11, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA:</span></font></span> </span></font></span></span></font></span></b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><i>Workshop (Tuesday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Chris Lunn's Folk and Blues Workshop returned to its regular Tuesday night slot.<br /><br /></span></font></span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>November 12, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA:</span></font></span> </span></font></span>Canterbury Fair </span></font></span></b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><i>(Wednesday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Canterbury Fair</b> are unfamiliar to me, although there name appears on ads for numerous venues. <br /><br /></span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>November 13, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA:</span></font></span> </span></font></span>New Riders of The Purple Sage </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br />Los Altos resident John Dawson had been working at a songwriter since the early 1960s. By 1968, he was playing them Wednesday nights at a Hofbrau in Menlo Park called The Underground. The Underground was at 925 El Camino Real, right next to Kepler's Books. In Spring 1969, he visited his old friend Jerry Garcia in Kentfield, and played his songs while Jerry played his newly purchased pedal steel guitar. Garcia decided to sit in with Dawson on those Wednesday nights when the Dead were not otherwise engaged. </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Old South Bay pal David Nelson was also available, as The New Delhi River Band had broken up as well. After assorted Wednesday nights as a trio (the first trio gig was on May 14, 1969), a plan evolved to use the Grateful Dead rhythm section to create a band.<br /><br />The early New Riders Of The Purple Sage—the name was created by Dead lyricist Robert Hunter as oblique references to a Zane Grey novel and to Nelson’s New Delhi River Band—played Dawson’s originals along with a selection of Honky Tonk and Top 40 tunes. Garcia stuck to the pedal steel, leaving the electric lead guitar and vocal harmonies to David Nelson, while Bob Matthews (bass) and Mickey Hart (drums), with no experience in either Top 40 or Honky Tonk music, lent their unique stylings to the band. Throughout 1969, the group played rather obscure club gigs on weeknights when the Dead were in town.<br /><br />Although a minor gig on a Thursday night, playing next door to The Tangent would have been a homecoming of sorts for Garcia, and Nelson had never played in Downtown Palo Alto in a rock group. The New Riders only played The Poppycock in November, perhaps twice (see below). Nonetheless, the fact that Garcia appeared even once at the Poppycock ensured a long, foggy history of rumors that “The Grateful Dead used to play The Poppycock all the time.” Every venue in the Bay Area that ever featured a Garcia appearance (usually with the New Riders) inevitably created a chain of local rumor that expanded into imagined frequency and importance (one tiny venue claimed on its website that the Dead used to play there “every Tuesday night” in 1970).</span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br />In fact, besides a couple of November New Riders appearances, it does appear that the Grateful Dead really did play the Poppycock. Of course, this likely-but-unconfirmable event only added to the legend of the Poppycock. The club had been a happening part of the Bay Area rock circuit from mid-68 to mid-69, but by this time it was fading away. Still, because Jerry Garcia (and Stevie Nicks) had played there in late '69, the legend of the club extended into the future.<br /><br /></span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>November 14, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA:</span></font></span> </span></font></span>Mendelbaum </b><i>(Friday)</i><br /><br /></span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>November 15, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA:</span></font></span> </span></font></span>Phoenix/Freedom Highway </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Phoenix
would break up in early 1970, and morph into a Santa Cruz based group
called Potter’s Wheel. </span></font></span><br /> </span></font></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>November 16, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA:</span></font></span> </span></font></span>John Smith </span></font></span></b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><i>(Sunday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>John Smith</b> is unknown to me.<br /><br /></span></font></span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>November 19, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA:</span></font></span> </span></font></span>Errico </span></font></span></b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><i>(Wednesday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Errico</b> is unknown to me. I'm certain that the band name was not a reference to Sly And The Family Stone drummer Greg Errico, who was touring hard at this time. It's possible, however, that this was a band led by singing drummer Jan Errico, Greg's cousin. Jan Errico had been the lead singer for The Mojo Men (and also The Vejtables), and she had sung lead on the band's 1967 hit cover of "Sit Down I Think I Love You." Jan Errico was a talented singer and pretty good drummer, but she more or less passed on her possible opportunity for rock stardom and its rewards and pitfalls.<br /><br /></span></font></span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>November 20, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA:</span></font></span> </span></font></span>New Riders of The Purple Sage </span></font></span></b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><i>(Thursday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>The New Riders were booked for two Thursdays in a row. This night was the second one. There is some whiff that possibly they did not play this night. <br /><br /></span></font></span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>November 21-22, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA:</span></font></span> </span></font></span>Mime Troupe Gutter Puppets/Gorilla Marching Band </span></font></span></b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>This confusing listing from the San Francisco <i>Examiner</i> suggests an<b> SF Mime Troupe</b> booking. I suspect that "Gutter Puppets" and "Gorilla Marching Band" were names of performance pieces by the Troupe, rather than separate ensembles.<br /><br /></span></font></span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>November 23, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA:</span></font></span> </span></font></span>Happy Now (Sunday)</span></font></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Happy Now</b> is unknown to me. It is possible they were a band called Happy Day (also unknown to me).<br /><br /></span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ce_FexD4fOs/YGjMvB-EQiI/AAAAAAAAIfg/mriZr4uJBBIN9aQ9SmCAEXG_Q3xrYikcACLcBGAsYHQ/s605/Floating%2BBridge%2BVault%2Blp%2B1969.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="599" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ce_FexD4fOs/YGjMvB-EQiI/AAAAAAAAIfg/mriZr4uJBBIN9aQ9SmCAEXG_Q3xrYikcACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Floating%2BBridge%2BVault%2Blp%2B1969.jpg" /></a></div><br />November 27, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Floating Bridge </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br /><b>Floating Bridge</b> were from Seattle. They were a “heavy” band featuring the twin guitar leads of Rich Dangel and Joe Johansen. They had been an established band in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest since about early 1968, but were probably touring California in support of their album on Vault Records. Dangel had been the lead guitarist for Northwest legends The Wailers (today mostly known as The Fabulous Wailers, to distinguish them from Bob Marley) and Dangel was widely regarded as one of the best guitarists in Seattle (not least by his former roommate, Larry Coryell). At various junctures, Floating Bridge also featured an electric cellist (who doubled on saxophone), setting them apart from most contemporaries.<br /><br />The Wailers, from Tacoma, WA had hit it big nationally with the song “Tall Cool One.” The Wailers and The Sonics were anchors of the Tacoma/Seattle scene, particularly a place called The Spanish Castle (memorialized by Jimi Hendrix in “Spanish Castle Magic”). Dangel had left around 1965 (The Wailers continued on, as they do to this day) and moved to California. After briefly forming a band called The Rooks, he ended up in The Time Machine, in San Diego. When the Time Machine broke up, Dangel and another member (bassist Joe Johnson) moved back to Seattle and formed The Floating Bridge.<br /><br />The Floating Bridge were fondly remembered by those who saw them live. Their 1969 debut album on Vault Records featured a lengthy jam on a medley of “Eight Miles High” and “Paint It Black.” Dangel continued to be a highly regarded guitarist on the Seattle scene until his death in 2002.<br /></span></font></span></span></font></span><br /></span></font></span><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>November 28-29, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA:</span></font></span> </span></font></span>Cal Tjader Quintet </span></font></span></b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Although he was from nearby San Mateo and of Swedish extraction, <b>Cal
Tjader</b> (1925-1982) was an important figure in Latin Jazz. He was also a
successful jazz musician in general. His career is too lengthy to detail
here, but among many other things he was the drummer in Dave Brubeck’s
original band, and worked with Brubeck in the early 1950s. Tjader
learned to play the vibraphone, and began The Cal Tjader Modern Mambo
Quintet at The Blackhawk club in San Francisco in 1954. Tjader had a
successful and interesting career in both jazz and Latin music (the term
“Salsa” to describe lively Latin dance music comes from chanting on the title track of 1965 Tjader record called “Soul Sauce (Guachi Guaro”). <br /><br /><b>December 2, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Folk and Blues Workshop </b><i>(Tuesday)</i><br /><br /><b>December 5, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Mark Spoelstra/Fritz </b><i>(Friday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Mark Spoelstra</b>, who had released some folk albums on Elektra in the
early 1960s, was now based in Sonoma County performing in a country
styled group along with guitarist Mitch Greehnill and steel guitarist
Mayne Smith. All three wrote and sang, and were joined by a rhythm
section. They played in a more traditional “Western” style, rather than
in the Bakersfield oriented style being played by The Flying Burrito
Brothers and others. <br /><br /><b>December 10-11, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Gold </b><i>(Wednesday-Thursday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>December 17 <i>(?)</i>, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: The Grateful Dead </span></font></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>The most signficant and most mysterious appearance at the Poppycock involves the time the <b>Grateful Dead</b> played there. Initially, as a Palo Alto native, I dismissed the vague rumors of a Dead appearance downtown as the usual hyperbole. Take it from me, in the 70s, alumni of every high school and nightclub would always swear up and down to some version of "Jerry went to my school" or "the Dead played graduation" or "the Dead showed up one night to jam." In some cases, there was a half-truth, typically that the New Riders had actually played, but there was no reason to take any assertions otherwise at face value.</span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Nonetheless, persistent research and a preponderance of evidence suggests that the Grateful Dead really did play the Poppycock. Without going too far down the rabbit hole, I will point out some reasons for confidence, and why I am assigning this approximate date to the event.</span></font></span></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>The operator of the club, Roy Kelsey, remembers the Grateful Dead playing the club. It's not likely he would forget that event, or mistake it for a New Riders show</span></font></span></li><li><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Since the New Riders had played the club, it seems plausible that the Dead would consider playing there. That is my logic for assigning a date after the New Riders' known appearance (above)</span></font></span></li><li><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Fellow scholar LIA found a convincing eyewitness account, mentioning that the Dead were "on their way from somewhere else." I don't actually believe that, but I do believe that was an explanation they would give. Even by '69, the Dead had to plan appearances, but it was in their interests to spread the word that they weren't actually planning (to discourage other requests, fulfill contracts, etc)</span></font></span></li><li><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Larry Rogers (RIP), an old friend of the band, had a Facebook post where he described a fight breaking out at the Poppycock between two groups of bikers, and he went and stood in front of Garcia to protect him. Garcia hefted his Gibson, and said (whether comically or not), he was ready for action. The revealing detail here was that Garcia was playing a Gibson, and he wouldn't have done that with the Riders</span></font></span></li><li><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>My working assumption is this, for now: some bikers were having a weeknight party, and invited the Dead as entertainment. Said bikers would have made it worth the band's time. The Dead said yes, since Garcia had played the Poppycock. But things got out of hand, hence the fight. A weeknight in December 1969 seems like a plausible date. By early '70, the Cutler era was underway, and there was too much organization for such a casual, ill-planned happening.</span></font></span><br /></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>December 26-27, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Malvina Reynolds/Lamb <i>(Friday-Saturday)</i></b></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>Malvina Reynolds</b> was a popular folksinger, famous for writing the song
“Little Boxes.” <br /><br /><b>December 29, 1969,The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Auditions and Special Guests </b><i>(Monday)</i><br /><br /><b>December 30, 1969 The Poppycock, Palo Alto , CA: Folk And Blues Workshop </b><i>(Tuesday)</i><br /><br /><b>Decmber 31, 1969-January 1, 1970 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Charlie Musselwhite </b><i>(Wednesday-Thursday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Charlie Musselwhite and his band played New Year's Eve. Musselwhite was a good performer and the fans no doubt had a good time, but rock was getting bigger and bigger, and the Poppycock wasn't. The bigger acts were skipping the club on weekends, since there were more lucrative gigs elsewhere. Palo Alto wasn't very happy with a noisy scene on University Avenue, full of people not-from-Palo-Alto. Notable acts stopped playing the Poppycock by 1970, and the club was losing its identity.<br /><br /><br /><i><b>1970: The Demise Of The Poppycock</b></i><br />We have almost no information about Poppycock performers in 1970. It seems likely that local bands played more often.There are almost no listings in the various papers. While that may be a sign that no one from the Poppycock was calling the papers, it was also a sign that the bookings at the club weren't notable enough to make the listings. Newspapers like the <i>Examiner</i> or <i>Chronicle</i> only included entertainment listings to entice readers (they weren't paid ads), and only more promient events got noted. The few random listings I have found (below) were for weeknights. That implies to me that Poppycock listings only made the cut when there wasn't much else, or space to fill. It's a mark that the club was booking local bands, and not ones with albums.<br /></span></font></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br />January 7-8, 1970 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Peace Bread and Land Band </span></font></span></b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><i>(Wednesday-Thursday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>I recognize the <b>Peace Bread and Land Band</b> from various listings, but I know nothing about them. <br /></span></font></span></div><div><br /><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>The January 16, 1970 San
Mateo <i>Times</i> entertainment column reports that the hootenanny-style Folk
and Blues Workshop has moved to Tuesday, as the Thursday
night Workshop is at the Odyssey in San Mateo.</span></font></span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span><br /><b>February 4-5, 1970 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Thompson Brothers </b><i>(Wednesday-Thursday)</i></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>I also recognize the <b>Thompson Brothers </b>from various listings, but I know nothing about them.</span></font></span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span><br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><b>March 4, 1970 The Poppycock, Palo Alto, CA: Alistair Crowley </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Presumably this group or performer was named after <b>Aleister Crowley</b>
(1875-1947), mystic, occultist and ceremonial magician. Some may believe
that the so-called “Wickedest Man In The World” was able to come back
to life, although I find it doubtful that someone with such dark powers
would play suburban nightclubs in 1970, reincarnated or not.</span></font></span></div><div><br /><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>One intriguing story from the Poppycock has to do with
how guitarist Neal Schon joined Santana. Schon, then 15 years old,
played in a Peninsula band called Old Davis, which had been around for a
few years. They were a popular group, but played mostly covers. Some time in 1970, Old Davis was playing The Poppycock, where they were
spotted by Gregg Rolie and Mike Shrieve of Santana, both with Peninsula
family ties and many reasons to hang out in the South Bay. The were in
the midst of recording Abraxas, and were invited to take a break and see
the show by the bassist of Old Davis, a friend of theirs. As a
result of Schon’s performance at the Poppycock, he was invited to jam
with Rolie and Shrieve, and subsequently to join Santana.The date seems to track to 1970, but its one of those foggy rock and roll memories, so it may never be pinned down.</span></font></span></span></font></span></div><div><i><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /></span></font></span></span></font></span></b></i></div><div><i><b><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Aftermath</span></font></span></span></font></span></b></i></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>It remains obscure when the Poppycock actually closed. Unlike many towns in 1970, the City of Palo Alto was not bothered by rock music, long hair or even weed. That wasn't anything that couldn't be managed. The issue was that Palo Alto was a hotbed of social rest, and residents didn't like noise or trouble. The Summers of '68 and '69 had included contests between the Police and Palo Alto teenagers over concerts downtown. While the actual teenagers would go off to Princeton or Berkeley, Palo Alto homeowners were not interested in a repeat. </span></font></span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /></span></font></span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>In fact, I think the Poppycock was sized out of the rock market, its 250-ish capacity simply too small to entice local bands with better gigs available. But Palo Alto wasn't going to do the club any favors. So whatever actually caused the club to fade away, the city wasn't going to do anything to keep it there. I dont know the exact date the Poppycock closed.<br /></span></font></span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /></span></font></span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Ironically, in the Spring of 1970 Stanford University started booking regular rock concerts at Frost Amphitheatre. Country Joe McDonald headlined on April 26, 1970, supported by Eric Burdon and War (Burdon was surprisingly good, based on the tape--trust me), Cold Blood and Tower of Power. There were a few more shows later in the year: Elvin Bishop and Boz Scaggs on July 26 and Quicksilver Messenger Service on August 9. The infamous event in Palo Alto history was Sly And The Family Stone at Frost Amphitheatre on Friday, October 8. The packed house had a mixed audience, and Sly was very late. By Palo Alto standards, it was a bad scene, and Stanford got cold feet. Versions of this would play out over the decades.<br /></span></font></span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span><br />The November 18, 1970 Stanford <i>Daily</i> </span></font></span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>had an article on the recently opened Mom’s,
on the site of The Poppycock. Two bands alternated there, Fast Eddy and
The Sheiks and Rocking Ricky Zambo and His Miracle Restoration Revival
Band</span></font></span>. The club seemed to close very shortly afterwards.</span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>On May 20, 1971, the site at 135 University Avenue reopened as a music club called In Your Ear. Nominally, it was a jazz club, much more in the comfort zone of Palo Alto. <a href="https://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2020/07/tales-from-in-your-ear-live-music-in.html">Intriguingly, the club had a booking policy similar to the future-version of the Great American Music Hall: not just jazz, but blues, folk and thoughtful (though not rowdy) rock.</a> It was much more the Palo Alto style. I don't know what the economic prospects of the club might ultimately have been, but a fire in the pizza oven burned the club down on New Year's Eve, 1972-73. </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> </span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Original live music disappeared from downtown Palo Alto, save for a few concerts at movie theaters and <a href="http://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2011/07/october-30-1980-st-michaels-alley-palo.html">the occasional folk singer.</a> The action moved out of downtown, briefly to a Quonset Hut "across the tracks," and then to a former supermarket in the old, rowdy part of Palo Alto on California Avenue. Different posts will address <a href="https://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2020/07/live-music-in-palo-alto1971-73-across.html">Homer's Warehouse (covered by fellow scholar CryptDev</a>), Sophie's and Keystone Palo Alto, at 260 South California Avenue and concerts in Stanford and Palo Alto.</span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span>Palo Alto, always determined to have its own, private arc, had its own 1960s rock story. Psychedelic rock music had effectively began very near to downtown, was welcomed for a few years and then casually chased out. Not because of long hair or weed, or corrupting morals, but because it was too much trouble. Once Palo Alto is able to say "been there, done that" the town loses interest, and so it was with live 60s rock downtown.<br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><br /></span></font></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span><i>For the next post in the Palo Alto series, see here</i>: <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2022/09/palo-alto-rock-concerts-1970-73-palo.html">Palo Alto Rock Concerts 1970-73 (Palo Alto VI)</a></span></font></span></div><div><br /><i><a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2020/12/palo-alto-rock-history-landscape-and.html">For a broad list of posts about Palo Alto performance listings, bands and venues from the 1960s and 70s, see here</a><span style="font-family: "times";"><font size="3"><span> <br /></span></font></span></i></div><br />Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-51445501416465373872021-10-08T15:45:00.002-07:002023-01-18T08:45:33.394-08:00Boston Psychedelic Rock Concert Chronology, January-June 1967 (Boston I)<p><br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RYlfkGYp-gs/YLwM6o-Ts0I/AAAAAAAAI8I/WPVQuJH3ePkEhWjqSmNLMMidm0p6usbpgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1620/Boston%2BTea%2BParty%2Bopening%2B19670120.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1620" data-original-width="1260" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RYlfkGYp-gs/YLwM6o-Ts0I/AAAAAAAAI8I/WPVQuJH3ePkEhWjqSmNLMMidm0p6usbpgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Boston%2BTea%2BParty%2Bopening%2B19670120.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A poster announcing the forthcoming opening of the Boston Tea Party on January 20, 1967</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><i><b>Boston Psychedelic Rock Concert Chronology, January-June 1967 (Boston I)</b></i><br />The history of underground psychedelic rock in the 60s in Boston was different than in any other major American city. Broadly speaking, there were two main paths for most cities. The first, and most famous path, was the San Francisco one: dissatisfied long haired youth provides an audience for local bands influenced by jazz, BB King and <i>Revolver</i>, congregating in underused downtown venues in a fading part of town. Before anyone knew it, particularly in the West, there was a Fillmore or an Avalon (or the <a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/04/crystal-ballroom-1332-w-burnside_09.html">Crystal in Portland</a>, the Family Dog in Denver, Vulcan Gas in Austin or Eagles Ballroom in Seattle), and even if the venues didn't persist, the audiences did. Bands like the Grateful Dead or Canned Heat would come through town and help create a new underground economy. <br /></p><p>The other
trend was the negative version of the first one. Some local promoters
would try and book some long-haired bands, but it didn't lead to much.
The cops might be against it, there wasn't a promising part of town, or
the promoters didn't have it together. The Dead, or Canned Heat, or Iron
Butterfly might have passed through, but to the extent they played
those cities, they were grudgingly absorbed into the regular Civic
Auditorium-type gigs, just like Top 40 bands or country stars. The only
real exception to this dichotomy was New York City, whose history has to
be dissected by Borough or Neighborhood, which you will find generally
fall into the two main paradigms, but distributed throughout the city
itself.</p><p>Boston rock had a different history. Cambridge, Massachusetts, just across the Charles River from Boston, was
one of the principal birthplaces of the “Folk Boom” of the early 1960s.
Fueled by students from the many colleges in Cambridge, students who
were serious about music as art rather than just entertainment flocked
to places like Club 47, at 47 Mt Auburn Street. Club 47 was originally a
jazz club, but on Tuesday nights they had a sort of "hoot night," and
in Fall '58 a Boston University student named Joan Baez showed up.
Things happened. Cambridge and Greenwich Village were the twin anchors
of a rising interest in folk music that wasn't just decontextualized
re-tellings of old folk songs (it is notable that Joan Baez was from
Palo Alto, and that the Kingston Trio got their start there, but that's another saga). </p><p>Boston and Cambridge was one of the first outposts
for the stirrings of what would become "the counterculture." It wasn't
just Joan Baez. The Jim Kweskin Jug Band introduced jug band music to
America, and they would have been hugely influential even if they
weren't important to Jerry Garcia's idea of how music should be
performed--but they were, when he saw them in Berkeley in March, 1964.
That wasn't all. Two Harvard Assistant Professors experimented with
something called "LSD-25" as early as 1962, and while Tim Leary wasn't
Owsley, Cambridge and Boston weren't naive a few years later, unlike
pretty much everywhere else.</p><p>When the Beatles and the British
Invasion came in, New England jumped in with both feet, from Boston to
Nantucket and in every suburb. Nearer the Charles River, however, the
response was sophisticated, if no less enthusiastic. The Charles River
Valley Boys, for example, played bluegrass versions of Beatles songs, a
sort of second order joke that wouldn't have flown in a lot of towns. So
on one hand, downtown Boston and Cambridge were absolutely ready for
the rock explosion that would follow, as "folk-rock" followed the
Beatles (via The Byrds, The Lovin' Spoonful and others) and the local
bands who formed in their wake. Yet Boston's predisposition to the
oncoming music revolution had some unexpected consequences.</p><p>In
downtown Boston, there were plenty of venues, serving the student and
faculty populations of all the colleges and universities. Sure, many of
them mostly had theater and symphony productions, but they had no
restrictions on having folk acts or other kind of music on off nights.
Local Boston promoters had been booking "long-haired" folk acts since
the early 60s, so booking black blues bands from Chicago or somewhat
longer-haired musicians with pop hits was no problem. What that meant,
paradoxically, was that the hot touring acts who played the West Coast
ballrooms for hippie promoters--Butterfield Blues Band or Jefferson
Airplane--were playing for better capitalized promoters in Boston as
part of the regular entertainment scene. There were well-paying weekend
gigs at college gyms, and Sunday nights when the Symphonies weren't
using their halls. </p>So the "psychedelic" underground in Boston was
really underground, not at all part of the record companies’ mainstream.
All those bands were playing Boston, at colleges or other events, and
Boston college students and local hippies were fully tuned in, but there
was no Fillmore (or <a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/06/kinetic-playground-4812-n-clark-st.html">Chicago's Electric Ballroom</a>, or Eagles like
Seattle) that was one-stop shopping for the local hipsters. The Boston
venues had entirely different arcs. Those arcs began with the Boston Tea Party in January, 1967.<br /><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rjJw_wuFOZc/YLu4a1R_MVI/AAAAAAAAI7k/jrXAZUb9VpYDYJO2ZX5lhufVunx6kY7_gCLcBGAsYHQ/s2040/Boston%2BTea%2BParty%2B53%2BBerekeley%2B21st%2Bc.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1362" data-original-width="2040" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rjJw_wuFOZc/YLu4a1R_MVI/AAAAAAAAI7k/jrXAZUb9VpYDYJO2ZX5lhufVunx6kY7_gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Boston%2BTea%2BParty%2B53%2BBerekeley%2B21st%2Bc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://vanyaland.com/2018/08/30/boston-gone-the-sites-of-rock-clubs-and-music-venues-no-longer-with-us/">53 Berkeley Street in Boston, as it appeared in the 21st century</a>. There is a 7-11 on the ground floor.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /><i><b>Boston Tea Party, 1967</b></i><br />The
Boston Tea Party, at 53 Berkeley Street, had opened on January 20, 1967.
Ray Riepen and David Hahn were the founding partners, supposedly
opening with a capitalization of a mere $850, and dependent on a lot of
volunteer labor. The site had previously been a synagogue, and then a
coffee shop called The Moondial. Riepen had come to Harvard Law School from Kansas City
for a Masters Program in Fall '66. The club was opened as an underground
concert venue, like the Fillmore. The legal capacity of the Boston Tea
Party was 550, increased to 720 in 1968 when they added another fire
escape. Whether the fire department limit was exceeded or not, that made it half the size of the
Fillmore. No matter what, the Tea Party wasn't going to compete directly
with the local promoters booking shows at colleges, arenas and concert
halls.</p><p></p><p>The Boston Tea Party of 1967-68 is most remembered--on the web,
at least--for being the home-away-from-home for the Velvet Underground.
Scholarship on the Velvets is epic, and the pinnacle of it is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072HFN64G/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1">Richie
Unterburger's chronology <i>White Light, White Heat</i></a>. Without VU scholars,
we would know surprisingly little about the Boston Tea Party. While VU
were famous for the adage that "not many people bought their record, but
everyone who did formed a band," it's important to remember that Boston Tea Party was an underground hipster joint, and not many people
in Boston had heard the Velvet Underground. If more people had heard
them, the band wouldn't have been any more popular. They weren't that
kind of band. <br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j0N64Ath02w/YE1BCdLF_TI/AAAAAAAAIXI/vSP_VDo803s3DMkVb_VdNRvnAqF4SCPYQCLcBGAsYHQ/s480/Butterfield%2BBoston%2B19670113%2B8%2BJan%2B1967%252C%2B218%2B-%2BThe%2BBoston%2BGlobe%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="412" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j0N64Ath02w/YE1BCdLF_TI/AAAAAAAAIXI/vSP_VDo803s3DMkVb_VdNRvnAqF4SCPYQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Butterfield%2BBoston%2B19670113%2B8%2BJan%2B1967%252C%2B218%2B-%2BThe%2BBoston%2BGlobe%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" /></a></div><br /><b>January 13-14, 1967 Jordan Hall, Boston, MA: Butterfield Blues Band/Otis Rush </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />These shows were promoted by Club 47 in Cambridge, who had already determined that emerging groups like the <b>Butterfield Blues Band</b> would completely outgrow the tiny clubs they had started in. Jordan Hall, at 30 Gainsborough Street, was the 1051-seat performance hall of The New England Conservatory, and was across the street from the Symphony Hall. There were regular folk shows on odd nights at Jordan Hall. However, renting the occasional public facility would never provide the continuity needed to sustain a continuous scene, and it was time for Boston to have its own permanent rock venue. <p></p><p>As a point of comparison, the <a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2009/12/january-13-14-15-san-francisco-rock.html">The Grateful Dead and The Doors were booked this weekend at the Fillmore in San Francisco, and on Sunday (January 15) all the San Francisco bands played for free in Golden Gate Park at the Human Be-In</a>. The Butterfield Blues Band had released two hugely popular albums on Elektra. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/The-Butterfield-Blues-Band-East-West/master/76229">Their second album, <i>East-West</i>, released back in July 1966, included the 13-minute instrumental title track, an unheard-of idea in rock circles</a>. Originally entitled "Raga" by the band, the song managed to layer bluesy themes on top of broadly Indian structures, and it was very influential. </p><p>When the Butterfield Blues Band had first played the Fillmore in February 1966, the San Francisco bands were still figuring out electric instruments. Meanwhile, guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop weaved lead lines in and out with Paul Butterfield's amazing harmonica. <i>East-West </i>went way beyond the blues. The front line was ably supported by organist Mark Naftalin, bassist Jerome Arnold and (by 1967) drummer Billy Davenport. As if their proficiency wasn't enough, Arnold and Davenport were African-American, so that made the Butterfield Blues Band even more of a touchstone. Joe McDonald and Barry Melton, just for example, heard the Butterfield band at Fillmore several weeks after this, and decided right there that their folk duo was going electric.</p><p>Guitarist <b>Otis Rush</b> (1934-2018), was an influential Chicago blues guitarist. He had moved from Mississippi to Chicago around 1948, and had started playing the blues clubs in the 1950s, inspired by Muddy Waters. Rush had released a number of singles in the 50s and 60s on various labels, and was well regarded by other guitarists, including Mike Bloomfield. Though not a major figure, Rush was the kind of authentic blues player who would have had some recognition in the hip Boston market.<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eA1KfT79xg4/YF_Co3_6nOI/AAAAAAAAIbU/N29oa6hQRCoa_j54R_rvjUgxerhhhL6xwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/Boston%2BTea%2BParty%2Bdebut%2B19670120.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="732" data-original-width="1024" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eA1KfT79xg4/YF_Co3_6nOI/AAAAAAAAIbU/N29oa6hQRCoa_j54R_rvjUgxerhhhL6xwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Boston%2BTea%2BParty%2Bdebut%2B19670120.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><br /><b>January 20-21, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA The Lost</b><i> (Friday-Saturday)</i><br />The Boston Tea Party was at 53 Berkeley Street. As noted, the building was originally a synagogue, and just prior was an underground movie theatre/coffee house called The Moon Dial. The venue was on the corner of Berkeley and Appleton, in a neighborhood called The Back Bay. It wasn't far from the Charles River and the universities, but they weren't next door.</p><p><b>The Lost</b> were from Plainfield, VT, and featured singer Willie Alexander. Presumably there were other bands playing, but only The Lost are on the poster.</p><p>A Boston Tea Party Facebook Group (<i>Do You Remember The Boston Tea Party
1967-70</i>) has produced a remarkable compilation of posters, flyers and
other ephemera from the beginning to the end of the venue (it can be
downloaded at the Facebook page). It's an amazing snapshot into the
past, and highly recommended. <br /></p><p></p><p><b>January 27-28, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: The Lost/The Hallucinations </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />For the second weekend at the Boston Tea Party, The Lost were joined by <b>The Hallucinations</b>. The lead singer of The Hallucinations was former art student Peter Wolf. Wolf and Hallucinations drummer Stephen Jo Bladd would end up joining the J Geils Band in 1968, and go on to become one of the most successful rock bands to ever come out of the Boston area. </p><p><b>February 3-4, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: The Lost/Catharsis </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />For the third weekend at the Tea Party, The Lost were joined by <b>Catharsis</b>. I don't know anything about them. Truthfully, the shows of the first few weekends are known from the poster (above), and I don't know anything about any of the concerts. How many people came? How long did the bands play? Did they go over well with the crowd? I'm not aware of even second-hand descriptions of these shows. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qqB5Z3O_fHk/YLwWWNpMe6I/AAAAAAAAI8Y/-b5PDI971-kzGIR1KnOJAIF2phptDLEhQCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/People%2BGet%2BReady%2BChambers%2BBrothers%2BVault%2B1966.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="595" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qqB5Z3O_fHk/YLwWWNpMe6I/AAAAAAAAI8Y/-b5PDI971-kzGIR1KnOJAIF2phptDLEhQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/People%2BGet%2BReady%2BChambers%2BBrothers%2BVault%2B1966.jpg" /></a></div><br /><b>February 10-11, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Chambers Brothers/The Hallucinations </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />The <b>Chambers Brothers</b> family had originally been from Mississippi, but they had relocated to Los Angeles in the mid-1950s. The four brothers had been singing gospel and folk music since about 1954, and were distinctive in that they had roots in both streams. When folk music evolved into folk-rock, the Chambers Brothers were better placed than many to "go electric." In 1966 the group would release <i>People Get Ready</i> on Vault Records. At this time, the Chambers Brothers had transcended their folk and gospel roots and were touring as a self-contained rock band. All of the brothers sang, while Willie and Joe Chambers played guitar, George Chambers played bass and Lester played harmonica. Drummer Brian Keenan (who was white) filled out the group.<br /><p>At the end of 1967, after another album on Vault, the Chambers Brothers would make their Columbia debut with the nearly 11-minute long psychedelic soul classic "The Time Has Come Today" (with the immortal shout "my soul's been psychedelicized!," summing up 60s music in 4 words). But that was still in the future. In the meantime, however, while the Chambers Brothers were a newly-minted rock band, they were veteran performers and great singers, so their stage craft was probably well beyond that of the local rock bands. <br /></p>The MIT student newspaper (<i>The Tech</i>) actually mentions these shows, a sign that the Boston Tea Party had had some kind of impact. The upcoming shows were previewed in the Friday (Feb 10 '67) edition of <i>The Tech. </i><a href="http://tech.mit.edu/V87/PDF/V87-N3.pdf">The Saturday night (Feb 11) show was reviewed in the Monday (Feb 14) <i>Tech</i>, in a column called <i>The Avant-Garde Scene</i>, which shows how The Tea Party was viewed at the time</a>. <br /><p></p><blockquote><i>The Chambers Brothers and The Hallucinations appeared at the Boston Tea Party this Saturday night, February 11, and set everyone and everything in sight and hearing on fire.</i> </blockquote><blockquote><i><b>Rock and Soul</b><br />The Chambers Brothers were the main attraction of the night with their well known combination of hard rock and soul music. The quintet danced and gyrated along with the wild sounds they played. Most of their songs were solid rock rather than soul, probably for the benefit of the dancing public, but the soul songs that they brothers played came on smooth and mellow, though over-amplified. This is one of the few groups that sounds better live than it does on their records; the Brothers performance of their hit "All Strung Out" left everyone gasping for air when it was over. During their second set the group really had the audience switched on, dancing, clapping , shouting in time to a five minute drum solo.<br /></i></blockquote><blockquote><i>Not to be outdone, the Hallucinations, who alternated sets with the Chambers Brothers, roared in with their own brand of rock and roll. Depending heavily on the frantic harmonics and screaming vocals of their lead [Peter Wolf], the Hallucinations blasted out a sound that put everyone within hearing on their feet. The mere volume of the the music knocked the legs off chairs and the surge and movement of the beat induced dancing that paralleled the rites of spring.</i></blockquote><blockquote><i>The Boston Tea Party...is in a huge cavernous room where one is engulfed by cascades of light and sound and surrounded by dancers in all types of clothing from "mad mod" to "straight."...Dave Hahn, who runs the discoteque and is an MIT graduate, likes to think the Tea Party is an experiment in euro-psychology; what happens to the mind when it has received so much stimulus that it reaches the overload point</i><br /></blockquote><p><b>February 17-18, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Beacon Street Union/The Hallucinations </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />The <b>Beacon Street Union</b> (per Wikipedia) was composed of four Boston University
students: singer John Lincoln Wright (September 23, 1947 - December 4,
2011), guitarist/singer Paul Tartachny, bassist/singer Wayne Ulaky,
keyboardist Robert Rhodes and drummer Richard Weisberg. With the
exception of a few rock standards, their diverse music was composed by
members of the band, primarily Wright and Ulaky. <br /></p><p>In 1968, the band's
label, MGM Records, would promote them as part of the so-called Bosstown Sound
(along with the bands Ultimate Spinach and Orpheus), shepherded by the
record producer Alan Lorber. The national "underground" was suspicious of any hip music promoted by "The Man," and thus the Bosstown bands met with little nationwide
success. Their debut album, <i>The Eyes of the Beacon Street Union</i>, would
chart at number 75 on May 4, 1968. When the Bosstown Sound promotion
bombed, the record industry was spooked for the next few decades.
Whenever bands started to break out en masse from a city--such as
Seattle in the early 90s--record companies would let journalists talk
about such trends, rather than make a catchphrase in their ads, fearing a
repeat of the Bosstown Sound debacle. <br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fJj-WaPFttM/YLwXBr3lW5I/AAAAAAAAI8g/1QB6ed6QMaooH8lZplqfZLT0Ts0IZwcdgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Boston_Symphony_Hall_from_the_south.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1450" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fJj-WaPFttM/YLwXBr3lW5I/AAAAAAAAI8g/1QB6ed6QMaooH8lZplqfZLT0Ts0IZwcdgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Boston_Symphony_Hall_from_the_south.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Boston Symphony Hall, at 301 Massachusetts Avenue</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>February 17, 1967 Symphony Hall, Boston, MA: Lovin’ Spoonful </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />At this time, the <b>Lovin’ Spoonful</b> were a hugely popular group. The concert was promoted by Frank Connelly, an established local promoter. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_Hall,_Boston">Symphony Hall was at 301 Massachusetts Avenue, and had opened in 1900. It was the home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and seated 2625 people</a>.<p></p><p>The Lovin' Spoonful's current single was "Darlin' Be Home Soon," which would reach #15. This was just the latest in a long string of hugely popular, catchy hits: "Do You Believe In Magic," (reached #9),"You Didn't Have To Be So Nice," (#10) "Daydream," (#2) "Summer In The City" (#1) and "Nashville Cats" (#8) still resonate today. Although they were popular, the Spoonful were also cool, so they could be booked at the Symphony Hall. This showed how different the Boston market was--in some cities, the Spoonful would have been relegated to a tiny college gym or radio promotion, but they were a major act in Boston. A place like the Tea Party could never have booked them.<br /><br /><b>February 24-25, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: The Cloud/Bagatelle (Friday-Saturday)</b><br /><b>The Cloud</b> are unknown to me. <b>The Bagatelle</b> featured Willie Alexander (as The Lost had broken up). They would release an album in 1968 (<i>11 PM Saturday</i>, ABC Records)<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BpYmZc9PsSc/YLwNujLi28I/AAAAAAAAI8Q/wu2XJbG-V-gUx0qlECAEUhckdNXdLIfxQCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Butterfield%2BEast%2BWest%2B1966%2BElektra.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="592" data-original-width="600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BpYmZc9PsSc/YLwNujLi28I/AAAAAAAAI8Q/wu2XJbG-V-gUx0qlECAEUhckdNXdLIfxQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Butterfield%2BEast%2BWest%2B1966%2BElektra.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>February 24-25, 1967 </b><i>[various venues],</i><b> MIT IFC Weekend Butterfield Blues Band/Jim Kweskin Jug Band/Rufus Thomas and Jimmy Soul/Little Anthony and The Imperials </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />The Intrafraternity Council (IFC) at MIT put on a “weekend” which had a number of acts at different local venues. Historically speaking, the students would invite their dates—who did not attend MIT, being girls and all—for the weekend. By this time, such events are starting to be crowded out by the general entertainment scene in Boston, but the concept was still viable in 1967. An article in <i>The Tech </i>(February 10, 1967) describes the acts in detail, but does not mention the venues since presumably its entire readership already knows. The acts were a mixture of rock, soul and folk. <p></p><p><b>February 24, 1967: Commonwealth Armory, Boston, MA Paul Butterfield Blues Band/Jim Kweskin Jug Band </b><i>(Friday 12-4pm)</i><br />The Saturday afternoon IFC event featured the Butterfield Blues Band and the Jim Kweskin Jug Band. <a href="https://archive.is/20130223053252/http://www.26ydband.org/Index_Fill_Pages/MainFill/CommArmory.htm">The Commonwealth Armory was located on Commonwealth Avenue, near Boston University, and was completed in 1914</a>.
It was used as a gym for BU and an occasional concert venue. The exact capacity is unclear, presumably a few thousand. It had long since decommissioned from military use (it was torn down in 2002).</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SAWQl4zCQHw/YHzKOAy6DGI/AAAAAAAAIn4/yQQbeQ_2Hx8cwLBwj7QYWhPzn9HdAt5dwCLcBGAsYHQ/s404/Jim%2BKweskin%2BSee%2BReverse%2BSide%2Bfor%2BTitle%2BVanguard%2B1966.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="404" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SAWQl4zCQHw/YHzKOAy6DGI/AAAAAAAAIn4/yQQbeQ_2Hx8cwLBwj7QYWhPzn9HdAt5dwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Jim%2BKweskin%2BSee%2BReverse%2BSide%2Bfor%2BTitle%2BVanguard%2B1966.jpg" /></a></div><br />The Butterfield Blues Band were well established in Boston, and indeed had just played the month before (Jordan Hall, January 13-14, above). The <b>Jim Kweskin Jug Band</b> were a long established Boston folk act. The Jug Band had all but single-handedly introduced jug music to America, letting everyone know that folk traditions could be played any old way, not just in formal structures like bluegrass. More importantly, the Kweskin Jug Band didn't wear stage clothes, didn't have "stage patter" and saw themselves as musicians rather than entertainers. They were an important influence on a lot of proto-hippie musicians, not least of them Jerry Garcia (who had seen them in Berkeley on March 11, 1964).<p></p><p>By early 1967, the current album for the Kweskin Band would have been <i>See Reverse Side For Title,</i> their 3rd album on Vanguard. At this time, the band featured Geoff Muldaur and his new wife Maria (nee D'Amato) on vocals, along with Kweskin, and on banjo no less than Bill Keith. Keith, from Massachusetts, had been the first "Yankee" to play with Bill Monroe. Keith's innovative banjo style was a huge influence on future generations of bluegrass pickers. In Boston, blues was categorized as "folk music," so the pairing of the Butterfield and Kweskin bands made sense. Keith's links to bluegrass also fit in with the interests of collegiate Boston fans.<br /></p><p><b>February 25, 1967 Sargent Gym, Boston University, Boston, MA: Paul Buttefield Blues Band/Orphans/Phlumph </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />Lead guitarist Mike Bloomfield was the first American rock guitar hero,
before Clapton, before Hendrix, before anyone. The Butterfield Blues
Band saw themselves as a serious musical ensemble, like the Modern Jazz
Quartet. Their fellow musicians would have agreed. But by 1967, the band was
selling lots of albums, even without FM radio ("underground" FM rock
radio would only surface in San Francisco in April 1967). So the
Butterfield band was treated like a pop commodity, with relentless
personal appearances.</p><p>According to organist Mark Naftalin, the band played 3 gigs in one day in Boston and Mike Bloomfield declared that he had had enough and quit. Although I have only been able to find a Friday afternoon show at the Armory and this Saturday night show at BU, this weekend fits the chronology. There must have been a Friday evening show somewhere, and then perhaps a late night appearance of some kind. It's possible that Bloomfield finished off a gig or two after this, but the weekend in Boston was the last straw for the peripatetic guitarist. <br /></p><p>Boston University was a private research institution, founded in 1839. In 1920, the school had purchased 15 acres along the Charles River. After World War 2, BU expaned dramatically. In 1951, Harold C. Case became the school's fifth president and under
his direction the character of the campus changed significantly, as he
sought to change the school into a national research university. The
campus tripled in size to 45 acres, and added 68 new
buildings before Case retired in 1967. </p><p>Boston University campus buildings ran along the Charles from Commonwealth Avenue and Kenmore Square all the way to the Allston district. While BU had fewer than the 34,000 students that it does today, it was a large school. It was also right across the river from Harvard and MIT, so its section of Boston was a nexus for live music, theater and the arts that appealed to college students.</p><p>BU was not a basketball school, and did not have a huge sports tradition--save for Ice Hockey, a unique Boston thing--and Sargent had a capacity typical of such facilities, probably around 1800 in concert configuration. BU's current gym was built in 1972, so I assume Sargent was torn down. As for the opening acts, <a href="https://www.mmone.org/orphan/">The <b>Orphans</b> were from the Brockton area</a>. <b>Phlumph</b> is unknown to me.</p><p><b>March 3-4, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: The Hallucinations/Eden’s Children </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />The Hallucinations returned again. <b>Eden’s Children</b> were a power trio who would release two albums on ABC in 1968.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iBFNbjyUsE8/YLwMqHRJwzI/AAAAAAAAI74/LXzBHHNSry4110_Uglkjsu3i2owjoRucACLcBGAsYHQ/s640/Boston%2BTea%2BParty%2BLothar%2B19670310.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="499" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iBFNbjyUsE8/YLwMqHRJwzI/AAAAAAAAI74/LXzBHHNSry4110_Uglkjsu3i2owjoRucACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Boston%2BTea%2BParty%2BLothar%2B19670310.jpg" /></a></div><br /><b>March 10-11, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Lothar and The Hand People/Orphans </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Lothar and The Hand People</b> had been founded in Denver in 1965, but had migrated to New York sometime in 1966. Lothar was ostensibly the name of the Theremin that the band used, a sort of primitive synthesizer. Lothar and The Hand People would release some albums on Capitol starting in 1968. Thanks to "Lothar," the band was one of the first rock bands to tour and record with any kind of synthesizer. <br /><p></p><p><b>March 11, 1967 Cousens Gym, Tufts University, Medford, MA: Simon & Garfunkel </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />Simon & Garfunkel are actually outside the scope of this chronology, but are included here as a useful illustration. At this time, the duo was hugely popular. Their 3rd Columbia album <i>Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme</i> had been released in October, 1966. The current hit single from the album--the third from it--was "At The Zoo" b/w "59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)." While Simon & Garfunkel were hardly psychedelic, they were popular, and plenty of hip college students who might go the Boston Tea Party were going to take a date to see Paul and Artie instead. <br /></p><p>The Tufts booking points up both the strength and the uniqueness of the Boston market. There were big audiences for music acts, but promoters were competing with colleges as well as each other. Colleges had entertainment budgets, so ticket costs only needed to cover part of the perfomers' fee. This was true of all colleges at the time, more or less, but most schools were in self-contained college towns. A show put on by the University of Michigan, for example would be in Ann Arbor, and would only peripherally affect the Detroit market. In Boston, however, there were numerous colleges and Universities, many of them right near the center of town. A rock club like the Boston Tea Party was competing directly with well-funded schools for bookings.<br /></p><p>Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, about 5 miles from Boston. It was founded in 1852. Tufts has around 5000 undergraduates (plus post graduates, although many of them are on other campuses around the city). Cousens Gym had been built in 1932, and had a capacity around 2000. Simon and Garfunkel were a huge popular act, and could have played a larger place in Boston, but no doubt a hefty subvention from Tufts' entertainment budget made it worth their while. <br /><span class="cb-itemprop" itemprop="reviewBody"></span><br /><b>March 17-18, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Lothar and The Hand People/The Hallucinations </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Like all good underground clubs, a core of bands was starting to play the Boston Tea Party regularly. <br /></p><p><b>March 24-25, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA The Bagatelle/The Growth </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />The <b>Growth</b> are unknown to me.<br /><br />Good Friday was March 24, and Easter Sunday was on March 26. It's likely that many of the college students cleared out of Boston, whether to go home or somewhere sunny (if Spring Break had been invented by this time). In any case, that may account for not only the Tea Party's closure, but the fact of no other rock events in town for a few weeks. </p><p><b>April 14-15, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA Lothar and The Hand People/The Front Page </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>The Front Page</b> are unknown to me.</p><b>April 18-23, 25-30, 1967 The Unicorn, Boston, MA: Jefferson Airplane </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br />The Unicorn was a folk club run by George Papadopolis, a competitor to the Club 47. Like most folk clubs, by 1967 there were occasional electric rock bands. In this case, Papodopolis managed to snag the Jefferson Airplane for a two weeks, the band's debut in the Boston area. Since the Airplane were nominally a "folk-rock" band, by their own definition, playing a folk club sort of fit. The Unicorn was on Boylston Street, I think at 825 or 1066 Boylston, although the club moved more than once. <a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2009/11/psychedelic-supermarket-boston-ma-1967.html">Papadopolis would go on to open the Psychedelic Supermarket in September of 1967, a competitor to the Boston Tea Party</a> (which, just to confuse matters further, he would re-name The Unicorn in 1969). <br /><p><b>Jefferson Airplane</b> had just released their second album for RCA in February, 1967. The immortal <i>Surrealistic Pillow</i>
would make Grace Slick and the Airplane '60s icons. There wasn't FM
radio yet, so the album would have just been heard in the dorms. Still,
the single "Somebody To Love" was released on April 1, 1967, so the
local students were starting to hear the band. Seeing the Airplane at
the Armory, with a couple of folk singers, wasn't going to be like
seeing the Airplane with the Dead and a light show at the Fillmore, but
the locals would still have recognized the shape of things to come. </p><p><b>April 21-22, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Lothar and The Hand People/Hallucinations </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cqZ60aH0OlY/YLwYss-NGbI/AAAAAAAAI8o/LxXi4SGC4R4u4xJ2LDxrygbf1bvcRS7EwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1920/Commonwealth%2BArmor%2BBoston%2BSeptember_1920.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1539" data-original-width="1920" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cqZ60aH0OlY/YLwYss-NGbI/AAAAAAAAI8o/LxXi4SGC4R4u4xJ2LDxrygbf1bvcRS7EwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Commonwealth%2BArmor%2BBoston%2BSeptember_1920.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Commonwealth Armory (on Commonwealth Avenue), near BU, as it appeared in September 1920</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>April 21, 1967 Commonwealth Armory, Boston, MA: <i>Festival of American Music</i><br />Jefferson Airplane/Pete Seeger/Dave Van Ronk </b><i>(7:30 pm)</i><b><br />Chuck Berry/Otis Redding/Muddy Waters/John Lee Hooker </b><i>(10:30 pm)</i><br />The Festival of American Music was a four day event featuring different types of music, including rock, folk, soul and mariachi. I am only noting the rock oriented events here. The location of the Commonwealth Armory meant that the event was directed at BU students.<p></p><p>Outside of San Fransisco proper, the Jefferson Airplane were considered "Folk-Rock." Thus, booking them with Pete Seeger made a commercial sense. A folkie like Paul Kantner was probably thrilled to be on the bill with Pete, though how Pete felt about it may be unknown. By 1967, however, rock bands were playing regularly at folk festivals, so Seeger wouldn't have had an issue with the Airplane playing rock music. The Airplane was booked at the Unicorn folk club (see April 18-30, above), but it was typical in these arrangements for a band to skip a date at a club if they had a headline gig. The Airplane probably usually did an early and late show at the Unicorn, and this night they probably did only a late show.<br /></p><p><b>Dave Van Ronk</b> (1936-2002), a bluesy folk singer, was an important mentor and influence on the Greenwich Vilalge folk revival scene, to Bob Dylan and others. His current album would have been <i>No Dirty Names</i>, released in 1966 on Vanguard. None of Van Ronk's albums sold well, but his music influenced others.</p><p></p><p></p><p>At night, <b>Chuck Berry</b> headlined over three blues legends. It was a mark of Boston's sophistication about folk music and the blues that these acts appealed to a largely young, white audience. A local band would have been hired to back Chuck Berry, but I don't know who that might have been.<br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oknvKeJ6oew/YLwLxKXOIYI/AAAAAAAAI7s/7BcHlDY1nFQuUNJ-gDAlCftC8_YpFZJiQCLcBGAsYHQ/s480/Flashes%2BIll%2BWind%2B1968%2BABC%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oknvKeJ6oew/YLwLxKXOIYI/AAAAAAAAI7s/7BcHlDY1nFQuUNJ-gDAlCftC8_YpFZJiQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Flashes%2BIll%2BWind%2B1968%2BABC%2Blp.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Flashes, by the Cambridge band Ill Wind, was released on ABC in 1968. Guitarist Ken Frankel, an MIT graduate student, had played bluegrass with Jerry Garcia in the early 1960s</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>April 28-29, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: David Blue and The American Patrol/Ill Wind </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/david-blue-singer-songwriter-mystery-bob-dylan-joni-mitchell-1005073/ "><b>David Blue</b> (b. Stuart David Cohen 1941-82) was a Greenwich Village folkie, friends with Dylan and part of the scene</a>. His self-titled <a href="https://www.discogs.com/David-Blue-David-Blue/release/2740774">debut album had been released in 1966 on Elektra</a>. In 1967, Blue started playing at least some shows with an electric band. The American Patrol featured <a href="https://www.bobrafkin.com/">lead guitarist Bob Rafkin (1944-2013), who also had an extensive career</a>. Rafkin would move to San Francisco later in 1967, and worked regularly with producer Erik Jacobson. Blue himself would move to Los Angeles in '68, and he and Rafkin continued to work together for the next several years. Rafkin would produce Blue's best-known album, <i>Stories</i> (from 1972).<br /><br />The <b>Ill Wind </b>had been formed by MIT students. Their lead guitarist, Ken Frankel, had played mandolin in a bluegrass group (The Wildwood Boys) with Jerry Garcia in summer 1963. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Ill-Wind-Flashes/master/278140">The group would release an album called <i>Flashes</i> on ABC in 1968</a>.<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fw-et3nTymA/YLwMjQDw3PI/AAAAAAAAI70/V7bgTG_uvSg097mo7jC8rk2ULuxN9grhgCLcBGAsYHQ/s391/David%2BBlue%2Bdebut%2BElektra%2B1966.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="391" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fw-et3nTymA/YLwMjQDw3PI/AAAAAAAAI70/V7bgTG_uvSg097mo7jC8rk2ULuxN9grhgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/David%2BBlue%2Bdebut%2BElektra%2B1966.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>David Blue's 1966 Elektra Records debut album</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>May 5-6, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: David Blue and The American Patrol/The Orphans </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />I know in later years that the Tea Party would let bands stay over at the Tea Party. If that was the case as early as 1967, then a two-weekend booking with a place to stay would have made a lot of sense for a visting act like David Blue and his band. <br /><p></p><p><b>May 12-13, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Bo ston, MA: Lords and Ladies/The Orphans (Friday-Saturday)</b><br />The <b>Lords and Ladies</b> are unknown to me.<br /><br /><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IjI_9Gym-tY/YLwycy4gf4I/AAAAAAAAI84/5aJnCG6pNPcLCYqMQxRqx0yfcgt8xSluwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1584/Boston%2BTea%2BParty%2B19670519.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1584" data-original-width="1260" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IjI_9Gym-tY/YLwycy4gf4I/AAAAAAAAI84/5aJnCG6pNPcLCYqMQxRqx0yfcgt8xSluwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Boston%2BTea%2BParty%2B19670519.jpg" /></a></b></div><b><br />May 19-20, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Children of Paradise/Beacon Street Union </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Children Of Paradise</b> are unknown to me.<br /><p></p><p><b>May 23-25, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: John Lee Hooker/The Hallucinations </b><i>(+</i><b>Quill</b><i> on Wednesday May 24) (Tuesday-Thursday)</i><br />I don't know why there was a unique Tuesday-Thursday booking at the Tea Party. It's possible that the semester had just ended at a number of schools, so students may have been more available than a typical weeknight. <br /></p><p><b>Quill</b>, who was added to the bill on Wednesday (May 24), was a new band from the Boston area. They had been formed by two songwriting brothers, Jon and Dan Cole. The group was just getting started. Ultimately the band would release an album on Cotillion in 1970. <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4w6LDrUuhCs/YLwMzkiTyVI/AAAAAAAAI8A/zfLtSy2sWxM7sAJrii-nlM9gBAyTpt-6wCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/VU%2BBoston%2BTea%2BParty%2B19670526.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="391" data-original-width="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4w6LDrUuhCs/YLwMzkiTyVI/AAAAAAAAI8A/zfLtSy2sWxM7sAJrii-nlM9gBAyTpt-6wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/VU%2BBoston%2BTea%2BParty%2B19670526.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>May 26-27, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Velvet Underground/Ferris Wheel</b><i> (Friday-Saturday)</i><br />The <b>Velvet Underground</b>, by any standard, were an important, influential band. MGM/Verve had released the band's famous debut album <i>The Velvet Underground and Nico</i> in March, 1967. Due to a lawsuit over an unauthorized cover photo, the album was withdrawn and delayed until around June, undermining what little commercial momentum the band might have had. In 1982, Brian Eno famously said that while the album sold only 30,000 copies in its early years, "everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band." <br /><p></p><p>The Velvet Underground, despite their now-legendary status, were not
really a popular group anywhere except Boston. Steve Nelson, the house
manager of The Tea Party booked the VU many times, and at one point
became manager of the group. It's important to note, however, as I mentioned before, that if more people had heard the Velvets back in the 60s, almost none of them would have liked the band. The band was brilliant, but not the sort of brilliance that makes best-sellers. The group's counterintuitive insistence in allowing no R&B influences made the group sound strange, which was intentional, and the perfect setting for Lou Reed's dark tales.</p><p>Despite the paucity of record sales, the Velvet Underground has been one of the most researched bands ever (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072HFN64G/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1">Richie Unterberger's <i>White Light, White Heat: The Velvet Underground Day-By-Day</i> </a>is most highly recommended). Much of our admittedly limited information about the Boston Tea Party comes from the Velvet Underground saga.<br /></p><p><b>June 2-3, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: The Hallucinations/Jeremy Steig </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Jeremy Steig</b> was a New York jazz flautist. He was a pioneer of jazz-rock. In 1968 he would form the jazz-rock group Jeremy And The Satyrs, who were initially formed to back singer Tim Hardin.</p><b>June 9-10, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Velvet Underground/Beacon Street Union </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />The Velvet Underground returned two weeks after they had first been booked, a sign that the original Tea Party booking had gone well. While it's true that the Velvet Underground didn't sell a ton of albums, and got almost no radio play, they did find a following in many cities. Somehow, people found about them, and they could tour somewhat profitably.<p><b>June 16-17, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: The Hallucinations/The Ill Wind </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb6LQxBlJMLc4waw4qRKdEitFL4STudw2VtRqfs8nMINlDIurY6ypBUbDuM5pKBbH3SfpgiHU4FLa-5Ed5mRIM3Y4eFLFm85rIP99AKie8KSAQBW17vf979D3KEfmPgb9DG3FpDtoq-XkggrPIlc0y1FR35DZSU4QNf1zoX_GRA_a3f_5j_YVMMfkG/s546/Unicorn%20GD%20Boston%2019670620.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="323" data-original-width="546" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb6LQxBlJMLc4waw4qRKdEitFL4STudw2VtRqfs8nMINlDIurY6ypBUbDuM5pKBbH3SfpgiHU4FLa-5Ed5mRIM3Y4eFLFm85rIP99AKie8KSAQBW17vf979D3KEfmPgb9DG3FpDtoq-XkggrPIlc0y1FR35DZSU4QNf1zoX_GRA_a3f_5j_YVMMfkG/s320/Unicorn%20GD%20Boston%2019670620.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><b>June 20-July 2, 1967 The Unicorn, Boston, MA: Grateful Dead </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday) canceled</i><br /><i><b>[Update 17 January 2023]</b></i> Ace scholar David Kramer-Smyth found this listing for a canceled Grateful Dead show at the Unicorn (missed all these years because of misspelling). Unicorn owner George Papadopolis, although not renowned for his financial practices, was always acutely tuned in to the next thing. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2009/12/june-1-1967-tompkins-square-park-new.html">The Grateful Dead introduced themselves to New York by playing Greenwich Village's Cafe Au Go Go from June 1-11, throwing in a few free concerts</a>. They seemed primed to do the same in Boston, but I guess it didn't happen. The Doors did not play the Unicorn either, but rather then newly-opened Crosstown Bus in Brighton (<a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2022/06/boston-psychedelic-rock-concert.html">see the next Boston installment</a>). <br /><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQk0u-wp7xJTtInDZYx3jEuWYbFyXhOCdGhnDxPxWVbShRBiGBYLDWJLJMoTudVk_blMrQpXCPitiUKHLQ2u0fp2Vl88SkI2ozO92rMu_ryWi2Nod1kiSV8KZd4XoAYqu6yagVWeCTQchawrFFBKx6bL8APg2FTRg0dLEtIZcOJxk2BJ4741Uv6IGy/s400/Unicorn%20Sacred%20Mushroom%20GD%2019670620.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="278" data-original-width="400" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQk0u-wp7xJTtInDZYx3jEuWYbFyXhOCdGhnDxPxWVbShRBiGBYLDWJLJMoTudVk_blMrQpXCPitiUKHLQ2u0fp2Vl88SkI2ozO92rMu_ryWi2Nod1kiSV8KZd4XoAYqu6yagVWeCTQchawrFFBKx6bL8APg2FTRg0dLEtIZcOJxk2BJ4741Uv6IGy/s320/Unicorn%20Sacred%20Mushroom%20GD%2019670620.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Papadopolis (his name spelled various ways) took advantage of the abrupt August closing of The Crosstown Bus to open his own Fillmore-type joint, the Psychedelic Supermarket. The much-unloved Supermarket, a converted underground parking garage nonetheless had some great bands. It debuted with Cream in September 1967 (replacing their booking at Crosstown Bus). <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2009/11/december-8-9-1967-psychedelic.html">In the end, Papadopolis did indeed introduce the Dead to Boston by booking them at the Supermarket on December 8-9, 1967</a><p></p><p><b>Sacred Mushroom</b> are unknown to me. <br /></p><p><b>June 23-24, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Grass Menagerie/Beacon Street Union </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />The <b>Grass Menagerie</b> is unknown to me.<br /><br /><b>June 30-July 1, 1967 Boston Tea Party, Boston, MA: Lothar and The Hand People/The Shakers </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>The Shakers</b> are unknown to me.<br /></p><b><i>Boston Rock and The Boston Tea Party, Summer 1967</i></b><br />In the summer of 1967, there was a thriving rock concert industry in Boston, particularly near the Charles River and the major Universities. In contrast to other big cities, however, the most prominent concerts were at the college auditoriums and gyms. By 1967 standards, there was a large, sophisticated audience who that knew and liked folk, blues and jazz music along with the new psychedelic rock and roll.<p>At the same time, the little Boston Tea Party was thriving as an underground club. The Tea Party had built a solid core of bands that could play the club repeatedly: the Halluciniations, the Beacon Street Union, the Bagatelle, Lothar and The Hand People and others. Boston rock fans didn't have to make a choice to check out the psychedelic underground or bands that were popular on the radio. The hit bands played the colleges, and there was underground music at the Tea Party, and it was all pretty much in one area. Most cities had one or the other, but Boston seemed to have it all the pieces for something big to happen.</p><p>In the second half of 1967, this trend would only continue. A competing underground club would open, but the Tea Party would continue to thrive, and all the colleges kept booking shows. <br /></p><p></p>Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-57259141707721237082021-08-13T12:08:00.003-07:002021-08-18T16:23:10.208-07:00Whisky-A-Go-Go, 8901 Sunset Blvd (at Clark), West Hollywood, CA: January-June 1971 Performance Listings (Whisky I)<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kVk-phFHPu8/X6hRgWFB4SI/AAAAAAAAHpc/k-nCLxX7yWQvxpVu_qIOQEW3zCjxBZqVgCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Whisky%2BOutside%2B1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kVk-phFHPu8/X6hRgWFB4SI/AAAAAAAAHpc/k-nCLxX7yWQvxpVu_qIOQEW3zCjxBZqVgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Whisky%2BOutside%2B1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>The Whisky A-Go-Go, at 8901 Sunset Blvd (at Clark) on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, sometime in the 1960s</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> <p></p><i><b>The Whisky A-Go-Go, 1971</b></i><br />In the late 1960s, one of the ways for a rock band to get big fast was to play the Whisky A-Go-Go in West Hollywood. True, the little club on the crowded Sunset Strip held 500 patrons at most, and the mini-skirted Go-Go dancers elevated above the floor could be as big an attraction as the band. Also true, the club only paid the minimum union scale, no matter how many records you sold. Nonetheless, record industry tastemakers either went to the Whisky or heard about it the next morning, so if you rocked the Whisky, and in particular if you rocked with some style, you could rock the nation afterwards, whether you had been famous beforehand or not. Them, The Doors, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin: they rocked the Whisky in style, and success followed.<p>By the early 1970s, although the rock music market had exploded, the Whisky was not the musical nexus of West Hollywood. <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/06/the-troubadour-west-hollywood-and-san.html">Sensitive singer-songwriters expressing their feelings was the new pillar of the music industry, and those acts played the nearby Troubadour, not the Whisky</a>. Flashy hard-rock itself was a bit passe, too, since rock took itself awfully seriously now. Yet the Whisky was still in West Hollywood, and it was still important. Surprisingly, however, for a few years the Whisky A-Go-Go became the locus for rock music in its newly-sophisticated form. We don't think of the Whisky as a home for "Jazz-Rock" and "Prog," but a review of the acts that played there in the first half of 1971 tell us just that.</p><p>This post is a review of all the performers at the Whisky A-Go-Go from January through June 1971, and an analysis of what it tells us about rock music and the record industry of that moment. Because of the way the Whisky did and did not advertise its shows, some of the exact beginning and end dates of some of the acts may be a bit vague, but I am confident that all the acts listed here played the Whisky during this period.<br /></p><i><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2bGa-HeHelI/X6hRoe-uKeI/AAAAAAAAHpg/TwBis3Ov0KA3nR0vGUiAhtSuy03LjTRQQCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/Whisky%2BInside%2B1.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2bGa-HeHelI/X6hRoe-uKeI/AAAAAAAAHpg/TwBis3Ov0KA3nR0vGUiAhtSuy03LjTRQQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Whisky%2BInside%2B1.gif" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Inside the Whisky A-Go-Go, ca. 1965<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Rock Nightclubs In The 1960s</b></i><br />One of the driving forces of live 1960s rock music was that it arose somewhat outside the confines of the regular entertainment business. Regional bands played the local version of the Fillmore, and although they released albums through national record companies, those bands did not achieve success by appearing on television. Rock music exploded in the minds of young people, with phenomenal economic returns as well. 60s rock in the United States had its own institutions: their own concert halls, modeled on the Fillmores, free-form FM radio, and hugely successful bands that seemed to owe little to the traditional starmaking machinery of New York and Los Angeles. The circuit of nightclubs that presented personal appearances by the familiar stars of stage and screen were all but completely shut out of the 60s psychedelic rock explosion. In any case, hippies, particularly younger ones, weren't looking for drink anyway. In America, at least, nightclubs did not play a significant role in the rise of late 60s rock bands. <br /><p>The huge exception was the Whisky A-Go-Go, at 8901 Sunset Boulevard (at Clark) in West Hollywood. The Whisky played an essential role in breaking numerous American and English rock bands, all the more impressive since they only paid union scale. Although the financing of the American record industry operated out of New York, Los Angeles had just as big a role in finding and producing the actual music. The Whisky was in West Hollywood, and Los Angeles always wants to know what's hot and what's not. In the 1960s, what was at the Whisky was what was hot.<br /></p><p>Hollywood proper had been absorbed as a district of Los Angeles back in the 1930s, but West Hollywood was just across the city limits. It was out of range of the notorious LA City Police, and the City Council as well. West Hollywood was part of Los Angeles County, but immune from some downtown politics. Thus it had been an entertainment district and playground for stars and fans since at least the 1940s. The Whisky A Go Go had opened on January 11, 1964, and it's gimmick was young women dancing suspended above the floor. Everybody got sweaty, and many drinks were sold.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R0q7vjq1a5s/X6hRxcGbedI/AAAAAAAAHpo/LUgTNXgT0XYv1VFxColhI9M1S3YvYv5zwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/TheLeavesS-ValeWhiskyAug65.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1479" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R0q7vjq1a5s/X6hRxcGbedI/AAAAAAAAHpo/LUgTNXgT0XYv1VFxColhI9M1S3YvYv5zwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/TheLeavesS-ValeWhiskyAug65.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/01/whisky-go-go-sunnyvale-ca-summer-1965.html">A promotional shot from August 1965 of The Leaves, opening at the long-forgotten Sunnyvale, CA (near San Jose) branch of the Whisky A-Go-Go</a></i>. <i>It only lasted six months.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Whisky A-Go-Go was an instant sensation. The term "Go-Go Dancer" comes, explicitly, from the Whisky A-Go-Go. Stars flocked to the venue (it was hip enough for Dustin Hoffman's character Benjamin to be seen running out of The Whisky in the 1967 film <i>The Graduate</i>). Live music was provided every night by Johnny Rivers, and if he was on tour, a local guitarist named JJ Cale filled in. By mid-65, owner Elmer Valentine was looking to franchise the Whisky around the country, and v<a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2016/02/march-11-1967-whisky-go-go-san.html">ersions opened in San Francisco</a>, <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/01/whisky-go-go-sunnyvale-ca-summer-1965.html">San Jose</a>, Denver, Atlanta and elsewhere.</div><p></p><p>By the end of 1965, the Whisky A-Go-Go seemed <i>passe</i>. Rock music was changing--fans didn't want to hear Johnny Rivers crank out the same 12 songs every night. <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2009/09/trip-west-hollywood-ca-1965-1966.html">Valentine had another club in West Hollywood, however, called The Trip. The Trip booked touring rock acts for a week or two. LA and Hollywood like that better, because they could check out in person what they had only heard on record.</a> For an industry town like LA, that was critical. So Valentine started booking the Whisky like The Trip. The Whisky was open every night with live music, but there were new headliners every few days. In the Summer of '66, a band called The Doors was the opening act almost every night, and they got signed to Elektra. It was Hollywood--people wanted to go down to the Whisky to see what was happening. The Hollywood hip people, whether in the record industry or just cool
cats, heard the bands and helped to decide who got some buzz.</p><p>Fillmore headliners like Cream or the Jimi Hendrix Experience would play a few nights at the Whisky--capacity 500, maximum--for practically nothing, just to make sure they got seen and heard. Almost every good band in the 60s had a shot at the Whisky, and if you killed it there, the entire record industry knew your name by Sunday morning. In January, 1969, an English band rolled in from a Northwestern tour, and their debut album had not yet even been released by Atlantic. No matter--by the weekend, everybody was talking about Led Zeppelin. Rocking the Whisky could be a golden ticket to a big tour. There was live music every night at The Whisky. Sometimes, if a band had
another, better paying gig, they would skip a night at the Whisky, and
another band would take their place. <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Whisky-A-Go-Go%20History.htm ">This was true of both the headliner
and the "house" band. It being Hollywood and all, sometimes the
substitute band was better known--or just better--than the act they
replaced.</a><br /><br />By the 1970s, that had changed. The studied indifference and self-important--some said self-indulgent--music of the Fillmore bands was replaced by "singer-songwriters," singing catchy, heartfelt songs that captured the imaginations and hearts of huge swaths of the listening public. The singer-songwriters of the era, like Carole King, James Taylor and Cat Stevens, came from all over, but they made it big in Los Angeles. </p><p><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/06/the-troubadour-west-hollywood-and-san.html">A mile East of the Whisky was a former coffee shop called The Troubadour</a><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/06/the-troubadour-west-hollywood-and-san.html">.</a> Proprietor Doug Weston had opened the club in 1957, but by
1970 it had a full bar and regular performers. Initially The Troubadour presented
folk acts, and in a sense it still did. Electric instruments were
standard fare by the end of the 60s, and the Troubadour wasn't for
purists. But the Whisky was for rocking out, and the Troubadour was for
reflection. By 1970, it was a bar where the best of the singer-songwriters played for the Los Angeles music industry, who in turn made them famous. Hollywood, whatever else you think, knows how to make stars. In 1970, the stars were coming from the quieter confines of The Troubadour, rather than the rowdier premises of the Whisky.<br /><br /></p><p><i><b></b></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R5pv2VA_CxY/X6hUAtzsT2I/AAAAAAAAHqE/E5guyZL0iAwTMFOyZTTjIfWCdyZkyBmBgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1671/WhiskyApr71ad%2Bcopy%2BIf%2B19710411.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="862" data-original-width="1671" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R5pv2VA_CxY/X6hUAtzsT2I/AAAAAAAAHqE/E5guyZL0iAwTMFOyZTTjIfWCdyZkyBmBgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/WhiskyApr71ad%2Bcopy%2BIf%2B19710411.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>An ad for upcoming shows at The Whisky A-Go-Go, ca early April 1971</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><i><b><br />Whisky A-Go-Go Performance List, January to June 1971 </b></i><br /><p></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k00Fiz5G8y0/X54Ev7OkSnI/AAAAAAAAHjs/0pBjTrjNmPAfqkW6GMCpgFU1LeXs0I29gCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/Fanny_%2528album%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k00Fiz5G8y0/X54Ev7OkSnI/AAAAAAAAHjs/0pBjTrjNmPAfqkW6GMCpgFU1LeXs0I29gCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Fanny_%2528album%2529.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The December 1970 debut album by Fanny on Reprise Records</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />January 1-4, 1971Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Flying Burrito Brothers/Fanny </b><i>(Friday-Monday)</i><br /><b>The Flying Burrito Brothers</b> were staples of the Hollywood scene, but had somewhat peaked. At this time, the Burritios' current album would have been their second one, <i>Burrito Deluxe</i>. It was a pretty good album, but frontman Gram Parsons had left the band back in June. The Burritos were an influential group, in fact, but almost all their business decisions were bad. Future Eagle Bernie Leadon was in the band by this time, as were former Byrds Chris Hillman (bass) and Michael Clarke (drums). The great Sneaky Pete Kleinow held down the pedal steel guitar chair, as always. Hillman would go on to great success with Manassas and Desert Rose Band, and even Clarke would join Firefall, who sold a lot of records, but the Burritos themselves never got over the hump. Songwriter Rick Roberts had replaced the increasingly erratic Parsons the previous year, so the Burritos were still an excellent band, yet they couldn't sell a record. They had played the Whisky many times, and all of West Hollywood knew about them.<br /><br /><b>Fanny</b> was not the first all-women rock band by any means, but they were the first to get much attention from the serious rock press. Their debut album had been released on Reprise in December 1970, produced by Richard Perry. There were probably more booking agents and djs there to see Fanny than the Burritos. This wasn't necessarily a matter a of taste--Reprise would have been pushing Fanny hard, giving out free tickets and free drinks, whereas A&M would have been fairly indifferent to the Burritos.<br /><p></p><p>The anchors of Fanny were sisters Jean and June Millington, both from the Sacramento area. The pair had fronted a Top-40 band called Svelt, which had evolved into Wild Honey. Both Jean (guitar) and June (bass) could really play and sing, and female musicians (as opposed to singers) were pretty rare in the late 60s. Of course, both were knockout-cute, too, but the music industry was still the entertainment business. Drummer Alice De Buhr had rounded out Wild Honey, and keyboard player Nicky Barclay was added by Reprise.</p><p><b>January 5-10, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Damnation of Adam Blessing/Sweet Pain </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><a href="https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-damnation-of-adam-blessing-mn0002294454"><b>The Damnation Of Adam Blessing</b> were from Cleveland</a>, where they were contemporaries of the James Gang and the Raspberries. The band played a sort of hard-edged acid rock, and released four albums between 1969 and 73. In January of 1971 they were probably still touring behind their second album, <i>Second Damnation.</i> Their interesting group name was taken from a paperback. The band had toured as support to The Faces in 1970, so they weren't completely unknown, but they were another hard rocking band trying to get some attention, so they played the Whisky.</p><p>I don't know anything about <b>Sweet Pain</b>. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Sweet-Pain-Featuring-David-Riordan-Rob-Moitoza-Sweet-Pain-Too/release/4879623">There was a band of that name that released an album in 1973</a>, I don't know if there was a connection.<br /></p><p><b>January 13-17, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Blues Image/Elliot Randall </b><i>(Wednesday-Sunday)</i><br />Back in 1967, <b>Blues Image</b> had been a band from Tampa, FL called The Motions. <a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2009/12/thee-image-and-miami-rock-scene-march.html">They had moved to Miami to become the house band at Miami's main psychedelic outpost, Thee Image</a>. The Motions played the venue almost every weekend, opening for the major acts that came through town, and helped run the club. The Motions had changed their name to Blues Image, after both the club and the band Blues Project. Blues Image stood out for the time in having two drummers, which was a rarity. They impressed many of the bands they opened for, and both Frank Zappa and Eric Burdon told them that if they wanted to make it, they would have to move to Los Angeles or New York.</p><p>Blues Image had followed the advice, and moved to Los Angeles in late 1968. They were signed to Atco and released their debut album in February 1969. <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Eric%20Burdon%20-%20Appendix%201.htm">Blues Image even backed Eric Burdon in 1969 when he was without a band</a>. The second Blues Image album, <i>Open</i>, was released in early1970. It featured the huge national hit "Ride Captain Ride," which reached #4 on the <i>Billboard</i> chart and is familiar to anyone of a certain age. Ironically, the song's co-composer, guitarist Mike Pinera, had already left the group in October 1969 to join Iron Butterfly. After some personnel changes, Blues Image had released a follow-up album later in the same year, <i>Red, White and Blues Image</i>.</p><p>Per the Los Angeles <i>Times</i> review of January 15, Blues Image had reformed again. Still on board, from the previous go-round were keyboardist Skip Konte (the other co-writer of their hit), bassist Malcolm Jones, drummers Manny Bertamatti and Joe Lala and lead guitarist Kent Henry (who had replaced Pinera in late '69). Newly onboarded was lead singer Ricky Lancelotti. Lancelotti was an interesting figure, best known now for a vocal appearance on the Frank Zappa song "Dirty Love," but apparently a remarkable singer. Interesting as this lineup sounded, they did not record, and I do not know if they toured much.</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliott_Randall"><b>Elliott Randall</b> was a New York guitar prodigy who was already an experienced professional by 1971</a>. He had played with numerous outfits, including Seatrain. He had been signed by the Robert Stigwood Organisation (Eric Clapton's management) in 1970, and had released his debut solo album <i>Randall's Island </i>on Polydor that year. Randall would record the famous guitar solo on Steely Dan's "Reeling In The Years" in 1972. At this time, he was just another rising act with record company backing.<br /></p><b>January 18, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Chicago </b><i>(Monday)</i><br />The band <b>Chicago</b> was absolutely huge, and had just released their third album, a double-lp called <i>Chicago III.</i> Since the band was based in Los Angeles--they had moved from Chicago in 1968--it was easy to play a gig at the Whisky. This would have been a strictly industry gig, with agents and djs and other industry pros, and few if any civilians. Chicago had played the Whisky many times back in 1968 and '69, when they were just starting out. This show would have been a victory lap of sorts.<br /><p>For a hit band, <i>Chicago III</i> was a pretty "serious" album, with only a few tracks, and lots of solos. The album had been released by Columbia Records on January 11.There were only 9 tracks over 4 lp sides. The record sold well, because Chicago was hugely popular, but the record was a conscious effort to show how musical they were, rather than just a pop machine. Whether intentionally or not, the Whisky was becoming the place for record companies to show off their "serious" bands, whether playing jazz-rock, prog-rock or other peculiar hybrids. <br /></p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V_IYfM4ZNQI/X54FHXM8I7I/AAAAAAAAHj0/nBAkbRigm_0m8PQUwm-V1rPIX9XPExYeACLcBGAsYHQ/s300/SunflowerCover%2BBeach%2BBoys.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V_IYfM4ZNQI/X54FHXM8I7I/AAAAAAAAHj0/nBAkbRigm_0m8PQUwm-V1rPIX9XPExYeACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/SunflowerCover%2BBeach%2BBoys.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Sunflower, the first release on the Beach Boys' Brother Records, released in August 1970</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />January 19, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: The Beach Boys </b><i>(Tuesday)</i><br />The appearance by the current hit band Chicago on a Monday night was followed by the appearance of the former hit band <b>The Beach Boys</b>. Chicago had appeared at the Whisky on their way up, but the Beach Boys had both preceded the Whisky and had been too out of the jetstream to play the club in the 1960s. The Beach Boys had competed with the Beatles for popularity in the early 60s, and had achieved massive mainstream success, but as a result they had missed any "underground" credibility. As the Beach Boys aged, their teenybopper popularity worked against them. Warner Brothers/Reprise had given the Beach Boys their own imprint, Brother Records. The Reprise plan was to allow the Beach Boys to become hip by giving them artistic control of their output, just as the label had done with Frank Zappa (and Bizarre/Straight Records). <br /><p>The first release on Reprise/Brother had been the Beach Boys <i>Sunflower</i> album. The album came out on August 31, 1970, and the Beach Boys had played four nights at The Whisky-A-Go-Go on November 4-7, 1970. This was not only the first Beach Boys performance at The Whisky, it was the band's first Los Angeles performance since June 25, 1966. The Beach Boys were popular worldwide, but in the wake of psychedelia had gotten too unhip for their own hometown. Playing the Whisky, for effectively no money, was a way to show that the Beach Boys were a cool, happenin' LA band.</p><p>The Beach Boys had pulled out all the stops in November. Of course they had the active road band, with Mike Love (lead vocals), Carl Wilson (guitar and vocals), Al Jardine (guitar and vocals), Dennis Wilson (drums and vocals), Bruce Johnston (various instruments, vocals), Ed Carter (bass) and Darryl "The Captain" Dragon (keyboards), but no less than Brian Wilson himself appeared, playing electric piano and singing. Not to mention a horn section. It was a very big deal, by LA standards, and that was what the Whisky was for.<br /></p><p>For whatever reasons--it's not exactly clear why--the Beach Boys played the Whisky again on this Tuesday night in January 1971. They didn't have an a record release, that I'm aware of, but maybe they just wanted to be seen as one of those bands that hung out at the Whisky. This time, the road outfit would have been there, but without Brian nor any horn section.<br /></p><b>January 20-24,1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Bloodrock/Jam Factory or Elliott Randall/Sweet Pain </b><i>(Wednesday-Sunday)</i><br />The Los Angeles <i>Free Press </i>had Jam Factory opening for Bloodrock, and the LA <i>Times</i> had Elliott Randall and Sweet Pain. There's no telling which bands actually opened which nights. Since we can see that the openers were booked on different nights as well, it's clear that all the bands played some sets at the Whisky some time in January, even if we can't figure out exactly when.<p><b>Bloodrock</b> was a hard rocking band from Ft. Worth, TX, who played loud guitar music in the style of Grand Funk Railroad. This wasn't an accident--Bloodrock was managed and produced by Terry Knight, who had driven Grand Funk's rise to huge success. After Bloodrock's first album, Knight took over and moved the singing drummer to frontman lead singer, and made sure Bloodrock delivered the goods in the style of Led Zeppelin or Cream.</p><p>The band's second album, <i>Bloodrock 2</i>, had been released on Capitol Records in October 1970. The record included the band's single "DOA" a surprisingly long (4:36) hit that made it to #36 on the <i>Billboard</i> charts. Bloodrock would have been playing the Whisky to get heard by the industry, since they probably weren't getting much FM airplay on the West Coast. The likes of Grand Funk Railroad and Bloodrock got very little respect from rock critics and tastemakers on the two coasts--some would say that history had borne that view out--but they were popular in the hinterlands, selling plenty of records and concert tickets.</p><p><b>Jam Factory</b> was a band out of Syracuse, NY. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Jam-Factory-Sittin-In-The-Trap/release/1988923">They had released an an album on Epic (<i>Sittin' In The Trap</i>)</a>. It's also plausible that Elliott Randall and Randall's Island had simply stayed on board at the Whisky, or that Sweet Pain had returned. The Whisky's appeal was that they had live music every night, all the time, so having two or three bands playing in a night fit the club just fine. Since every band was getting union scale, or something like it (around $500, apparently), it wasn't a big expense to book multiple bands.<br /></p><b>Jan 25-26, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Pollution </b><i>(Monday-Tuesday)</i><br />The Whisky's peculiar, unique business model was that it was open 7 days a week, with live rock and roll every night, no matter what. Since the most important part of their audience, industry professionals and tastemakers, worked or hung out in West Hollywood, the club could change headliners on immediate notice, and word would get around. If a big name band was put up on the marquee for that night's show, everybody who mattered would know soon enough. <br /><p>The other audience for the Whisky was comparatively regular fans from outside of West Hollywood, driving in from Pasadena or Fullerton or wherever. The idea was that those people just wanted to say "I went to the Whisky-A-Go-Go" to their friends, and didn't care so much who played. Sure, it would be great if they saw some rock stars hanging out, or if the Byrds showed up, but it didn't matter. So the Whisky booked up and coming bands for relatively long runs, sometimes a few weeks at a time. When you see groups refer to having been the "house band" at the Whisky, this is usually what they were referring to. A multi-week booking at the Whisky, sometimes opening for a headliner, sometimes playing a few sets on their own. The bands were usually only listed on nights when there wasn't anything else, just to remind potential patrons that there was always something happening at the Whisky.</p><p>Pollution was advertised for Monday and Tuesday, January 25-26. They were also advertised for Tuesday January 19, when in fact the Beach Boys were actually playing. Pollution probably opened for the Beach Boys, but no one (except perhaps the band) recalls that. Pollution probably opened many show in late January and into February, but the name only turns up occasionally in notices. </p><p><b>Pollution</b> was some sort of rock/R&B ensemble, with two lead singers. The musical <i>Hair</i> had been popular nationwide, and in 1969 it had a hugely successful run at the newly-renamed Aquarius Theater (at --Sunset, <a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/04/6230-sunset-boulevard-hollywood-ca.html">previously the psychedelic rock palace The Kaleidoscope</a>, and before that, <a href="http://martinostimemachine.blogspot.com/2009/09/blog-post_27.html">the Earl Carroll Theater</a>). Both of the lead singers in Pollution had been in the LA production of <i>Hair</i>. Besides Tata Vega, the other singer was Dobie Gray, who had a big hit in 1965 with "The In Crowd," and an even bigger hit in 1973 with "Drift Away." Also in Pollution was guitarist James Quill Smith, who played with numerous other acts throughout the 1970s (Sylvester, Roger McGuinn and John Mayall). <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Pollution-Pollution/release/1856539.">Pollution released an album on Atlantic later in 1971.</a> <br /></p><b>January 27-30, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: If</b><i> (Wednesday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>If</b> was a pretty interesting English jazz-rock band that has been somewhat forgotten. In fact, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_(band)">If released eight albums between 1970-75, toured heavily and had a decent following,</a> but jazz-rock doesn't get played on classic rock stations, so they have become obscure. In the early 70s, many "jazz-rock" bands were just groups with very few songs and long, noodly solos. Unlike many such outfits from this era, however, the main players in If were successful jazz musicians, so they could really play. If's front line featured saxophonists Dick Morrissey and Dave Quincy along with guitarist Terry Smith, all with huge pedigrees in English jazz. The only member of If who was in a band modern listeners would recognize, however, was drummer Dennis Elliott, who hit it big with Foreigner. Elliott was in Foreigner from 1976-93, and still plays occasional reunion shows with Foreigner.<p>If was a really good band, in fact, but they had to get people to listen to them. The Whisky provided a chance a comfortable environment for industry fans to listen to them, in return for comped tickets and free drinks. The Troubadour was the home of sensitive singer-songwriters, and If didn't play that kind of music. But rock music was changing, and the Whisky was a far better venue for discovering new jazz rock sounds than a snobby jazz club or opening for some hard rock band in a concrete arena. Throughout the first part of 1971, in between established hitmakers and hard rockers, the Whisky almost inadvertently became the Los Angeles showcase for sophisticated rock music. At this time, the group was touring behind their second album, <i>If 2</i>, released on Capitol Records in the States but on Island in the UK. <br /></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-apEJDm3vGrI/X54FkoYf3hI/AAAAAAAAHj8/4S7hAcmrd3AxF3oSoVTSlqkkCXadIZkgQCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/Jo%2BMama%2Balbum%2B1970.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="299" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-apEJDm3vGrI/X54FkoYf3hI/AAAAAAAAHj8/4S7hAcmrd3AxF3oSoVTSlqkkCXadIZkgQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Jo%2BMama%2Balbum%2B1970.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The debut album by Jo Mama, released on Atlantic in 1970</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />February 1-3, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Allman Brothers/Jo Mama </b><i>(Monday-Wednesday)</i><br /><b>The Allman Brothers </b>were mainly a popular band on the Eastern seaboard, thanks to relentless touring and blazing live performances. While the Allman Brothers could surely have played a larger place than the Whisky, Duane and Gregg Allman had played the venue many times when they were in The Hour Glass back in the 60s, when they lived in LA, and Duane was good friends with owner Elmer Valentine. On the previous weekend (January 28-31), the Allman Brothers had headlined four nights at the Fillmore West (highlights of which can be found on an August 2019 archival release), so word was getting around. Still, Les Brers were at the Whisky, where the industry could hear what had become of two brothers who had abandoned Los Angeles when they didn't make it back in '68. In fact, the Allman Brothers Southern California debut had been at the Whisky the previous year (January 21-25, 1970).<br /><p></p><p>In early 1971, the Allman Brothers were touring behind their second Capricorn Records album, <i>Idlewild South</i> (released September 1970). The Allman Brothers are rightly noted as the essential Godfathers of "Southern Rock," but it's important to put that in its proper context. Sure, Gregg Allman belted out his bluesy vocals in the style of Ray Charles. But it wasn't a Stax-Volt sound. Instead of a horn section, there was the twin guitars of Duane Allman and Dickey Betts, and they played lines that were more like Miles Davis than Memphis. And there were two drummers, underpinned by the unique driving sound of bassist Berry Oakley, and the resulting rhythms were nowhere near a straight 4/4. The bands that followed the Allmans might not have been as sophisticated, but the Allmans made "Southern Rock" a stew of both traditional R&B/country sounds and some significant jazz influences. Once again, the Whisky was the place to introduce sophisticated music to the record industry.</p><p>Opening act <b>Jo Mama</b> was pretty interesting too, if largely forgotten today. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Jo-Mama-Jo-Mama/release/2060794">Jo Mama's debut album on Atlantic had been released in 1970.</a> Their follow-up, <i>J Is For Jump</i>, was released later in 1971. For the most part, the band featured East Coast transplants who had relocated from New York in the late 60s. Lead guitarist and principal songwriter Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar had been in a group called The Flying Machine with James Taylor back in Greenwich Village in the mid-60s. Korthmar and bassist Charles Larkey had moved to LA around '68, and had a group called The City with Larkey's future wife Carole King, herself a recent transplant from NYC (and recently divorced from her husband, songwriter Gerry Goffin). <a href="https://www.discogs.com/The-City-Now-That-Everythings-Been-Said/release/4193487">The City had released an album on Ode Records in 1969</a>, but Carole King didn't really like to perform much, so the band kind of expired.</p><p>By 1970, Kortchmar and Larkey formed Jo Mama with keyboardist Ralph Shuckett (another transplant) and singer Abigail Haness (Kortchmar's girlfriend), along with drummer Joel Bishop O'Brian. Jo Mama put out two albums, and <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Jo-Mama-J-Is-For-Jump/release/14169787">I, at least, can vouch for the quality of the second album (<i>J Is For Jump</i>).</a> Still, the band never really got traction, despite releasing two albums on Atlantic. Of course, Carole King, who played a modest role on <i>J Is For Jump</i> (backing vocals), released her own second album on Ode Records, <i>Tapestry</i>, on February 10. It was one of the best-selling and most influential albums of the 70s, and that's saying a lot.<br /></p><p><b>February 4-7, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Gypsy/Pollution </b><i>(Thursday-Sunday)</i><br />The band <a href="Gypsy https://www.discogs.com/artist/1435298-Gypsy-15 Metromedia"><b>Gypsy</b> had released an albums on Metromedia Records in 1970</a>. Their <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Gypsy-In-The-Garden/release/1775091">second album, released in 1971</a>, had a few faces familiar to music fans, like bassist Willie Weeks and drummer Bill Lordan, but the group is otherwise somewhat unknown. Pollution was also on the bill. </p><p><b>February 8-11, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: BB King/Crabby Appleton </b><i>(Monday-Thursday)</i><br />A peculiarity of Whisky bookings at this time was that the most famous bands generally played on school nights. Working bands could make big money on a weekend, but that wasn't always true the rest of the time. If a legend like BB King was going to play a nightclub gig for union scale, it wasn't going to be on weekend nights when he could make real money.</p><p><b>BB King</b> had a new studio album, <i>Indianola Mississippi Seeds</i>. It had been released on ABC Records in October 1970. It had been recorded in Los Angeles with the likes of Joe Walsh, Leon Russell and Carole King (who played piano on four tracks) on the sessions. In that sense, it was the time that BB King recorded like everyone else in the 70s, but he made a really good album. Playing the Whisky was a chance for industry people to see BB and hear his new material. <br /></p><p><b>Crabby Appleton</b> had released their debut album on Elektra in 1970. Four of the band members were from the Los Angeles-area group Stonehenge, but lead singer and guitarist Michael Fennelly had been in the front man in the critically regarded (but otherwise obscure) group Millenium. Crabby's first album had a the modest hit single "Go Back," which reached #36. Their second album, <i>Rotten To The Core</i>, was not released until later in 1971.</p><p>Crabby Appleton was actually a really good group, even if no one remembers them now. They broke up after poor sales for their second album, and Fennelly put out some albums recorded in England (I recommend <i>Lane Changer</i>). In the liner notes to a cd re-release of their album, some members of Crabby Appleton said they had to play the Whisky once in a while just to pay off their bar tabs. I don't know if that was really true of just a funny thing that musicians like to say, but even if it was a straight up joke it gives us a hint to how musicians were both watching and being watched at the Whisky. <br /></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UmCz_eG_VM8/X54F_md_YkI/AAAAAAAAHkI/njmsi7caKOwIWCchInOEsQs2h4qJ5-DeACLcBGAsYHQ/s300/Crabby%2BAppleton%2Bdebut%2Balbum%2B1970.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UmCz_eG_VM8/X54F_md_YkI/AAAAAAAAHkI/njmsi7caKOwIWCchInOEsQs2h4qJ5-DeACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Crabby%2BAppleton%2Bdebut%2Balbum%2B1970.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Crabby Appleton's 1970 debut album on Elektra</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />February 12-14, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Crabby Appleton/Smokestack Lightnin' </b><i>(Friday-Sunday)</i><br />For the weekend, Crabby Appleton was on top of the bill, as BB King probably had a really lucrative show somewhere else. <b>Smokestack Lightnin'</b> is a name I recognize from Whisky bills in the past, but I don't actually know anything about them (there was a band with that name who released an album in 1969 on Bell Records, but that could be a coincidence).<p></p><p><b>February 15-18, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Pollution </b><i>(Monday-Thursday)</i><br />Fleetwood Mac was supposed to be the headliner from Monday to Wednesday. The Mac weren't that big, by any means, but they had toured the States a few times and had been reviewed in <i>Rolling Stone</i>. Once again, a "name" band was headlining on a school night. The Mac had released their most recent album <i>Kiln House</i> on Reprise in September 1970, their first without Peter Green. To fill out the band's live sound, the bass player's wife--Christine McVie--came out on tour to play keyboards and sing a few harmonies. <br /></p><p>Original Fleetwood Mac member Jeremy Spencer abruptly left the band in Los Angeles to join a Christian cult called The Children Of God. Spencer had been detached from the band for some time, and simply had enough and left. Fleetwood Mac got a lot of unwanted publicity for this, but they didn't play the Whisky gigs. They brought back a not-all-there Peter Green to finish out the balance of the tour. </p><p>Pollution, who may have been booked as the opening act anyway, played for these nights.<br /><br /><b>February 19-20, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Hugh Masekela/Pollution </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Trumpeter <b>Hugh Masakela</b> was a pioneering South African jazz musician, playing jazz with a nice helping of rhythm and blues along with some African beats. He had a genuine hit in 1968 with the catchy instrumental "Grazing In The Grass" (better known from the later version, with lyrics, by The Friends Of Distinction). Masakela had also added a little trumpet blast to The Byrds hit "So You Wanna Be A Rock And Roll Star." The Whisky wasn't a jazz club, but Masakela was much more prominent than a jazz act. <br /><br />In fact, back in 1967, Masakela had even recorded an album at the club. <i>Hugh Masakela Is Alive and Well at The Whisky</i> had been recorded during his September 18-20 '67 stand at the club. Masakela's current album was <i>Reconstruction</i>, released on Chisa Records back in July of 1970.</p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Poqepau9LQ4/X54GqQfnYgI/AAAAAAAAHkQ/UobU7fosvXs8pxdCwSGiz-V3sKKtc5d8wCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/The_Time_Is_Near%2BHartley%2B1970.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Poqepau9LQ4/X54GqQfnYgI/AAAAAAAAHkQ/UobU7fosvXs8pxdCwSGiz-V3sKKtc5d8wCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/The_Time_Is_Near%2BHartley%2B1970.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Time Is Near by Keef Hartley Band, released 1970 on Deram</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />February 24-28, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Keef Hartley Band/American Eagle/Redeye </b><i>(Wednesday-Sunday)</i><br />The <b>Keef Hartley Band</b> were the the Whisky headliners at the beginning of the week. The ads are a bit ambiguous--typical of the Whisky--but I think Redeye replaced the Hartley Band for Saturday (and probably stayed over Sunday), while American Eagle opened for the week.<p></p><p>During the '69-'70 season, US record companies were signing any rock band with a horn section that had any kind of R&B whiff. Columbia in particular had been all-in: Chicago Transit Authority (now Chicago) had been huge, Blood Sweat & Tears were one of the biggest bands in the country, and they had signed other bands, too. Groups like the Sons Of Champlin (Capitol), The Flock (Columbia) and Ides Of March (Warners) had been eagerly signed by different companies. The Keef Hartley Band seemed to be just an English variant of this theme, and while they lacked the polished sheen of Chicago or BS&T, they were a terrific band. </p><p>Drummer and bandleader Keef Hartley had initially been part of the early 60s "Liverpool Scene." He had replaced Ringo Starr in Rory Storm and The Hurricanes in late 1962, when Starr had left the Hurricanes for another Liverpool band. In subsequent years, Hartley had played with the Artwoods and then with some classic lineups with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. In 1968, having been fired by John Mayall (as all musicians ultimately must be), he formed his own band. Unlike most contemporary English bands, striving to play Chicago blues, Hartley modeled his band on the Buddy Rich Big Band. </p><p>Buddy Rich was an absolutely phenomenal Big Band drummer, with stunning technique. By the late 60s, he was leading a 15 piece band that played rock and pop standards in a loud big band style, with driving horns and an electric rhythm section. It was all propelled by Rich's astonishing drumming, amazingly well-suited for amplified rock. For the most part, the Hartley band was limited to six or seven pieces, but the style was very much a jazz-rock hybrid. The Keef Hartley Band had played Woodstock, but their manager had refused to allow them to be recorded, so they were not on the film or record (now, maybe they wouldn't have been anyway, but there was no chance in any case). </p><p>The Keef Hartley Band featured Scottish guitarist and singer miller Anderson, bassist Gary Thain (later to join Uriah Heep), organist Mick Weaver (aka Wynder K Frogg) and a two-piece horn section (Lyle Jenkins on tenor and Dave Caswell on trumpet). Anderson had a gruff, soulful voice, but he wasn't devoted to aping American R&B singers, and he wrote good songs. Anderson played good rhythm guitar, and took tasty solos when required. Hartley, Thain and Anderson generally drove the band, while the organ and the horns let it rip. In many ways, the Keef Hartley Band was an English counterpart to bands like Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears, but paradoxically closer to an American R&B sound.</p><p><i>The Time Is Near</i>, released on Deram in 1970, and followed another great album, <i>The Battle Of Northwest Six</i> (a London postal code). The Keef Hartley Band's next album would be <i>Overdog</i>, released in April 1971. Keef Hartley had a sort of underground following in the States, but for whatever reason they never broke out of their little niche, despite their talent.</p><p><b>Redeye</b> was an LA band led by guitarist and singer Douglas Mark, who had been in The Sunshine Company. His new band sounded more like Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, but it was still gentle pop, apparently. Their second album was called <i>One Man's Poison</i>, and was released in 1971, although I'm not sure exactly when.<br /></p><p><b>American Eagle</b> seems to have been a Pacific Northwest band. They had released an album on Decca in 1970, and appeared to be some sort of hard rock band.</p><b>March 2-7, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Wishbone Ash/Ned </b><i>(Tuesday-Monday)</i><br /><b>Wishbone Ash</b> was a relatively new English band that had released their debut album back in December 1970 on MCA. Like many bands that played the Whisky during this period, Wishbone Ash rocked fairly hard, in the spirit of the club, but they weren't at all a typical blues-'n'-boogie band. Wishbone Ash was a four piece, featuring the twin guitars of Ted Turner and Andy Powell, and nice harmony vocals. The Ash didn't really play blues licks, however, and were intriguingly hard to categorize. The dual guitars often played horn-like parts, giving the band an R&B feel without a conventional "soul" sound. At the same time, while the guitars played intricate licks, they didn't fall into the deep swirl of progressive rock, either. Michael Ross reviewed them positively in the <i>Times</i> (March 5).<p>Wishbone Ash had some good songs, though not enough of them. Over the years, they built a solid following from heavy touring, but they never got past the middle level. Intriguingly, they were managed by the Copeland Brothers (Miles and Ian), so the successes and failures of Wishbone Ash helped the Copelands properly manage the Police.</p><p><b>Ned</b> was a four-piece band from Chicago. <br /></p><p><b>March 10-14, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Dada & Melting Pot </b><i>(Wednesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Dada</b> was an English R&B group with some jazz leanings, as once again the Whisky hosted an "arty" band. I believe the group toured with an entire horn section and two lead singers. The group was led by guitarist and songwriter Pete Gage. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Dada-Dada/release/11859996">On their sole album, released in 1970 on Atco, vocals were shared by Elkie Brooks (Gage's wife) and Paul Korda</a>. Sometime after, Korda was replaced by Robert Palmer. Palmer may have been touring with them at this time. Palmer, Brooks and Gage would go on to form the band Vinegar Joe in 1972, who released three albums before Palmer began his stellar solo career in 1975.</p><p><b>Melting Pot</b> are unknown to me.<br /></p><p><b>March 16, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Fanny </b><i>(Tuesday)</i><b><br />March 17, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Sugarloaf/Flame/Fanny (Wednesday)<br />March 18-21, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Sugarloaf/Flame </b><i>(Thursday-Sunday)</i><br />Fanny returned for a few more dates.</p><p><b>Sugarloaf</b> were a sort of psychedelic pop band, originally from Denver, who had scored a big hit with "Green-Eyed Lady" back in 1970 (it had reached #3, everyone knew the song). In 1971 they had put out their follow up album, <i>Spaceship Earth</i>. The band did have some minor hits, but nothing like "Green-Eyed Lady." Michael Sherman fo the LA <i>Times</i> reviewed the opening night (in the March 19 <i>Times</i>) and found them to be a weak, derivative band. Such a review was the downside to playing the Whisky. Now the whole LA record industry could write off Sugarloaf as just another one-hit wonder (which, admittedly, they probably were). <br /></p><p><b>The Flame</b> were a South African group who had managed to turn their native success into a chance to perform and perform in London around 1969. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flames">In 1970, the band (then called The Flames) were signed by the Beach Boys imprint label, Brother Records, and invited to move to America</a>. In the States, the band's name was changed to Flame over trademark concerns. The band released their self-tilted album on Brother in Quadrophonic (very '71). </p><p>The Flame album was the only release on Brother that did not include a current member of the Beach Boys. Of course, Flame was unhappy in California, and drummer Ricky Fataar and guitarist Blondie Chaplin did join the Beach Boys touring band, and the rest of Flame returned home. It's reasonable to assume that the Beach Boys played a few dates at The Whisky in return for getting The Flame booked there.<br /></p><p><b>March 22-23, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA:John Mayall/Randall’s Island </b><i>(Monday-Tuesday)</i><b><br />March 24, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Randall’s Island </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br /><b>John Mayall</b> had moved to Los Angeles around 1970. Mayall was famous for being "The Father Of British Blues," and no less than Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Taylor had been the lead guitarists for John Mayall's Bluesbreakers from 1966 to 1969. Numerous other fine musicians went through his band, as well. By '69, Mayall had moved from Decca and gone solo, although the Bluesbreakers--even the famous ones--had always been just hired hands.</p><p>Mayall was famous through his association, but his music was somewhat of an acquired taste. While he was deeply rooted in the blues, most Mayall performances had large improvisational sections, so his shows were often more like a bluesy jazz group than what rock fans thought of as "the blues." Many of his vocals were somewhat improvised, as well, and he only played snatches of familiar songs. In fact, when Mayall was properly recorded--not always the case--his music holds up pretty well, but he did not fit into easy slots for FM radio and record companies.</p><p>In March, 1971, Mayall had released a double album on Polydor called <i>Back To The Roots,</i> recorded in Los Angeles and London. It had some tracks with his new American band, and some recorded with old pals, including Clapton, Taylor, Green, Johnny Almond (tenor sax and flute, Keef Hartley (drums) and Stephen Thompson (bass). His current American band featured Harvey Mandel on guitar and Larry "The Mole" Taylor on bass, both recently of Canned Heat, the legendary Don "Sugarcane" Harris on electric violin and newly-added drummer Paul Lagos (ex-Kaleidoscope and Little Richard). Mayall himself sang, played harmonica, guitar and keyboards. </p><p><b>Randall's Island</b> was the new name of Elliot Randall's band (see January 13-17 above).<br /></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q4ohOM3SNf4/X54HSISSPjI/AAAAAAAAHkc/WWrb0PDQLlc_IBjmNBAs6qeP-xRnmTV9wCLcBGAsYHQ/s528/East%2BBay%2BGrease%2BTower%2Bof%2BPower.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="522" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q4ohOM3SNf4/X54HSISSPjI/AAAAAAAAHkc/WWrb0PDQLlc_IBjmNBAs6qeP-xRnmTV9wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/East%2BBay%2BGrease%2BTower%2Bof%2BPower.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>East Bay Grease, the debut album by Oakland's Tower Of Power, released in late 1970 on Bill Graham's San Francisco label (distributed by Atlantic)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />March 25-28, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA:Elvin Bishop Group/Tower of Power </b><i>(Thursday-Sunday)</i><br />The Elvin Bishop Group and Tower Of Power were both Bay Area groups, both signed to a Bill Graham record label, and both booked by Graham's Millard Agency. Graham had aspirations to be a music mogul beyond just a concert promoter, and at his peak in 1969 he had arranged deals with not one but two record labels. The Elvin Bishop Group was on Fillmore Records, distributed by Columbia, and Tower of Power was on San Francisco, distributed by Atlantic. Graham and Producer David Rubinson had signed a variety of other groups as well, but these two were the most prominent. Both bands got FM airplay and drew good crowds in the Bay Area, but had little traction elsewhere.<p></p><p>Guitarist Elvin Bishop, from Tulsa via Chicago, had been in the original, groundbreaking Paul Butterfield Blues Band. He had been Mike Bloomfield's wingman, and then the primary lead guitarist, but by 1968 he had moved to San Francisco to lead his own band. <b>The Elvin Bishop Group</b> played a rocking mixture of blues and soul, with plenty of soloing to keep the dancers going. Vocals were shared between Bishop, singer Jo Baker and organist Stephen Miller. <i>Feel It!</i>, released in 1970 was their second album on Filllmore Records. </p><p><b>Tower Of Power</b> were originally from Fremont, but they made their bones playing in Oakland soul clubs. Their unique horn section would become famous worldwide, with an immediately identifiable sound and a ferocious beat. Their debut album <i>East Bay Grease</i> had been released on San Francisco records in late 1970. The debut already had some Tower classics, like "Knock Yourself Out," Social Lubrication" and "Sparkling In The Sand." Anyone in LA who was lucky enough to catch Tower back then would have known that the band was really something, and that there wasn't anyone like them. <br /></p><p>Graham's record labels folded by 1972, and he returned to focusing on the concert business. His ears were good, however, as both Bishop and Tower went on to sell many records.<br /></p><b>March 29-30, 1971Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Sha Na Na/Fanny</b><i> (Monday-Tuesday)</i><br /><b>Sha Na Na</b> had been formed by some students at Columbia University, mainly for fun. Because Columbia is in New York, and all, they ended up playing the Woodstock Festival. After that, the band became "real." Of course--Columbia and all--some of the original band members went to Law School instead of the music business, but the founding members of the band were from the University. Sha Na Na is recalled as a "50s Revival" group, although in fact some of the old-time rock songs the band covered were from the early 60s as well.<p>Sha Na Na released their debut album on Kama Sutra in 1971, I'm not sure exactly when. More importantly, however, the Woodstock movie was released on March 26, 1971, and since Sha Na Na made a 90-second appearance (singing "At The Hop," originally recorded by Danny & The Juniors), the Whisky was perfect. Los Angeles was nothing if not a movie town, Sha Na Na was in a widely heralded new movie, and so they were making a personal appearance in West Hollywood. Sha Na Na went on to decades of fame in music and television. <br /></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R4qc3ThG2d0/X54HyMACZAI/AAAAAAAAHkk/1ydQzt8E5fAKKj6U7JVR8WXawllmuShDgCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/J%2BGeils%2BBand%2Bdebut%2BAtlantic%2B1970.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="593" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R4qc3ThG2d0/X54HyMACZAI/AAAAAAAAHkk/1ydQzt8E5fAKKj6U7JVR8WXawllmuShDgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/J%2BGeils%2BBand%2Bdebut%2BAtlantic%2B1970.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The debut album by the J Geils Band, released on Atlantic in late 1970</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />March 31-April 4, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: J Geils Band/Dreams </b><i>(Wednesday-Sunday)</i><br />The <b>J Geils Band</b> had been an extremely popular live band in the Boston Area in 1969-70. They had been formed from the remnants of two Boston bands, The Hallucinations (with lead singer Peter Wolf and drummer Stephen Jo Bladd) and the J Geils Blues Band (with guitarist John Geils and harmonica player Magic Dick). Because of some outstanding commitments, they had adopted the "J Geils Band" when they formed. In fact, Geils, while a fine guitarist, was more of an ensemble player than guitar hero, so the group was somewhat misnamed.<p></p><p>The J Geils Band had taken R&B showmanship and knowledge of some hip records and brought it into the hippie ballrooms. Instead of crouching over their instruments like jazz musicians, the Geils Band had the all-in histrionics of a good R&B band. Hippie crowds loved it. Lead singer Wolf had already been an underground star in Boston, as the midnight-to-six-AM dj on WBCN-fm, Boston's first underground rock radio station. If The Hallucinations didn't have a gig, then Peter Wolf was "The Woofuh Goofuh,", laying all sorts of crazy schtick on hippies that were up all night.</p><p>Atlantic had released the J Geils Band's debut album in November 1970. It wasn't bad, but if the Geils band was going to make it big, they were going to have to hit the road, and bring their rocking stage show to the rest of the country. In the end, they did it, even if it took a dozen years and some help from MTV (and "Centerfold"). But it started at places like The Whisky, because nobody knew nothin' about the J Geils Band in West Hollywood in 1971.</p><p>A look at the J Geils Band touring schedule at this time is revealing (<a href="https://jgeilsband.wordpress.com/the-j-geils-band-tour-dates-1970-1977/">here's to the great JGeils tour date blog site</a>). The week before Geils played the Whisky, the band had opened for Eric Burdon and War at the Fillmore West (Mar 25-28). On the last day of their Whisky booking, Sunday April 4, the J Geils Band had opened for Johnny Winter and Little Feat at the Santa Monica Civic, a booking they repeated the next night (Monday April 5). On Sunday, they probably simply came on late at the Whisky, a common arrangement for bands with gigs around town. The next week, the J Geils Band was back up at Fillmore West, opening for Johnny Winter (April 8-11).<br /><br /><b>Dreams</b> was an exceptional jazz-rock band that featured John Abercrombie (lead guitar), both Brecker Brothers and drummer Billy Cobham. A very underrated group, <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Dreams-Dreams/master/343828 debut 1970 CBS">Dreams had just released their (self-tilted) debut album on Columbia</a>. Dreams had fairly straightforward rock songs, mainly from singer Kent Henry, but they were embellished by some pretty expansive instrumental sections from the jazzy gunslingers in the band. Henry had been in the reformed version of Blues Image (see above), but presumably that ensemble had already broken up.<br /></p><p>Dreams was not only booked to open at the Whisky for J Geils Band, they would also be on the bill with them the next week at Fillmore West, opening for Johnny Winter.<br /></p><p><b>April 6, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Black Oak Arkansas/Raymond Lewis Kennedy </b><i>(Tuesday)</i><br /><b>Black Oak Arkansas</b> were a very popular touring act in the early-to-mid-1970s, and they are generally lumped in with the rise of "Southern Rock." While it's not unfair in terms of audience, Black Oak had a rather different sound and genesis from the bands that arose in the wake of the Allman Brothers. Black Oak Arkansas had been an essentially psychedelic blues band in the relatively unappreciative milieu of the Ozarks. They had even released an album on Stax back in 1969 as the Knowbody Else. Ultimately they ended up in the Black Oak, AK region, and renamed themselves. <br /></p><p>Black Oak Arkansas played boogie music, loud and proud. There were no jazzy overtures with reference to John Coltrane, nor attempts to faithfully honor past bluesmen. Now, it's a little harder to do the high-voltage rocking that epitomized Black Oak than it looked, so the band were probably better musicians than they let on. Still, nobody confused them with purists. They rocked, they rocked hard, and crowds that liked them got loaded and got nuts. In 1971, Black Oak Arkansas had just released their debut album on Atco, so a Monday night at the Whisky would get them known to talent agents, even if they wouldn't get no respect.</p><p><a href="https://www.discogs.com/Raymond-Louis-Kennedy-Raymond-Louis-Kennedy/master/550514"><b>Raymond Louis Kennedy</b> was a singer that had released an obscure "psychedelic" album on Cream Records in 1970</a>. Among the players on the album were Harvey Mandel (ex-Canned Heat), Bob Mosely (ex-Moby Grape), Duane Hitchings and Jim McCarty (both future Cactus). Those readers with too many albums will recall that Kennedy would end up being the "K" in KGB, an underperforming "supergroup" with Mike Bloomfield, Rik Gretch and Barry Goldberg.</p><p><b>April 7-11, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: If/Uriah Heep/Charlie D and Milo </b><i>(Wednesday-Sunday)</i><br />If returned for a few dates, along with Uriah Heep (see the ad up top).<br /></p><p><b>Uriah Heep</b> was a somewhat successful English band that needed a few identity changes before they found a popular niche. When they formed in 1969, they were an explicitly "heavy" group, in the mode of Led Zeppelin or the like. They had released their second album, <i>Salisbury</i>, in February 1971 on Vertigo Records. By this time, they had moved from "Heavy" to "Progressive," and the record included a 16-minute track with an orchestra.</p><p>It is easy to make fun of Uriah Heep. Rolling Stone reviewer Melissa Mills said (Oct 1 '70) of their debut, "if this group makes it, I'll have to commit suicide," calling them "watered-down, tenth-rate Jethro Tull." One of the funniest scenes in the <i>Spinal Tap</i> movie is based on the Heep's 1984 American tour (when the Tap play the officers dance, with Fred Willard as a hapless Air Force captain--Dave "Viv Savage" Kaffinetti said it was all but a re-enactment of the Heep gig played a few weeks earlier, when he was a member of the band). Nonetheless, by any reasonable rock and roll standard, Uriah Heep did make it. I can't speak for the <i>Rolling Stone</i> writer's response.<br /></p><p>While Uriah Heep wasn't substantial enough to be a successful Prog band, they would reconfigure themselves yet again around 1973 to a more radio friendly format, with heavy rock mixing with piercing harmonies, prefiguring bands like Queen and Journey, albeit without the memorable songwriting. Still, the band sold a lot of albums and sold a lot of concert tickets in the latter 70s. Back in '71, however, they were on their first American concert tour, trying to get known. Lead singer David Byron fronted the band, later to become famous in Whitesnake. Guitarist Mick Box and organist Ken Hensley held down the front line, with Hensley as the principal writer. Bassist Paul Newton and newly added drummer Ian Clark rounded out the band.</p><p><b>Charlie D and Milo</b> were a country-rock band, apparently sounding somewhat like the Flying Burrito Brothers. Charlie D Harris and Lon Mile Duquette led the group. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/artist/2294081-Charley-D-And-Milo">They had released their only album on Epic back in 1970.</a><br /></p><p><b>April 12, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Flash </b><i>(Monday)</i><br /><b>Flash</b>, whoever they were, probably played at least Monday through Wednesday, and perhaps the whole week. This group was not the Flash with Peter Banks and Tony Kaye, as Kaye was still in The Yes, and that Flash would not form until later in 1971 at the earliest.</p><b>April 13-14, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Beach Boys </b><i>(Tuesday-Wednesday)</i><br />The Beach Boys were kicking off a new National tour, so they kicked it off at the Whisky. Keith Badman's definitive chronology has the band at the Whisky on Tuesday and Wendesday, April 13 and 14. The Beach Boys had a new single ("Cool Water"), but not a new album. They were mostly in the process of recording what would become <i>Surf's Up</i> at Brian Wilson's home studio. The performing band would have been Mike Love (lead vocals), Carl Wilson (lead guitar), Al Jardine (guitar), Dennis Wilson (drums), Bruce Johnston (various), Darryl "The Captain" Dragon (keyboards) and Dennis Dragon (bass). Pretty much everyone in the band sang.<p>The Beach Boys had just signed with a new booking agency, Bill Graham's Millard. The goal for both Graham and the band seems to have been to show that the Beach Boys weren't aging teen stars, but rather cool hippie artists. All the band had grown beards, and they didn't wear matching outfits on stage anymore. On this tour, the Beach Boys would open for the Grateful Dead at Duke University (April 24), and then famously join the Dead onstage at Fillmore East (<a href="https://archive.org/details/gd71-04-27.sbd.murphy.2221.sbeok.shnf">on April 27--it's the Dead, so of course there's a tape</a>). On stage at Fillmore East, the Beach Boys (I think Mike Love, I'm not sure) joked about smoking dope with Buffalo Springfield, in a cringeworthy effort to appear hip.</p><p>Bill Graham's agency booking the Beach Boys at the Whisky was smart, but note that the Millard Agency also booked Elvin Bishop and Tower Of Power, who had played March 25-28. There's nothing sinister about any of this, but it's worth remembering that Millard would likely have booked the Beach Boys in return for a booking opportunity with their rising stars, because that's how the record industry worked.</p><p><b>April 14-18, 1971Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Hugh Masekela </b><i>(Thursday-Sunday)</i><br />Hugh Masakela returned, a clear sign that he was a popular draw, and not just a booking as a favor to his agency or record company.</p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F87QjdwI_bk/X54JBFno-BI/AAAAAAAAHkw/cqa2VAcXmBsGD68rQHPO8zPEttDlMSKcwCLcBGAsYHQ/s605/T%2BRex%2Bdebut%2Balbum%2B1970.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="522" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F87QjdwI_bk/X54JBFno-BI/AAAAAAAAHkw/cqa2VAcXmBsGD68rQHPO8zPEttDlMSKcwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/T%2BRex%2Bdebut%2Balbum%2B1970.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Reprise released the first album under the name T Rex in December 1970</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />April 19-20, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: T. Rex/Help </b><i>(Monday-Tuesday)</i><br /><b>T. Rex</b> was a sensation in England at this time, and they were on their first American tour. T. Rex would have been a perfect band for the Whisky in the 60s, and if anything they were even more so in the 70s. Stylish yet rocking, sounding original but with a familiar beat, they were made for West Hollywood. And indeed, as far as I know, West Hollywood loved them from the minute they showed up at the Whisky. The strange disconnect was that the rest of America did not care. T. Rex had a long, complicated, hugely successful history in England from 1968 through 1977, until Marc Bolan's untimely death in a car crash. Yet to most of America, T. Rex is just a one-hit wonder recalled only through the 1973 hit "Bang A Gong."<p></p><p>The Marc Bolan story is too much to tell here. Briefly, Bolan was in a semi-acoustic psychedelic duo (with bongo player Mickey Finn) called Tyrannosaurus Rex from 1968 on. In 1969 they even had an American tour, playing some obscure psychedelic venues. By the end of 1970, however, Bolan had reconfigured and shortened the band name to T. Rex. While T. Rex still had the arty overlay of a Psych band, they had added a driving beat that was pretty radio-friendly. At the end of 1970, T. Rex had two big hit singles in the UK, "Ride A White Swan" and "Hot Love." Reprise released the band's debut album under the shorter T. Rex name (it was actually the duo's 5th album) in December 1970, adding "Ride A White Swan." The band hit the road as a quartet, with drummer Bill Legend and Steve Currie on bass.</p><p>In England, and to some extent Europe, Bolan not only had hit after hit, but with his good looks and fashion sense, he initiated the "Glam Rock" look that captured 70s English rock, and thus American Heavy Metal a generation later. Those Metal lead singers with flowing locks, mascara and tight, glittery shirts unzipped in the front? That's all Marc Bolan, and his records were better too. West Hollywood was ready for Marc Bolan, but the rest of America was not. Indeed, the same thing would happen with David Bowie the next year, but Bolan blazed the trail that Bowie followed (as I think his friend Bowie would have cheerily admitted). </p><p>T. Rex was playing Monday and Tuesday, which of course was record company showcase night. Michael Ross of the LA <i>Times</i> gave a glowing review (April 21) of the Monday night show. Big things were afoot, but not, as it happened, in the United States.</p><p><b>Help</b> is unknown to me. In his review, Michael Ross mentions that they were a trio. </p><p><b>April 21-25, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes/Brownsville Station</b><i> (Wendesday-Sunday)</i><br />In contrast to the rising star of Marc Bolan, the balance of the week was taken with the declining marginal value of <b>Ted Nugent and The Amboy Dukes</b>. The Amboy Dukes had formed in Chicago in 1964, but had sucess in Detroit a few years later. They had one memorable hit single, the grinding psychedelic classic "Journey To The Center Of Your Mind." By 1971, after numerous personnel changes, the only constant thread was lead guitarist Ted Nugent. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Ted-Nugent-And-The-Amboy-Dukes-Survival-Of-The-Fittest-Live/release/12373745">In April 1971, Polydor had released the band's fifth album, a live record called <i>Survival Of The Fittest</i></a>. It was the first album credited to Ted Nugent and The Amboy Dukes, instead of just The Amboy Dukes. By 1974, Nugent would drop the Amboy Dukes name, since no one recalled their hit anymore. </p><p>Also on the bill was a Michigan band on the rise, Brownsville Station. <b>Brownsville Station </b>was a hard rocking band, too, but they had some good songs (unlike Nugent), many written by guitarist/singer Cub Koda. At the time, <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Brownsville-Station-No-BS/release/3057214">Brownsville Station had just released <i>No BS</i>, their debut album on Warners</a>. A few years later, the band would hit it big with their anthem "Smokin' In The Boys Room," which in turn was a hit single and MTV video for Motley Crue in 1985.</p><p><b>April 26-27, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Fanny </b><i>(Monday-Tuesday)</i><br />The fact that Fanny played every month tells us that record company support aside, Fanny must have put on a good show and sold a lot of drinks. Not surprising--they were a good rocking band, unique for the time as an all-girl band, and all cute of course. A lot of guys must have been at the bar, and their girlfriends probably enjoyed Fanny too, but probably from a different point of view. <br /></p><p><b>April 28, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Trapeze/Southwind</b><i> (Thursday)</i><br /><b>Trapeze</b> was an English band, touring behind their second album, <i>Medusa</i>, released in November 1970. The group was signed to Threshold Records, the imprint of The Moody Blues. Moody bassist John Lodge had produced their first two albums. Trapeze was a trio, with guitarist Mel Galley, bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes and drummer David Holland. The music was sort of funky hard rock. Hughes would later join Deep Purple (in 1973) and Galley would eventually join Whitesnake (around 1981). <br /></p><p>The members of <b>Southwind</b> had mostly been in an Oklahoma band called The Disciples. By 1970, they had all moved out Los Angeles, resurrected themselves as Southwind and had gotten signed to Blue Thumb. The band played country rock with a kind of funky soul undertone. I believe their current album would have been <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Southwind-What-A-Place-To-Land/master/1588556">their second one on Blue Thumb, <i>What A Place To Land</i></a>. The principals were guitarists Jim Pulte and John "Moon" Martin. Moon Martin would go on to some success as a songwriter in the latter 70s, including "Bad Case Of Lovin' You."<br /></p><p><b>April ?, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Three Dog Night</b><br /><b>Three Dog Night</b> apparently played one night at the Whisky sometime in April, Three Dog Night was huge by this time, and any appearance at the Whisky would have been a promotional gig that could not have been advertised.<br /><br /><b>May 2, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Medusa </b><i>(Monday)</i><br /><b>Medusa</b> is unknown to me.<br /></p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aiOwAf7KezI/X54JZBhvyaI/AAAAAAAAHk4/ZqhA-xTTgAwRoMusTzUvMuh-M3tC0ds8ACLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Rock%2BOn%2BHumble%2BPie%2B1971.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aiOwAf7KezI/X54JZBhvyaI/AAAAAAAAHk4/ZqhA-xTTgAwRoMusTzUvMuh-M3tC0ds8ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Rock%2BOn%2BHumble%2BPie%2B1971.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Rock On, by Humble Pie, produced by Glyn Johns, released by A&M in March 1971. It was the band's second album on A&M, and their fourth overall.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b><b><br />May 4-8, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Humble Pie/Jo Jo Gunne </b><i>(Thursday-Sunday)</i><br />On Thursday, May 4, Humble Pie and Jo Jo Gunne opened a weekend stand at the Whisky. <b>Humble Pie</b> had played the Whisky back in '69, their first time through the States (<a href="https://www.discogs.com/Humble-Pie-Live-At-The-Whisky-A-Go-Go-69/master/667689">one of the shows was actually an archival release</a>). Their two albums had not made any dent, however. The Pie had then signed with A&M Records, and their first, self-titled album for the label had been released in July 1970. Humble Pie had returned to tour America, and had played the Whisky again in December 1970.<br /><p><a href="https://www.discogs.com/Humble-Pie-Rock-On/release/2343009">In March, 1971 Humble Pie released <i>Rock On</i>, their second album on A&M, produced by Glyn Johns.</a> This album was the blueprint for Humble Pie's forthcoming success, and it made clear that the big star was not actually Steve Marriott, but Peter Frampton. Humble Pie didn't need to play the Whisky, as they had just opened at Long Beach Arena for Ten Years After on Sunday (May 2). The band was booked at both Fillmores, too. Still, playing the Whisky got a band attention, and since Humble Pie would become huge stars within a year, manager Dee Anthony knew what he was doing. </p><p>At the end of '71, Humble Pie released their double-lp <i>Rocking The Fillmore</i>, recorded live at Fillmore East. Humble Pie got big, and seemed on the verge of a breakout, which was somewhat derailed by the departure of Frampton. Frampton himself would go on to huge success with a double live album a few years later, showing that manager Dee Anthony (who stayed with Frampton) indeed knew how to make stars.</p><p><b>JoJo Gunne</b> was another rocking band, featuring two former members of the band Spirit. Spirit had been adored by rock critics, but had not sold any records until their final, post-breakup album <i>Twelve Dreams Of Dr Sardonicus</i> finally got the airplay and gold record sales that the band deserved. Lead singer Jay Ferguson and bassist Mark Andes had left Spirit and signed with Asylum Records. Their debut would not be released until 1972.</p><p></p><p>After the May 4 show, there was a huge fire at the Whisky-A-Go-Go and the club was closed for about six weeks. <br /><br /><b>May 5-8, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Humble Pie/Jo Jo Gunne </b><i>(Cancelled due to fire)</i><b><br />May 9, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Mothers of Invention/Crowbar </b><i>(Cancelled due to fire)</i><b><br />May 12. 1971:Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Sweathog </b><i>(Cancelled due to fire)</i><b><br />May 15, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Hugh Masekela </b><i>(Cancelled due to fire)</i><b><br />May 16, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: T. Rex </b><i>(Cancelled due to fire)</i></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wWy0cLIpzJg/X54J3oxp6_I/AAAAAAAAHlA/KuNmdwlW_FcTSjSljqbMI7cjX6WKYssAACLcBGAsYHQ/s316/Long_John_Baldry_1971%2BIt%2BAint%2BEasy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="316" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wWy0cLIpzJg/X54J3oxp6_I/AAAAAAAAHlA/KuNmdwlW_FcTSjSljqbMI7cjX6WKYssAACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Long_John_Baldry_1971%2BIt%2BAint%2BEasy.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>It Ain't Easy, by Long John Baldry. One side was produced by Rod Stewart, and the other by Elton John, both former band members</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />June 23-27, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Long John Baldry/Savage Grace </b><i>(Wednesday-Sunday)</i><br />The Whisky finally re-opened on June 23, with Long John Baldry and Savage Grace. <b>Long John Baldry</b>, a nickname befitting his 6'7'' frame, had been a singing legend on the London rock scene since 1964. Around 1965, Baldry had a group called Steampacket, with three lead singers--himself, Julie Driscoll and Rod Stewart. Only Baldry had not yet made it big. A few years later, his band included organist Reggie Dwight and jazz saxophonist Elton Dean. Dwight, an aspiring songwriter, decided to change his <i>Nom Du Rock</i> to "Elton John" after his fellow band members. <br /><p></p><p>Warner Brothers had signed the hugely talented Baldry, and <a href="https://www.discogs.com/John-Baldry-It-Aint-Easy/release/9601136"><i>It Ain't Easy</i>, his first Warners album, had side 1 produced by Rod Stewart and the flip by Elton John</a>. The album even had a sort of novelty hit, "Don't Try To Lay No Boogie-Woogie On The King Of Rock and Roll." Still, despite Baldry's skills, and his rock star producers, the album was mostly a mess. The show was reviewed in the <i>Times</i>, and the reviewer acknowledged the talent while wondering why the singer couldn't just be more straight ahead.</p><p><b>Savage Grace</b> was a Warner Brothers quartet who played Jackson Browne-style rock. I'm not sure whether their current album was their 1970 debut or their <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Savage-Grace-2/release/3268204">second album (<i>Savage Grace 2</i></a>). <br /></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sB7rsOlhBr0/X54KN6aHyPI/AAAAAAAAHlI/LXE2tcAM6PYnf8BYtm7B3rKNmVrcKedbQCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/The%2BYes%2BAlbum%2B1971%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sB7rsOlhBr0/X54KN6aHyPI/AAAAAAAAHlI/LXE2tcAM6PYnf8BYtm7B3rKNmVrcKedbQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/The%2BYes%2BAlbum%2B1971%2Blp.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Yes Album was released on Atlantic in February 1971</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />June 28-29, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Yes/Fat Chance</b><i> (Monday-Tuesday)</i><br />Around 1971, the "progressive" in "progressive rock" was an adjective. In my experience, it was <b>The Yes</b> and Emerson, Lake & Palmer that made Progressive Rock a genre. Musically sophisticated, with a big drum sound, but nodding to classical or pop structures more than the blues, "Prog" came on strong in the early 1970s. One of the seminal records was <i>The Yes Album</i>, that had been released in February 1971. Songs like "Yours Is No Disgrace," "Your Move" and "All Good People" got heavy airplay on FM radio and in college dorms. The pristine production and sophisticated ensemble playing seemed light-years ahead of some choogly blues jam.<p></p><p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20060614185023/http://forgottenyesterdays.com/date.asp?s=5&tname=2&tdate=978&navb=10">On a great Yes concert site, a long-time fan recalls:</a><br /></p><blockquote><i>I was a huge fan of Yes at the time of this show and followed closely<br />club and concert announcements. There was absolutely no mention of<br />these two shows at the wiskey in the local papers. I got a call from<br />my brother the afternoon of the show saying that he had happened to<br />drive by the whiskey as Yes were unloading their equipment and had met<br />the band and was calling from Jon Anderson's room at the Hyatt on<br />sunset blvd. I was completely blown away. My brother is Christopher<br />North the founding keyboard player of the best American prog band<br />Ambrosia. I raced up to Hollywood and saw the show both nights. It was<br />great to finally see and hear Yes live. They did two complete sets each<br />night. Most of the songs were from The Yes Album.</i></blockquote><p></p><p>The Yes were already popular in the UK and Europe, to some extent, but their 1971 North American tour introduced them to a new audience. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Yes_Album_Tour">The band played mid-sized civic auditoriums throughout the country, usually supporting the likes of Jethro Tull or Humble Pie</a>. The Whisky was the only nightclub The Yes played on the tour, and it may have been their last nightclub gig ever. At this time, the lineup had Steve Howe on guitar and Tony Kaye on Hammond organ, along with Jon Anderson on lead vocals, Chris Squire on bass and Bill Bruford on drums.</p><p><b>Fat Chance </b>is unknown to me. <br /></p><p><b>June 30-July 4, 1971 Whisky A-Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA: Ides of March/Rita Coolidge </b><i>(Wednesday-Sunday)</i><br />The <b>Ides of March</b> were a Chicago band that had been together since 1964, and had run through a variety of styles. In 1970, the band had a huge hit with the single "Vehicle," a horn-driven rocker that sounded like a gruffer version of Chicago Transit Authority. "Vehicle" reached #2 on Billboard on May 23, 1970. The Ides of March had some success after that, but nothing of that magnitude. In 1971, their current release was their second Warner Brothers album, <i>Common Bond</i>.</p><p><b>Rita Coolidge</b> had been an experienced studio backup singer for several year in the 60s, eventually ending up in Los Angeles. Coolidge had joined Delaney and Bonnie and Friends in late 1969, going on the famous tour with Eric Clapton and George Harrison. Coolidge then ended up as part of the Joe Cocker <i>Mad Dogs And Englishmen</i> tour, and Leon Russell had written the song "Delta Lady" about her. Coolidge's debut album on A&M had been released in February, 1971. Typical of the LA session scene at the time, <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Rita-Coolidge-Rita-Coolidge/release/2253456">the record featured performances by Leon Russell, Stephen Stills, Clarence White, Booker T, Ry Cooder and numerous other legendary players.</a><br /></p><p><br /></p><br /><br />Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-52539085200770397682021-07-08T12:40:00.015-07:002021-07-10T14:34:25.379-07:00The Ark, 15 Landsdowne Street, Boston, MA January-June 1969 (Boston V)<p> </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-doEtyxee0go/YFpA4vReLfI/AAAAAAAAIZQ/csmdGWB7UzARSp7_e5EjqMO6uz6JyfkHwCLcBGAsYHQ/s425/GD%2BThe%2BArk%2B19690421.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="347" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-doEtyxee0go/YFpA4vReLfI/AAAAAAAAIZQ/csmdGWB7UzARSp7_e5EjqMO6uz6JyfkHwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/GD%2BThe%2BArk%2B19690421.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>The only flyer for a show at The Ark in Boston--or at least the only surviving one--promotes the Grateful Dead performing Monday through Wednesday, April 21-23, 1969</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>By early 1969, the Boston Tea Party was the flagship of Boston's
underground rock scene. The Psychedelic Supermarket hadn't exactly
closed, but it was only booking shows intermittently (by this time using
the name The Unicorn, which had been the name of owner George Papadopolis' folk
club). A<a href="https://www.mmone.org/15-lansdowne-street/ ">bout
a mile and half from the Tea Party, neophyte promoter Charlie Thibeaux
built a rock club over at 15 Landsdowne Street, called The Ark. The club didn't do well,
actually, but it marked the beginning of making the Kenmore Square
neighborhood into a leading music and entertainment district for Boston</a>.</p><p>Although
it is easy to google the Boston Tea Party, the Psychedelic Supermarket
and The Ark with reference to the 1960s, there is almost no systematic
information about the period. Lots of people refer to the glory of 60s
Boston rock, but the views are largely impressionistic, or based on somewhat
vague websites focusing rather narrowly on posters. One of these days (not today) I will post my Boston chronology, but that is a mammoth
project even by my standards. Since there is no systematic information
about The Ark, this post will gather it together here, along with a list
of bands booked at the venue during its six months of operation.</p><p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yv7km1wqm1g/YOoRWz1FOXI/AAAAAAAAJHA/TKOIaaJTMa8Fibny4fwGIPLdRRAX7U6UQCLcBGAsYHQ/s720/why%2Bdon%2527t%2Bwe%2Bdo%2Bit%2Bin%2Bthe%2Bark%2Bsticker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="720" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yv7km1wqm1g/YOoRWz1FOXI/AAAAAAAAJHA/TKOIaaJTMa8Fibny4fwGIPLdRRAX7U6UQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/why%2Bdon%2527t%2Bwe%2Bdo%2Bit%2Bin%2Bthe%2Bark%2Bsticker.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A promotional bumper sticker for The Ark (thanks to the Boston Tea Party FB page)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The Ark, 15 Landsdowne Street, Boston, MA</b><br />The
Ark had opened on Friday, January 24, 1969. The model of The Ark seemed
to be a Boston variation on New York's Electric Circus. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2013/10/may-7-9-1968-electric-circus-23-st.html">I went into the
peculiar history of the Electric Circus when I discussed the Dead's
appearance there in 1968, so I won't recap it all here</a>. Suffice to say
the Circus had multiple levels, and was more of an "environment." Any
performing rock band was just one element of the evening.</p><p>The Ark had three stories, and it is generally referred
to in the Boston <i>Globe</i> as a "disco." I think there was a stage on one of
the stories, but the other two were for hanging out or dancing. In
general, it seems that the Ark had a live band on Thursday, Friday and
Saturday, and for the rest of the week they presented theater events on
the stage. I know little about theater, but the performances seemed to
have been pretty forward looking stuff: Bread And Puppet Theater, The SF
Mime Troupe and so on. For music, there was usually a more modest act
on Thursday, joined by a higher profile headliner for Friday and
Saturday.</p><p>The two original owners of the Boston Tea Party had
capitalized the club with just $850 in early 1967, and the venue was
heavily dependent on volunteer labor. The Ark, in contrast, besides
founder Charlie Thibeau, had 17 stockholders. Per the Boston <i>Globe</i>,
they were "local doctors, university people and businessmen." The <i>Globe</i>
said that 10 of the 26 employees of The Ark were full-time. <br /></p><p>On
The Ark's opening night, January 24, 1969 the headliners
were the Los Angeles band Spirit, joined by The Bar-Kays, Otis Redding's
backing band. The few histories of Boston rock, however, never mention
the debut of The Ark. Could it have been because that since over at the
Tea Party that weekend was the debut of Led Zeppelin (Thursday through
Sunday, January 23-26), whose debut album had just been released? Those
with too many records will note the irony of Randy California and Led
Zeppelin debuting the same weekend in Boston. A more poetic writer than
me would find a metaphor.</p><b><i><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZHXI0Remj6I/YF99b-lKi-I/AAAAAAAAIbM/em82Gspm9Cw_s2ZbquSjzsx1F1E2TJPrwCLcBGAsYHQ/s963/club%2B47%2Bcalendar%2Bjuly%2B1965.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="762" data-original-width="963" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZHXI0Remj6I/YF99b-lKi-I/AAAAAAAAIbM/em82Gspm9Cw_s2ZbquSjzsx1F1E2TJPrwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/club%2B47%2Bcalendar%2Bjuly%2B1965.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The July 1965 calendar for Club 47, at 47 Palmer Street (Harvard Square) in Cambridge, MA</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The Road To The Ark</i></b><br />The history of
underground psychedelic rock in the 60s in Boston was completely
different than in any other major American city. Broadly speaking, cities had two main paths. The first, and most famous path, was the San
Francisco one: dissatisfied long haired youth provides an audience for
local bands influenced by jazz, BB King and <i>Revolver</i>, congregating in
underused downtown venues in a fading part of town. Before anyone knew
it, particularly in the West there was a Fillmore or an Avalon (or <a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/04/crystal-ballroom-1332-w-burnside_09.html">the Crystal in Portland</a>, the Family Dog in Denver, Vulcan Gas in Austin or
Eagles Ballroom in Seattle), and even if the venues didn't persist, the
audiences did. Bands like the Grateful Dead or Canned Heat would come
through town and help create a new underground economy. <br /><p>The other
trend was the negative version of the first one. Some local promoters
would try and book some long-haired bands, but it didn't lead to much.
The cops might be against it, there wasn't a promising part of town, or
the promoters didn't have it together. The Dead, or Canned Heat, or Iron
Butterfly might have passed through, but to the extent they played
those cities, they were grudgingly absorbed into the regular Civic
Auditorium-type gigs, just like Top 40 bands or country stars. The only
real exception to this dichotomy was New York City, whose history has to
be dissected by Borough or Neighborhood, which you will find generally
fall into the two main paradigms, but distributed throughout the city
itself.</p><p>Boston rock had a different history. Cambridge, Massachusetts, just across the Charles River from Boston, was
one of the principal birthplaces of the “Folk Boom” of the early 1960s.
Fueled by students from the many colleges in Cambridge, students who
were serious about music as art rather than just entertainment flocked
to places like Club 47, at 47 Mt Auburn Street. Club 47 was originally a
jazz club, but on Tuesday nights they had a sort of "hoot night," and
in Fall '58 a Boston University student named Joan Baez showed up.
Things happened. Cambridge and Greenwich Village were the twin anchors
of a rising interest in folk music that wasn't just decontextualized
re-tellings of old folk songs (it is telling that Joan Baez was from
Palo Alto, and that the Kingston Trio got their start there, but it's
another saga). </p><p>Boston and Cambridge was one of the first outposts
for the stirrings of what would become "the counterculture." It wasn't
just Joan Baez. The Jim Kweskin Jug Band introduced jug band music to
America, and they would have been hugely influential even if they
weren't important to Jerry Garcia's idea of how music should be
performed--but they were, when he saw them in Berkeley in March, 1964.
That wasn't all. Two Harvard Assistant Professors experimented with
something called "LSD-25" as early as 1962, and while Tim Leary wasn't
Owsley, Cambridge and Boston weren't naive a few years later, unlike
pretty much everywhere else.</p><p>When the Beatles and the British
Invasion came in, New England jumped in with both feet, from Boston to
Nantucket and every suburb. Nearer the Charles River, however, the
response was sophisticated, if no less enthusiastic. The Charles River
Valley Boys, for example, played bluegrass versions of Beatles songs, a
sort of second order joke that wouldn't have flown in a lot of towns. So
on one hand, downtown Boston and Cambridge were absolutely ready for
the rock explosion that would follow, as "folk-rock" followed the
Beatles (via The Byrds, The Lovin' Spoonful and others) and the local
bands who formed in their wake. Yet Boston's predisposition to the
oncoming music revolution had some unexpected consequences.</p><p>In
downtown Boston, there were plenty of venues, serving the student and
faculty populations of all the colleges and universities. Sure, many of
them mostly had theater and symphony productions, but they had no
restrictions on having folk acts or other kind of music on off nights.
Local Boston promoters had been booking "long-haired" folk acts since
the early 60s, so booking black blues bands from Chicago or somewhat
longer-haired musicians with pop hits was no problem. What that meant,
paradoxically, was that the hot touring acts who played the West Coast
ballrooms for hippie entrepreneurs--Butterfield Blues Band or Jefferson
Airplane--were playing for better capitalized promoters in Boston as
part of the regular entertainment scene. There were well-paying weekend
gigs at college gyms, and Sunday nights when the Symphonies weren't
using their halls. </p><p>So the "psychedelic" underground in Boston was
really underground, not at all part of the record companies mainstream.
All those bands were playing Boston, at colleges or other events, and
Boston college students and local hippies were fully tuned in, but there
was no Fillmore (or Electric Ballroom like Chicago, or Eagles like
Seattle) that was one-stop shopping for the local hipsters. The Boston
venues had entirely different arcs. There were a few predecessors to The
Ark, which I will briefly address.</p><i><b>Boston Tea Party, 1967</b></i><br />The
Boston Tea Party, at 53 Berkeley Street, had opened on January 20, 1967.
Ray Riepen and David Hahn were the founding partners, supposedly
opening with a capitalization of a mere $850, and dependent on a lot of
volunteer labor. The site had previously been a synagogue, and then a
coffee shop called The Moondial. Riepen had come from Kansas City to Harvard Law School
for a Masters Program in Fall '66. The club was opened as an underground
concert venue like the Fillmore. The legal capacity of the Boston Tea
Party was 550, increased to 720 in 1968 when they added another fire
escape. Whether exceeded or not, that made it half the size of the
Fillmore. No matter what, the Tea Party wasn't going to compete directly
with the local promoters booking shows at colleges, arenas and concert
halls.<p>The Boston Tea Party of 1967-68 is most remembered--on the web,
at least--for being the home-away-from-home for the Velvet Underground.
Scholarship on the Velvets is epic, and the pinnacle of it is <a href="http://jawbonepress.com/white-lightwhite-heat/">Richie
Unterberger's chronology <i>White Light, White Heat</i>.</a> Without VU scholars,
we would know surprisingly little about the Boston Tea Party. While VU
were famous for the adage that "not many people bought their record, but
everyone who did formed a band," it's important to remember that
Boston Tea Party was an underground hipster joint, and not many people
in Boston had heard the Velvet Underground. If more people had heard
them, the band wouldn't have been any more popular. They weren't that
kind of band. <br /></p><i><b>Psychedelic Supermarket, 1967 (and Beyond)</b></i><br />The
Psychedelic Supermarket opened in September, 1967 under peculiar
circumstances (<a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2009/11/psychedelic-supermarket-boston-ma-1967.html">for my old blog post on the subject, see here</a>). Promoter
George Popodopolis had run a folk club called The Unicorn, a direct
competitor to Club 47. When Eric Clapton and Cream were booked for their
first US Tour, they had been scheduled to play a new "psychedelic"
ballroom in suburban Brighton called The Crosstown Bus. The Bus closed,
however, and Popodopolis rapidly opened the Psychedelic Supermarket to
accommodate the dropped Cream booking (September 9-16, 1967).<p>The
Psychedelic Supermarket was a converted parking garage, apparently
holding about 300 people on an entirely concrete floor. The venue had some
great bookings, but it is not fondly remembered by fans or bands. The
sound was poor, the venue unappealing and the promoter's financial
practices were--shall we say--not fondly recalled. The official address
was 590 Commonwealth Avenue, but the actual venue was back down in
alley. The Supermarket ultimately changed its name to The Unicorn (the
name of the promoter's old coffee shop) and seemed to have existed
intermittently through 1969.</p><i><b>Boston Tea Party, 1968</b></i><br />The Boston Tea Party muddled onwards into 1968. A few significant events gave it a life that may not have been anticipated. <br /><ul><li>The original Boston Tea Party partners (Ray Riepen and David Hahn)
added another one, Boston University student Don Law Jr. Don Law's
father had been a staff producer for Columbia Records. Law Sr had
produced Robert Johnson's only recording session in San Antonio, and he
had run Columbia's country music division in Nashville since 1952,
working with major Columbia stars like Johnny Cash. Law Sr had even
produced Marty Robbins' "El Paso." Although Law Senior had taken mandatory
retirement in 1967, he was still an independent producer. His son was
just a student, but he had been born into the popular music business.</li><li>The
Boston Tea Party bet heavily on touring bands, particularly English
ones. Throughout 1968, plenty of English rock legends came through;
Procol Harum, the Yardbirds, Traffic, Jeff Beck Group, Ten Years After
and more. Many of those bands would play Fillmore East as well as the
Tea Party, as did some San Francisco bands like Steve Miller or
Quicksilver. The Psychedelic Supermarket still booked shows, but the Tea
Party was the place that everyone remembers.</li><li>On March 15, 1968,
WBCN-fm was the first underground rock music station in the Boston
area. Don Law and Ray Riepen were the owners. Initially they broadcast
out of a dressing room at the Tea Party. The most popular all-night dj
was a jive talker called The Woofuh Goofuh. A true Boston
legend--apocryphally, many came down from a long acid trip listening to
Woofuh Goofuh jiving and playing blues and R&B records far into the
night--his reign ended around December 1968. The Woofuh Goofuh was Peter
Wolf, lead singer of the Hallucinations. When that band broke up, and
Wolf joined the J Geils Band, he had to give up the dj gig. WBCN went on
to become the dominant rock station in the region.<br /></li><li>MGM
Records signed a bunch of up-and-coming Boston bands, like Ultimate
Spinach, Beacon Street Union and Orpheus. MGM staff producer Alan
Lorber, declared that Boston was the next San Francisco. Lorber coined
the catch-phrase "The Bosstown Sound." <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosstown_Sound">The
bands were actually pretty good, but there wasn't a "Boss-Town sound."
The ad campaign backfired. Hippies were suspicious of anything promoted
by "The Man." </a>So some good Boston bands got overlooked because the
rest of the country's hippies thought they were just hype. The Bosstown
Sound debacle was a cautionary tale for record industry promotions of
underground bands for the balance of the 20th century.</li></ul><p><i><b>Boston, 1969</b></i><br />Come
1969, rock music was booming nationwide and Boston was no exception. FM
radio, led by WBCN-fm, had busted the hegemony of AM radio, suggesting
that rock bands could thrive as live attractions without a hit that was
easy to hum. At the same time, the hip but tiny Boston Tea Party had the
critical booking relationships with touring English bands, but they
couldn't necessarily afford them. Enter The Ark. </p><p>The Ark had an
official capacity of 1700. Since there were three stories, I don't know
whether this was the capacity for the concert venue or the entire
building. Per the Boston Globe, the opening night party at The Ark had
3200 people. I take that to mean that numerous patrons came and went,
although it could also just be hype. Certainly, I don't doubt that like
most general admission venues it was conveniently easy to oversell the
venue beyond the restrictions required by the Fire Department. One of
the unspoken economic drivers of "Festival Seating" was the ease with
which a successful booking could pack the house, while leaving some
deniability for the promoter.</p><p>With the 1700-capacity, the Ark
could compete directly with local symphony halls or college arenas for
booking bands. The fact that they didn't do so suggests an inexperienced
booking team. The Tea Party's Don Law had all the relationships with
English touring bands, and many of the American ones, too. Thus the Tea
Party got the bands that seem memorable today. Some good bands played
The Ark, in fact (see below), but even at the time they weren't as high
profile as the Tea Party bookings.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gVLS1UqAkhg/YEt60NO8eGI/AAAAAAAAIT8/u3mUNJvCIaYK5X_pwWhohQ1vj-mtoJElgCLcBGAsYHQ/s614/The%2BArk%2BTheater%2BBoston%2BGlobe%2B19690314.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="614" data-original-width="580" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gVLS1UqAkhg/YEt60NO8eGI/AAAAAAAAIT8/u3mUNJvCIaYK5X_pwWhohQ1vj-mtoJElgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/The%2BArk%2BTheater%2BBoston%2BGlobe%2B19690314.png" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>An
ad from the Sunday, March 14, 1969 Boston Globe, in the Theater
section. Upcoming Theater events are noted, with no reference to any
bands on the weekends.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The Ark's
business model was different than the Tea Party, as well. For one thing,
it had multiple rooms and seemed to be a place to dance and hang out,
as well as see bands. This model was borrowed from the Electric Circus
in Manhattan. Appealing as this must have seemed, it turned out to be a
poorly applied model. Young rock fans, primed by FM radio, took rock
music seriously. Their appreciation was modeled on that of jazz fans,
and not coincidentally. For rock fans who felt that rock bands were
Serious Artists--let's be clear, Teenage Me was definitely such a
person--performance was the reason to go. Dancing and hanging out were
for afterwards. Seeing a band "In Concert" was like seeing a symphony
orchestra in concert, not dancing at a club.<p>Also, on
weeknights The Ark had theater instead of music. This seems to have been
an only-in-Boston thing. Although I know little about theater history,
even I recognize that the presentations were young and hip, befitting a
college town full of arty university students. I think the audience for
rock music and theater was totally different, however, so the variant
booking policies probably didn't have much crossover. Certainly
teenagers from the suburbs weren't very likely going to take the MTA to
Kenmore Square to catch Bread And Puppet Theater. So The Ark had a
unique business model, but it didn't turn out to be successful.<br /></p><b><i>What Do We Know About The Ark?</i></b><br />As is typical
of late 60s Boston rock history, there is far less information
circulating than you would expect. This effect is magnified by the fact
that the Tea Party moved to the site of The Ark in July 1969. Many old
Boston hippies referred to the Landsdowne Street Tea Party as "The Ark,"
whether because they forgot, or liked to show off that they knew the
difference (in San Francisco, the comparison was referring to the
Fillmore West as The Carousel long after Bill Graham took it over and renamed it). <p>An article in The Harvard <i>Crimson</i> student newspaper (published February 28 1969)
by regular <i>Crimson</i> rock writer Salahuddin I. Imam entitled “Boston’s
White Rock Palaces” described the original Berkeley Street Tea Party as </p><blockquote>a large
square hall with a low stage. When it is full of people, as it often is,
the performers seem very close to the crowd nearly submerged by
it—which makes it all very warm and intimate—not intimidating as is the
case in some circus-like arenas. The simplicity of the setup does mean
that acoustics are virtually non-existent, but that is made up for by
the immediacy and directness of the sound, which comes out quite
powerfully amplified over the speaker system.” </blockquote>The article ads “the crowds are hip, or perhaps too hip, because there is almost no dancing at the Tea Party. But then its probably just as well that people listen attentively to good music."<p>About The Ark, Imam said</p><blockquote><p>“The building and the whole of the main dance hall of the Ark, a newly
opened club, is much more interesting than the Tea Party's box-like
shape. Not surprisingly, the major emphasis at the Ark is on creating an
elaborate and stylized fantasy environment, with the music as more a
contributing than dominating factor. This effort at atmosphere is
sometimes pursued a little too relentlessly but the overall result is
nevertheless an interesting, sometimes fascinating, blend of modern
multi-media techniques. The walls curve and sway, the floor winds
round and round in ramps that dip and rise. Most of the ground is
covered in thick blue carpeting expect for the main dance floor, which
is to be painted in bright colors. </p><p>With all this structural complexity
there is much acoustic modulation. The sound has definite variations in
texture (depending on where you are in the building) though the volume
is never weak anywhere, owing to the incredibly expensive and
sophisticated sound system that the club uses. Surprisingly the system
sounds best when records are being played between sets. One area of
the floor is ringed by tent-like walls and you feel like walls and you
feel like you're in the middle of a growing plant. Another, a raised
section, is entirely strobe lit, great waterfalls of light white light,
and people dance as if bathing. EVERY INCH of wall space is covered
with light shows of various kinds indifferent themes, with pictures
ranging from ten foot high shots of Janis Joplin's singing face to
Egyptian hieroglyphics. Fascinating things happen in isolated corners
with the slides, but these shows are in fact all pre-programmed by
computer; there is not the spontaneity and musical relevance of the Tea
Party's light show, but rather a static grace. </p><p>The groups that play at
the Ark are not established rock groups, which is in line with the
club's intent of emphasizing the whole experience--light and colors and
sound rather than solely the musical. Occasionally one is able to catch a
really fine group that has not yet made its name. One such was a group
called Man, who did a remarkable, aggressive gig recently at the Ark.
Dancing is not frowned upon at the Ark as it is at the Tea Party and
most people do take to the floor at some tome or other, though one is
slightly dwarfted by the cavernous height of the ceiling. The Ark
caters to a different set of interests than the Tea Party and does its
thing pretty well.</p></blockquote><p><i><b>The Ark Rock Performance History, January-July 1969 </b></i><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I-wTCZt8Vtk/YEvcgQ66c1I/AAAAAAAAIUM/5PvUKqyCVYIP8qnFzHrRWx52SCl3TkWKACLcBGAsYHQ/s300/The_Family_That_Plays_Together_%2528Spirit_album_-_cover_art%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I-wTCZt8Vtk/YEvcgQ66c1I/AAAAAAAAIUM/5PvUKqyCVYIP8qnFzHrRWx52SCl3TkWKACLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h320/The_Family_That_Plays_Together_%2528Spirit_album_-_cover_art%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Spirit's second album on Ode Records, The Family That Plays Together, was released in December 1968.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>January 24, 1969 The Ark, Boston, MA: Spirit/The Bar-Kays </b><i>(Friday)</i><b><br />January 25, 1969 The Ark, Boston, MA: Spirit/Reality Sandwich </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />The
Ark opened on the weekend of January 24, 1969. Spirit was from Los
Angeles. In December 1968, <b>Spirit</b> had released their second album on Ode
Records, <i>The Family That Plays Together.</i> It was a great album, and a
worthy followup to their amazing debut. The album was probably getting
good airplay on WBCN. The album also featured Spirit's only hit single,
"I've Got A Line On You," although I don't know if it was a hit in
Boston. Spirit was a great live band, and guitarist Randy California was
a major talent.<p><b>The Bar-Kays</b> had been Otis Redding's backup band, and
they had a recording career of their own. Four of the members had died
in the December 10, 1967 plane crash that had killed Redding. Trumpeter
Ben Cauley and bassist James Alexander had rebuilt the band. The
Bar-Kays were not a regular part of Fillmore circuit bookings, so it
made for an interesting pairing. <b>Reality Sandwich,</b> who replaced the
Bar-Kays on Saturday night, are unknown to me.</p><p>The Boston <i>Globe </i>
claimed that 3200 people attended the opening night party, obviously far
more than the 1700-capacity was supposed to hold. Presumably many
people came and went. I do not know of eyewitness accounts. That same
weekend, Led Zeppelin was debuting at Boston Tea Party. Many years
later, the estate of Randy (Wolfe) California sued Led Zeppelin for
copyright violation, claiming Page had lifted the signature lick for
"Stairway To Heaven" from a Spirit song called "Taurus."<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--LlkwnMXWm0/YEvcI7XWcdI/AAAAAAAAIUE/mnkCYkqn-ugNuBwjrTm84-T0seO6gSOdACLcBGAsYHQ/s608/Bunky%2Band%2BJake%2BLAMF%2Blp%2BMercury%2B1969.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="608" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--LlkwnMXWm0/YEvcI7XWcdI/AAAAAAAAIUE/mnkCYkqn-ugNuBwjrTm84-T0seO6gSOdACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Bunky%2Band%2BJake%2BLAMF%2Blp%2BMercury%2B1969.jpg" /></a></div><br /><b>February 16, 1969 The Ark, Boston, MA Bunky and Jake/Earth Opera </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />I
have only been able to find listings for certain shows at The Ark. I
assume they booked rock bands at least every weekend, but it's difficult
to speculate. The Ark generally did not have posters, so there are not
artifacts to lean on. Apparently, the <b>Bunky and Jake</b> show was booked for
Sunday night (per the Friday,
February 14 <i>Globe</i>), so someone else likely played the weekend. <br /><p>Andrea
"Bunky" Skinner and Jake Jacobs had been folk musicians in Greenwich
Village in various ensembles since the early 60s, and had each been in
various bands. In 1968 the duo had released their debut album on Mercury
Records, and in 1969 they had followed up with <i>LAMF.</i> I think the duo
played in a jazzy style that was a little more expansive than just two
guys playing guitar. The duo broke up later in '69, and Jacobs went on
to form the group Jake And The Family Jewels.<br /></p><p>Opening act
<b>Earth Opera</b> was a Cambridge "psychedelic folk" band led by guitarist and
singer Peter Rowan and his friend David Grisman, who mostly played
electric mandolin. Rowan and Grisman had backgrounds in bluegrass, but
in 1967 they had "gone electric." Their 1968 debut album on Elektra had a
mixture of folk and psychedelic influences. The band would release a
second album, <i>The Great American Eagle Tragedy</i>, later in 1969. That
album had a number of guest musicians, including Bill Keith on pedal
steel guitar and the enigmatic Jack Bonus on saxophone.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7Ve2xUWYkk8/YEvj-Jy5i5I/AAAAAAAAIUU/ql268636wgA0WsmkgKxnuF890t_wzTCEQCLcBGAsYHQ/s394/Flying%2BBurritos%2BThe%2BArk%2B19690307%2B6%2BMar%2B1969%252C%2B20%2B-%2BThe%2BBoston%2BGlobe%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="142" data-original-width="394" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7Ve2xUWYkk8/YEvj-Jy5i5I/AAAAAAAAIUU/ql268636wgA0WsmkgKxnuF890t_wzTCEQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Flying%2BBurritos%2BThe%2BArk%2B19690307%2B6%2BMar%2B1969%252C%2B20%2B-%2BThe%2BBoston%2BGlobe%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Boston Globe listing for The Ark on the weekend of March 6-8, 1969</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>March 6, 1969 The Ark, Boston, MA: Eddie Floyd </b><i>(Thursday)</i><b><br />March 7-8, 1969 The Ark, Boston, MA: Flying Burrito Brothers/Eddie Floyd </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Stax
Records singer <b>Eddie Floyd</b> had scored big hits with "Raise Your Hand" and
"Knock On Wood" in 1966. Joining Floyd for the weekend, was the <b>Flying
Burrito Brothers</b>, who had just released their now-legendary debut album
<i>The Gilded Palace Of Sin</i> in February 1969. They were on their first
National tour. The initial Burritos lineup was fronted by Gram Parsons
and Chris Hillman, supported by pedal steel guitarist Sneaky Pete
Kleinow, bassist Chris Etheridge and ex-Byrd drummer Michael Clarke.
Although the Burritos are legends today, and perhaps rightly so, they
were initially a sloppy and under-rehearsed live band.<p>A few weekends
earlier (February 20-23), the Flying Burrito Brothers had opened for The
Byrds at the Boston Tea Party. On the night reviewed in the MIT student paper (<i>The Tech</i>),
Parsons joined the Byrds to sing "Hickory Wind." Parsons and Hillman,
both ex-Byrds, apparently joined in on other nights.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XJ-HnuQS17g/YEvnGzqN9_I/AAAAAAAAIUc/HwD3imTuZvA255qQZU1R610dJa5jfjhqQCLcBGAsYHQ/s395/John%2BHammond%2BSooner%2BOr%2BLater%2BAtlantic%2B1968.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="395" data-original-width="395" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XJ-HnuQS17g/YEvnGzqN9_I/AAAAAAAAIUc/HwD3imTuZvA255qQZU1R610dJa5jfjhqQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/John%2BHammond%2BSooner%2BOr%2BLater%2BAtlantic%2B1968.jpg" /></a></div><p><b>March 14 The Ark, Boston, MA: Otis and Lucille Spann </b><i>(Thursday)</i><b><br />March 15-16 The Ark, Boston, MA: John Hammond/Otis and Lucille Spann </b><i>(Friday-Saturday) </i><br /><b>Otis Spann </b>(1924-70) was perhaps Chicago's finest blues pianist. He had been in Muddy Waters band from 1952-68, and had played with numerous other greats. He had played on Chuck Berry's "You Can't Catch Me," and had also recorded with BB King, Fleetwood Mac and many others. Spann's early '69 Blue Horizon album <i>The Biggest Thing Since Colossus</i> featured Peter Green, Danny Kirwan and John McVie from the Mac. <b>Lucille Spann</b>, Otis' wife, was a singer.</p><p><b>John Hammond</b> was the son of legendary
Columbia Records producer John Hammond, who had discovered--among
others--Robert Johnson and Bob Dylan (and later Bruce Springsteen and
Stevie Ray Vaughan). The younger Hammond was an accomplished
finger-style blues guitarist, having not only talent but access to the
records, which had not been widely available in the late 50s. Hammond
was a fine performer in both electric Chicago-type settings or as a solo
acoustic performer. I'm not sure in which configuration he played The
Ark. Hammond's current album would have been <i>Sooner Or Later,</i> which had
been released on Atlantic in 1968.<br /></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><b>March 20-21 The Ark, Boston, MA: Charlie Musselwhite/Elephant's Memory </b><i>(Friday-Saturday) </i><br />Charlie
Musselwhite had been born in Mississippi and moved to Memphis, and then
ultimately to Chicago. He was one of a small number of white musicians
in Chicago (including Nick Gravenites, Paul Butterfield, Mike
Bloomfield, Elvin Bishop and a few others) who had stumbled onto the
blues scene by themselves.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>A Chicago club regular, Musselwhite eventually recorded an album for Vanguard in 1967 called <i>Stand Back</i>,
which started to receive airplay on San Francisco’s new underground FM
station, KMPX-fm. Friendly with the Chicago crowd who had moved to San
Francisco, his band was offered a month of work in San Francisco in
mid-1967, so Musselwhite took a month’s leave from his day job and
stayed for a couple of decades.</span></span></span></p><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Musselwhite
released his second album on Vanguard, <i>Stone Blues</i>, in 1968. Sometime
in 1969, Vanguard released <i>Tennessee Woman</i>. Musselwhite was a regular on
the Bay Area club scene, and had played the Fillmore and Avalon as
well. In Chicago, Musselwhite was just one of many fine blues acts, but
in the Bay Area he stood out. </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span> </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times";"><span style="font-size: small;"><span>Elephant's
Memory was a New York band founded in 1968. In 1969, they would release
their debut album on Buddah Records. A few years later, the band would
be remembered for backing John Lennon and Yoko Ono live and on record. </span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0WvWrqoMg5M/YEvqRIAP5EI/AAAAAAAAIUk/RKYZr-mWGrAMnteF8UzR9SJp4QRmzFtsQCLcBGAsYHQ/s316/Collectors%2Blp%2BWarners%2B68.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="316" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0WvWrqoMg5M/YEvqRIAP5EI/AAAAAAAAIUk/RKYZr-mWGrAMnteF8UzR9SJp4QRmzFtsQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Collectors%2Blp%2BWarners%2B68.gif" /></a></div><br /><b>March 28-29 1969 The Ark, Boston, MA: The Collectors </b><i>(Friday-Saturday) </i><br /><b>The
Collectors</b> were from Vancouver, and had roots back in the early 60s.
The band featured lead singer Howie Vickers and guitarist Bill
Henderson. The Collectors had released their debut album on Warner
Brothers in 1968, produced by Dave Hassinger. The Collectors would
release one more album in 1969. Howie Vickers left, and Henderson took
over the lead vocals, which changed its name to Chilliwack (a Vancouver
suburb). <br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VjMEw-bP7sk/YF5ac-eH0EI/AAAAAAAAIZ8/Z0N35_kJhT4WWFCoarPpowOu81CDqyrngCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Taj%2BMahal%2BGiant%2BStep%2B69%2BCBS%2Blp.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="585" data-original-width="600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VjMEw-bP7sk/YF5ac-eH0EI/AAAAAAAAIZ8/Z0N35_kJhT4WWFCoarPpowOu81CDqyrngCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Taj%2BMahal%2BGiant%2BStep%2B69%2BCBS%2Blp.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>April 4-5-6, 1969 The Ark, Boston, MA: Taj Mahal </b><i>(Friday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Taj
Mahal</b> (b. Henry Saint Clair Fredericks in 1942) had been raised in a
musical family in Springfield, MA. He played in various musical
ensembles in high school and in college (at U.Mass). By 1964 he had
moved to the West Coast, and he formed a pioneering R&B combo called
The Rising Sons, with Ry Cooder on lead guitar (a cd of their
recordings was finally released in 1992). By early 1968, Taj had already
signed and recorded his debut album with Columbia, with both Cooder and
Jesse Ed Davis on guitars, although it would not be released until later in the
year. <p></p><p>Taj Mahal's equally excellent second album, <i>The Natch'l
Blues</i>, still with Davis but without Ry Cooder, had been released later
in '68. Sometime in 1969, probably later than this weekend, Taj Mahal
would release his memorable Columbia electric/acoustic double album
<i>Giant Step/De Ole Folks At Home</i>.</p><p>Given his Massachusetts
background, this was probably an exciting homecoming. On stage, Taj
Mahal was backed by a killer trio, with Davis on guitar, Gary
Gillmore on bass and Chuck Blackwell on drums. <br /></p><b>April 18-19, 1969 The Ark, Boston, MA: Cat Mother And The All-Night Newsboys </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />The
Greenwich Village band <b>Cat Mother and The All-Night Newsboys </b>had just
released their debut album on Elektra, <i>The Street Giveth...And The
Street Taketh Away</i>, produced by no less than Jimi Hendrix. Both Cat
Mother and Hendrix shared manager Mike Jeffery. <br /><br /><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y7GQRdkXcSk/YISKTppVyTI/AAAAAAAAIpg/vwk0TJdczsEjt6RN36eSwjK1KLNqJvoSwCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/GD%2BThe%2BArk%2B19690421.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="404" data-original-width="600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y7GQRdkXcSk/YISKTppVyTI/AAAAAAAAIpg/vwk0TJdczsEjt6RN36eSwjK1KLNqJvoSwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/GD%2BThe%2BArk%2B19690421.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Grateful Dead on stage at The Ark, Boston, MA, April 21, 1969</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />April 21-23, 1969 The Ark, Boston, MA: Grateful Dead </b><i>(Monday-Wednesday)</i><br /><b>The
Grateful Dead</b> were booked April 21 through 23, a Monday, Tuesday and
Wednesday. This in itself was a strange booking. Most "psychedelic"
ballrooms weren't open except on weekends, although even the Tea Party
had started to add such dates. When bands were on the road, and had a
few days off between weekends, why not play a few weeknight gigs, and
take the door? Otherwise, they would be making no money. This was
particularly true with English bands on tour, which is why you see
weekday bookings at the Tea Party for UK bands in 1969.<p>The
Dead were playing Clark University in Worcester on Saturday
(ultimately rescheduled to Sunday, April 20), and they had a big weekend
booking at the Electric Theater in Chicago (on April 25-26). So they
had nothing else to do, and of course no money--so why not take a flyer
on an unknown, brand new psychedelic ballroom with an inexperienced
promoter?</p><p>It is remarkable, and generally unremarked, how many
chances the Grateful Dead took on the road with rookie promoters in
strange cities. Whether Charlie Thibeau called the Dead, or the Dead
called The Ark, the Tea Party wasn't known to have a pre-existing connection to
the band. In any case, even if the Dead weren't popular in Boston, they
were still infamous, and for a new club, that mattered. So the band
played three April weeknights in Boston.The Grateful Dead's
Monday-through-Wednesday
booking at The Ark seems to have been the first weeknight music booking
at the venue. It's also the only one where I am aware of some sort of
flyer or poster (above). I do know that Monday was a Boston Holiday, Patriots Day, and the Boston Marathon was run on that day.<br /></p><p>Since all three nights of the Grateful Dead performances at The Ark were
taped and preserved, more or less in their entirety, Deadheads feel
that they "know" these shows. And they do, up to a point. But an
abstract listening to a live recording is just a single window. Were the
shows crowded? Did the audience like the Grateful Dead, or were they
just there for a party? Did people wander over from the disco, or did
concertgoers wander out? It was a weeknight--when did the Dead start
playing and when did they finish? Was there any opening act? We have the
tapes--it's the Dead--but we really have no sense of what the shows
were like (<a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2017/07/december-31-1969-boston-tea-party.html">I have discussed the Dead's 60s adventures in Boston in greater detail here</a>). <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yd_sKsgxres/YF5a0CexUTI/AAAAAAAAIaE/AuIf72pP2vY5ND16jmDoqS6TZsiKifTZgCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Build%2BMe%2BUp%2BButtercup%2BFoundations%2B1968%2BUni%2Blp.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yd_sKsgxres/YF5a0CexUTI/AAAAAAAAIaE/AuIf72pP2vY5ND16jmDoqS6TZsiKifTZgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Build%2BMe%2BUp%2BButtercup%2BFoundations%2B1968%2BUni%2Blp.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>April 25-26, 1969 The Ark, Boston, MA: The Foundations/Chris Smither </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>The
Foundations</b> were an English band, although most Americans who recall
their hit don't realize it. In late '68, The Foundations had a huge US
hit with "Build Me Up Buttercup," which any American in Junior High at
the time has permanently imprinted in their brain, whether they liked
the song or not. The band sang very much in the Motown style, but in
fact they were from England.<p></p><p><b>Chris Smither</b> (b.1944) was from
Florida, but had ended up in Cambridge in the mid-60s. A bluesy
singer-songwriter, he would release his debut album in 1970. Smither's
song "Love Me Like A Man" became a signature song for fellow Cambridge
singer Bonnie Raitt, a friend of his. Smither had various ups and downs
throughout the 1970s, but managed to overcome some health issues to have
a good career from the 1980s onwards.</p><b>May 2-3, 1969 The Ark, Boston, MA Van Morrison/Appaloosa </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />At
this time, <b>Van Morrison</b> was based in Boston, having just extracted
himself from a difficult contract with Bang Records. Morrison had
recorded and released his timeless classic <i>Astral Weeks</i> for Warner
Brothers in late 1968, but the world wasn't yet ready for it. As far as I
know, Morrison played with a trio at the time, with John Klingberg on
bass, plus a flute/saxophone player (Colin Tilton or Jack Schroer, I
think). <br /><p><b>Appaloosa</b> released an album on Columbia in 1969. <a href="http://badcatrecords.com/BadCat/APPALOOSA.htm">Per the Badcat Records site</a>:</p><p></p><blockquote>Inspired
by the booming mid-1960s folks scene, while still in their teens
singer/guitarist John Parker Compton and high school buddy/violinist
Robin Batteau were playing coffeehouses in their native Cambridge,
Massachusetts. Compton and Batteau eventually recruited bassist David
Reiser and cello player Gene Rosov (both attending Harvard at the time)
and began playing parties and local festivals. A well-to-do patron
offered to fly the group to New York to audition for major labels.
Certain they were going to major stars, in 1968 an 18 year old Compton
and partner Batteau took up the offer, approaching a series of New
York-based labels without success. While waiting to talk to A&R
staff at Columbia the pair started performing for office staff. Perhaps
nothing more than urban legend, but supposedly producer Al Kooper was
walking by and signed them on the spot, recording demos with them that
evening. </blockquote><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8wdZFeawoWE/YEwBjg5OHXI/AAAAAAAAIU0/jWBLNsRNAvwcQYEFOtjGfQpCxrRlZ5NpACLcBGAsYHQ/s546/The%2BArk%2Bfemales%2Bfree%2B16%2BMay%2B1969%252C%2B26%2B-%2BThe%2BBoston%2BGlobe%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="258" data-original-width="546" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8wdZFeawoWE/YEwBjg5OHXI/AAAAAAAAIU0/jWBLNsRNAvwcQYEFOtjGfQpCxrRlZ5NpACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/The%2BArk%2Bfemales%2Bfree%2B16%2BMay%2B1969%252C%2B26%2B-%2BThe%2BBoston%2BGlobe%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" width="320" /></a></div><p>The
May 16 Boston <i>Globe</i> Weekend feature included the detail that "The Ark
has announced that every Thursday, females will be admitted free."
Intriguing, but probably not a sign of a healthy club. </p><p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AvcZRqi6dis/YOoRqMnsWtI/AAAAAAAAJHI/uLsQSKSqC1ok_PMe2Ztow_w8gEgSlVNAACLcBGAsYHQ/s2405/The%2BArk%2B19690515%2BNRBQ.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2405" data-original-width="937" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AvcZRqi6dis/YOoRqMnsWtI/AAAAAAAAJHI/uLsQSKSqC1ok_PMe2Ztow_w8gEgSlVNAACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/The%2BArk%2B19690515%2BNRBQ.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>May 15-17 NRBQ poster scan courtesy of concertposterauction.com</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />May 15-17, 1969 The Ark, Boston, MA: NRBQ/Burton Greene and The Sleepy Hollow Band </b><i>(Thursday-Saturday)</i><br />The New Rhythm and Blues Quintet (<b>NRBQ</b>)
were from the Louisville, KY area and had just released their debut
album on Columbia. At the time they were led by pianist/singer Terry
Adams and bassist Joey Spampinato. Other members included lead singer
Frank Gadler, guitarist Steve Ferguson and drummer Tom Staley.<br /><br /><b>Burton Greene and the Sleepy Hollow Band</b> our unknown to me.<b><br /></b> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tIatUuRigv8/YF5bGVvQdyI/AAAAAAAAIaM/M_xeReUNhX4vVLNJvEzdeCSYwcKiF0XDQCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/Cartoone%2B69%2BAtlantic%2Blp.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="299" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tIatUuRigv8/YF5bGVvQdyI/AAAAAAAAIaM/M_xeReUNhX4vVLNJvEzdeCSYwcKiF0XDQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Cartoone%2B69%2BAtlantic%2Blp.jpeg" /></a><br /></div><p><b>May 23-24, 1969 The Ark, Boston, MA Cartoone/Black Pearl </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Cartoone</b>
was a Scottish band that moved to London in 1968. They signed with
Atlantic Records and recorded in album in 1968. Jimmy Page, then still
in the Yardbirds and a part-time session musician, played lead guitar on
a few tracks of their debut album. Atlantic released the album in
January 1969.</p><p></p><p><b>Black Pearl</b> was a San Francisco band, but they had
Boston roots. In the mid-60s, they had been known as Moulty and The
Barbarians. Moulty, the band's drummer, had lost his hand and played
drums with a hook. Around 1967, the band relocated from Boston to San
Francisco, without Moulty, and became Black Pearl. The band released
their debut album on Atlantic in 1969. <br /></p><p>The May 23 <i>Globe </i>
reported that from May 26-28 (Monday to Wednesday), The Ark would
present “Xenogenesis” a multi-media experience.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QPFGe0R64PM/YF5bdBziymI/AAAAAAAAIaU/Nd653m2tMxcj6YCkPohJ_RCk1Vei9ldRQCLcBGAsYHQ/s602/Illinois%2BSpeed%2BPress%2B1968%2BCBS%2Blp.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="602" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QPFGe0R64PM/YF5bdBziymI/AAAAAAAAIaU/Nd653m2tMxcj6YCkPohJ_RCk1Vei9ldRQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Illinois%2BSpeed%2BPress%2B1968%2BCBS%2Blp.jpeg" /></a></div><b><br />May 29-31, 1969 The Ark, Boston, MA: Illinois Speed Press/Freddie King </b><i>(Thursday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>The
Illinois Speed Press</b> were a band from Chicago who had relocated to Los
Angeles after signing with Columbia. They featured guitarist Paul
Cotton, later of Poco.Their debut album had been released in 1968.<br /><p></p><p>Blues guitarist Freddie King was a legend,
but he hadn't yet had the well-deserved revival that was to come a few
years later, thanks to Leon Russell. His current album was probably
<i>Freddie King Is A Blues Master,</i> produced by King Curtis for Cotillion
Records.<br /></p><b>June 6-7, 1969 The Ark, Boston, MA: Junior Wells/Big Boy Crudup </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Harmonica
legend <b>Junior Wells</b> (1934-98) was another fine artist who was a few
years shy of being recognized by white rock fans. He had played with
Muddy Waters for many years. Thanks to the folk boom, many blues artists
like Wells had been booked regularly in Boston, so they had a following
in the city even though they weren't getting radio airplay.<p><b>Arthur
"Big Boy" Crudup</b> (1905-74) had written songs like "That's Alright Mama."
There were a series of royalty disputes, but Crudup never received
money he was due. for writing one of Elvis Presley's biggest hits.
Crudup was another musician benefiting from the Boston audience's
sophisticated knowledge of the blues.<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tDZQlNE3dhg/YF5b3z_2mcI/AAAAAAAAIac/8x4q6RpQ6cQxpsQ3EkLpHYg7d9xmA6nawCLcBGAsYHQ/s510/Space%2BHymn%2BLothar%2Band%2BThe%2BHand%2BPeople%2BCapitol%2B1969.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="510" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tDZQlNE3dhg/YF5b3z_2mcI/AAAAAAAAIac/8x4q6RpQ6cQxpsQ3EkLpHYg7d9xmA6nawCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Space%2BHymn%2BLothar%2Band%2BThe%2BHand%2BPeople%2BCapitol%2B1969.jpeg" /></a></div><br /><b>June 12-14, 1969 The Ark, Boston, MA: Lothar and The Hand People/Sea Train </b><i>(Thursday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Lothar
and The Hand People</b> had moved from Denver to Boston around 1967.
"Lothar" was the assigned name of the band's Theremin, which gave the
group a unique sound. I don't actually find them that interesting, in
retrospect, but a band featuring a Theremin is so psychedelic 60s. In
1969, Lothar and The Hand People had released their second album on
Capitol, <i>Space Hymn</i>.<p></p><p><b>Sea Train</b> had a convoluted history, and they
would end up moving to Boston, but at this time they were based in San
Francisco. Drummer Roy Blumenfield and bassist Andy Kulberg had been in
the Blues Project in the mid-60s. Both had ended up in San Francisco in
1968, and they re-formed the Blues Project with a few additional
members. In 1969, they changed their name to Sea Train and released an
album on A&M. It had a sort of baroque sound, almost progressive
rock.</p><p>By the end of 1969, Sea Train had elided their name to
Seatrain, and added Peter Rowan on guitar and vocals and Richard Greene
on electric violin, among other membership changes. Just to confuse
matters, although based in the Boston area, the band would spend the
Winter in the warmer climate of the Bay Area. The exact timing of these
personnel changes is unknown, but I think this iteration of Sea Train
was the earlier one, with John Gregory on guitar and Don Kretmar on
saxophone. <br /><br /><b>June 15, 1969 The Ark, Boston, MA: Benefit AFTRA-SAG
Social w/Fort Fudge Memorial Dump/Dry Ice/American Evolution/Jimmy
Helms/The Four Freshmen/Changing Colours </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />The June 13 <i>Globe </i>
reported that there would be a Benefit party on Sunday at The Ark,
featuring mostly local bands. The presence of the Four Freshmen suggests
that they weren't expecting the hippest crowd. The band Changing
Colours was identified as a Cambridge band. <br /></p><p></p><br /><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AiQK1LqMmCo/YOoSAAzbWlI/AAAAAAAAJHQ/heudMyzrwBs57-0ZF8OGYP6pMgIn59fSQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/The%2BArk%2B19690616%2BMC5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1593" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AiQK1LqMmCo/YOoSAAzbWlI/AAAAAAAAJHQ/heudMyzrwBs57-0ZF8OGYP6pMgIn59fSQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/The%2BArk%2B19690616%2BMC5.JPG" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>June 16-18 1969 MC5 poster scan courtesy of concertposterauction.com</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />June 16-18, 1969 The Ark, Boston, MA: MC5/Good Clean Fun/Cloud </b><i>(Monday-Wednesday)</i><br />Detroit's
<b> MC5</b> headlined a Monday-through-Wednesday booking. The MC5 were rightly
legendary, and probably everyone who attended these shows formed a band
or started a magazine, but it wouldn't have been very many people. Like
the Velvet Underground, everything unique about the MC5 made them hugely
unpopular, and wider exposure would not have changed that. The MC5 had
an underground following in Michigan, and played regularly at the Grande
Ballroom in Detroit. They had released their debut Elektra album, <i>Kick
Out The Jams</i>, in February 1969.<p></p><p><b>Good Clean Fun</b> and <b>Cloud</b> are unknown to me. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YIALtHVH-H8/YEPjVFsmB4I/AAAAAAAAIQw/dA88abuVqBEOD5c4adISu9tiM63z58HAgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1098/Kaleidoscope%2BThe%2BArk%2B19690620%2B20%2BJun%2B1969%252C%2B15%2B-%2BThe%2BBoston%2BGlobe%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="1098" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YIALtHVH-H8/YEPjVFsmB4I/AAAAAAAAIQw/dA88abuVqBEOD5c4adISu9tiM63z58HAgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Kaleidoscope%2BThe%2BArk%2B19690620%2B20%2BJun%2B1969%252C%2B15%2B-%2BThe%2BBoston%2BGlobe%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" width="320" /></a></div><p><b>June 20-21, 1969 The Ark, Boston, MA: Kaleidoscope/Country Funk </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><b><br />June 23-25, 1969 The Ark, Boston, MA: Canned Heat/Kaleidoscope </b><i>(Monday-Wednesday)</i><br />The Kaleidoscope were from Los Angeles, and they were decades ahead of their time. They pretty much invented World Music, and pretty much no one was ready for it. In June 1969, the band had released their third album on Epic, <i>Incredible! Kaleidoscope</i>. It lived up to its name. While the band was still fronted by guitarist/multi-instrumentalist David Lindley, multi-instrumentalist Solomon Feldthouse and organist/multi-instrumentalist Chester Crill, they had a new rhythm section. Paul Lagos was the drummer and Stuart Brotman played bass. Anyone who saw the band live was lucky.<b> </b></p><p><b>Country Funk</b> was--as near
as I can tell--a sort of psychedelic country band from the Boston area.
They would release an album on Polydor in 1970.</p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4q-rjFicMTI/YMptlb2_dMI/AAAAAAAAJAw/NODInj3SJ7834LNFK45iSgxo2uCZHbY0gCLcBGAsYHQ/s611/Canned%2BHeat%2BLiving%2BThe%2BBlues%2BLiberty%2B1968.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4q-rjFicMTI/YMptlb2_dMI/AAAAAAAAJAw/NODInj3SJ7834LNFK45iSgxo2uCZHbY0gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Canned%2BHeat%2BLiving%2BThe%2BBlues%2BLiberty%2B1968.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Living The Blues, Canned Heat's 3rd album, released by Liberty Records in November 1968. It included the classic hit "Going Up The Country"</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />Canned Heat</b>, of course, were the kings of boogie music, out of Los Angeles. Formed initially in 1965 to keep jug band music alive, the band "went electric" the next year. Singer Bob Hite and guitarist/harmonicat Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson added lead guitarist Henry Vestine--replacing, incredibly enough, John Fahey--found a rhythm section and got to rockin'. Their debut on Liberty Records had been released in July '67, followed by their immortal <i>Boogie With Canned Heat</i> in January, 1968. Boogie had a hit single, too, with "The Road Again." At the time of their Monday-Wednesday booking at The Ark, Canned Heat's current album was their third, <i>Living The Blues</i>, which had been released in November, 1968. It included their classic single "Going Up The Country." The band's fourth album, <i>Hallelujah</i>, would come out shortly after these shows.<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y2dpAeovKlQ/YMp1JW60jlI/AAAAAAAAJA4/DydP9wG7eo4xcQTSB2v33ykYruSL8G_BQCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Canned%2BHeat%2BJammin%2BWith%2BKaleidoscope%2BOh%2BBoy%2BCD.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y2dpAeovKlQ/YMp1JW60jlI/AAAAAAAAJA4/DydP9wG7eo4xcQTSB2v33ykYruSL8G_BQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Canned%2BHeat%2BJammin%2BWith%2BKaleidoscope%2BOh%2BBoy%2BCD.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Oh Boy Records, out of Luxembourg, issued a CD in the early 90s of the vinyl bootleg of Canned Heat and Kaleidoscope jamming at The Ark in '69</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Canned Heat at this time had their first classic lineup (although not quite original), with Hite and Alan Wilson on vocals, Vestine on lead, Wilson on guitar and harmonica, Larry "The Mole" Taylor on bass and Fito Parra on drums. Shortly after this, Vestine would quit the band after a backstage debut at Fillmore West, and Harvey Mandel would replace him for Woodstock. Canned Heat had been very successful, but due to an unfortunate bust in Denver in late 1967, they had sold their lucrative publishing rights for cash to make bail, and move they would come to regret. The Heat and the Kaleidoscope knew each other from LA, of course, and on the third night some members jammed (<a href="http://brunoceriotti.weebly.com/kaleidoscope.html">Bruno Ceriotti has some details: like many Canned Heat jams, it was 40 minutes of boogie</a>). A poorly-recorded audience tape of the jam circulated as a bootleg lp called <i>Jammin With Kaleidoscope</i> (I paid 75 cents for it in Berkeley many years ago, arguably not worth it). <br /><p></p><p><b>June 27-28, 1969 The Ark, Boston, MA: James Cotton/Freddie King (Friday-Saturday)</b><br />The
blues returned to The Ark for the last weekend in June. The Boston
<i>Globe</i> did not have a listing for The Ark on July 4 weekend. This tells
us that whoever was playing was not interesting or popular enough to be
listed in the Friday paper. <br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6ALRSzprnUo/YF5ch7qWm6I/AAAAAAAAIas/zrrUGnDt3xY7xxBdvH5MaXsTKmG2c0_wACLcBGAsYHQ/s600/The%2BArk%2BFrank%2BZappa%2Bboot%2B69.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6ALRSzprnUo/YF5ch7qWm6I/AAAAAAAAIas/zrrUGnDt3xY7xxBdvH5MaXsTKmG2c0_wACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/The%2BArk%2BFrank%2BZappa%2Bboot%2B69.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>The Mothers of Invention played what appeared to be the final live show at The Ark, on July 8, 1969. It was bootlegged, and mis-dated, and ultimately re-released by Zappa himself in the 90s to undermine the bootleggers (in his Beat The Boots series)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>July 8, 1969 The Ark, Boston, MA: Mothers of Invention/Wild Things </b><i>(Tuesday)</i><br />The
last known live rock performance at The Ark was <b>The Mothers Of
Invention</b>, appearing on a Tuesday night. Amazingly, this show was
bootlegged, and <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Franks-Mothers-Of-Invention-The-Ark/master/81067">ultimately released by Frank Zappa, in a conscious effort to undermine the bootleggers. </a> <a href="https://www.newstarbooks.com/book.php?book_id=1554201462">And of course Zappa completists will recall that one track from the Ark ("Baked Bean Boogie") was included on <i>You Can't Do That On Stage Any More Volume 5</i></a>. <b>Wild Things</b> are unknown to me.<br /><p></p><p>The July 10,
1969 Boston <i>Globe</i> reported that Boston's two major rock venues would be
merging over the weekend. The Tea Party would produce their final show
at the Berkeley Street location on Friday, July 11. Appropriately
enough, the Velvet Underground were the headliners. Starting Saturday,
July 12, all the scheduled Tea Party shows would move to 15 Lansdowne
Street. The first headliner was Larry Coryell.<br /><br />The <i>Globe</i> article
makes it seem like a merger of equals, but I doubt that was the case.
The Tea Party team was in control of the new venue. Ray Rypien was chairman of the operating entity (Environmental Arts Inc), while Ark
founder Charles Thibeau is Chairman of the Board. Donald Law Jr was the
actual General Manager of the new club. The implication of the article
is that the 17 stockholders of The Ark have an ownership in the merged
Tea Party organization. The Globe also points out that Riepen is
President and a major stockholder of WBCN-fm, ultimately a far more
valuable proposition than a rock club.</p><p>The article makes clear
that Boston does not have room for two rock-only venues. In sum, the Tea
Party had the underground credibility and the connections to booking
touring English rock bands, but the club was too small. The larger Ark
had not really been a success, even though some good bands passed
through. <br /></p>Once
the Boston Tea Party took over the 15 Landsdowne site, I am unaware if
any of the other features of The Ark were in use. Were there still 3
floors, multiple environments, a discoteque and weeknight theater
performances? I am unaware of any such things, but reflections on the
Boston Tea Party are fairly narrow, so it's hard to say.<p><br /></p>Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-73752822615910413192021-06-25T17:43:00.000-07:002021-06-25T17:43:54.812-07:00The Lion's Share, 60 Red Hill Avenue, San Anselmo, CA: 1971 Overview and Performance Listings<b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dq4ipPy42ac/X9-2bL0PQGI/AAAAAAAAH1w/IANjpjTfIK4NDSTgG1ErKAdwfw8GIKZwACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Lions%2BShare%2B60%2BRed%2BHill%2BAve%2BSan%2BAnselmo.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="178" data-original-width="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dq4ipPy42ac/X9-2bL0PQGI/AAAAAAAAH1w/IANjpjTfIK4NDSTgG1ErKAdwfw8GIKZwACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Lions%2BShare%2B60%2BRed%2BHill%2BAve%2BSan%2BAnselmo.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Lion's Share nightclub, at 60 Red Hill Avenue in San Anselmo, some time in the early 1970s</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Performance List April-June 1971</b><br />The Lion's Share, a nightclub at 60 Red Hill Avenue in suburban San Anselmo, was the principal live rock nightclub in Marin County in the early 1970s. As all rock fans know, Marin County was where all the San Francisco musicians had moved at the end of the 1960s. By the 70s, the thinly-populated county seemed to have more rock musicians <i>per capita</i> than anywhere. So the Lion's Share was not only the principal rock nightclub, it was also the musicians hangout, and there were a lot of them. In 1971, the live rock music was still mainly about concerts, and it was just starting to expand into nightclubs as a viable option. For 1971, and really just 1971, the Lion's Share was big enough to draw touring rock bands while still providing a local venue for the resident musicians. <br /><p>Although it has been difficult to find a full list of performers at the Lion's Share, I have recovered enough listings to provide some perspective. This post will review the known bookings at The Lion's Share from April through June 1971, when the club was both a helpful pit stop for touring bands and a regular booking for the many local groups. </p><i><b>Marin County In The 1970s</b></i><br />Up through the 1960s, Marin County was kind of a hybrid area. On the Southern edge, many residents commuted to San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge, but that wasn't true of the whole county. Much of Marin County was agricultural, and there was still a little fishing, so San Rafael also acted as a kind of farm town, with feed supply and other establishments typical of a major agricultural town. Plenty of farming and resource extraction took place in Northern Marin (and further North), so Marin wasn't at all just the satellite of San Francisco that it ultimately became.<p>Of course, by the 1980s, the rock musicians who had become famous--Jerry Garcia,
Grace Slick, Huey Lewis, Van Morrison--pegged Marin as the destination
for successful rock and rollers. It didn't hurt that George Lucas was
already there. But it hadn't always been that way. Originally, rock
musicians went to Marin County because housing was cheap and the bridges
made nightclub gigs easy. There were plenty of old farmhouses and empty ranches for free-thinking rockers. There was also plenty of cheap housing, and easy trips to San Francisco and East Bay. Plenty of musicians, most of them not remotely famous, found that Marin was cheap and a good location. By the early 70s, there was a surfeit of rock musicians in the County. </p><b><i><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EHtpKJTrVJc/X9-48cbPbmI/AAAAAAAAH18/6AC4zsVLvKc_pa_Dc-y_6kZHcJsqgsCugCLcBGAsYHQ/s343/Northwestern_Pacific_1939_map.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="343" data-original-width="245" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EHtpKJTrVJc/X9-48cbPbmI/AAAAAAAAH18/6AC4zsVLvKc_pa_Dc-y_6kZHcJsqgsCugCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Northwestern_Pacific_1939_map.png" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>A 1939 Northwestern Pacific Railroad map shows how San Anselmo residents could commute by train into San Francisco</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></i></b><b><i><br />San Anselmo</i></b><br />San Anselmo was just 2 miles and 10 minutes West of Highway 101 in downtown San Rafael (and Front Street, for Deadheads). In 1970, the population was 13,031. San Anselmo wasn't even an incorporated town until 1974. The Lion's Share was at 60 Red Hill Avenue--also known as "The Miracle Mile"--the main drag in the little community<p>The land in and around San Anselmo was mostly pastoral until 1874, when
the North Pacific Coast Railroad (NPC) added to its line a spur track
from San Anselmo to San Rafael. In 1875, the railroad completed a line
from Sausalito to Tomales and north to Cazadero via San Anselmo. For a
few years, the town was referred to on railroad maps as "Junction," but
in 1883 the name San Anselmo came back into use. The San Anselmo post
office opened in 1892.<br /><br />From 1902 until the early 1940s, San
Anselmo was part of Marin's Northwestern Pacific Electric Train system (in 1907, investors
formed the NWP). The Miracle Mile's and
Center Boulevard's current "raised roadbed" were the railroad's right
of way. Becoming unprofitable as a result of competition from the
automobile, and the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge, the railway was
officially closed on March 1, 1941. San Anselmo had always been a sort of bedroom community for San Francisco, but after the 1940s people had to drive to the city across the Golden Gate Bridge, rather than take the electric train to the Ferry.</p><i><b>The Lion's Share</b></i><br />Initially, the Lion's Share had been a folk club in Sausalito. There apparently had been a complaint about the noise, but owner Mike Considine and his supporters persuaded the Sausalito Town Council that the club was not too noisy. Mysteriously, the club burned down the next night. Considine moved the Lion's Share to a former hardware store at 60 Red Hill Avenue on the "Miracle Mile" in sleepy San Anselmo.<a href="https://homesweetjeromedrapaport.wordpress.com/tag/diane-sward-pamela-polland/"> Artist manager Diana Sward (now Rapaport) wrote<br /></a><p></p><blockquote><i>"Nobody minded the bare tables and floors, the wrought iron chairs, a bar that was not fifteen feet from the stage, which the owner refused to stop operating when the bands played, so that the ringing of the cash register became an integral part of the music.. It was a cold room to play in, except that it was one of the few clubs North of San Francisco in Marin County that hired the hip acts and paid them and that had a sound system and piano."</i></blockquote><p></p><p>The Lion's Share in San Anselmo opened in July, 1969. It was generally open from Tuesday through Sunday. In general, there were auditions and local performers on Tuesday and Wednesday, although although at times they would book touring acts who had an open date. Of course, it being Marin County and all, sometimes "the locals" had a rock and roll pedigree as well. The club served beer, wine and bar food. Nominally, per California law, it was a restaurant with entertainment, rather than a bar. Realistically, what that meant was that a 22-year old guy could bring a 19-year old date, no small thing given the age of rock fans at the time. </p><p>At this distant remove, it has been fairly difficult to construct a list of performers for the Lion's Share. 1971 was probably the peak year for the club, when despite its limited capacity of 250-300, it was still viable to book touring acts. Also, of course, the local musicians were always available for gigs. In the next few years, clubs like Keystone Berkeley, the Boarding House, the Great American Music Hall and the Orphanage offered more exposure and more money, so the Lion's Share had fewer touring acts and less prominent call on the locals. </p><p>To give a flavor of the Lion's Share in 1971, I have just reviewed the known acts from April to June 1971, to the extent that I can identify them. In the appendix, I have listed every show that I could find for the whole year. While I suspect I am not missing bookings by any touring acts--they are the most likely to have been listed in the local papers--it is an irony of the Lion's Share that we are just as interested in the local bands that played there. Many of them may have been booked on little or no notice, but we would be very interested in them now. Booker Sally Henderson, a transplant from the Cambridge, MA scene, was well-connected across the country. According to an SF <i>Chronicle</i> article (May 23, 1971), Considine said that touring acts were offered a guarantee, while local bands got a percentage of the door. This was needed because otherwise local bands would let in too many of their friends for free, which in Marin was a genuine consideration.<br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6FFKWs4VNd0/X9-5dvkkYrI/AAAAAAAAH2E/D7hQjcI4F1IWB4EJc5ZsE10OIX2vzfXtgCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Van%2BMorrison%2BTupelo%2BHoney.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6FFKWs4VNd0/X9-5dvkkYrI/AAAAAAAAH2E/D7hQjcI4F1IWB4EJc5ZsE10OIX2vzfXtgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Van%2BMorrison%2BTupelo%2BHoney.jpg" /></a></b></div><b><br />The Lion's Share, 60 Red Hill Avenue, San Anselmo, CA: Known Performers April-June 1971</b><br />The week of April 5, 1971, had started auspiciously for the Lion's Share. Marin County was not yet the fully hip enclave it was to become. Some residents were not happy with a hippie rock club in downtown San Anselmo, and had challenged the use permit of the club. When the Lion's Share had moved to San Anselmo from Sausalito, back in 1969, their use permit was conditional on providing 21 night-time parking spaces. San Anselmo was not a town yet (that wouldn't happen until 1974) but there was a hearing at the San Anselmo Planning Commission on Monday, April 5. On April 6, however, the Marin <i>Independent-Journal</i> reported that the Commission ruled that there was plenty of parking, and the Use Permit remained in force.<p></p><p>At the Lion's Share, Tuesdays and Wednesdays were "Audition Night," for local bands. Unless there was a touring act on one of those nights, the acts do not seem to have been listed in the papers. Of course, in 1971 Marin County, members of "local bands" very well might have gone on to great success, but for now we can only hope for better sources to arise. I could not find a listing for the weekend of April 1-3, and that too will have to wait for improved sources (for the balance of this post, I will skip over days where I have no listings). <br /></p><p><b>April 9-10, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Loading Zone/Sorry Muthas </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><b> </b><br />The first band we have a date for in this period was The Loading Zone, playing Friday and Saturday night. The Loading Zone had been an original psychedelic band, going back to the Ballroom days of 1966. The Zone were based in Oakland, and they were the first Fillmore band to blend soul music with psychedelic guitar solos. They were a popular opening act, and as such they opened a door that bands like Sly And The Family Stone and Tower Of Power walked through. <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Loading%20Zone.htm">In our detailed history of the Loading Zone, they had an intriguing shot at the big time around 1968, and it didn't work out. The band had kept going however, in various incarnations.</a></p><p>In mid-1970, the original Loading Zone fell apart when founder/organist Paul Fauerso left the band. Lead singer Linda Tillery, however, the best known member of the band, reformed the group as a quartet. Tillery's singing was backed by a trio of organist Tom Coster, his brother Al on drums and bassist Mike Eggleston. Contemporary reviews suggest that the 1970 Zone had some soulful singing from Tillery, mixed with jazz interludes from the Costers. They were a popular band in Bay Area clubs at the time.</p><p>The Sorry Muthas were apparently a local jug band</p><b>April 16, 1971 Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Mike Finnegan and Friends/One </b><i>(Sunday)</i><i><br /></i>Organist and singer Mike Finnegan was from Wichita, KS. Unlike most musicians, the 6'6" Finnegan had gotten a basketball scholarship to the University of Kansas. He had moved to the Bay Area around 1969, and he had been a member of The Jerry Hahn Brotherhood, who had put out a highly regarded 1970 album on Columbia. Unfortunately, the album went nowhere, and Finnegan had left the band. At this time, Finnegan had another band with singer Jerry Wood, and he worked with the re-activated Big Brother and The Holding Company as well. <br /><p>Finnegan had long
been a regular at The Lion's Share. In late 1970, he had run the Sunday
night jam sessions every other week or so, with an informal band called
The Nu Bugaloo Express, which included guitarist Danny Nudalman, bassist
Dave Schallock and drummer Bill Vitt (on the alternate Sundays, Bill
Champlin had run the jam session with the players that would become Yogi
Phlegm and then the reformed Sons Of Champlin). It's possible that
there were still regular Sunday night jams during this period, but this night was the only listing I found.<br /></p><p>For club gigs, Finnegan pretty much played blues.
He was a powerful vocalist as well as a great organ player, so he could
play with any combination of musicians. It being Marin, some of his
"friends" might have been had notable musical pedigrees and would
definitely have been good players.</p><p>The pretentiously named One was apparently a Bolinas resident, and a friend of Paul Kantner's. Since he was a friend of Kantner's, he got to release an album on Grunt Records, the Airplane's RCA imprint. The music is credited to Reality D. Blipcrotch. Supposedly, the album is a peak example of rock stars indulgently releasing albums by their pals. I have not heard the record. I know of only a few other performances by One (or Reality, if you were on a first-name basis), such as at a Grunt Records party several months later. <br /></p><p><b>April 20, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Sopwith Camel/others</b><i> (Tuesday)</i><br />Tuesday night was an audition night, but the April 20 booking was interesting enough to be noted in the paper. The Sopwith Camel was an original San Francisco psychedelic band, with roots going back to the Red Dog Saloon in Virginia City, NV and 1090 Page Street. The Sopwith Camel had been one of the first Fillmore bands to sign a recording contract, and they had perhaps the first hit single of the scene, as well, with "Hello Hello" in February 1967. That record was in the Lovin' Spoonful jugband style, which has hot at the time (and the Camel were produced by Spoonful producer Erik Jacobsen). The Camel had to face the grumblings of locals who felt that they had "sold-out." The band had ground to a halt in late 1967.<br /><br />However, Sopwith Camel had reformed in 1971. This Lion's Share one of the earliest shows for the new incarnation (they had debuted on March 5 at the Matrix). The re-formed group had 4 of the 5 original members. The original songwriting partnership of guitarists Peter Kraemer and Terry MacNeil was intact, along with bassist Martin Beard and drummer Norman Mayell. In the meantime, Beard and Mayell had played on the hit single "Spirit In The Sky" with Petaluma's Norman Greenbaum. <br /></p><b>April 23-25, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Van Morrison </b><i>(Friday-Sunday) </i><br />One of the ways that San Francisco's rock scene stood out from that of other major music cities was the willingness of big rock stars to play small clubs. Guitarist Mike Bloomfield had set the trend around 1969, foregoing his star status for casual club gigs. But Bloomfield, though a true star, was no longer in a major band. Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady of the Jefferson Airplane had also started playing tiny clubs in Fall '69, and Jerry Garcia had become a regular at The Matrix by Spring 1970. In early 1971, Van Morrison moved from Woodstock, NY to Fairfax in Marin County, and he too adopted the local practice.<p>By the end of 1970, Van Morrison had released his third album on Warner Brothers, <i>His Band And Street Choir.</i> The album had two substantial AM hits, "Domino" (reaching #9 on Billboard) and "Blue Money" (which reached #23). More importantly, however Morrison's three Warners albums--<i>Astral Weeks, Moondance </i>and<i> Street Choir</i>--all received wide, constant airplay on FM radio. So Morrison was a genuine rock star, and many of his songs were familiar to even casual rock fans. In the Spring of 1971, Morrison had been recording his next album (<i>Tupelo Honey</i>) in San Francisco.</p><p>Since Morrison lived just up the road in Fairfax, the Lion's Share was the nearest nightclub to his own house. Van Morrison playing the tiny Lion's Share was big news in the rock world, and the show was reviewed by San Francisco <i>Examiner</i> critic Phil Elwood the next Tuesday (April 27). The weekend booking at the club was probably the first time Van Morrison had played a Bay Area nightclub, and certainly the first time it had actually been publicly acknowledged. Van Morrison would go on to play Bay Area clubs for the next dozen years, and each time it was seen as an "only in San Francisco" special. More or less, that was true. While Van didn't play Bay Area clubs as often as Jerry Garcia did--no other rock star ever would--Van was a worldwide star in the 1970s, in a way that Garcia was not. </p><p>Elwood's review describes Morrison fronting a nine-piece band with horns and backup singers. Elwood singles out guitarist Ronnie Montrose for praise. Montrose had been playing lead guitar on the <i>Tupelo Honey</i> sessions, and while his guitar parts on songs like the title track and "Wild Night" are embedded in our memories now, they would have been absolutely striking the very first time. Ironically, Montrose would go on to fame as a hard rocking guitarist with the Edgar Winter Group (he was on "Frankenstein") and then the group named after him, with Sammy Hagar on lead vocals. Morrison would go on to play three more dates (April 30-May 2) the next weekend at the Keystone Korner in San Francisco, but he would return to the Lion's Share a number of times in ensuing years. </p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NiEXapp2a1U/X9-5teFvJdI/AAAAAAAAH2M/cL8wBlY3GPALYHAzXo76AS83ItaEXpIcACLcBGAsYHQ/s607/Bright%2BSun%2BIs%2BShining%2BBarry%2BMelton%2B1971.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NiEXapp2a1U/X9-5teFvJdI/AAAAAAAAH2M/cL8wBlY3GPALYHAzXo76AS83ItaEXpIcACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Bright%2BSun%2BIs%2BShining%2BBarry%2BMelton%2B1971.jpg" /></a></div><br />April 30, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Barry Melton and The Fish </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />According to Joe McDonald and Barry Melton, "Country Joe and The Fish" was a duo featuring the two of them, with or without additional band members. That's not how the music world saw it, however. Country Joe and The Fish had called it a today in early Summer 1970, and both leaders had gone solo. Still, when Barry Melton played live with a band, it was usually called Barry Melton and The Fish, to give listeners a hint that it was electric Melton backed by a group.<p>Melton, who had moved from Berkeley to Marin by this time, had released a solo album on Vanguard in 1970 called <i>Bright Sun Is Shining</i>. It had been recorded in Chicago and New York with veteran session pros like Phil Upchurch, rather than with Fillmore West guys. The album had mostly been covers of blues and old R&B songs. This was actually quite consistent with Melton's musical history, but it may not have been entirely expected by 60s fans who were used to songs about politics and drugs. I don't know who was in Melton's band at this time.<br /></p><p><b>May 6-8, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Jim Kweskin Jug Band</b><i> (Thursday-Saturday)</i><br />The Jim Kweskin Jug Band had formed in 1963 in Cambridge, MA, and they had been unusually influential. Besides playing fairly authentic "jug" music, then a fairly unknown style, the Kweskin band had a significant influence on young musicians. The band's late 1963 debut on Vanguard single-handedly made jug band music nationally popular. More importantly, in the early 60s, musicians in all styles were supposed to be "entertainers," wearing matching stage clothes while they performed their "show," and had scripted "patter" between numbers. Certainly The Beatles, truly revolutionary musicians, had the matching clothes and acted like entertainers on stage.</p><p>The Jim Kweskin Jug Band appeared on stage in their regular clothes, played whatever songs they felt like at that moment, and casually chatted with themselves and the crowd between songs. This was what folk music was like in the living room, and the crowd was just invited in with them. Jerry Garcia and his friends had seen the Jim Kweskin Jug Band in Berkeley (on March 11, 1964) and instantly decided that was how it was going to be: play what you want, when you feel like it, and wear whatever. David Grisman and other young musicians had the same reaction.</p><p>The Jim Kweskin Jug Band had a fairly successful run in the mid-60s, although ultimately rock music and its fans passed them by. Lots of good musicians had been in the Jim Kweskin Jug Band, and many of them would end up in Marin, including Geoff and Maria Muldaur and Richard Greene. More unsettlingly, however, by around 1968 one member of the band, harmonica player Mel Lyman, had taken on an outsized role in the bandmembers lives. The whole story of the Lyman Family, as they are known, is quite unnerving, and you can google it yourself if you have an interest.</p><p>In 1971, Reprise Records had released a Jim Kweskin solo album with the ungainly name of <i><a href="https://www.discogs.com/Jim-Kweskin-Richard-D-Herbruck-Presents-Jim-Kweskins-America-Co-starring-Mel-Lyman-And-The-Lyman-Fam/release/2943449">Richard D Herbruck Presents Jim Kweskin's America Co-Starring Mel Lyman And The Family</a></i>. I presume that a tour had been arranged in support of the album. The "Jim Kweskin Jug Band" name was probably used bcause it was familiar. The whole Mel Lyman saga is not for the faint, so there has been little reflection on Kweskin's musical activities at this time.</p><p><b>May 13-15, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Sopwith Camel/Loading Zone (Thursday-Saturday)</b><br />Sopwith Camel returned for a weekend headline booking, joined by The Loading Zone. Two years after this, the Sopwith Camel would release their second album, just six years after their debut, <i>The Miraculous Hump Returns From The Moon</i>. Erik Jacobsen also produced the 1973 Reprise Records release. <br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t4oPguyIUCg/X9-52aqACaI/AAAAAAAAH2Q/hWiOgAoC6kktpl-G3qt3mDHi9d9jzoJ5QCLcBGAsYHQ/s440/shanti-thumb2.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="440" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t4oPguyIUCg/X9-52aqACaI/AAAAAAAAH2Q/hWiOgAoC6kktpl-G3qt3mDHi9d9jzoJ5QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/shanti-thumb2.png" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />May 18, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Shanti </b><i>(Tuesday)</i><br />Tuesday was another audition night, and yet another fascinating Marin band was booked. Shanti was a conscious attempt to fuse rock music with Indian music. Zakir Hussain, the son of tabla master Ustad Allah Rakha, and himself a brilliant tabla player, was a Marin resident. Along with Sarod player Aashish Khan and tabla player Pranesh Khan, they combined with some conventional rock musicians to form an "electric" Indian/Rock fusion ensemble. Guitarist Neal Seidel was joined by singer/guitarist Steve Haehl, bassist Steve Leach and drummer Francisco Lupica. In the 60s, Lupica had played with Lee Michaels and had been in bands like The Travel Agency and the Loading Zone (where he used the name Frank Davis). <br /><p></p><p>Shanti put out an album on Atlantic in 1971, recorded at Pacific High Recorders in San Francisco. PHR was probably actually Alembic Studios by this time, but they seemed to prefer to use the outdated name in some instances. I don't know when the Shanti album was released, but <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/03/august-21-1971-mickey-harts-ranch.html">I believe it was actually in the Summer of 1971 (there was an event that seemed to be related to the album release at Mickey Hart's ranch in August</a>). I have not heard the album, but descriptions of it suggest an intriguing experiment that didn't entirely succeed, a mixture of psychedelic rock songs with Indian embellishment, along with genuine efforts to merge electric rock and Indian music in an amplified setting.</p><p>Shanti played around the Bay Area until they broke up in 1972. Some of the Shanti members went on to have interesting careers, and many of them were Grateful Dead-adjacent. Zakir Hussain was perhaps the key figure in the Ali Akbar Khan School Of Music, which had moved to Marin in 1971. An offshoot of the school was the Diga Rhythm Band, a percussion group that included Mickey Hart, who produced their album for Round Records in 1975. Diga Rhythm Band played a few public shows, and <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2016/05/may-30-1975-speedway-meadows-golden.html">Jerry Garcia came and played at one in Golden Gate Park (on May 30, 1975)</a>. Francisco Lupica was the inventor of The Beam, and Mickey Hart and Dan Healy adopted the concept as part of the Grateful Dead's concert setup. Guitarist Neil Seidel seems to have had a substantial music career, although I think it was mostly in soundtrack work. Bassist Steve Leach became somewhat known as a producer, as Steven Wold, and in the 21st century, as a performer, as Seasick Steve.<br /></p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F3OSnk5yrUM/X9-59tpOpRI/AAAAAAAAH2Y/DgvdcOxsg-QLJOQogH0zX0nRHSya3nZUACLcBGAsYHQ/s434/Great%2BSpeckled%2BBird%2Blp%2B1970%2Bw%2Bcage.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="434" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F3OSnk5yrUM/X9-59tpOpRI/AAAAAAAAH2Y/DgvdcOxsg-QLJOQogH0zX0nRHSya3nZUACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Great%2BSpeckled%2BBird%2Blp%2B1970%2Bw%2Bcage.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Ian and Sylvia Tyson's band Great Speckled Bird, with Amos Garrett and Buddy Cage (r)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />May 27-30, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Ian And Sylvia/Rowan Brothers </b><i>(Thursday-Sunday)</i><br />This weekend's booking at the Lion's Share was another seemingly casual event that seems quite remarkable today. Headliners Ian and Sylvia Tyson had been a popular Canadian folk duo going back to 1959. When folk music faded away in the mid-60s, the duo easily made the switch to country-rock, both because of their talent and their excellent songwriting skills. Ian And Sylvia's early 1968 album <i>Nashville</i>, on Vanguard, was one of the first collaborations between rock songwriters using Nashville session men, preceding The Byrds' <i>Sweetheart Of The Rodeo.</i> In late 1969, Ian And Sylvia had evolved into the band Great Speckled Bird, releasing an album of that same name on Ampex Records in October.<p>Ian And Sylvia and Great Speckled Bird, always popular in Canada, had joined the legendary Festival Express train tour across Canada. On that epic journey, Jerry Garcia and the New Riders Of The Purple Sage discovered Great Speckled Bird pedal steel guitarist Buddy Cage. By early 1971, Garcia was looking to extract himself from the Riders so that they could have their own career. After Garcia recorded the band's debut with them throughout 1971, he stepped aside so that Cage could took his place. By this time, Cage had left Ian And Sylvia, and was mainly playing sessions in Canada. Cage would move to Marin in September 1971, and his live debut with the New Riders was in Atlanta on November 11, 1971. </p><p>Opening act The Rowan Brothers had recently been signed to Columbia Records. Chris and Lorin Rowan were the younger brothers of Peter Rowan, all from Massachusetts. Peter had played in Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys from 1964-67, and then had formed the usual post-folkie psychedelic rock band with mandolinist David Grisman. Earth Opera had fallen apart after two albums on Elektra, and Peter Rowan had ended up joining the band Sea Train. Meanwhile, Grisman had ended up as producer of Peter's two younger brothers. </p><p>David Grisman had been friends with Jerry Garcia since they had met at a bluegrass festival in Union Grove, PA in 1964. <a href="http://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-smokey-grass-boys-1966-67.html">Grisman had moved to the Bay Area for a while, and had a bluegrass group in 1966-67 called The Smoky Grass Boys</a>. By 1970, after the demise of Earth Opera, he had reconnected with Garcia. Grisman had played on the 1970 Grateful Dead album <i>American Beauty </i>(playing mandolin on "Ripple"), and he had joined the Dead for an acoustic set at Fillmore East (September 20, 1970). At Fillmore East, Garcia had encouraged Grisman and his manager Richard Loren to bring the younger Rowans out West, and by 1971 they had moved to Stinson Beach. The Rowan Brothers, along with Grisman, had started playing some low-key gigs as a trio.<br /></p><p>Phil Elwood of the <i>Examiner</i> reviewed one of these Lion's Share shows (almost certainly May 27, reviewed on May 31), and mentioned that the Rowan Brothers were backed by Grisman and "a couple of members of the Grateful Dead." In fact, the Rowan Brothers stage band this night would have been the two of them on guitars and vocals, with Grisman on mandolin and keyboards, co-producer Bill Wolf on bass, Bill Kreutzmann on drums and Garcia on pedal steel guitar. The Wednesday show was the debut of this configuration of the Rowan Brothers. They would play several more gigs around the Bay Area, culminating in a high profile show at Fillmore West, broadcast on the radio. Although the duo had been signed to Columbia, they had not yet recorded an album.</p><p>This wasn't Garcia's first appearance at the Lion's Share. <a href="http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2012/02/new-riders-of-purple-sage-and-acoustic.html">The Grateful Dead had quietly tried out their acoustic configuration by playing three nights at the Lion's Share (July 30-August 1, 1970). </a>The band was preparing to record <i>American Beauty</i>, and seems to have wanted to get a little live work in. Similarly, the New Riders Of The Purple Sage had played a surprise Monday night gig on January 11 (1971). The timing suggests that the Riders wanted to break in new drummer Spencer Dryden prior to recording their debut. The pattern seems similar here: the Rowan Brothers were thinking about recording, so producer David Grisman brought along some friends for a live rundown. <br /></p><p>The Lion's Share was a modest place, but here was an opening act that featured two members of one of the biggest rock bands in San Francisco. It was just another weekend. Garcia's activities are accounted for on the next few nights, so he did not play at the Lion's Share on the 28th and 29th, and since he was sick enough to cancel a Grateful Dead show (the 28th), it's highly unlikely that he played there on the 30th. Presumably the Rowan Brothers reverted to their trio format for the rest of the weekend.<br /></p><p><b>June 3-5, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: John Stewart </b><i>(Thursday-Saturday)</i><br />John Stewart (1939-2008) had been a member of The Kingston Trio from 1961 to 1967. The group had been very popular, but they were passed by when the likes of The Beach Boys and The Beatles came along. Stewart had gone solo, and released a variety of well-received albums, such as 1969's <i>California Bloodlines</i>. Although he had written a hit for The Monkees ("Daydream Believer"), he was well known at this time. but not particularly successful. His most recent album would have been <i>Willard</i>, released on Capitol in 1970. At some point in the 1970s, Stewart would actually move to Marin, although I'm not sure exactly when. He ended up having a productive, successful career as a songwriter and performer into the 21st century.</p><p><b>June 9-12, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Bola Sete </b><i>(Wednesday-Saturday)</i><br />Bola Sete (1923-1987, born Djalma de Andrade) was a Brazilian jazz guitarist who had been prominent in the 60s. Bola Sete (which means "Seven Ball"), after a substantial career in South America in the 1950s, had ended up playing at the Sheraton Hotel in San Francisco, where he captivated Dizzy Gillespie (it turned out that Gillespie's piano player, Argentinian Lalo Schifrin, had played with Bola Seta in Rio). Brazilian jazz was hot at the time, and Bola Sete had recorded and toured with both Gillespie and Vince Guaraldi. Guaraldi and Bola Sete had made some very popular albums for Fantasy Records in the mid-60s. After about 1968, however, Bola Sete had reduced his presence and largely stopped recording and performing, although he hadn't actually retired. Bola Sete did continue to play periodic Bay Area shows.<br /></p><p>The Lion's Share wasn't a jazz club, but there weren't any jazz clubs in Marin County, either. Bola Sete lived in the Bay Area--possibly in Marin, I'm not sure--so if he was going to play a Marin gig, the Lion's Share was the obvious choice. Bola Sete did have a 1971 album on Fantasy, called <i>SheBaba.</i> It's an anomaly, and may have been released for contractual reasons. Probably Bola Sete just accompanied himself, and I wouldn't be surprised if the Lion's Share booking was a warm-up for some higher profile shows later. <br /></p><b>June 17, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Mike Finnegan and Friends/Howard Wales </b><i>(Thursday) </i><br />Organist Howard Wales had gained some level of notoriety from playing weeknights at The Matrix in San Francisco with Jerry Garcia. He had recorded an album with Garcia in the Fall of 1970, but <i>Hooteroll? </i>would not be released until later in 1971. Wales, a phenomenal player who was way, way "outside," would have pretty much just jammed. It's not impossible that the same players worked with both Wales and Finnegan that night (side note: the Grateful Dead were on their way to France, so Garcia would not have dropped by). In early '72, Wales put together a quartet with Jim Vincent on guitar (ex HP Lovecraft), Roger "Jellyroll" Troy on bass (an old pal of Wales' from Cincinnati) and Jerry Love on drums, so this booking might have been with that combo.<p><b>June 18-20, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Denny Zeitlin Trio </b><i>(Friday-Sunday) </i><br /><a href="http://dennyzeitlin.com/">Marin resident Denny Zeitlin is a pretty remarkable musician, and the type of player who set Marin County apart from other places</a>. Zeitlin had been a piano prodigy since his youth. In 1963, although he was in medical school at Johns Hopkins, he had been signed to Columbia Records as a jazz pianist. He made four well reviewed, forward-looking jazz albums on Columbia through 1967. In 1968, young Dr. Zeitlin accepted an internship as a psychiatrist at the University Of California at San Francisco, and his musical career was put in abeyance.</p><p>By 1971, Zeitlin was performing around the Bay Area--in between his full-time medical work. Earlier in the 60s, Zeitlin had been a sophisticated player in the mode of Bill Evans. Now, he had added electric keyboards to the mix, playing a Fender Rhodes and a clavinet along with his grand piano. Drummer George Marsh and electric bassist Mel Graves had been in the Jerry Hahn Brotherhood--broken up due to Mike Finnegan's departure--so they had a bit of a rock sensibility to go with some serious jazz chops. </p><p>The Bay Area had always had a thriving jazz scene, even though successful players (like Dave Brubeck, Cal Tjader or John Handy) had to go to Los Angeles or New York to hit it big. It's no surprise to find out that plenty of interesting electric jazz experiments were underway in the Bay Area in the late 60s and early 70s. Most of them were under the radar, however, and there was very little recorded evidence. Some groups like The Fourth Way, the Loading Zone, South Bay Experimental Flash and a few others were trying on new hats for jazz, and the Denny Zeitlin Trio was as well. The Trio from that era got sensational reviews, but they never recorded to my knowledge.<br /></p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1QO_79IcwJ0/X9-6ZWQryXI/AAAAAAAAH2k/TiQ_SxGDHVwSE1diik-ZPuXQ2p7h_BnHQCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Kristofferson%2Bsilver%2Btongued%2Bdevil%2B1971.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1QO_79IcwJ0/X9-6ZWQryXI/AAAAAAAAH2k/TiQ_SxGDHVwSE1diik-ZPuXQ2p7h_BnHQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Kristofferson%2Bsilver%2Btongued%2Bdevil%2B1971.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Kris Kristofferson's 1971 Monument Records album, The Silver-Tongued Devil and I</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />June 24-27 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Kris Kristofferson </b><i>(Thursday-Sunday)</i><br />In the 1960s, Kris Kristofferson was only known as a Nashville songwriter, albeit a quite successful one. He had written hits like "Sunday Morning Coming Down," "Help Me Make It Through The Night" and "Me And Bobby McGee" for various artists. Kristofferson had only released his first album in 1970, <i>Kristofferson</i>, on Monument Records. It featured his own versions of many of his hits for others. He had toured around clubs a little bit, but he wasn't yet a polished performer. In July 1971, he would release his second Monument album, <i>The Silver-Tongued Devil and I.</i> It would include his first big hit for himself, "Lovin' Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do)." The way records were released in those days, the new album was probably already getting radio airplay, and might have been available in some stores.<p>The previous year, Kristofferson had toured with a backing trio, with Zal Yanovsky (ex-Lovin Spooful) on guitar, Norman Blake on dobro and guitar, and Billy Swan on bass. Presumably he had a similar backup combo, but I don't know if he had the same musicians in 1971.<br /></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n_IUYVa2Vz0/X9-64XERMiI/AAAAAAAAH2s/Wio74eSg71sc8D4epJW1icFiAD1IjQGUQCLcBGAsYHQ/s220/How%2BHard%2BIt%2BIs%2BBig%2BBrother%2B1971.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="220" data-original-width="220" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n_IUYVa2Vz0/X9-64XERMiI/AAAAAAAAH2s/Wio74eSg71sc8D4epJW1icFiAD1IjQGUQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/How%2BHard%2BIt%2BIs%2BBig%2BBrother%2B1971.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>How Hard It Is, the 1971 Big Brother And The Holding Company album, with Mike Finnegan</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />Appendix: Lion's Share, 60 Red Hill Avenue, San Anselmo, CA: Known Performers--1971 </b><br /><p></p><p>January 1-2, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Elvin Bishop/Home Sweet Home (Fri-Sat)</p><p>January 7-9, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Barry McGuire and The Doctor (Thur-Sat)</p><p>January 10, 1971 Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Big Mama Thornton/Chico David Blues Band (Sun) </p><p><a href="https://jerrybase.com/events/19710111-02">January 11, 1971 Lion's Share, San Anelmo, CA: New Riders Of The Purple Sage</a>/Chico David Blues Band/Nazgul/Mendelbaum (Monday)</p><p>January 14, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Boz Scaggs (Thur)</p><p>January 15-16, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Joy Of Cooking/Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen (Fri-Sat) </p><p>January 17, 1971 Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen/Loading Zone (Sun)<br /></p><p>January 21, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Charlie Musselwhite (Thur)</p><p>January 22-23, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: The Sons/Sunset (Fri-Sat)<br /></p><p>January 28-30, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Jerry Hahn Brotherhood/Mike Finnegan Trio (Thur-Sat)</p><p>February 4-7, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Tim Buckley Quintet with Buzz and Bunk Gardner (Thur-Sun) <br /></p><p>February 18-21, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Doc and Merle Watson (Thur-Sun)</p><p>February 24, 1971 Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Syzgy (Wed) <br /></p><p>February 25, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Mike Finnegan's
New Group and Lane Tietgen (Thur)</p><p>February 27-28, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Mike Finnegan with
Jerry Wood/Lane Tietgen (Sat-Sun) </p><p>March 4-5, 1971 Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Kate Taylor/John Stewart (Thur-Fri)<br /></p><p>March 6-7, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Eric Andersen/Kate Taylor Quintet (Sat-Sun) <br /></p><p>March 11-12, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Big Brother and The Holding Company (Fri-Sat) <br /></p><p>March 19-20, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: John Lee Hooker/Cooking Mama (Fri-Sat)</p><p>March 26-27, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Denny Zeitlin/Ofoedian Den (Fri-Sat)</p><p></p><p>April 9-10, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Loading Zone/Sorry Muthas (Fri-Sat) Sorry Muthas Jug Band</p><p>April 16, 1971 Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Mike Finnegan and Friends/One (Sunday)</p><p>April 20, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Sopwith Camel/others (Tues) <br /></p><p>April 23-25, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Van Morrison w/Montrose (Fri-Sun) </p><p>April 30, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Barry Melton and The Fish (Fri) <br /></p><p>May 6-8, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Jim Kweskin Jug Band (Thur-Sat)</p><p>May 13-15, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Sopwith Camel/Loading Zone (Thur-Sat) <br /></p><p>May 18, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Shanti (Tues) <br /></p><p>May 27-30, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Ian and Sylvia/Rowan Bros w DG (reviewed May 31 Examiner)</p><p>June 3-5, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: John Stewart (Thur-Sat) </p><p>June 9-12, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Bola Sete (Wed-Sat)</p><p>June 17, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Mike Finnegan and Friends/Howard Wales (Thur) <br /></p><p>June 18-20, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Denny Zeitlin Trio (Thur-Sat) <br /></p>June
24-27 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Kris Kristofferson (Thur-Sun) <p>July 1-4, 1971 Mike
Finnegan and Friends (Thur-Sun)</p><p>July 7-11, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Country Joe and Pitschel
Players (Wed-Sun) <br /></p><p>July 15-18, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Eric Andersen/Joyous Noise
(Thur-Sun)</p><p>July 30-August 1, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Mose Allison Trio/Ron Douglas (comedy)
(Fri-Sun)</p><p>August 4, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Van Morrison (Wed) <br /></p><p>August 12-14, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Taj
Mahal/Mississippi Sam Chatman (Thur-Sat)</p><p>August 21, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Yogi
Phlegm/Uncle Vinty (Sat)</p><p>September 2-4, 1971 Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: New Riders Of The Purple Sage (Thur-Sat <br /></p><p>September 8-12, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Ian Matthews/Shawn Phillips
(Wed-Sun) <br /></p><p>September 16, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Flying Circus/Peter Spelman
(Thur) <br /></p><p>September 17, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: James and The Good Brothers/Uncle Vinty/Cris Williamson (Fri)</p><p>September 23, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Gideon & Power (Thur) <br /></p><p>September 24-25, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Jerry Garcia, Tom Fogerty, Merl Saunders/Charlie Daniels, Jerry Corbitt, Billy Cox (Fri-Sat) <br /><br />September
29-30, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Hookfoot/Barley at The Hop (Wed-Thur)</p><p>October 5, 1971 Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Earthrise (Tues) <br /></p><p>October 7-10, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Mike
Finnegan and Jerry Wood Band (Thur-Sun)</p><p>October 16-17, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Grootna
(Sat-Sun) <br /></p><p>October 19-21, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Dave Van Ronk/High Country
(Thur-Sat)</p><p>October 24, 1971 Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen/Clover<br /></p><p>October 28-30, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Doug Kershaw/Shanti (Thur-Sat)</p><p>October 31, 1971 Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Doug Kershaw/Charles River Valley Boys (Sun) <br /></p><p>November 4-6,
1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Clover/Joyous Noise (Thur) <br /></p><p>November 11-12, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: John Hammond
Jr/Your Own Backyard(Thur-Fri)</p><p>November 13-14, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: John Hammond Jr/Real
Charles Ford Band (Sat-Sun) <br /></p><p>November 18-21, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Ramblin' Jack Elliott
and Friends (Thur-SuN)</p><p>November 26-28, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Van Morrison and Friends
(Fri-Sun)</p><p>December 1, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Mike Finnegan and Jerry Wood, plus Jellyroll
(Wed) <br /></p><p>December 5, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Mke Finnegan and Jerry Wood, plus Jellyroll (Sun)</p><p>December 16-18, 1971, Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Merry Clayton and Band/Sunset (Thur-Sat)</p><p>December 23, 1971 Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Special Christmas Show (Thur) <br /></p><p>Dec 30-31 Lion's Share, San Anselmo, CA: Joy Of Cooking (Thur-Fri)<br /> </p><div><p><b><i>Appendix 2: Other Posts in the 1970s Rock Nightclubs Series</i></b></p><p><b><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/11/keystone-berkeley-2119-university.html">Keystone Berkeley, 2119 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA: 1972 Performers List</a></b></p><p>3138 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, CA: The Matrix January-June 1970 Performers List (Matrix I)<br /></p><p>Bay Area Rock Nightclub Survey: Berkeley, January-April 1974 (Bay Area '74 I)<br /></p><p>The Troubadour, 9081 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA: January-April 1970 Performers List (Troubadour I)<br /></p><p>3138 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, CA: The Matrix July-September 1970 (Matrix II)</p><p>The Troubadour, West Hollywood and San Francisco: May-August 1970 Performers List (Troubadour II)<br /></p>Loading Zone Performance List 1970 </div><div> </div><i><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/search/label/70s%20Rock%20Nightclubs">For subsequent posts in the 70s Rock Nightclubs series, see here. </a></i><p> </p>Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-89903615109339903292021-06-11T12:23:00.001-07:002021-06-11T13:18:48.552-07:00The Troubadour, West Hollywood and San Francisco, CA: Performance List September-December 1970 (Troubadour III)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lol7F9ZYUaA/X-uSm4WKEQI/AAAAAAAAH64/v52TduBSM38FIzS0EaPF5ojgenkbmacjQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1502/Troubadour_a_night_view.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1014" data-original-width="1502" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Lol7F9ZYUaA/X-uSm4WKEQI/AAAAAAAAH64/v52TduBSM38FIzS0EaPF5ojgenkbmacjQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Troubadour_a_night_view.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><b>The Troubadour, 9081 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA</b><br /></p><b><i>The Troubadour, The Whisky A-Go-Go and West Hollywood</i></b><br />In the latter 60s, rock bands made their bones in the ballrooms, with the light shows and people swaying. Word would pass on the underground telegraph that Cream or Quicksilver Messenger Service or Ten Years After were great, and you would check them out the next time they came to town. There were a few rock nightclubs, but most fans weren't even 21 yet, and clubs in any case were too small to create much residual buzz, not compared to a college gym. <br /><p>In the 1960s, however, there was one major exception to
this rule. <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Whisky-A-Go-Go%20History.htm">The infamous Whisky-A-Go-Go club in West Hollywood (at 8901 Sunset Blvd) defied all these conventions</a>. Name bands played
for union scale just to get heard. The Hollywood hip people, whether in
the record industry or just cool cats, heard the bands and helped to
decide who got some buzz. In August 1966, the house band at the Whisky
were some unknowns called The Doors, and they became as big as anybody.
In January, 1969, a new group built on the ashes of the old Yardbirds
played the Whisky, and within a week the word was out about Led
Zeppelin.<br /><br />Hollywood proper had been part of the city of Los
Angeles since the 1930s. But West Hollywood was unincorporated, part of
the county, but not the city. It was insulated from the notorious Los
Angeles police and the machinations of the LA City Council. Thus West
Hollywood was, paradoxically, the entertainment district for Hollywood,
and had been since the 1940s. There were clubs, restaurants and jazz,
and plenty of stars came to hang out, and that was how tastes got made.
Rock and roll wasn't that different. The Whisky had opened in 1964, and
made "Go-Go" a thing. By 1966, the club had a new act every week, all
trying to catch the Hollywood buzz. Cream and Jimi Hendrix each played
there in 1967, for practically nothing, just so that people would listen. So did
numerous other ambitious groups, because rocking the Whisky was a ticket
to a big tour.<br /><br />A mile East of the Whisky, however, was a former
coffee shop called The Troubadour. Proprietor Doug Weston had opened the
club in 1957, but by 1970 it had a full bar and regular performers.
Initially it presented folk acts, and in a sense it still did. Electric
instruments were standard fare by the end of the 60s, and the Troubadour
wasn't for purists. But the Whisky was for rocking out, and the
Troubadour was for reflection. As the 70s rose on the horizon,
reflection was the order of the day, and success at The Troubadour
turned out to have more impact than success at the Whisky.</p><i><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T-YC2lhuLEw/YDLVTLxhdqI/AAAAAAAAILY/ETL8O72m2DM6x2qJINsSda9BUU3SMWySACLcBGAsYHQ/s316/Silk%2BPurse%2BLinda%2BRonstadt%2B1970.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="316" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T-YC2lhuLEw/YDLVTLxhdqI/AAAAAAAAILY/ETL8O72m2DM6x2qJINsSda9BUU3SMWySACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Silk%2BPurse%2BLinda%2BRonstadt%2B1970.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Linda Ronstadt had been a regular performer at the Troubadour since the mid-60s. Her album Silk Purse had been released on Capitol in April 1970</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b></i><i><b><br />Troubadour Performance List, September-December 1970</b></i><br />The
Troubadour was open seven days a week, with performers every night. The
restaurant and particularly the bar were open as well, so it was a
hangout for music industry types as well as musicians. Supposedly, many
70s bands, such as the Eagles, had their beginnings in the Troubadour
bar. Troubadour bookings were almost always from Tuesday through Sunday.
The Tuesday night show was almost always reviewed in the Thursday Los
Angeles <i>Times</i>, giving industry and fans an idea of what was worth seeing
that weekend. A good review in the <i>Times</i>, followed by a packed house on
the weekend, could make an artist's career, as it did with Elton John in August, 1970. <br /><p>Maximum capacity at the Troubadour was about 300.
Generally, there were two shows each night, and sometimes three shows on
weekend nights. Sets were relatively short, from what I can tell,
in order to turn the house over. Headliners would play about 40 minutes,
and openers nearer to 20. The Troubadour was a showcase, not a place
where performers jammed all night with their pals. I don't know whether
the Troubadour had the arrangement where if the late show was not sold
out, patrons could stick around if they would buy another drink (or some
such arrangement). For a packed James Taylor/Carole King show in
November of 1970, the Times reported that all 4000 tickets were sold
out, but I don't know if that was for 12 or 14 shows, and whether it was
an approximation, but it gives us an idea of capacity.<br /></p><p>Monday
nights were "Audition Nights." Performers were booked, but they weren't
advertised in the papers. Presumably, patrons could call the club, or
the bands were listed at the club itself. In some cases, record
companies would arrange to have performers play Monday night at the
Troubadour so they could invite a few people and check them out. I
assume that when a performer did not have a full Tuesday-Sunday run, and
no performer was listed (usually a Tuesday or a Sunday), "auditions"
were booked on those open nights too. I think one reason to call these
booking auditions was also to minimize what they were paying the
performer (probably just union scale). I don't think there was an
admission charge on audition night. I'm not aware of any way to retrieve who played on
Audition nights (and I appear to be the first attempting to capture who
played the Troubadour during this period). </p><p>At the beginning of
1970, many of the acts at the Whisky had their eyes on Las Vegas,
Television Variety shows and the big hotels. Hippie acts that might have
been welcome at the Fillmore, or even a college campus, weren't that
common. By the end of the year, the hair had gotten longer and the
stakes had gotten higher. Rock music and the record industry was turning
out to be big money, and finding the next big recording artist was more
important than knowing who was looking good for the Ambassador Hotel
downtown or the Sands in Vegas. </p><p>In a previous post, <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-troubadour-9081-santa-monica-blvd.html">I reviewed the performers at the Troubadour from January through April 1970</a>. In a short time, the Troubadour went from mostly featuring performers looking
to get on TV or into Las Vegas to long haired singer songwriters that
are famous today. It was becoming clear that there was big money in the
booming record industry, and the Troubadour was right at the center.
The next post <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-troubadour-west-hollywood-and-san.html">reviewed the performers at the Troubadour from May through August 1970. It also covered the opening of the ill-fated Troubadour in San Francisco</a>. </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Fr-9SPgt744/YDLY-hpc_uI/AAAAAAAAIL0/FB_RhsRbtTUXnDRxjg1FQuuN7b3rOvlaACLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Lightfoot%2BSit%2BDown%2BYoung%2BStranger%2Balbum.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Fr-9SPgt744/YDLY-hpc_uI/AAAAAAAAIL0/FB_RhsRbtTUXnDRxjg1FQuuN7b3rOvlaACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Lightfoot%2BSit%2BDown%2BYoung%2BStranger%2Balbum.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Gordon Lightfoot had been successful in Canada for many years before his 1970 Reprise release Sit Down Young Stranger. He played the Troubadour in October, and "If You Could Read My Mind" was a big hit by December.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />This post will review all the performers at the Troubadour from September through December 1970. This will also include the performers at the San Francisco Troubadour, indicated here (for convenience) as "Troubadour (North)." In a distinct contrast, the West Hollywood Troubadour booked some of the most important and best-selling acts of the 1970s, while the San Francisco Troubadour folded without fanfare by Halloween.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m9LF8ML-mcw/X-ubFiF-XjI/AAAAAAAAH7M/nTlfQqULOPkkZcA-U3PsqKyxkQLqjcqzwCLcBGAsYHQ/s674/Elton%2BTroubadour%2BN%2B19700901%2B28%2BAug%2B1970%252C%2B24%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="674" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m9LF8ML-mcw/X-ubFiF-XjI/AAAAAAAAH7M/nTlfQqULOPkkZcA-U3PsqKyxkQLqjcqzwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Elton%2BTroubadour%2BN%2B19700901%2B28%2BAug%2B1970%252C%2B24%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" width="320" /></a></div><b>September 1-6, 1970 The Troubadour (North), San Francisco, CA: Elton John/David Ackles </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday) </i><br />The display ad above (from the August 28, 1970 Examiner) is one of the very few traces of Elton John's appearance at the San Francisco Troubadour. Following his pattern, Weston booked <b>Elton John</b> for a week in San Francisco right after his Los Angeles debut. Elton's performance at the Hollywood Troubadour made his career, changed his life and was a milestone in popular music. <br /><p></p><p><a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2020/10/september-1-6-1970-960-bush-st.html ">It
is telling that Elton John's similar performance in San Francisco
disappeared almost without a trace. I'll save you the trouble of
googling--I'm the only person to write about it.</a> Even <a href="http://www.eltonography.com/tours/1970.html">the first-rate<i> Eltonography </i>site can only allude to it vaguely.</a>
Now, let's be clear--the SF <i>Examiner</i> reviewed the opening night, and
the reviewer (Michael Kelton) acknowledges Elton's talent, energy and
songs. But he dismisses him for being "inauthentic," although he uses
the term "artificial." The San Francisco ethic at the time was Jerry
Garcia or Carlos Santana, crouched and squinting over their guitars, not
a guy in a sequined suit jumping around. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pdotum3y9cM">Elton John's appearance at the
Hollywood Troubadour is the centerpiece of his bio-movie</a>--his
appearance at the same club in San Francisco is barely even noted in the
website devoted to his history. </p><p>Music and the music industry was
changing, and the center of gravity was heading south down Highway 101,
from San Francisco to Los Angeles. By the end of 1970, the West Hollywood Troubadour was one of the
most important venues in popular music. The San Francisco Troubadour
would only last two more months, and disappear with almost no trace.</p><p><b>David Ackles</b>, an American songwriter, had released his second album on Elektra in 1970, <i>Subway To The Country</i>. Ackles was highly regarded by British artists like Elton John, Elvis Costello and Phil Collins, but he did not become known at all until later, and he was never really popular. Ackles opened for Elton John at the Troubadour in both Hollywood (Aug 25-30) and San Francisco. Apparently Elton watched Ackles' show every night. Bernie Taupin would produce Ackles' 3rd album (<i>American Gothic</i>), released in 1972.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K8qjnxprpw8/YDLZl7P6TqI/AAAAAAAAIL8/XL3PCH9s6awlw4LP_6Xih-OKOFByltqMACLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Fairport%2BFull%2BHouse%2BJuly%2B1970%2BA%2526M.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="598" data-original-width="600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K8qjnxprpw8/YDLZl7P6TqI/AAAAAAAAIL8/XL3PCH9s6awlw4LP_6Xih-OKOFByltqMACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Fairport%2BFull%2BHouse%2BJuly%2B1970%2BA%2526M.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />September 2-6, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Fairport Convention/David Rea </b><i>(Wednesday-Sunday) </i><br /><b>Fairport Convention</b>, then fairly obscure, had opened at the Troubadour back in April. Five months later, they were returning as headliners. Their previous album, <i>Liege And Leaf </i>(released in the States on A&M in December 1969), had all but single-handedly invented English folk-rock. Songs like "Come All Ye Roving Minstrels" and "Matty Groves" were getting good FM airplay all over the country. Yet for their first American tour, Fairport had been without their most recognizable member, lead singer Sandy Denny. Of course, all that meant was that lead guitarist Richard Thompson was even more prominent. Despite the short opening sets, Fairport clearly caught the ears of the locals, since the band returned as headliners a few months later (in September), and every musician in Los Angeles apparently showed up.<p></p><p>In July, A&M had released <i>Full House</i>, yet another stunning album, despite Sandy Denny's departure. By this time, Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol were playing guitars, Dave Swarbrick had his unique electrified take on traditional fiddle, and there was a solid rhythm section with Dave Pegg (bass) and Dave Mattacks (drums). Thompson and Swarbrick handled the vocals, replacing Denny's soaring voice with gruff charm. <br /></p><p>A&M Records had the sense to record the Fairport Convention shows on the weekend (September 4-6). Highlights were included on the album <i>Live At The Troubadour.</i> That album was released in 1977, during a lull in Fairport releases. Further highlights were included on a subsequent 1986 archival release <i>House Full</i>. The music was sensational. According to the liner notes, members of Led Zeppelin showed up for a late night jam, although apparently Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant took possession of the tapes, never to be seen again.</p><p>More intriguingly, per the notes, Linda Ronstadt was present, and for an encore, Richard Thompson said from the stage (approximately), "we hear Linda Ronstadt is here, would she like to join us?" (since Linda was in the front row, it was hardly a secret). Linda was pushed on stage by her friends, and sheepishly told the band "I don't know any of your material." Gallantly, Richard and the band said "that's alright--we know all of yours," Linda belted out the <i>a capella</i> intro to "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" and the Fairports crashed in right on queue.</p><p>Take a moment to consider that Linda was then a struggling solo artist, and Fairport Convention had just lost their female vocalist. Maybe...? But it didn't happen, more's the pity.</p><p><b>David Rea </b>(1946-2011) was born in Ohio. In the early 60s, Rea moved
to Toronto, working as a guitarist for Gordon Lightfoot and Ian &
Sylvia. Joni Mitchell and Neil Young encouraged him to write his own
songs, and some of them were recorded by Ian & Sylvia. <a href="http://davidreamusic.com/Biography.asp">Rea became an established sideman in Toronto and elsewhere, recording with a wide variety of of artists. </a>Rea released two albums on Capitol Records in 1969 (<i>Maverick Child)</i> and 1971 (<i>By The Grace Of God)</i>,
both produced by Felix Pappalardi. Pappalardi had helped produce Cream,
among other bands, and played bass and produced the band Mountain. </p><p>Since
Rea was produced by Pappalardi, he worked with the members of Mountain
on his record. As it happened, Rea ended up co-writing a song with
Mountain guitarist Leslie West, the immortal "Mississippi Queen." If you
say "I don't know 'Mississippi Queen'" you are probably wrong. It was a
classic rock tune if there ever was one, and it was in regular use for
beer commercials well into the 21st century. When you hear drummer Corky
Laing's ringing cowbell, and West's blazing guitar intro, you know what
avalanche is coming. To my knowledge, "Mississippi Queen" was the only
song West and Rea wrote together, and way out of Rea's normal range, but
it confers immortality on its own.</p><p>In 1972, Rea would rather unexpectedly joined Fairport Convention for a few months. Fairport was in flux (in between <i>Babbacombe Lee</i> and <i>Fairport Nine)</i>,
and guitarist Simon Nicol had left. Roger Hill had joined as guitarist,
and Rea joined as the lead guitarist. Stalwarts Dave Swarbrick on
fiddle and Dave Pegg on bass remained, along with drummer Tom Farnell.
Odd as this seems--it's odd--when we consider that David Rea opened for
Fairport at the Troubadour in Los Angeles on September 4-6, 1970, we know at
least that there was some connection. </p><p>Rea and Fairport recorded an album that was never
released, since Rea was, essentially, "too American" for the band (t<a href="https://www.discogs.com/Fairport-Convention-Come-All-Ye-The-First-Ten-Years/release/10663344">agged <i>The Manor Sessions</i>, it was ultimately released as part of disc 4 of <i>Come All Ye: The First Ten Years</i> 7-disc set in 2017</a>). Rea even toured with them a little bit in Summer '72 (I think I heard a tape from My Father's Place in Long Island), <a href="https://www.folkradio.co.uk/2017/07/fairport-convention-come-all-ye-the-first-10-years/2/ ">but it just wasn't a fit</a>. Rea left later in 72, replaced by Jerry Donahue. Presumably, Rea would never have been in Fairport if he hadn't met them at the Troubadour on this weekend (<a href="http://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2021/02/slewfoot-david-rea-columbiawindfall.html">Rea would go on to record the album <i>Slewfoot</i> for Columbia, produced by, of all people, the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir. That's another story, but I have summarized what can be known). <br /></a></p><p><b>September 7, 1970 The Troubadour (North), San Francisco, CA: Naked Lunch</b><i> (Monday)</i><br />The SF Troubadour also had an "Audition Night" on Mondays. This night was one of the few times that the booked act was actually listed in the SF <i>Examiner</i>. <b>Naked Lunch</b> was a sort of proto-Latin rock band, with horns and a conga player. Guitarist Abel Zarate would end up being a founding member of Malo. Keyboard player Lu Stephens had been in the SF group All Men Joy. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/1427431824038606/ ">Naked Lunch would not release a record during the life of the band, but ultimately an archival cd from this period was released in 2013</a>.</p><p>The Monday night "Auditions" were often listed in the SF <i>Examiner</i>, but no other acts were mentioned. <br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2zne39ECqVQ/YDLdx8RQc4I/AAAAAAAAINA/1Jd6fwgrrg4gEb2Ddp7qmVa4YJ-Uwd-eQCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/Rick%2BSings%2BNelson%2Blp%2B1970.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="277" data-original-width="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2zne39ECqVQ/YDLdx8RQc4I/AAAAAAAAINA/1Jd6fwgrrg4gEb2Ddp7qmVa4YJ-Uwd-eQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Rick%2BSings%2BNelson%2Blp%2B1970.jpg" /></a></b></div><b><br />September 8-13, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Rick Nelson's Stone Canyon Band/David Bevans </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Rick Nelson</b> had been a radio and television star since the 1950s, as the real-life and TV son of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. In the early 60s, teenage Ricky liked rockabilly music, so most episodes of Ozzie And Harriet featured Ricky playing a song with his band. His band included the great James Burton on guitar, and for pop music, it was pretty rockin'. Thanks to the power of TV, the records sold massively, and songs like "Hello Mary Lou" are classics today. <br /><p></p><p>By the end of the decade, with <i>Ozzie And Harriet </i>off the air, Rick (not Ricky) Nelson was more interested in country rock in the style of Bob Dylan's <i>Nashville Skyline</i>. His new album was called <i>Rick Sings Nelson</i>,
credited to Ricky Nelson and The Stone Canyon Band. The Stone Canyon
Band included pedal steel guitarist Tom Brumley, an All-Star from Buck
Owens' Buckaroos. Also in the band were guitarist Allan Kemp, drummer
Patrick Shanahan and bassist Peter Cetera. Rick Nelson had played the Troubadour back in May, so the fact that he was back was a positive sign.</p><p><b>David Bevans</b> was an impressionist.<br /></p><p><b>September 8-13, 1970 The Troubadour (North), San Francisco, CA: David Rea/Timber</b><i> (Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br />David Rea headlined this week in San Francisco. Weston had a sensible plan of offering two bookings, one in each city, which was appealing to a touring band. Originally, the Gabor Szabo Sextet had been advertised for this week, but seems to have been replaced by Rea. Phil Elwood reviewed Rea positively. He also gave generally positive notes to <b>Timber</b> as well, describing them as a 4-piece country rock group. <br /></p><p><b>September 15-20, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band/Steve Martin </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday) </i><br />The <b>Nitty Gritty Dirt Band</b> had been founded in 1966 in Long Beach, CA, and had released five albums by 1969. Initially somewhat successful, in a country-folk vein, they "went electric" but did not thrive. At the end of 1968, after appearing in the musical <i>Paint Your Wagon</i>, they temporarily broke up. Late in 1969, the band had reformulated itself. Their new album on Liberty was <i>Uncle Charlie and His Dog Teddy</i>. Manager Bill McEuen had renegotiated their contract, giving the group more artistic control. The band now emphasized a more pronounced country/bluegrass style, shying away from straight pop music. The band still featured Jeff Hanna as primary vocalist, Jimmie Fadden and Jimmy Ibbotson on guitars, John McEuen (Bill's brother) on banjo and various stringed instruments, and Les Thompson on bass. Most of the group sang, and between them they played a wide spread of instruments. There were some drums on the album, but I'm not sure if they had a live drummer.</p><p>The album would be fairly successful. The band would make a pop hit out of Jerry Jeff Walker's ballad "Mr. Bojangles," which would reach #9 on the Billboard pop charts. In April of 1971, they would also have a modest hit (it reached #53) with their cover of Kenny Loggins' "House At Pooh Corner" ("Winnie The Pooh/Doesn't know what to do"), although the song is now associated with Loggins And Messina. </p><p>In the Fall of 1970, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band had been broken up for over a year, so announcing a new release at the Troubadour was a good way to help them return to the spotlight. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band would never reach the huge heights that some other Troubadour performers would, but they went on to have a solid career for the next several decades. <br /></p><p>Comedian <b>Steve Martin</b> had been a High School classmate of the McEuen brothers in Orange County. Bill McEuen was his manager as well as the Dirt Band's. At one point in the late 60s, he had shared a house with the Dirt Band. Martin had been a writer for the <i>Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,</i> but the popular, yet controversial, show had been canceled by CBS in early 1970. Martin was now establishing his career as a comedian, although he often played (pretty good) banjo as part of his act.</p><p><b>September 15-20, 1970 The Troubadour (North), San Francisco, CA: Rick Nelson/Leigh Price and the Hurdy Gurdy Man</b><i> (Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Leigh Price</b> is unknown to me.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lmViO-U7-8c/YDLZrxwPfuI/AAAAAAAAIMA/aZDFFwb7bC4ExwAGewjxw1GBSOE8hR1FwCLcBGAsYHQ/s599/John%2BB%2BSebastian%2B1970%2BReprise%2BLP.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="599" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lmViO-U7-8c/YDLZrxwPfuI/AAAAAAAAIMA/aZDFFwb7bC4ExwAGewjxw1GBSOE8hR1FwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/John%2BB%2BSebastian%2B1970%2BReprise%2BLP.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />September 22-27, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: John Sebastian/Merry Clayton </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>John Sebastian</b> had been hugely successful in the 1960s as the principal songwriter and lead singer of the Lovin' Spoonful. When the band broke up, there was a possibility that he might join Stephen Stills, David Crosby and Graham Nash in their new group, but all parties agreed that he was better suited to being a solo artist, and all remained friends. Sebastian had signed with Reprise records, and he had a solo album recorded and ready as early as January 1969. For whatever record company reasons, his debut album <i>John B Sebastian</i> was not released until January, 1970. As if that wasn't enough, due to a disputed contract, MGM Records released the same album in the middle of 1970. <br /><p></p><p>Although Sebastian was not well-served by Reprise's delay and the confusing double-release by MGM, <i>John B Sebastian</i> did not do badly. It reached #20 on the <i>Billboard</i> album charts, raising the question of how well it might have done a year earlier. There were guest appearances on the album by Crosby, Stills and Nash (and drummer Dallas Taylor), and of course they were bigger stars than ever. In person, I believe Sebastian just accompanied himself, without a band.</p><p><b>Merry Clayton</b> had made her recording debut at 14, in New Orleans with Bobby Darin, back in 1962. She was well-established as a background singer with Ray Charles and others when she was called in one night to sing a part on the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter." In 1970, she had released the album <i>Gimme Shelter</i> on Ode, including her own version of the song. Although she sang the famously soulful vocal for the Stones, on stage her material was apparently in more of a Las Vegas-cabaret vein.<br /></p><p><b>September 23-October 3, 1970 The Troubadour (North), San Francisco, CA: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band/Steve Martin </b><i>(Wednesday-Sunday, Tuesday-Saturday)</i><i></i></p><b>October 1-4, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Shelley Berman/Fanny </b><i>(Thursday-Sunday)</i><br />Shelly Berman (1925-2017) was the kind of successful TV and Las Vegas performer who had regularly been booked at the Troubadour. As recently as Spring 1970, such bookings were common. By year's end, "singer-songwriters" were ascendant, and a far bigger draw than someone who would play on a variety show. This was no criticism of Berman, who had made several gold albums as a comedian, starting in 1957, and had regularly appeared on variety shows and in Nevada. He also had an established career as a character actor, which would continue throughout his life (you may recall him as Larry David's aging father in <i>Curb Your Enthusiasm</i>, <i>ca</i>. 2002-09). Berman seems to have been one of the last such bookings at the Troubadour, certainly the last for 1970.<p><b>Fanny</b> was not the first all-women rock band by any means, but
they were the first to get much attention from the serious rock press.
Their debut album would be released on Reprise in December 1970,
produced by Richard Perry. </p><p>The anchors of Fanny were
sisters Jean and June Millington, both from the Sacramento area. The
pair had fronted a Top-40 band called Svelt, which had evolved into Wild
Honey. Both Jean (guitar) and June (bass) could really play and sing,
and female musicians (as opposed to singers) were pretty rare in the
late 60s. Of course, both were knockout-cute, too, but the music
industry was still the entertainment business. Drummer Alice De Buhr had
rounded out Wild Honey, and keyboard player Nicky Barclay was added by
Reprise. <br /></p><b>October 6-11, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Bill Medley/Judy Mayhan </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Bill Medley</b> had been half of the Righteous Brothers (along with Bobby Hatfield), who were among the premier purveyors of "blue-eyed soul." Their songs like "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" and "Little Latin Lupe Lu" were 60s classics. Supposedly, the Phil Spector-produced "Lovin' Feeling" is the most-played song in the history of American radio. Still, the duo broke up in 1968 when Medley went solo. Medley would have some success as a solo artist. At this point, Medley's most recent album would have been <i>Someone Is Standing Outside</i> on A&M. Medley and Hatfield would periodically re-form over the years, as well as continue solo careers.<p><b>Judy Mayhan</b> wrote and sang songs and accompanied herself on piano, somewhat in the style of Laura Nyro.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nPZZCGU6ec4/X_5Zc_4ZrbI/AAAAAAAAIB0/Jq6EIfvmwwcKU_bfHTBfKnD61A6OlOkPQCLcBGAsYHQ/s945/Troubadour%2BCody%2B19701009%2BCody.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="657" data-original-width="945" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nPZZCGU6ec4/X_5Zc_4ZrbI/AAAAAAAAIB0/Jq6EIfvmwwcKU_bfHTBfKnD61A6OlOkPQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Troubadour%2BCody%2B19701009%2BCody.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>An ad for the SF Troubadour in the SF Good Times, Oct 9, 1970</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>October 6-11, 1970 The Troubadour (North) San Francisco, CA: Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen/Dee Higgins </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen</b> were rowdy hippie honky tonkers from Ann Arbor, MI. <a href="https://berkeleyfolk.blogspot.com/2010/09/commander-cody-and-his-lost-planet.html">They had relocated from Michigan to Berkeley in the Summer of 1969</a>. In the meantime, they had developed a local following for their groundbreaking mixture of Western Swing, honky-tonk and hippie sensibilities. The Cody crew were certainly the hardest rocking band yet to play the SF Troubadour (and given its brief tenure, the hardest rocking ever). <br /></p><p>Opener <b>Dee Higgins</b> was a Canadian singer.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gU_37gY9-no/YDLZyByvcmI/AAAAAAAAIME/gIazZr7_k5EeJzb3kOTNUcycP46klaoLQCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/John%2BPhillips%2B1970%2BWolf%2BKing%2Balbum.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="297" data-original-width="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gU_37gY9-no/YDLZyByvcmI/AAAAAAAAIME/gIazZr7_k5EeJzb3kOTNUcycP46klaoLQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/John%2BPhillips%2B1970%2BWolf%2BKing%2Balbum.jpg" /></a></b></div><b><br />October 14-18, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: John Phillips/Barry McGuire and The Doctor </b><i>(Wednesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>John Phillips</b> (1935-2001) had been the principal architect, songwriter and arranger for the hugely successful band The Mamas And The Papas. The vocal quartet was only recording from 1965 to 1968, but they had 6 Top 10 singles, four successful albums and sold 40 million records. Even today, songs like "California Dreamin'" and "Monday Monday" are instantly familiar, thanks to movie soundtracks and television commercials. Although singers Cass Elliott, Michelle Phillips and Denny Doherty were more recognizable faces, Phillips was the engine that drove the machine.<p></p><p>Nonetheless, The Mamas And The Papas had broken up due to various intra-group conflicts, and to some extent psychedelic rock music had passed the band by. The rise of the singer-songwriter, however, seemed custom made for Phillips' return. In January, 1970, Phillips had released his first, self-titled solo album (sometimes this album is called <i>John, The Wolf-King of LA</i>). The songs were excellent, and well-recorded, but Phillips didn't have the vocal abilities of his cohorts, so the album was only moderately successful. Over the years, it has been critically well-regarded.</p><p>This October show at the Troubadour was apparently Phillips first engagement as a solo performer. It may have been his only one, too, or at least one of very few. The LA <i>Times</i> reviewer (Fredric Milstein, October 16) called him "a stylish, sensitive soloist." The Wednesday early show had an enthusiastic but half-full house. Phillips backing band, not identified by name, included bass, keyboards and a flute player.</p><p><b>Barry McGuire</b> had had big folk-rock hit with "Eve Of Destruction." It had reached #1 in late 1965, but McGuire never reached those heights again. He had a duo with "The Doctor," (Eric Hord, formerly part of the Mamas And The Papas touring ensemble) who played lead guitar.<br /></p><p><b>October 13-18, 1970 The Troubadour (North), San Francisco, CA: Judy Mayhan/Dick Holler </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday) </i><br /><b>Judy Mayhan</b> and <b>Dick Holler</b> were both songwriters who accompanied themselves on piano. Phil Elwood gave them both a favorable review in the October 14 <i>Examiner</i>.<br /><br />Per the ad above, Marin county country-rockers Clover, then signed to Fantasy, were originally booked. <b> </b>Dick Holler replaced them.<b><br /></b></p><p><b>October 20-25, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Gordon Lightfoot/Dee Higgins </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Gordon Lightfoot</b> (b. 1938) had been a successful songwriter and singer in Canada since the early 1960s. His song "Early Morning Rain" was already a standard of sorts. In the latter 60s, many Nashville country artists had also recorded his songs. Reprise Records made a push to expand Lightfoot's audience to the States with the <i>Sit Down Young Stranger</i> album in April 1970. Lightfoot would have a big hit in December 1970 with the single "If You Could Read My Mind." The song reached #5 in the US (and #1 in Canada). Once again, a Troubadour booking was on the front end of a successful singer/songwriter.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BioIZ0Rqx2I/YDLVzEBSGOI/AAAAAAAAILg/F2IOzguszzQu4nkRYUTM08Ep3UpN0-jNwCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/Jo%2BMama%2Balbum%2B1970.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="299" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BioIZ0Rqx2I/YDLVzEBSGOI/AAAAAAAAILg/F2IOzguszzQu4nkRYUTM08Ep3UpN0-jNwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Jo%2BMama%2Balbum%2B1970.jpg" /></a></b></div><b><br />October 20-25, 1970 The Troubadour (North), San Francisco: CA Jo Mama/Michael Horn </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Jo Mama </b>was an interesting band, if largely forgotten today. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Jo-Mama-Jo-Mama/release/2060794">Jo Mama's debut album on Atlantic had been released in 1970</a>. Their follow-up, <i>J Is For Jump</i>, would be released later in 1971. For the most part, the band featured East Coast transplants who had relocated from New York in the late 60s. Lead guitarist and principal songwriter Danny "Kootch" Kortchmar had been in a group called The Flying Machine with James Taylor back in Greenwich Village in the mid-60s. Korthmar and bassist Charles Larkey had moved to LA around '68. They had a group called The City with Larkey's future wife Carole King, herself a recent transplant from NYC (and recently divorced from her husband, songwriter Gerry Goffin). <a href="https://www.discogs.com/The-City-Now-That-Everythings-Been-Said/release/4193487">The City had released an album on Ode Records in 1969</a>, but Carole King didn't really like to perform much, so the band kind of expired.<p></p><p>By
1970, Kortchmar and Larkey formed Jo Mama with keyboardist Ralph
Shuckett (another transplant) and singer Abigail Haness (Kortchmar's
girlfriend), along with drummer Joel Bishop O'Brien. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Jo-Mama-J-Is-For-Jump/release/14169787">I, at least, can vouch for the quality of the second album (<i>J Is For Jump</i>).</a>
Still, the band never really got traction. </p><p><b>Michael Horn</b> is unknown to me. <br /></p><b>October 27-November 1, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: John Denver/Jo Mama </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>John Denver</b> (1943-1997) had worked with the Kingston Trio and others, but his solo career had begun in earnest with a 1969 solo album for RCA. His second RCA album, <i>Take Me To Tomorrow</i>, released May 1970, featured his own songs. His album <i>Whose Garden Was This</i>, released by RCA in October, was mostly cover versions. Denver would not really start to hit it big until his next album, <i>Poems, Prayers And Promises </i>was released in May of 1971.<p>It's easy to dismiss John Denver as a popular lightweight, and it's not unfair. Nonetheless, when we look over the acts who played the West Hollywood Troubadour in 1970, and particularly the last part of the year, we see some of the best selling acts of the 1970s playing a 300-seat nightclub. John Denver was another of those acts, just as big as James Taylor, Elton John, Carole King, Cat Stevens or Linda Ronstadt.<br /></p><p><b>October 27-November 1, 1970 The Troubadour (North), San Francisco, CA: Aliotta Haynes/James and The Good Brothers </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br />In the October 30 <i>Examiner</i>, Phil Elwood reported that the San Francisco Troubadour would close after November 1. The building had apparently cost Weston $400,000, but the crowds were too small. The Troubadour was too LA-slick for hip San Francisco, while still being too freaky for the more well-to-do types at the Fairmont and other Nob Hill hotels. The restaurant had never caught on, and there wasn't any kind of foot traffic from a local "scene." The club closed quietly, almost entirely forgotten. Now, Weston had invested a ton of money, but real estate always does well in San Francisco, so he probably didn't lose that much. In any case, the West Hollywood Troubadour continued to thrive, as singer/songwriters were becoming the biggest moneymakers in the record industry. </p><p>For the final weekend, the headliners were the folk trio <b>Aliotta Haynes</b>. Ted and Mitch Alliota and bassist Skip Haynes apparently sounded more or less like Crosby, Stills and Nash. Bassist Mitch Alliota had played with the Chicago band Rotary Connection, and the other two played guitars.</p><p><b>James And The Good Brothers</b> were a Canadian acoustic trio who were an extended part of the Grateful Dead family. Guitarist James Ackroyd had teamed with twin brothers Brian and Bruce Good, on guitar and autoharp, respectively. All sang, and their music was in a country-folk style, but without a pronounced Southern twang. The trio had met the Grateful Dead when they played on the infamous Festival Express cross-Canadian tour. The Dead invited them to San Francisco, and the trio had come down to the Bay Area, where the Dead office helped them get gigs. </p><p>James And The Good Brothers would be signed to Columbia Records in 1971, and would record at Wally Heiders with Grateful Dead engineer Betty Cantor. Jerry Garcia and Bill Kreutzmann likely played on the initial sessions, although they were not used on the final album. Ultimately the album seems to have been re-recorded in Toronto. It would be released in late 1971. Eventually, James Ackroyd would stay in California, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good_Brothers">the Good Brothers would return to Canada, where they had a successful musical career (along with banjo-playing younger brother Larry</a>). </p><p>The San Francisco edition of the Troubadour closed its doors after the November 1, 1970 show, largely unmourned and mostly forgotten. The venue at 960 Bush Street would reopen in March, 1971 as The Boarding House. With some changes, it would remain open for most of the 1970s, and it was a popular if not always successful San Francisco nightclub, for both music and comedy. The Boarding House was owned and run by David Allen, who had been Weston's house manager for the Troubadour and San Francisco. The very first act to play the new Boarding House, on March 26, 1971, was James And The Good Brothers.<br /></p><p><b>November 3-8, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Oliver/Nolan and The Kool Aid Chemist </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br />William Oliver Swofford (1945-2000), who used the stage name <b>Oliver</b>, had an interesting career and--for a pop musician--a surprisingly different post-music career. Oliver had some popular sixties hits, such as "Good Morning Starshine" and "Jean." "Starshine" (from <i>Hair</i>) had reached #3 in July '69, and "Jean" (the theme song to the movie <i>The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie</i>) reached #2 shortly afterwards. Still, Swofford grew tired of the lightweight pop sound, and throughout the 70s performed and recorded in a more folk style, using the name Bill Swofford. By the late 1970s, he had quit music.</p><p>Unlike many former pop stars, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_(singer)">Swofford became a successful executive in an American pharmaceutical company</a>. A leadership award at the company is named after him. Tragically, Swofford died of cancer in 2000. In another not-typical-for-a-pop-star piece of trivia, Bill Oliver Swofford's brother <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Swofford">John was the former Athletic Director for UNC-Chapel Hill and long-time Commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference</a>.</p><p><b>Nolan and The Kool-Aid Chemist</b> were some kind of funk band, per a review.<br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zl32CDjZqiY/YDLZ5uOukhI/AAAAAAAAIMM/qA30GY2k-IcBMspxukMmbQ5ChqAHpPIdwCLcBGAsYHQ/s512/John%2BStewart%2B1970%2BWillard%2Balbum.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="482" data-original-width="512" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zl32CDjZqiY/YDLZ5uOukhI/AAAAAAAAIMM/qA30GY2k-IcBMspxukMmbQ5ChqAHpPIdwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/John%2BStewart%2B1970%2BWillard%2Balbum.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />November 10-15, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: John Stewart/Aliotta Haynes </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>John Stewart</b> (1939-2008) had been a member of The Kingston Trio from 1961 to 1967. The group had been very popular, but they were passed by when the likes of The Beach Boys and The Beatles came along. Stewart had gone solo, and released a variety of well-received albums, such as 1969's <i>California Bloodlines</i>. Although he had written a hit for The Monkees ("Daydream Believer"), Stewart was well known at this time. but not particularly successful. <p></p><p>Stewart's current album would have been <i>Willard</i>, released on Capitol in 1970. The album was produced by Peter Asher, and recorded in Hollywood and Nashville. The LA tracks included players like James Taylor, Carole King, Mike Stewart (John's brother) and Chris Darrow, and the Nashville tracks had stellar backing as well. Clearly, Capitol felt Stewart was ticketed for success in the new world of singer/songwriters. When Stewart had played the San Francisco Troubadour in August, he had used Bryan Garafolo on bass and Lloyd Barata on drums (Stewart played guitar). Stewart actually had a fairly productive career into the 21st century, but in the early 70s he did not have the success that his talent would have foretold.</p><p><b>November 17-22, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Doug Kershaw/Bob Gibson </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br />Cajun fiddler <b>Doug Kershaw</b> had been a country musician for at least a decade. His song "Diggy Diggy Lo" had reached #14 in the country charts back in 1961. Cajun music, however, was particularly suited to the amplified style of rock music, and Kershaw's remake of "Diggy Diggy Lo" had reached #69 in 1969, not too shabby for an old country guy. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Doug-Kershaw-Spanish-Moss/release/2685090">Kershaw's 1970 album was <i>Spanish Moss</i> (on Warners), made in LA with James Burton, Red Rhodes (steel guitar), Russ Kunkel (drums) and others</a>. His version of the bluegreass classic "Orange Blossom Special" had even been a minor hit. Kershaw had played the Troubadour in May (as well as the SF Troubadour in August). <br /></p><p><b>Bob Gibson </b>(1931-1996) had been one of the earliest and most popular performers in the Folk Revival of the late 50s and early 60s. Despite his early importance--he had introduced Joan Baez at the 1959 Newport Folk Festival, for example--musical styles had passed him by. In early 1971, he would release a self-titled album on Capitol, helmed by Byrds producer Jim Dickson. The sessions included many country-rock stalwarts like Sneaky Pete Kleinow and Chris Hillman. The album would not succeed, however, and Gibson did not release an album for several more years.<br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OwB714QpbyM/YDLV780v1WI/AAAAAAAAILk/iIe63EJ4KkMMJQFjuHlr0fAD98TOBp5LwCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Sweet%2BBaby%2BJames%2BJames%2BTaylor%2B1970%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OwB714QpbyM/YDLV780v1WI/AAAAAAAAILk/iIe63EJ4KkMMJQFjuHlr0fAD98TOBp5LwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Sweet%2BBaby%2BJames%2BJames%2BTaylor%2B1970%2Blp.jpg" /></a></b></div><b><br />November 24-29, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA:James Taylor/Carole King </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br />The November booking of <b>James Taylor</b> and <b>Carole King</b> at the Troubadour is perhaps the most emblematic booking at the Troubadour for 1970, and for all I know its entire existence. Here were two of the biggest singer-songwriters of the 1970s, one having just become a star and the other still on her way up, playing music that we are all familiar with now. The sound of Taylor and King was paradigmatic for Los Angeles music in the 1970s--iconic, thoughtful, reflective and hugely profitable. Even if you don't like their music, or the music that followed it, James Taylor and Carole King together at the Troubadour was a signpost of the decade.<p></p><p>Back in February, shortly after the release of his second album, <i>Sweet Baby James</i>, Taylor had played a week at the Troubadour (February 10-15, 1970). Now, 9 months later, anyone under a certain age in the United States could sing along to "Fire And Rain" or "Sweet Baby James." Doug Weston, however, always made his acts sign an option contract that they would return to the Troubadour later at a fixed price. Artists didn't like these options, but they were perfectly legal. In some cases, artists apparently just bought their way out of the options (details are scant, but it was discussed in <i>Rolling Stone</i>, so it wasn't a dark secret). It appears here that Taylor simply came back and played a week at the club to fulfill his option.</p><p>James Taylor was booked for six nights, but I'm not certain whether there were 12 or 14 shows (sometimes Weston booked tripleheaders on the weekend). In any case, the November 10 <i>Times</i> reported that Weston said 4000 tickets had sold out instantly. Thus we can figure that maximum capacity at the club was around 300 (285 or 333, depending). With those kind of sales, Taylor could have played much bigger places, but presumably he had his reasons for preferring playing the Troubadour rather than paying them out.<br /></p><p>Opening for Taylor was his friend Carole King. King, of course, had written numerous hit songs for others in New York, with her ex-husband Gerry Goffin. After her 1968 divorce, however, King had moved to Los Angeles. She had a band called The City, which included guitarist Danny Kortchmar and her future husband Charlie Larkey on bass, and they had released an album on Ode in 1969. King, however, did not like playing live, so the band broke up. Kortchmar and Larkey had gone to found Jo Mama, while King mostly played sessions around LA. She had played on Taylor's <i>Sweet Baby James</i> album, among many others.</p><p>In May, 1970 Ode had released <i>Writer</i>, Carole King's first solo album. Just about all the songs had been co-written by King with Gerry Goffin. She was backed by James Taylor and members of Jo Mama, which was pretty much the crew on <i>Sweet Baby James</i>. <i>Writer</i> wasn't particularly a chart hit, although once its followup <i>Tapestry</i> became one of the best selling albums of all time, the album sold plenty. Nonetheless, all the people who had jumped on tickets for the hot James Taylor had then heard Carole King, and in retrospect she was just as big a part of 70s songwriter music as he was.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NPHROeS-ius/YDLa3OFoWqI/AAAAAAAAIMc/NpHJnBmeFzoXY69enQ6mD0M1J1ZHg1D7ACLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Waylon%2BJennings%2BSinger%2BOf%2BSad%2BSongs%2B1970%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NPHROeS-ius/YDLa3OFoWqI/AAAAAAAAIMc/NpHJnBmeFzoXY69enQ6mD0M1J1ZHg1D7ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Waylon%2BJennings%2BSinger%2BOf%2BSad%2BSongs%2B1970%2Blp.jpg" /></a></b></div><b><br />December 1-6, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Waylon Jennings/Jerry Jeff Walker </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br />Although singer-songwriters were a central component to popular 1970s music, "Outlaw Country" was just a few years behind it. In 1970, the record industry had some reason to think that "country rock" was the next big thing, combining hippie sensibilities with country songwriting, and perhaps replacing whisky with weed. Indeed, some country rock bands did pretty well in the 70s, like the New Riders Of The Purple Sage or Pure Prairie League. The Eagles, initially, had a country rock veneer, even though that rapidly evolved. <p></p><p>A more potent and lasting merger of country music and the 60s would be the music coming out of Austin, TX. Genuine country musicians, with proper Nashville pedigrees, would move to Austin, grow their hair, light one up and pretty much play the same music they had been playing before. OK--maybe there was a bit more attitude, but that wasn't incompatible with older roughneck country, anyway. Two of the earliest converts to this were Waylon Jennings and Jerry Jeff Walker. They were booked together at the Troubadour in the first week of December. It was a couple of years before Outlaw Country and Austin were a big deal, but it was another sign that the Troubadour was a place to see what was coming up a few years down the road.</p><p><b>Waylon Jennings</b> (1937-2002) was an established country singer, but he had roots in rock and roll. Jennings had been the bass player for Buddy Holly and The Crickets, and had graciously offered to give up his seat on the airplane to The Big Bopper, on the fateful flight on February 3, 1959 that crashed, killing Holly, the Bopper, and Ritchie Valens. Jennings had gone on to success as a Nashville singer, but he had never been happy with how his records were made. Jennings had made his 13th album, <i>Singer Of Sad Songs,</i> in Hollywood, and RCA had released it in November 1970. The record company refused to promote it, however, since they had wanted Jennings to record in Nashville. Jennings, never one to conform, was promoting it himself at The Troubadour. A few years later, he would relocate to Austin, find common cause with Willie Nelson, and Outlaw Country would become a real thing.</p><p><b>Jerry Jeff Walker</b> had a more complicated story, but it was no less significant for that. Jerry Jeff had been born Ronald Clyde Crosby in Oneonta, NY. He had been a Greenwich Village folkie, then had gone psychedelic with the band Circus Maximus. In 1968, he had written the song "Mr Bojangles" (according to former accompanist David Bromberg, Jerry Jeff met the song's protagonist in a New Orleans drunk tank, where he was "doing research"). The song had recently been a hit for The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (see September 15-20, above), so there was interest in Walker. Jerry Jeff would move to Austin within a few years. While he never became as big a star as Waylon or Willie, he was an important marker for the merger of country music and rock sensibilities that characterized the Austin scene in the 70s. At this time, his current album was <i>Bein' Free,</i> on Atco, produced by Tom Dowd.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0yC56DZV3qY/YDLbO52s_7I/AAAAAAAAIMo/43s_lABsuNMm9Hh-AZWWcN-w8eQOhiGRgCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/Tea%2BFor%2BThe%2BTillerman%2BCat%2BStevens%2B1970%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0yC56DZV3qY/YDLbO52s_7I/AAAAAAAAIMo/43s_lABsuNMm9Hh-AZWWcN-w8eQOhiGRgCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Tea%2BFor%2BThe%2BTillerman%2BCat%2BStevens%2B1970%2Blp.jpg" /></a></b></div><b><br />December 8-13, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Cat Stevens/Seatrain </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Cat Stevens</b> (b. Steven Giorgiou 1948) had had some success in the UK in the 60s, but he fell ill and his career had been stalled. He recovered, however, and had released <i>Mona Bone Jakon</i> in April 1970 on Island (and A&M in the States). Stevens prior work had been fairly orchestrated pop, but his new producer Paul Samwell-Smith paired Stevens with fellow guitarist Alun Davies, for a more intimate sound. The album wasn't huge, but it had attracted some attention. Island/A&M released his new album, <i>Tea For The Tillerman</i>, in November. This one would be huge, the first of many big hits. The <i>Tillerman</i> album would reach #8 on Billboard, and the hit single "Wild World" would reach #5. Once again, the Troubadour was on the front end of a huge success.<p></p><p><b>Seatrain</b> had been formed from the ashes of the
Blues Project in 1968. For complicated reasons, the Blues Project had
reformed in San Francisco, and then changed their name to Sea Train.
After a 1968 debut on A&M, Seatrain reconstituted itself (and
changed its spelling) and ended up recording for Capitol. The new band
was mainly based in Cambridge, MA, but they seemed to winter in the Bay
Area. At this time, Seatrain had Peter Rowan on guitar and vocals,<a href="http://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2013/10/richard-greene-violin-career-snapshot.html"> Richard Greene as lead soloist on electric violin</a>,
Lloyd Baskin on keyboards and vocals, Andy Kulberg on bass and Roy
Blumenfield on drums. Their first album on Capitol (entitled <i>Seatrain</i>) had been released in 1970, although I am not precisely sure what month it was actually released. <br /></p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2SBCwk5I4As/YDLbKNO4ISI/AAAAAAAAIMk/CZhxgJpGCdkIoWKPUaufRdeotcHTmRrqwCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/Jake%2BHolmes%2BSo%2BClose%2Blp%2B1970.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2SBCwk5I4As/YDLbKNO4ISI/AAAAAAAAIMk/CZhxgJpGCdkIoWKPUaufRdeotcHTmRrqwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Jake%2BHolmes%2BSo%2BClose%2Blp%2B1970.jpg" /></a></div><br />December 15-20, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Jake Holmes/Brewer and Shipley </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Jake Holmes</b> is hardly a major figure, but most Americans of a certain era have heard his songs, though not likely him. At the time of this booking, <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Jake-Holmes-So-Close-So-Very-Far-To-Go/release/2073515">Holmes had recently released <i>So Close, So Very Far To Go</i>. It had been recorded in Nashville, and recently released on Polydor</a>. The single "So Close" was apparently in the Top 20, at least in LA. Holmes was well-reviewed by Michael Sherman in the <i>Times</i>, who mentioned that he was accompanied by guitarist Teddy Irwin.<p>But that's not why you likely have heard Jake Holmes' songs. Back when Holmes had released his first album, <i>The Above-Ground Sound of Jake Holmes</i>, released on Tower in 1967, Holmes had toured around a little bit. On August 25, 1967 Holmes had opened for the Yardbirds at the Village Theater in Greenwich Village (later better known as the Fillmore East). A year later, Jimmy Page and The Yardbirds were doing a song called "I'm Confused," which seemed to pretty much be Holmes song "Dazed And Confused," from his album. By 1969, the first Led Zeppelin album had been released, with the song "Dazed And Confused," very similar but with writing credits assigned to Led Zeppelin.</p><p>Holmes ultimately sued for copyright infringement, and the case was settled out of court. A 2010 Led Zeppelin cd release assigned credits to "Dazed And Confused" as written by Zeppelin, but "inspired by Jake Holmes," presumably related to the settlement. But, you might say, I'm no Zeppelin fan, I don't know how the song goes, so I don't know the music of Jake Holmes.</p><p>After his recording career fizzled somewhat, Holmes wrote commercial jingles. His most famous commercial theme was the US Army recruiting song "Be All You Can Be." Jake Holmes second most famous jingle? "Be A Pepper," for Dr Pepper ("I'm a Pepper/You're A Pepper/Wouldn't you like to be a Pepper too?"). All I can say is, those three songs would that would make some medley.</p><p>Opening act <b>Brewer And Shipley</b> were a folk duo from the Midwest. Tom Shipley and Mike Brewer were based in Kansas City, but they recorded in San Francisco. They had just released their album <i>Tarkio</i> on Kama Sutra, recorded in San Francisco with producer Nick Gravenites. It was a great album that holds up well, but the first track was the catchy "One Toke Over The Line," which would be released as a single in March of 1971. It would reach #10, but it has remained prominent on oldies stations ever since. <br /></p><p><b><br /></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-00thh_RChIk/YDLibECUrvI/AAAAAAAAINM/ymAWd1zYsnEXG0PVu335N5XWKY_wU3pZQCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Black%2BMans%2BBurdon%2BMGM%2B1970.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="582" data-original-width="600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-00thh_RChIk/YDLibECUrvI/AAAAAAAAINM/ymAWd1zYsnEXG0PVu335N5XWKY_wU3pZQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Black%2BMans%2BBurdon%2BMGM%2B1970.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />December 22-24, 26-27, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Eric Burdon and War/Edwards-Hand </b><i> (Tuesday-Thursday, Saturday-Sunday)</i><br />Eric Burdon, a powerful singer and a true character, had numerous lives in the Pop firmament. Burdon had come to prominence in the mid-60s as the lead singer for The Animals, bringing a dose of heavy blues to the British Invasion. <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Eric%20Burdon.htm">When psychedelia hit, Burdon remade his band as the psychedelic Eric Burdon and The Animals, touring constantly and scoring with hits like "San Francsican Nights" and "Sky Pilot." </a>Burdon and the Animals were perhaps the only British Invasion band to directly make the transition to the Fillmores, and he and his band had relocated to Los Angeles by 1968.<br /><br />When the psychedelic Animals melted down, Burdon had remained in LA. After some intermittent performances (and a brief stint at USC Film School, apparently), Burdon hooked up with a local band called War. War played funky jazz, mostly focused on a groove, rather than virtuosity. Burdon's name helped them get bookings, and they gave Burdon a chance to update his sound. When Burdon played with them, he just improvised along, rather than singing his old Animals hits. A few raw audience tapes from 1970 suggest that it actually sounded pretty good--Burdon had a great voice and a good sense of drama, so he didn't overwhelm the band.<p></p><p>By late 1970, Eric Burdon and War were pretty successful. The album <i>Eric Burdon Declares War</i> had been released by MGM in April 1970. Surprisingly, the album generated a hit single "Spill The Wine," which had peaked at #3. Today, the single is pretty embarrassing. If you listen to Burdon in the context of a live show, it actually fits in, but stripped out to a single it's pompous. Still, it was a hit. In December, Eric Burdon and War released the shamefully named <i>Black-Man's Burdon</i>. There was no hit. Burdon would separate himself from War, and they would go on to have a pretty successful run in the early 1970s. </p><p>LA <i>Times</i> reviewer Susan Reilly (Dec 25 1970) described Edwards-Hand as featuring Roger Hands and Rod Edwards as singer-songwriters, backed by a trio (plus Rod Edwards on keyboards). The band had released an album on GRT, with Beatles producer George Martin at the helm.<br /></p><b>December 29-31, 1970-January 1-3, 1971 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Linda Ronstadt </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Linda Ronstadt</b> would be a huge star in a few years, but at this time she was a regular booking at the Troubadour. This, too, added to the ultimate status of the club---people would say they saw Linda back in the day at some club, rather than at the Sports Arena.<p>At this time, Ronstadt would have been supporting her second solo album, <i>Silk Purse</i>,
which had been released on Capitol on April. She had played the club back in June (June 23-July 5). Ronstadt had been part of
the Stone Poneys, with Bobby Kimmel and Kenny Edwards. The trio had
released three albums in 1967 and '68, and had even scored a modest hit
with the Michael Nesmith song "Different Drum," which reached #13 in
1967. The Stone Poneys had come from Tucson in 1965, and had played the
Hoot Night at the Troubadour many times. Ronstadt had received offers as
a solo singer, but she had refused to abandon her bandmates. Finally,
after a Troubadour hoot performance in 1966, the Stone Poneys had been
signed as a group. </p><p>Ronstadt would not release a new album until 1972, so in her case, the Troubadour bookings would keep the wheels turning for her.</p><p><br /></p><p> </p>Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-28883940501251664052021-05-07T08:48:00.001-07:002021-05-12T09:02:18.005-07:00The Troubadour, West Hollywood and San Francisco, CA: Performance List May-August 1970 (Troubadour II)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X-CwhPTD730/X8EDzT2Lh9I/AAAAAAAAHwQ/H6O8_PhMe5k11kd2IXzE9OAbfDYwuLkwgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1502/Troubadour_a_night_view.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1014" data-original-width="1502" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X-CwhPTD730/X8EDzT2Lh9I/AAAAAAAAHwQ/H6O8_PhMe5k11kd2IXzE9OAbfDYwuLkwgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Troubadour_a_night_view.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><i><b>The Troubadour, 9081 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA</b></i><br /><p><i><b>The Troubadour, The Whisky A-Go-Go and West Hollywood</b></i><br />In
the latter 60s, rock bands made their bones in the ballrooms, with the
light shows and people swaying. Word would pass on the underground
telegraph that Cream or Quicksilver Messenger Service or Ten Years
After were great, and you would check them out the next time they came
to town. There were a few rock nightclubs, but most fans weren't even 21
yet, and clubs in any case were too small to create much residual buzz,
not compared to a college gym. </p><p>In the 1960s, however, there was one major exception to
this rule. <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Whisky-A-Go-Go%20History.htm">The infamous Whisky-A-Go-Go club in West Hollywood (at 8901 Sunset Blvd) defied all these conventions</a>. Name bands played
there for union scale just to get heard. The Hollywood hip people, whether in
the record industry or just cool cats, heard the bands and helped to
decide who got some buzz. In August 1966, the house band at the Whisky
were some unknowns called The Doors, and they became as big as anybody.
In January, 1969, a new group built on the ashes of the old Yardbirds
played the Whisky, and within a week the word was out about Led
Zeppelin.<br /><br />Hollywood proper had been part of the city of Los
Angeles since the 1930s. But West Hollywood was unincorporated, part of Los Angeles County, but not the city. It was insulated from the notorious Los
Angeles police and the machinations of the LA City Council. Thus West
Hollywood was, paradoxically, the entertainment district for Hollywood,
and had been since the 1940s. There were clubs, restaurants and jazz,
and plenty of stars came to hang out, and that was how tastes got made.
Rock and roll wasn't that different. The Whisky had opened in 1964, and
made "Go-Go" a thing. By 1966, the club had a new act every week, all
trying to catch the Hollywood buzz. Cream and Jimi Hendrix each played
there in 1967, for practically nothing, just so that people would listen. So did
numerous other ambitious groups, because rocking the Whisky was a ticket
to a big tour.<br /><br />A mile East of the Whisky, however, was a former
coffee shop called The Troubadour. The Troubadour was at 9081 Santa Monica Boulevard (at Doheny Drive), near the Beverly Hills border. Proprietor Doug Weston had opened the
club in 1957, but by 1970 it had a full bar and regular performers.
Initially it presented folk acts, and in a sense, it still did. Electric
instruments were standard fare by the end of the 60s, and the Troubadour
wasn't for purists. But the Whisky was for rocking out, and the
Troubadour was for reflection. As the 70s rose on the horizon,
reflection was the order of the day, and success at The Troubadour would turn out to have more impact than success at the Whisky.</p><i><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p4OaNe9-vQs/YAnewEf9eUI/AAAAAAAAIC4/KdYH-v13-8oCCjKHTY91Z0yRvCp80RT-wCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Kristofferson%2Blp%2BMonument%2B1970.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p4OaNe9-vQs/YAnewEf9eUI/AAAAAAAAIC4/KdYH-v13-8oCCjKHTY91Z0yRvCp80RT-wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Kristofferson%2Blp%2BMonument%2B1970.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Kris Kristofferson's debut album was released on Monument in 1970. He played the West Hollywood Troubadour in June, opening for Linda Ronstadt</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b></i><i><b><br />Troubadour Performance List, May-August 1970</b></i><br />The
Troubadour was open seven days a week, with performers every night. The
restaurant and particularly the bar were open as well, so it was a
hangout for music industry types as well as musicians. Supposedly, many
70s bands, such as the Eagles, had their beginnings in the Troubadour
bar. Troubadour bookings were almost always from Tuesday through Sunday.
The Tuesday night show was almost always reviewed in the Thursday Los
Angeles <i>Times</i>, giving industry and fans an idea of what was worth seeing
that weekend. A good review in the <i>Times</i>, followed by a packed house on
the weekend, could make an artist's career, as it did with Elton John
later in 1970. <br /><p>Maximum capacity at the Troubadour was about 300.
Generally, there were two shows each night, and sometimes three shows on weekend nights. Sets were relatively short, from what I can tell,
in order to turn the house over. Headliners would play about 40 minutes,
and openers nearer to 20. The Troubadour was a showcase, not a place
where performers jammed all night with their pals. I don't know whether
the Troubadour had the arrangement where if the late show was not sold
out, patrons could stick around if they would buy another drink. For a packed James Taylor/Carole King show in
November of 1970, the <i>Times</i> reported that all 4000 tickets were sold
out, and while I don't know if that was for 12 or 14 shows, and whether it was
an approximation, but it gives us an idea of capacity.<br /></p><p>Monday
nights were "Audition Nights." Performers were booked, but they weren't
advertised in the papers. Presumably, patrons could call the club, or
the bands were listed at the club itself. In some cases, record
companies would arrange to have performers play Monday night at the
Troubadour so they could invite a few people and check them out. I
assume that when a performer did not have a full Tuesday-Sunday run, and
no performer was listed (usually a Tuesday or a Sunday), "auditions"
were booked on those open nights too. I think one reason to call these
booking auditions was also to minimize what they were paying the
performer (probably just union scale). I don't think there was an
admission charge on audition night. I'm not aware of any way to retrieve who played on
Audition nights (and I appear to be the first attempting to capture who
played the Troubadour during this period). </p><p>At the beginning of
1970, many of the acts at the Whisky had their eyes on Las Vegas,
Television Variety shows and the big hotels. Hippie acts that might have
been welcome at the Fillmore, or even a college campus, weren't that
common. By the end of the year, the hair had gotten longer and the
stakes had gotten higher. Rock music and the record industry was turning
out to be big money, and finding the next big recording artist was more
important than knowing who was looking good for the Ambassador Hotel
downtown or the Sands in Vegas. </p><p><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-troubadour-9081-santa-monica-blvd.html">In a previous post, I reviewed the performers at the Troubadour from January through April 1970</a>. In a short time, the Troubadour went from mostly featuring performers looking to get on TV or into Las Vegas to long haired singer songwriters that are famous today. It was becoming clear that there was big money in the booming record industry, and the Troubadour was right at the center. This post will review the performers at the Troubadour from May through August 1970. It will also cover the opening of the ill-fated Troubadour in San Francisco. </p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OUmePezbJ8Q/YAnfJjj1XtI/AAAAAAAAIDA/L_nVp9WwncgeSkVLwYbdZppd2pCbIc3iQCLcBGAsYHQ/s607/moondance%2Bvan%2Bmorrison%2B1970.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OUmePezbJ8Q/YAnfJjj1XtI/AAAAAAAAIDA/L_nVp9WwncgeSkVLwYbdZppd2pCbIc3iQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/moondance%2Bvan%2Bmorrison%2B1970.jpg" /></a></div><br />April 28-May 3, 1970, The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Van Morrison/Elyse Weinberg </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Van Morrison</b> was yet another artist who used the Troubadour to get heard by the whole industry. Morrison had been around for a while, of course: he had been in Them, he had a '67 hit with "Brown-Eyed Girl," and a classic 1968 album <i>Astral Weeks</i>. <i>Astral Weeks </i>hadn't sold that well, however, and while Morrison had toured a little bit, he hadn't been much heard from. By this time, Morrison was based in Woodstock, NY. <br /><p><i>Moondance</i>,
Morrison's new album on Warners, had been released in February 1970. I
don't need to add that it was a revelation. There were no big singles,
but FM radio worked differently than AM. Songs off the album got played
all the time on the big FM stations: the title track, "Crazy Love," "And
It Stoned Me," "Caravan" and Into The Mystic" got played all the time.
And that was just from side one. Los Angeles wanted to hear just how he was
doing this.</p><p>Michael Sherman gave a generally positive review of Van
Morrison in the April 30 <i>Times</i> (covering opening night). Sherman praised
the great song and the swinging six-piece band, and of course Van's
epic singing voice. The only real complaint was Morrison's eerie
detachment when he delivered his joyous music. Pretty much, this was the
review of every Van Morrison performance ever (certainly all the ones I
saw over some decades): great songs, hot band, fantastic singing,
strangely aloof. Still, Van Morrison's talent wasn't going to be
contained, and playing the Troubadour for a week ensured that.</p><p>Opener
<b>Elyse Weinberg</b> is fairly obscure now, but she was very much in the mix
in the 1960s. She had made a solo album in 1969 on Tetragrammaton, and
it wasn't the typical singer-songwriter thing, but rather sort of a
psychedelic album. Born in Ontario, Weinberg had been part of the
Toronto folk scene around 1963. She had moved to Los Angeles in 1966 to
meet up with her friend Neil Young. Staying with Cass Elliott, her songs
got heard, and she got signed. Her album featured Neil Young and
others, and apparently is a sort of lost psych classic. Weinberg
released another album in 1971, then signed with Geffen Records in 1973,
but ultimately retired from music.</p><b>May 5-10, 1970, The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Rick Nelson and The Stone Stone Canyon Band/Fairport Convention </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Rick Nelson</b> had been a radio and television star since the 1950s, as the real-life and TV son of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. In the early 60s, teenage Ricky liked rockabilly music, so most episodes of <i>Ozzie And Harriet</i> featured Ricky playing a song with his band. His band included the great James Burton on guitar, and for pop music, it was pretty rockin'. Thanks to the power of TV, the records sold massively, and songs like "Hello Mary Lou" are classics today. <br /><p>By the end of the decade, with <i>Ozzie And Harriet </i>off the air, Rick (not Ricky) Nelson was more interested in country rock in the style of Bob Dylan's <i>Nashville Skyline</i>. His new album was called <i>Rick Sings Nelson</i>, credited to Ricky Nelson and The Stone Canyon Band. The Stone Canyon Band included pedal steel guitarist Tom Brumley, an All-Star from Buck Owens' Buckaroos. Also in the band were guitarist Allan Kemp, drummer Patrick Shanahan and bassist Peter Cetera.</p><p>Opening act <b>Fairport Convention,</b> then fairly obscure, would have been the real revelation. Their previous album, <i>Liege And Leif </i>(released in the States on A&M in December 1969), had all but single-handedly invented English folk-rock. Songs like "Come All Ye Roving Minstrels" and "Matty Groves" were getting good FM airplay all over the country. Yet for their first American tour, Fairport was without their most recognizable member, lead singer Sandy Denny. Of course, all that meant was that lead guitarist Richard Thompson was even more prominent. Despite the short opening sets, Fairport clearly caught the ears of the locals, since the band returned as headliners a few months later (in September), and apparently every musician in Los Angeles would show up. <br /></p><b>May 12-17, 1970, The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Hedge and Donna/Frank Kimel </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Hedge And Donna</b> had deep roots at the Troubadour. The married folksinging duo (last name Capers) from the San Dieog area had been so impressive at a Troubadour Hoot Night in 1967 that Doug Weston became their manager. By 1970, Hedge And Donna had released their 4th album on Capitol, <i>Special Circumstances</i>. The duo were backed by heavyweight Hollywood session pros (Joe Sample, Carole Kaye, Paul Humphrey, Ron Tutt, Sneaky Pete Kleinow and Bernie Leadon, to name a few), but their folk-rock sound had become somewhat <i>passe</i>.<p><b>Frank Kimel </b>is unknown to me.</p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k4PG1hWkqJg/YAnfQ_hLbUI/AAAAAAAAIDE/Yz28DorrycwjcYiXyj53oBdSCG4C9aKMACLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Basket%2BOf%2BLight%2BPentangle%2B69%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k4PG1hWkqJg/YAnfQ_hLbUI/AAAAAAAAIDE/Yz28DorrycwjcYiXyj53oBdSCG4C9aKMACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Basket%2BOf%2BLight%2BPentangle%2B69%2Blp.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />May 19-24, 1970, The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Pentangle </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Pentangle</b> were brilliant and unclassifiable, but they are usually broadly lumped in with Fairport Convention as "British Folk-Rock." That's not even wrong, but Pentangle was so much more. The quintet included two of the best and most original acoustic guitarists in the British folk scene, Bert Jansch and John Renbourn. Established jazz bassist Danny Thompson and drummer Terry Cox added a light but swinging rhythm section, and Jacqui McShee had a striking, madrigal-style voice, ably supported by singing from the rest of the band. <br /><p>Pentangle were among the pioneers in--for lack of a better term--amplified acoustic music. The twin guitars could be heard with the bass and drums, and the vocals soared over the delicate but firm sound. They weren't purists--banjo or electric guitar was added as needed. They did English folk songs, American folk music, the odd R&B song and even some Charles Mingus. There was nothing like them. The previous year, the band had toured all the psychedelic ballrooms. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/03/fillmore-west-february-27-march-2-1969.html">When Pentangle had opened for the Grateful Dead (Feb 27-Mar 2 '69 at Fillmore West), Jerry Garcia was so impressed that he adopted the twin-acoustics-plus-rhythm sound for the acoustic live Dead of 1970.</a> </p><p>For this tour, Pentangle was supporting their fantastic new album <i>Basket Of Light</i>, which had been released in October of 1969 on Transatlantic Records. </p><p><b>May 26-31, 1970, The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Doug Kershaw </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br />Cajun fiddler <b>Doug Kershaw</b> had been a country musician for at least a decade. His song "Diggy Diggy Lo" had reached #14 in the country charts back in 1961. Cajun music, however, was particularly suited to the amplified style of rock music, and Kershaw's remake of "Diggy Diggy Lo" had reached #69 in 1969, not too shabby for an old country guy. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Doug-Kershaw-Spanish-Moss/release/2685090">Kershaw's 1970 album was <i>Spanish Moss </i>(on Warners), made in LA with James Burton, Red Rhodes (steel guitar), Russ Kunkel (drums) and others</a>. His version of the bluegreass classic "Orange Blossom Special" had even been a minor hit. So Kershaw was playing the Troubadour, apparently to introduce himself to a different audience. <br /></p><p><b>June 2-7, 1970, The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Mike Nesmith with First National Band </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Mike Nesmith</b> had been a Monkee, of course, so he was nationally famous. Also, he was quite a talented songwriter, but the Monkees' management had no interest in that. So when the band disintegrated at the end of 1968, Nesmith set out to make himself a "real" artist, instead of the plastic Monkee that had come before. In fact, prior to the Monkees, Nesmith had carved out something of a modest career already.</p><p>In 1965, when Nesmith had been "discovered" by the TV production company, he had been the "Hootmaster" at the Troubadour. His job would have been to sing a few songs and then keep the participants moving on and off the stage. He had also written and copyrighted a number of original songs. One of them, "Different Drum," had even been a hit for the Stone Poneys (with Linda Ronstadt) in 1967, during Monkeemania. So Nesmith had plenty of building blocks for the next phase of his career.</p><p>Nesmith was interested in playing what would now be called "country-rock," and formed a band with pedal steel guitar ace Red Rhodes. Nesmith played guitar, sang and wrote, and drummer John Ware and bassist John London rounded out the group. In July 1970, Mike Nesmith and The First National Band would release the album <i>Magnetic South</i> on RCA Records. Playing the Troubadour prior to the album's release was probably intended to give agents and radio people some insight into what to expect from the former Monkee. Given how popular the Monkees had been, that was no small thing.<br /></p><b>June 9-14, 1970, The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Theo Bikel/Peter Evans </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Theo Bikel </b>(1924-2015) was famous as both an actor and a folksinger. Born in Austria, he had emigrated to pre-war Palestine, and then ended up in New York. Among many other credits, he had originated the role of Captain Von Trapp in <i>The Sound Of Music</i>. The <i>Times</i> noted that he would be playing triple shows on Friday and Sunday. Bikel would have appealed to a broader age range than the hippie acts who were starting to dominate the Troubadour's bookings. Bikel would have been appealing to older fans who knew him from folk music and TV.<p><b>Peter Evans</b> was a flamenco performer.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eoJSsMah5bo/YAnfW_blTEI/AAAAAAAAIDI/mkdj0VxMTAM921-Q8bFf8RW053TMAyo0QCLcBGAsYHQ/s301/Great%2BSpeckled%2BBird%2B1970%2BIan%2Band%2BSylvia.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="298" data-original-width="301" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eoJSsMah5bo/YAnfW_blTEI/AAAAAAAAIDI/mkdj0VxMTAM921-Q8bFf8RW053TMAyo0QCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Great%2BSpeckled%2BBird%2B1970%2BIan%2Band%2BSylvia.jpg" /></a></b></div><b><br />June 16-21, 1970, The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Ian and Sylvia with Great Speckled Bird/Danny Cox </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday) </i><br /><b>Ian and Sylvia </b>Tyson had been a popular Canadian folk duo going back to 1959. When folk music faded away in the mid-60s, the duo easily made the switch to country-rock, both because of their talent and their excellent songwriting skills. Ian And Sylvia's early 1968 album <i>Nashville</i>, on Vanguard, was one of the first collaborations between rock songwriters using Nashville session men, preceding The Byrds' <i>Sweetheart Of The Rodeo</i>. By 1969, Ian And Sylvia had evolved into the band <b>Great Speckled Bird</b>, releasing an album of that same name on Ampex Records in October '69.<p></p><p>Ian and Sylvia received a very positive review, including compliments for their pedal steel guitar player. Although not named in the review, the steel chair was held down by the great Buddy Cage. Cage would play on many of Anne Murray's hits (like "Snowbird"). When Great Speckled Bird joined the fabled Canadian Train Tour immortalized in the movie <i>Festival Express</i>, Jerry Garcia heard Cage and tapped him as his own replacement in the New Riders Of The Purple Sage. Cage would leave Great Speckled Bird to join the Riders in the Fall of 1971. Guitarist Amos Garrett would also end up moving to the Bay Area. </p><p><b>Danny Cox</b> was an African-American folksinger from Kansas City. He shared management with Brewer And Shipley. Like them, Cox would also record in San Francisco with Nick Gravenites, but his debut album would not be released until 1971.<br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nvzZ43inDPY/YAnfb4WC2yI/AAAAAAAAIDM/0eyrzcbkFxkdH7qjsk_WBSwjx189ueW5wCLcBGAsYHQ/s316/Silk%2BPurse%2BLinda%2BRonstadt%2B1970.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="316" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nvzZ43inDPY/YAnfb4WC2yI/AAAAAAAAIDM/0eyrzcbkFxkdH7qjsk_WBSwjx189ueW5wCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Silk%2BPurse%2BLinda%2BRonstadt%2B1970.jpg" /></a></b></div><b><br />June 23-28, 30, July 1-5, 1970, The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Linda Ronstadt/Kris Kristofferson </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday, Tuesday-Sunday) </i><br />If Linda Ronstadt and Kris Kristofferson appeared together today in Hollywood, it would be a media event--even though they both have retired and wouldn't be performing. Imagine, for a moment, both of them young, engaging, on the rise and singing for their future, appearing for two straight weeks at the Troubadour. There would have been 24 (or maybe 30) show over twelve days--no wonder the Troubadour is a West Hollywood legend.<p></p><p><b>Linda Ronstadt </b>would have been supporting her second solo album, <i>Silk Purse</i>, which had been released on Capitol on April. Ronstadt had been part of the Stone Poneys, with Bobby Kimmel and Kenny Edwards. The trio had released three albums in 1967 and '68, and had even scored a modest hit with the Michael Nesmith song "Different Drum," which reached #13 in 1967. The Stone Poneys had come from Tucson in 1965, and had played the Hoot Night at the Troubadour many times. Ronstadt had received offers as a solo singer, but she had refused to abandon her bandmates. Finally, after a Troubadour hoot performance in 1966, the Stone Poneys had been signed as a group.<br /></p><p>In the 1960s, <b>Kris Kristofferson</b> was only known as a Nashville songwriter, albeit a quite successful one. He had written hits like "Sunday Morning Coming Down," "Help Me Make It Through The Night" and "Me And Bobby McGee" for various artists. Kristofferson had only released his first album in 1970, <i>Kristofferson</i>, on Monument Records. It featured his own versions of many of his hits for others. He had toured around clubs a little bit, but he wasn't yet a polished performer. Kristofferson's backing trio had Zal Yanovsky (ex-Lovin Spooful) on guitar, Norman Blake on dobro and guitar, and Billy Swan on bass. </p><p>According to a Robert Hilburn article (see August 2 below), Weston had been in San Francisco working on his new project, and invited folk legend and old friend Ramblin' Jack Elliott to see it. Elliott had brought along Kristofferson, and when Weston had heard Kristofferson casually picking and singing, Weston said he knew he had to book him. Weston had very good instincts about performers, which was how the Troubadour had consistently hired good acts on the way up.<br /></p><b>July 7-12, 1970, The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: John Hartford/Steve Martin </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday) </i><br /><b>John Hartford </b>was a singer, songwriter and talented musician from Missouri. He was best known for writing the song "Gentle On My Mind," a gigantic hit for Glenn Campbell and others. The success of the song gave Hartford some economic comfort not usually afforded bluegrass musicians. By this time, Hartford was familiar to audiences for having regularly appeared on TV shows like <i>The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour</i> and <i>The Glenn Campbell Goodtime Hour</i>. <br /><p>RCA had signed Hartford
back in 1966, probably figuring they were getting another country
singer. In fact, Hartford was a unique and creative talent, but not
always very commercial. In late 1969, Hartford had released an album entitled <i>John Hartford</i>
(even though it was his sixth record for RCA). Strangely, it was a complexly-orchestrated country "art-rock"
album, if such a thing can be imagined. It was not well-reviewed, nor
did it sell well. Early in the year, Hartford had played a single Friday night engagement at the Troubadour, presumably in support (on January 2, 1970).</p><p>In mid-1970, Hartford had released <i>Iron Mountain Depot</i>. While less arty, it seemed to be a sort of wry knockoff. Micheal Sherman reviewed Hartford's show in the <i>Times</i> and said it was bland. Hartford had a four-piece band, and Sherman also disapproved of his playing an electric banjo. Per Sherman, Hartford played 9 songs in his set.</p><p>At this time, <b>Steve Martin</b> was a writer for the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, and an aspiring comedian. Since the highly-rated Smothers Brothers show had been abruptly canceled, however, Martin was probably out of work. Sherman commented that Martin played the banjo and told jokes "in the style of the Kingston Trio." I don't think he meant it as a compliment. Of course, Martin's angular approach to humor may not have been fully formed yet, and it may not have struck home to Sherman, either.</p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Az24X_fKrz0/YAnfhmjIjcI/AAAAAAAAIDU/AOjmW8zyPUwy0L-MWfRrM3DPXfH6jr8kQCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/Neil%2BDiamond%2BGold%2BLp%2B1970.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="298" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Az24X_fKrz0/YAnfhmjIjcI/AAAAAAAAIDU/AOjmW8zyPUwy0L-MWfRrM3DPXfH6jr8kQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Neil%2BDiamond%2BGold%2BLp%2B1970.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Neil Diamond's Gold album was recorded live at The Troubadour on July 15, 1970, and released in August. It featured performances of his biggest hits up to that time.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b><b><br />July 15, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Neil Diamond </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br /><b>Neil Diamond</b> had been a hugely successful pop songwriter for many years, and in 1969 he started to get big hits under his own name. He didn't really have a reputation as a performer yet, however, so he had played a week at the Troubadour back in March (March 24-29). Playing a week at the Troubadour would have given the industry a chance to see how well Diamond could put on a show. It must have gone well, since Diamond returned for a night to record a live album. Diamond's album <i>Gold: Live At The Troubadour</i> was released shortly after, in August of 1970. It was a sort of "Greatest Hits" for Neil Diamond, but including some songs that had been hits for other artists. Diamond was backed by a trio (Carol Hunter [guitar], Randy Sterling [bass] and Eddie Rubin [drums]).<br /><p>Diamond
was from Brooklyn, and had worked in the famous Brill Building in the
60s. He had moved to Los Angeles in 1969. In 1969, Diamond's big hits had been "Sweet
Caroline," which had reached #4 in May, and "Holly Holy," which had
reached #3 in October. It is an irony of pop culture that the bigger of
Diamond's two hits that year is now largely forgotten, whereas "Sweet
Caroline" (thanks particularly to the Boston Red Sox) is an anthem. <br /></p><b>July 16-19, 1970, The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Eric Andersen/David Brenner </b><i>(Thursday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Eric Andersen</b> had been among the first wave of folksingers that followed Bob Dylan. <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/eric-andersen-interview-songpoet-documentary-1159303/">By 1969, he had released five album for Vanguard, and his songs had been recorded by a variety of artists</a>. Andersen then signed with Warner Brothers, and given his excellent songwriting and the renewed interest in singer/songwriters, he seemed to be well-positioned. His self-titled December 1969 album had been his second album for Warners (and his seventh overall). <br /><p>I'm not sure whether Andersen played solo or with a band, probably the former. Despite the changes in the record industry, his career never received the renewal that would have seemed so likely. He moved to the West Coast around this time--I'm not sure precisely when--but despite his talent and stellar connections, he never reached the success that might have seemed likely. <br /></p><p>Comedian <b>David Brenner </b>opened the shows. I don't know if the Andersen/Brenner booking began on Tuesday and took a night off for Neil Diamond, so I have assumed they started on Thursday.<br /></p><p><b>July 21-26, 1970, The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Albert Collins/Jerry Hahn Brotherhood </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br />The Troubadour did not have a purist aesthetic, so for this week the club featured loud electric guitars. Texas guitarist <b>Albert "The Iceman" Collins</b> had been recording since the 1950s. In 1964, he had a hit with the song "Frosty," and he became somewhat well-known. In 1968, the band Canned Heat was playing in Houston and attended one of his shows. The Heat offered to get Collins a record deal and live work, and he accepted. Collins signed with Imperial Records, and moved to Palo Alto, CA (of all places) in November '68. Collins' first Imperial album was <i>Love Can Be Found Anywhere</i>. By 1969, Collins was a regular at rock venues throughout the West Coast.</p><p>In Michael Sherman's review in the <i>Times</i>, he praised Collins, but suggested that he was only doing what other bluesmen had already done. Sherman probably didn't know that if there was a "typical" blues guitar sound, Collins had played a role in establishing that. Still, it isn't untrue that Collins fell into the category of "very good, but not exceptional." The Troubadour, like Hollywood in general, was about the Next Big Thing, and that wasn't going to be Albert Collins. <br /></p><p>The <b>Jerry Hahn Brotherhood</b> were a San Francisco band that had only
formed in March. They had gotten a fairly big advance from Columbia, who
was heavy on the jazz-rock vein, since they had hit it big with Blood,
Sweat & Tears and Chicago Transit Authority. Hahn was a pretty serious jazz guitarist, based in San Francisco, and he had played with John Handy and Gary Burton, among others. As "jazz-rock" became a thing, Hahn seems to have wanted to play in a more rock vein. Organist Mike Finnegan was from Wichita, Kansas. He was not only a great Hammond player, he was a terrific blues singer too (also, he was 6'6'' tall, and had gone to U. of Kansas on a basketball scholarship, making him the Bruce Hornsby of his era). Filling out the band were jazz musicians Mel Graves on bass and George Marsh on drums. <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Loading%20Zone.htm">Marsh had just left the Loading Zone, an interesting (if perpetually struggling) Oakland band</a>. </p><p>Michael Sherman's review of the Jerry Hahn Brotherhood was scathing. The Hahn group was used to San Francisco, where every band jammed their brains out. Not in Hollywood. Sherman bluntly said that "at times the result was appalling. The band is either ahead of its time or simply grotesque. This reviewer leans towards the latter interpretation." <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-matrix-3138-fillmore-street-san.html">The Jerry Hahn Brotherhood retreated quietly back to clubs like The Matrix in San Francisco</a>, where they didn't seem to be grotesque.<br /></p><p><b>July 28-August 2, 1970, The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Tiny Tim/Lynn Kellogg </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Tiny Tim</b>, born Herbert Khaury, was a talented, if eccentric performer, and an expert on largely-forgotten styles of American popular music. However, he had become a sensation when he appeared on the popular NBC variety show <i>Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In</i>. He had become a national figure, although he was seen as a novelty rather than a serious artist. At this time, his current album was <i>For All My Little Friends</i>, released in 1969 on Reprise Records. Tiny Tim had appeared earlier in the year at The Troubadour (the week of January 13-18). </p><p><b>Lynn Kellogg </b>is unknown to me. <br /></p><p>The Sunday Los Angeles <i>Times</i> (for August 2) had a glowing Robert Hilburn profile of Doug Weston. Weston was described as "the father of folk music in Southern California." Among other things, the article mentioned that Weston owned the building housing the Troubadour. More intriguingly, however, the article revealed that </p><p></p><blockquote><p><i>Since the Troubadour's location is threatened by a future freeway, Weston has been devoting much of his energy lately to the renovation of a four-story building in San Francisco. The building will eventually serve as the center of an entertainment complex that will include a club, recording studio, health food restaurant, offices for his record company and his residence.</i></p><p><i>He originally planned to open the building last month [July], but a series of delays made him revise his schedule. Now, he's planning to open one phase of the operation at a time, with the restaurant due this month. </i></p><p><i>"I will be able to stay in that building and keep busy 24 hours a day" Weston said. "It's the fulfillment of my dreams."</i></p></blockquote><p></p><p>While it seems surprising that a Los Angeles personality like Weston would plan to decamp up to San Francisco, there was logic behind his thinking. For at least two decades, the San Francisco Bay Area had been an incubator of innovative musical talent that Los Angeles record companies had thrived upon. Back in the 50s, jazzmen like Dave Brubeck and Cal Tjader, singers like Johnny Mathis and groups like the Kingston Trio had all come from the Bay Area. More recently, bands like Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother and now Santana were huge successes. So San Francisco was perhaps a better place to find and nurture new talent than Los Angeles. SF was open to new sounds, and the pressure was lower than in Hollywood.<br /></p><p>Now, granted, Bill Graham was also trying to build a music machine, with concert promotion, a booking agency, management and two record companies. Graham, however, was more oriented towards loud rock groups. Graham's talent and connections were less oriented towards quieter singer/songwriters, since they were not going to go over as well when they were third on the bill at Fillmore West. Still, thanks to Graham and the Fillmore, the record companies were starting to build studios in San Francisco: Mercury had built a studio, Columbia was planning one, and all the big acts used Wally Heider's San Francisco studios. So SF wasn't a backwater.</p><p>I should note in passing that outside of sports--and really just the Giants and Dodgers--any enmity between San Franciscans and Los Angeles residents was strictly one-way. People from SF delight in putting down LA, but everybody I've ever met from Southern California absolutely loves the Bay Area. So Weston's willingness to base his operation in SF made lots of sense. For one thing, there really weren't any high profile contemporary rock clubs in San Francisco. The Matrix was a tiny backwater, and clubs like <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/07/palo-alto-psychedelic-rock-shows-1969.html">The Poppycock (Palo Alto)</a> or <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/New%20Orleans%20House.htm">The New Orleans House (Berkeley)</a> were small and out of town. Weston would not be competing with Fillmore West for acts, and he would have no other serious competitors. It was a good plan.<br /></p><b>August 4-9, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Livingston Taylor </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Livingston Taylor</b> was two years younger than his brother James, but he had been a folk singer in the Boston area since 1966. At this time, James Taylor had released one forgotten 1968 album (on Apple, of all things) and had released his Warners debut <i>Sweet Baby James</i> in February. So "Fire And Rain" was climbing the charts, but Livingston wasn't just "James' brother." Not yet anyway.<p>Livingston was also a songwriter, but he played in a bluesier style than James. Livingston had been one of the first signings on Capricorn records, the Macon, GA label founded by former Otis Redding manager Phil Walden. Walden and Capricorn's flagship was the Allman Brothers Band, of course, but they had various other acts as well. Taylor's self-titled debut on Capricorn had probably just come out. The album was produced by Boston's Jon Landau, but mainly recorded in Macon. Players on the album were Southern soul/rock veterans Pete Carr (guitar), Robert Popwell (bass), Paul Hornsby (keyboards) and Johnny Sandlin (drums). <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GeHW06LvvPY/X-PIx8sNeGI/AAAAAAAAH3M/ikyjsn5bMWgmJPoziY7Y34B8nwypuP-_QCLcBGAsYHQ/s891/960%2BBush%2BSt%2BBoarding%2BHouse.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="891" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GeHW06LvvPY/X-PIx8sNeGI/AAAAAAAAH3M/ikyjsn5bMWgmJPoziY7Y34B8nwypuP-_QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/960%2BBush%2BSt%2BBoarding%2BHouse.jpg" /></a></div><br /><b>August 4-9, 1970 Troubadour (North), San Francisco, CA: Kris Kristofferson/Doug Kershaw </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br />On Tuesday, August 4, 1970, the San Francisco outpost of the Troubadour opened on 960 Bush Street. Old San Francisco rock fans may recall 960 Bush Street as the address of the Boarding House, a much-beloved venue open from 1972 to 1980. For those of us that recall the intimate circular bowl of a theater at the Boarding House, however, that was not in fact the setting for the Troubadour. The Troubadour's showroom was in the basement, basically a large dining room with a stage. In the Boarding House years, the old Troubadour stage was sometimes used for comedy shows, and generally referred to as the dining room. Probably it was used to serve dinner as well (I have included a picture of the Boarding House from the mid-70s, to show what the building looked like). <p></p><p>What few references there are to the San Francisco Troubadour often call it the "Troubadour North," but in fact that was just a nickname; the club was named The Troubadour. To keep this post from going off the rails, however, I am referring to it here as the Troubadour (North). </p>Phil Elwood reviewed the opening of the Troubadour in the August 5 <i>Examiner</i>. Elwood was very positive about Kris Kristofferson, and polite but dismissive about Doug Kershaw. In general, Elwood's description is mostly positive.<br /><blockquote><i>The club, once Facks II and the Balalaika restaurant among many other names, has been refurbished, expanded and fitted with excellent sound and light systems for the stage...It also has some traffic problems (inside and out), noisy patrons, natural foods, organic juices, sandwiches, dinners, "breakfast trips," plus beer and wine.</i></blockquote>Clearly, Weston's concept was that the Troubadour (North) would be a restaurant destination, and not just a music showcase. It's fair to say that Weston correctly anticipated culinary trends of the next few decades, but I think he was at least a decade too early. He did say to Elwood that he expected a big lunch trade in the San Francisco club. 960 Bush (at Taylor) is in Lower Nob Hill, just West of Chinatown. It's not far from Union Square, and about six to eight blocks from Market Street and downtown, depending on what route you take. <br /><p>Six to eight blocks from downtown sounds promising for a nightclub, or a fashionable lunch spot. But you have to think about San Francisco. For one thing, there are steep hills in San Francisco. For another, at all times of the year, the city can be cold and windy (<i>insert mandatory Mark Twain joke</i>). If your date or wife was wearing high heels--it was 1970, right?--were you going to say "come on honey, let's walk 8 blocks to dinner"? Sure, you could drive, but most people don't like driving on hills, much less parallel parking. So in order to go to see a show at 960 Bush Street, you had to be comfortable driving and parking in the city, and know your way around, or else be very, very warm and hearty indeed. Certainly, for suburban folks who only came to the City a few times a year, Bush and Taylor wouldn't be a trip made with confidence.</p><p><b>August 10, 17, 24 1971 Troubadour (North), San Francisco, CA: <i>Hoot Night </i></b><i>(Mondays)</i><br />The San Francisco <i>Examiner</i> usually listed the Monday auditions as "Hoot Night," continuing the pattern of the Hollywood club. I would love to know who played, but there's probably no way to ever find out.</p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y-iQ9ti7dUQ/YAngAKg5NNI/AAAAAAAAIDo/SDPx_r1QYvEipVXZJ9dHmQ71kTmVSDbVQCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/Livingston%2BTaylor%2Blp%2Bcover%2B1970.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="195" data-original-width="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y-iQ9ti7dUQ/YAngAKg5NNI/AAAAAAAAIDo/SDPx_r1QYvEipVXZJ9dHmQ71kTmVSDbVQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Livingston%2BTaylor%2Blp%2Bcover%2B1970.jpg" /></a></b></div><b><br />August 11-16, 1970 Troubadour (North), San Francisco, CA: Livingston Taylor/The Dillards </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br />One very obvious benefit to Weston to opening the SF Troubadour was that he could book artists in two cities. For the opening month, San Francisco and Hollywood had very similar bookings. Livingston Taylor had played the previous week in Hollywood, and then came up to San Francisco for another week.<br /><p></p><p>Also on the bill were <b>The</b> <b>Dillards</b>, who had played the West Hollywood club many times. The Dillards were veteran bluegrass performers, having come out to Los
Angeles from Salem, MO back in 1963. The Dillards, too, had some TV
fame, having had recurring roles as The Darling Family on The Andy
Griffith Show. The Dillards had a new album
in 1970, <i>Copperfields</i>, although I'm not sure exactly when it was
released. It was their fifth album for Elektra, and their first in two years (since 1968's <i>Wheatstraw Suite</i>). By this time, The Dillards had remodeled
themselves into a more folk-rock style, and less explicitly bluegrass
oriented, but the high lonesome sound was probably still a big part of
their stage show. Herb Pedersen had replaced Doug Dillard, but Rodney
Dillard (guitar), Dean Webb (mandolin) and Mitch Jayne (bass) were still in the band. </p><p>In the August 11 Examiner, Elwood had an extensive interview with Doug Weston about his new club:<br /></p><blockquote><i>"The Troubadour is not a night club," the thin, 6-foot-6 owner, Doug Weston stated as we walked through his newly opened establishment.<br />"It is the prepared health food and service here in the San Francisco Troubadour that are going to be the most important," he said, "not just the entertainment, or the recording studio, shops or even the natural food store.<br />"The Troubadour is going to provide the opportunity, for everyone who wants it, to get out of their plastic, rubber-stamp world. We are catering to all levels and phases of San Francsico's population.<br />"The Troubadour, you see, is a way of life to me and those who work with me. We think our life-style is worth expanding into the community."<br />Weston, something of a legend in the world of folk-rock (he admits to coining the term) has spent a dozen years building the Santa Monica Boulevard Troubadour in Hollywood into a world-famous entertainment room.<br />Six months ago [February] he bought the 45 year old building at 960 Bush Street and began a massive refurbishing job.<br />The lowest level (of four) is the showroom which opened to the public last week....<br />One level was once the Bush Street Theater, later Coast Recording's studios. The proscenium remains, as does a mishmash of recording studios and engineer's rooms. Weston plans to present live programs and TV programs from the hall as well as utilize the recording facilities...</i></blockquote><p></p><p>What Elwood refers to here as the former Bush Street Theater would re-open as a theater in late 1971. By that time, SF Troubadour manager David Allen had re-opened the Troubadour as The Boarding House. Around 1972, the "Boarding House Theater" started being used for Boarding House shows, and ultimately the entire operation was based upstairs. The sightlines were better, and the capacity was greater (300 vs 225). In the Theater's prior life, it had been the Coast Recording studios in the 1950s and early '60s. In the early and mid-60s, the apprentice engineer was one Dan Healy, later the Grateful Dead's soundman (he apparently would sneak the Dead and other bands in after hours to make tapes). </p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-12AJDGxtoUs/YAngETB99jI/AAAAAAAAIDs/B5I2u5jjsmEm5qs3ZigNfXJNwvw5pZt7QCLcBGAsYHQ/s599/Laura%2BNyro%2BNY%2BTendaberry%2B1969.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="599" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-12AJDGxtoUs/YAngETB99jI/AAAAAAAAIDs/B5I2u5jjsmEm5qs3ZigNfXJNwvw5pZt7QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Laura%2BNyro%2BNY%2BTendaberry%2B1969.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />August 13-16, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Laura Nyro/Peter Evans </b><i>(Thursday-Sunday)</i><br />Laura Nyro<b> </b>headlined a week at The Troubadour, and it was a major event. Todd Rundgren, a formidable songwriter himself, heard her play live and changed his whole approach to songwriting, possibly at one of these concerts (in the song "Baby, Let's Swing" from <i>Runt</i> he sings "Laura/I saw you open in LA"). Laura Nyro was already a hugely successful songwriter by this time, but she didn't perform much. Few people would have been able to see her live, so this was a major event. Apparently she did not disappoint. <br /><p><b>Laura Nyro</b> (1947-1997) had been born in the Bronx. Her songs merged the catchy Brill Building sound with soul music, so her songs were catchy, deep and danceable--a formidable combination. Her 60s hit songs are familiar to everyone of a certain age: "Wedding Bell Blues" and "Stoned Soul Picnic" (both Fifth Dimension), "And When I Die" (Blood, Sweat and Tears), "Eli's Coming" (Three Dog Night) and "Stoney End" (Barbara Streisand) are just the most prominent. <br /></p><p>Her actual recording career was more checkered. <i>More Than A New Discovery</i>, her debut, had been released by Verve Folkways in February 1967. Nyro had then appeared at the Monterey Pop Festival in July, but her soul sound did not go over as well as the more feedback-heavy acts. David Geffen then took over as her manager, and managed to void her previous contracts on the grounds that she had signed them as a minor. Nyro went to Columbia, where she had released <i>Eli and The 13th Confession</i> in 1968. It was followed by <i>New York Tendaberry</i> in Fall 1969. By 1970, Geffen and Nyro had sold her publishing (through Tuna Fish Music) for $4.5 million, a huge number. They split the money, and Nyro was then free of having to worry about her next hit.</p><p>Robert Hilburn's review of the opening show (Thursday April 13 early show) is glowing. The place was packed, Nyro played 8 songs on the piano and the crowd went absolutely crazy. She comes back for two more encores. Hilburn cannot say enough nice things about her, and all of Hollywood agreed. Although only 22 (Hilburn mentions this), Nyro doesn't need to record or tour, so it makes the rare display of her many talents all the more special. The fact that Nyro played the Troubadour and not a larger place--which she could have easily sold out--added immeasurably to the club's aura.</p><p>Nyro did not play a full six nights, like most acts, probably because she didn't need to. I'm sure there were additional "Audition Nights" on Tuesday and Wednesday, but I can't find any record of who might have played. </p><p>I believe <b>Peter Evans</b> was a flamenco guitarist.<br /></p><b>August 18-23, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: The Dillards/Longbranch Pennywhistle </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br />The Dillards now headlined a week at The Troubadour in West Hollywood. They had played the clubs many times before, but in their most recent appearance (in January of 1970) they had been opening for Phil Ochs. Now they were the headliners. I suspect this was because they had a new album (<i>Copperfields</i>), but I haven't been able to track down the release date. Since they were playing in Los Angeles, it's likely they were joined by fiddler Byron Berline, who was sort of an adjunct member of the group.<br /><p>Opening act <b>Longbranch Pennywhistle</b> was the singer/songwriter duo of
Glenn Frey and JD Souther. The pair would release their only album on
Amos Records in early 1970. They had opened at the Troubadour before, for the Flying Burrito Brothers (in January and then April of 1970). Presumably Frey and Souther's housemate,
Jackson Browne, dropped by at least once. <br /></p><b>August 18-23, 1970 Troubadour (North), San Francisco, CA: John Stewart/Dan Hicks and The Hot Licks </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br />Phil Elwood reviewed John Stewart's opening night at the Troubadour in the <i>Examiner</i> (Thursday August 20), and hinted at the club's problems. Elwood loved Stewart, but he began the review by saying "If the new Troubadour on Bush Street can come up with a quality headliner like big John Stewart every week, most of Doug Weston's problems will evaporate." So even two weeks in, it was clear that the Troubadour wasn't catching on. Jerry Jeff Walker had originally been booked, but he seems to have been replaced by Stewart. Stewart had many local ties, and may have already been living in Marin by this time. Elwood mentions that Stewart played a 9-song set, and compliments his' singing and guitar playing, mentioning that he was backed by bassist Bryan Garafolo and drummer Lloyd Barata. <br /><p></p><p><b>John Stewart</b> (1939-2008) had been a member of The Kingston Trio from 1961 to 1967. The group had been very popular, but they were passed by when the likes of The Beach Boys and The Beatles came along. Stewart had gone solo, and released a variety of well-received albums, such as 1969's <i>California Bloodlines.</i> Although he had written a hit for The Monkees ("Daydream Believer"), Stewart was well known at this time, but not particularly successful. His current album would have been <i>Willard</i>, released on Capitol in 1970. The album was produced by Peter Asher, and recorded in Hollywood and Nashville. The LA tracks included players like James Taylor, Carole King, Mike Stewart (John's brother) and Chris Darrow, and the Nashville tracks had stellar backing as well. Clearly, Capitol felt Stewart was ticketed for success in the new world of singer/songwriters. Stewart actually had a fairly productive career into the 21st century, but in the early 70s he did not have the success that his talent would have foretold.<br /></p><p>Elwood also briefly mentioned opening act <b>Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks</b>. Hicks had been around the San Francisco scene as long as there had been one. He had been the drummer in the Charlatans, the band that started the psychedelic ballroom revolution in Virginia City, NV. Later he had switched to guitar, so he could sing more. The Charlatans played loud, psychedelic blues, however, and Hicks had other interests. He formed a "side group" with local violinist David LaFlamme to play a sort of modified swing music. When LaFlamme left to form It's A Beautiful Day, Hicks left the Charlatans and formed Dan Hicks And His Hot Licks. </p><p>The band had released an album in 1969 on Epic, <i>Original Recordings</i>. The group wore Edwardian clothes, and it looked like a repackage of an old album. While the band played acoustic swing music, kind of, Hicks' wry, cynical lyrics were a striking contrast to the music. The album included future Hicks' classics like "How Can I Miss You When You Won't Go Away" and "I Scare Myself." Nobody sounded like Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks. The band at this time was probably Hicks on lead vocals and guitar, Jon Weber on lead guitar (Elwood mentions him), Sid Page on violin and Jaime Leopold on bass. "The Hot Licks" personnel varied sometimes, but at this time I believe it was Maryann Price and Naomi Ruth Eisenberg. Hicks most famous album, <i>Where's The Money</i> (Blue Thumb) would actually be recorded at the West Hollywood Troubadour in February 1971. <br /></p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5SKjxN1K_YU/YAngVZPubzI/AAAAAAAAID4/cVfV82wCFzQV0q55TzmyF5O1C3lezJH8wCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Elton%2BJohn%2B1970%2Balbum.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5SKjxN1K_YU/YAngVZPubzI/AAAAAAAAID4/cVfV82wCFzQV0q55TzmyF5O1C3lezJH8wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Elton%2BJohn%2B1970%2Balbum.jpg" /></a></div><br />August 25-30, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Elton John/David Ackles </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br />Elton John's appearance at the Troubadour was likely the most significant booking in the history of the club, and that's no small thing. Certainly, Elton John is a huge star, and his performance at the Troubadour was a booster rocket for his success. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pdotum3y9cM">Elton himself thinks that, as the event is replayed in his biopic, where he feels like he is being lifted off the stage as he plays the Troubadour</a>. Still, the event wasn't just significant for Elton John's formidable career.<p>The 1960s had witnessed the rise of rock music, first the Beatles and Stones, and then Cream and Hendrix and both Fillmores. It was loud, free and electric. In Hollywood, rising rock bands played the Whisky-A-Go-Go. Led Zeppelin had come to town as nobody in January of 1969, and after a week at the Whisky they were off and running. </p><p>Now, wherever you are on the spectrum of Elton John fandom, it's
undeniable that he cut across a lot of boundaries. Bernie Taupin's
lyrics were thoughtful, and Elton sang them with feeling. The songs were
carefully arranged so the full impact of those lyrics could be heard.
Yet even just with a trio, Elton John rocked hard, his piano covering a
lot of musical territory. Elton could have rocked out the Whisky, no
problem. Certainly, Elton killed it later in the year at both Fillmores.
But he played The Troubadour the week of August 25-30, 1970, and
elevated it, and the era of the singer-songwriter had begun, with its
most successful performer.</p><p>Elton John had been a working musician in England in the mid-60s, playing with Long John Baldry and others. He also had a songwriting partnership with Bernie Taupin. Elton (birth name Reginald Dwight) had released his debut album <i>Empty Sky</i> in 1969. It was only released initially in the UK, and made little impact. In 1970, he released his second album, <i>Elton John</i>, but it was his first album released in the United States, on the tiny Uni label (DJM in the UK). Ultimately, there were two big hits off the record, "Your Song" and "Take Me To The Pilot," but the single wasn't released until October of 1970. Still, Elton's album was getting FM airplay on rock stations.<br /><br />Elton's management sent him to America mainly to expose him to the music industry, so that he could get radio play. It was the form book for success in the 1970s. The old 60s model had been that bands toured all the Fillmore-type places, as well as the civic auditoriums and the rock festivals and college gyms, first as an opening act, then second and finally headlining. As a band became known, they started getting airplay on the local hippie FM stations. Bands like Ten Years After became huge on this model, without any really major records. The 1970s acts inverted this model--get big on the radio, and then rake in the concert receipts. In that sense, Elton John (along with his manager John Reid) were pioneers.</p>Robert Hilburn's review of Elton John's opening night is the biggest rave any artist has probably ever received (from the August 27, 1970 <i>Times</i>):<br /><blockquote><blockquote><i>Rejoice. Rock music, which has been going through a rather uneventful period lately, has a new star. He’s Elton John, a 23-year old Englishman whose United States debut Tuesday night at the Troubadour was, in almost every way, magnificent...<br />His music is so staggeringly original that it is obvious he is not merely operating within a given musical field (such as country or blues or rock), but, like Randy Newman and Laura Nyro among others, creating his own field…<br />The audience, which included one of the largest local gatherings of rock writers in months, roared its approval, bringing John back for an encore….Tuesday night at the Troubadour was just the beginning. He’s going to be one of rock’s biggest and most important stars.</i></blockquote></blockquote><p>Remember, Hilburn was right in all of his predictions. Hilburn reveals another important point, too, which any 20th century rock journalist would confirm. The local rock writers in any city all knew each other, and often judged the buzz surrouding an artist by how many of their fellow critics were at a show. When Hilburn says Elton's opening show was "one of the largest local gatherings of rock writers in months," it's a marker that it isn't just Hilburn who can read the omens. Elton John was coming, and the Troubadour was where you got to see it first.</p><p><b>David Ackles</b>, an American songwriter, had released his second album on
Elektra in 1970, <i>Subway To The Country</i>. Ackles was widely regarded by
British artists like Elton John, Elvis Costello and Phil Collins, but he
did not become known at all until later, and he was never really
popular. Ackles opened for Elton John at the Troubadour in both
Hollywood (August 25-30) and San Francisco (September 1-6), and apparently Elton watched
his show every night. Bernie Taupin would produce Ackles' 3rd album (<i>American Gothic</i>) released in 1972.<br /> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-peyqBCJ2OO4/X-PFt_TUkyI/AAAAAAAAH3A/OZZz1-cxX98XxnUMaS-GVABUD2x2ofXtACLcBGAsYHQ/s674/Elton%2BTroubadour%2BN%2B19700901%2B28%2BAug%2B1970%252C%2B24%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="674" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-peyqBCJ2OO4/X-PFt_TUkyI/AAAAAAAAH3A/OZZz1-cxX98XxnUMaS-GVABUD2x2ofXtACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Elton%2BTroubadour%2BN%2B19700901%2B28%2BAug%2B1970%252C%2B24%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>August 25-30, 1970 Troubadour (North), San Francisco, CA: Mike Nesmith and First National Band/Lisa Kindred </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br />Nesmith and his First National Band played a week in San Francisco. By this time, their new album <i>Magnetic South</i> would have been out for at least a month. <br /><p>Opener <b>Lisa Kindred</b> was a bluesy guitar player from Buffalo. She had released an interesting album on Vanguard in 1965 (<i>I Like It This Way</i>). While it was well-received, Kindred had had a variety of problems with record companies, and pretty much did not release anything after that. She had moved to the Bay Area by 1969, where she would perform in various configurations for many years. Elwood praises her singing, and mentions that she was accompanied by guitarist John Besharian.</p><p><b>September 1-6, 1970 Troubadour (North), San Francisco, CA: Elton John/David Ackles </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br />The display ad above (from the August 28, 1970 <i>Examiner</i>) is one of the very few traces of Elton John's appearance at the San Francisco Troubadour. Following his pattern, Weston booked Elton John for a week in San Francisco right after his Los Angeles debut. Elton's performance at the Hollywood Troubadour made his career, changed his life and was a milestone in popular music. </p><p></p><p><a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2020/10/september-1-6-1970-960-bush-st.html ">It is telling that Elton John's similar performance in San Francisco disappeared almost without a trace. I'll save you the trouble of googling--I'm the only person to write about it.</a> Even <a href="http://www.eltonography.com/tours/1970.html">the first-rate Eltonography site can only allude to it vaguely.</a> Now, let's be clear--the SF <i>Examiner</i> reviewed the opening night, and the reviewer (Michael Kelton) acknowledges Elton's talent, energy and songs. But he dismisses him for being "inauthentic," although he uses the term "artificial." The San Francisco ethic at the time was Jerry Garcia or Carlos Santana, crouched and squinting over their guitars, not a guy in a sequined suit jumping around. Elton John's appearance at the Hollywood Troubadour is the centerpiece of his bio-movie--his appearance at the same club in San Francisco is barely even noted in the website devoted to his history. </p><p>Music and the music industry was changing, and the center of gravity was heading south down Highway 101, from San Francisco to Los Angeles. By the end of 1970, as we will see in the next installment, the West Hollywood Troubadour was one of the most important venues in popular music. The San Francisco Troubadour would only last two more months, and would disappear with almost no trace.</p><p></p><div><p><b><i>Appendix: Other Posts in the 1970s Rock Nightclubs Series</i></b></p><p><b><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-troubadour-9081-santa-monica-blvd.html">The Troubadour, 9081 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA: January-April 1970 Performers List (Troubadour I)</a></b><br /></p></div><p><i><a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2021/04/60s-and-70s-rock-nightclub-history.html">For subsequent posts in the 70s Rock Nightclubs series, see here. </a></i></p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p> </p>Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-64896430919791247682021-04-22T11:20:00.005-07:002021-07-08T10:25:21.018-07:00The Matrix, 3138 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, CA: July-September 1970 Performers List (Matrix II)<p> <br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NN-cB_i8VJU/X_TrVnr3PaI/AAAAAAAAIAE/WejmbvzkTsof9I5sXLL-Tl9lxd1LXhytgCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Jerry%2BHahn%2BBrotherhood.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="579" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NN-cB_i8VJU/X_TrVnr3PaI/AAAAAAAAIAE/WejmbvzkTsof9I5sXLL-Tl9lxd1LXhytgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Jerry%2BHahn%2BBrotherhood.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>The Jerry Hahn Brotherhood were regular performers at the Matrix throughout 1970. Their lone album on Columbia was released around July</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The Matrix, at 3138 Fillmore Street in San Francisco's Marina District,
had quite literally been the first hippie nightclub. Originally opened
in August, 1965 by Jefferson Airplane lead singer Marty Balin's father
(along with some partners), the club not only housed the Airplane, it was also the only hangout for most of the long-haired musicians. When the
Fillmore and Avalon started putting on shows in early 1966, pretty much
the only other steady hippie gig in the city was at The Matrix. <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Matrix%20Shows.htm">Many of the Fillmore bands, even the popular ones, put in time at the Matrix</a>. <p></p><p>The
Matrix was a tiny, rectangular club, a former pizza parlor with a beer
license. Maximum official capacity was 150. Patrons were not allowed to
dance--this was no joke, as the cops liked to bust hippies just to find
joints in their pocket--so the Matrix generally eschewed dance music.
Befitting the Fillmore, the Matrix favored noodly blues jamming,
presented in all seriousness like a jazz club. The owners of the Matrix
also tried to tape every show, a saga in its own right, which over the
years has left us far more of a history of music at the club than would
normally be available. </p><p>By 1970, rock music was booming all over the Bay Area. There were rock clubs that booked original music in <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/New%20Orleans%20House.htm">Berkeley</a>, <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/07/palo-alto-psychedelic-rock-shows-1969.html">Palo Alto</a> and <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Inn%20of%20The%20Beginning.htm">Sonoma County</a>,
and shows in high school and college gyms on weekends. The Matrix was
no longer the only alternative if there was no Fillmore gig. The Matrix,
however, although hardly lucrative, still had some advantages over its
suburban competitors. For one thing, the Matrix was open six or seven
nights a week, so working bands with good gigs on the weekend still
booked at the Matrix during the week. Furthermore, the Matrix had an
expectation like a jazz club, with musicians playing serious music
without worrying about pleasing a crowd, very different than a rocking
high school gym. Thus weeknight bookings at the Matrix are often far
more intriguing in retrospect than the weekends, in contrast to most
nightclubs.</p><p>Although the Matrix was in decline by 1970, and no longer at
the center of the San Francisco rock scene, its unique status meant that
interesting musical events still happened there. Most famously, one
night in January when Boz Scaggs missed his show, an unknown band from New Jersey
played instead, and <i>Examiner</i> critic Phil Elwood became the first
of many to write a glowing review of Bruce Springsteen. Throughout the
Spring, the Monday night jam session evolved into the seeds of what
would become the hugely successful Jerry Garcia Band. <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-matrix-3138-fillmore-st-san.html">In a prior post, I reviewed all the performers at the Matrix from January to June, 1970. </a></p><p>This post will review all the performers at the Matrix from July through September, 1970. While Matrix shows were listed regularly in San Francisco and
Berkeley newspapers, they were rarely reviewed, so some of the listings
have contradictions. I have made my best guesses here, but not attempted
to resolve the murky differences between, say, the Berkeley <i>Barb</i> or the San Francisco <i>Examiner</i>
on a given weekend. I am confident that all the bands listed here
played the Matrix during the second half of 1970, even if here and there
the exact dates may vary slightly. While Bruce Springsteen had returned to New Jersey by Spring, there was still interesting and excellent music played at the Matrix in latter 1970. </p><i><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-87c4BcMooaw/X_TuSfJcQxI/AAAAAAAAIBY/ze7hr94m_104fIh1nOqrjcH2dzsiB7emACLcBGAsYHQ/s800/jerry%2Band%2Bmerl%2Bsaunders%2Bphoto.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-87c4BcMooaw/X_TuSfJcQxI/AAAAAAAAIBY/ze7hr94m_104fIh1nOqrjcH2dzsiB7emACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/jerry%2Band%2Bmerl%2Bsaunders%2Bphoto.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders, around 1973 or so. There are no pictures (known to me) of Garcia and Saunders playing at the Matrix (and for that matter only one brief tape)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b></i><i><b><br />Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders at The Matrix</b></i><br />By the second half of 1970, the Matrix was mainly a musician's hangout. In retrospect, the most interesting story of this period is the emerging collaboration between Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders. Garcia had already played the Matrix many times, with the Grateful Dead, Mickey Hart and The Hartbeats and at informal jams. In the first half of 1970, Garcia had started jamming regularly on Monday nights with organist Howard Wales and drummer Bill Vitt. Vitt had brought in bassist John Kahn. Garcia enjoyed having regular jamming partners, and made time in his schedule to ensure he got to jam at the Matrix.<p>When crowds started to turn out for Garcia at the Matrix--remember, we are talking about 100 people on a Monday night--Howard Wales became uncomfortable with the notoriety. In the Fall, Kahn brought along his friend Merl Saunders, and he took over the Hammond at the Matrix jams with Garcia. While the jams were informal, they were regular and scheduled. Ultimately, these jams would lead to collaboration and recording by Jerry Garcia, John Kahn and Merl Saunders (and Bill Vitt). In the end, Kahn and Garcia were musical partners for the next 25 years, and it all began at The Matrix during this period. Amongst all the performances at the Matrix in the second part of 1970, the casual but real formation of Jerry Garcia's future as a stand-alone performer had the most lasting impact. Garcia was booked for 25 nights over the course of 1970 (plus dropping by for a few jams), a remarkable number for a musician with a full-time rock band at the same time.<br /></p><p>Anyone with additional
information or insight into any of these bands, or with suggestions for
accurate dating, or missing groups, or just intriguing speculation, is
encouraged to enter them in the Comments.<i> </i></p><p><b><i></i></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-71z7waL8BpU/X_Ts0GWf5DI/AAAAAAAAIA0/jDXmkceOLT03DwJiBslXqL4PZygpqa0EQCLcBGAsYHQ/s353/boz-_bozscaggs_debut%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="347" data-original-width="353" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-71z7waL8BpU/X_Ts0GWf5DI/AAAAAAAAIA0/jDXmkceOLT03DwJiBslXqL4PZygpqa0EQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/boz-_bozscaggs_debut%2Blp.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Boz Scaggs' debut album, released on Atlantic in 1969. Duane Allman and Donna Jean Thatcher were both on the record, produced by Rolling Stone's Jann Wenner</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><i><br />The Matrix, San Francisco, CA Performers List: July-September 1970</i></b><br /><b>June 30-July 1, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Boz Scaggs </b><i>(Tuesday-Wednesday)</i><br /><b>Boz Scaggs</b> had been in the Steve Miller Band in 1967 and '68. He had left the Miller Band and was signed to Atlantic. Scaggs had released a terrific debut album in 1969, produced by Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner, recorded in Muscle Shoals, AL with Duane Allman, Donna Jean Thatcher (pre-Godchaux) and the Muscle Shoals rhythm section. Although the album got good airplay on San Francisco FM radio, it really didn't sell. While signed to Atlantic, Scaggs was neither touring nor recording, so he played a lot of local clubs. When he didn't have other gigs, Scaggs played the Matrix.<p></p><div><p>Boz' ensemble at the time was a
five-piece, with Doug Simril on lead guitar, David Brown on bass and
Reese Wynans on organ (I'm not sure who was the drummer). Brown had
played with Duane Allman and Butch Trucks in Florida around 1968, in a
band called 31st Of February. Wynans, from Sarasota, FL, had been in a
Jacksonville band called Second Coming, which had included guitarists
Dickie Betts and Larry Reinhardt, as well as bassist Berry Oakley. In 1969,
Second Coming broke up because Oakley and Betts had joined Duane
Allman's new band in Georgia. Initially, Wynans had joined the nameless
band as well, but he was soon nudged aside for Duane's brother.</p><p>Somehow
Brown and Wynans had ended up in San Francisco, playing with Boz
Scaggs. I don't know what the exact link was, but it seems clear
that Scaggs' recording connections in Muscle Shoals played a part. Brown
would remain part of Scaggs's band for the next few years, whereas
Wynans would return to the South, ultimately becoming part of Stevie Ray
Vaughan's Double Trouble.</p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-juRthx_e41c/X_TrfgrD6XI/AAAAAAAAIAI/E60qugSRtV4u6DldrlQt4CrOpJHOiaJ0ACLcBGAsYHQ/s513/Elvin%2BBishop%2BGroup%2BFeel%2BIt%2BFillmore%2B1970.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="505" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-juRthx_e41c/X_TrfgrD6XI/AAAAAAAAIAI/E60qugSRtV4u6DldrlQt4CrOpJHOiaJ0ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Elvin%2BBishop%2BGroup%2BFeel%2BIt%2BFillmore%2B1970.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>So Fine!, the second album by the Elvin Bishop Group. It was released in July 1970 on Bill Graham's label, Fillmore Records (distributed by Columbia)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b><b><br />July 2, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Elvin Bishop Group </b><i>(Thursday)</i></div><div><b>Elvin Bishop</b>, from Tulsa by way of Chicago, had joined the
Butterfield Blues Band in the early 60s. Bishop had initially shared
guitar duties with Michael Bloomfield on the bands' first album. Bishop
had graduated from wingman to lead soloist for two albums (1967's <i>Resurrection Of Pigboy Crabshaw</i> and '68's <i>In My Own Dream</i>),
and then left the Butterfield band to move to the San Francisco in
1968. He had been leading his own group in the Bay Area since early
1969.</div><div> <br /></div><div><b>The Elvin Bishop Group </b>was listed for both Monday and Tuesday
night. Presumably this covered hosting the typical Monday Night Jam (when fan expectations were less rigid) as
well. The Elvin Bishop Group was managed by Bill Graham's team,
and signed to Fillmore Records. They had released the band's debut album
in 1969. Stephen Miller played organ, and Miller, Jo Baker and Bishop
were the singers. Bassist Kip Mackerlin and drummer Bill Meeker filled
out the band. Around July, 1970, the Elvin Bishop Group had released <i>Feel It!</i><br /></div><div> </div><div>Stephen Miller, from Cedar Rapids, IA, had been in the band Linn County (the County of Cedar Rapids), and they had released three albums on Mercury. Up until this time, Miller had only been a <i>de facto</i> member of the Bishop Group, although he had played on the first album and many of their live shows. Linn County had disbanded, however, so Miller could become an "official" member of the Elvin Bishop Group.<br /></div><div> <br /></div><div><b>July 3, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Bill Champlin and Friends </b><i>(Friday)</i></div><div>Bill Champlin, of course, had been the founder and lead singer (as well as organist) for Marin County's Sons Of Champlin. <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/11/sons-of-champlin-performance-list-july.html">The Sons had officially disbanded after a February 20, 1970 show at Fillmore West</a>. Champlin had gone on to join an intriguing group called the Rhythm Dukes, with ex-Moby Grape lead guitarist Jerry Miller. Talented as the band was (there was a really good privately released cd in the early 20th century), the Santa Cruz-based band did not create enough of an audience to sustain itself.</div><div> </div><div>The Sons Of Champlin, meanwhile, although they had "broken up," continued to record. Later in the year the band would release the fine album <i>Follow Your Heart</i>, fulfilling their Capitol Records contract. <br /></div><div> </div><div><b>July 4-5, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: </b><i>closed Saturday-Sunday?</i><b><br /></b></div><div>I could find no listings for The Matrix on the weekend of July 4-5. It's not impossible that they were closed. It may seem startling that a rock nightclub was closed on a holiday weekend, but the Matrix was not a prime gig anymore. All the regular Matrix bands would have had much better bookings this weekend. The Matrix often booked blues or folk acts on weekends, who didn't get the more lucrative high school dance gigs or Ballroom bookings. Whether the Matrix was dark or simply did not have an act worth promoting this weekend, it was a sign that the Matrix was mainly a weekday hangout for musicians. <br /></div><div> </div><div><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BhKI50vGqII/X_Ttx9t6dSI/AAAAAAAAIBM/o5C2ezXc7q8KwCs9M8QbzLo68KZq2L-lACLcBGAsYHQ/s180/howard_wales_jerry_garcia-hooteroll_span3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="179" data-original-width="180" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BhKI50vGqII/X_Ttx9t6dSI/AAAAAAAAIBM/o5C2ezXc7q8KwCs9M8QbzLo68KZq2L-lACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/howard_wales_jerry_garcia-hooteroll_span3.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Hooteroll?, by Howard Wales and Jerry Garcia, was recorded in October 1970, but not released until late 1971. Producer Alan Douglas dropped by the Matrix and heard the pair jamming, and arranged to produce and release the album. Recording continued even though Garcia had started playing with Merl Saunders at the Matrix, since Wales chose not to continue playing live</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b><b><br />July 6, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia, Howard Wales and friends </b><i>(Monday)</i></div><div>In early 1970, around February or March, organist Howard Wales and drummer Bill Vitt were signed up to host the "Monday Night Jam." The two of them could make enough music as a duo, but other musicians don't work much on Mondays, so Wales invited Jerry Garcia to come jam with them. The story of how some casual spring jams on Monday night evolved into the Garcia/Saunders ensemble is the most important historical narrative of the 1970 Matrix.<br /></div><div><p>Organist <b>Howard Wales</b> was from the Cincinnati area, where he
had backed guitarist Lonnie Mack in the mid-60s. Wales then ended up in
El Paso, TX, working in a jazz trio with tenor saxophonist Martin
Fierro, and after that in Seattle. By 1968, Wales had made landfall in
San Francisco. He joined a blues trio that had just moved from
Milwaukee, The New Blues. They became a quartet called the AB Skhy Blues
Band. The band's debut had been released on MGM in 1969, and they
performed regularly around the Bay Area. Wales had jammed with the
Grateful Dead at least once (<a href="https://archive.org/details/gd69-08-28.sbd.lepley.4234.sbeok.shnf">the tape is from August 28, 1969</a>), so he had met Garcia somewhere. </p><p>Drummer <b>Bill Vitt</b>
had gone to High School in Northern California (he was born in
Washington State), but had ended up as a studio musician in Los Angeles
around 1965. <a href="https://garagehangover.com/jackbedient/">Around '66, Vitt had joined Jack Bedient And The Chessmen, and he toured Nationally</a>,
even going to Hawaii for a residency. By 1969, however, Vitt had tired
of the road, and he preferred Northern California, so he quit The
Chessmen and moved to the Bay Area. Besides playing local gigs, Vitt was
soon in demand as a session drummer. There was a growing recording
scene in the Bay Area, and Vitt worked on many sessions for producer
Nick Gravenites. Another of Gravenites' first call players was bassist
John Kahn, and Vitt and Kahn had met when the drummer was invited to
play with Mike Bloomfield. Kahn lived near Vitt in the tiny Marin
community of Forest Knolls, and they worked many sessions together.</p><p>After the initial bass player (classically trained Richard Favis) did not work out, Bill Vitt invited his Forest Knolls neighbor <b>John Kahn</b>. The most likely date for Kahn's debut on stage with Garcia was April 13, 1970. Besides
being regular session players for Nick Gravenites (Kahn and Vitt were
the rhythm section for the Brewer And Shipley hit "One Toke Over The
Line," for example), the pair played together in the Mike Bloomfield
band. Nick Gravenites put together lineups to back Bloomfield, a genuine
rock star who liked to play small clubs and never rehearse--hey, does
this sound like a plan?--and would book whatever players were available.
John Kahn was always his first-call bassist, and <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/12/john-kahn-live-performance-history-1969.html">his first-call drummer was Kahn's best friend, Bob Jones</a>.
Jones had another band, however (Southern Comfort), so if Jones wasn't
available, Bill Vitt got the call (amusingly, Jones was Vitt's
landlord).</p><p>Kahn and Garcia hit it off, musically and personally.
They would become musical partners until Garcia's death, with
Garcia/Saunders, Jerry Garcia Band, Old And In The Way and a variety of
other ensembles. Kahn would organize the bands and deal with many of
the musical logistics. Garcia himself said that without Kahn, most of
his side-ensembles would not have existed. </p><p>At this time, Garcia, Wales and company were just playing way-out jams. As far as anyone knows, there weren't "songs." We only have one tape, from May 18, 1970, released as <i>Side Trips</i> many years later. But no comments by Garcia or Kahn suggest that they did anything but jam. Nonetheless, there's no doubt that jamming at The Matrix was a high priority for Garcia. On July 6, the Grateful Dead had just returned from the legendary Canadian <i>Festival Express</i> Tour (immortalized in a movie), and their last date was in Calgary on Sunday, July 5. Garcia must have returned to SFO that afternoon, and been jamming at the Matrix just a few hours later.<br /></p></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JGNh-JpRPrA/X8WKbeM0y5I/AAAAAAAAHyA/L4zNv2g_FVwQXTEhYV2kzu93cUlBEyZIACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/NRPS%2BMatrix%2B19700707%2BRed.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1323" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JGNh-JpRPrA/X8WKbeM0y5I/AAAAAAAAHyA/L4zNv2g_FVwQXTEhYV2kzu93cUlBEyZIACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/NRPS%2BMatrix%2B19700707%2BRed.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>A flyer for the New Riders of The Purple Sage show at the Matrix on Tuesday, July 7, 1970. The Matrix did not produce flyers for their shows, so someone associated with the band must have done this. Note: Guys 21, Chicks 18.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>July 7, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: New Riders Of The Purple Sage </b><i>(Tuesday) </i></div><div>As if jamming with Howard Wales the day he landed at the airport wasn't enough, Garcia returned to the Matrix yet again on Tuesday night. There a number of remarkable things about this performance, starting with the fact that Garcia had just played Calgary on Saturday and Sunday, the Matrix on Monday and would play in Illinois with the Grateful Dead on Wednesday. Yet he still played the Matrix with the New Riders Of The Purple Sage on his only open night back in town.<br /></div><div> </div><div><a href="http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2011/04/nrps-matrix-1970-03-of-7-ln19700707.html">JGMF has done his usual exceptional analysis of the actual performance, so you can assess it for yourself</a>. The existing tape has 2 hours of music, and some other evidence suggests that the New Riders did two 75-minute sets (a half-hour of tape appears to be missing). Even more remarkably, Garcia does not play pedal steel guitar with the Riders, but instead played six-string electric. On a few numbers, Garcia even plays banjo, perhaps his only public banjo performance for two years (between February '69 and February 1971). The implication is that Garcia's steel guitar is either not yet back from Canada, was getting repaired or was on its way to Illinois, so Garcia was playing the axes available to him. </div><div><br /></div><div>The New Riders Matrix gig is also unique in that there is a flyer for the show. Since it was published in the <i>Art Of Rock</i> book, it is somewhat known to poster collectors. It is misleading, however, since there were very few flyers for individual Matrix shows after the 1960s. This one seems to have been produced by someone associated with the New Riders, and no doubt intended to promote a larger crowd. </div><div><br /></div><div>Another fascinating sub-plot to the tape is that the band invites a friend on stage to sing harmonies on "Long Black Veil," and introduce her only by her first name. Clearly, everyone there seems to know her. She is introduced as "Bev," and I think it was Beverly Bivens of the We Five (retired at that point). David Nelson, when asked, couldn't remember, but did observe that he loved Bivens' singing in the We Five, so it could have been her. This little interchange gives us a taste of a musician's night at the Matrix--your friends are in the crowd, so you invite them up to sing on a tune they know.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>July 8-11, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Hahn Brotherhood </b><i>(Wednesday-Saturday) </i>[per Berkeley<i> Barb</i>]<b><br /></b></div><div><i>or</i><b> July 10-11 Charlie Musselwhite </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i> [per SF <i>Examiner</i>]</div><div>Both Charlie Musselwhite and Jerry Hahn Brotherhood played the Matrix often during this period. Without a review or other evidence, it's impossible to know which band actually played this weekend.</div><div><br /></div><div>Harmonica player <b>Charlie Musselwhite</b>, from Tennessee by way of
Chicago, had been one of many young white musicians who were intrigued
by the blues in the mid-60s. He played with Mike Bloomfield and others
around the Chicago scene. The story goes that he took a month off of his
factory job to come to San Francisco for some gigs, and stayed for 30
years. By 1970, <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Charles-Musselwhite-Blues-Band-Tennessee-Woman/release/3145748">his most recent Vanguard album was his third, <i>Tennessee Woman</i>. His band on the album, </a>and probably live, featured Tim Kaihatsu on guitar. <br /><br /></div><div><b>Jul 14-17, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Hahn Brotherhood </b><i>(Tuesday-Friday)</i></div><div><b>The Jerry Hahn Brotherhood</b> was an only-in-San-Francisco band, and they had become regulars at the
Matrix. Peripheral evidence suggests that they must have been great
live, and jammed up a storm, but they were pretty far out, and the
Matrix is one of the places where audiences would have at least expected
that. The band played the Matrix regularly throughout their only year of existence.<br /><p>Jerry Hahn was a pretty serious jazz guitarist,
based in San Francisco, and he had played with John Handy and Gary
Burton, among others. As "jazz-rock" became a thing, Hahn seems to have
wanted to play in a more rock vein. Early in 1970, organist Mike Finnegan had been newly
arrived from Wichita, Kansas. He was not only a great Hammond player, he
was a terrific blues singer too (also, he was 6'6'' tall, and had gone
to U. of Kansas on a basketball scholarship, making him the Bruce
Hornsby of his era). Filling out the band were jazz musicians Mel Graves
on bass and George Marsh on drums. <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Loading%20Zone.htm">Marsh recently been in the Loading Zone, an interesting (if perpetually struggling) Oakland band</a>. <br /></p><b>July 18, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Elvin Bishop Group </b><i>(Saturday)</i></div><div> </div><div><b>July 20-21, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Howard Wales and friends </b><i>(Monday-Tuesday)</i></div><div>These shows were billed as Howard Wales and Friends. Garcia's name wasn't listed. On the other hand, Garcia was not on tour with the Dead--what else would he have been doing? To my knowledge, the Grateful Dead did not start recording for American Beauty until August 6. August and early September were taken up with recording, however, and that may explain why there were no known Garcia gigs at the Matrix for the next several weeks.</div><div><br /></div><div>No one really thought to ask Kahn, Wales or Vitt who they might have played with when Jerry didn't show. On a few known occasions, Terry Haggerty of the Sons Of Champlin sat in with Wales, so he's a possible candidate.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L0rYjRMg6T0/X_TtHeiMb9I/AAAAAAAAIBA/XLjPncC5VtkTkJ3uFvGYkI2RuALw8wBFQCLcBGAsYHQ/s500/hello%2Bthere%2Buniverse%2Bmose%2Ballison%2B1970.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L0rYjRMg6T0/X_TtHeiMb9I/AAAAAAAAIBA/XLjPncC5VtkTkJ3uFvGYkI2RuALw8wBFQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/hello%2Bthere%2Buniverse%2Bmose%2Ballison%2B1970.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Hello There Universe, Mose Allison's 1970 album for Atlantic. He had a large (8-piece) ensemble backing him, instead of just playing in his usual trio format.<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table></b><b><br />July 22-25, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Mose Allison </b><i>(Wednesday-Saturday)</i></div><div>Mose Allison. Who do you think is the coolest, most influential, ahead-of-his (or her)-time musician in 20th century popular music? You pick your guy, and I'll pick Mose Allison. Guess what? Whoever you picked, I'll bet they take Mose Allison too. Mose Allison, born 1927 in Tippo, MS (on the Bayou, no less), piano lessons from age 5, enlisted in the Army, ended up with an English degree from LSU in 1952. He was a working jazz musician in New York by 1956, played with everyone. Somewhere, it turned out that he could write and sing, too, and he sang the blues--he was from Mississippi, right?--but he was a college graduate white guy.</div><div> </div><div>Mose Allison's vocal numbers didn't get much traction until the mid-60s, but eventually they were covered by The Who ("Young Man's Blues"), Bonnie Raitt, The Clash and numerous others. "Parchman Farm" has been covered by too many artists to mention. His laconic style and witty writing was Bob Dylan and Randy Newman before such things even existed. Record companies recognized his talent but didn't know what to do with him. Until the 1980s, Mose Allison was an acquired taste. </div><div> </div><div>I assume that Mose Allison was touring around with a trio in 1970. At this time, his current album was <i>Hello There Universe</i>, released in 1969 on Atlantic, with relatively large 8-piece ensemble. Mose's next Atlantic album, <i>Western Man</i>, released in 1971, was a trio recording with Billy Cobham and Chuck Rainey. I don't know who regularly toured with Mose Allison at this time. Still, whoever was lucky enough to see Mose in the tiny Matrix would remember it.</div><div> </div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zvh3wcoK-FE/X8ZklCxs1mI/AAAAAAAAHyQ/EmtGgZc-yKYN592zIYMAFVtVIfMcFEEuQCLcBGAsYHQ/s552/Hartbeats%2BMatrix%2B19700727%2B27%2BJul%2B1970%252C%2B20%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="264" data-original-width="552" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zvh3wcoK-FE/X8ZklCxs1mI/AAAAAAAAHyQ/EmtGgZc-yKYN592zIYMAFVtVIfMcFEEuQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Hartbeats%2BMatrix%2B19700727%2B27%2BJul%2B1970%252C%2B20%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>The SF Examiner listing from Monday July 27, 1970 lists Mickey Hart and the Hart Beats, with Jerry Garcia, for Monday and Tuesday (July 28)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>July 27-28, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Mickey Hart and The Hart Beats with Jerry Garcia</b><i> (Monday-Tuesday)</i></div><div>The SF <i>Examiner</i> announced "Mickey Hart and The Hart Beats, with Jerry Garcia" on Monday and Tuesday. This supersedes some earlier listings which had been mentioned in Berkeley papers, so that suggests that this was a late addition, phoned in to the Examiner by the Matrix to drum up a crowd. "Mickey Hart and The Hartbeats" was intermittently used by the Grateful Dead to informally indicate that Garcia and other members of the Dead would be playing, but that they wouldn't be doing a regular Grateful Dead set. </div><div> </div><div>In previous iterations of Grateful Dead scholarship, the sequence of listings (a display ad in Berkeley's <i>Good Times,</i> but no mention in the listings of <i>The Tribe)</i> suggested the date had been canceled. But over time, notices in the SF <i>Chronicle</i> and <i>Examiner</i> (above) suggest that the Mickey And The Hart Beats show, whatever it was, really happened. Generally speaking, daily listings to Metro newspapers were phoned in the day before, not weeks in advance, so there was reason to think they were current bookings. So it seems that Jerry Garcia and some other members of the Grateful Dead actually played the Matrix on Monday and Tuesday, July 27 and 28, 1970.</div><div> </div><div>Since Garcia had been playing every Monday night that he was in town for some months, it seems plausible that if the Dead had some sort of plan, they would use the Matrix to execute it. Tuesday was often a kind of flexible night at the Matrix, too, so a two-night booking makes sense as well. But what was planned, and who played? <a href="http://deadessays.blogspot.com/2011/03/hartbeats-july-1970.html">Some past but still accurate analysis by an esteemed Grateful Dead scholar gives a shrewd assessment of the possibilities and the likelihoods</a>.</div><div> </div><div>The most likely explanation was that what would now be called "Acoustic Grateful Dead" played a couple of nights at the Matrix, supported by the New Riders of The Purple Sage (who were largely the same folks). The Grateful Dead were planning to go into the studio to record what would become <i>American Beauty</i>, and--being the Dead and all--it would have made sense to try the songs out a few times on stage. The Matrix was a safe place for that. <a href="http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2012/02/new-riders-of-purple-sage-and-acoustic.html">A few days later, they would do the same at the tiny Lion's Share in San Anselmo, so this speculation doesn't come out of nowhere</a>. There are also a couple of Acoustic Dead tapes with uncertain provenance (one generally listed as Matrix-July 30, for example, clearly incorrect, as they were at the Lion's Share), and a few dates at the Matrix would explain them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Back in April, <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2013/11/april-17-19-1970-family-dog-on-great.html">the Dead had played a weekend at the Family Dog (April 17-19, 1970) under the name Mickey Hart and The Hartbeats,</a> and had debuted the Acoustic Dead that would play on the Summer tour as part of the band's "An Evening With The Grateful Dead." We know this not least because the Dead released an archival tape of one of these performances. It's not impossible, however, that the Dead also jammed with Howard Wales at the Matrix one of these nights, since they didn't really have a keyboard player. It's also possible, that they did both, perhaps on consecutive nights. Bob Weir had alluded to jamming with Wales, but it has always been unclear when that was. Tantalizingly, Wales had jammed with members of the Grateful Dead at the Family Dog on August 28, 1969, and Owsley had labeled the tape "Hartbeats."</div><div><br /></div><div>So I'm pretty sure that Garcia was at the Matrix these two nights, with other members of the Grateful Dead, but we still await confirmation about what exactly they might have been up to.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>July 29, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Harvey Mandel </b><i>(Wednesday)</i></div><div><b>Harvey Mandel</b> (b. 1945) had grown up in the Chicago area, and was one of the young white guitar players who were interested in the local blues scene. Mandel's first recording was with Charlie Musselwhite, and his record <i>Stand Back!</i>, released on Vanguard in 1967. Mandel had relocated to San Francisco, along with Musselwhite, and ultimately went solo. Mandel, though not famous, was well regarded amongst fellow musicians. Mandel had released three albums on Phillips. His most recent had been <i>Games Guitars Play,</i> released in 1969. In 1968 and '69, Mandel had played the Matrix regularly with various combos, as well as joining in jam sessions with Jerry Garcia and others.</div><div><br /></div><div>In August, 1969, Mandel had been backstage at Fillmore West to see Canned Heat. Heat guitarist Henry Vestine quit the band after an argument. In place of Vestine, Mike Bloomfield (also backstage) played the first set, and Mandel played the second set. Mandel was invited to join the band. Just three gigs later, Mandel played Woodstock with Canned Heat. He toured with the band until the middle of 1970.</div><div><br /></div><div>After some more Canned Heat upheaval, Mandel and bassist Larry Taylor left to join John Mayall, who by this time was based in Los Angeles. They would make Mayall's <i>USA Union</i> album and a few others. The <i>USA Union</i> album was recorded in LA on July 27-28 (and released in October). Mandel seems to have zipped back to San Francisco for a gig. The Matrix could have been a warmup gig for a different weekend booking.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>July 30-Aug 1, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Smokestack Lightning </b><i>(Thursday-Saturday) </i></div><div>Two
Berkeley underground papers (The <i>Tribe</i> and <i>Good Time</i>s) and the SF
Examiner conflict on the bookings between July 28 and July 30. Initially, Texas Songster Mance Lipscomb (1895-76), who recorded for
Arhoolie, was booked for Tuesday (28) and Wednesday (29), but seems to
have been replaced by The Hartbeats and Mandel. Smokestack Lightning (below) was advertised from July 29-through August 1. The Examiner has Mandel on Wednesday July 29, but <i>Good Times</i> had him July 29-30. I have made the best guesses based on what I think were the latest publication dates.<br /></div><div> </div><div>There were so many 60s bands called <b>Smokestack Lightning</b> that it is hard to keep track. A band of that name played Southern California clubs regularly at this time, perhaps it was them. Note that of this week, whoever exactly played, it was the least well-known act that was booked on the weekend, when the Matrix was not a desirable booking.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>August 3, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: <i>Monday Night Jam</i></b></div><div>Presumably Howard Wales and Bill Vitt ran the jam this night. It's reasonable to wonder why Garcia was not billed, since he was actually in town. At this time, I think Garcia was focused on (what would now be called) "pre-production" for <i>American Beauty,</i> although the Dead probably called it "rehearsal." This still doesn't exclude Garcia showing up anyway. From Garcia's point of view, he may not have wanted to be advertised, in case his Grateful Dead duties kept him away. </div><div> </div><div>As a further complication, the Grateful Dead were supposed to have been going on Tom Donahue's Medicine Ball Caravan, which departed San Francisco on August 4. The band pulled out at the last minute, for various financial reasons. From a planning perspective, it's another reason that Garcia wouldn't have been officially advertised, even if in the end he was available. I would say the odds favor Garcia having shown up for some late night jamming anyway.<br /></div><div> <br /></div><div><b>August 4, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: </b><i><b>jam</b> with Hot Tuna, QMS, Carlos Santana (Tuesday)</i></div><div>A tape has circulated for many decades of a jam at the Matrix on this night. The jammers, based on the tape, seem to be Dino Valente, John Cipollina and Nicky Hopkins of Quicksilver Messenger Service, Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady of Hot Tuna and Carlos Santana. Some drummers are present of course, but their identity is unknown. It makes a lot of sense that all of these old pals would show up to jam at the Matrix, but why exactly is another matter. The only listing I could find has blues guitarist Albert Collins (see below) for Tuesday and Wednesday (August 4-5). You can listen to the tape and decide for yourself it the identification of players is accurate. As to an accurate dating of the tape, we await further information, should it ever be forthcoming.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>August 5, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Albert Collins </b><i>(Wednesday)</i></div><div>Texas guitarist <b>Albert "The Iceman" Collins</b> had been recording since the 1950s. In 1964, he had a hit with the song "Frosty," and he became somewhat well-known. In 1968, the band Canned Heat was playing in Houston and attended one of his shows. The Heat offered to get Collins a record deal and live work, and he accepted. Collins signed with Imperial Records, moved to Palo Alto, CA (of all places) in November '68. Collins' first Imperial album was <i>Love Can Be Found Anywhere</i>. By 1969, Collins was a regular at rock venues throughout the West Coast.</div><div><br /></div><div>Collins is listed as being booked at the Matrix on Tuesday and Wednesday (August 4-5), but it seems the Quicksilver jam took place on Tuesday night. Obviously, I don't know if Collins canceled out of both bookings, or just played Wednesday. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>August 6-8, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Ramblin Jack Elliott </b><i>(Thursday-Saturday)</i></div><div><b>Ramblin' Jack Elliott</b> was a folk legend. Here he was headlining the
Matrix on a weekend, since good rock bands would have better bookings. I think Elliott lived in the North Bay by this time, or at least spent a lot of time there, so playing the Matrix would have been convenient.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>August 10, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: <i> Monday Night Jam</i></b></div><div>The Grateful Dead were supposed to be out of town, on the Medicine Ball Caravan tour, so Garcia wouldn't have been advertised for the Monday night jam. But the Dead had bailed at the last second, for financial reasons. Garcia was definitely in town, <a href="https://jerrybase.com/events/19700810-01">as he recorded with the Airplane crew at Wally Heiders this day</a>. The odds are good that Howard Wales was leading the jam, and that Garcia showed up. We'll probably never know.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>August 11-12, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Charlie Musselwhite </b><i>(Tuesday-Wednesday)</i></div><div><i> </i></div><div><b>August 13-15, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Hahn Brotherhood </b><i>(Thursday-Saturday)</i></div><div><i> </i></div><div><b>August 17, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Boz Scaggs/AB Skhy/Benny Cecil/Uncle Vinty </b><i>Soledad Brothers Defense Committee Benefit (Monday)</i></div><div>This Monday night was taken up with a benefit for the Soledad Brothers Defense Committee. Besides Boz Scaggs, <b>AB Skhy</b> was a group of Wisconsin transplants. Howard Wales, though not from Wisconsin, had joined the band in 1968, when they had moved to San Francisco and appeared on their first album. He had left the group, but I wouldn't rule out him sitting in. <br /><br />I recognize the name <b>Benny Cecil</b> from local bills, but I don't know anything about him (or if it as a group). <b>Uncle Vinty</b> sang and played piano. Old photos show him wearing viking hats and other odd get-ups. He seems to have been some kind of satiric performer, but for a minor act, he is certainly remembered fondly on the internet. <br /></div><div> </div><div><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fj4He13NrE4/X_TsAG6XrmI/AAAAAAAAIAU/MN7XEo-29kg99CiIkJx8yPKEA_aVeVc0QCLcBGAsYHQ/s500/Be%2BA%2BBrother%2Balbum%2Bcover.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="498" data-original-width="500" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fj4He13NrE4/X_TsAG6XrmI/AAAAAAAAIAU/MN7XEo-29kg99CiIkJx8yPKEA_aVeVc0QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Be%2BA%2BBrother%2Balbum%2Bcover.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Big Brother and The Holding Company had existed before Janis Joplin, and they had existed afterwards. The Be A Brother album, released in Summer 1970, was actually really good, but no one noticed it.<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table></b><b><br />August 18-19, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Big Brother and The Holding Company </b><i>(Tuesday-Wednesday)</i></div><div><b>Big Brother and The Holding Company</b> had disintegrated in December, 1968,
when Janis Joplin left the band for solo stardom. They got back
together in late 1969. starting to work on an album, and by 1970 they
were performing. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Big-Brother-And-The-Holding-Co-Be-A-Brother/release/1952124">The group would release the underrated <i>Be A Brother</i> later in the year, produced by Nick Gravenites. </a> </div><div> <br /></div><div>The
reconstituted Big Brother featured the four original (pre-Janis)
members, although James Gurley had switched to bass, and Peter Albin now
played guitar (plus Sam Andrews on guitar and Dave Getz on drums). They
had also added Dave Schallock on guitar, so they were a five-piece
band. </div><div> </div><div>For a contrast, consider the Grateful Dead, contemporaries and personal friends of Big Brother. The Dead had planned to tour America with the Medicine Ball Caravan, and canceled at the last minute for financial reasons. Bill Graham Presents rapidly booked Dead shows at Fillmore West for three weeknights (August 17-19, Monday through Wednesday). Though probably not at all sold out, these would have been good, profitable bookings for the Dead and their satellite, the New Riders. Meanwhile, the four original members of Big Brother were booked at the tiny Matrix on the same nights, playing for perhaps 100 patrons. <br /></div><div> </div><div><b>August 20-22, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Boz Scaggs </b><i>(Thursday-Saturday)</i></div><div><br /></div><div><b>August 24, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia, Howard Wales and friends </b><i>(Monday)</i></div><div>Somewhere in the month of August, two interesting and important things occurred, but the exact dates remain mysterious.</div><div><br /></div><div>First off, somewhere around July or August, Columbia staff producer Alan Douglas wandered into the Matrix and liked what he heard. Douglas had his own "Imprint," on Columbia, and was pretty much free to release what he wanted. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/artist/120764-Alan-Douglas">Douglas had produced many jazz albums for United Artists from 1962 onward</a>, and by 1967 Columbia assigned him to his own Douglas label (not the same as Douglas Records, by the way). <a href="https://www.discogs.com/label/39627-Douglas">The Douglas label released some "hip" 60s stuff, including albums by Timothy Leary, Lenny Bruce and the Lost Poets</a>. Douglas also released albums that were nascent jazz-rock hybrids, including John McLaughlin's <i>Devotion</i> album, where he was paired with drummer Buddy Miles and bassist Billy Rich. From that point of view, Wales and Garcia's spacey jamming fit right in, on the border between jazz and electric rock.</div><div><br /></div><div>Alan Douglas arranged for Wales and Garcia to record an album. Keep in mind, however, that although Douglas could make his own decisions, Columbia label head Clive Davis loved Jerry Garcia, and would have liked the idea of supporting a Garcia endeavor. Operators like Davis were always thinking ahead to the next time an artist's contract would come up. The Dead had just signed an extension with Warners, but Davis was patient. So Douglas certainly would have had Clive's support. <a href="https://jerrybase.com/events/19701028-01">The album was recorded at Wally Heiders Studio in October of 1970, as we know that the sessions were complete by October 28</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Secondly, however, around August, Howard Wales became uncomfortable with the crowds coming to the Matrix to see his jams with Garcia. In some ways, this is comical, and in others very hard to explain. Word had obviously gotten around about Garcia playing, and his name was listed in the major papers (the <i>Chronicle</i> and the <i>Examiner</i>). Yet the Matrix couldn't really hold more than 150 people, tops, so even accounting for some turnover, at most 200 people would have come through the door on a given night. Wales had played with Lonnie Mack in the mid-60s, and had certainly played to larger crowds, so it really made no sense. On top of that, Alan Douglas was coming around to ask about recording, and here was Howard Wales trying to step aside.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jerry Garcia always has his own plans, however, and a reticent organ player didn't faze him. Garcia loved playing with Wales, and he spoke highly of Wales' playing many times in later years. Garcia also agreed to recording with Wales for the Douglas album. To resolve the fact that Wales didn't want to come to the Matrix, Garcia just needed another keyboard player. Kahn had an organ-playing friend named Merl Saunders, whom Garcia had met at Wally Heider's when they had been in the studio on separate sessions. So around September, Merl Saunders took over the organ chair for the Monday night jams, even though Garcia continued his musical collaboration with Wales.</div><div><br /></div><div>Why did Wales want to stop playing with Garcia at the Matrix? Various people, including Garcia, have just said things over the years like "Howard's a weird dude, and wasn't that comfortable with the music industry." Both those things were probably true. It's also very likely true that Wales had certain business interests where being a well-known rock musician was not appealing. Wales was never forthcoming about this, but in any case, his reticence triggered the important partnership between Garcia and Saunders.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>August 25-26, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Harvey Mandel</b><i> (Tuesday-Wednesday)</i></div><div><br /></div><div><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4FeDbS79hiw/X_TsHp0oFmI/AAAAAAAAIAY/ViDPEfoK6UI8ZWGGlU2X6bSd8d23P7XdgCLcBGAsYHQ/s604/Shades%2BOf%2BJoy%2BEl%2BTopo%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="604" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4FeDbS79hiw/X_TsHp0oFmI/AAAAAAAAIAY/ViDPEfoK6UI8ZWGGlU2X6bSd8d23P7XdgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Shades%2BOf%2BJoy%2BEl%2BTopo%2Blp.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>The very strange Music Of El Topo album, inspired by the film, but not the soundtrack. Musicians included Howard Wales, Martin Fierro and the Shades Of Joy. Recorded 1970, released 1971.<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table></b><b><br />August 27, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Shades of Joy </b><i>(Thursday)</i></div><div>The Shades Of Joy were an obscure, but interesting band that had been around since about 1968. They featured tenor saxophonist Martin Fierro, guitarist Jackie King and organist Jymm Young. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Shades-Of-Joy-Shades-Of-Joy/master/417953">The band had released an album on Fontana</a>, back in 1969. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2011/03/february-28-1969-fillmore-west-grateful.html">Chronicle columnist Ralph Gleason gave them favorable notice on a night when they opened for the Grateful Dead (probably February 28, 1969, although they are not on the poster)</a>. Gleason said</div><div><blockquote><i>Shades Of Joy is a local group (a spin-off of several other local units) which features wild free form modern jazz saxophone playing by Martin Fierro, a roaring R&B rhythm section and two voices, Martin and Millie Foster, who is much better in this role than as a pure jazz singer. It's an exciting and interesting group...It is rather a wild experience to see a group featuring a saxophone soloist who looks like the leader of a Third World Student picket line accompanied by a drummer who looks like he just got in from the cattle drive. Is there still hope?</i></blockquote></div><div>Fierro had played in a jazz trio in El Paso, TX with Howard Wales around 1966. This turned out to be significant. When Alan Douglas recorded the <i>Hooteroll?</i> album with Wales and Garcia, Fierro got the call for tenor sax, and began a fruitful several years playing with Garcia. On top of that, Douglas recruited the Shades Of Joy, along with Wales, to contribute to <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Shades-Of-Joy-The-Music-Of-El-Topo/master/187753">a very strange album called <i>The Music Of El Topo</i></a>. <i>El Topo</i>, directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky, was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Topo">a Mexican avant-garde "Acid Western" art film</a>. The album was "inspired" by it, but was not the soundtrack. The <i>El Topo</i> album was completed after <i>Hooteroll?</i>, but was released before it, in mid-1971.</div><div> </div><div>Guitarist Jackie King was a highly regarded guitarist around the Bay Area well into the 21st century. Jymm Young, while not widely known, played with many Bay Area bands including Boz Scaggs (he would join Boz by early '71). Most importantly, pretty much every rock listener of a certain age is familiar with Young's warm, swirling organ as it plays underneath Steve Miller singing "Time/Keeps on slipping, slipping/Into the future..."</div><div><br /></div><div><b>August 28-29, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Mimi Farina </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i></div><div>Mimi Farina (b.1945-2001) was Joan Baez's younger sister. Although she had the beautiful voice and the striking looks of her more famous sister, Mimi was more comfortable in a duet than by herself. In 1963, then 17 years old, she had married singer and novelist Richard Farina. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Richard-Mimi-Fari%C3%B1a-Reflections-In-A-Crystal-Wind/master/493877 ">By 1966, Mimi and Richard had already released two albums on Vangaurd</a>, and in many ways they seemed like an "It Couple." Mimi was charming and had a famous sister, and Richard had not only published a fine debut novel (<i>Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me</i>), he was friends with people like Bob Dylan and Thomas Pynchon. Farina's novel was published in 1966. Two days after his book was published, at a party in Carmel, CA, celebrating his wife Mimi's 21st birthday, Farina took a ride with a friend on his motorcycle. Apparently (per Pynchon, in a latterday introduction to <i>Been Down So Long</i>), Farina's friend had been going at least 90 mph when 30 would have been recommended, and the motorcycle driver lost control.</div><div> </div><div>Bereft, Farina noodled around the Bay Area. Periodically, she would appear with her sister in various formats. Mimi was always popular, but she didn't crave the spotlight like her older sister. Farina also appeared occasionally with a band called The Only Alternative (And His Other Possibilities). None of these opportunities played out for Mimi Farina, probably mostly because she didn't want to be a solo star.</div><div> </div><div>If Mimi Farina was interested in finally stepping out, the Matrix was a great place to start. The Matrix was a hippie enclave where whatever fans were there cheerily tolerated whatever artists wanted to do. Certainly, guys like Jerry Garcia (particularly with Howard Wales) were playing some very weird stuff, and whatever fans that went to the Matrix were good with it. Nobody was going to criticize Mimi Farina at the Matrix. </div><div> </div><div>Based on the timeline, my guess is that Mimi Farina had begun her partnership with guitarist and songwriter Tom Jans. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Mimi-Farina-And-Tom-Jans-Take-Heart/release/1513008 ">The pair would release an album in 1971, and would work together for some years</a>. In 1970, however, Mimi Farina had a name whereas Tom Jans did not, so I suspect the Matrix booking was a chance for them to try on their new material. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XNw3RUliQNo/X_TsQhVBs9I/AAAAAAAAIAg/7prem4rEPHAnBiHmiXnpDRwmaYgDiA4IQCLcBGAsYHQ/s220/220px-1970_seatrain.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="219" data-original-width="220" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XNw3RUliQNo/X_TsQhVBs9I/AAAAAAAAIAg/7prem4rEPHAnBiHmiXnpDRwmaYgDiA4IQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/220px-1970_seatrain.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Seatrain, with Peter Rowan, Richard Greene and Andy Kulberg, released their second album (although their first on Capitol) in 1970.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b><b><br />September 1-2, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Sea Train/Kracker Jack</b><i> (Tuesday-Wednesday)</i></div><div>Sea Train (<i>aka</i> Seatrain) had been formed from the ashes of the Blues Project in 1968. For complicated reasons, the Blues Project had reformed in San Francisco, and then changed their name to Sea Train. After a 1968 debut on A&M, Seatrain reconstituted itself (and changed its spelling) and ended up recording for Capitol. The new band was mainly based in Cambridge, MA, but they seemed to winter in the Bay Area. At this time, Seatrain had Peter Rowan on guitar and vocals,<a href="http://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2013/10/richard-greene-violin-career-snapshot.html"> Richard Greene as lead soloist on electric violin</a>, Lloyd Baskin on keyboards and vocals, Andy Kulberg on bass and Roy Blumenfield on drums. Their first album on Capitol (entitled <i>Seatrain</i>) would be released in 1970, although I am not precisely sure what month it was actually released.</div><div> </div><div><b>Kracker Jack</b> is unknown to me.</div><div><br /></div><div><i><b>Note</b>: there is a tape attributed to the New Riders of The Purple Sage at the Matrix on September 2, 1970, but for various reasons it seems like a spurious date.</i><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IuYQNueabvo/X_Tsr86nVmI/AAAAAAAAIAw/XW4OmvqRHrwOBizaeQB6QTL02Uo5wt0IQCLcBGAsYHQ/s225/Valley%2Bof%2BThe%2BMoon%2BLovecraft%2B1970.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IuYQNueabvo/X_Tsr86nVmI/AAAAAAAAIAw/XW4OmvqRHrwOBizaeQB6QTL02Uo5wt0IQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Valley%2Bof%2BThe%2BMoon%2BLovecraft%2B1970.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Lovecraft was an outgrowth of the Chicago bands Aorta and HP Lovecraft. Their album Valley Of The Moon was released on Reprise in 1970.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b><b><br />September 3-5, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Lovecraft</b><i> (Thursday-Saturday)</i></div><div>Lovecraft was the revised name of a 60s Chicago psychedelic band--actually two--that had moved to San Francisco, and had re-invented itself. The band H.P. Lovecraft had put out two albums on Philips (a Mercury subsidiary) in 1967 and '68. They were popular with Bill Graham, which wasn't nothing, and had played the Fillmore a number of times. Another Chicago group, Aorta, had released an album on Columbia in 1969. Aorta had released a second album, <i>Aorta 2,</i> on Happy Tiger Records, a label supported by and promoting the Flying Tiger air freight airline.</div><div><br /></div><div>H.P. Lovecrat broke up after 1968. The members of Aorta ended up in San Francisco by 1970. Somehow H.P. Lovecraft drummer Michael Tegza (who had been in the interesting group Bangor Flying Circus in 1969) came out to SF as well. By September, the band members had joined forces, using the name Lovecraft. The band anticipated the move made by the likes of Jefferson Starship, to retain some continuity without implying that they would replicate all the old hits. In fact, the only actual remaining member from the original H.P. Lovecraft was Tegza. Aorta brought guitarist James Vincent Donlinger, better known to rock fans as Jim Vincent, and bassist Michael Been. Marty Grebb, another transplanted Chicago musician, played keyboards.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.discogs.com/HP-Lovecraft-Valley-Of-The-Moon/master/329128">Lovecraft would release the album <i>Valley Of The Moon</i> on Reprise sometime during 1970</a>. Lovecraft faded away after that, but the different members continued to work steadily. Jim Vincent worked with Howard Wales for many years, and Michael Been ended up in a variety of Moby Grape-related bands in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Ultimately, Been was one of the key members of The Call. Marty Grebb was in various groups, but he had great success as a studio musician and producer.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>September 7, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia and Friends </b><i>(Monday)</i></div><div>For all the intense scholarly focus on Jerry Garcia for the last several decades, determining the date of the first public performance of Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders has remained elusive. <a href="http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2010/11/when-did-jerry-garcia-and-merl-saunders.html">Indirect evidence seems to point to Monday, September 7, 1970. There is a rumor of a tape, but that too remains just over the horizon. Even if we can pin down that Merl and Jerry played on this date, we still wouldn't necessarily know for certain if it was their debut</a>. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>No matter. Somewhere around this time, Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders played at the Matrix with John Kahn and Bill Vitt. While Garcia and Saunders had met at Wally Heider's studio, through John Kahn, they had not played together. When Garcia and Saunders plugged in the first night, neither really knew what to expect from the other. Saunders' music could not have been a more striking contrast to Howard Wales, a fact commented on by Garcia. Wales's music was far-out jamming, defying conventional structures. Saunders, however, already had a decade of experience in dance bands and organ trios, and knew all the popular songs and jazz standards. Garcia had no direct experience of playing "The Great American Song Book."</div><div><br /></div><div>It is a common musical art that a musician will struggle for years playing popular music and standards in bars, so that when he finally gets to play his own compositions, they are infused with musical history. Other than folk music, Garcia had no such background. Garcia had gone straight from bluegrass to psychedelic improvisation at full volume. In a very unique pattern, though already a genuine rock star, Garcia took time to go back to the bars and find out what he missed. Wales provided the freedom, and Saunders brought the standards. Garcia and the Grateful Dead's music in the 1970s benefited enormously from both. </div><div><br /></div><div>Merl Saunders had formed a band at Lincoln High in San Francisco in 1948 (he was 14), and his singer was classmate Johnny Mathis. Saunders had played music ever since, spending 4 years in the US Air Force Big Band, playing in organ trios and learning from Jimmy Smith, and playing jazz and popular music in San Francisco and Las Vegas. Merl had toured the country, <a href="http://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2009/10/merl-saunders-trio-far-eastern-tour.html#comments">toured Vietnam</a>, been musical director for a show that went to New York, had met Miles Davis and played and hung out with many great jazz musicians (<a href="https://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2020/07/merl-saunders-late-60s-highlights.html">I have written about Saunders' diverse career here</a>). </div><div><br /></div><div>By 1970, Merl was back in San Francisco, writing commercial jingles, holding down the organ job at Jack's On Sutter and playing sessions in studios. At Wally Heider's, where the big San Francisco bands recorded, he worked a lot for producer Nick Gravenites, as did John Kahn. Around August 1970, Saunders and Kahn were working on demos for an album by Kansas City folksinger Danny Cox (the album would ultimately be released in 1971). Garcia, hanging out and playing on a Brewer And Shipley session, was introduced to Saunders. A few weeks later, when Wales was unwilling to come to the Matrix, Kahn recommended Saunders and Garcia assented.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>September 10-12, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: John Fahey </b><i>(Thursday-Saturday)</i></div><div><b>John Fahey </b>was a giant of acoustic guitar, and his unique
virtuoso style inspired numerous talented guitarists such as Robbie
Basho and Leo Kottke, just to name a few. Fahey's lengthy instrumentals
were somewhat inpenetrable to the uninitiated however, so the Matrix may
have been an appropriate place. <br /></div><div> </div><div><b>September 14, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia and friends </b><i>(Monday)</i></div><div>For September 7 and 14, the Matrix lists "Jerry Garcia and friends" instead of "Jerry Garcia, Howard Wales and friends." That is my principal reasoning for assuming Wales had been supplanted by Saunders. Saunders' name starts being mentioned in Matrix ads in October. </div><div> </div><div>We have no idea what Garcia and Saunders were playing at the Matrix during 1970. Our earliest tape is from May of 1971, and it's just a jam. The Garcia archives recently released an archival tape from Keystone Korner from May 21, 1971. Mostly the band just jams, and Garcia sings some blues, and also covers a Band song ("Dixie") and a David Crosby song (an apparently one-time version of 'Wall Song"). Since Garcia and Saunders had never met, nor jammed, nor rehearsed (not that they ever would rehearse), I think early shows were just about jamming the night away. I'm sure with Saunders on board, the jams were more bluesy and structured than with Wales, and perhaps some familiar chord changes were even adhered to. While there was likely the occasional vocal, probably on a blues, I think the group initially just improvised. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>September 15-16, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Charlie Musselwhite </b><i>(Tuesday-Wednesday)</i></div><div> </div><div><b>September 17-19, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Hahn Brotherhood </b><i>(Thursday-Saturday)</i></div><div>The Berkeley <i>Barb</i> lists Boz Scaggs for September 18-19 (Friday-Saturday), but I am more inclined to think Jerry Hahn Brotherhood played.<br /><i></i></div><div><br /></div><div><b>September 21, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Vince Guaraldi </b><i>(Monday) </i></div><div>Pianist Vince Guaraldi was San Francisco's best-known jazz export since Dave Brubeck. With the success of Guaraldi's <i>Peanuts</i> soundtrack, however, Guaraldi was free to perform as much as he wanted in the Bay Area without actually going on the road. <a href="http://www.fivecentsplease.org/dpb/VinceGuaralditimeline.html">Per biographer Derrick Bang, Guaraldi's band would have been saxophonist Karl Denham, bassist Koji Kataoka and Oakland drummer Mike Clark</a>. Clark, a phenomenal drummer, would later go on to well-deserved renown as the drummer for Herbie Hancock's mid-70s ensemble, the Headhunters. A little-known fact about Guaraldi was that he liked playing electric keyboards, and he may have been in a more electric format at the Matrix than his famous 60s sound might suggest. </div><div><br /></div><div>Given that it was Monday night, which was jam night, it's hardly impossible that some of Vince's pals showed up to hang out and play. The Grateful Dead were booked at Fillmore East the prior weekend (September 17-20), so that would explain why Garcia might not have been booked for this Monday.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P4BGQo7-mv8/X_Ttmcv1vTI/AAAAAAAAIBI/VkYwiYRI_oM0PUQ1_Vywzxas5i248jcgwCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/albion%2Bdoo%2Bwah%2Bcat%2Bmother%2B1970.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="294" data-original-width="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P4BGQo7-mv8/X_Ttmcv1vTI/AAAAAAAAIBI/VkYwiYRI_oM0PUQ1_Vywzxas5i248jcgwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/albion%2Bdoo%2Bwah%2Bcat%2Bmother%2B1970.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Cat Mother and The All Night Newsboys were a Greenwich Village band, aligned with Jimi Hendrix's manager. They recorded their second album in San Francisco in 1970. Most of them stayed in the Bay Area afterwards.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b><b><br />September 22-23, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Cat Mother and The All Night Newsboys </b><i>(Tuesday-Wednesday)</i></div><div>San Francisco had a unique status for rock bands in the late 1960s and '70s. While the record industry was centered, as it always had been, in Manhattan and Hollywood, San Francisco was an enticing opportunity for rock groups. For one thing, the concert industry was thriving, so a good band could make a living whether they had an album or not. Plus, there were studios and plenty of A&R guys, so SF wasn't the wildnerness. Plus, it was California--no snow, pretty girls, open minds--so it wasn't hard to persuade fellow band members to make the move. A large number of bands from elsewhere moved to San Francisco.</div><div> </div><div>Cat Mother and The All-Night Newsboys had formed in Greenwich Village in 1967. By 1969, they had been signed by Michael Jeffery, the manager of Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix had even produced the band's debut album on Polydor, <i>The Street Giveth and The Street Taketh Away</i>. Thanks to the Jeffery connection, Cat Mother got to open for Hendrix and a number of other high profile events.</div><div> </div><div>By 1970, however, Cat Mother was anxious to separate themselves from Jeffery's questionable management practices. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Cat-Mother-And-The-All-Night-Newsboys-Albion-Doo-Wah/master/413006">Their second album, <i>Albion Doo-Wah</i>, was recorded in San Francisco</a>. Since the producer was ex-Charlatan Richard Olsen, I'm pretty sure it was made at Pacific High Recorders. Cat Mother then stayed on in San Francisco. The three founding members of the band, Roy Michaels (bass, vocals), Bob Smith (keyboards, vocals) and Michael Equine (drums), would all relocate permanently to California. At the time of this show, the band still had lead guitarist Paul Johnson and probably violinist Larry Packer. Both of them would ultimately return to New York. Michaels, Smith and Equine moved to Mendocino County and continued on as Cat Mother until 1977.<br /></div><br /><div><b>September 24-26, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Hahn Brotherhood </b><i>(Thursday-Saturday)</i></div><div> </div><div><b>September 28, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Vince Guaraldi and friends jam </b><i>(Monday) </i></div><div>Gauraldi took the booking for another Monday night, and Bang reports the same lineup (Denham, Katoaka and Mike Clark). The Grateful Dead were booked for Southern California the prior weekend, and that might again explain why Guaraldi took the jam night. <a href="https://jerrybase.com/events/19700927-02">Of course, the Dead had to cancel Sunday night in San Diego</a>, so Garcia would have been back in town in Monday. Is it too much to hope that he dropped into the Matrix to jam with his pal Vince?<br /></div><p><b>September 29-October 3, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: John Lee Hooker </b><i>(Tuesday-Saturday)</i><br />John Lee Hooker was a blues legend, of course. Hippies officially loved the blues--Eric Clapton played them, and so on--but in fact there weren't many bookings for veteran blues artists. They were out-of-date for R&B clubs, but not hip enough for white rock shows. At this time, Hooker's most recent album would have been 1969's <i>That's Where It's At</i> on Stax. Somewhere around this time, Hooker would move to the hills behind Redwood City (where he lived for many decades), so he preferred playing in the Bay Area.</p><p>Phil Elwood of the <i>Examiner</i>, perhaps the only writer in town who actually went to the Matrix, reviewed Hooker's show there in the October 1 edition (probably a review of the September 30 show). Elwood was very enthusiastic, and mentioned that Hooker's band included Tim Kaihatsu on guitar, Geno Skaggs on bass and Kenny Swank on drums.<br /></p><i><b>Status Report: The Matrix, October 1970</b></i><br />Rock music was booming, in San Francisco as elsewhere. As the rock audience got older, nightclubs started to play a more prominent role for rock music. The tiny, out-of-the-way Matrix was not benefitting financially from either of these developments. Paradoxically, the club was more than ever an oasis for local musicians to do what they felt like, if they had the time. <br /><div><p><b><i>Appendix: Other Posts in the 1970s Rock Nightclubs Series</i></b></p><p><b><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/11/keystone-berkeley-2119-university.html">Keystone Berkeley, 2119 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA: 1972 Performers List</a></b></p><p><b><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-matrix-3138-fillmore-st-san.html">3138 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, CA: The Matrix January-June 1970 Performers List (Matrix I)</a></b><br /></p><p><b><a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/02/bay-area-rock-nightclub-survey-berkeley.html">Bay Area Rock Nightclub Survey: Berkeley, January-April 1974 (Bay Area '74 I)</a></b><br /></p><b><a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2021/01/loading-zone-performance-list-1970.html">Loading Zone Performance List 1970 </a>(Loading Zone I)<br /></b></div><p><b><a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2021/03/2504-san-pablo-avenue-berkeley-ca-long.html">2504 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA: The Long Branch May-December 1971 Performance List(Long Branch I) </a></b></p><p><b><i><a href="http://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2021/04/60s-and-70s-rock-nightclub-history.html">For subsequent posts in the 70s Rock Nightclubs series, see here. </a></i></b></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-16723502706762084722021-04-08T15:04:00.003-07:002021-04-21T07:10:30.148-07:00The Troubadour, 9081 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA: Performance List January-April 1970 (Troubadour I)<p> </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X-CwhPTD730/X8EDzT2Lh9I/AAAAAAAAHwQ/H6O8_PhMe5k11kd2IXzE9OAbfDYwuLkwgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1502/Troubadour_a_night_view.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1014" data-original-width="1502" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X-CwhPTD730/X8EDzT2Lh9I/AAAAAAAAHwQ/H6O8_PhMe5k11kd2IXzE9OAbfDYwuLkwgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Troubadour_a_night_view.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Troubadour, at 9081 Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p><i><b>The Troubadour, The Whisky A-Go-Go and West Hollywood</b></i><br />In the latter 60s, rock bands made their bones in the ballrooms, with the light shows and people swaying. Word would pass on the underground telegraph that Cream or Quicksilver Messenger Service or Ten Years After were great, and you would check them out the next time they came to town. Sure, there were a few rock nightclubs, but most fans weren't even 21 yet, and clubs in any case were too small to create much residual buzz, not compared to a packed college gym. </p><p>There was one major exception to this rule, however. <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Whisky-A-Go-Go%20History.htm">The infamous Whisky-A-Go-Go club in West Hollywood (at 8901 Sunset Blvd) defied all these conventions</a>. Name bands played for union scale just to get heard. The Hollywood hip people, whether in the record industry or just cool cats, heard the bands and helped to decide who got some buzz. In August 1966, the house band at the Whisky were some unknowns called The Doors, and they became as big as anybody. In January, 1969, a new group built on the ashes of the old Yardbirds played the Whisky, and within a week the word was out about Led Zeppelin.<br /><br />Hollywood proper had been part of the city of Los Angeles since the 1930s. But West Hollywood was unincorporated, part of the county but not the city. It was insulated from the notorious Los Angeles police and the machinations of the LA City Council. Thus West Hollywood was, paradoxically, the entertainment district for Hollywood, and had been since the 1940s. There were clubs, restaurants and jazz, and plenty of stars came to hang out, and that was how tastes got made. Rock and roll wasn't that different. The Whisky had opened in 1964, and made "Go-Go" a thing. By 1966, the club had a new act every week, all trying to catch the Hollywood buzz. Cream and Jimi Hendrix each played there in 1967, for practically nothing, just to get heard. <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Whisky-A-Go-Go%20History.htm">So did numerous other ambitious groups, because rocking the Whisky was a ticket to a big tour.</a><br /><br />A mile East of the Whisky, however, was a former coffee shop called The Troubadour. Proprietor Doug Weston had opened the club in 1957 over on La Cienaga. He moved to Santa Monica Boulevard a few years later. By 1970, the Troubadour had a full bar and regular performers. Initially it presented folk acts, and in a sense it still did. Electric instruments were standard fare by the end of the 60s, and the Troubadour wasn't for purists. But the Whisky was for rocking out, and the Troubadour was for reflection. As the 70s rose on the horizon, reflection was the order of the day, and success at The Troubadour turned out to have more impact than success at the Whisky.</p><b><i>Troubadour Performance List, January-April 1970</i></b><br />The Troubadour was open seven days a week, with performers every night. The restaurant and particularly the bar were open as well, so it was a hangout for music industry types as well as musicians. Apocryphally, many 70s bands, such as the Eagles, had their beginnings in the Troubadour bar. Troubadour bookings were almost always from Tuesday through Sunday. The Tuesday night show was almost always reviewed in the Thursday Los Angeles <i>Times</i>, giving industry and fans an idea of what was worth seeing that weekend. A good review in the <i>Times</i> followed by a packed house on the weekend could make an artist's career, as it did with Elton John later in 1970. <br /><p>Maximum capacity at the Troubadour was about 300. Generally, there were two shows each night, and sometimes three shows on Saturday and Sunday. Sets were relatively short, from what I can tell, in order to turn the house over. Headliners would play about 40 minutes, and openers nearer to 20. The Troubadour was a showcase, not a place where performers jammed all night with their pals. I don't know whether the Troubadour had the arrangement where if the late show was not sold out, patrons could stick around if they would buy another drink (or some such deal). For a packed James Taylor/Carole King show in November of 1970, the <i>Times</i> reported that all 4000 tickets were sold out, but I don't know if that was for 12 or 14 shows, and whether it was an approximation, but it gives us an idea of capacity.<br /></p><p>Monday nights were "Audition Nights." Performers were booked, but they weren't advertised in the papers. Presumably, patrons could call the club, or the bands were listed at the club itself. In some cases, record companies would arrange to have performers play Monday night at the Troubadour so they could invite a few people and check them out. I assume that when a performer did not have a full Tuesday-Sunday run, and no performer was listed (usually a Tuesday or a Sunday), "auditions" were booked on those open nights too. I think one reason to call these booking auditions was also to minimize what they were paying the performer (probably just union scale). I don't think there was an admission charge. I'm not aware of any way to retrieve who played on Audition nights (and I appear to be the first attempting to capture who played the Troubadour during this period). </p><p>At the beginning of 1970, many of the acts at the Whisky had their eyes on Las Vegas, Television Variety shows and the big hotels. Hippie acts that might have been welcome at the Fillmore, or even a college campus, weren't that common. By the end of the year, the hair had gotten longer and the stakes had gotten higher. Rock music and the record industry was turning out to be big money, and finding the next big recording artist was more important than knowing who was looking good for the Ambassador Hotel downtown or the Sands in Vegas. <br /></p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OpJ-n2u_fwo/X-fzOBs5oGI/AAAAAAAAH5k/8sm-b_phr0I3LHFq5IGHa6zztlh_yo8agCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/Flying%2BBurritos%2BGilded%2BPalace%2Bcover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OpJ-n2u_fwo/X-fzOBs5oGI/AAAAAAAAH5k/8sm-b_phr0I3LHFq5IGHa6zztlh_yo8agCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Flying%2BBurritos%2BGilded%2BPalace%2Bcover.jpg" /></a></div><br />December 30-January 1, January 3-4, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Flying Burrito Brothers/Longbranch Pennywhistle</b><i> (Tuesday-Thursday, Saturday-Sunday)</i><br />Over the holiday weekend, the <b>Flying Burrito Brothers</b> were booked, supported by a local singing duo. From our distant remove, this seems like one of the memorable events that made the Troubadour legendary. The music very well may have been excellent. From a record industry point of view, however, the booking was just filler. John Hartford's Friday appearance (see below) interrupted the booking, a sign that the Burrito Brothers were no longer high on the food chain.<p>In February, 1969 the Flying Burrito Brothers had released their debut, <i>Gilded Palace Of Sin,</i> on A&M Records. The band featured two former members of The Byrds, who were revered as a best-selling band on a major label, and the debut album itself is now seen as an influential classic of country-rock. Gram Parsons, who died in 1973, is considered by many (though not all) as a significant artist who changed the face of rock and country music. By the end of 1969, however, the initial excitement about the Burritos had died out in Hollywood, even if it was yet to be discovered by the rest of the world.</p><p><i>Gilded Palace Of Sin</i> did not sell very well, and would not for some years. The Flying Burrito Brothers, for all their talent, were indifferent performers who didn't rehearse much. Initially, they didn't even have a drummer. Because of Parsons, the Burritos are one of the most documented bands of all time, so I won't go through the whole story. But since they didn't like to tour much--Gram wanted to hang out with the Rolling Stones--they played LA clubs a lot, so their appearance at the Troubadour would have been nothing special. A&M Records, fairly fed up with Parsons by this time, would not have been paying for a lot of drinks at the bar, which is why Doug Weston would have interrupted their week-long booking (note below how rare that interruption is). </p><p><i>Burrito Deluxe</i>, the band's second album, would not be released until April 1970. Original bassist Chris Etheridge had left the band, so Chris Hillman had switched to bass. Bernie Leadon (from Dillard & Clark Expedition) had been brought in on lead guitar. The great Sneaky Pete Kleinow was still on pedal steel guitar, and ex-Byrd Michael Clarke had taken over the drum chair. There were three former Byrds, a future Eagle, and two country rock legends (Parsons and Sneaky) in the band. But they were last year's news in West Hollywood.</p><p>Opening act <b>Longbranch Pennywhistle</b> was the singer/songwriter duo of Glenn Frey and JD Souther. The pair would release their only album on Amos Records in early 1970. Presumably Frey and Souther's housemate, Jackson Browne, dropped by at least once.<br /></p><b>January 2, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: John Hartford </b><i>(Friday)</i><br /><b>John Hartford</b> was a singer, songwriter and talented musician from Missouri. He was best known for writing the song "Gentle On My Mind," a gigantic hit for Glenn Campbell and others. The success of the song gave Hartford some economic comfort not usually afforded bluegrass musicians. By this time, Hartford was familiar to audiences for having regularly appeared on TV shows like <i>The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour</i> and <i>The Glenn Campbell Goodtime Hour</i>. <br /><p>RCA had signed Hartford back in 1966, probably figuring they were getting another country singer. In fact, Hartford was a unique and creative talent, but not always very commercial. His most recent album, entitled <i>John Hartford</i> (even though it was his sixth record for RCA) had been released in late 1969. Strangely, it was a complexly-orchestrated country "art-rock" album, if such a thing can be imagined. It was not well-reviewed, nor did it sell well. This solitary show was probably to promote the album. Since Hartford worked out of Southern California, playing a one-off show wouldn't have interfered with any touring. Although the show probably wasn't anything like the album, Hartford was a terrific performer and it was probably a great night out.</p><p>The lone Friday night booking at the Troubadour was very rare. Few artists played one-nighters there except for Monday or Tuesday, and even fewer artists had their run interrupted like the Burritos. <br /></p><p><b>January 6-11, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Mason Williams </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Mason Williams </b>was another performer with a unique history, and to some extent an "only-in-LA" booking. Williams was an accomplished classical guitarist, and had had a surprise hit with the song "Classical Gas," which had reached #2 on the <i>Billboard</i> charts in April, 1968. Although it is an instrumental, it has been used many times in soundtracks and commercials, and it is probably familiar to many people even today. Williams had also been the head writer for the <i>Smothers Brothers</i> show, so of course any opportunities to perform were limited. Due to controversy, however, CBS had abruptly canceled the 1969-70 season for the hit show, so Williams would have been available to perform.</p><b>January 13-18, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Tiny Tim </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday) </i><br /><b>Tiny Tim</b>, born Herbert Khaury, was a talented, if eccentric performer, and an expert on largely-forgotten styles of American popular music. However, he had become a sensation when he appeared on the popular NBC variety show <i>Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In</i>. He had become a national figure, although he was seen as a novelty rather than a serious artist. At this time, his current album was <i>For All My Little Friends</i>, released in 1969 on Reprise Records.<p>At this stage in early 1970, the Troubadour had booked TV personalities each week. While the Flying Burrito Brothers were a hippie ensemble, they were in a dead holiday week, and were bookending a TV personality. Variety show stars had played the Troubadour three weeks in a row, when you count John Hartford (who was nationally known himself). </p><p><b>January 20-25 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Clara Ward Singers/Camp Hilltop </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br />The <b>Clara Ward Singers</b> had been essential in bringing the styles and sounds of Black Gospel music to popular attention. Clara Ward had been popular since the late 40s, and had appeared in movies and televsion as well as having a successful recording career. Various singers had been through her group, but she had an acknowledged style. The Los Angeles <i>Times</i> review was very enthusiastic. <br /><br />The <b>Camp Hilltop</b> singers seemed to be a pop-folk ensemble, competent but politely dismissed by the Times. <br /></p><p><b>January 27-February 1, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Phil Ochs/The Dillards </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br />Back when Greenwich Village folksingers were singing protest songs, Phil Ochs had only been out-shined by Bob Dylan, for affecting but politically potent songs. Dylan, being Dylan, had moved through the protest phase, and indeed the folksinging phase itself. Ochs had continued in a more political vein, but the music world was passing him by. Ochs had moved from New York to Los Angeles around 1967, but he was a tireless activist as well as performer. Ochs, for example, was crucial in the formation of the "Youth International Party," better known as the Yippies. Ochs had also continued making albums, but they had not been particularly successful.</p><p>Ochs had released a bleak album in mid-69, <i>Rehearsals For Retirement</i>. In a thoroughly unexpected move, his next album for A&M, <i>Greatest Hits</i>--not his hits at all, but all new songs--were in an old-time rock and roll style and had no "political" content at all. The album would be released in February, 1970, and former folkie Ochs would appear on stage in a gold lame suit backed by a rock band. The approach seemed guaranteed to alienate what fans he had. </p><p><b>The Dillards</b> were veteran bluegrass performers, having come out to Los Angeles from Salem, MO back in 1963. The Dillards, too, had some TV fame, having had recurring roles as The Darling Family on <i>The Andy Griffith Show</i>. The Dillards had released four albums for Elektra, the most recent back in 1968 (<i>Wheatstraw Suite</i>). They would have a new album in 1970, <i>Copperfields</i>, although I don't think it would be released until later in the year. By this time, The Dillards had remodeled themselves into a more folk-rock style, and less explicitly bluegrass oriented, but the high lonesome sound was probably still a big part of their stage show.</p><b>February 3-8, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Tim Hardin/Judy Mayhan </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Tim Hardin</b> had been an important figure in Greenwich Village folk music as far back as 1964. He was a terrific songwriter and an engaging performer. His first album had been released in 1966, and included his now-classic "Reason To Believe." <i>Tim Hardin 2</i>, released in 1967, included "If I Were A Carpenter." Both of these songs have been recorded by many famous singers over the decades. Hardin had health problems, however, and his drug use did not help. Despite his promise, and high hopes, he remained a minor figure.<p>Columbia had signed him, and he had released the <i>Suite For Susan Moore and Damion</i> in March of '69, but the record hadn't gone anywhere. Hardin's appearance at the Troubadour appears to have been an attempt to prove that he could be a functioning performer. The disappointed LA <i>Times</i> reviewer gave Hardin's opening night a dismal review (in the February 5 edition). The specter of Hardin's drug use is never stated--it was 1970--but a knowing reader would catch that Hardin was still a mess. There were plenty of knowledgeable readers in Los Angeles, many or most of them in the music industry. They weren't going to take a chance on Hardin if he was not healthy.</p><p><b>Judy Mayhan</b> wrote and sang, and accompanied herself on piano.<br /></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CCnC3EM1qos/X-fzbyprAPI/AAAAAAAAH5o/o9PU89yYR74nfLFOaRZajq0KlCc1NOGywCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Sweet%2BBaby%2BJames%2BJames%2BTaylor%2B1970%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CCnC3EM1qos/X-fzbyprAPI/AAAAAAAAH5o/o9PU89yYR74nfLFOaRZajq0KlCc1NOGywCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Sweet%2BBaby%2BJames%2BJames%2BTaylor%2B1970%2Blp.jpg" /></a></b></div><b><br />February 10-15, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: James Taylor </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br />The booking of <b>James Taylor </b>in February was one of the most consequential bookings of 1970 for The Troubadour, and probably one of the most important bookings in its history. Taylor had released an obscure album on Apple Records in 1968, but it had largely gone unnoticed. Subsequently, Taylor was dropped by Apple and signed by Warner Brothers. <i>Sweet Baby James</i>, Taylor's debut on Warners, had just been released. It had been recorded in Los Angeles for just $7600, produced by Peter Asher. Taylor accompanied himself on guitar, with a little help from his fellow East Coast transplants, guitarist Danny Kortchmar and pianist Carole King. Other session players were on the record, but the recording was simple. <p></p><p>By 1970, rock was getting harder and louder. Cream and Iron Butterfly had paved the way for Led Zeppelin and Mountain. The Rolling Stones had gotten louder. As for pop music, groups like the Beatles and the Moody Blues were making complex musical sculptures in the studio. Yes, there was still Bob Dylan, but Dylan had an edge, too, even if it was lyrical rather than sonic. James Taylor was different. Original songs, sung with feeling, simply recorded and easy to understand. </p><p><i>Sweet Baby James </i>was a smash, of course. The album reached #3 on <i>Billboard</i>, as did the single "Fire And Rain." To date, the record has sold over 3 million copies, and most of North America can sing along with the title track. <i>Sweet Baby James</i> was more than just a hit, however. It was instrumental for ushering in the era of "singer-songwriters," merging the personal authenticity of rock with the directness of folk music. The album also proved there was a huge market of record buyers who weren't necessarily on board for harder rock, but still wanted their own music to listen to.</p><p>Although Taylor already had an album (from '68) and experience as a performer, when he played the Troubadour, he had seemed to come from nowhere. In 1970, the Troubadour's focus on "folk music" was suddenly a critical vortex for the music industry. Singer-songwriters who were going to make it big got noticed at the Troubadour first. </p><p>A significant part of Doug Weston's success at the Troubadour was that when he signed an act to play a week at the club, they also had to agree to an "option" for Weston to re-hire them at a similar rate. Thus when a singer hit it big, Weston could book them cheap for a sell-out gig, while the performer had to take a lower payday. It was good business for Weston, and not popular with performers. The exact details of the options remain obscure, but there isn't any question about it in general (it was written about in <i>Rolling Stone,</i> for example). Some singers bought their way out of the option obligations for cash. </p><p>James Taylor would play a week at the Troubadour 9 months later (November 20-24). By then, S<i>weet Baby James</i> was a huge hit, and the Troubadour sold 4000 tickets for the week. Clearly, Weston was exercising his option for Taylor's services. While up-front and perfectly legitimate, the option clause was probably one reason why performers didn't drop by and do "surprise" one-off shows at the Troubadour<br /></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TfXtwkQ18zI/X-fzwZ9a3hI/AAAAAAAAH50/FhsAubmBDpgnV42khSDBqYVHuqAOn8CXQCLcBGAsYHQ/s335/Folkjokeopus%2BRoy%2BHarper%2B1969.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="332" data-original-width="335" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TfXtwkQ18zI/X-fzwZ9a3hI/AAAAAAAAH50/FhsAubmBDpgnV42khSDBqYVHuqAOn8CXQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Folkjokeopus%2BRoy%2BHarper%2B1969.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Roy Harper's 1969 album Folkjokeopus</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />February 17-22, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Jennifer/Roy Harper </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br />James Taylor may have been the shape of things to come for the music industry, but that would take a few months. The next week's headliner was "<b>Jennifer</b>," no last name given. She was an attractive folk-style singer with a 4-piece band. <i>Times</i> reviewer Michael Sherman, however, dismissed her as only an actress. He pointed out that she smiled her way through Bob Dylan's "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues," paying no apparent attention to what she was actually singing.<p></p><p>Opening act <b>Roy Harper </b>is a legend today. The British singer-songwriter is well-regarded by many fans, most prominently Jimmy Page and David Gilmour. In later years, Led Zeppelin recorded a song about him, "Hats Off To Harper" (from <i>Led Zeppelin III</i>), and Harper did a guest lead vocal on Pink Floyd's "Have A Cigar" (singing the immortal line "by the way/Which one's Pink?"). </p><p>In early 1970, Harper was newly-signed to Harvest Records. His most recent album had been his third record on Liberty, <i>Folkjokeopus</i>. All this sounds quite historical, the great Roy Harper opening for a canned Vegas wannabe. It didn't go over well with Michael Sherman, however. His only remark was that Harper began his set by announcing "I'm tired, I'm stoned." Sherman added "let's leave it at that."<br /></p><b>February 24-March 1, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Randy Newman/Mary McCaslin </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Randy Newman</b> already had a name around the record industry as a songwriter. His debut solo album had been released by Reprise in 1968. His second album, <i>12 Songs</i>, would be released in April, 1970. Newman's songs had been covered by many other artists. In 1966 he had written the song "Mama Told Me Not To Come" for Eric Burdon and The Animals. It was finally released by them in 1967, and Newman would include it on the <i>12 Songs</i> album. More importantly, a rocked-up version had been recorded by Three Dog Night, and that would be released in May. It reached #11. Even people who hadn't heard Randy Newman would have heard of Three Dog Night. At the Troubadour, Newman played a 40-minute set, accompanying himself on piano.<p><b>Mary McCaslin</b> was another aspiring singer-songwriter. She played in a more traditional folk style, but she wrote her own songs. She was not a major performer, but she had a successful career for many years.<br /></p><b>March 3-8, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Bill Medley/Patchett & James </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Bill Medley</b> and Bobby Hatfield were the Righteous Brothers, a "blue-eyed soul" singing duo who had enormous success with Phil Spector, most famously for "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling." Medley had the baritone voice, and Hatfield sang the higher parts. They had broken up in 1968 and each had gone solo. In 1970, Medley released his third album, <i>Nobody Knows You</i>, on MGM. In fact, Medley and Hatfield periodically reformed during this period for Las Vegas gigs or specific projects, but for the most part they were solo.<p><b>Patchett & James</b> were a comedy duo.<br /></p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0ypRVaBp1BU/X-f1CSUAKPI/AAAAAAAAH6M/lnM-yHwGtgwlcUMTiaGnVnADFBSN3vDlQCLcBGAsYHQ/s599/The%2BFourth%2BWay%2BCapitol%2B1969.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="593" data-original-width="599" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0ypRVaBp1BU/X-f1CSUAKPI/AAAAAAAAH6M/lnM-yHwGtgwlcUMTiaGnVnADFBSN3vDlQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/The%2BFourth%2BWay%2BCapitol%2B1969.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />March 10-15, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Carmen McCrae/Fourth Way </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Carmen McCrae</b> was a great singer, but trying to catch up with popular tastes. She had just recorded an album in Miami in February, with Atlantic producer Arif Mardin. The album would be released in July as <i>Just A Little Lovin'</i>, and it would include a number of Beatles covers. McCrae was a fine singer, but she would have been aiming at Las Vegas and TV bookings.<p>The <b>Fourth Way</b>, on the other hand, were an interesting jazz-rock hybrid band from San Francisco. There were a lot of jazz-rock experiments going on in the Bay Area, but they were generally less frantic than the high-powered "fusion" music inspird by Miles Davis' album <i>Bitches Brew</i>. All of the band members had substantial pedigrees. Their self-titled second album had been released on Capitol in 1969.</p><p>Pianist and band leader Mike Nock, a New Zealander, had gone to the
Berklee School of Music in the early 1960s. He had played with Larry
Coryell and others. He had moved to the Bay Area in 1968, and in the
Fourth Way he played electric keyboards. Electric violinist Michael White had played with the John Handy Quintet in the mid-60s, and had appeared on some albums with him. Drummer Eddie Marshall was an established player in the Bay Area jazz scene. Normally, the bassist for the Fourth Way was Ron McClure, who had played in the Charles Lloyd Quartet, as well as with Wes Montgomery. For this date, however, the Fourth Way was using Kenneth Jenkins. <br /></p><p><b>March 17-22, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Butterfield Blues Band/Jeffrey Comanor </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br />It's surprising to see the well-established <b>Butterfield Blues Band</b> booked at the Troubadour. It's possible that this show was an "option," but that seems unlikely. More likely, Elektra Records wanted industry people to see the newest iteration of the band, and those people were more likely to come to the Troubadour than some barn of an arena. The Butterfield Blues Band's most recent album was <i>Keep On Movin,'</i> which had been released back in October 1969. It had the Woodstock lineup, with Buzz Feiten on lead guitar, Philip Wilson on drums and Dave Sanborn leading the horn section on alto sax. I'm not sure which of those players, particularly Sanborn, were still on board in early 1970.</p><p><b>Jeffrey Comanor</b> is mainly known as a songwriter. He had released the album <i>Sure Hope You Like It</i> on A&M Records in 1969, but he would not release another album until 1974. He did contribute many songs over the years to a variety of artists.<br /></p><b>March 24-29, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Neil Diamond/Seals and Crofts </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Neil Diamond</b> had been a hugely successful pop songwriter for many years, and in 1969 he started to get big hits under his own name. He didn't really have a reputation as a performer yet, however, so playing a week at the Troubadour was a chance for the industry to see how well Diamond could put on a show. In 1969, Diamond's big hits had been "Sweet Caroline," which had reached #4 in May, and "Holly Holy," which had reached #3 in October. It is an irony of pop culture that the bigger of Diamond's two hits that year is now largely forgotten, whereas "Sweet Caroline" (thanks particularly to the Boston Red Sox) is an anthem.<p>Diamond was from Brooklyn, and had worked in the famous Brill Building in the 60s. He had moved to Los Angeles in 1969. This week at the Troubadour must have gone well, because later in the year (on July 15, 1970) Diamond would record his <i>Gold: Live At The Troubadour album</i>. Released in August 1970, it was a sort of "greatest hits" of Neil Diamond, including some songs that had been hits for other artists.</p><p><b>Dash Seals and Jim Crofts</b> were both long-time professional musicians from Texas. Both of them had been in The Champs, albeit for touring some time after "Tequila" had been a smash hit in 1958. Both of them had also backed Glenn Campbell in Van Nuys nightclub, back in the early 60s, when Campbell was an established session musician but not yet a recording star. After various ins and outs, they ended up as a singer/songwriter duo signed to TA Records. Seals and Crofts self-titled debut came out in 1969, and their follow-up <i>Down Home</i> would come out in September 1970. They would not see big success until after they signed with Warner Brothers in 1971.<br /></p><p><b>March 31-April 5, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Tim Buckley/Camp Hilltop </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Tim Buckley</b> was a unique, jazz-inspired singer, and also kind of an acquired taste. The music world hadn't really acquired that taste yet. Buckley's fourth and most recent album was <i>Blue Afternoon</i>, which had been released in November 1969 on Straight Records. Straight was part of a pair of labels that were an "Imprint" (specialty label) on Warners for Frank Zappa and his manager, Herb Cohen (the other half of the pair was Bizarre Records). It's easy to look at Bizarre/Straight as a vanity label, since it included albums by Zappa's best friend in High School, a group featuring his daughter's nanny, and so on. Still, Zappa and Cohen signed a lot of talent that has held up well over the years, such as Buckley, even if they didn't sell a lot of albums.</p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uai40GoKlbo/X-f0F2EUgaI/AAAAAAAAH58/fyAVyKz3XFAIkskqRVylenkRLNcyh0Z_gCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Longbranch%2BPennywhistle%2B1969.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uai40GoKlbo/X-f0F2EUgaI/AAAAAAAAH58/fyAVyKz3XFAIkskqRVylenkRLNcyh0Z_gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Longbranch%2BPennywhistle%2B1969.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Longbranch Pennywhistle album (JD Souther and Glenn Frey), released on Amos Records in 1969</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />April 7-12, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Flying Burrito Brothers/Longbranch Pennywhistle </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br />The Burritos returned, no doubt to promote their newly-released A&M album <i>Burrito Deluxe.</i> Unlike almost every week at the Troubadour in 1970, the first night was not reviewed in the LA Times. This was probably mainly because the Burritos had been reviewed back in January. Even with a new album, however, Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers were last year's news to Hollywood, and thus ignored. Hollywood's star-making machinery could be very powerful, but very dismissive as well.<p></p><p><b>April 14-19, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Peter Tork/Earth Disciples </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br />Dion, formerly of Dion and The Belmonts, but by 1970 a singer/songwriter himself, had originally been promoted for this week. Dion dropped out, and was replaced by former Monkee <b>Peter Tork</b>. Tork had left the Monkees in 1968, when they had disintegrated. Tork had originally been an aspiring folk singer, and had returned to that, doing some recording in 1969 that had never been released. By 1970, he was in an only-in-LA circumstance, hugely famous, generally popular but not particularly respected as a singer or performer, since the Monkees were the epitome of "plastic." No doubt he felt that playing this week at the Troubadour could put on the level of less famous but more "serious" performers. I don't think Tork embarrassed himself as a performer, by any means, but he didn't stand out. </p><p>There's a chance Dion played a couple of shows early in the week, but I don't think so. Tork was not reviewed, itself a sign of how he was seen as lightweight, despite his fame. The <b>Earth Disciples</b> are unknown to me.<br /></p><b>April 21-26, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Buffy Sainte-Marie/Goose Creek Symphony </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Buffy Sainte-Marie</b> was an interesting artist for a variety of reasons, but she did not fit easily into regular categories. Sainte-Marie (b.1941) is an indigenous Canadian-American, born on a reservation in Saskatchewan. She eventually ended up at the University of Massachusetts (Amherst). She was also a regular performer in the folk clubs in Greenwich Village, Cambridge and Yorkville (in Toronto). She wrote a number of well-known songs that were successful for other singers, including "Codine" and "My Country 'Tis Of Thee I'm Dying." Her debut album <i>It's My Way</i> had been released on Vanguard in 1964. <br /><p>After some interesting but conventional albums on Vanguard, her sixth album for the label was a real departure. <i>Illuminations</i> was recorded in quadrophonic, and included synthesizer contributions from the legendary Don Buchla. It had minimal rock backing supported by string arrangements, and was an experimental album for someone like Sainte-Marie. Of course, it did not sell well. On stage, Sainte-Marie was surely more conventional, but I don't know if she had a band or just played solo.</p><p><b>Goose Creek Symphony</b> was a band from Arizona. Their first album, <i>Established</i>, had been released by Capitol in 1970. Broadly speaking, Goose Creek were a country rock group, but the genre hadn't been fully formed yet. <br /></p><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yn1UCjy05sA/X-f0bkpdLnI/AAAAAAAAH6E/1HS41CZJHkA3P9zB1JmgkTCji_Beo_utQCLcBGAsYHQ/s607/moondance%2Bvan%2Bmorrison%2B1970.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yn1UCjy05sA/X-f0bkpdLnI/AAAAAAAAH6E/1HS41CZJHkA3P9zB1JmgkTCji_Beo_utQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/moondance%2Bvan%2Bmorrison%2B1970.jpg" /></a></div><br />April 28-May 3, 1970 The Troubadour, West Hollywood, CA: Van Morrison/Elyse Weinberg </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i><br /><b>Van Morrison</b> was another artist who used the Troubadour to get heard by the whole industry. Morrison had been around for a while, of course: he had been in Them, he had a '67 hit with "Brown-Eyed Girl," and a classic 1968 album <i>Astral Weeks</i>. <i>Astral Weeks</i> hadn't sold that well, however, and while Morrison had toured a little bit, he hadn't been much heard from. By this time, Morrison was based in Woodstock, NY. <br /><br /><i>Moondance</i>, Morrison's new album on Warners, had been released in February 1970. I don't need to add that it was a revelation. There were no big singles, but FM radio worked differently than AM. Songs off the album got played all the time on the big FM stations: the title track, "Crazy Love," "And It Stoned Me," "Caravan" and Into The Mystic" got played all the time. And that was just side one. Los Angeles wanted to hear just how he was doing this.<p>Michael Sherman gave a generally positive review of Van Morrison in the April 30 <i>Times</i> (covering opening night). Sherman praised the great song and the swinging six-piece band, and of course Van's epic singing voice. The only real complaint was Morrison's eerie detachment when he delivered his joyous music. Pretty much, this was the review of every Van Morrison performance ever (certainly all the ones I saw over some decades): great songs, hot band, fantastic singing, strangely aloof. Still, Van Morrison's talent wasn't going to be contained, and playing the Troubadour for a week ensured that.</p><p>Opener <b>Elyse Weinberg</b> is fairly obscure now, but she was very much in the mix in the 1960s. She had made a solo album in 1969 on Tetragrammaton, and it wasn't the typical singer-songwriter thing, but rather sort of a psychedelic album. Born in Ontario, Weinberg had been part of the Toronto folk scene around 1963. She had moved to Los Angeles in 1966 to meet up with her friend Neil Young. Staying with Cass Elliott, her songs got heard, and she got signed. Her album featured Neil Young and others, and apparently is a sort of lost psych classic. Weinberg released another album in 1971, then signed with Geffen Records in 1973, but ultimately retired from music.</p><i><b>Status Report: May 1970</b></i><br />At the beginning of 1970, the Troubadour was booking a lot of acts who were connected with or aspiring to television or Las Vegas. But things were rapidly changing. In the first four months of the year, lots of performers that we recognize now as hugely successful, very influential or both had played the Troubadour. Along with that, some of the opening acts were pretty interesting, too, even if in retrospect they are more like cult figures. <br /><p>There was money to be made in the record industry, big money. The rock market was expanding, thanks to FM radio. Also, it seemed that the teenagers who liked rock music in the 60s were going to continue to consume it as they grew up, but their tastes were broadening as they grew up. The Troubadour was at the heart of the music industry, so it was perfectly placed. For a lot of acts, and a lot of record companies, making a splash at the Troubadour was going to have major career implications.<br /></p><div><p><b><i>Appendix: Other Posts in the 1970s Rock Nightclubs Series</i></b></p><p><b><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/11/keystone-berkeley-2119-university.html">Keystone Berkeley, 2119 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA: 1972 Performers List</a></b></p><p><b><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-matrix-3138-fillmore-st-san.html">3138 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, CA: The Matrix January-June 1970 Performers List (Matrix I)</a></b><br /></p><p><b><a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/02/bay-area-rock-nightclub-survey-berkeley.html">Bay Area Rock Nightclub Survey: Berkeley, January-April 1974 (Bay Area '74 I)</a></b><br /></p><b><a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2021/01/loading-zone-performance-list-1970.html">Loading Zone Performance List 1970 </a>(Loading Zone I)<br /></b></div><div><b> </b></div><div><b><a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2021/03/2504-san-pablo-avenue-berkeley-ca-long.html">2504 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA: The Long Branch May-December 1971 (Long Branch I) </a><br /></b><div> </div><b><i><a href="http://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2021/04/60s-and-70s-rock-nightclub-history.html">For subsequent posts in the 70s Rock Nightclubs series, see here. </a></i></b></div>Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-82881584680182862782021-02-25T06:29:00.002-08:002021-07-08T10:27:36.893-07:00Bay Area Rock Nightclub Survey: Berkeley, January-April 1974 ('74 Nightclubs I)<p><i><b></b></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1QYPhIJZmmM/X7xxjuwW1MI/AAAAAAAAHs8/T9AnVDUNRY0jnm83g7-Du8v_HuV5dzAhwCLcBGAsYHQ/s604/keystone%2Bberkeley%2B1982%2Bapprox.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="604" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1QYPhIJZmmM/X7xxjuwW1MI/AAAAAAAAHs8/T9AnVDUNRY0jnm83g7-Du8v_HuV5dzAhwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/keystone%2Bberkeley%2B1982%2Bapprox.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Keystone Berkeley, at 2119 University Ave (at Shattuck Ave) as it appeared ca. 1982</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><i><b><br />1974 Bay Area Rock Nightclub Survey-January to April 1974</b></i><br />As part of my program of unpacking the economics of original rock music in San Francisco Bay Area nightclubs in the 1970s, I have looked at the histories of different clubs. The Matrix had been San Francisco's original hippie rock nightclub, and <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-matrix-3138-fillmore-st-san.html">although it was no longer economically important in 1970, it still played an important role</a> in incubating rock bands. <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/11/keystone-berkeley-2119-university.html">In contrast, the Keystone Berkeley had opened in March, 1972, and rapidly became the best paying night club booking the Bay Area</a>. I reviewed the history of performers at both the Matrix and Keystone Berkeley at great length.<p></p><p></p><p>By 1974, the rock nightclub market in Berkeley and San Francisco had matured somewhat. There were a number of clubs that booked original music, sharing some bands, but each with their own slice of the market. Rather than repeat myself too often, I have chosen to look at 1974 by looking at a single month's booking for a variety of individual bands. We will learn enough about the dynamics of each club, while still reviewing just about all the acts playing the Bay Area. This post will look at early 1974 bookings for three main Berkeley clubs: the Keystone Berkeley, the Long Branch and the Freight And Salvage. For contrast, we will also look at a month of bookings for Bill Graham Presents, to provide some perspective on the rock market as a whole. <br /></p><p><i><b></b></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V_olmi7dwY4/X7xxbKfOoMI/AAAAAAAAHs4/69rRcINRTh0J8iaVi7pQE6vXjp-pFzuZACLcBGAsYHQ/s254/HaywardDailyReview19740104a-1%2BKeystone.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="254" data-original-width="182" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V_olmi7dwY4/X7xxbKfOoMI/AAAAAAAAHs4/69rRcINRTh0J8iaVi7pQE6vXjp-pFzuZACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/HaywardDailyReview19740104a-1%2BKeystone.jpg" /></a></b></i></div><i><b><br />Keystone Berkeley, 2119 Shattuck Avenue (at University), Berkeley, CA</b></i><br />The Keystone Berkeley nightclub was open in downtown Berkeley for a dozen years, from 1972 to 1984. With an official capacity of 500--probably
exceeded regularly--and relatively convenient parking, the Keystone
played a critical role in Bay Area rock history. These days, Keystone
Berkeley is most recalled for hosting Jerry Garcia. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/12/2119-university-avenue-berkeley-ca.html">Long
after the Grateful Dead had made Garcia a huge star, he played the
Keystone Berkeley over 200 times, more than any other venue</a>. <p></p><div>Yet
numerous other rock stars, whether Bay Area residents or from
out-of-town, played Keystone Berkeley. Sometimes they played it on the
way up, and sometimes on the way down, and on occasion on the way back
up, too. Keystone Berkeley was designed to sell beer, lots of beer, and
because they could sell it, bands got paid. Bill Graham Presents
dominated the Bay Area concert market, as they always had, but even a
band with a record contract and a future needed a good payday for some
walking around money. Every month, Keystone Berkeley always had acts
worth seeing, as long as you liked it loud and rocking. </div><div> </div><div>Berkeley
rock fans from the 1970s and early 80s generally have fond memories of
the Keystone Berkeley. They saw good bands, they didn't pay much money
to do it, and often the event was just spur of the moment. On a night
with nothing going on, you and your roommate could hop in the car and
catch Commander Cody, Jerry Garcia, the Dead Kennedys or whoever was on
tap that decade. There was beer. Ok, there
wasn't much else. In the early days, there were some tables, and maybe
some pizza--not so sure about that--but by the end there was just Miller
Lite and Popcorn. Bands had to walk from the back of the house to the
front, through the crowd, whether they were nobody or Jerry Garcia.
People got there early, drank beer and hung out. Eventually, the band
came out and played. It was truly a Berkeley institution. Was it a dump?
Hell yes. But it was our dump. </div><div> </div><div><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/11/keystone-berkeley-2119-university.html">I wrote an epically long post about the conversion of the Keystone Berkeley in 1972 from its previous incarnation as the New Monk, after it had been taken over by Keystone Korner proprietor Freddie Herrera</a>. Herrera sold off the Keystone Korner, and rapidly made the Keystone Berkeley into the second best rock booking the Bay Area. Of course, playing for Bill Graham Presents was the brass ring, but bands needed record company backing and radio airplay for that. A band could play the Keystone Berkeley every month or two and make their rent, so the venue was critical to thriving local bands. We pick up the story in early 1974.</div><p><i><b></b></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3c6wAMRk7L0/X7x2QoOz3vI/AAAAAAAAHtQ/iqExdWI2g-oE6_VTF7WPOA05V9gwrtfGwCLcBGAsYHQ/s802/Tower%2Bof%2BPower%2Bphoto%2B19740213%2B13%2BFeb%2B1974%252C%2B13%2B-%2BThe%2BBerkeley%2BGazette%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="802" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3c6wAMRk7L0/X7x2QoOz3vI/AAAAAAAAHtQ/iqExdWI2g-oE6_VTF7WPOA05V9gwrtfGwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Tower%2Bof%2BPower%2Bphoto%2B19740213%2B13%2BFeb%2B1974%252C%2B13%2B-%2BThe%2BBerkeley%2BGazette%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>All 11 members of Tower Of Power (from the February 13, 1974 Berkeley Gazette)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><i><b><br />Keystone Berkeley Performance List January 1974</b></i><br /><b>January 4, 1974 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Tower of Power/ Gideon & Power </b><i>(Friday)</i><b><br />January 5, 1974 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Tower of Power/Grayson Street </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />On the opening weekend of 1974, it appears that the Keystone Berkeley
was also closed on Wednesday and Thursday (January 2-3), to accommodate
the post New Year's hangover. Tower Of Power headlined both nights of the weekend, supported by popular local bands.<br /><p></p><p>During this period, the Keystone Berkeley was open five or six nights a week. It was closed on Tuesdays, unless Jerry Garcia was playing, and sometimes closed on Wednesdays as well. The Keystone Berkeley benefited from its location: lots of people lived
near the club, but it was also easy to get to by main roads, with ample
parking downtown. On weekends, or if a big act (like Garcia or Tower Of Power) was playing, Keystone Berkeley drew crowds from Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito, North Oakland and even Contra Costa or Marin. On weeknights, however, the club drew a smaller crowd from people who lived in Berkeley. On Monday nights, where there was often no cover, the Keystone probably just drew from people who lived in walking distance. <br /><b></b></p><p><b>Tower Of Power,</b> though originally from Fremont, were the pride of Oakland. <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/09/fillmore-west-lost-concerts-tuesday.html">They had been discovered by Bill Graham at the Tuesday night Fillmore West auditions</a>, and their first album <i>East Bay Grease</i> had been released on Graham's San Francisco label (distributed by Atlantic). By 1972, the label was gone, but Atlantic's sister label Warner Brothers had picked up Tower. Tower's immortal second album, <i>Bump City</i>, would be released later in '72, just as the Oakland A's, Raiders and Golden State Warriors were making all things Oakland ascendant.</p><p>Back in May 1973, Tower had released their third album on Warners, <i>Tower Of Power.</i> With Lenny Pickett now leading the horn section on Tenor Sax and Chester Thompson on organ, the album featured timeless classics like "What Is Hip" and "So Very Hard To Go." It would reach #15 on the Billboard album chart. But Tower Of Power were still East Bay homeboys, and they would headline the Keystone Berkeley on this weekend, no doubt packing the joint wall-to-wall. Shortly after this, the band would release their fourth album, <i>Back To Oakland</i>.<br /></p><p><b>Gideon & Power</b>, the Friday night openers, were a high-energy Gospel/Soul band from San
Francisco with a dynamic lead singer, Gideon Daniels. and a swinging
soul chorus. Their one album (<i>I Gotta Be Me</i>, released on Bell in 1972) featured former AB Skhy guitarist Dennis
Geyer and Elvin Bishop keyboardist Stephen Miller. Daniels was the one
who taught future Bishop vocalist Mickey Thomas to sing. Gideon & Power were headlining two weeknights later in the month (January 10 and 24) and an opening slot like this could help build an audience for those nights.<br /></p><p><b>Grayson Street</b> were a sort of roots rock band from the East Bay. They
were co-led by harmonica player Rick Kellogg and tenor saxophonist Terry
Hanck, both of whom sang. Grayson Street never recorded, but many of
its members ended up working with Elvin Bishop, Coke Escovedo, Tower Of
Power, Santana and others. Lenny Pickett had been in Grayson Street, prior to answering the call from Tower. Grayson Street was very popular down at the Longbranch, about 2 miles West and South, over on San Pablo and Dwight (see February, below). </p><b>January 6, 1974 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: The Tubes/Kid Gloves </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />At this time, The Tubes were an infamous legend around the Bay Area. They had no recordings, but you would hear about them. Presciently, even though they were unknown, Bill Graham Presents had booked them to open for Led Zeppelin at Kezar Stadium on June 2, 1973. <br /><p><b>The Tubes </b>members were from Phoenix, AZ. Initially, some of them were in a band called The Beans (guitarist Bill Spooner, organist Vince Welnick, bassist Rick Anderson) who had moved to San Francisco in late 1970 <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/09/fillmore-west-lost-concerts-tuesday.html">and had even played the Fillmore West Tuesday audition night under that name</a>. They played jammed out blues-rock, like every other aspiring Fillmore band. Some members quit, however, so two other Phoenix musicians (drummer Prairie Prince and guitarist Roger Steen) joined the band in March, 1972, and the band changed their name.</p><p>The Tubes played a sort of progressive rock, quite well, but with satiric lyrics and an engaging stage show. Their roadie John "Fee" Waybill had taken over as lead singer. The stage shows got more and more elaborate, even though in the early period their prop budget was mostly confetti and cardboard. Prince's art school pal Michael Cotten was added on synthesizer, as well as chief creator of props. The group were supposedly quite popular in gay bars, normally not a money making proposition for long-haired rock bands. In an era where every San Francisco band stared at their guitars and talked about how much they loved the blues, The Tubes were raving about "White Punks On Dope." It was just Sunday night at the Keystone, but The Tubes were moving up and their time would come.</p><p><b>Kid Gloves </b>are unknown to me.<b> <br /></b></p><p><b>January 7, 1974 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Trucking/Steelwind </b><i>(Monday)</i><br /><b>Trucking</b> was a band from Fremont, with a full horn section and a female lead vocalist, apparently in the vein of Chicago or Blood, Sweat and Tears, though perhaps with a funkier edge. They played all the Bay Area clubs, and seemed to get good support from the local writers. They never really made it past weeknights at Keystone Berkeley, however.</p><p><b>Steelwind</b> was based in Sacramento, and featured songwriter Jack Traylor. The Jefferson Starship had recorded one of his songs ("Flowers Of The Night" on Baron Von Tollbooth). Steelwind's lead guitarist was 19-year old Craig Chacuiqo. Steelwind had released one album on Grunt in 1973. Chacuiqo would go on to join Jefferson Starship shortly after this. <br /></p><p><b>January 9, 1974 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA:Butch Whacks and His Glass Packs </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br /><b>Butch Whacks and His Glass Packs</b> were a 15-piece rock and roll band dedicated to performing old style rock and roll hits from the 50s and early 60s. The band got their start as students at St. Mary’s College in Moraga playing frat parties, and eventually morphed into a very popular bay area club and theater act.<br /></p><b>January 10, 1974 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Gideon & Power/Alice Stuart and Snake </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br />One of the Keystone booking patterns was that bands who opened on big weekend gigs would headline on weeknights. Since more people would hear a band with a big headliner, it was a way for those groups to build an audience. So Gideon & Power had opened for Tower Of Power the previous Friday (above), and hopefully got a few more people to come out and see them play a longer set on Thursday. <br /><p><b>Alice Stuart </b>was a fine blues guitarist and singer. Although she
was from Seattle, she had been playing in the Bay Area since about 1964.
Stuart had performed and recorded in a variety of solo and group settings. Since 1971, she had been leading an elecrtric trio/quartet named Snake, and they
had released the album <i>Believing</i> on Fantasy Records in 1972. Stuart was still grinding it out in the clubs, and generally well-regarded, but Snake was treading water. <br /></p><b>January 11-12, 1974 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA Sons of Champlin/Terrible Aminos </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>The Sons Of Champlin</b> were a Marin County band, but unlike many of the others, the band had been founded by Marin County residents. <a href="http://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/10/sons-of-champlin-performance-list-1966.html">Back in 1966, Bill Champlin and Terry Haggerty had founded the group, switching from an R&B dance band sound to more of a Beatles groove</a>. By 1967, however, they had gone full psychedelic, and brought back the horn section. Champlin was a powerful lead singer and a fine organ player, and Haggerty was a hugely talented lead guitarist. Along with pianist/multi-instrumentalist Geoff Palmer, <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/11/sons-of-champlin-performance-list-july.html">the band had made 3 sophisticated albums for Capitol before disintegrating in 1970</a>. <br /><p>The Sons Of Champlin did not actually break up, however, and around 1971 they re-made themselves into a sort of fusion jazz/R&B ensemble called Yogi Phlegm--a name popular with no one--before reconvening again as the Sons Of Champlin. They made a terrific album in 1973 for Columbia, called <i>Welcome To The Dance</i>. It had sold poorly, however, and The Sons had been cut from the label in the wake of Clive Davis' departure. The Sons kept plugging away, however, touring constantly. It was clubs like Keystone Berkeley that allowed the Sons to keep playing while they plotted their next move. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/The-Sons-Of-Champlin-The-Sons-Of-Champlin/master/363561">By 1975, they would record and release their own album, without waiting for a record company to "discover" them</a>.</p><p>At this time, the front line was still Bill Champlin (lead vocals, organ and guitar), Terry Haggerty (lead guitar) and Geoff Palmer (piano, organ, vibes, various). The rhythm section was David Schallock (bass) and Jim Preston (drums), both veterans of many Marin ensembles. I'm not sure if they had a horn section yet, or if they had one on every show. </p><p><b>The Terrible Aminos</b> are unknown to me.<br /></p><p><b>January 13, 1974 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Stoneground/Earth Quake </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br /><b>Stoneground</b> had originally formed in 1970, as the "house band" for Tom Donahue's <i>Medicine Ball Caravan</i> adventure. They had released a few albums, and had built a sort of following, but they had broken up in early 1973. In 1974, the core members re-formed the group. This time, instead of 5 lead singers, there was just one, and (I think) there were only four band members, fronted by lead guitarist/singer Tim Barnes and organist Fred Webb. Although I'm sure they did some of the same songs, the new Stoneground would have only been vaguely similar to the earlier incarnation.<br /><br /><b>Earth Quake</b> had formed at Berkeley High School in the 60s as The Purple Earthquake. In 1972, they would release their second album on A&M Records, <i>Why Don't You Try Me</i>. A&M would drop Earth Quake by the end of that year. Earth Quake had refused to give up, however. By 1974, the band had built up a huge following at the Long Branch, regularly headlining Friday night shows. With their own fan base, they were starting to build a crowd at the Keystone Berkeley as well. Earth Quake played in a somewhat anachronistic "British Invasion" style, but it would end up coming back into style.</p><p>Earth Quake had original material, but they also covered obscure hits from the 60s (like "Fridays On My Mind," by the Australian band The Easybeats), so they distinguished themselves from other bands. Earth Quake would resuscitate their career in 1975 by releasing records on their own label, Beserkely Records, presaging the punk/DIY movement by some years. <br /></p><p><b>January 14, 1974 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA:Trucking </b><i>(Monday)</i><br /></p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_3iHOyhlMq4/X71o31Oi2XI/AAAAAAAAHuQ/EuqCb6IHBHEPEo7RBh95BzxopFd2ioTKgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Merl%252BSaunders%252B%2526%252BJerry%252BGarcia%252B-%252BLive%252BAt%252BKeystone.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="319" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_3iHOyhlMq4/X71o31Oi2XI/AAAAAAAAHuQ/EuqCb6IHBHEPEo7RBh95BzxopFd2ioTKgCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Merl%252BSaunders%252B%2526%252BJerry%252BGarcia%252B-%252BLive%252BAt%252BKeystone.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Merl Saunders/Jerry Garcia/John Kahn/Bill Vitt Live At Keystone double album. Released on Fantasy Records in January 1974, recorded July 1973</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b><b><br />January 17-18, 1974 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA:Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders </b><i>(Thursday-Friday)</i><br />The most famous and the most important act to play Keystone Berkeley, in any and every year, was <b>Jerry Garcia.</b> Garcia had created an informal group with <b>bassist John Kahn, organist Merl Saunders </b>and <b>drummer Bill Vitt</b>, and they played whenever Garcia did not have a Grateful Dead gig. The band played mostly cover versions of popular rock and R& B songs--a typical set had some Dylan, some Motown and some old blues. Sometimes they would jam off a jazz standard like "My Funny Valentine," or an original Merl Saunders tune, but Garcia never sang any songs written by him nor associated with his Grateful Dead music. The group did not have a formal name, and they never rehearsed. Occasionally, they would run down the chord changes to a new song in the dressing room, but they did not "practice."<br /><br /><a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/12/2119-university-avenue-berkeley-ca.html">From 1972 to 1984, Garcia would play Keystone Berkeley over 200 times, in many ensembles</a>. He often played on weeknights, packing the joint on a night when it normally would be empty. Needless to say, the local Deadheads came early and stayed until the end, so lots and lots of beer was sold. The shows were lucrative for Garcia and his bandmates, and extremely lucrative for Keystone Berkeley owner Freddie Herrera. There were never tickets sold in advance, so if Garcia's schedule changed, there was no need for refunds. This clearly simplified arrangements for Garcia, since he could book a show on a few days notice, or cancel without harm, particularly for a weeknight.<p>Interestingly, for this booking, Fantasy Records had just released the double album <i>Live At Keystone</i>. The album was credited to Jerry Garcia/Merl Saunders/John Kahn/Bill Vitt, and produced by all four. The sets had been recorded at Keystone back in July 1973, and edited together (including an overdubbed David Grisman mandolin solo on "Positively Fourth Street"). On Merl Saunders' two previous Fantasy solo albums, Jerry had taken a few lead vocals, and one song had even been recorded live ("Lonely Avenue"), but the double lp was the first full picture for Deadheads around the country of what Garcia was up to at Keystone Berkeley every month.</p><p>Back in December, Bill Graham Presents had advertised Friday and Saturday night shows at Winterland on January 11-12, headlined by Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders. Waylon Jennings and Alice Stuart had also been on the bill. The booking had the look of a "record release" event for the <i>Live At Keystone</i> album. The shows were canceled, however. It was a San Francisco paradox that although Jerry Garcia was a homegrown legend, he could not come close to filling two nights in the 5400-capacity Winterland, even on a weekend and even with Waylon Jennings in support. But the next weekend, there was Garcia, back at Keystone Berkeley, jamming it out and selling bucketloads of beer, just as had since 1971.<br /></p><p><b>January 19. 1974 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: James Cotton Blues Band/Grayson Street </b><i>(Saturday)</i><b><br />January 20, 1974 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA:James Cotton Blues Band/California </b><i> (Sunday)</i><br /><b>James Cotton</b> had played harmonica with Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters, and had led his own band as well since the 1960s. He was a great performer, and had been playing for white audiences at the Fillmore since November 1966. The blues weren't as cool now, and mostly played to white audiences, but Berkeley was a more fruitful place than clubs in African American neighborhoods that had stopped booking the blues a long time ago. Cotton's most recent album would have been <i>Taking Care Of Business</i>, released back in 1970 on Capitol. Matt "Guitar" Murphy was often part of Cotton's touring band. </p><p><b>California</b> had a horn section, and sounded sort of like Chicago. Most of the six band members had been part of the Monterey Pacific College jazz band. Unlike most of the club bands in this chronology, I actually saw them during this period, because they played my high school graduation dance. They were OK, but I wasn't impressed. <br /></p><p><b>January 21, 1974 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Trucking </b><i>(Monday)</i> <br /></p><p><b>January 23, 1974 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA:Butch Whacks and His Glass Packs/Spellbound </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br />Butch Whacks returned for another Wednesday night.<b> Spellbound</b> is unknown to me.</p><p><b>January 24, 1974 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Gideon & Power/Clover</b><i> (Thursday)</i><br /><b>Clover</b> was another Marin band whose members were really from Marin. Clover had formed in late 1967, out of a group called The Tiny Hearing Aid Company. Fantasy Records, flush with Creedence money, had signed Clover. The band released two poorly-produced but pretty good albums, their self-titled debut in 1970, followed by <i>Fourty-Niner</i> in 1971. Clover was a four-piece band, with lead and pedal steel guitarist John McFee, lead singer and guitarist Alex Call, bassist John Ciambotti and drummer Mitch Howie (McFee, Call and Howie had been in Tiny Hearing Aid). Clover worked out of Mill Valley.<br /></p><div><a href="http://www.clover-infopage.com/">By the
end of '71, Fantasy had dropped Clover. Paradoxically, the
band went and added two additional members, keyboardist Sean Hopper, who
joined in August '71, and singer and harmonica player Hugh Clegg (aka Huey Louis), who joined shortly after.</a> Both
were from Marin as well. Clover kept plugging along, playing Monday
nights in Berkeley, even after two albums. The proximity of Mill Valley
to downtown Berkeley made this a sensible gig for Clover. </div><div> </div><div>Now, by 1974, Clover had moved up from Monday to Thursday. Eventually, Hugh Clegg--today better known as Huey Lewis--and Sean Hopper finally scored with The News, John McFee was in the Doobie Brothers and other hit bands, and Alex Call wrote a big hit single for Tommy Tutone ("867-5309/Jenny"), but Clover ground it out for years, and it was places like Keystone Berkeley that kept the dream alive. <br /></div><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4Fni_UcGA7E/X71pQrp_sJI/AAAAAAAAHuY/VBj99tei3GAVdWt7aNGDrVRERV6rn6N4wCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Malo%2BEvolution%2BLP%2B1974.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="592" data-original-width="600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4Fni_UcGA7E/X71pQrp_sJI/AAAAAAAAHuY/VBj99tei3GAVdWt7aNGDrVRERV6rn6N4wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Malo%2BEvolution%2BLP%2B1974.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Evolution, the third album by Malo (Warner Brothers late 1973)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />January 25-26, 1974 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Malo/Flye </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Malo</b> was a pretty successful band at this point, but they were starting to look like they were on their way down. Malo had formed in 1971 as a merger of two bands. The Malibus had featured guitarist Jorge Santana (Carlos' brother), keyboardist Richard Bean and bassist Pablo Tellez, while Naked Lunch had included guitarist Abel Zarate and some horn players. Changing their name to Malo, and adding congas, the band started working in a Latin-rock vein, and thanks to the Santana connection they were well-produced. Their debut album featured the monster hit single "Suavecito," which reached #18 on Billboard (the album went to #14).<p></p><p>By 1974, Malo was on their third Warner Brothers album, <i>Evolution</i>. Their albums were still selling well, but nothing like the debut. They didn't have another "Suavecito." Zarate and Santana were still the guitarists, and Pablo Tellez still
held the bass chair, but there had been a few other changes. Lead singer Arcelio Garcia was still with the band, as he had been from the debut, so the voice was familiar, but Richard Bean had left, and some other players had switched around. Tony Smith had joined on drums (<a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Loading%20Zone.htm">formerly of Loading Zone</a>, later with Jan Hammer). Malo was still a big draw at the Keystone Berkeley, and they probably put on a great show. The band remained together for a few more years, but they never reached their initial heights.</p><p><b>January 27, 1974 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Stoneground/Earth Quake </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />Stoneground and Earth Quake returned for another Sunday night, two weeks after the last booking. During this period, Earth Quake was generally headlining just about every Friday night at The Long Branch (see below), about two miles West (down University) and South (on San Pablo Avenue), so the band was omnipresent on the Berkeley nightclub scene.<br /><br /><b>January 28, 1974 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Truckin’/Saponin </b><i>(Monday)</i><br />The band's name was Trucking, but sometimes they were billed as "Truckin'", in an inadvertent homage to Robert Hunter. <b>Saponin</b> is unknown to me. </p><p><b>January 31, 1974 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: John Lee Hooker/Colefeet</b><i> (Thursday) </i><br />John Lee Hooker was a blues legend, of course. Hippies officially loved the blues--Eric Clapton played them, and so on--but in fact there weren't many bookings for veteran blues artists. They were out-of-date for R&B clubs, but not hip enough for white rock shows. By this time, Hooker had moved to the hills in Redwood City, CA, above the freeway, so he was a regular in local rock clubs. </p><p>Hooker's recording history was tangled. His main contract was with ABC Records, and his most recent studio release for them was <a href="https://www.discogs.com/John-Lee-Hooker-Born-In-Mississippi-Raised-Up-In-Tennessee/release/3301410"><i>Born In Mississippi, Raised Up In Tennessee</i>. It had been released in 1973, but had mostly been recorded in San Francsisco in 1971</a>. It included various rock players, including Van Morrison on one track. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/John-Lee-Hooker-Kabuki-Wuki/release/3832983">There was also a 1973 release of an August 1971 live show at the Kabuki Theater in San Francisco, <i>Kabuki Wuki</i> on Bluesway/ABC</a>. </p><p><b>Colefeet</b> (spelled different ways) was a local band, but I don't know anything about them. They were often booked in support of blues headliners.<br /></p><p><b>February 1-2, 1974 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: New Riders Of The Purple Sage </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Although the New Riders Of The Purple Sage were starting to separate themselves from the Grateful Dead, they were still inexorably connected to them in the minds of all their fans. In late 1973, bassist Dave Torbert had left the Riders (his last show had been at Winterland on December 15, 1973), replaced by veteran bassist Skip Battin (ex-Skip and Flip, ex-Byrds). The New Riders had a big Eastern tour coming up to support their new live album on Columbia, so they had broken in Skip Battin at the tiny Lion's Share in San Anselmo (on Tuesday, January 29). Now they were playing a weekend at Keystone Berkeley, working with their the new bassist while earning a little money. </p><p>Of course, the live album (<i>Home, Home On The Road</i>) had been produced by their former pedal steel guitarist, Jerry Garcia. So Garcia was intimately familiar with their material. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2011/09/february-2-1974-keystone-berkeley-new.html">In the middle of the second set on Saturday night, the dancing crowd hardly noticed Jerry walking through the crowd with his guitar, stepping up stage left to plug in for "Truck Drivin' Man."</a> Garcia played the last six numbers with the Riders, his final public appearance with them (it's Garcia--of course there's a tape). Casual events like this added to the Keystone legend--a friend of mine saw John Lee Hooker once (about '72), and both Van Morrison and Elvin Bishop dropped by. Here was Garcia, killing time on a Saturday night at the Keystone, just like everyone else there, but doing it on stage.<br /></p><p><i><b></b></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xsD2GJDeYGE/X7wkycglV5I/AAAAAAAAHss/alwhhgnfLwYDJjg2yeNjnPxTSnCM8VFrgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/2504%2BSan%2BPablo%2B%2528BK%2529%2B20090811.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xsD2GJDeYGE/X7wkycglV5I/AAAAAAAAHss/alwhhgnfLwYDJjg2yeNjnPxTSnCM8VFrgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/2504%2BSan%2BPablo%2B%2528BK%2529%2B20090811.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>2504 San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley, the site of The Long Branch Saloon rock nightclub, as it appeared in 2009 (2504 is in the center, behind the bus stop).<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><i><b><br />The Long Branch Saloon, 2504 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA</b></i><br />Almost two miles West and South of the Keystone Berkeley was the Long Branch Saloon, at 2504 San Pablo Avenue (at Dwight). Back during World War 2, with the Oakland and Richmond shipyards full of workers on three shifts, San Pablo Avenue had been called "Music Row." There had been nightclubs and saloons all along the East Bay, as tired workers with their pockets full relaxed with some live music. Many musicians had relocated from the South or Southwest to the West Coast, since that was where all the work was. Many other musicians had migrated with the workers, only to find playing music more lucrative (and probably more fun). Even into the 1970s, there were still several nightclubs along the San Pablo Avenue corridor, a final hint of the booming war years.<p></p><p>2504 San Pablo Avenue itself was a seminal address in Berkeley 60s music history. It is a fact of zoning that use permits tend to persist, so a venue with a license to allow music will generally continue to offer music. It is far easier for a new proprietor to lease a building with an existing permit than lobby for a new one, so clubs often change names, owners and musical styles, but not addresses. In the early 1960s, 2504 San Pablo had been the site of The Cabale, later The Cabale Creamery, an essential stop on the early 60s folk circuit. In 1965 it briefly became The Good Buddy and then Caverns West, <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Questing%20Beast%20History.htm">and in November of that year it became the pre-psychedelic Questing Beast</a>. It was at the Questing Beast where local folksingers Joe McDonald and Barry Melton got some friends and "plugged in" to become Country Joe And The Fish.<br /></p><p>The Questing Beast had closed in May 1966, and 2504 became Tito's, which featured live music but was mostly a dance club. <a href="https://berkeleyfolk.blogspot.com/2012/11/babylon-2504-san-pablo-avenue-berkeley.html">Around 1970 the club was re-named Babylon, and featured local bands playing original music</a>. In 1971, new owner Malcolm Williams doubled the capacity of the room from about 175 to around 350, and renamed the club The Long Branch Saloon. The Long Branch featured original music, too, but it paid a little better, with a correspondingly higher quality. The Long Branch acted as a sort of farm team for the Keystone Berkeley. </p><p>Bands would build a following at the Long Branch, and the bands that headlined weekends at the Branch would play weeknights at the Keystone Berkeley, with a built-in audience. Although it's hard to be sure, I think the Long Branch crowd lived relatively near the club, and was in the just-over-21 bracket. The Long Branch was definitely a hard-rocking club, with loud bands and patrons who liked to dance, with less of the University overlay that was included in the Keystone Berkeley audience. The Keystone was right near campus, so it's audience was broader but to some extent more snobby. The Long Branch was in West Berkeley, and less pretentious. <br /></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nakwx0wJ7ok/X7x2Di58PmI/AAAAAAAAHtM/HTahO29MwOAjHmblmpy6va7fZazd5NoEQCLcBGAsYHQ/s476/Long%2BBranch%2BGazette%2B19740213%2B13%2BFeb%2B1974%252C%2B13%2B-%2BThe%2BBerkeley%2BGazette%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom%25282%2529.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="476" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nakwx0wJ7ok/X7x2Di58PmI/AAAAAAAAHtM/HTahO29MwOAjHmblmpy6va7fZazd5NoEQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Long%2BBranch%2BGazette%2B19740213%2B13%2BFeb%2B1974%252C%2B13%2B-%2BThe%2BBerkeley%2BGazette%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom%25282%2529.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>The nightclub listings for The Long Branch (and Keystone Berkeley, and Berkeley Community Theater) from the February 13, 1974 Berkeley Gazette newspaper</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />The Long Branch Saloon Performance List, February 1974</b><br /><b>February 1, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Earth Quake </b><i>(Friday)</i><br /><b>Earth Quake </b>played pretty much every Friday night at The Long Branch. As far as I know, the house was always pretty full. Earth Quake had been together since the late 60s, with a stable lineup, so they knew a million songs. In particular, the band knew cool but relatively obscure 60s British Invasion songs, so their covers were distinctly different than any other band. The large choice of material meant they could keep the same patrons happy not only every Friday, but when their fans came to see them at Keystone Berkeley or anywhere else around the Bay Area.<b> </b><p></p><p><b>February 2, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: The Rockets<i> </i></b><i>(Saturday)</i><br /><b>The Rockets</b> were another regular act at The Long Branch, and had been playing there since about 1972. Lead singer Eddie Mahoney was a transplanted New Yorker. By July, the Rockets would rename themselves the Eddie Money Band. In 1975, Eddie Money was signed by the Bill Graham organization, and went to sell a huge number of records. But Money, back when he was just Eddie Mahoney, had played numerous gigs at The Long Branch.</p><b>February 3, 1974, Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Grayson Street </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />Grayson Street, as discussed above, were a sort of roots rock band from the East Bay. They were co-led by harmonica player Rick Kellogg and tenor saxophonist Terry Hanck, both of whom sang. Grayson Street never recorded, but many of its members ended up working with Elvin Bishop, Coke Escovedo, Tower Of Power, Santana and others. Lenny Pickett had been in Grayson Street, prior to answering the call from Tower. Grayson Street was a tiny alley a few blocks from the Long Branch, so the band was a Long Branch band if there ever was one.<p><b>February 5, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Chains/Above and Beyond </b><i>(Tuesday)</i><br />Neither <b>Chains</b> nor <b>Above and Beyond</b> are known to me. A band playing Tuesday night at the Long Branch might actually have been pretty good, but they didn't have any kind of following.<br /><br /><b>February 6, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: The Titans</b><i> (Wednesday)</i><br />The Titans billed themselves as "Continental Reggae." I take that to have meant they were white guys who played reggae music. "Reggae-rock," or at least mostly white non-Jamaicans playing reggae music, was popular in Berkeley rock clubs in the 1970s, even though it never caught on. <br /></p><p><b>February 7, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Grayson Street</b><i> (Thursday)</i><br />Note that Grayson Street had just played the club five nights earlier. Thursday night seems to have been the band's "resident" night, but they would play other nights as well.</p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i516jcs5es0/X71pqdEM6VI/AAAAAAAAHug/-sR7KFovkqs3j_dE1Lsa-WdcFisRmOM1ACLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Earthquake%2BWhy%2BDont%2BYou%2BTry%2BMe%2BA%2526M%2B72.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i516jcs5es0/X71pqdEM6VI/AAAAAAAAHug/-sR7KFovkqs3j_dE1Lsa-WdcFisRmOM1ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Earthquake%2BWhy%2BDont%2BYou%2BTry%2BMe%2BA%2526M%2B72.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Why Don't You Try Me, by Earth Quake. Released in 1972 on A&M, the band was dropped by the label shortly afterwards</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b><b><br />February 8, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Earth Quake/Son Of Pete-Mango Reggae </b><i>(singing dj) (Friday)</i><br />Earth Quake had their usual Friday night gig at the Long Branch, but per Berkeley <i>Gazette</i> rock writer Todd Tolces, they were also booked at Zellerbach Auditorium on the UC Berkeley campus. Zellerbach was a 2000+ seat theater on Lower Sproul Plaza, rarely used for rock concerts at that time. Yet that Friday, Malo, Cold Blood and Stoneground were booked. Someone in Stoneground fell ill, so Earth Quake. opened the show, and scrambled on down the road to the Long Branch for their set.<p>Tolces also described <b>Son Of Pete</b>'s set, extended somewhat due to Earth Quake's delayed arrival. Son Of Pete appears to have been a reggae "Toaster," a very odd thing outside of Jamaica and some neighborhoods in New York City. Toasters dj'd reggae records for dancing over customized sound systems, playing with the stereo mix and various effects, while also singing or talking over the records. As I understand it, the "Toaster" setup, pioneered in Jamaica, was a technological building block for rap music. Nascent rappers apparently took Toaster-type setups (sound system, multiple turntables, mic) and layered different music onto it. Outside of New York (or Kingston), however, many did not recognize the configuration. </p><p>It's easy to laugh at Berkeley--and fun too--but here was a guy making a living of sorts as a Reggae Toaster, playing a style of music unseen outside parts of New York Metro. Tolces praised Son Of Pete particularly for having numerous cool, unheard Reggae 45s, and I assure you that Berkeley took record snobbery seriously indeed. <br /></p><p><b>February 9, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: The Titans</b> <i>(Saturday)</i></p><p><b>February 10, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Grayson Street</b><i> (Sunday)</i></p><p><b>February 12, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA:The Valley Boys</b><i> (Tuesday)</i><br /><b>The Valley Boys</b>, based on various club ads, played some kind of country rock. I assume they were from the Central Valley, but I don't know that for a fact.</p><p><b>February 13, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: The Titans <i>(Wednesday)</i></b><br /></p><b>February 14, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Asleep At The Wheel </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br /><b>Asleep At The Wheel</b> had been founded in Paw Paw, West Virginia, and they were hippies playing Western Swing music. They had opened for Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen in West Virginia when they came through in late 1971, and the Airmen persuaded them to move to Berkeley. In 1972 and '73, The Wheel had played ever club in the Bay Area, any night there was a gig. Their debut album <i>Comin Right At Ya </i>had been released on United Artists in March 1973. Asleep At The Wheel was an 8-piece (or more) band, featuring vocalists Ray Benson and Chris O'Connell. <br /><p>At this time, Asleep At The Wheel lived in the East Bay, so a show in Berkeley was like a homecoming. Shortly after this, the band would move to Austin, TX and even greater success. <a href="https://www.asleepatthewheel.com/">Asleep At The Wheel are still touring</a>.<br /></p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gFhfZGuUM4s/X71pwZ62txI/AAAAAAAAHuk/RAJpHQGaTX8dpE1KFGN0gx_Rm4sFiZ-qwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1104/Alice%2BStuart%2Band%2BSnake%2BBelieving%2Balbum.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1085" data-original-width="1104" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gFhfZGuUM4s/X71pwZ62txI/AAAAAAAAHuk/RAJpHQGaTX8dpE1KFGN0gx_Rm4sFiZ-qwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Alice%2BStuart%2Band%2BSnake%2BBelieving%2Balbum.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Believing, by Alice Stuart and Snake (Fantasy Records 1972)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />February 15, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA:Alice Stuart and Snake/The Valley Boys </b><i>(Friday)</i><b><br />February 16, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA:Alice Stuart and Snake/Clover</b><i> (Saturday)</i><br />Alice Stuart and Snake were a weekday band at Keystone Berkeley, but a weekend headliner at The Long Branch.<p><b>February 17, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA: Grayson Street </b><i>(Sunday) </i><br /></p><p><b>February 19, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA:The Valley Boys </b><i>(Tuesday)</i></p><p><b>February 20, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA:The Titans </b><i>(Wednesday)</i></p><p><b>February 21, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA:Grayson Street </b><i>(Thursday) </i><br /></p><b>February 22-23, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA:The Tubes/Kid Gloves </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>The Tubes</b> were still a Sunday night band at Keystone Berkeley, but headlined the weekend at The Long Branch. <br /><p><b>February 26, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA:The Valley Boys </b><i>(Tuesday) </i><br /></p><p><b>February 27, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA:The Titans </b><i>(Wednesday) </i><br /></p><p><b>February 28, 1974 Long Branch, Berkeley, CA:Grayson Street </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br />The Long Branch booked bands on 23 nights in February, and Grayson Street headlined 6 of them. <br /></p><i><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nd8jORO-ou0/X7VUUWMc5RI/AAAAAAAAHrk/cZcU8UKsw98JVlmSwh3xDE5kQBEMgtuJACLcBGAsYHQ/s1128/BGP%2B19740303%2B3%2BMar%2B1974%252C%2B206%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1128" data-original-width="402" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nd8jORO-ou0/X7VUUWMc5RI/AAAAAAAAHrk/cZcU8UKsw98JVlmSwh3xDE5kQBEMgtuJACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/BGP%2B19740303%2B3%2BMar%2B1974%252C%2B206%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Bill Graham Presents upcoming concerts ad from the SF Examiner on March 3, 1974</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Bill Graham Presents: Winterland Ballroom, 2000 Post St, San Francisco, CA<br />Bill Graham Presents: Berkeley Community Theater, 1980 Allston Ave, Berkeley, CA<br />Bill Graham Presents: Paramount Theater, 2025 Broadway, Oakland, CA<br />Bill Graham Presents: Cow Palace, 2600 Geneva Ave, Daly City, CA<br /></b></i>Rock promoter Bill Graham, already a legend by 1974, dominated the Bay Area concert business with his firm Bill Graham Presents. Graham booked just about every major rock act that came through San Francisco, which was all of them. His principal venue was the Winterland ballroom, an aging ice rink that had opened in 1928. Graham had converted the building to a music-only venue in 1971, the same year that he had closed the Fillmores East and West. Winterland wasn't a nightclub, of course, but for rock fans, BGP and Winterland defined the rock market, so any rock nightclub in Berkeley or San Francisco was indirectly competing with Bill Graham for patronage.<p>For just about anyone under 30--and some people older than that--rock music represented the most important form of entertainment, whether live or on record. When major acts came to the Bay Area, they were major events. Bill Graham Presents always booked the major acts. When The Who had begun their <i>Quadrophenia</i> tour at The Cow Palace on November 20, 1973, it had been a major event. When Bob Dylan and The Band had played two shows at the Oakland Coliseum Arena on February 11, 1974, it had been an even bigger event. Rock fans lucky enough to get tickets had circled their calendars weeks in advance.</p><p>Still, Bill Graham Presents booked a concert at Winterland just about every weekend. Most bills featured two or three bands, somewhat like the Fillmore West days. The headline bands weren't arena-level, but any act headlining the 5400 seat hall had albums that got heavy airplay on FM radio. Any rock fan considering their weekend live music options was going to compare a local club offering to whoever was booked at Winterland. So in that sense, every nightclub was competing against Bill Graham and Winterland each weekend.</p><p>Younger rock fans had little choice, of course. If a fan was under 21, and had access to a car, Winterland was more viable than trying to get a fake ID and get into a club. The "festival-style" seating meant that it didn't matter if you got tickets later, or if a friend wanted to come, as it favored a group of friends, or loose multiple groups of friends, hanging out together.</p><p>Rock fans weren't all under 21, however. If you didn't want to hang with a bunch of people, or you were on a date, the huge Winterland floor wasn't so appealing. If you wanted a beer, or some food, a club was way more attractive. And Winterland was in a sketchy (spelled "African-American") neighborhood, far from any convenient bridge off-ramp. For many rock fans, a night at the local rock club had a lot of appeal. The question was always the same--who was playing?</p><p>Rock and roll's economy had exploded in the early 70s, and successful bands made more money than ever. For the rank and file bands, however, touring was not a prevalent as it had been. The "Oil Shock" of 1973 had made the economy more difficult. While fans would always find money for Bob Dylan or The Who, they weren't as ready to go out every week. Also, in the Fillmore days, a lot of fans just went to "the Fillmore" to see whoever was playing there. Winterland did not have that cachet. Fans knew more, and were more selective, so BGP no longer booked as many shows each month as they had when Fillmore West was open. If Winterland wasn't an appropriate venue, than BGP used other halls around the Bay Area, but the "concert dollar" (as it was called) seemed to be finite.<br /></p><i><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6tedsHyx9Xw/X71APdsMn_I/AAAAAAAAHtg/6uEpiheSNTAoujglNg-4pMc5_E8pWNHUACLcBGAsYHQ/s580/Berkeley%2BCommunity%2BTheater%2B1980%2BAllston.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="386" data-original-width="580" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6tedsHyx9Xw/X71APdsMn_I/AAAAAAAAHtg/6uEpiheSNTAoujglNg-4pMc5_E8pWNHUACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Berkeley%2BCommunity%2BTheater%2B1980%2BAllston.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Berkeley Community Theater, on the campus of Berkeley High School (1980 Allston at Grove Street)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Bill Graham Presents Performance List, March 1974</b></i><br /><b>March 1-2, 1974 Berkeley Community Theater, Berkeley, CA: Joni Mitchell/Tom Scott and The LA Express</b><i> (Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Prior to 1974, J<b>oni Mitchell</b> was much-beloved by her fans and fellow musicians, but she had only been a modest commercial success. In January of 1974, she had released her Asylum album <i>Court And Spark</i>, which had brought forward her nascent jazz leanings. She was backed by the young Los Angeles jazz rock band LA Express. The album was the biggest hit of Joni Mitchell's career, and also had her biggest single (though hardly her most famous song), "Help Me." <i>Court And Spark</i> reached #2 on Billboard, and "Help Me" would reach #7 during the Summer.<p>Joni Mitchell had been touring since January, so by the time they got to Berkeley, the ensemble would have been humming. For this tour, the <b>LA Express </b>was bandleader Tom Scott on tenor sax, Ukiah, CA native Robben Ford on guitar, Max Bennett on bass, John Guerin on drums and veteran pianist Roger Kellway. The LA Express would have done a set to open the show, and then would have backed Mitchell for her set.</p><p>Berkeley Community Theater was located on the campus of Berkeley High School, right near downtown at 1980 Allston Way (at Grove Street, now MLK Blvd). It had a capacity of about 3500, and had been completed in 1959. It was easy to find, and the sightlines were good. However, since it was on a school campus, it was only available when school was out (usually weekends or the Summer). Also, for whatever reasons, there were no concessions--you couldn't get even a soft drink or a hot dog. That made the building less desirable to a promoter like Bill Graham. Still, for certain types of artists like Joni Mitchell, her fans wanted to sit and listen in their own assigned seats, not dance around in a cavernous ice rink like Winterland. So BGP used Berkeley Community when Winterland was booked, or when the artist's fans expected seats.<br /></p><p><b>March 2, 1974 Winterland, San Francisco, CA: Poco/Copperhead/Maggie Bell </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br /><b>Poco</b> had been founded in 1969 out of the remnants of the great Buffalo Springfield. They had put out several excellent albums and always seemed on the verge of stardom. They were also an excellent live band. Yet by 1974, they were down to a quartet (guitarist Paul Cotton, steel guitarist Rusty Young, bassist Tim Schmidt and drummer George Grantham--all sang), and the two ex-Springfield members (Jim Messina and Richie Furay) had departed. Their album from Summer '73, the excellent <i>Crazy Eyes</i>, featuring Richie Furay, had done very poorly. In fact, Poco was still really good, but they didn't seem to be on the rise.</p><p><b>Copperhead</b> had been founded by former Quicksilver guitarist John Cipollina. They had released an album on Columbia, but had since been dropped. Cippolina, though a fine guitarist, didn't seem fresh and new. Copperhead was a pretty good band, actually, but everyone who had wanted to see or hear them had probably already done so.</p><p><b>Maggie Bell</b> was a talented Scottish singer who had been in the band Stone The Crows. Rock fans would recognize her voice (even today) for singing the counter-vocal to Rod Stewart on his "Every Picture Tells A Story." Her current album would have been <i>Queen Of The Night</i>, on Atlantic, recorded in New York with a funky session crew (including members of the group Stuff). </p><p>The show was probably enjoyable for those who went, but the fact that it was only booked for just Saturday night was a sign that ticket sales were thin.</p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oiGFNeF7Tzs/X71qVV_QcNI/AAAAAAAAHu0/Q9ak-x-OROguYoGyY0-tvoWsmkqcz2iUACLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Frampton%2527s%2BCamel%2BA%2526M%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oiGFNeF7Tzs/X71qVV_QcNI/AAAAAAAAHu0/Q9ak-x-OROguYoGyY0-tvoWsmkqcz2iUACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Frampton%2527s%2BCamel%2BA%2526M%2Blp.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>For his second solo album after leaving Humble Pie, Peter Frampton called his band Frampton's Camel. The album was released on A&M in October 1973</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />March 8-9, 1974 Winterland, San Francisco, CA: Doobie Brothers/Frampton's Camel/REO Speedwagon</b><i> (Friday-Saturday)</i><b><br />March 10, 1974 Winterland, San Francisco, CA: Doobie Brothers/REO Speedwagon/New Stoneground </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />This weekend's Winterland bill was more reminiscent of the old Fillmore West days. <b>The Doobie Brothers </b>were local heroes, and they would have been promoting their 4th album on Warners, <i>What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits.</i> The album had not been the huge hit that prior albums had been, but the band was hugely popular (and in fact the next year the single "Black Water" from the album would become the Doobies first #1). Although the Doobies were radio-friendly, they could rock pretty hard if given the chance, so Winterland was the perfect place for them. They could headline all three nights, just like a Fillmore West gig in the past, though with twice the capacity (3 shows at Winterland was at least 16,000 tickets, depending on how many people were crammed in). At this time, the Doobie Brothers lineup was the classic one with two guitars (Tom Johnston and Pat Simmons), two drummers (Michael Hossack and John Hartmann) and three singers (the guitarists and bassist Tiran Porter).<br /><p></p><p>Supporting the Doobie Brothers for the weekend was <b>Frampton's Camel</b>. Peter Frampton had left Humble Pie in 1971, right before they had hit it big with the <i>Rockin' The Fillmore</i> double lp. His new band was a quartet, with Mickey Gallagher on keyboards, Rick Wills on bass and John Siomos on drums. In 1972, Frampton had released a solo album (<i>Winds Of Change</i>) that went nowhere, and his new <i>Frampton's Camel </i>album had been released in October 1973, but it wasn't gaining traction in many cities. San Francisco, however, was one place where he got radio airplay. As a result, when Frampton returned to Winterland the next year he was a headliner, one of the few places in the country where that was true. Thus, <i>Frampton Comes Alive</i> was mainly recorded in the Bay Area (at Winterland and another venue). because Frampton could headline. </p><p><b>REO Speedwagon</b> was from the Champaign-Urbana area in Southern Illinois ("Cham-Bana"), near the University Of Illinois. REO had just released their album <i>Ridin' The Storm Ou</i>t on Epic in December of '73. They were still some distance from big success, but this was how it was done in the olden days, touring the country and being third on the bill so that you got heard by a lot of fans. Ultimately, it worked for REO Speedwagon.</p><p>On Sunday night (March 10), Frampton's Camel had moved on, so Stoneground filled in. This, too, was a Graham tradition, giving a local band a shot when there was an opening on the bill.<br /></p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Dz_Q5CucVLI/X71AxVNHg2I/AAAAAAAAHto/eLV7qrACRmIaaNW93fF2B733Edv0leEFwCLcBGAsYHQ/s920/Paramount%2BOakland%2Bstage%2Bview%2B2025%2BBroadway.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="520" data-original-width="920" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Dz_Q5CucVLI/X71AxVNHg2I/AAAAAAAAHto/eLV7qrACRmIaaNW93fF2B733Edv0leEFwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Paramount%2BOakland%2Bstage%2Bview%2B2025%2BBroadway.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>A current view of the beautiful interior of Oakland's Paramount Theater (as seen from the stage). The theater was built in 1931.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b><b><br />March 8-10, 1974 Paramount Theater, Oakland, CA: Boz Scaggs </b><i>Black Tie with Orchestra</i><b> </b><i>(Thursday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Boz Scaggs </b>had been popular on Bay Area FM radio since the 1960s, when he had been a member of the Steve Miller Band. His solo albums got good local airplay, but Boz had mostly played smaller halls around the Bay Area. In March, 1974, Boz had released <i>Slow Dancer</i> on Columbia, his sixth album. This one was produced by R&B veteran Johnny Bristol, and Boz was presented as a blue-eyed soul man rather than a swinging blues guitarist. The musical settings were lush, with strings and horns, instead of slide guitar. The album took off, and made Boz Scaggs' career. His initial hit was the great song "You Make It So Hard (To Say No)."<p>The Paramount Theater, at 2025 Broadway in dowtown Oakland, had been opened in 1931 as an Art Deco palace of a movie theater. It had 3,041 seats. A white elephant from the beginning, it had closed for the first time in 1932. It was open and closed intermittently until it finally seemed to be closed for good by 1970. However, in 1972, the Paramount was fully refurbished to its Art Deco glory, chandeliers and all, and made into the home for the Oakland Symphony. It was also available for other events, and Bill Graham took advantage of it when could. </p><p>This weekend inaugurated an annual series of weekends where Boz Scaggs and his band would appear at the Paramount with the Oakland Symphony in assistance. Fans were encouraged to wear "Black Tie" and evening dresses, and many apparently did. These were famous, high profile shows that elevated Boz Scaggs as a performer. He hadn't lost his swing or his feel for the blues, but he was now seen as a stylish soul singer as well.</p><p>The Paramount Theater was (and still is) a wonderful venue, but there were some issues. For one thing, Oakland is a large city, but many people outside the city limits associated it with violence and Black Panthers. This wasn't remotely true downtown, but outsiders didn't know that, and many fans would not come to downtown Oakland for a show, even though it was an easy drive from the freeway. Also, based on my experience, although the Paramount was a glorious place to see a concert, or a movie or anything, the sound wasn't actually that good for rock shows. Still, for an event like Boz Scaggs with the Oakland Symphony, the Paramount was perfect.<br /></p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aLFyU2Q9QY0/X71roljj6EI/AAAAAAAAHvQ/HIYxbQw0AIsSeCq7kvSpZcadyyehp6hHwCLcBGAsYHQ/s605/Tales%2BFrom%2BTopographic%2BOceans%2BThe%2BYes.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aLFyU2Q9QY0/X71roljj6EI/AAAAAAAAHvQ/HIYxbQw0AIsSeCq7kvSpZcadyyehp6hHwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Tales%2BFrom%2BTopographic%2BOceans%2BThe%2BYes.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Tales From Topographic Oceans, a double album by The Yes (released December 1973 on Atlantic)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />March 15-16, 1974 Winterland, San Francisco, CA: Yes/Charlie Starr </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>The Yes</b> were bigger than ever. Their new album was the double-lp <i>Tales From Topographic Oceans</i>, released in December 1973 on Atlantic. For all the band's musical chops, many listeners had grudgingly conceded that The Yes had pop sensibilities, and songs like "Roundabout" and "Close To The Edge" were actually kind of catchy, with good hooks. But <i>Tales</i> was just a suite of compositions spread out over 4 sides, about the cosmos (or something). Even Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman found it unfathomable. Still, the band packed Winterland for the weekend, and they would only go on get bigger.<p><b>Charlie Starr</b> is unknown to me. It's surprising that a band was on a Winterland bill that can't be traced, but I can't figure out who they (or he) were.<br /></p><b>March 22, 1974 Berkeley Community Theater, Berkeley, CA: John Prine/Leo Kottke </b><i>(Friday)</i><br /><b>John Prine </b>was another rising singer/songwriter who needed an audience that was sitting down. Prine, from Kentucky by way of Chicago, was a unique and affecting songwriter who would go on to have a brilliant career for another 45 years. At this time, however, his current album was <i>Sweet Revenge</i>, his third album on Atlantic (released October '73).<p>Supporting him was <b>Leo Kottke</b>. Kottke was mainly an accomplished acoustic guitarist, playing difficult instrumental music in the tradition of John Fahey. Unlike players like Fahey, however, Kottke had a countrified side as well. Kottke's current record was <i>Ice Water</i>, on Capitol. It included Kottke's only charting single, a wry vocal of a Tom T. Hall song, "Pamela Brown." Kottke, too, would go on to have a long and thriving career, but it was far from the confines of pop radio. For Friday night in Berkeley, however, they were a good bet. <br /></p><b>March 23, 1974 Cow Palace, Daly City, CA: Grateful Dead </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />On Saturday night, hometown favorites the <b>Grateful Dead</b> made their debut at the Cow Palace. This show is famous among Deadheads as the official debut of the band's gargantuan "Wall Of Sound," a remarkable 32-foot high tower of amplifiers behind the band that could part your hair at 200 yards (I heard it--it could). Interestingly, I think the band did not play Winterland because Graham could book other acts that weekend, while the Dead could play the Cow Palace.<p>The Cow Palace, formerly the California State Livestock Pavilion, had been completed in 1941. A newspaper asked in 1935, "why, when people are starving, should money be spent on a palace for cows?" A headline referred to the proposed building as a "Cow Palace," and the name stuck. The Cow Palace, at 2600 Geneva Avenue, was on the border of Daly City and San Francisco, and it was a huge concrete barn. However, it had easy access from the freeway and ample parking. Numerous sports, livestock and concert events were held there. The Beatles and Rolling Stones had both played there, as had and would many other groups. The San Francisco (and later Golden State) Warriors played many games there, including playoff finals.</p><p>In concert configuration, the Cow Palace could hold up to 16,500. That was about the equivalent of 3 nights at Winterland. Of course, if the Dead had played three nights at Winterland, they would have done better, since many fans would have come multiple nights. I think the Dead did well at the Cow Palace, but they didn't sell it out.</p><b>March 23, 1974 Winterland, San Francisco, CA: Johnny Winter/Brownsville Station/Creation </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />On Saturday night, Johnny Winter and Brownsville Station headlined at Winterland. With 5400+ tickets available, this would have been somewhat comparable to two or three nights at 2500-capacity Fillmore West. The difference was that all the risk or reward was on a single night. Now, almost no fans at the time would have wanted to see both the Grateful Dead and Johnny Winter, so that risk was minimized. Still, it was a sign of the greater risk/reward ratio in the concert business. The Grateful Dead weren't risky, as they always sold tickets, but since Winter and Brownsville Station were booked some months in advance, BGP was taking a risk that they would sell enough tickets when the time came.<p><b>Johnny Winter </b>was a terrific musician, in fact, although he didn't get much credit for it at the time. Winter was an accomplished, knowledgeable blues guitarist with a powerful singing voice. The fact that he was an albino gave him a kind of notoriety that shouldn't be commercially underestimated. He had come to New York from Texas in late 1968, and had been signed to a huge contract by Columbia. After some early success, he teamed up with producer/guitarist Rick Derringer and his band, who were formerly The McCoys.<i> Johnny Winter And</i> (for Johnny Winter and his band), his fourth album, had been released in September 1970 to a rapturous review in <i>Rolling Stone</i>. Winter had established himself as a serious rock artist, finally. The album bombed.</p><p>Winter retreated to releasing some bluesy hard rock, well-done but simple. He had some health issues, too, which didn't help. Winter's appeal seemed focus on the hard rock crowd (heavy metal wasn't a genre yet), long haired dudes who drank a lot and took too many downers. At this time, Winter's new album was <i>Saints And Sinners</i>, released in February 1974. It was produced by Derringer, and included some of Johnny's regular suspects, including his brother Edgar (who played keyboards). The record wasn't bad, but it was run-of-the-mill early 70s guitar excess--long solos, going nowhere.</p><p>Since Winterland had no seats, the feel of the room depended on the crowd. For the Grateful Dead, it was relaxed and fun. It was probably like that for the Doobie Brothers, too. For a hard rocker like Winter, however, the crowd would have been really, really loaded. Every now and again, some big oafs would bump into each other in a stupor, and square off while the crowd separated. If you liked Winter's music, Winterland wouldn't have been the place to see him (I never saw JW at Winterland, but I am describing what I saw when a Winterland crowd had too many drunk, rowdy fans).</p><p><b>Brownsville Station</b>, from Ann Arbor, MI, had been together since 1969. Led by guitarist Cub Koda, they had finally hit it big with the single "Smokin' In The Boys Room," which reached #3 in the US. The song had been from their 1973 album <i>Yeah!</i>, and they were still riding it. Brownsville Station was a pretty good rocking band, but of course the crowd would have just cared about the hit. </p><p>There were various bands named <b>Creation</b>, but I cannot figure out which one opened the show. <br /></p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Fk6cIhGzTvY/X71qant1fpI/AAAAAAAAHu4/jus_o5d6a0kfH546u7wFH5Ea5fD-Xr-lwCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/Genesis%2BSelling%2BEngland%2BBy%2BThe%2BPound%2Blp%2B1973.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="299" data-original-width="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Fk6cIhGzTvY/X71qant1fpI/AAAAAAAAHu4/jus_o5d6a0kfH546u7wFH5Ea5fD-Xr-lwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Genesis%2BSelling%2BEngland%2BBy%2BThe%2BPound%2Blp%2B1973.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Selling England By The Pound, by Genesis (released October 1973 Charisma Records)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />March 24, 1974 Winterland, San Francisco, CA: Genesis </b><i>(Sunday)</i><br />The English band Genesis were playing Winterland on Sunday night. Graham did not typically book Sunday night concerts, but he did when a band had a devoted following. Genesis was a new, rising band that most rock fans hadn't yet heard of, since they didn't have a hit single or any song in high rotation on FM radio. But the band's fans were crazy about them, so they would show up on a Sunday night. <br /><p><b>Genesis</b> had been formed in 1968 and an English Public School. The band had sophisticated songs with elaborate arrangements, and a stage presentation to match. They weren't taking long guitar solos and turning their back to the audience, like jazz musicians. The only comparison was Pink Floyd, and Floyd did take long guitar solos. The key figure for Genesis was singer and main writer Peter Gabriel. At this time, Phil Collins was just the band's drummer (and a good one), and no one even knew he could sing. Their current album was <i>Selling England By The Pound,</i> which had been released by Charisma Records in October 1973.</p><p>Genesis would have been better appreciated sitting down, but Berkeley Community Theater was not typically used on Sunday nights. Also, BGP may have benefited from the upside that Genesis could sell more tickets at Winterland (5400+) than at Berkeley (3500). <a href="http://www.genesis-movement.org/php/listtour.php?tourid=5&addcommentsall=">Genesis had just played three nights at Santa Monica Civic (Thursday through Saturday), so they were obviously on the rise</a>. </p><b>March 30, 1974 Winterland, San Francisco, CA: Black Oak Arkansas/Jo Jo Gunne/Journey </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br /><b>Black Oak Arkansas </b>really was from Black Oak, AR, in the Ozarks. Initially they had been a 60s psychedelic band called The Knowbody Else (and even released an album on Stax in '69) but then returned from Memphis back to Black Oak. The band is generally lumped with Southern rock in the early 70s, and that's only partially true. They were from the South, more or less, but the band pretty much played boogie music, rather than having any of the jazz and country overtones of the Allman Brothers, Marshal Tucker or Charlie Daniels. It's hard to play boogie music really fast, so Black Oak were probably better musicians than we give them credit for, but they were hardly virtuosos.<p>Black Oak Arkansas's current album was <i>High On The Hog</i>, on Atco Records. It was their fifth album, and it included the single "Jim Dandy," a cover of a 1957 LaVern Baker song, and the band's biggest hit, which reached #25. Their lead singer and frontman was Jim "Dandy" Mangrum, hence the song (which went "Jim Dandy to the rescue" etc). It wasn't high art. The Black Oak Arkansas crowd would have been like Johnny Winter's, full of liquor and 'ludes.</p><p>Opening act <b>JoJo Gunne</b> were an offshoot of the great Los Angeles band Spirit. After three brilliant and well-reviewed albums, and only modest sucess, Spirit had disintegrated after their fourth album, <i>Twelve Dreams Of Dr Sardonicus</i>, released in December 1970. Of course, after they broke up, the album was a huge FM radio hit and went Gold, just as the previous three should have. Spirit lead singer Jay Ferguson and bassist Mark Andes formed JoJo Gunne (named after an obscure Chuck Berry single). Hardly as diverse as Spirit, they were still lively and catchy. Yet by 1974, JoJo Gunne was basically treading water. Their current album on Asylum would have been <i>Jumpin The Gunne</i>.</p><p>It is emblematic of San Francisco and Bill Graham Presents that perhaps the biggest act in the month of March, 1974 was third on the bill on a Saturday night, opening for Black Oak Arkansas and JoJo Gunne. The ensemble that would become Journey had originally come together in early 1973, with the intention of being a studio band like the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (their original name was the Golden Gate Rhythm Section). Guitarist Neal Schon was the anchor, and initially he was going to work with bassist Pete Sears and drummer Gregg Errico. The unit had evolved, however, and once organist Gregg Rolie left Santana, they realized they were a band and not a rhythm section.</p><p><b>Journey</b> had debuted on New Year's Eve, 1973, opening for Santana at Winterland. The band had been Schon on lead guitar, Rolie on organ and vocals, drummer Prairie Prince from The Tubes, and bassist Ross Valory and guitarist George Tickner, both from an obscure Lafayette, CA band Frumious Bandersnatch. A few gigs later, Journey realized they were a real band, and Prairie Prince in turn remained with The Tubes. For a drummer, Journey had recruited the great Aynsley Dunbar, most famously ex-Mothers Of Invention (and Jeff Beck, John Mayall and others). The new Journey had debuted at The Great American Music Hall in February of 1974, and were promptly signed by Columbia. Thus, although the band had no album, they were a major-label act and booked to open for Black Oak. Journey would go on to sell more records than almost anyone in this blog post, only perhaps save the Doobie Brothers. <br /> </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M8z0qjRnDeE/X6iFS8rDrcI/AAAAAAAAHqU/nAPJay9lQsoScpM_A-k0YvQdq2_vVdvEwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/freight%2B197002%2Bcalendar.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1647" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M8z0qjRnDeE/X6iFS8rDrcI/AAAAAAAAHqU/nAPJay9lQsoScpM_A-k0YvQdq2_vVdvEwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/freight%2B197002%2Bcalendar.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>The Freight And Salvage could not afford advertising, so the shows were promoted all over Berkeley with these unique calendar flyers. Few survive. This one is actually from February, 1970. Each square is like a miniature Avalon poster.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>Freight And Salvage, 1827 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, CA</b><br />It is easy to make fun of the city of Berkeley--indeed, no one has more fun with that than current and former residents (old hippies still refer to Berkeley as the "People's Republic"). For good or ill, however, Berkeley is generally ahead of its time, and The Freight And Salvage may very well be Exhibit A. Back in the early 60s, "Folk Music" was mainly popularized by clean-cut college students strumming guitars and harmonizing old songs whose context had been anesthetized. Much of that Folk Music, and the clubs where it was performed, had disappeared in a cloud of funny-colored smoke during the Vietnam War, and folk music itself seemed to shrink in importance.<p>The Freight And Salvage had opened on July 24, 1968, at 1827 San Pablo Avenue (at Delaware St) in Berkeley. The club was opened on a shoestring in a former furniture warehouse, and the name was kept so they wouldn't have to change the sign. The goal was to have a club committed to the preservation and promotion of traditional music, rather than promoting folk music as "popular." It was Berkeley, and it was 1968. All the locals were hippies, they all smoked pot and all were against the Vietnam War. They all loved traditional folk music, but they all loved the Beatles too. Many of the folk performers at the Freight had been or were currently members of rock bands, so the interest in folk traditions was never conceived as hostile to any rock or popular music. The Freight also made a point of booking non-Appalachian traditional music. <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Freight%20and%20Salvage.htm">The roots of current interest in "Americana" music has one of its main wellsprings at the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley, starting back in 1968</a>.</p><p>Even by 1974, everything about the Freight And Salvage was different than every other club, and that was so, so Berkeley. Shows were only publicized by a calendar posted on every bulletin board and telephone pole, since the club couldn't afford advertising. The Freight had a maximum seated capacity of just 87 patrons. While they served food and coffee, they didn't serve beer, because clinking glasses interfered with appreciation of the mostly acoustic performers. As if that wasn't financially daunting enough, the Freight And Salvage had banned smoking cigarettes, too (and had done so since it had opened in '68). It may seem normal now, but I assure you in the early 70s, a club that didn't allow smoking or beer was a financially bonkers proposition (as a footnote, restless patrons and musicians with urgent needs went across the street to the delightful Albatross Pub at 1822 San Pablo). <a href="https://www.thefreight.org/about/ ">Yet the Freight And Salvage survived from month to month, and it is still thriving today.</a></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-654_xaYOe18/X6iHJAeoE_I/AAAAAAAAHqg/EvzME_98wvkJXkYGknIVcVD-SgcVuccNwCLcBGAsYHQ/s169/HDReview740405a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="116" data-original-width="169" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-654_xaYOe18/X6iHJAeoE_I/AAAAAAAAHqg/EvzME_98wvkJXkYGknIVcVD-SgcVuccNwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/HDReview740405a.jpg" /></a></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qiu9qnD9geI/X6iHYTDJ6qI/AAAAAAAAHqo/Khdw-fZXkGkk5BTqxFjxi219BH5-wPttwCLcBGAsYHQ/s170/HDReview740405.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="85" data-original-width="170" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Qiu9qnD9geI/X6iHYTDJ6qI/AAAAAAAAHqo/Khdw-fZXkGkk5BTqxFjxi219BH5-wPttwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/HDReview740405.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>The April 5, 1974 Hayward Daily Review listed the acts playing Berkeley's Freight And Salvage that week. David Grisman played in a duo with guitarist David Nichtern on Wednesday, April 10.<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p><i><b>Freight And Salvage, Berkeley, CA: April 1974 Performance List</b></i></p><p><b>April 2, 1974 Freight and Salvage, Berkeley, CA: Hoot Night </b><i>(Tuesday)</i><br />During this period, the Freight and Salvage was closed on Sunday and Monday, but Tuesdays were "Hoot Night." Letting local players get up and sing a few songs had been a folk club tradition going back to the 1950s ("Hoot" was short for "Hootenany"). In that way, the Freight was like other folk clubs. In another way, however, the Freight was quite different. The community of musicians who performed at the Freight was small, and they often used Hoot Night to try out some new material or new configurations, so the quality of music on Tuesday nights could be pretty high.</p><b>April 3, 1974 Freight and Salvage, Berkeley, CA: Rolf Cahn and Janet Smith </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br />Rolf Cahn and Janet Smith both had deep roots in the Berkeley folk scene, arguably the deepest roots of all. Both of them played guitar and sang. They probably each did some solo material, and then a few duets.<p><b>Rolf Cahn</b>, a German by way of Cambridge, MA, was an accomplished guitarist. <a href="http://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2009/08/2362-san-pablo-avenue-berkeley-ca-blind.html ">In 1958, he had founded Berkeley's first folk club, the Blind Lemon, at 2362 San Pablo</a>. The Blind Lemon served coffee and folk music, literally setting the stage for what was to come. The Blind Lemon was a mainstay of the Berkeley folk scene for many years to come, even after Cahn had moved on. </p><p>Cahn was also a co-founder of an even more important Berkeley folk club, the Cabale Creamery, nearby at 2504 San Pablo (by 1974, 2504 San Pablo was the site of the Long Branch--see February '74 above). The Cabale had been founded by Cahn, Debbie Green, Howard Ziehm and Chandler A. Laughlin III, and was a crucial stop on the early 60s folk circuit.</p><p>An equally foundational pioneer in the Berkeley folk scene was one Mayne Smith, who--among many other firsts--had <a href="http://maynesmith.com/redwood.htm">founded Berkeley's first bluegrass band, the Redwood Canyon Ramblers back in 1959</a>. <b>Janet Smith</b> was Mayne Smith’s younger sister, and while very much part
of the Berkeley folk scene, was initially more of a listener than a participant,
being somewhat younger. By the 1960s, however, she had become
interested in Elizabethan folk songs. Some of Janet Smith's singing was captured on a Folkways album called <i>Berkeley Farms</i>, recorded around 1970.<br /></p><p><b>April 4, 1974 Freight and Salvage, Berkeley, CA: Rockabilly Rhythm Boys</b><i> (Thursday)</i><br />Although the Freight And Salvage often featured bluegrass and Old-Time music, it had a much broader view of folk traditions. In particular, the Freight regularly booked both old and new performers of "Western Music," which was the less persistent half of "Country And Western" music. The <b>Rockabilly Rhythm Boys</b> described their music as "Rhythm and Western." <a href="https://www.globerecords.com/moonlighters/">Leader Tim Johnson would eventually form a group called The Moonlighters</a>, linked to Commander Cody, and playing in the hippie Western Swing style that Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen had made popular.</p><p><b>April 5, 1974 Freight and Salvage, Berkeley, CA: Phantoms of The Opry </b><i>(Friday)</i><br />The Phantoms of the Opry played bluegrass, and were led by Pat Enright. <a href="http://www.bgsignal.com/bay-area-bluegrass-history-1959-2001.html">Other band members, at one time or another, included Chuck Wiley, Joe Zumwalt, Robbie Macdonald, Paul Shelasky, Gene Tortora, Brantley Kearns, and Laurie Lewis</a>.</p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FpSXXDJUBbw/X71ClDmxysI/AAAAAAAAHt8/LapvirunCgQU0bXO89QSnm5J6tAb22oqQCLcBGAsYHQ/s465/Arkansas%2BSheiks%2Blp%2B1975%2BBay%2BRecords.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="458" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FpSXXDJUBbw/X71ClDmxysI/AAAAAAAAHt8/LapvirunCgQU0bXO89QSnm5J6tAb22oqQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Arkansas%2BSheiks%2Blp%2B1975%2BBay%2BRecords.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Arkansas Sheiks album Whiskey Before Breakfast, released on Bay Records in 1975</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />April 6, 1974 Freight and Salvage, Berkeley, CA: Arkansas Sheiks </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />The Arkansas Sheiks were another bluegrass band, <a href="http://www.bgsignal.com/bay-area-bluegrass-history-1959-2001.html">led by Karana Hattersly, along with, at one time or another, Hoyle Osborne, Michael Drayton, Paul Shelasky, Laurie Lewis, Kate Brislin, Tony Marcus, Barbara Mendelsohn, and Tom Marion</a>. If you've noticed that some of the members of the Arkansas Sheiks were also sometime members of the Phantoms Of The Opry, you're catching on to how the Freight And Salvage worked. Bluegrass bands made no money, but they also had no equipment, so swapping out a fiddle player for a night--or a year or two--was no problem. A core of East Bay musicians played at the Freight, often in a dizzying variety of ensembles, sometimes in the same week or on the same bill.<p></p><p>Typically, most of the regular Freight And Salvage bands played the club
once a month. So a band like Phantoms Of The Opry or the Arkansas Sheiks might play the
Freight every month for a long time, sometimes years. If a band member
had another gig, or had a baby, they would be replaced by another
friend, and yet on occasion, the departed might still return to the group for a night or a year.</p><p>In 1975, the Arkansas Sheiks would release <i>Whiskey Before Breakfast,</i> on Bay Records. <br /></p><b>April 10, 1974 Freight and Salvage, Berkeley, CA: David Nichtern and David Grisman </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br />Back in 1966, young mandolinist <b>David Grisman </b>had relocated from Hackensack, NJ to Oakland. Grisman played an integral role in the tiny, hip Berkeley bluegrass sound. <a href="http://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-smokey-grass-boys-1966-67.html">He formed a trio with banjo player Rick Shubb and guitarist Herb Pedersen called The Smoky Grass Boys</a>, and they flew the bluegrass flag while bands all around them "went electric." By 1968, Grisman had returned to the East Coast, and formed the psychedelic rock band Earth Opera with guitarist Peter Rowan. Grisman mainly played electric mandola, and the band released two albums on Elektra before splitting up in late 1969.<p>By 1972, Grisman was producing The Rowan Brothers. Chris and Lorin Rowan were Peter's younger brothers, and Columbia had signed them. Grisman was in their stage band, too, but he mostly played keyboards. By late '72, older brother Peter had left his band (Seatrain) and come out West to hang out in Stinson Beach with Grisman and his brothers. Peter and Grisman ended up playing bluegrass with their banjo-playing uphill neighbor, one Jerry Garcia.</p><p>Now it was 1974. Columbia Records had dropped the Rowan Brothers. Old And In The Way, the bluegrass band with Garcia, Rowan and Grisman, had stopped playing (save for one final reunion gig). The band's groundbreaking album would not be released until early '75. In the Bay Area, however, David Grisman had a little bit of a name now as "the guy who had played mandolin with Garcia." In March of 1974, Grisman and Richard Greene had put together a loose aggregation of players for a weekend at the Great American Music Hall. Appropriately, they were called The Great American String Band.</p><p>The Great American String Band was all-acoustic, but they didn't limit themselves to bluegrass or Old-Time music, or any genre at all, save for playing acoustic. They played bluegrass, swing, old-time and some unclassifiable music that would ultimately be called "New Acoustic." <a href="http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2010/11/birth-of-great-american-music-band.html">Membership varied, but for the band's second show (at the Great American on March 10, 1974), Jerry Garcia was the banjo player (Sandy Rothman had played the first night, but switched to guitar with Garcia there)</a>. One of the other players was guitarist David Nichtern.</p><p><b>David Nichtern</b> was more of a songwriter than performer. Just in February, Maria Muldaur had released her debut album on Reprise, which included Nichtern's song "Midnight At The Oasis." The song was Maria's biggest hit, forever associated with her, and a pop classic (it would go to #6 on <i>Billboard</i>). Nichtern was an interesting, jazzy guitarist, however, not a conventional bluegrass flatpicker, so he added something else to the Great American String Band mix. </p><p>The Great American String Band (sometimes called The Great American Music Band) would go on to play throughout the Bay Area in 1974, occasionally with Jerry Garcia, but always with Nichtern and Grisman. Ultimately the band would evolve into the groundbreaking David Grisman Quintet, which mowed down everything in its path--acoustically--for decades to come. Yet with the GASB having just debuted, <a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2009/10/april-10-1974-freight-and-salvage.html">here was the duo of Grisman and Nichtern, using the Freight And Salvage to work together on the future of acoustic music</a>.<br /></p><p><b>April 11, 1974 Freight and Salvage, Berkeley, CA: Frankie Armstrong </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br />Frankie Armstrong (b.1941) was an English folk singer from the 1960s, <a href="http://frankiearmstrong.com/">with a substantial history behind her</a>.</p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DJM6HqT62FU/X71DiofV3nI/AAAAAAAAHuE/1A5xTuamOQQmVUhCcR77acOKINcYvq29QCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Shubb%2BWIlson%2Band%2BShubb%2BLive%2B76.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DJM6HqT62FU/X71DiofV3nI/AAAAAAAAHuE/1A5xTuamOQQmVUhCcR77acOKINcYvq29QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Shubb%2BWIlson%2Band%2BShubb%2BLive%2B76.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Rick Shubb, Bob Wilson and Markie Shubb Live (1976 Pacifica Records)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />April 12, 1974 Freight and Salvage, Berkeley, CA: Shubb, Wilson and Shubb </b><i>(Friday)</i><b><br />April 13, 1974 Freight and Salvage, Berkeley, CA: Hired Hands </b><i>(Saturday)</i><br />Rick Shubb may as well be the archetype for the unique kind of Berkeley musician who was integral to the founding of the Freight And Salvage. Originally from Oakland, Shubb had rented a room in Fall 1965 in a Palo Alto house to Jerry Garcia and his wife. Shubb, an accomplished banjo player, designed the Warlocks first logo (on Bill Kreutzmann's bass drum), and was later in the Smoky Grass Boys with David Grisman. In between trying to make a living playing banjo--not easy--<a href="https://shubb.com/rick-shubb-the-graphic-artist/">Shubb designed some nice posters for the Carousel Ballroom in 1968</a>. Shubb had been a regular performer at the Freight since it had opened. <a href="https://shubb.com/wp-content/uploads/Humbeads_map.pdf">Shubb also co-created Dr. Humbead's Map Of The World, a story in itself.</a><p></p><p>On Friday night, Shubb was playing in a trio with guitarist Bob Wilson and his wife, bassist Markie Sanders Shubb. <a href="https://shubb.com/rick-shubb-musician/">They played kind of swinging old-timey music, or modern acoustic swing, or something like that.</a></p><p>On Saturday night, the Shubbs fronted The Hired Hands, a bluegrass ensemble. Markie played mandolin and Rich Wilbur played guitar and sang, with Markie's brother Mike Sanders on bass. In earlier times, <a href="http://www.bgsignal.com/bay-area-bluegrass-history-1959-2001.html">the Hired Hands had included Paul Shelasky, Brantley Kearns, Pat Enright, Dick Stanley, Bert Johnson and John Cooke</a>, many of whom were in all the other above bands. Both groups typically played the Freight every month or so.<br /></p><p><b>April 17, 1974 Freight and Salvage, Berkeley, CA: Larry Hanks</b><i> (Wednesday)</i><br />Larry Hanks was an old-school Berkeley folkie. A Berkeley resident, he had started performing folk music in the Bay Area in the 1950s. He had been a former member of The Instant Action Jug Band, the house band at The Jabberwock, which had given birth to both <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Cleanliness%20and%20Godliness.htm">Country Joe And The Fish and the Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band.</a> Hanks had also hosted the Hoot Nights at <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Jabberwock%20History.htm">the Jabberwock</a> and <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/New%20Orleans%20House.htm">the New Orleans House</a> in the 60s. Apparently, Hanks had recorded a folk album for Takoma Records, but when he heard the reverb on the final mix, he considered it inauthentic and withdrew his permission. <br /></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UjbkWFaw8Wc/X71q-OW-m2I/AAAAAAAAHvE/EiPQSG3ZUdEsKnQN2QrzISl_KuiQaEB9gCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/Utah%2BPhillips%2BGood%2BThough%2BPhilo%2B73.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UjbkWFaw8Wc/X71q-OW-m2I/AAAAAAAAHvE/EiPQSG3ZUdEsKnQN2QrzISl_KuiQaEB9gCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Utah%2BPhillips%2BGood%2BThough%2BPhilo%2B73.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Good Though, by U Utah Phillips was released on Philo Records in 1973</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />April 18-20, 1974 Freight and Salvage, Berkeley, CA: U Utah Phillips </b><i>(Thursday-Saturday)</i><br />While it is well worth your time to read the entire entry, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_Phillips">here are some key notes from the Wikipedia entry for <b>U. Utah Phillips</b></a><b>:</b><br /><p></p><blockquote>Bruce Duncan "Utah" Phillips (May 15, 1935 – May 23, 2008) was an American labor organizer, folk singer, storyteller and poet. He described the struggles of labor unions and the power of direct action, self-identifying as an anarchist... He adopted the name U. Utah Phillips in keeping with the hobo tradition of adopting a moniker that included an initial and the state of origin, and in emulation of country vocalist T. Texas Tyler....He often promoted the Industrial Workers of the World in his music, actions, and words... Though known primarily for his work as a concert performer and labor organizer, Phillips also worked as an archivist, dishwasher, and warehouse-man.</blockquote><p></p><p><a href="https://www.discogs.com/Utah-Phillips-Good-Though/master/589765">At this time, Phillips current album was 1973's <i>Good Though</i> on Philo Records</a>. Philo was a true independent, and the releases were largely promoted and sold by the artists themselves. <a href="https://www.kfat.com/ ">In 1975, a peculiar station in Gilroy, CA (south of San Jose) called KFAT would start playing a unique mixture of country, bluegrass and rock with a refreshingly zany playlist</a>. Phillips' talking blues song "Moose Turd Pie"--with its epic punchline, "it's good, though!"-- would become a staple of the KFAT playlist during the station's memorable existence (1975-83). <br /></p><p><b>April 24, 1974 Freight and Salvage, Berkeley, CA: Dick Oxtot's Hat 4 with Terry Garthwaite </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><br /><a href="http://www.bgsignal.com/bay-area-bluegrass-history-1959-2001.html"><b>Dick Oxtot</b> had been playing New Orleans-style jazz since World War 2</a>. He had played cornet, banjo and sang. Terry Garthwaite, meanwhile, had been a in a bluegrass band called The Crabgrassers back in the mid-60s. She was also the co-founder and lead guitarist of the band Joy Of Cooking, who had released three albums on Capitol in the early 70s. Joy Of Cooking had played some formative gigs at the Freight back in 1969. By 1974, Garthwaite had a conventional (for the time) singer-songwriter career. But here she was on a Wednesday night, singing old-time New Orleans songs (and probably playing guitar) in a style completely outside of her recording career.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A3fPtzX3EIg/X6muvnIldjI/AAAAAAAAHq8/TYGlX5lZ6QcUDMTa8mLNN6O1RqXIxo-hACLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Coyote%2527s%2BDream%2BLawrence%2BHammond%2B76%2Bwith%2BParber.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A3fPtzX3EIg/X6muvnIldjI/AAAAAAAAHq8/TYGlX5lZ6QcUDMTa8mLNN6O1RqXIxo-hACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Coyote%2527s%2BDream%2BLawrence%2BHammond%2B76%2Bwith%2BParber.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Lawrence Hammond's 1976 solo album Coyote's Dream, on Takoma Records. James Parber (Bob Weir's half-brother) played lead guitar and was a member of the Whiplash Band</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>April 25, 1974 Freight and Salvage, Berkeley, CA: Lawrence Hammond and The Whiplash Band </b><i>(Thursday)</i><br /><b>Lawrence Hammond</b> had been in the absolutely legendary psychedelic band Mad River. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_River_(band)">Mad River, formed in Antioch College in Yellow Springs, OH in 1966. They had moved to Berkeley in early 1967</a>. Even by the standards of the Avalon, Mad River had been out there. Hammond played bass and was the primary songwriter. After an epic, feedback-laden debut on Capitol in 1968 (even the band cannot tell if the record was recorded at the wrong speed--what's that tell you?), Mad River had unexpectedly released an album of country flavored songs before they split up in Summer 1969.</p><p>Hammond had stayed in the Bay Area. He wrote country songs in a distinctly Western style, as opposed to the Nashville sound of the time. Unlike some Freight performers, Hammond and his Whiplash band played all over the Bay Area (and probably Northern California). They still played a weeknight at the Freight every month. I think that a Freight gig allowed Hammond and his band to try out new material in a comfortable setting, rather than in some rowdy (if well-paying) honky-tonk. Hammond, backed by his band, did release a hard-to-find solo album on Takoma Records in 1976 called <i>Coyote's Dream</i>.</p><p>I don't know exactly who was in the Whiplash Band in 1974. The most interesting band member, however, surely has to have been lead guitarist James Parber. Parber was definitely a band member in 1975-76, and he played on <i>Coyote's Dream</i>. Parber had grown up in Merced, seeing the Grateful Dead and other 60s bands when they played the Central Valley and in San Francisco. Tragically, Parber became very ill in 1979 with a particularly vicious form of cancer, eventually dying in 1991. <a href="http://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2011/05/poster-by-jim-parber.html">After 1996, Bob Weir looked into the identity of his birth father, and it turned out that James Parber was Bob Weir's half-brother</a>.<br /></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-igDb7BYbx7w/X71BEqCcqHI/AAAAAAAAHtw/VJfdtbMuwYYvmCPOyFAcIub62Mv6QiG7gCLcBGAsYHQ/s780/1827%2BSan%2BPablo%2BFreight%2Band%2BSalvage.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="589" data-original-width="780" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-igDb7BYbx7w/X71BEqCcqHI/AAAAAAAAHtw/VJfdtbMuwYYvmCPOyFAcIub62Mv6QiG7gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/1827%2BSan%2BPablo%2BFreight%2Band%2BSalvage.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>1827 San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley, as it looked in the 21st century, long after the Freight and Salvage club had moved to Addison Street<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />April 26-27, 1974 Freight and Salvage, Berkeley, CA: Rosalie Sorrells </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Rosalie Sorrells </b>(1933-2017) was born in Idaho and moved to Salt Lake City after she was married. She was part of the Utah folk scene in the late 1950s and early 60s. Around 1966 she began a career as a performer and later an author. She has an extensive discography. Her current album would have been <i>Whatever Happened To The Girl That Was</i>, released in 1973 on Bearsville. Sorrell had played for many years (in the studio and sometimes live) with guitarist Mitch Greenhill, who played on the album along with players like Eric Kaz, Harvey Brooks and Dave Holland.<br /> <p></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hpjDK120Mfk/X7gz3oO1AXI/AAAAAAAAHr8/8nx48ZzPMpkxXLPv0qPb4QqwFza6hDuGgCLcBGAsYHQ/s194/HaywardDailyReview19740322-1%2BTuckett.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="179" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hpjDK120Mfk/X7gz3oO1AXI/AAAAAAAAHr8/8nx48ZzPMpkxXLPv0qPb4QqwFza6hDuGgCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/HaywardDailyReview19740322-1%2BTuckett.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Listing for the Tuckett Inn (18564 Mission Blvd) from the Hayward Daily Review, March 22, 1974</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />Appendix: <i>Other East Bay Clubs, Spring 1974</i></b><br />The clubs listed here were not the only clubs in the East Bay booking original rock music in early 1974. The three listed here booked the bands that we now see as the most prominent. Keystone Berkeley bands were popular at the time, and the Long Branch fed the Keystone (and other clubs), so we recognize some stars from that month. The Freight And Salvage was tiny, but its importance was outsized in retrospect.<p></p><p></p><p>The other rock club in Berkeley was The New Orleans House, at 1505 San Pablo (at Delaware), about a mile North of the Long Branch. It had opened back in 1966, and started booking rock bands later that year. The New Orleans House was one of the first clubs in the Bay Area booking original rock music, so lots of interesting bands played there in the 1960s (<a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/New%20Orleans%20House.htm">for a performance history of that era, see here</a>). New Orleans House only had a capacity of about 250, however, and wasn't in a freeway-accessible location, compared to Keystone Berkeley. By 1974, the club mostly just booked local bands, although some of them had records. It also leaned more towards singer/songwriter music than harder rock, with a touch of jazz and blues thrown in. </p><p></p><p>There were also a few music clubs in the South Bay, such as the Tuckett Inn in Hayward, at 18564 Mission Boulevard (near where I-238 met I-580). These were essentially dance clubs that booked original rock music. Bands could play what they wanted, but people had better be able to dance to it. Although the club probably paid alright, no band was going to get discovered way out on Mission Boulevard.</p><p></p><p><i><b>70s Rock Nightclub Series: Previous Posts</b></i></p><p><b><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/11/keystone-berkeley-2119-university.html">New Monk/Keystone Berkeley Performance Listings 1972</a></b></p><p><b><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-matrix-3138-fillmore-st-san.html">The Matrix, San Francisco Performers List January-June 1970</a></b></p><p><a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2021/01/loading-zone-performance-list-1970.html"><b>Loading Zone Performance History: 1970</b><br /></a></p><p><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/search/label/70s%20Rock%20Nightclubs"><b><i></i></b></a><b><i><a href="http://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2021/04/60s-and-70s-rock-nightclub-history.html">For subsequent posts in the 70s Rock Nightclubs series, see here. </a></i></b></p><p><br /></p>Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-1234324613295452482021-01-28T08:36:00.013-08:002021-04-23T07:18:00.859-07:00The Matrix, 3138 Fillmore St, San Francisco, CA: January-June 1970 Performers List (Matrix I)<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QBG4ri_uEw8/YBM7D8ATqVI/AAAAAAAAIF0/TO6-5m9I6C43u1GQ3E-OqLTD_ITB6yWGACLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/hooteroll%2Bback%2Bcover%2B1971.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="1280" height="160" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QBG4ri_uEw8/YBM7D8ATqVI/AAAAAAAAIF0/TO6-5m9I6C43u1GQ3E-OqLTD_ITB6yWGACLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h160/hooteroll%2Bback%2Bcover%2B1971.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /> <p></p><p>The Matrix, at 3138 Fillmore Street in San Francisco, had been the first hippie nightclub. Originally opened in August, 1965 by Jefferson Airplane lead singer Marty Balin's father (along with some partners), the club had not only housed the Airplane, but it was also the only hangout for most of the long-haired musicians. When the Fillmore and Avalon started putting on shows in early 1966, pretty much the only other steady hippie gig in the city was at The Matrix. <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Matrix%20Shows.htm">Many of the Fillmore bands, even the popular ones, put in time at the Matrix</a>. </p><p></p><p></p><p>The Matrix was a tiny, rectangular club, a former pizza parlor with a beer license. Maximum official capacity was 150. Patrons were not allowed to dance--this was no joke, as the cops liked to bust hippies just to find joints in their pocket--so the Matrix generally eschewed dance music. Befitting the Fillmore, the Matrix favored noodly blues jamming, presented in all seriousness like a jazz club. The owners of the Matrix also tried to tape every show, a saga in its own right, which over the years has left us far more of a history of music at the club than would normally be available. </p><p></p><p>By 1970, rock music was booming all over the Bay Area. There were rock clubs that booked original music in <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/New%20Orleans%20House.htm">Berkeley</a>, <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/07/palo-alto-psychedelic-rock-shows-1969.html">Palo Alto</a> and <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Inn%20of%20The%20Beginning.htm">Sonoma County</a>, and shows in high school and college gyms on weekends. The Matrix was no longer the only alternative if there was no Fillmore gig. The Matrix, however, although hardly lucrative, still had some advantages over its suburban competitors. For one thing, the Matrix was open six or seven nights a week, so working bands with good gigs on the weekend still booked at the Matrix during the week. Furthermore, the Matrix had an expectation like a jazz club, with musicians playing serious music without worrying about pleasing a crowd, very different than a rocking high school gym. Thus weeknight bookings at the Matrix are often far more intriguing in retrospect than the weekends, in contrast to most nightclubs.</p><p>Although the Matrix was in decline, and no longer at the center of the San Francisco rock scene, its unique status meant that interesting musical events still happened there. Most famously, one night when Boz Scaggs missed his show, an unknown band from New Jersey played instead, and <i>Examiner</i> critic Phil Elwood became the first of many to write a glowing review of Bruce Springsteen. Throughout the Spring, the Monday night jam session evolved into the seeds of what would become the hugely successful Jerry Garcia Band. <br /></p><p>This post reviews all the performers at the Matrix from January to June, 1970. While Matrix shows were listed regularly in San Francisco and Berkeley newspapers, they were rarely reviewed, so some of the listings have contradictions. I have made my best guess here, but not attempted to resolve the murky differences between, say, the Berkeley <i>Barb</i> or the San Francisco <i>Examiner</i> on a given weekend. I am confident that all the bands listed here played the Matrix during the first half of 1970, even if here and there the exact dates may vary slightly. </p><p>Anyone with additional information or insight into any of these bands, or with suggestions for accurate dating, or missing groups, or just intriguing speculation, is encouraged to enter them in the Comments.<br /><br /><i><b></b></i></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oDZZUuEkllU/X53_Ei1LC5I/AAAAAAAAHiY/3TCM0zVBIxAJ9ksJs1Maney1AhBRrMesgCLcBGAsYHQ/s514/Elvin%2BBishop%2BGroup%2Blp%2B69%2BFillmore.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="514" data-original-width="513" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oDZZUuEkllU/X53_Ei1LC5I/AAAAAAAAHiY/3TCM0zVBIxAJ9ksJs1Maney1AhBRrMesgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Elvin%2BBishop%2BGroup%2Blp%2B69%2BFillmore.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The 1969 debut album for the Elvin Bishop Group, on Bill Graham's Fillmore label</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><i><b><br />The Matrix, San Francisco, CA Performers List: January-June 1970</b></i><br /><p></p><b>January 2-3, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Sandy Bull/Lambert & Nuttycombe </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Sandy Bull </b>was a solo guitarist, a unique and remarkable performer whose elaborate fingerpicking was enhanced by various electronic looping effects. Although appealing to a rock audience, more or less, Bull was the type of performer whose audience remained seated. He had played the Matrix many times over the years. At the time, <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Sandy-Bull-E-Pluribus-Unum/release/1488317">his most recent album would have been <i>E Puribus Unum</i>, released on Vanguard the previous year</a>. Bull had played all the instruments himself, and the music was hardly rock. <p>Folk duo <b>Craig Nuttycombe</b> and <b>Dennis Lambert</b> had been in the Eastside Kids in Southern California. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Lambert-And-Nuttycombe-At-Home/release/2602782 ">Their album on A&M Records had been recorded at Nuttycombe's home</a>.</p><p><b>January 5, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Monday Night Jam with Elvin Bishop</b><br />Guitarist Elvin Bishop hosted this Monday Night "Jam." In the parlance of the time, where a performer was named, the implication was that he would put on a show, but maybe not with his regular band, or doing a regular set. Of course, there would be some jamming, and some friends would probably get up onstage.</p><p><b>Elvin Bishop</b>, from Tulsa by way of Chicago, had joined the Butterfield Blues Band in the early 60s. Bishop had initially shared guitar duties with Michael Bloomfield on the bands' first album. Bishop had graduated from wingman to lead soloist for two albums (1967's <i>Resurrection Of Pigboy Crabshaw</i> and '68's <i>In My Own Dream</i>), and then left the Butterfield band to move to the San Francisco in 1968. He had been leading his own group in the Bay Area since early 1969.<br /></p><p><b>January 6-7, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Miller, Bill Champlin & Friends </b><i>(Tuesday-Wednesday)</i><br /><b>Jerry Miller </b>had been the lead guitarist in Moby Grape, and in 1969 he had formed a band in the Santa Cruz Mountains called the Rhythm Dukes. <b>Bill Champlin</b> was, of course, lead singer and organist for the Sons Of Champlin. The Sons, however, would break up in a few weeks, and Champlin was going to join the Rhythm Dukes. <a href="http://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2010/11/rhythm-dukes-performance-list-january.html. SFC19700107a ">So this booking was effectively the soon-to-be Rhythm Dukes.</a> In any case, both Miller and Champlin were better known than the Rhythm Dukes. <br /></p><p><b>January 8-11, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Vince Guaraldi Trio (Thursday-Sunday)</b><br />Pianist<b> Vince Guaraldi</b> was San Francisco's best-known jazz export since Dave Brubeck. With the success of Guaraldi's <i>Peanuts</i> soundtrack, however, Guaraldi was free to perform as much as he wanted in the Bay Area without actually going on the road. His band at this date is unknown (<a href="http://fivecentsplease.org/dpb/VinceGuaralditimeline.html#1970">per biographer Derrick Bang</a>). A little-known fact about Guaraldi was that he like playing electric keyboards, and he may have been in a more electric format at the Matrix than his famous 60s sound might suggest.</p><p><b>January 12, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Monday Night Jam with Elvin Bishop</b><br /></p><b>January 13, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Steel Mill/Johnathan Goodlife </b><i>(Tuesday)</i><br />A rainy Tuesday night was one of the most famous nights ever at the Matrix. Guitarist Boz Scaggs was booked for a few nights (see Jan 14-15 below), and San Francisco <i>Examiner</i> critic Phil Elwood decided to review Scaggs' show for the Wednesday night edition. But Scaggs couldn't make it, and instead an unknown band from New Jersey filled in. <b>Steel Mill </b>had showed up in California two weeks earlier, and were hustling around the Bay Area, introducing themselves to club owners. This night, they got lucky. The January 14 <i>Examiner</i> featured a glowing Elwood review of Steel Mill, taking special note of the singing and songs of lead guitarist Bruce Springsteen. It was the first newspaper review Springsteen ever received, and reputedly it was part of his press clippings for a long time. <br /><p>The other members of Steel Mill were organist Danny Federici, bassist Vinnie Roslyn and drummer Vini Lopez (both Federici and Lopez ended up in the initial E Street Band, and "Phantom Dan" remained an E Streeter his whole life). Steel Mill had a following in New Jersey and, oddly, Richmond, VA, but had headed West in the hopes of getting signed. After a New Years Eve show in Big Sur, Steel Mill spent January and February trying to make it in San Francisco. The <i>Examiner</i> review got them auditions at the Family Dog and Fillmore West.</p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-shT6llCXElc/X53_t32B6TI/AAAAAAAAHig/4KCQoirMLrQcL790gMdUTkb10BQgTCFfACLcBGAsYHQ/s353/boz-_bozscaggs_debut%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="347" data-original-width="353" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-shT6llCXElc/X53_t32B6TI/AAAAAAAAHig/4KCQoirMLrQcL790gMdUTkb10BQgTCFfACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/boz-_bozscaggs_debut%2Blp.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Boz Scaggs 1969 debut lp on Atlantic</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />January 14-15, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Boz Scaggs/Johnathan Goodlife <i>(Wednesday-Thursday)</i></b><br /><b>Boz Scaggs</b> had been in the Steve Miller Band in 1967 and '68. He had left the Miller Band and was signed to Atlantic. Scaggs had released a terrific debut album, produced by <i>Rolling Stone</i> editor Jann Wenner, recorded in Muscle Shoals, AL with Duane Allman, Donna Jean Thatcher (pre-Godchaux) and the Muscle Shoals rhythm section. Although the album got good airplay on San Francisco FM radio, it really didn't sell. While signed to Atlantic, Scaggs was neither touring nor recording, so he played a lot of local clubs. When he didn't have other gigs, Scaggs played the Matrix.<p></p><p>Boz' ensemble at the time was a five-piece, with Doug Simril on lead guitar, David Brown on bass and Reese Wynans on organ (I'm not sure who was the drummer). Brown had played with Duane Allman and Butch Trucks in Florida around 1968, in a band called 31st Of February. Wynans, from Sarasota, FL, had been in a Jacksonville band called Second Coming, which had included guitarists Dickie Betts and Larry Reinhardt and. bassist Berry Oakley. In 1969, Second Coming broke up because Oakley and Betts had joined Duane Allman's new band in Georgia. Initially, Wynans had joined the nameless band as well, but he was soon nudged aside for Duane's brother.</p><p>Somehow Brown and Wynans had ended up in San Francisco, playing with Boz Scaggs. I don't know what the exact connection was, but it seems clear that Scaggs' recording connections in Muscle Shoals played a part. Brown would remain part of Scaggs's band for the next few years, whereas Wynans would return to the South, ultimately becoming part of Stevie Ray Vaughan's Double Trouble.</p><p><b>Johnathan Goodlife</b>, per the Elwood review, was a 4-piece band from Reno, NV. <br /></p><p><b>January 16, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: ? </b><i>(Friday) </i><br />I could find no evidence of who played at The Matrix on Friday, January 16. While I'm sure the club was open, the odds are that there wasn't an interesting, much less major act. Weekends tended to be less high profile acts, even by Matrix standards, often solo or folk acts who weren't getting weekend rock bookings anyway.</p><b>January 17, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Big Joe Williams</b><i> (Saturday)</i><br />Big Joe Williams (1903-82) was a unique blues performer who played a 9-string guitar. He had been rediscovered in the 60s folk revival. His most recent album would have been Hand Me Down My Walking Stick, released in 1969 on Liberty Records, but recorded in 1968. It seems to have been recorded in England. It's possible that Williams played on Friday (January 16) as well, but I don't know. Williams was interesting, but not a major figure. He wouldn't have been getting a rock gig at some high school gym the way other Matrix acts might.<p><b>January 19, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: <i>Monday Night Jam </i></b><br />Even if no one was named as hosting the jam, some musician would have been hired to organize it. If it was organized by a non-singer, the night was likely more jam-oriented. The musicians probably split the door take, which was probably only a few bucks each. <br /></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qs0pNN9yGp4/X54BTZsZiQI/AAAAAAAAHi4/yRuNh6P4z84M2623OdFvxy4hARF-MvkfgCLcBGAsYHQ/s220/220px-1970_seatrain.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="219" data-original-width="220" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qs0pNN9yGp4/X54BTZsZiQI/AAAAAAAAHi4/yRuNh6P4z84M2623OdFvxy4hARF-MvkfgCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/220px-1970_seatrain.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Seatrain debut album on Capitol, with Peter Rowan, released in mid-1970</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />January 20-21, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Sea Train </b><i>(Tuesday-Wednesday)</i><br /><b>Sea Train</b> (aka Seatrain) had been formed from the ashes of the Blues Project in 1968. For complicated reasons, the Blues Project had reformed in San Francisco, and then changed their name to Sea Train. After a 1968 debut on A&M, Seatrain reconstituted itself (and changed its spelling) and ended up recording for Capitol. The new band was mainly based in Cambridge, MA, but they seemed to winter in the Bay Area. At this time, Seatrain had Peter Rowan on guitar and vocals, Richard Greene as lead soloist on electric violin, Lloyd Baskin on keyboards and vocals, Andy Kulberg on bass and Roy Blumenfield on drums. Their first album on Capitol (entitled <i>Seatrain</i>) would be released later in 1970. <p></p><b>January 22-24, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Big Joe Williams/Stuart Little Band (Examiner) </b><i>(Thursday-Saturday)</i><br />This weekend showed different listings in the SF <i>Examiner</i> vs Berkeley underground papers (the <i>Barb</i> and the <i>Tribe</i>). I'm inclined to believe that the <i>Examiner</i> had a later deadline, but there's no certainty. Per the <i>Ex</i>, blues shouter <b>Big Joe Williams</b> was the headliner, supported by Stockton's <b>Stuart Little Band</b>. Presumably, Stuart Little Band backed Big Joe, even though their arty style would not have been a perfect match (one of the Stuart Little Band wrote a book about the group, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.in/Mouse-That-Almost-Roared-Stuart-ebook/dp/B0166E38T8">A Mouse That Almost Roared)</a></i>.<p>Alternately, Elvin Bishop was booked for Thursday (Jan 22) and Friday (Jan 23), with Steel Mill also on the bill Thursday. Until or unless we find out something more, we can't know for sure. Steel Mill seems to have played The Matrix again in January after the Elwood review, but its not clear when. The booking would not likely have been noted in any paper.<br /></p><p><b>January 26, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Monday Night Jam<br />January 27-31, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Boz Scaggs/Johnathan Goodlife </b><i>(Tuesday-Sunday)</i> <br /></p><p><b>February 2, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Monday Night Jam with Elvin Bishop</b><br /><b>February 3-5, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Lamb </b><i>(Tuesday-Thursday)</i><br /><b>Lamb</b> was a songwriting duo featuring Barbara Mauritz (piano) and Bob Swanson (guitar). They were managed by Bill Graham's organization, and they would release their debut album <i>A Sign Of Change</i> on Graham's Fillmore Records label (distributed by Columbia) later in 1970. <br /></p><p><b>February 6-7, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Joy of Cooking </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Joy Of Cooking</b> were a Berkeley band, formed in 1968. They had built their audience one gig at a time, playing regularly at clubs like <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Mandrakes.htm">Mandrake's</a> and <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/New%20Orleans%20House.htm">The New Orleans House</a>. Joy Of Cooking played danceable music, but they liked to jam, too. They stood out, however, because their front-line players were both women who played instruments, rather than just being singers. Pianist Toni Brown and guitarist Terry Garthwaite had been in various Berkeley ensembles prior to Joy Of Cooking. The band was filled out by bassist David Garthwaite (Terry's brother), drummer Fritz Kasten and conga player Ron Wilson. Ultimately Joy Of Cooking was signed to Capitol, and they would release the first of their three albums in 1971.<br /></p><p><b>February 9, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Monday Night Jam with Elvin Bishop<br />February 10-11, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Boz Scaggs</b><i> (Tuesday-Wednesday)</i></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5FnxgTpkrXk/X8peOVhlYfI/AAAAAAAAHyk/RDwEXVXXNXQKAuZd8d3-WtV6Gs8bHQiCACLcBGAsYHQ/s246/Barb%2B197o0213%2BSteel%2BMill.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="51" data-original-width="246" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5FnxgTpkrXk/X8peOVhlYfI/AAAAAAAAHyk/RDwEXVXXNXQKAuZd8d3-WtV6Gs8bHQiCACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Barb%2B197o0213%2BSteel%2BMill.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The February 13-19, 1970 Berkeley Barb advertised Boz Scaggs and "Steele Mill" with Bruce Springsteen</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />February 12-14, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Boz Scaggs/Steel Mill </b><i>(Thursday-Saturday)</i><br />Steel Mill played a few more dates at the Matrix. Somewhere around this time, Bill Graham saw them (probably checking them out after the Elwood review) and invited them to audition at one of the Tuesday night Fillmore West shows for unsigned bands. <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/09/fillmore-west-lost-concerts-tuesday.html">The Fillmore West Tuesday shows are an entirely different story (which you can read about here)</a>, but it's not certain which night Steel Mill played. The evidence points to Tuesday, February 17. That would fit the timeline of Steel Mill playing the Matrix this week.<br /><p></p><p><b>February 16, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Monday Night Jam<br />February 17-19, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen/Robert Savage </b><i>(Tuesday-Thursday)</i><br /><b>Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen</b> had created their knowing mix of Hippie Honky Tonk and Western Swing in Ann Arbor, MI, but had moved to the greener pastures of Berkeley. <a href="https://berkeleyfolk.blogspot.com/2010/09/commander-cody-and-his-lost-planet.html">Working out of a house in Emeryville, they were playing any and every gig they could find at this time</a>. Their sound was mostly complete, although guitarist and singer John Tichy was still finishing his PhD (in Electro-Mechanical Engineering) at the U. Of Michigan. The Airmen would not release their debut album until late in 1971.<br /></p><p><b>Robert Savage</b> had been the guitarist in a Hollywood band called The Leaves in the mid-60s, but was now working out of the Bay Area. <br /></p><b>February 20-21, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Boz Scaggs/Harvey Brooks </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />The <i>Examiner</i> listed Boz Scaggs playing the weekend, supported by <b>Harvey Brooks</b>, while the underground papers had Vince Guaraldi. Brooks was a bass player, and a kind of "name" (he had been in Electric Flag, for example) but he wasn't really a bandleader. Possibly he was playing in Boz Scaggs' band for the weekend.<p>If Guaraldi was playing, his quartet would have been Vince Denham (sax), Koji Kataoka (bass) and Mike Clark (drums). <br /><br /><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OQDx9FXjoHc/X54Bj_YPF2I/AAAAAAAAHjA/19PPmD2Ufw0QPqV_ByK_K9WDt15Uw8x6wCLcBGAsYHQ/s513/Elvin%2BBishop%2BGroup%2BFeel%2BIt%2BFillmore%2B1970.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="505" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OQDx9FXjoHc/X54Bj_YPF2I/AAAAAAAAHjA/19PPmD2Ufw0QPqV_ByK_K9WDt15Uw8x6wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Elvin%2BBishop%2BGroup%2BFeel%2BIt%2BFillmore%2B1970.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Feel It!, the second Elvin Bishop Group album, released on Fillmore Records in mid-1970</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />February 23-24, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Elvin Bishop Group </b><i>(Monday-Tuesday)</i><br /><b>The Elvin Bishop Group </b>was listed for both Monday and Tuesday night. Presumably this covered hosting the typical Monday Night Jam as well. The actual Elvin Bishop Group was managed by Bill Graham's team, and signed to Fillmore Records. They had released the band's debut album in 1969. Stephen Miller played organ, and Miller, Jo Baker and Bishop were the singers. Bassist Kip Mackerlin and drummer John Chambers filled out the band. <br /><p></p><b>February 25-28, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Sandy Bull/Victoria</b><i> (Wednesday-Saturday)</i><br />Sandy Bull returned. <b>Victoria</b> (Victoria Domagalski) was a singer-songwriter, also part of the Bill Graham stable. Her debut album, <i>Secret Of The Bloom</i>, would be released on Graham's San Francisco Records label (distributed by Atlantic) later in 1970.<p><b>March 2, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Monday Night Jam</b><br />At some point, drummer Bill Vitt and organist Howard Wales took over responsibility for the Monday night jam at the Matrix. Indirectly, it seems that March 2 was where that began, since Elvin Bishop starts to take over the Monday night jams at the Keystone Korner. Now, the pair could play some good music as a duo, if need be, but of course if their friends would show up it would make for a better evening. The significance of this was that Wales and Vitt, between them, were responsible for initiating the 25-year partnership of Jerry Garcia and John Kahn.</p><p>Organist <b>Howard Wales</b> was from the Cincinnati area, where he had backed guitarist Lonnie Mack in the mid-60s. Wales then ended up in El Paso, TX, working in a jazz trio with tenor saxophonist Martin Fierro, and after that in Seattle. By 1968, Wales had made landfall in San Francisco. He joined a blues trio that had just moved from Milwaukee, The New Blues. They became a quartet called the AB Skhy Blues Band. The band's debut had been released on MGM in 1969, and they performed regularly around the Bay Area. Wales had jammed with the Grateful Dead at least once (<a href="https://archive.org/details/gd69-08-28.sbd.lepley.4234.sbeok.shnf">the tape is from August 28, 1969</a>), so he had met Garcia somewhere. </p><p>Drummer <b>Bill Vitt</b> had gone to High School in Northern California (he was born in Washington State), but had ended up as a studio musician in Los Angeles around 1965. <a href="https://garagehangover.com/jackbedient/">Around '66, Vitt had joined Jack Bedient And The Chessmen, and he toured Nationally</a>, even going to Hawaii for a residency. By 1969, however, Vitt had tired of the road, and he preferred Northern California, so he quit The Chessmen and moved to the Bay Area. Besides playing local gigs, Vitt was soon in demand as a session drummer. There was a growing recording scene in the Bay Area, and Vitt worked on many sessions for producer Nick Gravenites. Another of Gravenites' first call players was bassist John Kahn, and Vitt and Kahn had met when the drummer was invited to play with Mike Bloomfield. Kahn lived near Vitt in the tiny Marin community of Forest Knolls, and they worked many sessions together.</p><p>Per a David Gans interview with Bill Vitt, initially Wales and Vitt just played as a duo. Jerry Garcia showed up at one or some of the Matrix Monday night jam sessions with Wales and Vitt, but I think this night seems a bit early for that.</p><p><b>March 3, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Marvin Gardens </b><i>(Tuesday)</i><br /><b>Marvin Gardens</b> was another band that had played all the hippie clubs in the 60s, recording a few demos but never putting out a record or getting high on the bill at the Fillmore. Apparently they sounded somewhat like Big Brother and The Holding Company. <a href="http://gaycultureland.blogspot.com/2017/05/marvin-gardens.html">Lead singer Carol Duke apparently became a well-known figure in the LBGTQ community,</a> but that was not widely known at the time. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Marvin-Gardens-1968/release/9614188">A retrospective album of Marvin Gardens demos (entitled <i>1968</i>) was released in the 21st century</a>. I think the group was at the end of the line by early 1970.</p><p><b>March 4-5, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Charlie Musselwhite</b><i> (Wednesday-Thursday)</i><br />Harmonica player <b>Charlie Musselwhite</b>, from Tennessee by way of Chicago, had been one of many young white musicians who were intrigued by the blues in the mid-60s. He played with Mike Bloomfield and others around the Chicago scene. The story goes that he took a month off of his factory job to come to San Francisco for some gigs, and stayed for 30 years. By this time, <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Charles-Musselwhite-Blues-Band-Tennessee-Woman/release/3145748">his most recent Vanguard album was his third, <i>Tennessee Woman</i>. His band on the album, </a>and probably live, featured Tim Kaihatsu on guitar. <br /></p><p><b>March 6-7, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Sea Train</b><i> (Friday-Saturday)</i></p><p><b>March 9, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jam with Bill Champlin, Jerry Miller</b><i> (Monday)</i><br />The Sons Of Champlin had "officially" played their last concert as of February 20. although the band continued to record. This would have been a Rhythm Dukes show, with Miller and Champlin, but I don't know why it wasn't billed that way.</p><p><b>March 10-14, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: John Lee Hooker/Eric Ericson </b><i>(Tuesday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>John Lee Hooker </b>was a blues legend, of course. Hippies officially loved the blues--Eric Clapton played them, and so on--but in fact there weren't many bookings for veteran blues artists. They were out-of-date for R&B clubs, but not hip enough for white rock shows. At this time, Hooker's most recent album would have been 1969's <i>That's Where It's At </i>on Stax.</p><b>March 16, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Monday Night Jam</b><br />Presumably Bill Vitt and Howard Wales were managing the Monday jam again. As the Grateful Dead were starting their tour in Buffalo, NY on Tuesday, March 17, it's likely Garcia had already flown out of town.<p><b>March 17-21, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Boz Scaggs </b><i>(Tuesday-Saturday) </i><br />Phil Elwood reviewed Boz Scaggs Tuesday Matrix show in the March 18 <i>Examiner</i>, and gave him very positive notices. Elwood was pretty much the only writer who reviewed shows at the Matrix. Presumably that encouraged fans to come out and see Boz later in the week. <br /></p><p><b>March 23, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Monday Night Jam</b><br /><a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2015/04/march-24-1970-pirates-world-dania-fl.html">The Grateful Dead were playing at an amusement park in Florida (and sitting around a hotel writing "Truckin'"), so Garcia definitely wasn't at this jam.</a></p><b>March 24-28, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee <i>(Tuesday-Saturday)</i></b><br />Harmonica player <b>Sonny Terry</b> and guitarist <b>Brownie McGhee</b> had been successful blues recording artists in the 1940s. Sonny and Brownie were very popular on the 'Folk Revival' circuit in the mid-60s. By 1970, however, there weren't really folk clubs with viable gigs. At the same time, rock bands in the Bay Area had more lucrative opportunities, so a lot of blues acts played the Matrix. <br /><p><b>March 30, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Monday Night Jam</b><br />The Grateful Dead were back in town. Based on some comments by Bill Vitt (via David Gans), he showed up to jam one night, and liked it so much he wanted to continue with a bass player. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2011/03/john-kahn-live-performance-history-1970.html">Triangulation suggests that this may be the night Garcia initially showed up</a>. He had probably jammed at the Matrix before on Monday nights, off and on, as had many musicians, but there wasn't any record of it. Certainly Garcia had played the Matrix many times with various Dead-related "ensembles" like Mickey Hart and The Heartbeats in 1968 and '69 (Garcia, Phil Lesh, Hart, Kreutzmann and any friends who showed up).</p><p><b>March 31-April 2, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Cleveland Wrecking Company </b><i>(Tuesday-Thursday)</i><br /><b>Cleveland Wrecking Company</b> was an interesting band who had been playing the Matrix since 1968. The band, a 7-piece with horns, and often a female singer, had a completely different business model than every other hippie rock band in the Bay Area. Other bands were interested in making albums, and only played dances and the like when they were starting out, just to make ends meet. Cleveland Wrecking Company had the opposite approach.</p><p>A google search of Cleveland Wrecking Company will net you pictures and references to playing huge dances for teenagers and young adults on late '60s and early 70s weekends. There was clearly real money to be made, and we have to presume they played their share of covers. During the week, however, and on some weekends, Cleveland Wrecking Company played rock clubs like The Matrix, and opened concerts for the Grateful Dead and others, presumably emphasizing original material. Bandleaders Jim Lowe (organ) and Norman Beale (lead guitar), had made a demo, to help book gigs, but they had no interest in making a record. They were, in effect, a Dance Band that moonlighted as an original rock band, instead of the opposite. Cleveland Wrecking Company broke up in 1972.<br /></p><b>April 3-4, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: John Jackson/Saddhu Brand </b><i>(Friday-Saturday) </i><br />The weak position of the Matrix is shown by this weekend. John Jackson (1925-2002) played acoustic blues and country dance music on the guitar. He had been found by Berkeley's Arhoolie Records in the 1960s, and he had put out a few albums. I used to have one--it was fairly enjoyable, but he wasn't a major player. Jackson belonged in a folk club, not a hippie pizza joint on a weekend. Saddhu Brand, meanwhile, played some sort of rock/Indian music hybrid. Saddhu Brand had put out an album, and featured Peter Van Gelder, who had played at the Matrix with the Great Society, back in 1966. <br /><p>Neither John Jackson nor Saddhu Brand were any kind of draw. During the week, the Matrix had some pretty good bands, and those bands mostly had a rock album, or at least had some members who had been in a popular band. On the weekend, though, a lot of those acts found better gigs, leaving the Matrix with folk club leftovers. </p><p><b>April 6, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Monday Night Jam</b><br />Based on my proposed timeline, this would be the night that a bass player joined Jerry Garcia, Howard Wales and Bill Vitt. Vitt invited Richard Fevis, who was also playing in the Oakland Symphony. Vitt was a trained musician (a fine piano player as well as a drummer), and he may have thought that a sophisticated bass player would be the best fit with Wales. It didn't work, however, according to Vitt, so he would invite John Kahn on the following Monday. <br /></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dz3ZqF67tTw/X54B6nG_JoI/AAAAAAAAHjI/K-YTe6jkhBcz0Kd9Yv-VoYzdafwrvwHrACLcBGAsYHQ/s500/Be%2BA%2BBrother%2Balbum%2Bcover.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="498" data-original-width="500" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dz3ZqF67tTw/X54B6nG_JoI/AAAAAAAAHjI/K-YTe6jkhBcz0Kd9Yv-VoYzdafwrvwHrACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Be%2BA%2BBrother%2Balbum%2Bcover.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Be A Brother, Big Brother and The Holding Company's first post-Janis album, released 1970</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />April 7-9, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Big Brother and The Holding Company with Nick Gravenites </b><i>(Tuesday-Thursday)</i><br />Big Brother and The Holding Company had disintegrated in December, 1968, when Janis Joplin left the band for solo stardom. They got back together in late 1969, starting to work on an album, and by 1970 they were performing. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Big-Brother-And-The-Holding-Co-Be-A-Brother/release/1952124">The group would release the underrated <i>Be A Brother</i> later in the year, produced by Nick Gravenites. </a><br /><p></p><p>The reconstituted Big Brother featured the four original (pre-Janis) members, although James Gurley had switched to bass, and Peter Albin now played guitar (plus Sam Andrews on guitar and Dave Getz on drums). They had also added Dave Schallock on guitar, so they were a five-piece band. Big Brother didn't really have a lead singer, so Gravenites sang on the album. It's not surprising he performed with them. Probably Gravenites sang a few songs with the band, while the group also performed without him. Most likely these were "live rehearsals" for some upcoming higher profile shows.<br /></p><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xaarPkO-TT8/X54DOBVsdaI/AAAAAAAAHjg/MsL6ZErUPRc3F4ukCRWkVIh5CyYeWyguACLcBGAsYHQ/s603/Every%2BDay%2BI%2BHave%2BThe%2BBlues%2BT%2BBone%2BWalker%2B1969.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="603" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xaarPkO-TT8/X54DOBVsdaI/AAAAAAAAHjg/MsL6ZErUPRc3F4ukCRWkVIh5CyYeWyguACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Every%2BDay%2BI%2BHave%2BThe%2BBlues%2BT%2BBone%2BWalker%2B1969.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i><br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table></b><b><br />April 10-11, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: T-Bone Walker/Juke Boy Bonner </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />It would be difficult to overstate the importance of T-Bone Walker and the history of electric guitar, particularly blues and rock guitar. T-Bone started recording in the 1940s, and he pretty much invented the modern blues guitar style. BB King explicitly modeled his playing on T-Bone, and when T-Bone was the King of Central Avenue in Los Angeles in the late 40s and early 50s, he invented all the "duckwalking" showmanship that Chuck Berry made famous. Music history hadn't yet caught up with music in 1970, however, and white hippies only had the vaguest idea of the enormity of T-Bone Walker.<p>By 1970, Walker was 60 years old, and not in good health. His guitar playing, based on his recordings, was still amazing, but he wasn't necessarily in the best settings. At this time, his most recent albums were <i>Good Feelin'</i>, on Polydor and recorded in France, and <a href="https://www.discogs.com/T-Bone-Walker-Every-Day-I-Have-The-Blues/release/6862063"><i>Every Day I Have The Blues</i>, on Bluestime. The latter album (released '69) was produced by jazzman Bob Thiele, and included LA session players like Max Bennett (bass), Paul Humphrey (drums) and Tom Scott (tenor sax)</a>. Musicians knew how great and important T-Bone Walker was, even if fans hadn't caught on. Reputedly there is (or was) a tape of one of the T-Bone Matrix sets from this weekend. He was probably playing with a pickup band, well below his status, even if his health was in decline. T-Bone was also booked at the Berkeley Blues Festival this same weekend.<br /></p><p>Weldon "Juke Boy" Bonner (1932-1978) was a "one-man band" from Houston, TX, playing guitar and harmonica. He had released a few albums on Arhoolie, and he performed his own material in a Lightnin' Hopkins vein. An earlier ad had Jesse Fuller as the headliner, but he seems to have been replaced by T-Bone.<br /></p><b>April 13, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Monday Night Jam</b><br />Since Richard Fevis hadn't worked out on bass, Bill Vitt invited his Forest Knolls neighbor <b>John Kahn</b>. Besides being regular session players for Nick Gravenites (Kahn and Vitt were the rhythm section for the Brewer And Shipley hit "One Toke Over The Line," for example), the pair played together in the Mike Bloomfield band. Nick Gravenites put together lineups to back Bloomfield, a genuine rock star who liked to play small clubs and never rehearse--hey, does this sound like a plan?--and would book whatever players were available. John Kahn was always his first-call bassist, and <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/12/john-kahn-live-performance-history-1969.html">his first-call drummer was Kahn's best friend, Bob Jones</a>. Jones had another band, however (Southern Comfort), so if Jones wasn't available, Bill Vitt got the call (amusingly, Jones was Vitt's landlord). <br /><p>Kahn and Garcia hit it off, musically and personally. They would become musical partners until Garcia's death, with Garcia/Saunders, Jerry Garcia Band, Old And In The Way and a variety of other ensembles. Kahn would organize the bands and deal with many of the musical logistics. Garcia himself said that without Kahn, most of his side-ensembles would not have existed.<br /></p><p><b>April 14-16, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Luther Allison Blues Band </b><i>(Tuesday-Thursday)</i><br /><b>Luther Allison</b> had played guitar for Howlin Wolf, Freddie King and many other Chicago bluesmen in the late 50s and 60s. He didn't really start a solo career until the 1970s. He had a sterling reputation with other musicians.</p><p><b>April 17-18, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Vince Guaraldi </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Vince Guaraldi returned for another weekend at the Matrix. His band would have been Vince Denham (sax), Koji Kataoka (bass) and Mike Clark (drums). One reason Guaraldi might have liked to play the Matrix, even if it didn't pay that well, was that (per Derrick Bang), Guaraldi liked to play electric keyboards. He could have indulged that at the Matrix, where it might not have gone over that well at a more "traditional" jazz booking.<br /></p><p><b>April 20, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia, Howard Wales and friends (Monday)</b><br />Finally, <b>Jerry Garcia</b> was advertised in the paper. Up until this time, only a very few people had shown up to Monday night jams at the Matrix, since no one would have had any idea that Garcia would be there. Once Garcia's name was in the paper, people started to show up (incidentally, both Jerry Garcia and John Kahn were interviewed about this, in 1991 and '96, respectively, and they both got the timelines almost completely wrong). Still, as far as we know, the ensemble didn't play "songs," just way-out jams with no vocals.</p><p><b>April 21-22, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Hahn Brotherhood (Tuesday-Wednesday)</b><br /><b>The Jerry Hahn Brotherhood</b> was a newly-formed, only-in-San-Francisco band, and they would become regulars at the Matrix. Peripheral evidence suggests that they must have been great live, and jammed up a storm, but they were pretty far out, and the Matrix is one of the places where audiences would have at least expected that. At this early date, however, they were probably just gigging to "get it together."</p><p>Jerry Hahn was a pretty serious jazz guitarist, based in San Francisco, and he had played with John Handy and Gary Burton, among others. As "jazz-rock" became a thing, Hahn seems to have wanted to play in a more rock vein. Organist Mike Finnegan was newly arrived from Wichita, Kansas. He was not only a great Hammond player, he was a terrific blues singer too (also, he was 6'6'' tall, and had gone to U. of Kansas on a basketball scholarship, making him the Bruce Hornsby of his era). Filling out the band were jazz musicians Mel Graves on bass and George Marsh on drums. <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Loading%20Zone.htm">Marsh had just left the Loading Zone, an interesting (if perpetually struggling) Oakland band</a>. </p><p>Jerry Hahn Brotherhood got a fairly big advance from Columbia, who was heavy on the jazz-rock vein, since they had hit it big with Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago Transit Authority. Thus I think the Brotherhood, while hardly rich from their advances, had a little cash and could focus on gigs like the Matrix in order to make their music better. </p><b>April 23-24, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Boz Scaggs </b><i>(Thursday-Friday)</i><b><br />April 25, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: AUM</b><i> (Saturday)</i><br /><a href="https://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2013/03/april-6-1969-avalon-ballroom-grateful.html">AUM (pronounced "ohm") were a Bill Graham-sponsored power trio who had released two albums in 1969 on Sire</a>. Lead guitar, harmonica and vocals were provided by Wayne "The Harp" Ceballos, along with Ken Newell on bass and Larry Martin on drums. Their albums weren't bad, given the typical 60s exuberance. By 1970, however, the band's moment had kind of passed. <br /><p>The Berkeley <i>Barb</i> had The Rhythm Dukes (with Jerry Miller and Bill Champlin) playing from Thursday through Saturday (Apr 23-25), but I am inclined to go with the <i>Examiner</i> listings shown above. <br /><br /><b>April 27, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia, Howard Wales and friends </b><i>(Monday)</i><br />Garcia, Wales, Kahn and Vitt returned for another Monday night. Garcia's thinking about jamming had evolved since he had started playing electric guitar in 1965. Initially, Garcia had been willing to jam with seemingly anyone. At a certain point, around 1967 or so, he seems to have become frustrated with jamming with musicians way below his level. In '68 and '69, Garcia appears to have switched his focus to jamming in more controlled situations in clubs, where the quality of musicians could be somewhat guaranteed. He also liked to jam with other musicians on the Dead's equipment, in various settings, no doubt as a way to control both the gear and the guests.</p><p><a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2020/04/riders-of-purple-sage-old-new-and.html">In May of 1969, Garcia had gotten interested in playing the pedal steel guitar, and started up the New Riders Of The Purple Sage</a>. This was Garcia's first experience with an established "side band" outside of the Grateful Dead. It is often overlooked that after the Riders, Garcia moved his extra-curricular interests moved over to a model where he had a somewhat fixed band, rather than random guests. It's notable that once Garcia found he enjoyed jamming with Vitt and Wales, he "wanted to make a regular thing of it" (per Vitt) and they got a bass player. When the first one didn't work out, Vitt got Kahn, and that was that. While the Garcia/Wales/Kahn/Vitt ensemble was a forum for wide-open jamming, it was jamming by a comparatively fixed group of musicians.<br /></p><p><b>April 28-May 2, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Sandy Bull </b><i>(Tuesday-Saturday)</i><br />Sandy Bull returned for an entire week. To be realistic, as a solo performer, a Matrix gig made more sense for him financially than for a four or five-member band. The <i>Barb</i> also mentions showing the Jean Cocteau film "Blood Of A Poet" (<i>as a side note, there is a New Riders tape listed as "Matrix" supposedly from April 30, but all exterior evidence suggests it is mis-dated</i>). <br /></p><b>May 4, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Monday Night Jam</b><br />I don't know how this night was billed, but Garcia was still on tour with the Dead.<br /><p><b>May 5-6, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Catfish </b><i>(Tuesday-Wednesday)</i><br />Catfish was a blues-rock band out of Detroit that released their first album, Get Down, in 1970. Catfish Hodge, later a solo blues guy, was the leader of that group (which incidentally opened for the Dead at the Capitol Theatre on 3/20-21/70). I believe by about 1980 he was the lead singer in a band called The Bluesbusters, which featured some former Little Feat guys (<a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-matrix-3138-fillmore-st-san.html?showComment=1611876143033#c4406355836715493238">thanks CryptDev for the update</a>). <br /><br /><b>May 7-9, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Hahn Brotherhood </b><i>(Thursday-Saturday)</i></p><p><b>May 11, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jam with Howard Wales and friends</b><i> (Monday)</i><br />The Grateful Dead were still on (a legendary) tour on the East Coast, so Garcia wasn't available. Now, Wales' name was on the ads, which would turn out to have interesting consequences. </p><p><b>May 12-14, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: AB Skhy/Shag </b><i>(Tuesday-Thursday)</i><br />As near as I can tell, Howard Wales had left <b>AB Skhy</b> by 1970. I think, based on scanty evidence, that the band now featured transplanted Wisconsites Curley Cooke on guitar and vocals and Rick Jaeger on drums, replacing Dennis Geyer and Terry Anderson. Possibly also Russ Dashiell was on guitar as well. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/A-B-Skhy-Ramblin-On/release/5683343">That was more or less the lineup for AB Skhy's second MGM album <i>Ramblin' On</i></a>. Of course, even if Wales was out of the band, it's not unlikely that he left his organ at the Matrix and jammed with them anyway. </p><p>I recognize the name Shag, but I don't know anything about them. They may have been from Fresno.<br /></p><p><b>May 15, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Saddhu Brand</b><i> (Friday)</i><br />Saddhu Brand probably played Saturday (May 16) as well, but I don't have direct evidence.</p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0sZGxMAEFS8/X54CWKHGMXI/AAAAAAAAHjQ/-LTsJnMLV-Eyv9hRffpzaZJftCp7UnHNgCLcBGAsYHQ/s360/Sidetrips_Cover-%2BHoward%2BWales.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="360" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0sZGxMAEFS8/X54CWKHGMXI/AAAAAAAAHjQ/-LTsJnMLV-Eyv9hRffpzaZJftCp7UnHNgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Sidetrips_Cover-%2BHoward%2BWales.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Side Trips, recorded at the Matrix on May 18, 1970 and released in 1998. Howard Wales, Jerry Garcia, John Kahn and Bill Vitt, jamming their brains out.<br /></i></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />May 18, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia, Howard Wales and friends </b><i>(Monday)</i><br />This night is significant because we have an officially released tape. In 1998, Grateful Dead Records released <i>Side Trips</i>, credited to Jerry Garcia and Howard Wales. Kahn and Vitt play as well, and it's as clear a picture as we are going to get of the Garcia/Wales shows at the Matrix. The cd is over an hour, and there are only 4 tracks, all of them way, way outside jamming. There are not even repeated choruses, as far as I can tell, much less any vocals. Garcia has said that Wales opened up his ears for playing really outside music. There's no question that the spacey, early 70s Dead with Keith Godchaux owes a lot to the kind of unlimited improvisation on display here.<br /><p></p><p><b>May 19-20, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Linn County</b><i> (Tuesday-Wednesday)</i><br />In the 1960s, bands from all over the country moved to San Francisco to make it. <b>Linn County</b> were from Cedar Rapids, IA (Cedar Rapids was in Linn County). They had moved to the Bay Area in 1968. They were a pretty good band, and released three albums on Phillips. Their 3rd and last album was 1970's <i>Til The Break Of Dawn</i>. Organist and lead singer Stephen Miller regularly played at the Matrix, with Linn County, on his own and with the Elvin Bishop Group. Linn County broke up soon after this, and Miller officially joined Bishop (he had been a <i>de facto</i> member for at least a year). <br /></p><p><b>May 21-23, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Ramblin' Jack Elliott/Rosalie Sorrells </b><i>(Thursday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>Ramblin' Jack Elliott</b> was a folk legend, and <b>Rosalie Sorrells</b> was a well-known folk singer as well. Here they were headlining the Matrix on a weekend, since good rock bands would have better bookings. Elliott probably lived in the North Bay by this time, or at least was based there (he definitely would be within a year or two). <br /></p><p><b>May 25, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia, Howard Wales and friends </b><i>(Monday)</i><b> </b><br /><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-matrix-3138-fillmore-st-san.html?showComment=1619179438116#c6494354289607224610">Fellow scholar runonguinness observes that although Garcia was booked at the Matrix, the Grateful Dead were in England to play a rock festival</a>. A picture of Garcia's passport shows that he did not return until May 26. <br /></p><p><b></b></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yuDVNijmKdg/X54CsDpL0cI/AAAAAAAAHjY/0eXG3eTskggv6ZNq1rsxOACZC9OWQlZwQCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Jerry%2BHahn%2BBrotherhood.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="579" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yuDVNijmKdg/X54CsDpL0cI/AAAAAAAAHjY/0eXG3eTskggv6ZNq1rsxOACZC9OWQlZwQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Jerry%2BHahn%2BBrotherhood.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The 1970 Jerry Hahn Brotherhood album, on Columbia, featuring Mike Finnegan</i></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />May 26-30, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Hahn Brotherhood </b><i>(Tuesday-Saturday)</i><br />Sometime in 1970, the Jerry Hahn Brotherhood recorded their debut album at Wally Heiders in San Francisco. Most of the songs on their debut album, released later in 1970, were by one Lane Tietgen, who had been in a Kansas band with Mike Finnegan called The Serfs. <br /><p></p><p><a href="https://www.discogs.com/The-Jerry-Hahn-Brotherhood-The-Jerry-Hahn-Brotherhood/release/1251891 ">Although the Jerry Hahn Brotherhood lp is very obscure, never released on cd, two of the songs are pretty well known.</a> Manfred Mann's Earth Band recorded two of the songs,"Martha's Madman" and "Captain Bobby Stout." Mann's version of both songs got good FM airplay in the mid-70s, and have been staples of the Earth Band's concerts ever since.<br /><br /><b>June 1, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia, Howard Wales and friends </b><i>(Monday) </i><br /></p><p><b>June 2-4, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Boz Scaggs </b><i>(Tuesday-Thursday)</i></p><p><b>June 5-6, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: John Fahey </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br /><b>John Fahey </b>was a giant of acoustic guitar, and his unique virtuoso style inspired numerous talented guitarists such as Robbie Basho and Leo Kottke, just to name a few. Fahey's lengthy instrumentals were somewhat inpenetrable to the unitiated however, so the Matrix may have been an appropriate place.</p><p><b>June 8, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia, Howard Wales & Friends </b><i>(Monday)</i><b><br /></b></p><p><b>June 9-11, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Lightning Hopkins </b><i>(Tuesday-Thursday)</i><br /><b>Lightnin' Hopkins</b> had played the Matrix in the very beginning in 1965, headlining over Jefferson Airplane, and had played there ever since.</p><p><b>June 12-13, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Sandy Bull </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Sandy Bull returned for the weekend. The <i>Barb</i> had the Rhythm Dukes and Vince Guaraldi, but I assume they were replaced.</p><p><b>June 15, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia, Howard Wales & Friends </b><i>(Monday)</i><br /></p><p><b>June 16-18, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Charlie Musselwhite (Tuesday-Thursday)</b></p><p><b>June 19-20, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Rig </b><i>(Friday-Saturday)</i><br />Rig was a New York band that had been signed by Bill Graham's management company. <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Rig-Rig/master/1035065">They had released a self-titled album on Capitol.</a> Rig had opened at Fillmore East a number of times, but they decided to move to San Francisco to be nearer to the Bill Graham organization. By the end of 1970, however, Rig would break up. Pianist/songwriter Kendall Kardt would stay in San Francisco as a solo artist for a few years, as would drummer Rick Schlosser (later with Van Morrison and then Montrose). <br /></p><p><b>June 22, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Jerry Garcia, Howard Wales and friends </b><i>(Monday)</i><br />We happen to know a lot about this night, <a href="http://impressionsofvince.blogspot.com/2012/06/champlin-at-bit.html">thanks to some great research by Guaraldi biographer Derrick Bang, and the good memory of Bill Champlin</a>. According to Champlin, his friend Bill Vitt invited him along as a rhythm guitarist, because Garcia was getting carried away with his effects box (which tells you how far out things must have been). When Champlin arrived at the Matrix, it turned out that Howard Wales was not there. In his place was Vince Guaraldi. Garcia must have been the one to call him, as Gauraldi and Garcia went back a few years and had jammed various times.<br /><br />Champlin describes the whole show, including a guest appearance by Vince Denham, playing soprano sax. Later, Curley Cooke shows up to hang out, and ends up jamming on stage with Champlin's Gibson. According to Garcia, Kahn and Vitt, at different times, Wales was a great musician but became uneasy when crowds started to show up. By triangulation, we can infer that 100 or so people must have started showing up to on prior Monday nights. In this century, Wales's privately circulated autobiography suggests he had a non-musical career as a--shall we say, "Product Manager"--for certain agricultural imports. Attention may have been a problem in itself, which lead to Wales replacement a few months later by the more available Merl Saunders.</p><p><b>June 29, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Howard Wales, Terry Haggerty and friends </b><i>(Monday)</i><br />The Grateful Dead were touring across Canada on a train, the legendary Festival Express, so Garcia was not available. His place seems to have been taken by Terry Haggerty. Haggerty, an exceptional guitarist himself, was a member of the Sons Of Champlin, to the extent the band existed. The social connection was probably through Bill Vitt, who would join the Sons later in the year. Limited evidence suggests that Haggerty may have been a regular fill-in when Garcia wasn't available (there is a late 1970 photo of Wales, Haggerty and Kahn playing together in Marin), but with Matrix jams, it's hard to know.<br /></p><p><b>June 30-Jul 3, 1970 The Matrix, San Francisco, CA: Boz Scaggs </b><i>(Tuesday-Friday)</i><br /><br /><br /></p><div><p><b><i>Appendix 2: Other Posts in the 1970s Rock Nightclubs Series</i></b></p><p><b><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/11/keystone-berkeley-2119-university.html">Keystone Berkeley, 2119 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA: 1972 Performers List</a></b></p></div><b><i><a href="http://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2021/04/60s-and-70s-rock-nightclub-history.html">For subsequent posts in the 70s Rock Nightclubs series, see here. </a></i></b><br /><p><br /> </p>Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6667800298422570910.post-76064554547092917442020-11-14T15:11:00.018-08:002023-03-02T16:31:19.240-08:00Keystone Berkeley, 2119 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA: 1972 Performers List<div><i><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pq4Hi9gXTlk/X1RAN3AmYlI/AAAAAAAAHOA/Vz38Iwj-d8U5GSMPvPpOM6KU7vp8AFNfwCLcBGAsYHQ/s604/keystone%2Bberkeley%2B1982%2Bapprox.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="604" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pq4Hi9gXTlk/X1RAN3AmYlI/AAAAAAAAHOA/Vz38Iwj-d8U5GSMPvPpOM6KU7vp8AFNfwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/keystone%2Bberkeley%2B1982%2Bapprox.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Keystone Berkeley, at 2119 University Avenue (at Shattuck) in downtown Berkeley, as it looked ca. 1982</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b><br />Keystone Berkeley, 2119 University Avenue, Berkeley, CA: March 1-December 31 1972</b></i></div><div>The Keystone Berkeley nightclub was open in downtown Berkeley for a dozen years, from 1972 to 1984. With an official capacity of 500--probably exceeded regularly--and relatively convenient parking, the Keystone played a critical role in Bay Area rock history. These days, Keystone Berkeley is most recalled for hosting Jerry Garcia. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/12/2119-university-avenue-berkeley-ca.html">Long after the Grateful Dead had made Garcia a huge star, he played the Keystone Berkeley over 200 times, more than any other venue</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>Yet numerous other rock stars, whether Bay Area residents or from out-of-town, played Keystone Berkeley. Sometimes they played it on the way up, and sometimes on the way down, and on occasion on the way back up, too. Keystone Berkeley was designed to sell beer, lots of beer, and because they could sell it, bands got paid. Bill Graham Presents dominated the Bay Area concert market, as they always had, but even a band with a record contract and a future needed a good payday for some walking around money. The monthly Keystone Berkeley always had acts worth seeing, as long as you liked it loud and rocking. </div><div> </div><div>Berkeley rock fans from the 1970s and early 80s generally have fond memories of the Keystone Berkeley. They saw good bands, they didn't pay much money to do it, and often the event was just spur of the moment. On a night with nothing going on, you and your roommate could hop in the car and catch Commander Cody, Jerry Garcia, the Dead Kennedys or whoever was on tap that decade. Maybe there was sawdust on the floor, and definitely beer. Ok, there wasn't much else. In the early days, there were some tables, and maybe some pizza--not so sure about that--but by the end there was just Miller Lite and Popcorn. Bands had to walk from the back of the house to the front, through the crowd, whether they were nobody or Jerry Garcia. People got there early, drank beer and hung out. Eventually, the band came out and played. It was truly a Berkeley institution. Was it a dump? Hell yes. But it was our dump. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>There were other cubs in the Bay Area in the mid-70s, filling various niches, but Keystone Berkeley held down the slots for loud, bluesy guitar playing. In 1977, Keystone Berkeley combined forces with the Palo Alto club Sophie's. The combination of Keystone Berkeley and Keystone Palo Alto doubled both clubs' booking power. The Stone, on Broadway in San Francisco, was added in 1980. Herrera ran Keystone Berkeley, while Bobby Corona and his son (Bobby Jr) ran the other two. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2011/01/jerry-garcia-and-keystone-shows.html">Garcia and the other Keystone regulars played all three venues, and the clubs were an essential piece of the Bay Area rock scene</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>Bay Area rock band histories often mention the Keystones, but the actual role and importance of the Keystone Berkeley is barely reflected upon. This post will look back at the Keystone Berkeley, and its genesis in 1972.</div><div> </div><div><i><b>History of The Keystones </b></i><br /></div><div>The Keystone Korner was a little San Francisco club on 750 Vallejo Street, a few blocks off Broadway. Prior to being the Keystone Korner, the club had been called DenoCarlo's. DenoCarlo's was unmemorable, but still googlable, mainly because Creedence Clearwater Revival had a Monday night residency there back in 1968. 750 Vallejo is in North Beach, just off Broadway, not far from City Lights Books. When Freddie Herrera bought the club in 1969, across the street from the club was a closed police station, so Herrera
named it "Keystone Korner, " with a vague allusion to "Keystone Kops." Herrera thought it could make it as a topless joint. It turned out, however, that Vallejo Street was just far enough off Broadway to attract no foot traffic. <br /></div><div> </div><div>According to San Francisco <i>Chronicle</i> rock critic Joel Selvin, Nick Gravenites wandered in one night. Gravenites was part of a community of white blues musicians from Chicago that had migrated to San Francisco. At the time, Gravenites was producing an album and wanted his guy (I believe Luther Tucker) to work out his numbers in a club. Pretty rapidly, however, Keystone Korner became the hangout for all those expat Chicago Blues musicians. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/12/john-kahn-live-performance-history-1969.html ">Gravenites' pal Mike Bloomfield, a genuine rock guitar hero, very much liked playing some tiny joint instead of a big hall</a>. Bloomfield performed regularly at Keystone Korner, so Bay Area rock fans had heard of the club, even if most hadn't been there. Keystone Korner puttered along through 1969 and 1970, hosting Bloomfield, Gravenites, Elvin Bishop and a variety of other blues oriented acts. There were no other rock clubs in the North Beach area, a<a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Matrix%20Shows.htm">lthough the Matrix was over in the Marina</a>, not too far away.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vsg2Q2lkuBc/Xzlr-4iizlI/AAAAAAAAHIA/0L1Zgu_uYS4zIyf-kFFaNfq7qXWRHgVzwCLcBGAsYHQ/s500/Keystone%2BKorner%2B19711008.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="363" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vsg2Q2lkuBc/Xzlr-4iizlI/AAAAAAAAHIA/0L1Zgu_uYS4zIyf-kFFaNfq7qXWRHgVzwCLcBGAsYHQ/w290-h400/Keystone%2BKorner%2B19711008.jpg" width="290" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>In April 1971, Keystone Korner owner Freddie Herrera started booking shows at The New Monk as well.</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table> </div><div>In 1971, when The Matrix closed, Jerry Garcia needed a new clubhouse, too. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2011/09/john-kahn-live-performance-history-1971.html">Since John Kahn played bass for both Bloomfield and Garcia, it's no surprise that Garcia and Merl Saunders ended up playing Keystone Korner as well.</a> There were a lot of working musicians in San Francisco, and not so many places to play, so plenty of bands played Keystone Korner. Around April 1971, Freddie Herrera also took over booking shows for a Berkeley nightclub called The New Monk, often booking bands at both Keystone Korner and The New Monk on consecutive days.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5Pn4PbSlfSs/X1RA_Scf44I/AAAAAAAAHOI/OJJLv9Rf0QwX5EhDnbZkzcKzPBdizriUQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1200/Monkey-Inn-Gang-1958.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="927" data-original-width="1200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5Pn4PbSlfSs/X1RA_Scf44I/AAAAAAAAHOI/OJJLv9Rf0QwX5EhDnbZkzcKzPBdizriUQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Monkey-Inn-Gang-1958.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Jazz musicians performing at the old Monkey Inn, at 3105 Shattuck, about 1958</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />The New Monk, 2119 University Avenue (at Shattuck), Berkeley, CA</b></i></div><div><a href="https://karenstephen.com/2017/02/26/monkey-inn-night-berkeley-early-sixties-where-music-and-mayhem-was-born/">Back in the early 60s, there had been an infamous bar popular with fraternities called The Monkey Inn</a>. It was known universally as "The Monk." In those days, as some kind of Prohibition throwback, there were restrictions on serving beer or liquor close to campus (when I arrived at UC Berkeley as a freshman in 1975, the only liquor stores were at least a mile from campus, on Grove Street). The Monkey Inn was on the corner of Shattuck Avenue and Prince Street. The actual address seems to have been either 3105 or 3109 Shattuck, about one mile South of campus. Currently, those addresses are the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Pe%C3%B1a_Cultural_Center">La Pena Cultural Center</a>, but on the corner is <a href="Starry Plough 3101 Shattuck https://www.thestarryplough.com/">The Starry Plough nightclub, at 3101 Shattuck</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>California liquor laws at the time were very restrictive, but much more fluid for restaurants. So a place like the Monkey Inn would serve pizza and burgers, and in turn could easily get a license to serve beer and wine. Frat boys and their prospective sorority dates would hang at "The Monk," as it was called, pounding down beers with abandon. There had been music regularly at the Monkey Inn. <a href="https://syncopatedtimes.com/the-gang-at-monkey-inn-part-1-classic-and-traditional-jazz-1958-62/">In the late 50s, a Dixieland band played 5 nights a week, and even recorded live at 'The Monk."</a><br /></div><div> </div><div>By the mid-60s, the music had migrated to rock and roll. John and Tom Fogerty, later famous in Creedence Clearwater Revival, recalled playing The Monk back in '64 or so, when the band was still called The Golliwogs, and when he and his bandmates were still fresh out of El Cerrito High School. Rowdy Frat Boys would buy beer for a dollar a pitcher--probably not very good beer--and it was a rowdy scene. The future Creedence lads learned early how to keep it rocking. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Around March 1968, the Monkey Inn moved closer to campus. The new location was at 2119 University Avenue, at Shattuck. The place was at the North end of the old Key Route turnaround at Shattuck Square. The location turned out to be prescient, since it ended up being near the Berkeley BART station, which in turn drove development around the immediate area. In any case, the joint was called "The New Monk," an obvious reference to all the locals, but not to anyone else. Most nights, the New Monk was a Frat boy hangout, with pizza and beer. On weekends, a local band would be booked for dancing. It being Berkeley and all, sometimes the band would later turn out to be famous. Creedence Clearwater played a weekend or two in April 1968, and Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen played there in 1969. Most of the time, however, it was just local bands on the make.</div><div><br /></div><div>In April 1971, as The New Monk was trying to transition from "frat boy hangout" to "hippie rock club," Freddie Herrera took over the booking. This allowed Herrera to offer traveling bands two gigs, at Keystone Korner and New Monk, instead of just one. The New Monk was managed by one Bruce Feldman.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gN0mnswa42E/X2Z3Au0P6rI/AAAAAAAAHUw/4vbrqr0UtXQZJeUmbOY3zEOPgekC9RrDQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Merl%252BSaunders%252B%2526%252BJerry%252BGarcia%252B-%252BLive%252BAt%252BKeystone.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="319" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gN0mnswa42E/X2Z3Au0P6rI/AAAAAAAAHUw/4vbrqr0UtXQZJeUmbOY3zEOPgekC9RrDQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Merl%252BSaunders%252B%2526%252BJerry%252BGarcia%252B-%252BLive%252BAt%252BKeystone.jpg" /></a></div><b>San Francisco Rock and Roll Economics, ca. early 1972</b></i></div><div>In the late 1960s, San Francisco was one of the bright lights in the popular music industry. Record companies, backed by big corporate money, signed every band in town. Different acts had their ups and downs, but there had been numerous hit acts coming out of SF--Jefferson Airplane, Sly and The Family Stone and Santana, just to name a few. There were big recording studios in San Francisco, too, such as CBS Studios and Wally Heiders, so the record companies were still present in force. </div><div><br /></div><div>Live rock music was bigger business than ever, and with Bill Graham in town, every important band played the Bay Area without fail. Ironically, however, the rising importance of Bill Graham Presents and the concert industry had an unfortunate effect on any bands not in the very top tier. In the Fillmore days, three bands or more typically played Fillmore West, and lesser ballrooms like the Family Dog (whether at the Avalon or on the Great Highway) booked multiple bands as well. Every touring act played San Francisco, of course, but local bands got booked as openers. Thanks to the record companies, most of these bands had albums, but live performances probably put more cash in their pockets than their recording contracts.</div><div><br />Bill Graham had closed the Fillmore West in July, 1971. BGP had moved operations to Winterland (capacity 5,400), Berkeley Community Theater (3,500 reserved seats) and the Oakland Coliseum (capactiy ca. 15,000). The bands that played those venues were big stars. If there was an opening act, it was probably attached to the national tour, via the record company or talent agency. Paying slots for opening bands, even if they had an album, were few and far between in the Bay Area.</div><div><br /></div><div>Weekend gigs at Keystone Berkeley paid good money. How much isn't precisely clear, but they were clearly 4-fugure numbers, which was real money in 1972. For a Bay Area band with a following, and maybe an album or two, playing Keystone Berkeley kept the band going. Some out-of-town acts also played Keystone Berkeley, usually because they were no longer flavor-of-the-month for opening big rock shows. Graham, apparently, didn't like bands playing Keystone Berkeley, but that of course was a sign that they served a real purpose. Financially speaking, Keystone Berkeley bookings replaced bottom-of-the-poster bookings for Bay Area bands. The bands probably played better music and got more cash playing Keystone, too.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>Geography and Commuting</i></b></div><div>One factor that very much favored the Keystone Berkeley was its location relative to the rest of the Bay Area. Although the Keystone was in downtown Berkeley, directions to the club were very simple. It was on the intersection of two of the best-known streets in the city, so almost any East Bay resident could get there easily. Also, University Avenue had its own exit off Highway 80, so the Keystone was easy to find if you were coming from San Francisco, Marin County or other parts of Alameda County.</div><div> </div><div>It is a peculiarity of Bay Area geography that some places that seem to be far apart are quite near when traffic is not a factor. Although not many people lived in Marin County, back in the 1970s a lot of musicians did. At the times when musicians drive to and from work, it was a very quick trip from anywhere in Marin to downtown Berkeley. Jerry Garcia, for example, lived in far Western Marin (Stinson Beach) in 1972, and he could make it to the Keystone Berkeley in about 70 minutes (<a href="http://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2012/01/jerry-garcias-automobiles-1960-1970.html">even if he didn't speed in his cool Volvo 1800ES</a>). As if that weren't enough, Fantasy Studios, at 10th and Parker, was on the way to and from Keystone Berkeley for anyone who lived in Marin. The popularity of Fantasy Studios and Keystone Berkeley with the Marin musical community makes perfect sense: Berkeley paid better than any Marin gig, because there were more people, but it was still near everywhere in Alameda County by freeway.</div><div><br /></div><div>Also, although Keystone Berkeley was downtown, in 1972 it wasn't hard to park downtown at night. It is an irony that just a few blocks away from the dingy Keystone, an entire food revolution was happening. The "Gourmet Ghetto," which included <a href="http://www.chezpanisse.com/intro.php">Alice Waters' Chez Panisse restaurant</a>, The Cheese Board, and Peet's Coffee (which begat Starbucks) were all just a few blocks North. At the time, though, Shattuck and University was an easy park, and also free. Just the thing if you got it into your head one night to hop in your roommate's MGB and go see the Jerry Garcia Band on the spur of the moment.</div><div> </div><div>Also, although Keystone Berkeley was downtown, it was on the Northern edge of downtown, and their were plenty of potential patrons who lived within walking distance of the club. While the bigger acts were going to pull fans from all over the East Bay, and probably Marin or even parts of San Francisco, on weeknights the Keystone was just a local joint. When a band was playing Monday night for no cover, a lot of nearby residents probably dropped in for a beer. Thus the Keystone could advertise for bigger acts on weekends, but still have a modest, profitable night with local bands, a rare combination for an urban nightclub. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div><div><i><b>Blues Venues</b></i></div><div>In the late 60s, Bill Graham and others had regularly booked
classic electric blues bands with rock acts, giving white rock fans a
taste for the real blues performers. However, by the early 70s, blues acts were rarely
booked with rock shows. At the same time, white audiences would not go
to black clubs to see blues acts, which were hardly being booked there
anyway. In the Bay Area, at least, the Keystone Berkeley helped fill the
gap by providing good paying bookings for established blues acts. </div><div> </div>The other white rock club in the East Bay that regularly booked blues
artists was <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Mandrakes.htm">Mandrake's, just 10 blocks West, down University Avenue and San Pablo Avenue (at
1048 University)</a>. However, Mandrakes was far smaller, so Keystone got
the best of the available blues artists. It's also a fact that while there were a bunch of nightclubs in West Berkeley, on the San Pablo Avenue corridor (see the list below). Those areas were a lot seedier than downtown. Now, downtown itself wasn't that pretty in those days, but the fact is that further down University Avenue and San Pablo (around 10th Street) had significant African-American populations, and that made white rock fans from other parts of town less likely to go there. </div><div> </div><div>In fact, Keystone Berkeley had a wider variety of bookings than most rock clubs, since it paid better than other East Bay clubs. Keystone Berkeley had some folk, jazz and R&B bookings simply because bands on tour didn't have better choices in Berkeley or Oakland at the time. So while the emphasis of Keystone Berkeley was always going to be a loud, bluesy guitar--played by whoever--the booking was more eclectic than one might anticipate. <br /></div><div> </div><div><div><b>Advertising and Schedule</b></div><div>The Keystone Berkeley, as an economic entity, was designed to sell beer. Lots and lots of beer. That was what paid the bands--beer. If you don't understand the beer part of it, you are missing what made Keystone Berkeley tick. Remember also, that thanks to various factors, historical and political, there were far fewer bars in downtown Berkeley than there would be in most college towns. So a place with good, loud music and cold beer had far less competition than there would be in some places. According to California law, a joint like Keystone Berkeley could sell beer (and wine, hypothetically) if they served food, because that made them a "restaurant."<br /></div><div> </div><div>I know that in the early 70s, Keystone Berkeley had tables on the dance
floor, mainly as an attraction to get people to come to shows early and
start drinking beer. There appears to have been a little food,
too. I know that over time, the tables went away, and so did any food. By the time I started going to Keystone Berkeley, in 1979, there were no tables and virtually no food. A former waitress once explained in a Comment Thread that the club served popcorn as their only food item. She also asserted that they only served Miller Lite, accounting for Keystone Berkeley's reputation for watered-down beer.<br /></div><div> </div><div>The Monk had probably been open 6 or 7 nights a week when it was a Frat Boy hang-out. The New Monk probably had had a similar schedule when it opened on University Avenue, even if there may have only been bands on the weekend. By the time the New Monk became the Keystone Berkeley, however, in March 1972, it was more of a music club. Keystone Berkeley was open when there was live music, and not otherwise. Also, as a "restaurant," The New Monk and Keystone Berkeley had the archaic admissions policy that allowed women over 18, but men only over 21. This was designed to allow college seniors to bring freshman dates. Strange as it seems now, this restriction was common in Bay Area clubs throughout the 1960s.<br /></div><div> </div><div>In 1972, Keystone Berkeley was certainly open every weekend, probably from Thursday to Monday. They would be open on Tuesday or Wednesday if a band was booked. By the same token, if no one was playing on Sunday or Monday, the Keystone Berkeley was probably closed. On Friday and Saturday, I'm confident a local band was hired if there was nothing else going, but not on other nights.</div><div> </div><div>Back in '72, there were no advance tickets for Keystone Berkeley shows. The first computerized ticket service (Ticketron) had just started, but it was for Bill Graham and the theater, not nightclubs. Some nightclubs might have advance tickets, at least from the club itself, but Keystone Berkeley did not. One attraction of the Keystone to Jerry Garcia was that he could book a gig and then change the date, or cancel it, and no money had to be refunded. Since Garcia often played weeknights, anyway, the club would just be closed that night. To a lesser extent, popular bands like Tower Of Power or Elvin Bishop would benefit from this, as well. With no advance tickets, changing the schedule was no hassle (by 1975, most weekend Keystone shows save for Garcia did have advance tickets through BASS). In 1972, Keystone Berkeley was all cash and all right now, for the club, the bands and the fans.</div><div><br /></div><div>The principal form of advertising for Keystone Berkeley was announcements on FM radio. The big rock stations, like KSAN, always had an "entertainment calendar" generally recited at around 5:30pm. The dj would list all the clubs, "at The Keystone Berkeley, tonight and tomorrow night, Elvin Bishop Group, and at the Lion's Share, Stoneground," and so on. FM rock radio was ever-present. The idea was that you heard the announcement in your car driving home from work, when you made a decision about the evening. By 1973, Keystone Berkeley also had ubiquitous flyers on bulletin boards around Berkeley, but I don't know how early that started. Shows were often listed in the newspapers, too, but the club didn't actually advertise until later.<br /></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Competing Clubs</b></div><div>In 1972, Keystone Berkeley was probably the second-best paying gig for local bands, other than playing for Graham. Other than for bands like the Dead and the Airplane, who could actually headline Winterland, Keystone Berkeley was probably the best booking. There were a few other clubs, but they didn't really offer what Keystone did. If you've even read this far, you probably are at least curious about those clubs. Here are the Bay Area clubs (and one concert venue) that were open in 1972, but far enough up the ladder that at least some of the bands playing these clubs had released records.</div><div><b></b></div><blockquote><div><b>Keystone Korner, 750 Vallejo St, San Francisco</b></div><div>Keystone Korner, owned and managed by Freddie Herrera, was somewhat smaller than Keystone Berkeley. It was in North Beach, near Broadway, and booked the same bluesy rock acts that played Keystone Berkeley. Herrera had opened the Keystone Korner in 1969. For the first half of 1972, Keystone Korner had roughly the same bookings as Keystone Berkeley, and most of the better known acts played both places (Herrera was booking them both).</div><div><br />In July, 1972, Herrera sold Keystone Korner to Todd Barkan. Barkan kept the name Keystone Korner, but booked jazz almost exclusively. While Keystone Korner under Barkan had perpetual financial problems, from a musical point of view it was the City's premier jazz club. Many great live jazz albums were recorded there.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>The Boarding House, 960 Bush Street, San Francisco</b></div><div><a href="http://jerrygarciasbrokendownpalaces.blogspot.com/2011/09/boarding-house-960-bush-st-san.html">The Boarding House, formerly Coast Recorders, and then Troubadour North</a>, was a delightful little club, at 960 Bush (near Taylor), between the Financial District and Chinatown. Bands loved it, but it was tiny and and hard to park, and also in the somewhat seedy Tenderloin. Other than Jerry Garcia, mostly the Boarding House favored quieter singer-songwriter acts, often with smaller ensembles. The intimate Boarding House also featured a lot of great comedy performers.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>Mandrake's, 1048 University (at San Pablo), Berkeley</b></div><div>Back in World War 2, San Pablo Avenue was known as "Music Row," with nightclubs from Richmond to Oakland. There were still a few clubs. <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Mandrakes.htm ">Mandrake's booked a lot of blues, and what we would now call "Roots" music</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Longbranch, 2504 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley</b></div><div><a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2009/08/2504-san-pablo-avenue-berkeley-ca.html ">2504 San Pablo Avenue (at Dwight), although a tiny little building, was an infamous address in Berkeley music history</a>. Previously it had been the Cabale Creamery, the Questing Beast, Tito's. Babylon and a few others. In late 1971, it had doubled in size to accomodate 300+ fans, and it was now the hard-rocking Longbranch. A barely-21 crowd, most of them living relatively nearby, bought lots of beer and liked it loud. On occasion, the Longbranch booked touring bands as well, although not major ones.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>New Orleans House, 1505 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley</b></div><div>The New Orleans House was also on San Pablo, but a little further North (near Cedar Street). <a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/New%20Orleans%20House.htm ">It had booked a lot of cool bands in the 60s, but the club was too out of the way in Berkeley to compete</a>. Many of the booked bands had albums, but it was more of a "roots" club (although no one used that term) rather than an exclusively rock club.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>House Of Good, 1839 Geary Boulevard, San Francisco</b><br /></div><div>The House Of Good was only used intermittently for rock shows in 1972, but it was intriguing. It was a concert venue, albeit a small one, larger than the Keystone Berkeley, but smaller than the Fillmore Auditorium. I think House Of Good was booked by some of the people behind the Straight Theater (the Resners). The venue, at 1839 Geary Street at Fillmore, was just between the legendary Fillmore Auditorium (at 1805) and <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2009/11/1859-geary-blvd-san-francisco-geary.html">the tragic People's Temple (at 1859), also a former rock venue</a>. <a href="https://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2009/11/1839-geary-blvd-san-francisco-ca-july.html">1839 Geary was better known as a rock venue, both as Theater 1839 (for Deadheads) and as Temple Beautiful (for punk-rock people)</a>. I suspect the unwillingness of white rock fans to come to largely African American neighborhoods limited the appeal of an otherwise special building.</div><div> </div><div><b>Great American Music Hall, 859 O'Farrell St, San Francisco</b></div><div>The Great American Music Hall, an elegant room housed in a former bordello, opened in August 1972. Initially, it only booked jazz. There were still a few jazz clubs around, The El Matador on Broadway, and The Both/And near the Haight (on Divisadero). But with the Broadway district moving from jazz to exclusively topless, there was room for another jazz club besides those two and Keystone Korner. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Lion's Share, 60 Redhill Avenue, San Anselmo</b></div><div>Marin County had most of the musicians, but none of the gigs. The only real rock club was the Lion's Share, which could fit 250-300 patrons. It was a real musicians' hangout, and lots of good bands ended up playing there--Jerry Garcia and Van Morrison among them--but it wasn't competing with the other clubs in a normal way. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Inn Of The Beginning, 8201 Old Redwood Highway, Cotati </b></div><div><a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/07/8201-old-redwood-highway-cotati-ca-inn.html">The Inn Of The Beginning was a wonderful gig for Marin bands, but too far North of the city (in Sonoma County) to really compete.</a> It could hold about 200 patrons. Simlar to teh Lion's Share, good bands would show up now and again, for fun, basically, but it too wasn't really competing with other clubs.</div><div><br /><b>In Your Ear, 135 University Avenue, Palo Alto </b></div><div>A more intriguing club was In Your Ear, at 135 University in Palo Alto, formerly the site of the Poppycock. <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/07/palo-alto-psychedelic-rock-shows-1969.html">The Poppycock had been a sort of psychedelic rock crowd that ended up out of place in sleepy downtown Palo Alto</a>. The club reconstituted itself, and booked jazz and blues acts, and few imaginative rock acts as well. It was pretty much the concept of the Great American Music Hall, which would open in San Francisco in August of '72. <a href="https://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2020/07/tales-from-in-your-ear-live-music-in.html">Fellow blogger CryptDev has the whole story of In Your Ear. </a></div><div> <br /></div><div><b>Homer's Warehouse, 79 Homer Avenue, Palo Alto </b></div><div>The hard-rockin' Poppycock had closed in mid-1970, and the more sophisticated In Your Ear replaced it. Several blocks away, in a quonset hut across the railroad tracks, there was a hard-rockin' beer joint called Homer's Warehouse. Yeah, Jerry played there. <a href="https://cryptdev.blogspot.com/2020/07/live-music-in-palo-alto1971-73-across.html ]">CryptDev has the Homer's Warehouse Story, too.</a> </div></blockquote><div></div><div>Bill Graham Presents, a few other promoters, and all these clubs made up the rock landscape in the Bay Area. For artists playing their own music, in a rock or blues idiom, Keystone Berkeley was the rank just below big concerts, and just above everyone else. A survey of New Monk and Keystone Berkeley bookings in 1972 gives us a good picture of AAA rock in San Francisco at the time. Some almost ready for the major leagues, some not quite there yet, and some having just missed the pitch.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i><b><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3z0TeQO3tHo/X1PGCYTD2qI/AAAAAAAAHM0/i2d-hChIPe0n3FtZIWtlZmm_cwCNc-51ACLcBGAsYHQ/s633/John%2BLee%2BHooker%2BNever%2BGet%2BOut%2BOf%2BThese%2BBlues%2BAlive%2B71.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="633" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3z0TeQO3tHo/X1PGCYTD2qI/AAAAAAAAHM0/i2d-hChIPe0n3FtZIWtlZmm_cwCNc-51ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/John%2BLee%2BHooker%2BNever%2BGet%2BOut%2BOf%2BThese%2BBlues%2BAlive%2B71.jpg" /></a></div></b></i><i><b><br />New Monk Performers, January-February 1972 </b></i><br /></div><div><b>January 6-7, 1972 New Monk, Berkeley, CA: John Lee Hooker </b><i>(Thur-Fri)</i></div><div><b>John Lee Hooker</b> (1917-2001) had come from Detroit, and in the 60s
white fans had become aware of his music thanks to Eric Burdon, Canned
Heat and others. By the early 70s, Hooker had moved to the Bay Area. I
don't think he toured too much, but he played around the Bay Area with
some frequency. Hooker's current album was <i>Never Got Out Of These Blues Alive</i>,
on ABC. Van Morrison joined Hooker for a few songs on the album.
Morrison was known to show up when Hooker played the Keystone Berkeley,
much to the delight of fans. </div><div><br />Since Keystone Berkeley didn't advertise much, and New Monk even less, I am dependent on intermittent newspaper listings. While I am generally confident that the New Monk and Keystone Berkeley was open every weekend, and usually a few other days of the week, I am only identifying nights where some performer was advertised. In the New Monk period, the club may have been open for food and hanging out. Even when it became Keystone Berkeley, there were probably many nights where some local band played. However, if I don't have a listing, or some other kind of evidence, I'm not mentioning the missing date. Anyone with evidence--or even flashbacks--please note them in the Comments.</div><div><br /></div><div>I am only describing performers once, the first time they appear on this list. If there had been a material change in a later appearance--a personnel change, a record release--or I actually know something about the event, I will mention it under the later date. [<i><b>Update</b>: thanks to Commenters, <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/11/keystone-berkeley-2119-university.html?showComment=1606587726212#c3228487814826212200">particularly fellow scholar JGMF</a>, for some updated information from different sources. I have modified the post accordingly</i>]</div><div> </div><div><b>January 6, 1972 New Monk, Berkeley, CA: Doobie Brothers </b><i>(Thur)</i></div><div>The San Francisco <i>Chronicle</i> has the Doobie Brothers on this Thursday night. <br /><div> </div><div>In early 1972, <b>The Doobie Brothers</b>
were another unknown band climbing the ladder. The Doobies were from
the San Jose area, and they had built a following in the South Bay. They
were largely unknown in the East Bay, however, so playing on a Thursday
night at the New Monk was a way to get Berkeley familiar with the band. <br /></div><div><br />The Doobie Brothers had
released their first, self-titled album on Warner Brothers, back in
April, 1971. It hadn't done well. Although the Doobies had gone on a
National Tour (with Mother Earth), they were mostly still just slugging
it out in the local clubs. At this time, the Doobies had just replaced
original bassist Dave Shogren with Tiran Porter, and they had added
Michael Hossack as a second drummer (along with John Hartmann).
Guitarists Tom Johnston and Pat Simmons were the lead singers. <br /></div><div><br /><b>January 7, 1972 New Monk, Berkeley, CA: Copperhead </b><i>(Fri)</i></div></div><div>The San Francisco <i>Chronicle</i> has Copperhead on this night. <b>Copperhead</b> was the relatively new band formed by former Quicksilver Messenger Service lead guitarist John Cippolina. Membership was always somewhat fluid. At this time, the band probably had Cippolina and Jimmy Murray (himself ex-CMS ca. 1967) on guitars, Jim McPherson on bass, Pete Sears on keyboards and probably Gary Phillipett on guitar and Hutch Hutchinson on drums. Copperhead would go on to release a 1973 album on Columbia. They were promising, but never seeemed organized. </div><div> </div><div><b>January 8, 1972 New Monk, Berkeley, CA: Tower Of Power </b><i>(Sat)</i></div><div><b>Tower Of Power,</b> though originally from Fremont, were the pride of Oakland. They had been discovered by Bill Graham at t<a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2010/09/fillmore-west-lost-concerts-tuesday.html">he Tuesday night Fillmore West auditions</a>, and their first album <i>East Bay</i> <i>Grease</i>
had been released on Graham's San Francisco label (distributed by
Atlantic). By 1972, the label was gone, but Atlantic's sister label
Warner Brothers had picked up Tower. Tower's immortal second album, <i>Bump City</i>,
would be released a few months after this, just as the Oakland A's,
Raiders and Golden State Warriors were making all things Oakland
ascendant. </div><div><br /></div><div><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ztntTGLtZxQ/X0AKmlhtM2I/AAAAAAAAHIo/Ft8uDofx_U0GkNa8BMzulpCc0XybsCP7gCLcBGAsYHQ/s800/Clover%2BForty%2BNiner%2Balbum.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ztntTGLtZxQ/X0AKmlhtM2I/AAAAAAAAHIo/Ft8uDofx_U0GkNa8BMzulpCc0XybsCP7gCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h320/Clover%2BForty%2BNiner%2Balbum.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Clover's second album on Fantasy Records, produced by Ed Bogas, Fourty-Niner (1971)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>January 10, 1972 New Monk, Berkeley, CA: Clover/Christian Black </b><i>(Mon)</i></div><div><div>When the New Monk, and later Keystone Berkeley, was open on a
Monday night, it was set up so that a local band could build a
following. Typically, a band would play every Monday night for a while,
for no cover, or perhaps a dollar. Looking backwards, sometimes some
really good bands played Monday night. <a href="http://www.clover-infopage.com/">Clover was one of those bands</a>.</div><div><br /><b>Clover</b>
was a true rarity, a Marin band whose members were really from Marin.
Clover had formed in late 1967, out of a band called The Tiny Hearing
Aid Company. Fantasy Records, flush with Creedence money, had signed
Clover. The band released two poorly-produced but pretty good albums,
their self-titled debut in 1970, followed by <i>Fourty-Niner i</i>n
1971. Clover was a four-piece band, with lead and pedal steel guitarist
John McFee, lead singer and guitarist Alex Call, bassist John Ciambotti
and drummer Mitch Howie (McFee, Call and Howie had been in Tiny Hearing
Aid). Clover worked out of Mill Valley.</div><div><br /></div>By the
end of '71, Fantasy seemed to have dropped Clover. Paradoxically, the
band went and added two additional members, keyboardist Sean Hopper, who
joined in August '71, and singer and harmonica player Huey Louis. Both
were from Marin as well. Clover kept plugging along, playing Monday
nights in Berkeley, even after two albums. The proximity of Mill Valley
to downtown Berkeley made this a sensible gig for Clover.</div><div><b> <br /></b></div><div><b>Christian Black</b> is unknown to m<i>e.<br /></i></div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>January 13, 1972 New Monk, Berkeley, CA: Doobie Brothers </b><i>(Thur)</i><br /></div><br /></div><div><b>January 14-16, 1972 New Monk, Berkeley, CA: HooDoo Rhythm Devils/Jesse, Wolff and Whings </b><i>(Fri-Sun)</i></div><div><b>The Hoodoo Rhythm Devils</b> were a funky rock band from San
Francisco. They were apparently great live, and much beloved by their
fans, but they never got over the top. In the early 70s, they were led
by singer Joe Crane and lead guitarist John Rewind. In 1972, they would
release their second album, <i>The Barbecue Of DeVille</i>, on Blue Thumb Records.</div><div> <br /></div><div><div><b>Jesse, Wolff and Whings</b> released one album on Leon Russell's
Shelter label, distributed by Capitol. The group featured lead singer
Jesse Barish, lead guitarist Bill Wolff, bassist Kevin Kaufmann and
drummer Kevin Kelley, among other members. The group was supposed to be
called Wings, but Capitol had Paul McCartney's Wings, so they had to
change the spelling. <br /><br />Jesse Barish, per his bio, apparently
played a little bit with the all-instrumental Orkustra (I think he
played flute), back in the 60s. Bill Wolff was in a later version of the
Peanut Butter Conspiracy. Kevin Kelly had been in The Rising Sons and
The Byrds, among other bands, and both Kelly and Kevin Kaufmann had
backed Phil Ochs. <br /><br />When Jesse, Wolff and Whings fell apart, Jesse
Barish went on to work with Marty Balin and Grunt Records. Barish ended
up co-writing many songs with Balin, and as a result he has many
songwriting credits on Jefferson Starship albums, such as "Count On Me."<br /></div><div><br /></div></div><div><b>January 17, 1972 New Monk, Berkeley, CA: Clover </b><i>(Mon)</i></div><div> </div><div><b>January 20, 1972 New Monk, Berkeley, CA: Doobie Brothers </b><i>(Thur)</i> </div><div>It appears that the Doobie Brothers had a regular Thursday night gig at the New Monk, and later Keystone Berkeley, for much of the Spring of '72. The January 20 listing in the SF <i>Examiner</i> says "Tonight: Doobie Brothers and free beer." You have to be a pretty good band to make the crowd happy with that pitch (since I doubt the beer was really free).</div><div> </div><div><b>January 21, 1972 New Monk, Berkeley, CA: Clover </b><i>(Fri) </i></div><div>Clover was a weeknight band, but when there was an open weekend booking, they would get the call. This was how bands moved up in the heirarchy.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>January 22-23, 1972 New Monk, Berkeley, CA: Elvin Bishop Group/Clover </b><i>(Sat-Sun)</i><br /><div><b>Elvin Bishop</b> had moved to the Bay Area from Chicago in
Spring 1968. By 1969 he had a band and was regularly playing The
Keystone Korner. Bishop was signed to Bill Graham's San Francisco label,
distributed by Columbia, and he had released two albums. In 1969 and
1970. </div><div> </div>By 1972, Graham's labels had folded, but he
had been picked up by Epic (a CBS label). Elvin's band featured Stephen
Miller on organ (from the band Linn County) and Jo Baker on vocals.
Baker, Bishop and Miller all shared vocals. Later in 1972, The Elvin
Bishop Group would release <i>Rock My Soul</i> on Epic, produced by Delaney
Bramlett. </div><div> </div><div>Clover, having played some Monday nights, was opening on the weekend. This was part of the ladder at New Monk and Keystone--bands played weeknights for a chance to open on the weekends, building an audience by becoming familiar. <br /></div><div> </div><div><b>January 24, 1972 New Monk, Berkeley, CA: Clover/Asleep At The Wheel </b><i>(Mon)</i></div><div>I have no record of Clover playing New Monk or Keystone for the balance of 1972. But the band would go on to play Keystone Berkeley many, many times in the next several years. Keystone Berkeley was one of the gigs that kept Clover alive. In 1976, they were "rediscovered" by Nick Lowe, who had liked their Fantasy albums but had no idea they were still together. Lowe got the band a record contract and took them to England. They recorded a new album in 1977, six years after they had recorded their previous one. Without the Keystone Berkeley, Clover would have never been able to persevere.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Asleep At The Wheel </b>were from Paw-Paw, WV, and played Western Swing music with a rock beat. In 1971, they opened for Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen, and the Cody crew encouraged them to move to the East Bay. Asleep At The Wheel relocated to Oakland, and started playing regularly at local nightclubs. Asleep At The Wheel played everywhere in the Bay Area. Note that they are opening for Clover on a Monday night here, so this must have practically been an audition. The Wheel would go on to play Keystone Berkeley many times.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>January 27, 1972 New Monk, Berkeley, CA: Doobie Brothers </b><i>(Thur)</i></div><div>The Doobie Brothers played another Thursday night, also with "Free Beer" (per the <i>Examiner</i>). <a href="http://tourarchive.weebly.com/doobie-brothers-december-1971---september-1973.html">The Doobies probably played a few more Thursday nights--the details are conflicting</a>. In July, 1972, they released their second Warner Brothers album <i>Toulouse Street</i>. Hits like "Listen To The Music" vaulted the band way beyond the Keystone, and they never returned to University Avenue. It was weeknights like these, however, that made old Berkeley rock fans recall when they saw someone big way back when they had to include free beer in the ad.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>January 28, 1972 New Monk, Berkeley, CA: Tower Of Power </b><i>(Fri)</i></div><div><i> </i></div><div><b>January 29-30, 1972 New Monk, Berkeley, CA: Alice Stuart/Redwing </b><i>(Sat-Sun) </i></div><div><b>Alice Stuart </b>was a fine blues guitarist and singer. Although she
was from Seattle, she had been playing in the Bay Area since about 1964.
Stuart had performed and recorded in a variety of settings. At one
point in late 1969, she had even been the temporary bass player for the
Lost Planet Airmen. In 1972 she led a trio named Snake, and they
recorded for Fantasy Records.</div><div> </div><div><b>Redwing</b> was a Sacramento group that had evolved out of a popular
60s band called The New Breed. The best known member was bassist Tim
Schmidt, who by 1970 had joined Poco (and would later join The Eagles).
Redwing had made an album in 1970 for United Artists, and some of their
material had also been released under the band-name Glad. By 1972,
Redwing had been signed to Fantasy and released <i>What This Country Needs</i>.</div><div> </div><div><b>January 31, 1972 New Monk, Berkeley, CA: Clover </b><i>(Mon)</i><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t0rcEgWy6bo/X0ARUMJ0ldI/AAAAAAAAHI0/AvpNUKYSWi81A_B5XLewpXPOF9Cfuz3DgCLcBGAsYHQ/s299/Ronstadt%2BNew%2BMonk%2Bpic%2B19720202%2B3%2BFeb%2B1972%252C%2B16%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom%2Bcopy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="299" data-original-width="138" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t0rcEgWy6bo/X0ARUMJ0ldI/AAAAAAAAHI0/AvpNUKYSWi81A_B5XLewpXPOF9Cfuz3DgCLcBGAsYHQ/w148-h320/Ronstadt%2BNew%2BMonk%2Bpic%2B19720202%2B3%2BFeb%2B1972%252C%2B16%2B-%2BThe%2BSan%2BFrancisco%2BExaminer%2Bat%2BNewspapers%2Bcom%2Bcopy.jpg" width="148" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b>February 2-3, 1972 New Monk, Berkeley, CA: Linda Ronstadt/Country <i>(Wed-Thur)</i></b><br /></div><div><b>Linda Ronstadt</b> had just released her third album (the self-titled <i>Linda Ronstadt</i>) in January of 1972. The New Monk, which did not often book mid-week shows, had her as a headliner for a Wednesday and a Thursday. Linda was known, through the Stone Poneys and a modest hit ("Long Long Time"), but nothing like the star she would become. Two nights in Berkeley were probably to get the band road-tested, and pick up a few bucks as well.</div><div><br />Veteran San Francisco music writer Phil Elwood enthusiastically reviewed the Wednesday night show, published the next afternoon (Feb 3). Elwood glowingly describes the Ronstadt we would all come to know and love. He mentions lead guitarist Richard Bowden and fiddler Gib Gilbeau in her band. Elwood also mentions that Ronstadt played a little fiddle too, something that did not stay in her shows. Needless to say, Linda never played the venue again.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Elwood describes <b>Country</b> as a polished but enjoyable country-rock band. I know nothing else about them.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>February 4, 1972 New Monk, Berkeley, CA: Tower Of Power/Jimmy Rogers </b><i>(Fri)</i></div><div>Most likely, <b>J</b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Rogers"><b>immy Rogers</b> is the blues guitaristy and singer who worked Muddy Waters and others in the 1950s, and returned to touring around 1971</a>.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>February 5, 1972 New Monk, Berkeley, CA: Stoneground/Jimmy Rogers </b><i>(Sat)</i></div><div><b>Stoneground</b> had been put together by KSAN impresario Tom Donahue
in 1969 for an intended movie about a "traveling Woodstock" called
Medicine Ball Caravan. The Grateful Dead were booked for the movie, but
backed out at the last minute. However, Alembic sound had to honor their
part of the contract, so the Dead had stayed home and recorded <i>American Beauty</i> with Stephen Barncard, while Bob Matthews and Betty Cantor went on the road with Stoneground.</div><div> </div><div>Stoneground had just released their second record, <i>Family Album</i> on Warner Brothers. It was an expansive double-lp, recorded both live and in the studio. Among the key members of Stoneground were singers Sal Valentino, Lynne
Hughes, Annie Sampson and Deirdre LaPorte. Guitarist Tim Barnes also
sang. Pianist Cory Lerios and drummer Steve Jenkins, both later in Pablo
Cruise, were in Stoneground at this time. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>February 6, 1972 New Monk, Berkeley, CA: John Lee Hooker/Jimmy Rogers </b><i>(Sun) </i></div><div><i> </i></div><div><b>February 11-12, 1972 New Monk, Berkeley, CA: Elvin Bishop Group/Blue Mountain</b><i> (Fri-Sat) </i><br /><b>Blue Mountain</b> was a local group out of Palo Alto. Members at the
time probably included Dave Rabiroff, guitar, Paul Sommer, guitar, and
John Anning on drums. Hubert Tubbs, who later went on to Tower Of Power,
had been the singer, but I don't know if he was at this time. </div><div> </div><div><b>February 16, 1972 New Monk, Berkeley, CA: Cesar's Combo </b><i>(Wed)</i></div><div>Most likely, <b>Cesar's Combo</b> was a group that usually played Cesar's 830 Club in San Francisco. They were led, at least informally, by trumpeter Luis Gasca, and played some sort of Latin-jazz-rock hybrid. <br /></div><div><b> </b></div><div><b>February 18, 1972 New Monk, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders, Armando Peraza and Friends </b><i>(Fri) </i></div><div><div><b>Jerry Garcia, John Kahn and Bill Vitt</b> had started jamming at The
Matrix in Spring 1970, with organist Howard Wales. Ultimately Wales
mostly stopped playing with them, and <b>Merl Saunders</b> became part of the
unnamed group. When The Matrix closed in Spring 1971, they started
playing regular shows at The Keystone Korner in SF. Garcia and Saunders then played a few shows on 2119 University in 1971, when it was still the New Monk. Garcia developed a great professional relationship with Freddie Herrera, which would serve both of them well over the next dozen years.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2010/12/2119-university-avenue-berkeley-ca.html">Jerry Garcia would go on to perform at least 206 times at the Keystone Berkeley, a number that dwarfs his performances at any other venue</a> (including Grateful Dead
performances). He performed at Keystone Berkeley continuously from 1972
until 1984, in numerous ensembles.</div><div><br /></div>Legendary
conguero <b>Armando Peraza</b> was part of the
Garcia/Saunders ensemble during this period. Pereza was a Latin Jazz
stalwart and North Beach regular. Peraza later joined Santana, and was part of the group for many years.</div><div><br /><b>February 22, 1972 New Monk, Berkeley, CA: Bobby Hutcherson Quartet/Luis Gasca Latin Jazz Band </b><i>(Tues)</i></div><div>The New Monk was not a jazz club, but at this time there were just about no paying gigs for modern jazz in the East Bay. I don't know why these two excellent bands were playing together on a Tuesday night, but jazz gigs were very few in the Bay Area at this time.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Bobby Hutcherson</b> was an exceptional vibes player from Los Angeles. He had moved to New York, and had recorded for Blue Note as early as 1963. Hutcherson returned to California in 1967, and mostly played on the West Coast thereafter. While Hutcherson was a forward-thinking music, his music was quieter and more acoustic than some of his peers at the time.</div><div><br /></div><div>Trumpeter <b>Luis Gasca</b> was an important part of the Bay Area's jazz and latin rock scene. He was crucial to the formation of the group Malo, and he worked with Azteca and Santana as well. In 1971, Gasca released the album <i>For Those Who Chant</i>. It featured the entire Santana band (at that time) and saxophonist Joe Henderson. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-saFIjaHDzaY/X0AXRLowwiI/AAAAAAAAHJA/VCz3SBYn2XMaQVUVBetTZtIKBvFIKEWdgCLcBGAsYHQ/s355/Lost%2Bin%2Bthe%2BOzone%2BCody%2Blp.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="355" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-saFIjaHDzaY/X0AXRLowwiI/AAAAAAAAHJA/VCz3SBYn2XMaQVUVBetTZtIKBvFIKEWdgCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h320/Lost%2Bin%2Bthe%2BOzone%2BCody%2Blp.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b><b>February 24-28, 1972 New Monk, Berkeley, CA: Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen/Asleep At The Wheel </b><i>(Thur-Mon)</i></div><div>For the New Monk's "final" Saturday night, the headliners were Berkeley's very own Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. <a href="https://berkeleyfolk.blogspot.com/2010/09/commander-cody-and-his-lost-planet.html">Cody and the Airmen had moved out to California in Summer '69, setting up shop in a rambling house in nearby Emeryville</a>. The band played "hippie honky-tonk," a strange brew of Western Swing, traditional country, old-time rock and roll and Berkeley sensibilities. Their November 1971 debut album, <i>Lost In The Ozone</i>, which had spawned the hit single "Hot Rod Lincoln," included tracks recorded in July 1971 The New Monk.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>The San Francisco Chronicle mentioned that the Airmen were "cutting a live album." Some tracks may have ended up on the band's second album, <i>Hot Licks, Cold Steel and Trucker's Favorites</i>. Opening the show on Saturday night (and possibly other nights) was Asleep At The Wheel, just about the only band remotely like the Lost Planet Airmen.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0uyq4Zm6_Jc/X1PGJnwgAHI/AAAAAAAAHM4/wuU1tsQ95vMLnNEGFdqLCsYNdz9jg5YdQCLcBGAsYHQ/s513/Elvin%2BBishop%2BGroup%2BFeel%2BIt%2BFillmore%2B1970.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="505" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0uyq4Zm6_Jc/X1PGJnwgAHI/AAAAAAAAHM4/wuU1tsQ95vMLnNEGFdqLCsYNdz9jg5YdQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Elvin%2BBishop%2BGroup%2BFeel%2BIt%2BFillmore%2B1970.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b><b><br />Keystone Berkeley Performers, March-December 1972</b><br /></div><div>Freddie Herrera had been booking the New Monk since July 1971, and probably effectively running it since shortly thereafter. In March of 1972, Herrera renamed the club Keystone Berkeley, to make it a sort of "sister club" to Keystone Korner in San Francisco. At least initially, there appears to have been few differences for the club beyond the name change. <br /></div><div> </div><div><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv7PBf3LLhgI2_Rhn5ctqzjpRDI5MEazjJoOzCELmLN8nVb_9IXCUnIpnjRFlXUL_htngtcXFMhQ11fh1PuylXVDHcPh4TuOY228GTlWHaAs9LRB5FUjU8xv8fPRU6cee16CY4lKlujy0YfVNWVQ1cdtgNh5_2lsjgCzj976fJOwSApcVo89PxnP1Z/s545/JGMS%20Keystone%20Berkeley%2019720301.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="269" data-original-width="545" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv7PBf3LLhgI2_Rhn5ctqzjpRDI5MEazjJoOzCELmLN8nVb_9IXCUnIpnjRFlXUL_htngtcXFMhQ11fh1PuylXVDHcPh4TuOY228GTlWHaAs9LRB5FUjU8xv8fPRU6cee16CY4lKlujy0YfVNWVQ1cdtgNh5_2lsjgCzj976fJOwSApcVo89PxnP1Z/s320/JGMS%20Keystone%20Berkeley%2019720301.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>SF Examiner listing from March 1, 1972</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />March 1, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders, Armando Peraza </b><i>(Wed)</i></div><div>Herrera started Keystone Berkeley off with a relative bang. Normally, the New Monk had not been open on Wednesdays, nor would the Keystone Berkeley. Jerry Garcia was available, however, so that meant that Keystone Berkeley opened its doors with the man who would ultimately do the most to keep the club open.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>March 2, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Sons Of Champlin/Frank Biner</b><i> (Thur)</i><br /></div><div><b>The Sons of Champlin</b> had sort of broken up in early 1970. They thought they didn't have the rights to their own name, so they called themselves 'Yogi Phlegm" as a sort of joke. Club owners mostly called them The Sons Of Champlin. At this time, they played a sort of Soul/Fusion fusion. The lineup was Bill Champlin (vcls, organ, guitar), Terry Haggerty (ld gtr), Geoff Palmer (keyboards, vibes, bass), Dave Schallock (bass, guitar) and probably Bill Vitt on drums ( I don't think Jim Preston hadn't joined yet). The band were unsigned.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Frank Biner</b> was a popular local soul singer. Over the course of the 70s, Tower Of Power recorded a few of his songs, and he put out a few albums as a bandleader, but back in '72 Biner was just another guy working the clubs. <a href="http://www.bay-area-bands.com/bab00038.htm">Biner was originally from Chicago, where he had recorded a few singles, but he had moved to the East Bay in the late 60s</a>.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>March 3, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Elvin Bishop Group/Frank Biner </b><i>(Fri)</i></div><div><b>March 4, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Elvin Bishop Group/Blue Mountain </b><i>(Sat)</i></div><div>Elvin Bishop had played the New Monk in both January and February, and now he was playing another weekend. Bishop had a record contract, but it was clubs that probably paid his band's rent. Note Frank Biner having played Thursday, and then opening for Bishop the next night. <br /></div><br /><div><b>March 8-9, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders and Armando Peraza </b><i>(Wed-Thur)</i></div><div> <br /></div><div><b>March 11, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Tower Of Power/Frank Biner Band </b><i>(Sat</i><br /></div><div><b> </b></div><div><b>March 15, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders, Armando Peraza and friends </b><i>(Wed)</i></div><div>Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders had played the first three Wednesdays that Keystone Berkeley was open (plus a Thursday, too). They would not play the club again until July. In the last week of March, the Grateful Dead booked a week of shows in Manhattan (at the Academy of Music), followed by almost two full months on tour in Europe. The Dead's adventures would be chronicled on their famous triple-lp set Europe '72. But it also meant that the financial juice from Garcia packing Keystone Berkeley on a weeknight was lost for the entire Spring.<br /></div><p><b>March 20, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Frank Biner Band/Linx </b><i>(Mon)</i><br /><b>Linx</b> is unknown to me. <br /></p><div><b>March 23-24, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: New Riders of The Purple Sage </b><i>(Thur-Fri)</i></div><div>Jerry Garcia had stepped away from the <b>New Riders of The Purple Sage</b> after playing with them through their Fall '71 debut album. November '71, Garcia had been replaced by Canadian pedal steel guitar virtuoso Buddy Cage. The second NRPS album, <i>Powerglide</i>, was released in April 1972.</div><div><br /></div><div>The New Riders still shared booking and management with the Dead, so it's no surprise that booking agent Sam Cutler set them up for a Thursday night at Keystone Berkeley. The Riders would get a good crowd who liked beer, and the band would have had a chance to play some of their newer numbers before setting out on a big tour. The Riders would tour the East Coast in April, and then join the Grateful Dead in Europe for May. </div><div> </div><div><b>March 25, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Tower Of Power </b><i>(Sat)</i></div><div><i> </i></div><div><b>March 26, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Bobby Hutcherson/Luis Gasca </b><i>(Sun) </i><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>March 30-April 1, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Harvey Mandel </b><i>(Thur-Sat)</i></div><div><b>Harvey Mandel</b> was another late 60s Chicago transplant. He had played guitar with Charlie Musselwhite, Canned Heat and John Mayall, among others. In 1972, he was mostly playing with a band called Pure Food And Drug Act, with violinist Sugarcane Harris and bassist Larry Taylor (both of them also ex-Mayall).However, for a local show, it's possible that Mandel just used some local friends and jammed the blues with them. </div><div> </div><div>[<b><i>Note</i></b>: <a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/11/keystone-berkeley-2119-university.html?showComment=1606589866700#c1121110871638997504">per JGMF</a>, the Hayward <i>Daily Review</i> had Mike Finnegan and the Fletcher Brothers on Saturday as well as Sunday]<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>April 2, 1972: Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Mike Finnegan/Fletcher Brothers </b><i>(Sun)</i></div><div><b>Mike Finnegan</b> was a fine organist and singer from Kansas. He too had relocated to San Francisco in the late 60s, and had played with the excellent Jerry Hahn Brotherhood. Since then he had played with Big Brother (on <i>How Hard It Is</i>), recorded a little and played some local shows. Like Mandel, he was probably using local friends and jamming the blues. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Fletcher Brothers</b> are unknown to me.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>April 3, 1972: Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Frank Biner/Linx </b><i>(Mon)</i></div><div> </div><div><b>April 6, 1972: Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: HooDoo Rhythm Devils/Beans</b><i> (Wed)</i></div><div><b>The Beans </b>had recently moved from Phoenix, AZ. Within a year they would become infamous in the Bay Area as The Tubes. <br /></div><div> </div><div><b>April 7-8, 1972: Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Stoneground/Ducks </b><i>(Fri-Sat)</i></div><div>There was a Marin band called <b>The Ducks</b>, featuring guitarist and songwriter Kent Housman, but I don't know if this was the same one. <br /></div><div> </div><div><b>April 9, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Fletcher Brothers </b><i>(Sun) </i></div><div> </div><div><b>April 10, 1972 Keystone Berkley, Berkeley, CA: Frank Biner Band/Max </b><i>(Mon)</i></div><div><b>Max</b> is unknown to me--possibly this was a misprint of Linx, who had been opening for Frank Biner on Mondays.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>April 13, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Tower Of Power/Butch Whacks and The Glass Packs </b><i>(Thur) </i></div><div><b>Butch Whacks and the Glass Packs</b> were a 15 piece rock and roll band dedicated to performing old style rock and roll hits from the 50s-early 60s. The band got their start as students at St. Mary’s College in Moraga playing frat parties, and eventually morphed into a very popular bay area club and theatre act. The Glass Packs played greaser rock and roll – supposedly like Sha Na Na, but with more energy and musical talent. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S35C0wMYoUk/X0CjRSj4QUI/AAAAAAAAHJM/S4w-D0mPoUotaepOjXq3Aipi1-OPVRcLwCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Earthquake%2BWhy%2BDont%2BYou%2BTry%2BMe%2BA%2526M%2B72.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="600" height="317" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S35C0wMYoUk/X0CjRSj4QUI/AAAAAAAAHJM/S4w-D0mPoUotaepOjXq3Aipi1-OPVRcLwCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h317/Earthquake%2BWhy%2BDont%2BYou%2BTry%2BMe%2BA%2526M%2B72.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Why Don't You Try Me by Earth Quake, their second album on A&M Records (1972)</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b>April 14-15, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Earth Quake/Linx</b><i> (Fri-Sat)</i></div><div><b>Earth Quake</b> had formed at Berkeley High School in the 60s as The Purple Earthquake. In 1972, they would release their second album on A&M Records, <i>Why Don't You Try Me</i>. A&M would drop Earth Quake by the end of the year, but the band would go on to play Keystone Berkeley many times, ultimately reviving their recording career by helping to start their own record label (Berserkeley Records). <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>April 16, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Gideon and Power </b><i>(Sat)</i></div><div><b>Gideon and Power</b> were a high-energy Gospel/Soul band from San Francisco with a dynamic lead singer, Gideon Daniels. and a swinging soul chorus. Their one album featured former AB Skhy guitarist Dennis Geyer and Elvin Bishop keyboardist Stephen Miller. Daniels was the one who taught future Bishop vocalist Mickey Thomas to sing. <br /><br /></div><div><b>April 17, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Frank Biner Band </b><i>(Mon) </i><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>April 27-29, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Paul Pena/Jessie, Wolf and Wings (</b><i>Thur-Sat)</i></div><div><b>Paul Pena</b>, who was mostly blind due to a childhood condition, had a blues band in Philadelphia that had opened for the Grateful Dead at the Electric Factory in February 1969. Pena became friendly with Garcia. Pena moved to the Bay Area in 1971. Almost entirely blind by this time, he called the Dead office, who helped him get work. <br /><br />Pena recorded two albums, both with a who's who of local SF players. His self-titled debut album came out on Capitol in 1972. The followup, <i>New Train</i>, was recorded for Bearsville in 1973, but (like many Bearsville albums) was tied up in litigation for decades and not released until 2000. However, Steve Miller had heard a copy of <i>New Train</i>, and made a big hit of Pena's song "Jet Airliner," providing Pena with a solid income. Pena ended up living near Keystone Berkeley, so he played the club regularly. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>April 30, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Boogie Brothers </b><i>(Sun)</i><b><br /></b></div><div>There was a Savoy Brown-connected group called <b>Boogie Brothers</b>, but that was some years after this (1974). I don't know who this was. </div><div> </div><div><b>May 1, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Frank Biner Band </b><i>(Mon) </i></div><div> </div><div><b>May 3-4, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Mike Bloomfield with Willie Dixon and The Chicago Blues All-Stars/Frank Biner Band </b><i>(Wed-Thur)</i></div><div><b>Willie Dixon</b> was a blues legend, but in the early 70s he was better known as a songwriter and Chess Records producer. By the time he started touring outside of Chicago, many of his songs had already been made famous by English rock bands: "Little Red Rooster," "Hoochie Coochie Man," 'Spoonful," "Back Door Man" and others. </div><div> <br /></div><div>The Examiner's Phil Elwood reviewed Willie Dixon's Thursday night show (May 4). According to Elwood, the club was packed and Dixon was tremendous. Mike Bloomfield sat in, but guitarist Buster Benton shined as well. The band included Shakey Horton on harmonica and Lafayette Leake on piano, and of course Dixon on bass and vocals.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>May 7, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Blue Mountain </b><i>(Sun)</i><br /></div><div> </div><div><b>May 10-11, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Doc Watson and Son/Asleep At The Wheel </b><i>(Wed-Thur) </i></div><div><b>Doc Watson</b> was the incomparable blind flatpicker from Deep Gap, NC, who had been discovered in the early 60s. He was accompanied on tour by his son Merle, himself a fine guitarist. Doc mostly played the folk circuit, but in the early 70s in the Bay Area there weren't really any good paying folk clubs. No matter---I'm sure Doc was great anyway. </div><div><br /></div><div>Doc Watson had become well known from his Vangaurd albums in the 1960s. Vanguard had dropped him around 1971, but Doc continued to tour around. His first album for his new record company, Poppy, was <i>The Elementary Doctor Watson</i>. Although it was a 1972 release, I don't know if it was out by this time. Doc toured all year around, so it didn't entirely matter.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>May 12, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Elvin Bishop Group </b><i>(Fri)</i></div><div>Elvin Bishop was the next most important act for the financial well-being of Keystone Berkeley behind Jerry Garcia. Bishop always played around the Bay Area, and Keystone Berkeley was a regular stop. Bishop lived in Marin, so the Keystone was an easy commute for him. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>May 13-14, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: El Chicano/Hot Damn </b><i>(Sat-Sun)</i><br /></div><div><b>El Chicano</b> was a popular Latin Rock band from Los Angeles. By early 1972, they had released two albums. Latin Rock (however you want to define it) was big in the Bay Area in the early 70s. El Chicano had a sort of hit with a Latin-rock version of Van Morrison's "Brown-Eyed Girl." There wasn't a significant Latin rock club in the East Bay, that I'm aware of, so once again Keystone Berkeley benefited by being the best available club for a somewhat broad array of music.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Hot Damn</b> is unknown to me.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>May 18-20, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: John Lee Hooker </b><i>(Thur-Sat) </i></div><div><i> </i></div><div><b>May 21, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Herbie Hancock </b><i>(Sun) </i></div><div>There still weren't really any East Bay jazz clubs that paid well
in the early 70s, so the Keystone Berkeley was able to pick up some
shows here and there, particularly for the younger and more electric
artists. <div> </div><div><b>Herbie Hancock</b>
had been part of Miles Davis' legendary quintet in the mid-60s, but he
had left before they had gone fully electric. Nonetheless, by 1972
Hancock was heading toward a funkier electric sound. He had a great
sextet and his current album would have been <i>Crossings</i>, on Warner Brothers. Hancock would not release his famous <i>Head Hunters</i>
album until a full year later, so it is interesting to see him already
using the name for the band. Presumably, Hancock's lineup was close to
the band on <i>Crossings</i> (Bennie Maupin-saxophones, Julian Priester-trombone, Eddie Henderson-trumpet, Buster Williams-bass, Billy Hart-drums). </div></div><br /><div><b>May 22, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Linx/Frank Biner Band <i>(Mon) </i></b><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IRbcpH80RCo/X1PHJTmSQVI/AAAAAAAAHNE/I6mGTPv_QrgY_eKWvwBDzm2D9uxF9Sc4wCLcBGAsYHQ/s590/Tower%2BOf%2BPower%2BBump%2BCity%2B1972.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="590" height="314" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IRbcpH80RCo/X1PHJTmSQVI/AAAAAAAAHNE/I6mGTPv_QrgY_eKWvwBDzm2D9uxF9Sc4wCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h314/Tower%2BOf%2BPower%2BBump%2BCity%2B1972.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b><b><br />May 25, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Wayne Cochran and The CC Riders/Tower of Power </b><i>(Thur)</i><b><br /></b></div><div><b>May 26-27, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Wayne Cochran and The CC Riders/Dennis Geyer Band </b><i>(Fri-Sat)</i></div><div>In May of 1972, Tower of Power released their second album, <i>Bump City</i>, on Warner Brothers Records. Their first album, <i>East Bay Grease,</i> had been released on 1970 on San Francisco Records, Bill Graham's imprint on Atlantic. Graham's label was no more, but parent company Warners had kept Tower. <i>Bump City</i> featured a new lead singer, Bay Area veteran Rick Stevens, and the same killer horn section and monsters Rocco Prestia and Dave Garibaldi on bass and drums. <i>Bump City</i> included the hit single "You're Still A Young Man," as well as the title track, "You've Got To Funkfize" and "Down To The Nightclub." It's still a classic. The Thursday night Keystone gig was probably a warm up for a National tour.<br /><b></b></div><div><b> </b></div><div><b>Wayne Cochran</b> was a Georgia white soul singer with a giant white pompadour and outlandish nudie suits. Kind of a cult act, he released various singles and albums, and was picked up by Epic in 1972. </div><div> </div><div><b>Dennis Geyer</b> had been the lead guitarist in the band AB Skhy, who had moved to the Bay Area in 1968 from Wisconsin. AB SLhy had released two obscure albums. <br /></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>May 28, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Corbitt </b><i>(Sun)</i></div><div><b>Jerry Corbitt </b>(d. 2014)had been a singer and guitarist in the original lineup of The Youngbloods, and he moved with them to the Bay Area in Fall 1967. Corbitt had left the group in mid-1968, however, and became a solo artist and producer.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>May 29, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Jesse, Wolff and Whings/Frank Biner Band </b><i>(Mon)</i></div><div> </div><div><b>June 2-3, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Elvin Bishop Group/Charlie Daniels </b><i>(Fri-Sat) </i></div><div><div>By 1972, <b>Charlie Daniels</b> (1936-2020) had already had a
successful career as a songwriter, Nashville session man and producer.
He had played on some Bob Dylan albums, produced the Youngbloods
successful <i>Elephant Mountain</i> album, and he played guitar, bass and fiddle.</div><div> </div><div>In
1971, Daniels had released his first solo album, and formed a touring
band with ex-Younblood Jerry Corbitt and ex-Hendrix bassist Billy Cox.
By 1972, they were gone and Daniels was back with his second album, <i>Te John, Grease and Wolfman</i>.
The band was a quarter featuring Daniels and Taz ("Grease") Di
Gregorio. on keyboards and vocals, who would end up being a key member
in the future story of the Charlie Daniels Band. </div><div> </div><div><b>June 6, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Frank Biner Band/Jesse, Wolff and Whings </b><i>(Tues)</i><b> </b><br /></div></div><div> </div><div><b>June 9-10, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Boone's Farm/Wilderness Road <i>(Fri-Sat)</i></b></div><div><b>Boone's Farm</b> had released a country-rock album on Columbia, produced by Jim Messina. The band's lead singer Kent Sprague was later known as Kent Dubarri, half of the duo Dalton & Dubarri. Dalton & Dubarri released four albums in the 1970s, and were apparently a good live band. </div><div> <br /></div><div><b>Wildnerness Road</b> had been founded in 1968, to support the trial of The Chicago Seven. They apparently had an elaborate stage show that included political theater. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilderness_Road_(band)">By 1972, Wilderness Road had released their debut album on Columbia</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Note that both Boone's Farm and Wildnerness Road had debut albums on Columbia, and this was probably a "package" tour supported by the label.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>June 12, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Frank Biner Band/Jack Frost </b><i>(Mon)</i></div><div><b>Jack Frost</b> is unknown to me. <br /></div><div> </div><div><b>June 15, 1972 Keystone Berkely, Berkeley, CA: Elvin Bishop Group </b><i>(Thur) </i><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>June 16-17, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Redwing/Ducks </b><i>(Fri-Sat)</i></div><div><i> </i></div><div><b>June 18, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Snooky Flowers and Headhunters </b><i>(Mon)</i><b> </b></div><div><b>Snooky Flowers</b> was an established baritone sax player in the Bay Area. He had played in Janis Joplin's band, including at Woodstock, and had played and recorded with a host of others. <b>Headhunters</b> was the name of his own band, as far as I know.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>June 19, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA; Frank Biner </b><i>(Tues)</i><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>June 22, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Tower Of Power/Loading Zone </b><i>(Thur)</i></div><div>Tower of Power and Loading Zone shared management and a rehearsal space.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Loading Zone,</b> from Oakland, had played the original Trips Festival
back in 1966. B<a href="http://www.chickenonaunicycle.com/Loading%20Zone.htm">y 1972, they had been through many different iterations</a>.
By this time, although they still broadly featured the mix of rock and
soul as when they had started, they had no original members. They were
good, though: Linda Tillery on vocals, Tom Coster on
organ, Doug Rauch on bass, Tony Smith on drums and Bruce Conte on
guitar (vocalist Wendy Haas had just left the band to join Azteca).<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B-vU6G2lrWs/X0LR-ernDMI/AAAAAAAAHJ0/4SpfS2QTQactHKvG3Nxnirn_pVdgHYimACLcBGAsYHQ/s528/Sylvester%2Band%2BHis%2BHot%2BBand%2BBlue%2BThumb%2B73.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="528" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B-vU6G2lrWs/X0LR-ernDMI/AAAAAAAAHJ0/4SpfS2QTQactHKvG3Nxnirn_pVdgHYimACLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h320/Sylvester%2Band%2BHis%2BHot%2BBand%2BBlue%2BThumb%2B73.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Sylvester and His Hot Band released their debut album on Blue Thumb in 1973</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b>June 23-24, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Stoneground/Sylvester </b><i>(Fri-Sat)</i></div><div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvester_(singer)"><b>Sylvester</b> generally performed as Sylvester And His Hot Band</a>. Sylvester was a powerful R&B singer, in a contemporary vein, but with a gay sensibility and a very high-pitched vocal style. Sylvester had a following in gay clubs in San Francisco at the time, but there really weren't equivalent places to perform in the East Bay. It appears that the Keystone regularly got good performers in a variety of genres for just that reason. </div><div> </div><div>Sylvester (Sylvester James Jr), with a background in church music, moved to San Francisco in 1970 and joined an infamous San Francisco performance troupe called The Cockettes. James went with the Cockettes to New York City, but ultimately returned to SF. Sylvester and The Hot Band played what would be called "Heavy Soul," although Sylvester's stage appearance was not mainstream. After two albums on Blue Thumb in 1973, and '74, Sylvester broke up The Hot Band. He went on to have a successful disco recording career in the late 70s.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>June 26, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Frank Biner Band<i> </i></b><i>(Mon)</i></div><div><i> </i></div><div><b>June 27, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: The Strawbs </b><i>(Tues) </i></div><div><b>The Strawbs</b> were an English band, embarking on their first US tour. Originally they had been England's first (perhaps only) bluegrass band, The Strawberry Hill Boys, based in the Barnes section of London. Over time they had evolved into a rock direction. In February they had released their fourth album, Grave New World, on A&M. This was the first album after the departure of keyboard player Rick Wakeman, who had gone to join The Yes. The Strawbs would have a big UK hit in 1973 with "Part Of The Union," but they weren't well known at this time. It was rare for a touring band to play a Tuesday night at Keystone. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>June 28, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Bill Hemmans </b><i>(Wed)</i></div><div><b>Bill Hemmans</b> is unknown to me.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>June 29, July 1, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Charlie Daniels Band </b><i>(Thur, Sat)</i></div><div><b>June 30, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Elvin Bishop Group/Charlie Daniels Band </b><i>(Fri)</i></div><div>At this time, Daniels was recording as a solo artist, and the "Band" was just added to indicate he had a backing group. A few albums later, "Charlie Daniels Band" became the official name of the group. At this time, however, Daniels was just slugging it out on the road, another session guy trying to build his own career.</div><div><br /></div><div>Obviously, Elvin Bishop was available Friday night, so he was booked with Daniels for that evening. Many years later, Daniels would name-check Bishop on his hit "The South's Gonna Do It Again," with the line "Ole Elvin Bishop pickin' on a bale of hay."<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>July 3, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Frank Biner Band </b>(<i>Mon) </i></div><div><br /></div><div><b>July 5, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Swamp Dogg </b><i>(Wed)</i></div><div>Jerry Williams Jr, who recorded as Swamp Dogg, was kind of a cult act. His song "Total Destruction To Your Mind" was a sort of late-night hit on KSAN, and Stoneground had done a popular cover of it. Dogg was kind of eccentric, but wrote and sang in a rock/R&B style. At this time, his current album would have been his third as Swamp Dogg, <i>Cuffed, Collared and Tagged</i> (released in 1972 on Cream).<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>July 6-8, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Mike Bloomfield/Charlie Daniels Band </b><i>(Thur-Sat) </i></div><div>Charlie Daniels was back for the next weekend, opening for Mike Bloomfield. Although Daniels wouldn't have had much of a following in the Bay Area, he was probably getting a little "tour support" from his record company (in his case, Kama Sutra Records). They probably bought a few ads for his album on radio stations and in underground newspapers, and maybe they included a mention of his Keystone gigs (and other gigs around the Bay Area). <br /></div><div> </div><div><b>July 13-14, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders and Friends </b><i>(Thur-Fri)</i><br />Jerry Garcia had not played the Keystone Berkeley since March, a very long time for him. Initially, the reason was that the Grateful Dead were touring Europe in April and May (which lead to the famous triple-album <i>Europe '72</i>). But there was another reason--when he went to Europe, Jerry had lost his band.</div><div><br /></div><div>Garcia had a casual arrangement with Merl Saunders and John Kahn, but Garcia had the Dead and they did not. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2011/10/john-kahn-live-performance-history-1972.html">While Garcia was out of the country, Kahn had joined the newest edition of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Kahn moved to Woodstock, NY, and invited Saunders to join him.</a> Both Kahn and Saunders were part of what would become Paul Butterfield's Better Days band. When Garcia had returned at the end of May, he found himself without a bar band. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2013/03/summer-1972-pierce-street-annex-san.html">Now,--Garcia being Garcia--he just started another one, this time with no less than Vince Guaraldi and drummer Mike Clark, playing fearsome fusion music. </a>This unnamed ensemble, however, played at a Fern Bar called The Pierce Street Annex (ironically, linked to the former Matrix). </div><div><br /></div><div>Nevertheless, Kahn and Saunders returned to the Bay Area for about two weeks, from late June to mid-July. Garcia played a frantic number of dates with them, because they were about to go back out on tour with Butterfield. Freddie Herrera was a big beneficiary: <a href="http://jgmf.blogspot.com/2010/01/jgms-show-known-various-as-1972-06-30.html">the Garcia/Saunders ensemble played June 30 and July 7-8 at Keystone Korner</a>, and then July 13-14 at Keystone Berkeley. In between, Garcia/Saunders played a show at San Jose Civic and recorded an album (<a href="http://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2012/03/excalibur-tom-fogerty-jerry-garcia.html">Tom Fogerty's <i>Excalibur</i></a>).</div><div><br /></div><div>Herrera seems to have ceded control of Keystone Korner to Todd Barkan after the June 30 Garcia gig. A nice nod from Jerry--a packed gig before Herrera handed it off, so he could leave on a profitable note. And then two packed shows for new Keystone Korner owner Todd Barkan. Jazz bookings dominated Keystone Korner after the Jul 8 Garcia booking, and Herrera's attention was fully focused on Keystone Berkeley. By Sunday (July 16), however, Kahn and Saunders were playing with Paul Butterfield in Seattle, and Garcia had no band again.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>July 15, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Boz Scaggs Band/Delta Wires </b><i>(Sat)</i></div><div><b>Boz Scaggs</b> was another act like Elvin Bishop, who got plenty of radio play on San Francisco FM stations, but was fairly unknown elsewhere. His second album, <i>Moments</i>, had been released in March 1971, and his third album, <i>Boz Scaggs and Band</i>, in December (both on Columbia). Songs like "We Were Always Sweethearts" and "Runnin' Blue" got regular airplay on KSAN, and Boz had a killer band. Still, he was unable to break out beyond the region. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Jul 18-22, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Albert Collins/Full Moon </b><i>(Tues-Sat)</i></div><div>Texas guitarist A<b>lbert "The Iceman" Collins</b> had been recording since the 1950s. In 1964, he had a hit with the song "Frosty," and he became somewhat well-known. In 1968, the band Canned Heat was playing in Houston and attended one of his shows. The Heat offered to get Collins a record deal and live work, and he accepted. Collins signed with Imperial Records, moved to Palo Alto, CA (of all places) in November 68. Collins' first Imperial album was <i>Love Can Be Found Anywhere</i>. By 1969, Collins was a regular at rock venues throughout the West Coast.</div><div><br /></div><div>In late 1971, Collins had signed with Tumbleweed Records, who released his album <i>There's Gotta Be A Change.</i> Tumbleweed ran into financial problems, however, and would soon leave Collins without a label. Collins was booked for the entire week (Tuesday through Saturday) at Keystone Berkeley, a rarity at the club. Based on the next few weeks, it seems like this was a temporary experiment, since the next two weeks also had week long bookings.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Full Moon</b> is unknown to me.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pp65fstRQ_c/X1PHQzKGlEI/AAAAAAAAHNI/SaZREb16_1U7FFt0XdaXlS9dtIntVA4VgCLcBGAsYHQ/s300/Albert%2BKing%2BI%2527ll%2BPlay%2BThe%2BBlues%2BFor%2BYou%2B72.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="296" data-original-width="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pp65fstRQ_c/X1PHQzKGlEI/AAAAAAAAHNI/SaZREb16_1U7FFt0XdaXlS9dtIntVA4VgCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Albert%2BKing%2BI%2527ll%2BPlay%2BThe%2BBlues%2BFor%2BYou%2B72.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Albert King's 1972 album on Stax was I'll Play The Blues For You</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />July 23-29, 31 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Albert King </b><i>(Sun-Sat, Mon)</i></div><div>Left-handed blues guitarist and singer Albert King was also booked for a week at Keystone Berkeley, save for Sunday night. Albert King was a player for whom the white rock explosion of the 60s gave him the recognition that his talent deserved.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Albert King</b> (1923-92) was from Mississippi via the Midwest. King had played all over Arkansas and the South in the 50s, eventually ending up in St. Louis. He released a variety of singles in the late 50s and early 60s, and he was known to blues aficianados and guitar players, mainly for the 1961 King release "Don't Throw Your Love On Me So Strong." Still struggling on the "Chitlin' Circuit," King moved to Memphis and signed with Stax Records.</div><div><br /></div><div>Stax, affilated with Atlantic and based in Memphis, was mainly a soul label. Albert King recorded some singles with the Stax house band Booker T and The MGs (Booker T Jones, Steve Cropper, Al Jackson and Duck Dunn). The singles and some other recordings were ultimately released on the 1967 album <i>Born Under A Bad Sign</i>. The single of the same name reached #49 on the Billboard R&B charts. <br /></div><div> </div><div>Hip FM deejays had started playing the <i>Bad Sign</i> album, and King played the Fillmore in San Francisco in February 1968, with Jimi Hendrix and John Mayall (Albert and Jimi knew each other well from the Circuit). In March, Albert King opened the Fillmore East in Manhattan. Besides his great guitar playing, on stage he was a true giant, a full 6'7", playing a distinctive Gibson Flying V guitar.<br /></div><div> </div><div>"Born Under A Bad Sign" was a great song. More importantly for Albert, Eric Clapton
liked it. Clapton was in Cream, on Atco Records, which was essentially a corporate
label-mate with Stax. Cream recorded the song "Born Under A Bad Sign"
on their August 1968 double album <i>Wheels Of Fire.</i>Once the Cream version of his song was released, white rock fans became fully aware of him. Musically, this was truly deserved, but Albert King had not really been a big name prior to this. To young rock fans, however, Albert was instantly elevated into the top pantheon of black blues guitarists.</div><div><br /></div><div>Albert King played Fillmores East and West many times, and many a psychedelic ballroom in between throughout the 60s. In June of 1968, Albert played the Fillmore in San Francisco and recorded his classic live album <i>Live Wire/Blues Power</i>, released later in '68. Thanks to Clapton and Cream--Eric never failed to acknowledge Albert--all white rock fans knew that "Born Under A Bad Sign" was an Albert King song. By 1972, if you asked a suburban teenager "what do you think of Albert King," he would say "he did the original of that song Cream does." But few if any would have known what Albert King's current album was.</div><div><br /></div><div>There weren't really good venues for blues acts in the Bay Area at this time. African-American clubs had mostly moved on from blues (save for The Showcase in Oakland), and while white rock fans would all loyally salute the blues, they weren't getting booked by Bill Graham at Winterland. In 1971, Albert King had released the album <i>Lovejoy</i> on Stax. It was recorded at Muscle Shoals Studio, with both the house band and Leon Russell's crew. Don Nix, a Russell partner, had produced the album. Albert's 1972 Stax album (I'm not sure of the exact release date) was <i>I'll Play The Blues For You</i>.</div><div><br /></div><div>Albert King continued to tour and record up until his passing in 1992. Some criticism was leveled at him for re-recording a lof of songs on albums, and not doing a lot of different material. Don Nix, his former producer, revealed one of the key reasons when he published his own 1997 memoir, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Road-Stories-Recipes-Don-Nix/dp/0028646215"><i>Road Tales And Recipes</i></a>. It seems that Albert King couldn't read, and was too proud to admit it. When someone handed him a lyric sheet and asked what he thought, he had to hide his shortcomings. Nix himself overcame this by reciting the upcoming lyrics into Albert's headphones during recording, making it seem like he was reading the lyric sheet. But other producers seemed not to know, or care, and Albert King's albums never lived up to his early Stax promise.</div><div> </div><div>I don't know how Albert King played at Keystone Berkeley in 1972. Still, I saw him outdoors at the Oakland Estuary Park in 1990, and he laid it down hard. In the sawdust-covered Keystone Berkeley, back in '72, big Albert King must have been a force. Blues Power.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>July 30, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Big Brother and The Holding Company </b><i>(Sun)</i></div><div>Albert King had played six out of seven nights, but on Sunday he rested. Taking his place was old San Francisco favorites Big Brother and The Holding Company. In contrast to some bands at the Keystone, Big Brother was at a low ebb. Janis Joplin had left the band at the end of 1968, but the band had recorded two pretty good but unsuccesful albums (<i>Be A Brother</i> and <i>How Hard It Is</i>). By 1972, however, the band was pretty much down to original guitarist Sam Andrews and singer Kathi McDonald, plus a couple of other Marin guys. They weren't terrible, but it was just a shadow. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kznPHyP4KFo/X1PD7GIB_SI/AAAAAAAAHMo/p5UnGefjLnkrLXfnSGtNxjnahml5drslQCLcBGAsYHQ/s389/Marblehead%2BMessenger%2BSeatrain.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="389" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kznPHyP4KFo/X1PD7GIB_SI/AAAAAAAAHMo/p5UnGefjLnkrLXfnSGtNxjnahml5drslQCLcBGAsYHQ/w200-h200/Marblehead%2BMessenger%2BSeatrain.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Seatrain's 1971 album Marblehead Messenger (Capitol), produced by George Martin</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />August 1-6, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Seatrain/Jesse, Wolff and Whings/Alex Richmond </b><i>(Tues-Sun)</i></div><div><b>Seatrain</b> was a band based in Cambridge, MA, but having important Bay Area roots. The story was convoluted, in a sixties sort of way. The bassist and drummer of the Greenwich Village band Blues Project (Andy Kulberg and Roy Blumenfield) had ended up in the Bay Area in 1968. They started a new band in 1968, and called it Blues Project, since the name was known. A few members came and went, and they changed their name to Sea Train. Their self-titled debut album was released on A&M in 1969.</div><div><br /></div><div>Confusingly, Seatrain (having changed the spelling) signed to Capitol and released another self-titled album in 1970. Seatrain was based in Boston, more or less, but in the Winter of '69/70 they had stayed in Marin County. Guitarist/singer Peter Rowan was the front man, but <a href="http://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2013/10/richard-greene-violin-career-snapshot.html">instead of a lead guitarist they had veteran bluegrass fiddler Richard Greene on electric violin.</a> Seatrain was interesting, and they had released the George Martin-produced <i>Marblehead Messenger</i> in 1971. By 1972, however, they were slowly grinding to a halt. Peter Rowan would leave Seatrain shortly after this, and go hang out with his younger brothers in Western Marin. Their wasn't a bluegrass scene in Stinson Beach, but his brothers were produced by mandolinist David Grisman, and it turned out that a banjo player lived just up the hill from them.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/11/keystone-berkeley-2119-university.html?showComment=1606589866700#c1121110871638997504">Per JGMF,</a> Jesse, Wolff and Whings opened Tuesday (Aug 1) and <b>Alex Richmond</b>, unknown to me, for the balance of the week.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>August 7, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Frank Biner Band/auditions </b><i>(Mon) </i></div><div>The listing for this show says "free food," Now, that was probably some tangy chicken, to get everyone to buy beer. It does mean, however, that the kitchen was operational, and that there must have been some tables. It's one of the clues that there was some semblance of the pizza/burger joint that had been the New Monk remained intact.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>August 8-9, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia-Merl Saunders </b><i>(Tue-Wed)</i></div><div>Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders returned for a couple of weeknights at Keystone Berkeley. Fortunately for Garcia, questionable financial dealings around Paul Butterfield caused Saunders and John Kahn to quit that band and return home. Garcia lost no time in starting up the gigging. More importantly, the Grateful Dead, years ahead of their time, had decided to set themselves free of any record company. <a href="http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2011/11/jerry-garcia-album-economics-1973-74.html">Garcia promptly took steps to make sure that Saunders and Kahn were profiting from the arrangement with Garcia, since he had the Dead and they did not.</a> Garcia would agree to a live album on Merl Saunders' label (<i>Live At Keystone</i> on Fantasy), and Kahn would end up producing Garcia' first solo album for his own label (usually known as <i>Compliments Of Garcia</i>).<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>August 10, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Luis Gasca/Delta Wires </b><i>(Thur)</i></div><div><b>Delta Wires</b> were a hard-working band from Oakland. They had formed in 1970 at the California College of Arts and Crafts (on Broadway Terrace), and had been gigging ever since. They had a bluesy sound with a 3-piece horn section. They played East Bay clubs for many years, and developed a local following, but never graduated beyond the East Bay. [<i><a href="https://rockprosopography101.blogspot.com/2020/11/keystone-berkeley-2119-university.html?showComment=1606589866700#c1121110871638997504">per JGMF</a>, there is confusion about who played on this date</i>]<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>August 11-12, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Tower Of Power/Frank Biner Band </b><i>(Fri-Sat)</i></div><div>Frank Biner was moving up from the Monday night slot to opening on the weekends, part of the ladder for success at Keystone Berkeley. Granted, he was probably just filling an empty Saturday night, but the point of playing Monday night shows was to build an audience for a weekend opportunity.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>August 13, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Grayson Street/Dixie Peach</b><i> (Sunday)</i></div><div><b>Grayson Street</b> were a sort of roots rock band from the East Bay. They
were co-led by harmonica player Rick Kellogg and tenor saxophonist Terry
Hanck, both of whom sang. Grayson Street never recorded, but many of
its members ended up working with Elvin Bishop, Coke Escovedo, Tower Of
Power and others. Grayson Street was very popular down at the Longbranch, about 10 blocks West on University Avenue.<br /></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Dixie Peach</b> was a folk rock band that featured singer Judy Newton and guitarist and songwriter Robert Otha Young. The two had started performing together when Newton was a student at Foothill College in Los Altos. Bassist Cecil Bollinger, formerly of the great South Bay group Weird Herald, was also a member.<br /><br />Although Dixie Peach was just another local band on the Bay Area scene, Judy Newton would go on to become far better known in the 80s as country singer Juice Newton. Otha Young (1943- 2009) was her principal songwriter as well, so the two had a fruitful musical partnership well into the 21st century. <br /></div><div> </div><div><b>August 14, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Frank Biner Band w/members of Tower of Power</b><i> (Mon) </i></div><div>Biner was good friends with the members of Tower Of Power, particularly saxophonists Emilio Castillo and Steve "Doc" Kupka. They were probably the ones who joined for the night. Castillio, Kupka and Biner wrote songs together. Some were used by Tower Of Power, and one was used by Huey Lewis And The News.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>August 16, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Country Weather/Rage </b><i>(Tues)</i></div><div><b>Rage</b> is unknown to me. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>August 17, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Sylvester and His Hot Band</b><i> (Thur)</i><br /></div><div> </div><div><b>August 18, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders </b><i>(Fri)</i></div><div> </div><div><b>August 19, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Sylvester and His Hot Band </b><i>(Sat) </i></div><div><br /></div><div><b>August 20, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Stoneground </b><i>(Sun)</i><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>August 21, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Elvin Bishop Group/Frankie Beverley and Raw Soul </b><i>(Mon)</i></div><div><b>Frankie Beverly and Raw Soul</b> had moved from Philadelphia to the Bay Area in 1971. They had started to build a following with their laid back sound, with sophisticated vocals on top of a nice groove. Marvin Gaye's wife heard them and ultimately they opened for Marvin Gaye on tour.<br /><br />Raw Soul changed their name to Maze, and Frankie Bevely's Maze was not only a huge recording act throughout the 1980s, they remain a popular touring band to tnis day. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>August 22-23, 1972 Keystone Berkely, Berkeley, CA: Mike Bloomfield and Friends/Frankie Beverley and Raw Soul </b><i>(just Tues 22) (Tues-Wed)</i><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>August 24, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: HooDoo Rhythm Devils/Lamb </b><i>(Thur)</i></div><div>Lamb had originally been a singer/songwriter duo of Barbara Mautitz (piano) and Bob Swanson (guitar). The band had been picked up by Bill Graham's Fillmore label, and added a rhythm section. By 1972, Lamb had released their third album (on Warners) <i>Bring Out The Sun</i>. Their sound was thoughtful and baroque, not really proper fare for the rowdy Keystone Berkeley.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>August 25-26, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Cold Blood/Nick Gravenites <i>(Fri-Sat) </i></b></div><div>Cold Blood are generally associated with the East Bay funk sound of bands like Tower Of Power. The East Bay association was appropriate musically, but in fact Cold Blood had its roots in the South Bay. Lead singer Lydia Pense, from San Mateo, and bassist Rod Ellicott had been in a Peninsula Band in 1966 called The Generation. The Generation were known as the first Bay Area band to merge a horn section with a rock band. The Generation evolved into Cold Blood, and they were signed to Bill Graham's San Francisco label (distributed by Atlantic). Cold Blood released two albums on San Francisco, their self-titled debut (1969) and <i>Sisyphus</i> (1970), which spawned a modest local hit with a remake of "You Got Me Hummin'."<br /><br />After Graham's labels folded, Cold Blood ended up on Reprise. In 1972, they had released <i>First Taste Of Sin</i>. Lydia Pense was a powerful singer, and Cold Blood was a tight band, so the group was very popular in night clubs and at local dances. In retrospect, however, they sound as if they were trying a bit too hard, instead of just playing the music they liked. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Nick Gravenites </b>was one of the cluster of younger white musicians in
Chicago who had learned the blues from the veteran African American
players in other parts of town. Gravenities migrated to San Francisco in
about 1966, joining his friend Ron Polte. By 1967, Mike Bloomfield had
come out, too, and he and 'Nick The Greek' put together The Electric
Flag<br /><br />Gravenites had left the Electric Flag in mid-68. Gravenites
got established as a producer, and he made successful records with
Quicksilver Messenger Service (1968) and Brewer And Shipley(1969 and
'70), among others. Gravenites had also performed and recorded with Mike
Bloomfield until he got fed up with Bloomfield's instability. By '72,
Gravenites was just playing around clubs with local musicians, like
many other established Bay Area rockers.</div><div><br /><b>August 27, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Loading Zone </b><i>(Sun)</i></div><div><br /></div><div><b>August 28, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee </b><i>(Mon)</i></div><div>Sonny Terry (1911-1986) and Brownie McGhee (1915-1996) achieved some fame in the 50's and 60s' as traditional folk blues artists, but in fact both had already had extensive performing careers in a variety of musical genres prior to that. By the 1970s, they were generally assocaiated with folk-style acoustic blues, and that appealed to mainly white audiences. There were few paying gigs anymore in white folk clubs, so once again the Keystone presented established blues artists. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>August 31, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders </b><i>(Thur)</i></div><div> </div><div><b>September 1-2, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Jimmy Witherspoon/Grayson Street </b><i>(Fri-Sat)</i></div><div>Jimmy Witherspoon (1920-1997) made his first recordings with Jay McShann in 1945. By 1950 he was well-known as an important jump blues singer, or "Blues Shouter." Witherspoon had the biggest hit with the standard 'Ain't Nobody's Business" in 1949. Witherspoon's star faded as tastes changed, but he was still popular and influential with musicians. In December 1971, Witherspoon had released the album <i>Guilty!,</i> which he made with Eric Burdon. </div><div> </div><div>Grayson Street very likely backed Witherspoon for his sets. </div><div> </div><div><b>September 6, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Loading Zone/Kimberley </b><i>(Wednesday)</i><b><br /></b></div><div>This was probably the next-to-last Loading Zone show. The Zone would break up shortly after this, but all the band members
from the '72 version (see June 22) went on to various kinds of musical
success. Organist Tom Coster and bassist Doug Rauch would join Santana on their national tour a week later. Guitarist Bruce Conte would join Tower Of Power, and drummer Tony Smith would take over the drum chair for Malo (and later the Jan Hammer Group). Lead singer Linda Tillery went on to a successful career as a solo artist and also with the group Sweet Honey In The Rock, singing in a variety of genres. Loading Zone opened many musical doors in the Bay Area, merging soul with psychedelic rock, but it was other bands that got to walk through it.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Kimberley</b> was a band associated with Santana's management, but I don't know much about them.<br /></div><div> <br /></div><div><b>September 7-8, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Merry Clayton/Sylvester and His Hot Band </b><i>(Thur-Fri) </i></div><div>Merry Clayton had made her recording debut at 14, in New Orleans with Bobby Darin, back in 1962. She was well-established as a background singer with Ray Charles and others when she was called in one night to sing a part on the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter." By 1972, she had released two albums on Ode. Her most recent had been <i>Merry Clatyon</i> in 1971. Although she sang the famously soulful vocal for the Stones, on stage her material was in more of a Las Vegas-cabaret vein.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>September 9-10, 1972: Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Cold Blood/Frank Biner Band </b><i>(Sat-Sun)</i></div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bpI0Uavij5A/X0LO-dHCT6I/AAAAAAAAHJo/o3YRiAd68HwlcktJhkOsbTHFBu_VCMQAQCLcBGAsYHQ/s500/Elvin%2BBishop%2BRock%2BMy%2BSoul.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bpI0Uavij5A/X0LO-dHCT6I/AAAAAAAAHJo/o3YRiAd68HwlcktJhkOsbTHFBu_VCMQAQCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h320/Elvin%2BBishop%2BRock%2BMy%2BSoul.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>Elvin Bishop's third album, Rock My Soul, produced by Delaney Bramlett, was released in 1972 by Epic Records</i>.<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><b>September 11, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Elvin Bishop Group </b><i>(Mon)</i></div><div>The Elvin Bishop Group could draw a crowd at Keystone any night of the week, so he was welcome on a Monday. By mid-72, Bishop had released his third album, <i>Rock My Soul</i>. It was an excellent album, produced by then-hot Delaney Bramlett. Bishop's first two albums had been on Fillmore Records, a Bill Graham imprint, but the parent company Epic released <i>Rock My Soul.</i> For whatever reasons, the album was credited to the Elvin Bishop Band instead of the Elvin Bishop Group.</div><div><br /></div><div>Bishop's records were played pretty regularly on KSAN-fm, the largest rock station in the Bay Area. I think he got airplay on other Bay Area stations, too. The radio play accounted for Bishop's local popularity. But I don't think he got airplay outside the region, so he didn't tour much. Ultimately Epic would drop Bishop by mid-'73.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>September 12, 1972: Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Tower Of Power/Azteca </b><i>(Tues)</i></div><div>On Tuesday, September 12, 1972, Santana played an unannounced show at Keystone Berkeley. The show was reviewed (which is how its known), but its not clear if the show was invitation only or open to the public. <a href="https://drfusion.blogspot.com/2016/10/santana-live-at-keystone-korner.html">There's even a tape</a>. Santana was preparing for a big tour, with a new lineup, and the Keystone Berkeley show seems like some kind of warmup.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I don't know if Tower of Power and Azteca also played. <b>Azteca</b> was an amazing 15-member band that played a remarkable hybrid of Latin jazz, soul and rock. They had multiple singers, a horn section and remarkable drumming. The band was led by Pete and Coke Escovedo. Members at different times included the vocalist Wendy Haas, guitarist Neal Schon, drummers Lenny White or Terry Bozzio, trumpeter Tom Harrell and numerous others. Everyone who ever saw Azteca said they were just incredible in person. There were many links between Azteca and Santana, so it wouldn't surprise me that Santana chose an Azteca show to make a guest appearance.<br /></div><div><br /><b>September 13, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Gideon and Power</b><i> (Wed) </i></div><div><br /></div><div><b>September 14, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Herbie Hancock Headhunters </b><i>(Thur)</i></div><div>Herbie Hancock had played the Keystone Berkeley in May, and it must have gone well. In this case, Herbie Hancock was in town for something called Black Expo '72 at the SF Civic Center (Sep 8-10) and the Monterey Jazz Festival (Sep 16) , and he picked up extra bookings in between. Herbie played the Lion's Share in San Anselmo on Tuesday and Wednesday (Sep 12-13), and then the Keystone Berkeley on Thursday (Sep 14).<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>September 15-16, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Fanny/Country Weather</b><i> (Fri-Sat)</i><b> </b></div><div><b>Fanny</b> was an all-woman rock band, led by sisters June and Jean Millington. The Millington sisters had been professional musicians in the greater Bay Area since the mid-60s, leading various bands in the Sacramento area (including Svelt and Wild Honey). By the late 60s they had moved to Los Angeles.<br /><br />By 1972, Fanny had made their third album for Warner Brothers, called <i>Fanny Hill.</i> Although there is always a bit of gimmicrkry to "all-girl" bands, all of the members of Fanny were successful professional musicians in their own right. Besides guitarist June and bassist Jean, Nicky Barclay played keyboard and, Alice De Buhr on drums. <br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>September 17, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: John Lee Hooker</b><i> (Sun)</i></div><div>Somewhere around this era, a friend of mine went to see John Lee Hooker at Keystone Berkeley, and both Van Morrison and Elvin Bishop showed up to jam the night away. Whether or not it was this night--it could have been, but who knows--it was stories like these that kept the Keystone mystique potent. I heard the story from my friend many years later, but it gave me that feeling that "anything could happen at the Keystone Berkeley." I wasn't the only East Bay rock fan who felt that way.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>September 19-23, 1972: Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: James Cotton Blues Band </b><i>(Tues-Sat)/</i><b>Delta Wires</b><i> (Sep 19-20 only)/</i><b>Buck</b><i> (21-23)<br /></i></div><div><b>James Cotton</b> had played harmonica with Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters, and had led his own band as well since the 1960s. He was a great performer, and had been playing for
white audiences at the Fillmore since November 1966. The blues weren't
as cool now, and mostly played to white audiences, but Berkeley was a
more fruitful place to fill a weeknight booking than clubs in African
American neighborhoods that had stopped booking the blues a long time
ago.<i> </i>Cotton's most recent album would have been <i>Taking Care Of Business</i>, released in 1970 on Capitol. Matt "Guitar" Murphy was often part of Cotton's touring band.</div><div><br /><i></i></div><div>Opening act <b>Buck</b> is unknown to me. <br /><i></i></div><div><br /></div><div><b>September 27-29, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Charlie Musselwhite/Nick Gravenites and Blue Gravy </b><i>(Wed-Fri)</i></div><div><b>Charlie Musselwhite</b> was from Memphis, by way of Chicago. In 1967, with
an album under his belt, he took a month off from his Chicago factory
job to play some shows with his band in the Bay Area. He stayed 30
years.<i> </i>At this time, his most recent album would have been <i>Takin' My Time</i>, on Arhoolie.<i> </i>The album featured Ukiah guitarist Robben Ford, but he had likely moved on by this time.<i><br /></i></div><div> </div><div><b>September 30-October 1, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Sylvester and His Hot Band </b><i>(Sat-Sun) </i><br /></div><div><b> </b></div><div><b>October 5-7, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders, Tom Fogerty and Friends </b><i>(Thur-Sat)</i></div><div>Former Creedence Clearwater Revival founder and rhythm guitarist was now a regular in the Garcia/Saunders band. The band didn't even have a name, much less "members," but Tom Fogerty was a regular. Tom was old pals with Merl from his Fantasy days, and Garcia apparently liked Fogerty's economic rhythm playing. Fogerty, who had left Creedence about two years later, didn't play at every show, but then Garcia didn't either. <br /></div><div> </div><div><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x3um1adZQCk/X1PH2JYCC3I/AAAAAAAAHNU/ioVoHJxL_vMPqt_ETF6i1HArd3g7Ebu_gCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/banana%2Band%2Bthe%2Bbunch%2Bmid%2Bmountain%2Branch%2B72.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="600" height="319" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x3um1adZQCk/X1PH2JYCC3I/AAAAAAAAHNU/ioVoHJxL_vMPqt_ETF6i1HArd3g7Ebu_gCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h319/banana%2Band%2Bthe%2Bbunch%2Bmid%2Bmountain%2Branch%2B72.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b><b><br />October 8, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Banana and The Bunch</b><i> (Sun)</i></div><div><div>Banana And The Bunch were yet another byproduct of The Youngbloods.
Multi-instrumental threat Lowell "Banana" Levenger, along with bassist
Michael Kane and drummer Joe Bauer, <a href="https://www.discogs.com/Banana-And-The-Bunch-Mid-Mountain-Ranch/release/1549271 ">had released the album <i>Mid-Mountain
Ranch</i> in 1972 on Raccoon, the Youngbloods' Warner Brothers sponsored
imprint</a>. Since Banana could play jazzy piano, old-timey dobro and
countrified pedal steel, among many other instruments, I suspect the
live performances of Banana And The Bunch were pretty diverse. </div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>October 13-14, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Frank Biner/Around and Around </b><i>(Fri-Sat)</i></div><div><b>Around and Around</b> are unknown to me.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>October 15-18, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Albert King/Frank Biner </b><i>(Sun-Mon only)</i><b> Boone's Farm </b><i>(Tues-Wed)</i><b> </b><i>(Sun-Wed)</i></div><div>Albert King was back, as was Boone's Farm.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>October 20-21, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Frank Biner Band/Boone's Farm </b><i>(Fri-Sat) </i></div><div>Frank Biner had graduated from Monday night filler to weekend headliner. Now, granted, it was probably because no one else was available, but Biner had clearly done well enough that he would draw at least some fans.</div><div><i><br /></i><b>October 23, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Frank Biner Band/Mason </b><i>(Mon)</i><br /></div><div> </div><div><b>October 25-26, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Mike Bloomfield/Nick Gravenites and Blue Gravy </b><i>(Wed-Thur) </i></div><div><br /></div><div><b>October 27, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Jimmy Witherspoon (</b><i>Fri)</i></div><div><br /></div><div><b>October 31, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Joy Of Cooking (</b><i>Tues)</i></div><div><b>Joy Of Cooking </b>was a Berkeley band, founded in 1969. The leaders were guitarist Terry Garthwaite and pianist Toni Brown, both of whom sang and wrote. What distinguished Joy Of Cooking was that while Garthwaite and Brown were fine singers and songwriters, they rocked pretty hard as well. Joy Of Cooking had long improvised sections between verses, just like bands with boys in them. </div><div><br /></div><div>Joy Of Cooking had established themselves at Mandrake's, playing weeknights. By '72, they were on their third album for Capitol, called <i>Castles</i>. Although a fine live act with a good local following, Joy Of Cooking never broke out of the Bay Area, and they had broken up by 1973.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>November 3, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Elvin Bishop Group/Neal Schon, Gregg Errico and Pete Sears </b><i>(Fri)</i></div><div>Guitarist<b> Neal Schon</b> had left Santana, drummer<b> Gregg Errico</b> had left Sly and The Family Stone, and bassist<b> Pete Sears</b> had moved over from England. Their idea was that they would form a band called The San Francisco Rhythm Section, providing backing for singers who would record at major Bay Area studios. It wasn't a terrible idea. The trio played occasional gigs, but this may have been theri very first one. They probably just jammed on familiar material.</div><div> </div><div>About two years later, with some personnel changes, The San Francisco Rhythm Section evolved into Journey. <br /></div><div> </div><div><b>November 4, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders and Tom Fogerty </b><i>(Sat) </i><i><br /></i></div><div><br /></div><div><b>November 6, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Frank Biner Band/Filet Of Soul </b><i>(Mon)</i></div><div><b>Filet Of Soul</b> is unknown to me. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>November 9, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Sons Of Champlin </b><i>(Thur)</i><br /></div><div> </div><div><b>November 10-12, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Merry Clayton/A Thought In Passing </b><i>(Fri-Sun) </i></div><div><b>A Thought In Passing</b> is unknown to me. <br /></div><div> </div><div><b>November 13, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Fat and Sassy </b><i>(Mon)</i><b> </b></div><div><b>Fat and Sassy</b> is unknown to me.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>November 16, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Earthquake </b><i>(Thur)</i></div><div> </div><div><b>November 17-18, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: John Lee Hooker and Jungle </b><i>(Fri-Sat) </i></div><div><b>Jungle</b> is unknown to me. <br /></div><div><br /><b>November 19, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Cal Tjader </b><i>(Sun)</i></div><div><b>Cal Tjader </b>was from the Bay Area, but peculiarly enough he was one of th godfathers of Latin Jazz. Once again, with no good East Bay jazz clubs, Keystone Berkeley got a good booking.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>November 22, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Elvin Bishop Group/Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen/Alice Stuart </b><i>A Benefit for Charlie Musselwhite (Wed) </i></div><div>Apparently Musselwhite had been in a car accident.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2rX2IIXYzu8/X1PICSRnliI/AAAAAAAAHNY/onvfqk6tNJoqK3tq7WcG9D1X-rYj_8KzwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1200/High%2BCountry%2Blp%2B1971%2B%2528Raccoon%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2rX2IIXYzu8/X1PICSRnliI/AAAAAAAAHNY/onvfqk6tNJoqK3tq7WcG9D1X-rYj_8KzwCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h320/High%2BCountry%2Blp%2B1971%2B%2528Raccoon%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b><b><br />November 23, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Banana and The Bunch/High Country </b><i>(Thur)</i></div><div>KPFA-fm, part of the listener suppored Pacifica Radio network, regularly
broadcast nightclub shows from around the Bay Area. Banana and The Bunch had a set broadcast on KPFA. It was sponsored by Raccoon Records, the Youngbloods imprint on Warner Brothers. After the Youngbloods had hit it big with "Get Together," Warners was hot to re-sign them, and gave them their own label. Unfortunately, I don't know of this Banana And The Bunch tape circulating. </div><div> </div><div><b>High Country</b> was a Berkeley bluegrass band led by mandolinist Butch Waller. They had released a 1971 album on Raccoon. I assume they were broadcast as well, although I don't know of that tape circulating either. <br /></div><br /><div><b>November 30, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Tower Of Power/Elephant's Tooth </b><i>(Thur)</i></div><div>Up until now, Tower of Power had been an essentially local band. By Fall '72, however, the band's single "You're Still A Young Man" had been in the <i>Billboard</i> National charts in September/October, and had peaked at #24. So Tower of Power was getting a bigger national profile. Like many of the better known bands at Keystone Berkeley, such as Jerry Garcia or Elvin Bishop, Tower was playing a weeknight. The band could bring in a lot of people on a Thursday, and it left them free for weekend bookings farther afield.</div><div> </div><div>Tower of Power's first set was
broadcast on KPFA. A wonderful tape ciculates. Tellingly, the KPFA dj
says "coming to you from the Keystone Korner, on the corner of
University and Shattuck," inadvertently betraying the perennial
confusion associated with the different Keystones.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Elephant's Tooth</b> is unknown to me.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>December 1-2, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Earthquake/Rockets </b><i>(Fri-Sat)</i></div><div>The Longbranch, down at 2504 San Pablo Avenue, had doubled in size in the middle of the year, changing its name from Babylon. It now held 300+ people. Earthquake and The Rockets were regular headliners there. Moving 12 blocks closer to campus for a weekend gig was a sign of progress.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Rockets </b>featured transplanted New Yorker Eddie Mahoney on lead vocals. A few years later, he would become better known as Eddie Money.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>Decmber 5, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Boz Scaggs </b><i>(Tues-two shows 8:30-11:30) </i></div><div>Boz Scaggs new album <i>My Time</i> had been released September. It was getting good airplay on KSAN and other FM stations. For this show, on a Tuesday, the Keystone turned over the house for Boz, with an early and a late show. This was rarely done by the club, since it inevitably meant less beer was sold. It was a sign of Scaggs' status in the Bay Area that he could have a double show on a Tuesday night.<br /></div><div> </div><div><div><b>December 6,-7 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders, Tom Fogerty </b><i>(Wed-Thur) </i></div><div> </div><div><b>December 8-9, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Cold Blood/Trapeze </b><i>(Fri-Sat) </i></div><div><b>Trapeze</b> was an English band, touring behind their third album <i>You Are The Music...We Are Just The Band</i>. The group was signed to Threshold Records, the imprint of The Moody Blues. Moody bassist John Lodge had produced their first two albums. Established producer Neil Slaven produced Y<i>ou Are The Music</i>. </div><div><br /></div><div>Trapeze was a trio, with guitarist Mel Galley, bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes and drummer David Holland. The music was sort of funky hard rock. Hughes would leave the band the next year to join Deep Purple, replacing Roger Glover.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b>Decmber 12-14, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Jesse Colin Young and Jerry Corbitt </b><i>(Tues-Thur)</i></div><div>Jerry Corbitt had left the Youngbloods about 1968, before they had unexpectedly become really big when "Get Together" had hit in 1969. Corbitt was still friendly with the band, however, and I believe these were duo shows. The Youngbloods, despite their success, were actually on the verge of breaking up. <br /></div><div> <br /></div></div><div><b>December 15-16, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: John Lee Hooker </b><i>(Fri-Sat) </i></div><div>One source has Luis Gasca and saxophonist John Handy on Saturday (Dec 16) instead of Hooker. Handy, an established jazz veteran, lived in Palo Alto, so the occasional one-off local date would make sense.<br /></div><div> </div><div><b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1kH1AaCxcfY/X1PIOXs9-oI/AAAAAAAAHNc/1qET293RP2cakqp_R7lAQHZ810ZIk6btgCLcBGAsYHQ/s208/sarah.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="208" data-original-width="208" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1kH1AaCxcfY/X1PIOXs9-oI/AAAAAAAAHNc/1qET293RP2cakqp_R7lAQHZ810ZIk6btgCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h320/sarah.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><i>The 1971 album Sarah, by Sarah Fulcher, and produced by Steve Cropper for TMI Records</i><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></b><b><br />December 17, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Banana and The Bunch/Sarah and Friends </b><i>(Sun)</i></div><div><b>Sarah And Friends</b> was a group fronted by singer Sarah Fulcher, who had released an album by that name on 1971 on TMI Records, produced by Steve Cropper. <a href="http://hooterollin.blogspot.com/2011/09/sarah-fulcher-vocals.html">To the extent Sarah Fulcher is known at all, it was as a part-time member of the Garcia/Saunders aggregation</a>. This period was the only one where she played around the Bay Area at all. Since a show at Cotati's Inn Of The Beginning a few days earlier (Dec 14 '72) by Sarah & Friends was canceled, I wouldn't be surprised if this booking was too. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>December 19, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Buddy Guy and Junior Wells </b><i>(Tues)</i><br /></div><div>Weather Report seems to have booked a week, and then canceled.</div><div> </div><div>Guitarist<b> Buddy Guy</b> (b.1936) was a member of Muddy Waters' band in the 50s and 60s and a Chess studio regular as well. He was huge influence on Eric Clapton and other English musicians. His long-time partner, harmonica player <b>Junior Wells</b>, was also a major figure to younger rock musicians.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>December 20, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders, Tom Fogerty </b><i>(Wed)</i></div><div>There is a confusing history to this date, but it has to do with mis-dated tapes. There was a show the next week (Dec 28) at the Lion's Share at San Anselmo that was broadcast on KTIM-fm. For reasons that are unclear, some people thought the show was taped from this night at the Keystone Berkeley (maybe it was--I've never been certain). <br /></div><div> </div><div><b>December 22-23, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Tower Of Power/Black Kangaroo </b><i>(Fri-Sat)</i></div><div>Black Kangaroo was a power trio featuring guitarist Peter Kaukonen, the younger brother of the Airplane's Jorma. Kaukonen had just released a solo album on Grunt (the Jefferson Airplane's RCA imprint) called <i>Black Kangaroo</i>, and now led a group by that name. </div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>December 26, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Earthquake </b><i>(Tues)</i></div><div><i> </i></div><div><b>December 27-28, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Country Joe McDonald/Staton Brothers </b><i>(Wed-Thur) </i></div><div>Berkeley's own <b>Country Joe McDonald</b> was on a plateau at this point, starting a new band. He had split up with Barry "The Fish" Melton in mid-1970, although they periodically played together. McDonald's current record would have been the solo acoustic Incredible! Live on Vanguard. Joe would have been backed by his new All-Star Band. The old Big Brother rhythm section of Peter Albin (bass) and Dave Getz (drums) supported pianist Dorothy Moskowitz (ex-USA) and saxophonist Tucki Bailey. Sometimes the band was joied by some backup singers and also Barry Melton on lead guitar. The group would stay together in variouis forms for over two years.</div><div><br /><i></i></div><div>The <b>Staton Brothers</b> were an East Bay band from Hayward who had been signed by the Monkees' management around 1967. Jeff and Mike Staton were both singing guitarists, broadly in the style of Buffalo Springfield. The band had toured with the Springfield and others in the 1960s. <a href="http://badcatrecords.com/BadCat/STATONbrothers.htm">In late 1972, the Staton Brothers had released an album on Epic, but there was a problem with distributors, so the album did not sell</a>. Ultimately both Staton brothers worked with Stephen Bishop and many others as guitarists and songwriters, mostly based in Nashville. Since "Staton" was often misunderstood, and just an adopted name anyway, they used different names.<br /><i></i></div><div><br /></div><div><b>December 29, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Jerry Garcia, Merl Saunders, Tom Fogerty and friends </b><i>(Fri)</i></div><div><br /></div><div><b>December 30, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Stoneground (</b><i>Sat)</i><br /></div><div>Warner Brothers had recently released <i>Stoneground 3</i>. After beginning with a lot of hype and fanfare, Stoneground had fizzled. They were talented and good on stage, but with five singers in a ten-piece band, there was a lot to juggle. This was one of the band's last performances. The final Stoneground performance was January 6, 1973 in Sacramento, although of course the band would go on to reform many times in the next decade.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>December 31, 1972 Keystone Berkeley, Berkeley, CA: Cold Blood </b><i>(Sun)</i><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N59KTkR5bJE/X1RHVrLec-I/AAAAAAAAHOU/mqcNPEknBXAT1TlPpUugQkkaORQWOXvCgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/2119%2BUniversity%2B%2528BK%2529%2Bsite%2B20090811.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N59KTkR5bJE/X1RHVrLec-I/AAAAAAAAHOU/mqcNPEknBXAT1TlPpUugQkkaORQWOXvCgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/2119%2BUniversity%2B%2528BK%2529%2Bsite%2B20090811.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr align="left"><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><b><i><a href="http://rockarchaeology101.blogspot.com/2021/04/60s-and-70s-rock-nightclub-history.html">For subsequent posts in the 70s Rock Nightclubs series, see here. </a></i></b></div><div><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 225px;"><tbody><tr height="14"><td class="xl30" height="14" width="75"><br /></td><td class="xl30" width="75"><br /></td><td class="xl30" width="75"><br /></td></tr><tr height="182"><td class="xl24" height="182" width="75"><br /></td>
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<tr height="210" style="break-before: page;">
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<tr height="112">
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<td class="xl25" width="75"><br /></td>
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<tr height="14">
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<td class="xl25" width="75"><br /></td>
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<tr height="112">
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<tr height="70">
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<tr height="42">
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<tr height="28">
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<tr height="126">
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<tr height="154">
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<tr height="182">
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<tr height="168" style="break-before: page;">
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<tr height="154">
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<tr height="126">
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<td class="xl24" height="28" width="75"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 225px;"><tbody><tr height="28"><td class="xl24" height="28" width="75"><br /></td></tr><tr height="28"><td class="xl24" height="28" width="75"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></td>
<td class="xl25" width="75"><br /></td>
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<td class="xl25" width="75"><br /></td>
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<td class="xl25" width="75"><br /></td>
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<tr height="28">
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<tr height="14">
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<td class="xl25" width="75"><br /></td>
<td class="xl26" width="75"><br /></td>
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<td class="xl24" height="14" width="75"><br /></td>
<td class="xl25" width="75"><br /></td>
<td class="xl26" width="75"><br /></td>
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<tr height="14">
<td class="xl24" height="14" width="75"><br /></td>
<td class="xl25" width="75"><br /></td>
<td class="xl26" width="75"><br /></td>
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</tbody></table>
<style>
<!--table
{mso-displayed-decimal-separator:"\.";
mso-displayed-thousand-separator:"\,";}
.font5
{color:windowtext;
font-size:8.0pt;
font-weight:400;
font-style:normal;
text-decoration:none;
font-family:Verdana;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-charset:0;}
td
{padding-top:1px;
padding-right:1px;
padding-left:1px;
mso-ignore:padding;
color:windowtext;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-weight:400;
font-style:normal;
text-decoration:none;
font-family:Verdana;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-number-format:General;
text-align:general;
vertical-align:bottom;
border:none;
mso-background-source:auto;
mso-pattern:auto;
mso-protection:locked visible;
white-space:nowrap;
mso-rotate:0;}
.xl24
{font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;
mso-font-charset:0;
text-align:center;
vertical-align:middle;
white-space:normal;}
.xl25
{font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-number-format:"Medium Date";
text-align:center;
vertical-align:middle;
white-space:normal;}
.xl26
{font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;
mso-font-charset:0;
text-align:left;
vertical-align:middle;
white-space:normal;}
.xl27
{font-style:italic;
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mso-font-charset:0;
text-align:center;
vertical-align:middle;
white-space:normal;}
.xl28
{font-style:italic;
font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-number-format:"Medium Date";
text-align:center;
vertical-align:middle;
white-space:normal;}
.xl29
{font-style:italic;
font-family:Calibri, sans-serif;
mso-font-charset:0;
text-align:left;
vertical-align:middle;
white-space:normal;}
.xl30
{font-weight:700;}
ruby
{ruby-align:left;}
rt
{color:windowtext;
font-size:8.0pt;
font-weight:400;
font-style:normal;
text-decoration:none;
font-family:Verdana;
mso-generic-font-family:auto;
mso-font-charset:0;
mso-char-type:none;
display:none;}</style></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Corry342http://www.blogger.com/profile/08049035074121231425noreply@blogger.com22