2201 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA The Electric Factory: Concert List July-December 1969 (Philadelphia IV)

[this post continues the series about rock concerts at and presented by the Electric Factory in Philadelphia in the 1960s]

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is one of America's great cities, but its proximity to New York has always made an unfair comparison. Philadelphia has an exciting music history, and an exciting rock music history in the 1960s, but that history can only be documented in the most fragmented of places. These posts about the Electric Factory marks the beginning of my effort to organize and analyze Philadelphia rock history in the 1960s. There are probably more dates to be found, but these posts will make a good starting point (thanks to Bruno for some fantastic research).

The Electric Factory, 2201 Arch Street
The Electric Factory, a former tire warehouse, opened in early 1968 at 2201 Arch.  The owners were the Spivak brothers, all experienced bar owners in the Philadelphia area. Their booker was Larry Magid.  They rapidly dominated the concert scene in Philadelphia, and the Electric Factory were the most important promoters in Philadelphia until they ultimately were purchased by larger corporate interests in the 1990s.

The Electric Factory was a critical stop on 60s concert tours, and an integral part of the "Premier Talent" (Booking Agency) circuit that included both Fillmores, the Boston Tea Party and Chicago's Kinetic Playground. Philadelphia was a big, important city and Philadelphia fans were not shy about showing their appreciation or displeasure (a trait that has endured). However, since the Electric Factory did not generally use posters with collectible art for advertisements, the venue has been somewhat lost to 60s rock history. There were many relatively trivial 60s venues that had a famous poster or two, often printed in The Art Of Rock or otherwise promulgated, that are recalled much more often than the Electric Factory. Outside of Philadelphia, the early history of the Electric Factory is largely ignored, and I am attempting to begin to correct that here.

This post presents the lists of Electric Factory concerts from July through December 1969, as well as major Philadelphia rock events during that period. The list is almost certainly not complete. Our knowledge of shows at venues like the Fillmore, the Avalon or Detroit's Grande Ballroom comes from the wonderful (and collectible) posters that lived on in dorm room walls long after the venues ceased operating. However, the Electric Factory rarely used colorful, artistic posters to advertise the shows. I think the Electric Factory advertised on the radio and with print-only ads in various newspapers, making it harder to discern their schedule.

This post represents my best efforts at determining late 1969  shows at the Electric Factory, as well as shows promoted by Electric Factory concerts. Anyone with additional information, insights, corrections or recovered memories (real or imagined) is encouraged to Comment or email me, and I will update the list accordingly. 

(For earlier efforts at psychedelic ballrooms in Philadelphia as well as the first half of 1968 for the Electric Factory, see here, and for the second half of 1968 see here, and for the first half of 1969 see here)

Electric Factory Concerts in Philadelphia, July>December 1969

By the second half of 1969, rock concert promotion was big business, and Larry Magid and The Electric Factory were the dominant promoter in Philadelphia. Ironically, however, the market had gotten so big that many of the concerts were now held at the much larger Philadelphia Spectrum. The Electric Factory was also the primary promoter at the Spectrum (at 3601 Broad), though not the only one. I have tried to include all the major rock events at the Spectrum from this period, even though I am not always certain that the events were promoted by the Electric Factory. 

At the same time, the Electric Factory was under pressure from police commissioner Frank Rizzo, who managed to get the Electric Factory shut down for most of the Summer of 1969. The Electric Factory was busy promoting events at the Spectrum as well as the Atlantic City Pop Festival, but the Factory itself was closed for some portion of the Summer.

July 11-12, 1969 The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA: Spectrum Pop Festival
>July 11, 1969:  Sly and The Family Stone/Mothers of Invention/Ten Years After/Jeff Beck/Savoy Brown
>July 12, 1969: Blood, Sweat & Tears/Edwin Hawkins Singers (afternoon show)
>July 12, 1969: Led Zeppelin/Johnny Winter/Al Kooper/Jethro Tull/Buddy Guy’s Blues Band
Many of the acts who played the Spectrum Pop Festival had previously headlined at the Electric Factory. The Summer of 1969 was the Summer of Rock Festivals, however, and bands had started crisscrossing the country.

July 16, 1969: The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA: Blind Faith/Delaney & Bonnie & Friends/Taste

The Blind Faith tour was probably the biggest National rock tour up until this time. Taste featured Irish guitarist Rory Gallagher.

July 19, 1969: Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA: Tom Rush

July 23, 1969: Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA: Crazy World Of Arthur Brown/Sweet Stavin Chain


July 25-26, 1969: Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA: AUM/Sweet Stavin Chain

July 29, 1969: Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA: Dr. John The Night Tripper

July 30, 1969: Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA: Lothar and The Hand People
Police Commissioner Frank Rizzo managed to get a judge to close the Electric Factory ("corrupting the youth" seemed to be the charge) for the rest of the Summer.

August 1-3, 1969 Atlantic City Racetrack, Mays Landing, NJ: “Atlantic City Pop Festival”
Although held outside of Atlantic City, New Jersey, about 50 miles to the Southeast of Philadelphia, this show was promoted by the Electric Factory. During this time, the Electric Factory was holding “Be-Ins” at Belmont Plateau in Fairmount Park, but the city would not have allowed a rock festival outdoors.  Even in freewheeling Atlantic City, the event still had to be called a “Pop” Festival.

Like most 60s festivals, it is difficult to determine who actually showed and who played, much less in what order. According to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer on August 1, 2004, the festival was a commercial and musical success.  It was promoted by Philadelphia’s Electric Factory (who could not get a permit for anywhere in Philadelphia), and crowds of about 40,000 showed up all three days.  There was a campground next door, and adequate facilities (as well as a fence) at the horse racing track.

The advertised acts appear to have varied significantly from who actually played. I am unable to determine even whether bands appeared for two days or three. My guess is that three days were planned, and after a series of cancellations the show was scaled back to two days. A program circulates with only two days of acts, differing dramatically from what was advertised. Such changes were common occurrences in late 60s' festivals. I suspect that the first night featured Philadelphia area bands, since many people would have started camping out on Friday August 1.

Poster courtesy of the collection of Ed Galm

Atlantic City Pop Festival: Advertised Acts
Friday, August 1: Iron Butterfly/Johnny Winter/Crosby Stills Nash & Young/Chicago Transit Authority/Procol Harum/Joni Mitchell/Mother Earth/Santana Blues Band/Booker T & The MGs

Saturday, August 2: Jefferson Airplane/Creedence Clearwater Revival/Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, Tim Buckley, B.B. King/Butterfield Blues Band/The Byrds/Hugh Masakela/Lighthouse/American Dream

Sunday, August 3: Janis Joplin/Canned Heat/Mothers Of Invention/Moody Blues/Three Dog Night/Sir Douglas Quintet/Joe Cocker/Little Richard/Buddy Rich Big Band/Dr. John The Night Tripper

The actual reality of who played seems somewhat different. CSNY canceled, apparently because Graham Nash had vocal nodes, insuring that he would be well enough to sing at Woodstock two weeks later. Johnny Winter was unable to play because his equipment did not arrive, although it appears he borrowed a guitar and sat in with Janis Joplin.

A program exists listing acts only on Saturday (Aug 2) and Sunday (Aug 3). It includes some of the acts scheduled for Friday night. Did some bands play twice, was Friday's billing re-organized or was it canceled? My guess is that there was a concert Friday night, but it featured mainly local bands.

Atlantic City Pop Festival: Programmed Acts
According to a circulating program (above), these were the acts on Saturday and Sunday, in order of appearance, from 1:00-9:30 pm.

Saturday, August 2: American Dream/Tim Buckley/The Byrds/Booker T and The MGs/Hugh Masakela/Butterfield Blues Band/BB King/Lighthouse/Creedence Clearwater Revival/Jefferson Airplane

Sunday, August 3: Sir Douglas Quintet/Santana Blues Band/Canned Heat/Three Dog Night/Joe Cocker and The Grease Band/Mothers Of Invention/Buddy Miles Express/Johnny Winter/Janis Joplin/Little Richard
Janis Joplin is actually listed on the program twice. I assume this was just a misprint, and some other act came on between Joe Cocker and The Mothers (I don't envy them). Johnny Winter was reputed not to have made it, but of course I can't be sure. Keep in mind that many of the big names booked for these days were not big names at the time. Acts like Santana, Joe Cocker, Three Dog Night and Joe Cocker would have just released their first albums at this time, and would have been big surprises to the Festival audience.

Anyone with more specific memories of the acts playing the Atlantic City Pop Festival is encouraged to Comment. For a more general picture of the Atlantic City Pop Festival, there is an interesting website by one of the promoters of the event.

September 5-6, 1969: Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA: Spooky Tooth/Chicago Transit Authority

September 9-11, 1969 Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA: Tyrannosaurus Rex/Chris Smither
I suspect that the Electric Factory was closed for most of August 1969, just like the Fillmore East. I don't really have a sense of how many 1969 shows I am missing from the Electric Factory itself, as I'm not sure if they tried to be open every weekend no matter what.

Although Tyrannosarus Rex featured Marc Bolan, it was not the hard rocking glam of "Bang A Gong," but a hippie folk duo featuring Bolan and a conga player. They would have been a sort of cult act at this time, a clear indicator that the bigger acts were playing the Spectrum or elsewhere, at least in the Summer.

Chris Smither was a Cambridge, MA based folk blues guitarist. 

September 12-13, 1969: Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA: Junior Wells/Mandrake Memorial


September 19-20, 1969: Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA: Buddy Miles Express/The Stooges


September 26-27, 1969: Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA: MC5/American Dream

October 3-4, 1969: Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA: Mountain/Lonnie Mack

October 10-11, 1969: Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA: War featuring Eric Burdon/The Raven/Lee Michaels
Eric Burdon was a big star, but his collaboration with War was a new venture. Lee Michaels was shy of his first big hit as well. This was probably a terrific show, but the bands were not major acts at the time.

October 17-18, 1969 Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA: Aum/Elvin Bishop
Aum and Elvin Bishop were both managed by Bill Graham's organization, and they both had new debut albums.

October 19, 1969 Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA: The Who/American Dream
There were two shows at 4 and 8 pm, where The Who memorably played all of Tommy. The Who had probably been booked prior to the album, which broke The Who into another level of stardom. The band would not play venues this small again.

October 24-25, 1969: Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA: The Byrds/Litter/Elizabeth/P.I.L.T


October 26, 1969: Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA: Benefit For Burned War Children


November 7-8, 1969: Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA: Lee Michaels/The Flock


November 14-15, 1969: Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA: Joe Cocker/Holy Modal Rounders


November 21-22, 1969: Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA: Youngbloods/Rockin' Foo

November 21, 1969 The Palestra, U. Penn, Philadelphia, PA: Jefferson Airplane/Lighthouse/Sweet Stavin Chain
The Palestra was Penn's basketball arena. I'm not sure whether Electric Factory promoted this event, but I thought I would include it for completeness.

November 25, 1969 The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA: Rolling Stones/B.B. King/Ike & Tina Turner/Terry Reid
The Fall '69 Rolling Stones tour eclipsed the Summer's Blind Faith tour as the biggest rock event so far. This was near the end of the tour (Altamont was only 11 days away).

November 28-29, 1969: Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA: The Sons/Jacobs Creek

November 30, 1969 The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA: Jethro Tull/The Sons
This date is from the Jethro Tull list.  If this is accurate, Tull would have been opening for someone else, as they were not yet at the level of Spectrum headliners.

December 5, 1969 The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA: Chambers Brothers/The Kinks/Spirit/American Dream
The Kinks, having settled their issues with the American Musicians Union (Ray Davies had punched someone important in the face in Los Angeles in 1965), had begun to join their peers in touring across America.

December 7, 1969: Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA “Benefit For Help”
Elizabeth/Stone Dawn/High Treason/Stock Yard/Sweet Stavin Chain/Hard Road/Edison Electric/The Max/Maholo Reigns/American Dream  (Sunday afternoon show)
I'm not sure whether this concert benefited the Electric Factory itself or some other cause. All of the groups were local Philadelphia bands who had probably played the Electric Factory many times.

December 12-13, 1969: Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA: Edison Electric Band/Sweet Stavin Chain/Max

December 26, 1969: Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA: Cold Blood/American Dream/Pookah
December 27, 1969: Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA: Grand Funk Railroad/American Dream/Pookah

December 31, 1969: Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA: Lighthouse/Catfish/Elizabeth

Although my concert list is not entirely complete, the general trend makes it clear that the rock market had outgrown the Electric Factory venue. In fact, 2201 Arch Street would remain open through November 1970, but Electric Factory promotions increasingly moved to the larger Spectrum. Even when the Arch Street facility closed down, Electric Factory promotions remained active in the Philadelphia area. Electric Factory was far and away the biggest promoter in Philadelphia through the 1990s, when it was ultimately merged with larger corporate interests.

2201 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA The Electric Factory: Concert List January-June 1969 (Philadelphia III)

[this post continues the series about rock concerts at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia in the 1960s]

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is one of America's great cities, but its proximity to New York has always made an unfair comparison. Philadelphia has an exciting music history, and an exciting rock music history in the 1960s, but that history can only be documented in the most fragmented of places. These posts about the Electric Factory marks the beginning of my effort to organize and analyze Philadelphia rock history in the 1960s. There are considerably more dates to be found, but these posts will make a good starting point (update: thanks to Bruno, the list is largely complete).

The Electric Factory, 2201 Arch Street
The Electric Factory, a former tire warehouse, opened in early 1968 at 2201 Arch.  The owners were the Spivak brothers, all experienced bar owners in the Philadelphia area. Their booker was Larry Magid.  They rapidly dominated the concert scene in Philadelphia, and the Electric Factory were the most important promoters in Philadelphia until they ultimately were purchased by larger corporate interests in the 1990s.

The Electric Factory was a critical stop on 60s concert tours, and an integral part of the "Premier Talent" (Booking Agency) circuit that included both Fillmores, the Boston Tea Party and Chicago's Kinetic Playground. Philadelphia was a big, important city and Philadelphia fans were not shy about showing their appreciation or displeasure (a trait that has endured). However, since the Electric Factory did not generally use posters with collectible art for advertisements, the venue has been somewhat lost to 60s rock history. There were many relatively trivial 60s venues that had a famous poster or two, often printed in The Art Of Rock or otherwise promulgated, that are recalled much more often than the Electric Factory. Outside of Philadelphia, the early history of the Electric Factory is largely ignored, and I am attempting to begin to correct that here.

This post presents the lists of Electric Factory concerts from January through June 1969, as well as major Philadelphia rock events during that period. The list is almost certainly not complete. Our knowledge of shows at venues like the Fillmore, the Avalon or Detroit's Grande Ballroom comes from the wonderful (and collectible) posters that lived on in dorm room walls long after the venues ceased operating. However, the Electric Factory rarely used colorful, artistic posters to advertise the shows. I think the Electric Factory advertised on the radio and with print-only ads in various newspapers, making it harder to discern their schedule.

This post represents my best efforts at determining early 1969  shows at the Electric Factory, as well as shows promoted by Electric Factory concerts. Anyone with additional information, insights, corrections or recovered memories (real or imagined) is encouraged to Comment or email me, and I will update the list accordingly. 

(For earlier efforts at psychedelic ballrooms in Philadelphia as well as the first half of 1968 for the Electric Factory, see here, and for the second half of 1968 see here)

January 10-11, 1969: Buddy Rich/Sweet Stavin Chain/Virgin Spring

January 17-18, 1969: Iron Butterfly/Sweet Nothin'

January 24-25, 1969: Mother Earth/Edison Electric Company/Virgin Spring
An early ad featured the group Genesis. Whoever, "Genesis" was, it wasn't the English group featuring Peter Gabriel. There was a Los Angeles group called Genesis, featuring at least one former member of The Sons Of Adam, and it may have been them. On the other hand, probably ever region had a band named Genesis, so I wouldn't jump to conclusions yet. A Commenter reports, however, that Genesis leader Jac Ttanna says

We were scheduled for an east coast tour around that time, but the band broke up in Houston after playing only three shows, and we never made it up the coast. It's possible that gig was part of the tour schedule, but we didn't play it. Maybe they brought in some imposters to take our place, or maybe it was just a local band with the same name. It definitely wasn't us.

I am more inclined to the theory that the booking was indeed for the Los Angeles Genesis (it fits some other details), but they must have been replaced or the show canceled altogether.

Mother Earth were based in San Francisco, and featured singer Tracy Nelson. Like many San Francisco bands in the 60s, the members were actually from elsewhere (Nelson from Wisconsin and the rest of the band mostly from Texas).

January 31, 1969 Baltimore Civic Center, Baltimore, MD: Blood, Sweat & Tears/Rhinoceros/Spirit/The Nazz/Mother Earth "The Electric Factory Presents The Baltimore Rock Festival"
I do not know if Electric Factory did a lot of promotions in Baltimore, or if this was a one-off. It appears, by default, that the Philadelphia venue was closed that weekend.

February 7-8, 1969: Spirit/Chicago Transit Authority/Noah's Ark


February 11-12, 1969: Mothers of Invention/Paul Pena
Although this booking was a Wednesday-Thursday show, rare for the Electric Factory, keep in mind that Thursday February 12 was a National Holiday (Lincoln's Birthday). Thus the two days were kind of like a weekend. The Mothers had headlined the Electric Factory the previous year (March 22-24, 1968).

Paul Pena was a bluesy solo performer. He later moved to the Bay Area, and rather unexpectedly one of his songs, "Jet Airliner" was rearranged by and became a huge hit for Steve Miller.  Pena replaced the British band Gun, which featured Paul and Adrian Gurvitz, then calling themselves Paul and Adrian Curtis.

February 14-15, 1969: Grateful Dead/Paul Pena
The Grateful Dead had also headlined the Electric Factory the previous year (April 26-28, 1968). The venue had been in business long enough that they were starting to become a known stop on "the circuit."

There are tapes of the Grateful Dead performances from both nights. The Saturday night tape (Feb 15) is nearly 3 hours long, typical of Dead performances in those days. These tapes are among the relatively few that survive from the Electric Factory in the 60s.

Pena also replaced Gun on this bill.


February 16, 1969: Tim Buckley/Good News

February 21-22, 1969: Canned Heat/American Dream

February 23, 1969: Blood, Sweat & Tears/Sweet Stavin Chain
Blood, Sweat and Tears had been scheduled to play Electric Factory in April 1968, but they had canceled, probably because Al Kooper had just quit. Now they were back with new lead singer David Clayton Thomas.

February 28-March 1, 1969: Rhinoceros/Valentine


March 7-8, 1969: Three Dog Night/Flying Burrito Brothers
The Magical Mystery Tour movie also played.

March 14-15, 1969: B.B. King/Sweet Nothin'/Damion

March 16, 1969: Pete Seeger/Jean Ritchie/Michael Cooney "Sing Out Benefit"

March 21-22, 1969: Woody's Truck Stop/Thunder & Roses/Fire Eye and The Farm/Black Flag

March 23, 1969: Ian and Sylvia and Great Speckled Bird/Cashman/Pistill & West

March 28-29, 1969: Taj Mahal/Donny B. Waugh/Mountain

March 30, 1969: Procol Harum/Edison Electric
Edison Electric bassist ‘Freebo’ recalls meeting Bonnie Raitt around the time of this show (whether at the show or not isn't clear). Freebo went on to accompany Bonnie for some years.

April 1-2, 1969: Steppenwolf/Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation

April 4-6, 1969: Ten Years After/Gun/Sweetwater
Ten Years After was one of many English bands working through the Premier Talent Agency. A fantastic live band, they made no less than 28 American tours from 1968-74. Every time they played a show like the Electric Factory, they created a buzz for the next time they came through town.

Sweetwater were an interesting group from Los Angeles. They played Woodstock, but broke up soon afterward when lead singer Nancy Nevins was hurt in a car accident.

April 11-12, 1969: Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and The Trinity

April 12, 1969: The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA: Jimi Hendrix Experience/Fat Mattress
 Hendrix had played the Electric Factory the previous year, but by this time they were among the biggest acts in rock. I believe that this show at The Spectrum was promoted by the Electric Factory.

April 18-19, 1969: Crazy World Of Arthur Brown/AUM
According to one account, the Electric Factory was shut down around this time by the Philadelphia police, as a public nuisance and a gathering place for drug dealers. Bruno found numerous advertisements for shows, but some of them may not have been played.

May 2-3, 1969: Pacific Gas & Electric/Raven

May 9-10, 1969: Iron Butterfly/Black Pearl

May 16-17, 1969: Sea Train/Elizabeth
Sea Train was an outgrowth of the old Blues Project, but by this time the band had migrated to the Bay Area and lived in Marin County. Violinist Richard Greene may have been a member by this time.

May 23-24, 1969: The Who/Sweet Stavin Chain
The Who had just released their new album, Tommy. They would never play a place in Philadelphia as small as the Electric Factory again. It must have been a heck of a weekend.

May 30-June 1, 1969: It’s A Beautiful Day/American Dream/Fat Band

June 6-7, 1969: Bobby Darin/The Churls or Lighthouse/The Churls
This was a rather unexpected booking. Bobby Darin was a much more interesting performer than most people give him credit for, and he had a sort of "folk" side that was later forgotten when he started framing himself as the next Frank Sinatra. In that respect, it would be very interesting to know whether Darin played with his usual Vegas-style ensemble or appeared in some other configuration.

Lighthouse were a Canadian group who had a sort of orchestral sound. I don't know who actually headlined in the end--I suspect it was Lighthouse.

June 11, 1969: New York Rock And Roll Ensemble/Good News
The New York Rock And Roll Ensemble, some mostly Julliard trained musicians who figured there was more money in rock, were a sort of 60s highbrow act. I assume they played opposite Sly at the Spectrum since it was presumed they didn't draw from the same audience.

I don't know why the band played on a Wednesday night. The NYRRE often played in conjunction with local symphonies or "Pops" orchestras.

June 11, 1969: The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA: Sly and The Family Stone
I think Electric Factory promoted Sly at the Spectrum, but I'm not certain. Sly was starting to become huge throughout the US, but I have to imagine he was even bigger in Philadelphia.

June 13, 1969: Alice Cooper/MC5
June 14, 1969: Alice Cooper/Sweet Stavin Chain
An ad says “Frank Zappa Debuts Bizarre World of Alice Cooper.”  Zappa had signed Alice Cooper to his Warner Brothers imprint, Bizarre Records. The ad also has Edison Electric as the opener for both shows, instead of MC5 and Sweet Stavin Chain. I don't know who really opened.

June 20-1969: Elizabeth/Sweet Nothin'/Sweet Stavin Chain

June 22, 1969: The Nazz
Philadelphia's The Nazz, named after a Lord Buckley reference, featured guitarist Todd Rundgren, and were a popular band in the Philadelphia area. June 22 was a Sunday. I have to assume that some other acts were booked for the weekend of June 20-21. It may also be that local acts regularly played Sunday, but little record of them survives.

In the Summer of 1968 and probably in the Summer of 1969, the Electric Factory regularly put on at least some free concerts at the Belmont Plateau in nearby Fairmount Park, but I have been unable to determine further details. These seem to have featured the local groups that mostly opened the shows at the Electric Factory, like American Dream, Elizabeth or Sweet Stavin Chain. I assume these were on Sunday afternoons, but I have almost no direct information.

June 27-28, 1969: Velvet Underground/American Dream
There are still numerous weekends where I have been unable to find out who played at the Electric Factory, but these posts are making a good start. Anyone with additional information, corrections, insights or recovered memories (real or imagined) about Philadelphia rock shows in the first half of 1969 is encouraged to contact me or Comment.

The Summer of 1969 was a big Summer for rock, and it was certainly big for the Electric Factory and the Philadelphia area, which is covered in my next installment.

2201 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA The Electric Factory: Concert List July-December 1968 (Philadelphia II)

[this post continues the series about rock concerts at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia in the 1960s]

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is one of America's great cities, but its proximity to New York has always made an unfair comparison. Philadelphia has an exciting music history, and an exciting rock music history in the 1960s, but that history can only be documented in the most fragmented of places. These posts about the Electric Factory marks the beginning of my effort to organize and analyze Philadelphia rock history in the 1960s. There are considerably more dates to be found, but these posts will make a good starting point.

The Electric Factory, 2201 Arch Street
The Electric Factory, a former tire warehouse, opened in early 1968 at 2201 Arch.  The owners were the Spivak brothers, all experienced bar owners in the Philadelphia area. Their booker was Larry Magid.  They rapidly dominated the concert scene in Philadelphia, and the Electric Factory were the most important promoters in Philadelphia until they ultimately were purchased by larger corporate interests in the 1990s.

The Electric Factory was a critical stop on 60s concert tours, and an integral part of the "Premier Talent" (Booking Agency) circuit that included both Fillmores, the Boston Tea Party and Chicago's Kinetic Playground. Philadelphia was a big, important city and Philadelphia fans were not shy about showing their appreciation or displeasure (a trait that has endured). However, since the Electric Factory did not generally use posters with collectible art for advertisements, the venue has been somewhat lost to 60s rock history. There were many relatively trivial 60s venues that had a famous poster or two, often printed in The Art Of Rock or otherwise promulgated, that are recalled much more often than the Electric Factory. Outside of Philadelphia, the early history of the Electric Factory is largely ignored, and I am attempting to begin to correct that here.

This post represents my best efforts at determining late 1968 shows at the Electric Factory, as well as shows promoted by Electric Factory concerts. Anyone with additional information, insights, corrections or recovered memories (real or imagined) is encouraged to Comment or email me, and I will update the list accordingly. This post presents the lists of Electric Factory concerts from July through December 1968, as well as major Philadelphia rock events during that period.

(For earlier efforts at psychedelic ballrooms in Philadelphia as well as the first half of 1968 for the Electric Factory, see here)

Electric Factory, Philadelphia July-December 1968
I have almost no dates for the Electric Factory throughout the Summer of 1968. However, I believe they put on concerts every weekend, and probably many weekdays as well. They also probably put on at least some free concerts at the Belmont Plateau in nearby Fairmount Park. Nonetheless we have almost no record of any of these events. I am assuming that this was because the Electric Factory rarely used colorful, artistic posters to advertise the shows. Our knowledge of shows at venues like the Fillmore, the Avalon or Detroit's Grande Ballroom comes from the wonderful (and collectible) posters that lived on in dorm room walls long after the venues ceased operating. I think the Electric Factory advertised on the radio and with print-only ads in various newspapers, making it harder to discern their schedule.

This list includes what concerts I have found for the second half of 1968, and I have included a few other major Philadelphia rock concerts as well.

July 17, 1968 JFK Stadium The Rascals/Country Joe and The Fish/The Box Tops/Delfonics
Schmidt’s Beer Presents The Philadelphia Music Festival
I do not know if the Electric Factory had any involvement in this early effort to have a rock show in a huge football stadium, but I am including it anyway because it is such an interesting bill. The Rascals were a popular East Coast band, while Country Joe and The Fish were one of San Francisco's leading musical exports. The Box Tops, while in fact an excellent band, were marked as sort of a "pop" band, and The Delfonics were a major Philadelphia soul band. Their big hit at this time was "La-La-La Means I Love You."

This was quite a daring booking, as white rock and black R&b acts rarely played on the same bill, but I don't know anything about the concert itself. The show was on a Wednesday night. According to the excellent book The Who Concert File (McMichael and Lyons, Omnibus Press 1997), a series of concerts were held at JFK Stadium throughout the Summer (see July 24 below). I presume these concerts made up "The Philadelphia Music Festival."

JFK Stadium (formerly Philadelphia Municipal Stadium), at the far Southern end of Broad Street (at Pattison), was built in 1925 and had a maximum football capacity of 102,000. The Beatles had played there on August 16, 1966. From the late 1970s onward, many rock concerts were held in the stadium, most famously the American half of Live Aid (July 13, 1985). The stadium was torn down in 1992.

>July 19-21, 1968 Electric Factory Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac were booked for these shows, but canceled and never played them, as Mac had returned to England by July 18.

July 24, 1968 JFK Stadium The Who/The Troggs/Mandala/Pink Floyd/Friends of The Family
This seems to have been another part of the series of concerts at JFK Stadium.  Pink Floyd had replaced Procol Harum, who couldn't get work visas. An attendee reports that rain began during Pink Floyd’s set, and there were no provisions to cover the stage, and the show was abruptly halted.

Once again this show was on a Wednesday night. I'd be very interested to find out who played the other shows of this "Festival."

I have been unable to find out anything about other Electric Factory concerts in the Summer of 1968. Its not impossible the venue took some kind of hiatus at some point, but I would be surprised if there weren't quite a number of shows yet to be found.

September 13-14, 1968  Electric Factory  Butterfield Blues Band/Eric Andersen/American Dream

September 20-21, 1968  Electric Factory The Nazz/Velvet Underground/Colwell-Winfield Blues Band
By this time Todd Rundgren had joined The Nazz.

September 27-28, 1968  Electric Factory Amboy Dukes/James Cotton Blues Band/Elizabeth

October 4-5, 1968  Electric Factory Moby Grape/Albert King/Woody’s Truck Stop

October 16, 1968 Electric Factory John Mayall
From the Mayall Fan Club, via Christopher Hjort's fine book Strange Brew. Not confirmed—date approximate.

October 19, 1968 The Spectrum “Quaker City Rock Festival”
Big Brother and The Holding Company/Moby Grape/Vanilla Fudge/Buddy Guy/Chambers Brothers/others?
The Spectrum was at 3601 S. Broad Street, just across from JFK Stadium. It was an 18,000 capacity indoor arena that had opened in Fall 1967. Electric Factory promoter Larry Magid had put on the first event at the Spectrum, the Quaker City Jazz Festival, on September 30, 1967. The Spectrum was also home to the NBA's 76ers and the NHL's Flyers. The Quaker City Rock Festival appears to have been an effort to book some larger acts that may have been too big to play the Electric Factory.

There appears to have been two ‘Quaker City Rock Festivals’ at The Spectrum in 1968 (see December 6, 1968 below), and time seems to have confused the memories of various eyewitnesses.

October 25-26, 1968  Electric Factory Jeff Beck Group

November 1-2, 1968  Electric Factory Big Brother and The Holding Company
This must have been some weekend in Philadelphia, with Big Brother riding high on top of Cheap Thrills, and Cream on their 'Farewell Tour.'

November 1, 1968 The Spectrum Cream/Sweet Stavin Chain
This show was near the end of the American leg of Cream's 'Farewell Tour' (the last show was in Rhode Island on November 4). For some pictures of the show, see here. Note that Cream were in the center of the floor, on a revolving stage. Note also the comparatively tiny amount of equipment. Ginger Baker's drums seem to have very few or possibly no microphones.

[update 16 February 2023: David Starobin, former bass player of Sweet Stavin Chain gives us the 411 on the band: 

I was the original bass player with my brother Danny’s band, Sweet Stavin Chain.

We were managed by Lew Linnet and played at The Second Fret, the Philadelphia Folk Festival and the Kaleidoscope,  Temple’s Amber Campus outdoor venue with Lucas Foss and the Pittsburgh Symphony, a gay club in town (I forget the name), a concert hall in NYC and other venues.  By the time I was replaced with another bass player the band was playing the Factory regularly.  I remember them opening for The Chambers Brothers, Country Joe and The Fish, opening for Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention at the Academy of Music on Mother’s Day and playing the Spectrum.  By this time they were managed by Larry Magid, hence their “in” with The Factory and The Spectrum. 

November 7-8, 1968  Electric Factory Moody Blues/Ars Nova

November 15-16, 1968 Electric Factory Steppenwolf
From Billboard (Nov 16, 1968). Not necessarily a conflict with the Airplane, as they could have played together (below), although given Steppenwolf's popularity by this time it seems surprising that the bands would be double billed.

Novmeber 16, 1968  Electric Factory Jefferson Airplane

November 27-28, 1968 Electric Factory The Byrds/American Dream/Yum Yum

December 5, 1968 Civic Center Chambers Brothers/Spirit
The Philadelphia Civic Center, an Art Deco landmark at 3400 Civic Center Blvd (near U. Penn), was built in 1931 and was the main Philadelphia venue for sports and events until 1967 (The venue was also known as The Municipal Auditorium and The Convention Center, depending on the exact configuration). Once The Spectrum was complete, however, the building nearly became obsolete. However, the 12,000 capacity hall was still used for some events. It was torn down in 2005.

The Chambers Brothers were particularly big at this time, as their single "Time" had re-entered the charts.

December 6, 1968 The Spectrum “Quaker City Rock Festival”
Grateful Dead/Sly and The Family Stone/Iron Butterfly/Steppenwolf
Al Kooper remembers being the MC.  Apparently Creedence Clearwater Revival canceled, but this edition Festival had a distinctly West Coast feel, with two bands from San Francisco and two from Los Angeles. This show was the Grateful Dead's first of 53 appearances at The Spectrum.

Various eyewitnesses remember The Chambers Brothers and Vanilla Fudge, but its not clear whether those bands played, or the memories were conflated with the previous Quaker City Rock Festival (see October 19, 1968), or else the Civic Center show from the day before.

December 29-30, 1968   Electric Factory Fleetwood Mac
Guitarist Rick Vito described seeing the group in Vintage Guitar, quoted at length in Chris Hjort’s Strange Brew. Apparently, the band was a Peter Green-led powerhouse the first night, and a Jeremy Spencer-led bunch of goofballs the second night.

Anyone with additional information about Philadelphia rock concerts in 1968 should Comment or email me, and I will update the posts accordingly. See here for shows at Philadelphia's Electric Factory in the first half of 1969.

2201 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA The Electric Factory: Concert List February-June 1968 (Electric Factory I)

(An ad for shows at Philadelphia's Electric Factory starting on March 24, 1968, from the April 1968 issue of Distant Drummer [#5]--h/t Joe for the scan)

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is one of America's great cities, but its proximity to New York has always made an unfair comparison. Philadelphia has an exciting music history, and an exciting rock music history in the 1960s, but that history can only be documented in the most fragmented of places. This post about the Electric Factory marks the beginning of my effort to organize and analyze Philadelphia rock history in the 1960s.

1967: Early Philadelphia Psychedelia
Philadelphia had an exciting music history, with Dick Clark's American Bandstand and great soul and jazz music, and Philadelphia was an important stop on the Folk music circuit in the early 1960s. As a result, however, psychedelic rock came a little later to the city.

The Trauma
The Trauma was at 2121 Arch Street, near Logan Square. The proprietor of The Trauma was Manny Rubin, who also ran The 2nd Fret on Sansom Street, Philadelphia's leading folk club. The Trauma was a pretty small place, more like a club than a ballroom. Rubin seems to have figured out that the market was moving away from folk towards rock, and his timing was excellent. A number of excellent and interesting bands played The Trauma, although details are hardly complete.

The first show I know about at The Trauma was February 24-26, 1967 with Lothar and The Hand People. The last I can confirm was The Mothers of Invention playing 6 nights at The Trauma at the end of 1967 (December 26-31). Unfortunately, Rubin's excellent timing merely provided a "proof of concept" for the Electric Factory, which opened up in February 1968, just a block away. Apparently The Trauma survived into early 1968, but it could not compete with its larger rival.

The Kaleidoscope
Another early Philadelphia area psychedelic venue was a club called The Kaleidoscope, in a converted movie theater n Main Street in the Philadelphia neighborhood of Mayanuk. I do not know the exact address. The proprietor was one David Carroll. I'm not sure how long it was open (a Commenter reports that it opened after The Trauma). Among the only groups that I know for sure that played The Kaleidoscope were The Mandrake Memorial, who was one of (if not the) founding underground groups on the Philadelphia scene, and The Ultimate Spinach (from Massachusetts). A New Jersey garage band called The Satyrs recalled opening for the Spinach and Mandrake Memorial at The Kaleidoscope, but other than that I know little about the venue. Apparently the Kaleidoscope did not survive the opening of the Electric Factory.

The Electric Factory, 2201 Arch Street
The Electric Factory, a former tire warehouse, opened in early 1968 at 2201 Arch.  The owners were the Spivak brothers, all experienced bar owners in the Philadelphia area. Their booker was Larry Magid.  They rapidly dominated the concert scene in Philadelphia, and the Electric Factory were the most important promoters in Philadelphia until they ultimately were purchased by larger corporate interests in the 1990s.

The Electric Factory was a critical stop on 60s concert tours, and an integral part of the "Premier Talent" (Booking Agency) circuit that included both Fillmores, the Boston Tea Party and Chicago's Kinetic Playground. Philadelphia was a big, important city and Philadelphia fans were not shy about showing their appreciation or displeasure (a trait that has endured). However, since the Electric Factory did not generally use posters with collectible art for advertisements, the venue has been somewhat lost to 60s rock history. There were many relatively trivial 60s venues that had a famous poster or two, often printed in The Art Of Rock or otherwise promulgated, that are recalled much more often than the Electric Factory. Outside of Philadelphia, the early history of the Electric Factory is largely ignored, and I am attempting to begin to correct that here.

This list represents my best efforts at determining early 1968 shows at the Electric Factory, as well as shows promoted by Electric Factory concerts. Anyone with additional information, insights, corrections or recovered memories (real or imagined) is encouraged to Comment or email me, and I will update the list accordingly.

Reader Alex, a scholar and a gentleman, sends along a scan of a handbill given out on the opening night of the Electric Factory

February 2-3, 1968  The Chambers Brothers/First Borne
This was the first show at The Electric Factory (confirmed by Commenter Alex). I assume there was a show the next weekend, too (before the Peanut Butter Conspiracy on Feb 16)  In the Winter, the Electric Factory usually just had shows on Friday and Saturday night, although sometimes for bigger acts they played other days of the week as well. Sometimes there were Saturday afternoon matinee shows (3-7 p.m.). I assume there were shows every weekend, but I have not been able to locate all the dates.

FIrst Borne, the opening act, is unknown to me.

February 16-17, 1968 Peanut Butter Conspiracy/Woody’s Truck Stop
The Peanut Butter Conspiracy list has the group playing the entire week (February 13 thru 18, Tuesday thru Sunday) but weekend gigs only seem more likely.

Woody’s Truck Stop had featured teenage phenom guitarist Todd Rundgren, but he had left by this time.

February 21-22, 1968 Jimi Hendrix Experience/Soft Machine/Woody's Truck Stop
Jimi Hendrix played early and late shows both nights. These dates were a Wednesday and a Thursday, so presumably other acts played the weekend.

March 1-3, 1968 Country Joe and The Fish

March 15-17, 1968 Big Brother and The Holding Company

March 22-24, 1968 Mothers of Invention/Nova Local
The handbill says that each Saturday has a matinee show from 3 to 6, so the Mothers would have played both afternoon on Saturday March 23. I assume many of the other billings had Saturday afternon matinees as well, but I haven't yet pinned that down for sure.

March 26-31, 1968  Muddy Waters American Blues Band/American Dream
American Dream was a Philadelphia band featuring lead guitarist Nick Jameson, who became the bassist for Foghat in the late 70s.

There would have been a Saturday matinee show on March 30.

April 2-4, 1968 Beacon Street Union
The flyer (above) has Boston's Beacon Street Union as the headliner from Tuesday through Thursday. A different source has legendary jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery (along with locals The American Dream) from April 1-4 (Monday through Thursday). These aren't actually incompatible. If Montgomery actually played the Electric Factory, it would have been his only known performance at a rock club. Montgomery was a truly epic guitarist; when he died on June 15, 1968, the Grateful Dead dedicated "Dark Star" to him at the Fillmore East, the only time they ever dedicated that song to anyone.

April 5-7, 1968  Butterfield Blues Band/Pandora’s Box
April 8-11, 1968  Butterfield Blues Band/Hugh Masakela
Butterfield Blues Band would have headlined a Saturday matinee on the afternoon of April 6.

>April 12-14, 1968 Cream/Woody’s Truck Stop
Cream canceled, and played the next week.  Its not clear if there were shows these nights.

April 16, 1968 American Dream
This was a Tuesday night. It appears that as Spring came on, the Electric Factory made an effort to be open six days a week, at least some of the time.

April 17-18, 1968 Stan Kenton & His Neophonic Orchestra ‘Concert and Lecture’
West Coast Big Band leader Stan Kenton was a very important figure in jazz, although he was never a huge commercial success. It does appear there was an effort to book jazz artists on weeknights (given the April bookings for Wes Montgomery, Hugh Masakela and Kenton).

April 19-21, 1968 Cream/Woody’s Truck Stop
Cream was rescheduled from April 12-14. Cream would have headlined the Saturday matinee on April 20.

>April 19-21, 1968 Blood, Sweat & Tears/Elizabeth
Al Kooper had just quit Blood, Sweat and Tears, so they canceled out.  It appears that Cream took over BST’s dates because Kooper had quit.

April 22, 1968 ‘Dance Marathon’
This would have been a Monday afternoon show, probably featuring local bands.

>April 23-28, 1968 Woody's Truck Stop/American Dream/Elizabeth/Edison Electric
This was billed as "The Sound of Philadelphia" on the March poster (above), but the Grateful Dead ended up as headliners for the weekend. Perhaps these four groups still played Tuesday thru Thursday, before the Dead moved in as headliners.

(An ad for shows at Philadelphia's Electric Factory starting on April 26, 1968, from the May 1968 issue of Distant Drummer [#6]--h/t Joe for the scan)

April 26-28, 1968 Grateful Dead/Amboy Dukes/Edison Electric Band/The Amazing Beymont
Based on the two advertisements, the Grateful Dead seemed to have been added rather hurriedly. I have written about the peculiarities of the Dead's April 1968 itinerary elsewhere--suffice to say it appears a Miami sojourn was cut short.

Grateful Dead manager Rock Scully has an hilarious description in his book of the Dead's stay in Philadelphia on their first visit to the Electric Factory. The Dead were housed in a "hotel" that appeared to be a house of prostitution on top of a blues bar. The boys in the band were very unsettled by this, and forced Scully to find students willing to put them up for the week--except for Pigpen, who loved the place and spent the whole time hanging out and playing blues at the bar. Since the Grateful Dead continued to work with the Electric Factory throughout their entire career, presumably better accommodations were provided in later visits.

The Amboy Dukes, a Detroit band featuring lead guitarist Ted Nugent, were riding a big hit with the newly-released "Journey To The Center Of Your Mind."

May 1-3, 1968 Blue Cheer/Elizabeth/Henry Crow Dog
Blue Cheer had cachet insofar as they came from San Francisco, but their music was pretty far from the sinuous folk rock improvisations typical of the Fillmore. Blue Cheer was a loud, loud, loud and proud power trio, playing through veritable wall of Marshall Stax amps. Their first album Vincebus Eruptum, and their hit single "Summertime Blues" were mostly regarded as curiousities except by those who thought they were awesome. Although Blue Cheer was modeled on Cream, their overwhelming sonic assault sort of prefigured Led Zeppelin and Heavy Metal.

May 8-10, 1968 Iron Butterfly/Henry Crow Dog
Iron Butterfly was a Los Angeles-based band (they were actually from San Diego) whose debut album on Atco was fairly popular. The band's mega hit album In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida and the accompanying title track would not come out until the next month (June 1968). Iron Butterfly are somewhat unfairly recalled as one-hit wonders today, but in fact they were probably the second band to break out of the Los Angeles underground and tour nationally (after The Doors) before they hit Platinum record status (the Platinum record was invented by Atco for Iron Butterfly, incidentally).

My sources run dry for identifying any shows for the rest of May and June, except for the Canned Heat show. I have every reason to believe there were shows at the Electric Factory every week, and probably most weeknights throughout the Summer. At some point during the Summers, the Electric Factory held free concerts at the Belmont Plateau in nearby Fairmount Park, advertised as "Be-Ins." They apparently mostly featured the local groups like American Dream, Elizabeth and Edison Electric Band, but I don't know precisely who played, and if any of the National headliners ever showed up.

June 7-9, 1968 Canned Heat
Canned Heat was another band that had broken out of the LA underground and was touring Nationally. They had had a big hit with "On The Road Again" in late 1967, and they were a very popular live act.

For the next entry in the Electric Factory series, see here.